History of Wabasha County, Minnesota, Part 36

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 36

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The reports of the State Horticultural Society furnish splendid informa- tion regarding cultivation and pruning. It has been found that intense culti- vation of level ground will do very much to conserve moisture and overcome drowth conditions. Windbreaks of evergreens are the best protection that can be given an orchard or a home in Wabasha County. The White Pine does well. A Mr. James living north of Plainview propagated and planted a large number of evergreens that are a great beauty and protection to many homes in that neighborhood. They should surround the house and barns in rows twenty-five feet apart, and if cultivated and kept clean they will grow rapidly and prove to be the greatest asset on the place. The Black Hills Spruce is the hardiest and the best of all evergreens and should be planted liberally.

Another means of protection is to lay down Blackberries, Raspberries, Grapes and cover them with earth. This is easily and quickly done and insures a big crop for the next year. Roses can be protected by first laying a bed of dry straw or leaves, laying the vines down on it. and then cover them thickly with dry rye straw in a conical form, and over this place tar roofing paper running lengthwise with the row, letting it remain until freezing weather is over in April. If the location is favorable for snow to cover the ground for six inches or more, roses can be grown to advantage by letting the snow cover the roots. The tops will kill down to the snow line and can be cut back. The rest that is green will send out new growth and bloom profusely and will con- tinue until freezing. comes again. Roses that have been in beds for cut flowers in greenhouses can be bought cheaply and are a success if grown in this way. Hedges of Dorothy Perkins and Crimson Rambler roses grown on a trellis and then covered as before described are a wonderful success. The trellis is made by driving short pieces of 3/4-inch pipe into the ground at intervals of six feet. To these couple other pipes six feet long connected to a horizontal pipe the length of the trellis, using tees at the middle posts and elbows at the ends. Stretch galvanized wire on the posts, to which fasten the vines. Hold the trellis up by means of guy wire running back a few feet and fastened to a short stake driven in the ground. In the fall just before freezing, uncouple the posts at the ground and lay the vines down with the trellis and cover as before described. The object to be attained is to keep an even temperature and prevent repeated thawing and freezing during the winter.

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With these conditions, an intelligent selection of location and the right kind of protection and cultivation, Wabasha County is easily the banner county in the state for growing fruits. A number of new and improved varie- ties in hardiness have been discovered just outside in Winona County. A con- spicuous case occurred at Pickwick on the farm of E. A. Gross, a number of years ago. A man emptied several barrels of frozen and rotten apples out where his cows had access to them. They seemed to have eaten freely of them and then as they were pastured on the northern side of a bluff, their excre- ment was dropped promiscuously around the pasture. Seeds from the apples took root, one and sometimes several in a place. They grew and came into bearing; all kinds in size, color and quality. Some were deliciously sweet, while some were a mild sub-acid and some sour; some were red, some yellow and some green. There were early harvest varieties and late keepers. Mr. Gross exhibited his apples at the state fair and at the meetings of the State Horti- cultural Society, where they attracted the attention of The Jewell Nursery Company, and they bought the right to propagate the different varieties, and many of the best kinds are being planted in Wabasha County and throughout the state. Another important addition to Wabasha County's fruit was the Homer Cherry introduced by a veteran horticulturist of Homer. He had a large orchard of them growing on his hill-side farm and when they were in blossom they colored the hill-side white and when the fruit was ripe, at a dis- tance it looked as though it was painted red.

There is one place at the foot of Lake Pepin where the water never freezes and where the rising vapors off the water would furnish moisture for fruit growing on the adjacent land that also has a northern exposure. It is to be hoped that someone with capital will take advantage of this splendid loca- tion for a large commercial orchard.

From the State Horticultural Society's report I quote the following: "Elgin, Wabasha County, Feb. 12, 1866. Irwin W. Rollins reports: The oldest trees I have were grown from seed planted in 1856, were grafted in 1858 and planted in orchard in 1859. With my present knowledge I would plant Elgin, Malinda and Jewetts Red. Red Astrachan, Oscaloosa, Williams Favorite, Byhams Sweet, Pound Sweet would follow as next in hardiness. The varieties that have failed with me are Baldwin, Rhode Island Greening, Roxbury Russet, Golden Sweet, Hubbartson, None Such, Spitzenburg, Early Harvest, Porter, Gilliflower. In this section George Sylvester of Plainview and Nathan Fisher of Beaver have raised apples."

Mr. W. Golden writes: "Woodland, March 5, 1866. Mr. D. A. Robertson, Sir: In this section of the state there are several orchards in bearing. The largest is that of Mr. Stewart of Rollingstone. Mr. Geo. Sylvester has had a hundred trees in bearing for three years. Mr. Fisher of Woodland has an orchard of 100 trees that have borne for three years. My own experience is somewhat limited but I have set the Northern Spy, Yellow Bellflower, Red Astrachan, Golden Russet and Winter Greening. All are doing well."

From the above extracts we see how different the successful varieties of the day are from the kinds that were planted in those early days.

WABASHA COUNTY FARM BUREAU.

The Wabasha County Farm Bureau is a branch of a County, State and National Federation, all linked closely together, and officered by farmers and workingmen, promoting co-operative marketing, dairy improvement, better seed, better stock, and in fact "boosting" all progressive methods which are for the benefit of the farmer. The organization is non-religious, non-business and non- political, but is first, last and all the time a real agricultural organization so well organized as to command consideration before state and national legis- lative bodies when agricultural problems are involved. Strong efforts are being made to increase its membership, with gratifying results, the county agent

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working in co-operation with representatives of the Bureau through personal solicitation. The Agriculture Extension Division is recommending that wool growers of each county form an association and pool their 1920 crop, the pool sent in by each farmer to retain its identity until graded, and the wool to be sold to the highest bidder. A Testing Association is being formed around Kel- logg and Weaver for the purpose of finding unprofitable cows, obtaining better feeding and an increase in the product of butter fat and milk, and it is probable that similar associations will be formed in other parts of the county. The Bureau is also purchasing a great deal of seed for farmers with the object of obtaining better crop results.

OSTEOPATHY.

By C. M. Mackenzie, D. O.

Osteopathy is a System of Therapeutics-Andrew Taylor Still the Founder -Importance of the Profession at the present time-The First Osteopaths in Minnesota-The Practitioners in Wabasha County.

In writing the local history of a comparatively new science, it might be well to give the reader a brief exposition of what Osteopathy is, who its founder was, and a word as to the scope of its application. A short but fairly compre- hensive definition and description follows:

Osteopathy is the name of that system of the healing art, which places the chief emphasis on the structural integrity of body mechanism as being the most important single factor in maintaining the well being of the organism in health and disease; that nature has provided all the vital forces and chemicals necessary for the maintenance of health and the repair of diseased conditions. Health is natural, disease is unnatural. Disease or abnormal functioning is caused by an interference with the blood supply or blood drainage of the part diseased or by an interference with the normal and proper nerve impulses to that part or both.

Osteopathy has discovered that such interference is mechanical, due to contracted or tightened muscles or ligaments, or to the abnormal relations of the bones, the frame work upon which the soft tissues of the body depend for support and protection, such interference constituting what is known as an "Osteopathic Lesion." Owing to the fact that most of the nerves of the body come from the spine, and that the control of the blood supply to the various organs of the body is largely, if not wholly, through the nerves, osteopathic treatments are mainly given to the spine. It has become the duty of the Oste- opathic Physician to discover the lesions in any particular case and to adjust such lesions to their normal anatomical relations, depending upon the fact that when structure has been made normal, the functioning or action of the parts will return to the normal.

The Osteopath, in treating a patient, only seeks to liberate the natural vital forces and chemicals; thereby assisting nature along natural paths to restore to normal balance, and function any parts which may be subject to disease. In the early days of Osteopathy cures were made chiefly in chronic diseases as people did not have sufficient confidence in the new system to allow the Oste- opath to handle acute illnesses. But this is rapidly changing. People realize that the Osteopath can treat all acute diseases with marked results. During the Pandemic Influenza the Osteopaths had a chance to demonstrate their work to the public which showed how wonderful Osteopathy is in acute work.

Osteopathy built up its present standing by curing the incurable cases of old lines of treatment, and stands today a complete system of practice, treating successfully both acute and chronic diseases. Osteopathy then deals with the body as an intricate machine which, if kept in proper adjustments, nourished and cared for, will run smoothly into ripe and useful old age.

Osteopathy was discovered by Andrew Taylor Still. Dr. Still was a med- ical practitioner for many years, serving as surgeon in the Union Army during

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the Civil War. Being a man with an analytical mind and gifted with that rare faculty, the ability to think along original lines, Dr. Still was not satisfied to alow the many failures of his own practice and those of his colleagues to go unexplained, but worked incessantly and studied deeply into the anatomy and physiology of the human body to determine if there was not some better and more effective way to relieve suffering humanity of its pains and infirmities. In 1874 he announced to his patients at Baldwin, Kansas, that he was done with drugs forever, and that he had evolved a system of drugless healing. For eighteen years the struggle was hard and bitter. He was ridiculed, maligned, and scoffed at, and met oppositions of the most determined sort. Deserted by relatives as well as friends, he moved with his family to Kirksville, Missouri, which place was to become the theater of his greatest achievements.

In 1892 he started a school at Kirksville for the purpose of teaching the new science to others. This school, known as the American School of Oste- opathy, was the first school of the new system, and with a humble beginning and its dozen or so scholars, has grown to be a large college in the twenty-two years of its existence, having nearly 900 students in attendance and over 6,000 graduates. There are now several colleges of Osteopathy located in various parts of the country, all of which maintain a high standard of requirements and belong to the Associated Colleges of Osteopathy.

There are over Ten Thousand Osteopaths practicing in every state in the Union, in Canada, Mexico and the leading countries of Europe, Asia and South America. No system of therapy was ever granted public recognition and adop- tion so speedily and fully. Within fifteen years practically all the states of the Union have enacted laws placing the Osteopathic Physician on substan- tially the same legal plane as the old school practitioners.

There is an American Osteopathic Association with over eight thousand active members holding annual meetings in various of the large cities of the country. Among the many activities of the association is the financing and establishment of an institute for research work to be located in Chicago and to be known as the A. T. Still Research Institute. There are state associations in every state with subsidiary district, county and city societies: The first Osteopath in Minnesota was Dr. Chas. E. Still, a son of Dr. A. T. Still, who first located in Minneapolis in 1893, and afterwards practiced in Red Wing and St. Paul. There are now about two hundred Osteopaths in Minnesota and the number is being constantly augmented.

The history of Osteopathy in Wabasha County is necessarily brief. The Osteopaths of Wabasha County were Dr. Tedford, Dr. Crosser, Dr. Sayler and Dr. C. N. Mackenzie.

Deltic Dillon Sylvester.

CHAPTER XXV.

BIOGRAPHY.

George W. Sylvester was one of that worthy band of pioneers who helped develop this region from an almost untrodden wilderness into the prosperous and productive farming country that it is today. He did his share of the hard work, he and his family took their share of the privations, hardships and in- conveniences, and his name will long be held in honored remembrance. He performed efficient service on the town board in the early days, he took an active interest in public affairs, and his influence was ever on the side of those things which he believed to be just and right. George W. Sylvester was born at Phillips, Maine, the son of Caleb and Joanna (Whitney) Sylvester. Caleb Sylvester was a sturdy Maine farmer who achieved something of a name for himself as a mathmetician and surveyor. In 1844 he brought his family to Wisconsin, took a farm near Platteville, and there devoted the remainder of his long and useful life to farming. Two of the sons, Charles and George W., the subject of this sketch, assisted their father on the farm, and when they attained suitable years, secured employment in the near-by lead mines. In 1851, thrilled with the story of the gold finds in California, the two brothers set out across the plains with an ox team bound for the Pacific coast. Three years of stren- uous work in the gold fields netted them each $2,000. There were many oppor- tunities for them in that western country, but life so far away from home and kindred did not appeal strongly to them, so they started back to Wisconsin. With the memory of that long, dangerous trip across the wild plains clearly in their mind, they decided to make the return trip by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and accordingly set out by that route, but it was not until several months later, and after encountering many thrilling adventures, including a shipwreck, that the young men were once more at the parental fireside. A year later, in 1855, the two brothers came to Minnesota, and secured land in this county, George W. claiming the southeast quarter of section 25, in Plainview Township. That winter he spent with his parents in Wisconsin, was there married, and in the spring of 1856, with his bride, settled on his claim in this county. He built a house, started to develop his farm, and worked at his trade as a wagon-maker. In addition to this he also worked for his neighbors as a carpenter, so that many of the pioneer homes of the township still standing are the work of his hands, and a tribute to the skill, permanency and ability with which he wrought. In 1860 he erected on his farm the biggest barn in the neighborhood and painted it red, this "Big Red Barn" being a landmark in the township for many years. In 1875 he replaced his first home with the commodious farm house, which, enlarged and remodeled, is still standing. When the Woodland postoffice was established at his home he was made the first postmaster. As already mentioned, he was one of the early officers of the town. Fraternally he was affiliated with the Odd Fellows and the Masons. His religious faith was that of the Methodist Episcopal church. After a

useful and well spent life he died September 6, 1876.

His wife died in 1905. Mr. Sylvester was married March 18, 1856, to Matilda Cook, born in Waterloo Township, Province of Quebec, Canada, November 5, 1838, daughter of John Cook, a Canadian of Irish ancestry, who settled in Wisconsin in the early days. Mr. and Mrs. Sylvester were the parents of five children, Edwin L., Hattie A., George Franklin, Electa A., and Nellie M. Edwin L. and George F. are Plain- view bankers. Hattie A. and Electa A. are dead.

Edwin L. Sylvester, president of the Plainview State Bank, and one of the leading citizens, as well as one of the prominent financiers of this region, is a native of Wabasha County, and descended from pioneer stock on both sides

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of his house. His early career as agriculturist and educator gave him a splen- did foundation for his later banking career which started when he was but little past the age of reaching his majority. Under his able guidance, his bank which is the oldest in the county, has also become one of the strongest. Mr. Sylvester has felt from the first that the interests of the bank and of the com- munity were identical, and his constant efforts have been along the lines of the still further development and progress of the surrounding rural districts. Unostentatious in manner and retiring in disposition he has not cared to as- sume a prominent position in political life, but his good advice and keen judg- ment have exerted a powerful influence on the affairs of the community in which he has made his life-long home. Mr. Sylvester possesses those qualities which would have made him a leader in whatever sphere of life his duty might have called him to. Fate cast his lot in a pioneer community with whose growth to a prosperous, commercial and agricultural region he became identi- fied, and in whose progress he has had a part. Here he has been content to live and labor, establishing an ideal home, giving his children a tender, intelligent, fatherly guidance, helping his fellow man as he has found the opportunity, taking up the tasks that have been nearest at hand, and shedding over the community the light of his kindly personality.

Edwin L. Sylvester was born in Plainview Township, March 16, 1859, son of George W. and Matilda A. (Cook) Sylvester, the pioneers. He attended the district schools of his neighborhood, and studied three years in the Plainview High School, supplementing this education with home study, wide reading and keen observation. With this preparation he taught school for two years. In the meantime his spare time had been spent in working on his father's farm. June 1, 1882, he became a clerk in the Plainview State Bank, and with the des- tinies of that institution, his name and personality have since been connected, so much so in fact, that the Plainview State Bank is more commonly known as the Sylvester Bank. He was promoted from clerk to teller and then to cashier, and in 1905 was elevated to his present position as president. Mr. Sylvester is a prominent Mason, belonging to the Blue Lodge at Plainview, the Chapter, Commandery and Consistory at Winona, and Osman Temple at St. Paul. He has also passed through the chairs of the Odd Fellows' Lodge at Plainview. His religious faith is that of the Christian Church, in the affairs of which he has taken a leading part. Edwin L. Sylvester was married November 22, 1885, to Hettie L. Dillon, and this union has been blessed with five children: Nettie, Meta, Park D., Byrl E. and Edwin L., Jr. Nettie is the wife of James P. Cald- well, a physician and surgeon of St. Paul, Minn. Meta is the wife of Roy J. Holmes, a well-known educator. Byrl E., after a distinguished army record, gave his life in the cause of humanity in the world war. Park D. and Edwin L., Jr., are at home.

Hettie L. Dillon, now Mrs. Edwin L. Sylvester, was born at St. Lawrence, Jefferson County, N. Y., daughter of Albert and Helen P. (Goodenough) Dillon, April 6, 1863. Albert Dillon served in Co. E., 186th New York Volunteer In- fantry, attained the rank of corporal, and was killed at the Battle of Petersburg, April 2, 1865. Thus left a widow, Mrs. Dillon later married R. W. Chapman, who brought the family to Minnesota in 1869, and settled on a farm near Elgin in this county. The young daughter, who was six years old when the family arrived, attended the schools of her neighborhood and graduated from the Plainview High School. Mrs. Sylvester has been active in all those lines which made for helpful motherhood and helpful womanhood. Her first interest has been her home, and to her family she devoted the major part of her time until the children began to reach more mature years. But this has not been the compass of her work. She is a pillar in the Christian Church, prominent in its various interests, superintendent of the Sunday school and president of its Ladies' Union. In the Eastern Star, the Rebekah Degree and the Ladies' Circle of the D. A. R. she has occupied the highest local offices. One of the founders

Byl &. Sylvester

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and a charter member of the Travelers Club, she helped shape its policies, as chairman of the entertainment committee for many years. In pursuing these various interests she has kept well abreast of those movements which are tend- ing to enlarge woman's scope of influence, and the granting of suffrage rights to women has brought to her the high historical honor of being the first chair- man of the Republican Ladies of Wabasha County.

Byrl E. Sylvester, holder of the French Croix de Guerre, bearer of an honorable record in the World War, and an inspiration force in volunteer re- cruiting in southeastern Minnesota, gave his life in the cause of humanity at the threshhold of his manhood's career and left the memory of a noble and wholesome life that will be an incentive for good deeds to the youth of this vicinity for a generation to come. He was born in Plainview, October 28, 1892, the son of Edwin L. and Hettie L. (Dillon) Sylvester, passed through the graded schools of Plainview, graduated from the Plainview High School in 1914, entered the University of Minnesota, and there studied three years. While at the university he was popular with his associates, and was admitted to fellowship in the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. Returning to his home, he started what he planned as life work as a financier by becoming an assistant in the Plainview State Bank. He was thus employed when the United States entered the World War. Thrilled with a patriotism, which was the heritage from his long line of sturdy pioneer ancestors, he left his position in the bank, and on April 24, 1917, with a number of his college mates, entered the Norton- Harjes Ambulance Corps, leaving for France, where he spent five months in active Red Cross service, as an ambulance driver, until he was wounded in action September 12, 1917, the wound resulting from acts of great valor which won him the Croix de Guerre. After returning home to recover from his in- juries, he had but one aim, that of returning to France to do his part in the great struggle. From the time of his return he was a changed man. That buoyant spirit he had carried all his life had left him. The stern realities of war and what it meant to the people of Belgium and France seemed always to be his foremost thought. He maintained a serious attitude, feeling that he owed a duty in returning to those war-ridden countries to aid in securing a permanent peace. As he regained his strength his chief thought was upon the war, and the sacred duty of doing all in his power for suffering France and Belgium. While still suffering from his weakness, he toured Minnesota, talking on the war, and inspiring many to enlist and do their share. After his recovery, though he was acquainted with all the horrors of war, and well knowing his possible fate, he could, nevertheless, remain home no longer. Consequently he re-enlisted for service, this time in the United States forces. Entering the Naval Air Service, he became a member of the first class of student pilots at Dunwoodie Institute, at Minneapolis, with the nominal rating of chief quarter- master. From the Dunwoodie Institute he went to the flying field of the Boston School of Technology, studying aviation as a member of the Naval Flying Corps. Later he was transferred to the Naval Aviation Station at Pensacola, Florida, where he would have completed his course and received his commission June 22, 1918. He was killed by a collision in mid-air, 700 feet from the earth. June 19, 1918. His body fell into the bay and was recovered. It was brought back to Plainview, and is laid to rest here. He was accorded full naval and military honors, and the sorrowing concourse which accompanied him to his last resting place embraced substantially the whole population of the vicinity. as well as distinguished people from all over the state.

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History of Wabasha County, Minnesota, Part 36

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