History of Wabasha County, Minnesota, Part 33

Author: Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn. cn
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: Winona, Minn. : H.C. Cooper
Number of Pages: 1222

USA > Minnesota > Wabasha County > History of Wabasha County, Minnesota > Part 33

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In 1849 a bill was passed organizing the territory of Minnesota, whose boundary on the west extended to the Missouri river, and at that time the whole region was little more than a vast wilderness. Alexis Bailly was at Wabasha. Charles R. Read and Fordyce S. Richards at Read's Landing. H. S. Allen, of Chippewa Falls, built a warehouse upon the levee at Wabasha in 1849, and some years added to it and opened a store therein in company with a partner named Creamer. The agent here was named Murphy. The Dakota Indians were numerous, but very peaceable with the white people, many of whom were their relatives, but their enemies, the Chippewas, were often made to realize their hatred, and when some unfortunate Chippewa ventured so near as to lose his scalp, the Sioux would hold what they called a scalp dance. The last of these occurred in 1858, on the levee just below the American House, then kept by C. W. Wyman.

In 1850 Congress constructed a military road from Wabasha to Mendota, costing five thousand dollars. The length of this road was 75 miles. Philo Stone in 1850 erected a dwelling on Levee street. Mr. Stone was a native of Vermont who had come to this country in 1838. He engaged in hunting on the neutral grounds between the Sioux and Chippewas, which being seldom visited by either tribe, made excellent ground for hunting. He was very brave, of a wiry, quick, impulsive temperament, and passed through many skirmishes in earlier times, always coming off the best man.

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Christian Shively and Amos Wheeler arrived at Wabasha about the same time as Mr. Stone. A building on the levee was erected in 1853 by a river pilot named Harold, and it was kept as a boarding house known as Harold's Exchange until destroyed by fire in 1858. Francis Talbot, the last of the pioneer fur traders, came here in 1853 with letters of introduction to Mr. Bailly, from his friend, John H. Kinzie, of Chicago, with whom Mr. Talbot was connected at an early day.

An early settler has said: "When the writer of these annals first came to Wabasha, in the spring of 1857, the tepee of the Indian was to be seen in every direction, and the dusky form of the savage might be expected to walk in upon you, or be seen peering curiously at you through the window at any time. Usually they wanted food or "coshpop" (the Indian term for ten cents), begging being one of their strong characteristics. Just below the house in which we lived stood a little copse of wood, where the death-song of the "poor Indian" was heard many times when he thought himself dying; the "fire-water" of the white man proving too much for him. He would get thus far on his way back to the teepee, lie down, as he thought, to die, and then the terrible wail would begin and continue until the poor fellow was overcome and dead-drunken sleep drowned all sensibilities. Their dances, too, were very frequent and dreadfully hideous, yet apparently enjoyed with all the zest their benighted brains and energies could desire. Their medicine and war-dances were the most frequent; they had also a snake-dance, which took in all the serpentine antics and hisses, while the monotonous beatings of their drums was most unearthly.

Sitting at our dinner table one day, we were startled by the door being opened suddenly and five dusky faces, one above the other, peering in at us, the last one with face painted black and red, with mischief-gleaming eyes and two feathers in his hair. Our eldest son, who, in a short time, had caught much of the Sioux language, upon seeing the last face, jumped up and accosted him with, "Now, Dick, what does all this mean?" "Indian hungry," was the reply. "But why are you here with that face?" "Dick dandy," he replied, and it appeared that he had painted and dressed himself in those habiliments for our especial benefit. The Indian was known ever after as "Dandy Dick."

The town of Wabasha was platted and laid out in 1854 by A. S. Hart, the proprietors being Oliver Cratte, Joseph Buisson and Philo Stone. In the spring of 1857 a new company was organized and the town site greatly enlarged by the platting of one thousand acres on the west side of the slough which divided the plateau from the original site. This company consisted of Messrs. S. P. Gambia, B. W. Brisbois, S. L. Campbell, Tho. A. Tomlinson, H. M. Rice, Gen. Shields, Oliver Cratte and Philo Stone; Hon. S. L. Campbell, trustee. A large warehouse was erected on that side by the Lowry interests of New York City, and the foundation of an extensive hotel was laid, and the prospect was flattering for the growth of the city on that side. But the terrible convulsions in the financial world which commenced this year came with crushing effect upon the young city, and discouraged both proprietors and people. Immigration fell off, and business of all kinds suffered exceedingly. In consequence, that part of the city was given up and the land divided among the proprietors in 1860.

Wabasha was incorporated in 1858, by special act of the First State Legis- ature. The first officers were: Mayor, Capt. W. W. Wright; aldermen, John B. Downer, William B. Lutz and W. W. Prindle; recorder, Carlos W. Lyon; treas- urer, S. N. Wright; justice, Charles Webb; surveyor, D. W. Wellman; attorney, John N. Murdock; official paper, the "Minnesota Patriot."

The city charter was revised during the winter of 1868-69, which revision divided the city into two wards, with two aldermen elected in each ward, who held their office two years. The city boundaries and limits were defined as follows: "Beginning at a point in the Mississippi river on the dividing line between Wisconsin and Minnesota, at the mouth of a small creek, called Smith's

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creek, between Wabasha and Read's Landing; thence up said creek to the west line of township 111, range 10; thence along said township line to the south- west corner of section 6, in township 110, range 10; thence along the south line of section 6, 5 and 4, of township 110, range 10, to the southeast corner of said section 4; thence north along the east line of said section 4, township 110, range 10, and section 33, township 111, range 10, to the Wisconsin line; thence along the Wisconsin line up to the place of beginning."

The ferry between Wabasha and the point opposite in Wisconsin has been practically continuous since 1862. From the Wisconsin point across the river, the bottoms extend some three or four miles before the main land is reached at the present village of Nelson. In 1858 an effort was made to build a road across these bottoms in order to secure the Wisconsin trade, but the project at that time was not carried out. For more than half a century the extremely poor road conditions on the Wisconsin side made the operation of the ferry a most dubious business venture, with little profit in case of success, and a much better chance for loss. In 1918, however, the Wabasha Roller Mill Co., with James G. Lawrence at its head, leased the ferry from the city, built a mile and a half of fine durable road, with necessary bridges, to Nelson, Wis., and began the operation of a cable ferry which has proved a great benefit not only to the Mill company and the Wisconsin farmers in the transport to wheat to the mill, but also to the citizens of Wabasha and those on the Minnesota side generally. All kinds of freight are handled. A gasoline launch is used for propelling the barge, the trip taking about three minutes. The ferry operates the year around.

The Wabasha Free Public Library is one of the old institutions of the city. In the fall of 1868 a club was organized with 42 members, the object being to develop literary culture and build up a library. The club rented a hall and furnished it neatly, supplied the table with the daily papers of the state, together with most of the popular magazines and leading literary journals, and filled the shelves of the room with a select number of books. They also fur- nished facilities for all and various drawing-room games. This club consisted of the best society of the place, both ladies and gentlemen. Its managers, how- ever, were gentlemen. During the winter of 1870-71 the interest in the club seemed to be on the wane, and fears were entertained that this good beginning might have to be abandoned. But the ladies decided that it should not be a failure, and they took the library off the hands of the gentlemen entirely, reorganizing under the name of the "Ladies' Library Association." The interest in the library has grown and the institution is today a strong factor in the educational development of the community. In June, 1909, it was taken over by the city and is now supported by a city tax. It contains about 5,000 volumes.

Postal service in Wabasha is among the oldest in the state. The early traders received their mail from Prairie du Chien, in the summer by boat, and in the winter by the carriers bound for Ft. Snelling. In 1849, Fordyce S. Richards, the trader at Read's Landing was appointed postmaster here, and mail matter for Wabasha came to that point. In 1853, Alexis Bailly was ap- pointed postmaster, and service since that time has been continuous. In 1856 a tri-weekly mail service was arranged with the steam boat companies for the summer, and a somewhat less frequent service by means of overland travel in the winter. In 1857, when H. C. Burbank inaugurated a daily stage service between La Crosse and St. Paul, mail was received daily from each direc- tion. The original name of the postoffice, as of he county and city was Wabashaw, but in 1858, the government dropped the final letter, and the office has since borne its present name.

Wabasha has been famed for the attention which it has paid to education since the earliest days, and still maintains its pre-eminence in this respect, the present commodious high school building being as well equipped as any similar institution in the state. The first school taught in Wabasha was a private school taught by Thomas F. Flynn. After the first school-district in the county

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was organized, which was that of Wabasha, District No. 1, in 1855, a school was taught in it by H. B. Potter, the building used for the purpose being the old log Catholic church which stood upon what was then called "The Point." Mr. Potter taught a few months in 1856, and then the school was discontinued. Miss E. Hogard taught a private school for a few months in a small building on Bridge street, erected by B. S. Hurd in 1856; Miss Hogard taught during the spring of 1857, but discontinued it on account of the public school being re- sumed by Miss A. Strickland, who taught for about three months. Mrs. J. J. Stone then opened a private school in her own house on Pembroke street, and taught more or less during the years of 1858 and 1859, removing her school to a small frame building on Main street, below Pembroke. During the summer and fall of 1858 a private school was taught on the west side by E. F. Dodge, in a building erected for that purpose by Jarvis Williams, of Saco, Maine, who then resided on that side. Meantime steps were being taken by the city for the erection of a schoolhouse adapted to the needs of the town, and lots were purchased in block 5 of South Wabasha for that purpose. A stone building 40 by 45 feet was erected during the summer and fall of 1859, the cornerstone being laid with appropriate ceremonies on July 4, 1859. This house cost $2,500. A school was opened in it on January 3, 1860, taught by W. C. Bryant, assisted by Henrietta Angier, of Toledo, Ohio, all private schools merging into it. Mr. Bryant was from Cincinnati, Ohio, where he had done much to establish a high grade of common schools, and his efforts here were the very first made in Wabasha county toward the union or graded schools. Mr. Bryant continued his teaching until the close of the spring term. No other school was taught in the building as a schoolhouse, as the city donated the building to the county for a courthouse the same year, and the county offices were removed thereto in the fall of 1860.

In the fall of 1860 Walter Gurley opened a private school in the courtroom of this building, teaching it until January, 1861, when Joseph Gates took the school and completed the term, teaching another term during the spring of 1862. The public school was taught very successfully during the winter of 1861-62 by Mr. H. I. Whitmore, his school numbering one hundred pupils. The next school was taught by Mr. Gates, during 1862-3, in the Baptist church build- ing, which was rented for that purpose. A wooden structure at this time was in process of erection, by private enterprise, for an academy, which stood on Third street, between Walnut and Allegheny streets. It was completed in November, 1865, and a very successful school taught in it during the winter of 1865-66 by L. Jenness. A parish school had been instituted under the auspices of the Episcopal church, by the Rev. H. G. Batterson, in 1863-64, which was first taught by Kate Dougall, afterward by Wealthy Tucker, of Winona, in a building owned by Henry de Camp, corner of Bailly and Second streets, but as the other schools advanced in character and course of study, it was given up, the teacher, Miss Tucker, accepting a position as assistant in the school of the academy. Mr. Jenness, having a better offer in Minneapolis, left in the spring of 1865, and no school being taught, Mrs. Marian T. Bowditch opened a private one in the courtroom for the summer. Mrs. Bowditch continued her school, assisted by her niece, Miss E. Bowditch, in her own house the next winter, dis- continuing it in the spring of 1866. Meanwhile the school in the academy was taught by Rev. Bonnel, a Baptist clergyman, assisted by his wife. Public school was taught in the Baptist chapel by Joseph Gates, assisted by Mrs. J. J. Stone, Miss M. Staples teaching the summer term. After the purchase of the academy by the city, Mr. Hopper was employed as principal, Henry F. Rose succeeding him. Mr. Rose remained two years, and was succeeded in the fall of 1867 by E. Hogle, who taught the school two terms, assisted by Miss D. Clark and Miss J. Lynch. Mr. E. A. Booth succeeded Hogle, and remained until the spring of 1868, when he resigned the place, his position being filled the next term by Mrs. E. L. Douglass; Jennie Fyfe, teacher of intermediate department; Miss McCune, of primary.

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The academy building was now too small to accommodate the different grades, and rooms were rented therefor in different parts of the city. In the spring of 1868 the subject of a more commodious and central schoolhouse was agitated, which resulted in the erection of a fine edifice in block 4, South Wabasha, and in the gathering of the different departments of the graded school under one roof. The board of education, after deciding upon the amount of funds needed for that purpose, and to issue bonds upon the credit of the school- district No. 1, submitted the same to a vote of the electors of said district on April 27, 1868, as required by law. The vote cast was for the issue of these bonds, and they were issued to the amount of twenty thousand dollars, redeem- able between July 1, 1870, and July 1, 1880. The size of this building was 621/2 by 821/2 feet, is three stories high, including basement, and contains twelve rooms, besides the halls and wardrobes; four in the basement, four on the first floor, with a wardrobe to each room, and four on the upper floor, with wardrobes also. The high school department occupied the double room on the northwest side of the house. A belfry in the center of the building contained a bell of six hundred pounds, and it is warmed by three Lossing furnaces. Messrs. Gates, Brink & Harlow were the contractors, and the whole cost of building and seating the rooms amounted to twenty-five thousand dollars. The board of education at the time consisted of Rev. B. Wharton, S. S. Kepler, J. Satory, J. B. Davis and George Hall.

The school was opened in this building in December, with R. H. Sturgis, principal, and four assistant teachers. In September, 1870, S. L. Sayles, of New York, accepted the position of principal of the school, with five assistant teachers, and taught and regraded it very successfully. Mr. Sayles resigned the position in 1872, and was succeeded by M. B. Foster, also an able and efficient teacher, who remained four years. E. Hogle succeeded him for one year, when J. B. Hawley was employed, together with six assistant teachers. In the fall of 1880 Mr. Hawley resigned and Wm. A. Snook succeeded him, remaining two years. Horace Gibson took charge of the school in September, 1882. Thus was the present school system inaugurated and established, and its later developments have been still more extensive and thorough. In 1894 a large brick schoolhouse was built on Mulligan street near East Second, which is now used for the grades and the manual and normal training departments.

A few years ago a new high school was felt to be a necessity, and appro- priate measures were taken for the construction of the present handsome and commodious building, which was built in 1917, at a cost of $60,000. It fronts on Market street, its rear being connected by a closed passageway with the school building erected in 1894. It is of pleasing architectural design, with the interior carefully planned, and well lighted by large windows in all the rooms. In addition to the class rooms it contains a fine gymnasium, surrounded by a balcony for spectators, and a spacious auditorium used for an assembly room and for lectures, plays and various public entertainments. The heating plant is separate from the building. The high school is organized on the junior and senior high school plan, the seventh and eighth grades being assigned certain high school studies and constituting the junior high classes, while the senior classes take more advanced work and additional studies, this plan affording the advantage of a more gradual transition from common to high school work. The enrollment for the year ending in June, 1920, was 200 in the grades and 110 in the high school, from the latter there being 15 graduates. Twelve teachers are employed in the high school and six in the grades. The present superin- tendent is Anton Fischer, who came to Wabasha the latter part of August, 1920, from Benson, Minn. He succeeded L. U. Towle, who was superintendent for seven years previously. The Wabasha high school in its equipment, manage- ment and standard of scholarship takes high rank among the similar institu- tions of the state.

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Schmidt Memorial Park is one of the notable improvements of Wabasha. When the schoolhouse was planned it was the regret of every lover of the beautiful in the city that it should stand on the edge of an unsightly piece of what was practically waste land. It was Mrs. Julius Schmidt, the widow of one of Wabasha's prominent citizens, who, after her husband's death in April, 1915, conceived the happy idea of perpetuating his memory by the transforma- tion of this piece of land into a public park, and who thoroughly and beautifully carried out the plan. In the present year, 1920, she has added to the attractions of the park by the erection of a fine drinking-fountain, which she presented to the city at a public ceremonial on Saturday, August 21.

The river front of Wabasha has been beautified by the laying out of the Mill River Gardens, which stretch along the river bank for 650 feet. These gardens are tastefully laid out, are planted with wild and cultivated flowers and furnished with walks and arbors. This work was initiated by James G. Lawrence, head of the Wabasha Roller Mill Co., and has transformed a once uninteresting section of river front into one of the most attractive spots in Wabasha and the vicinity.

Among the notable buildings, in addition to the high school, elsewhere described, are the City Hall, a substantial two-story brick building with base- ment and belfry, erected in 1894; the large and imposing Court House, with its well lighted and commodious offices, and the County Jail, a fine brick building, of modern design constructed at a cost of $40,000 in 1918.

The old Baily House, built in 1858, is a historic landmark, still in a good state of preservation. Baily was a noted Indian trader, elsewhere mentioned in this volume, who, after bringing General Sibley to Mendota in 1843, came to Wabasha and settled here. He was buried here with his two wives, the first of whom was a Faribault. The Baily House in its palmy days sheltered many noted guests, among whose names appear those of Gen. Franz Sigel, Gen. Buckner and Marshall Field.

The Journal was the first paper published in Wabasha County. It was established July 4, 1856, at Read's Landing, by H. J. Sanderson, and moved to Wabasha in the spring of 1857, where it was published till some time in the fall of 1858, when it died. The city records show that it was made the official paper of the city of Wabasha April 27, 1858. Some time during the summer S. S. Burleson bought an interest in the paper, and later in the same season acquired entire control. Sanderson went south, and, when Vicksburg sur- rendered to Grant, was one of the rebel troops captured there, and was recog- nized by several of his old Wabasha acquaintances.

On Christmas Day, December 25, 1858, S. S. Burleson issued No. 1 of the Minnesota Patriot, which was made the official paper of the city May 3, 1859. It died a natural death some time during the summer. Burleson was a lawyer, but at a later date studied theology and became an Episcopal minister. Both the Journal and the Patriot were Democratic in politics.

October 29, 1859, H. C. Simpson commenced the publication of the Wabasha Weekly Journal, a six-column quarto, republican in politics, and an adherent to the cause of Abraham Lincoln. On November 23 of that year the newspaper was made the official organ of the city. In the spring of 1860 G. W. Marsh bought an interest with Simpson, and the paper was published by Simpson & Marsh. This was the year of the first contest between Wabasha and Lake City for the county seat, and it was said that the Journal received financial recom- pense for aiding the cause of Lake City, the result being that the two editors barely escaped drowning in the Mississippi by a mob of indignant citizens. December 8, 1860, the paper was discontinued at Wabasha, and started again at Lake City, January 3, 1861. Simpson soon after enlisted in the 2d Minn. Vol. Inf., and passed from sight of his Wabasha friends. Marsh went to Wis- consin, and at a later date was crippled by an accidental gunshot.

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The Wabasha County Herald is the oldest paper in Wabasha County and one of the oldest in the state, having been started before the state was admitted. In the early spring of 1857 the McMaster family settled at Read's Landing. Two of the sons, T. A. and W. C., were printers, and they either brought with them, or soon obtained, a press and material, and made arrangements to publish a newspaper. It was at that time proposed to call the village of Read's Waumadee, and the newspaper was named the Waumadee Herald, and the first number was published during the first week in May. On the twelfth day of that month the Messrs. McMaster were drowned in the Missssippi by the acci- dental upsetting of a skiff in which they were crossing the river, and with them. died the Waumadee Herald. Norman E. Stevens, a young printer from Illinois, arrived at Read's some two months after the death of the McMasters, and with the assistance of the business men of the village, especially T. B. Wilson and F. S. Richards, made arrangements to purchase the office from the McMasters family, and on June 27, 1857, he published the first number of the Wabasha county Herald. Mr. Stevens was an eager Republican, and the paper was de- voted to the advocacy of the principles of that party.

In the fall of 1860 the people of Wabasha, dissatisfied with the course taken by the publishers of the Journal, determined to have a paper that would assist in the development of their town instead of their rival Lake City, and such arrangements were made with Mr. Stevens, that in December he moved his material to Wabasha. On December 12, 1860, the paper appeared, with Wabasha and Read's at its head as joint places of publication, and it was so published until the spring of 1863, when the name Read's Landing disappeared from its head.

Some time during the year 1861 the issue of a semi-weekly edition was commenced. It was continued until the close of 1862, and was a bright, newsy sheet. During the year 1862, U. B. Shaver was sole publisher for a few weeks, and Stevens started a paper at Plainview, but it was not a success and he returned, and Shaver and Stevens were joint proprietors up to about April 1, 1864, when Stevens sold his interest to his partner Shaver and moved to Paxton, Illinois. For a few weeks in the summer of 1864 R. H. Copeland had charge. August 3, 1865, Shaver sold out to E. W. Gurley and Frank E. Daggett. Both were eager republicans and had served in the Union army, and Daggett had won a lieutenant's commission by gallant service. Gurley was a pleasant writer and did most of the editorial work during the short time he remained connected with the paper, and Daggett, who was an excellent printer, attended to the mechanical department. Mr. Gurley was not in good health and soon retired, and at a later date went to North Carolina. Henry W. Rose, the purchaser of Gurley's interest, was a writer of very much more than ordinary ability. Under his editorial management the Herald was generally regarded as the ablest country paper in Minnesota. About January 1, 1868, Daggett became ambitious of a larger field, and, disposing of his share in the Herald to Rose, went to La Crosse and purchased an interest with Lute Taylor in the Republican and Leader, of that city. The Herald remained under the sole management of Mr. Rose from this time until his death, in April of the same year. For a few weeks during Rose's illness, and after his death, J. K. Arnold had charge of the office; but Daggett, whose La Crosse enterprise had not proved a success, soon returned and purchased the office from Lorenz Ginthner, administrator of Rose's estate, and was sole proprietor until the summer of 1870, when he sold to Amasa T. Sharpe and Willis D. Palmer. The leading editorials during the two years following were furnished by John N. Murdoch, a well-known lawyer of Wabasha, and a Republican of the straightest sect, and he did not allow the Herald to become lukewarm in its politics. Later, in the autumn of 1872, Sharpe and Palmer left Wabasha for Ottawa, Kansas, where they established the Ottawa Republican. W. S. Walton was the next proprietor of the Herald and to him is due much of the credit for inaugurating the movement

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History of Wabasha County, Minnesota, Part 33

Author: Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn. cn Publication date: 1920 Publisher: Winona, Minn. : H.C. Cooper Number of Pages: 1222

Author: Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn. cn
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: Winona, Minn. : H.C. Cooper
Number of Pages: 1222