USA > Minnesota > Wabasha County > History of Wabasha County : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc. : gathered from matter furnished by interviews with old settlers, county, township, and other records, and extracts from files of papers, pamphlets, and such other sources > Part 72
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111
David McCarty, Plainview
913
HIGHLAND TOWNSHIP.
been made better than before, and all those that were completely destroyed have been replaced with new structures, so that the time is- near at hand when the last trace of this terrible event will have been completely obliterated, and the Elgin cyclone will have lost all of its interest, excepting as an historical event.
CHAPTER LXXXVII.
HIGHLAND TOWNSHIP.
THE township of Highland is a regular township, being six miles square. It is known as T. 109 N., of R. 11 W., and is bounded on the north by Glasgow, on the east by Watopa, on the south by Winona county and Plainview township, and on the west by Oak- wood. The township was organized in 1858, under the name of Smithfield, which cognomen was not long retained, the Smiths being at that time numerous, but not very popular, and the more eupho- nious title of Highland was substituted, which also truthfully implies the fact of its elevated surface.
The soil is a black loam with a clay subsoil, heavier in the northern and central portions, and lighter on the more open prairie- like portions in the south. The surface is undulating, and in the north and east broken by bluff's and high hills that hedge in more or less narrow valleys. Along these bluff ledges grow timber, chiefly oak. The entire surface was originally covered with short, stubby oaks and other woods, and more or less undergrowth. Through these valleys flow such streams as pay tribute to the Zumbro on the north. The largest of these is known as West Indian creek ; it rises in the southern central part of the township and flows down a beautiful valley, from twenty to one hundred rods in widthi, to the northward, turning on its way one gristmill, and for several years two.
The first town meeting in Highland was held May 13, 1858, at the residence of I. Smith, in the southeast portion of the township, near where the Smithfield postoffice is located. W. L. Cleaveland
55
914
HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY.
presided over the meeting and was elected chairman of the board of supervisors, of which C. G. Dawley and R. M. Doane were also chosen members. The other officers elected at this meeting were as follows : J. R. Cleaveland, clerk ; M. Baldwin, overseer of poor ; Volney Crandall. assessor ; James Felton and A. C. Smith, justices of the peace ; George Begg and Oliver Nelson, constables ; and George Begg, collector. The township expenses for that year were, all told, fifty dollars.
The first settlements were made in Highland early in the spring of 1855, by the Nelsons or Olsons, near the southern line, and Patrick McDonough in the very northeast corner, in Cook's valley. Oliver Nelson and Patrick McDonough both erected log houses ve early in the spring of this year. The first birth of a white child in the township occurred some time in the spring or summer of 1855, the child being Maria Sullivan, daughter of Thomas and Mary Sullivan. The first deaths of settlers also occurred during this season, the victims being two men by the respective names of Pugh and Green, who had come on to build them homes in the western Eldorado. They had scarcely more than had time to rear a humble habitation when they were stricken down with cholera morbus and lived but a few hours. Fear of the disease seized the few neighbors that surrounded them, and they were buried by a few faithful friends at night in Cook's valley, near their deserted domicile, without funeral rites.
It was not until the opening of another season that the tide of immigration seemed to set in toward Highland; but in 1856 and 1857 there flocked in from the states a large number of Irish and Germans, and a fair sprinkling of Yankees.
The people who settled Ilighland were for the most part reli- giously inclined, and at an early day began to display their zeal in spiritual matters by organizing churches. The Catholic church undoubtedly was the first to occupy the field with a society. They held services first at the residence of Mr. Timothy Ryan, on whose premises the Catholic church of Highland was afterward erected, Father Tisheant officiating. This society early erected their first church edifice, a structure of no imposing exterior, but suffi- cient to satisfy the humble sons of toil who came with happy hearts to worship there. It was 20×30 feet. A fine new building now occupies the site of this pioneer cathedral - a beautiful little white church, with green blinds, and a belfry. Across the street from the
915
HIGHLAND TOWNSHIP.
church stands the parsonage, which was erected at a cost of sixteen hundred dollars a few years since, and is a nice home for the priest whose good fortune it is to have charge of this rural society. Father Trobec and Rev. Peter Jeran are among the pas- tors who have done much for the building up of this little Catholic church of Highland, which is styled the Church of the Immaculate Conception. Its members are chiefly of Irish and German descent, of which the larger part of the inhabitants of northeast Highland is composed. Back of this church and in the same inclosure with it is the Catholic cemetery, which has received the remains of many worthy pioneers of Highland township, some of whose graves are marked by pretentious monuments. The church is located on sec- tion 10, and is at present presided over by the aged Father Mur- ray. Everything in its surroundings and circumstances proclaims it to be in a highly prosperous condition.
The Protestant societies organized in this township have been many. But they were less prosperous than that hardier religious plant Catholicism, and too numerous for so meager a population to sufficiently nourish. And today the remnants of the once thriving Baptist, Methodist, Congregationalist and Lutheran societies are scat- tered, and have been gathered into other christian folds, principally located in the neighboring village of Plainview. Preaching is occa- sionally held in the Highland schoolhouse, in southeast Highland, and the Methodist Episcopal society (chiefly Norwegians) have a parsonage and sustain regular services in the southwest part of the township ; while at Hamps' Mill there still stands the old log church erected by the German Reform or Evangelical congregation in 1866, and still supplied with a pastor, who resides in West Albany, but holds services here biweekly. The Presbyterians in an early day were also sufficiently strong to sustain preaching at tlie Appel Mills schoolhonse, but have not been able to keep up their organization of late years. Each society of three - Baptist, Methodist and Congre- gationalist-has taken its turn at conducting revivals in the Highland schoolhouse, and much vigorous religious work has been done within its walls.
The first preaching in the Highland district was done by the Rev. Mr. Dyer in the fall of 1859, at the residence of Mr. Stillman Hathaway ; and the following year the Methodist and Baptist soci- eties were organized. A Sunday school was also established about this time, with A. T. James as the first superintendent, which has since continned to exist.
7
916
HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY.
The Methodist society have continued to monopolize most of the preaching up to the present time. The Baptist society num- bered at one time some seventy members, but has been practically inefficient since 1872. The pastors of the Plainview Congregational church have had, during a portion of the time, regular services in this dictrict. Of late years the community have been more united, and have given a cordial support, regardless of denominational views, to that sect, whichever it might be, so fortunate as to be able to have a pastor to fill their pulpit, and a greater degree of harmony is noticeable.
Highland is justly proud of her common schools, of which there are at present seven. The first teaching was done by Miss Ursula Metcalf, now Mrs. Levi Emery, in district 39, known as the Rich district, in the southwestern portion of the township. In district 37, or the Stanfield Spring school, the first teaching was in a log house near the site of the present building, in the spring of 1860, by Miss Aurora Albertson. In the Highland district, No. 40, Ann Robbins taught a school in the summer of 1859. The schoolhouse was an octagonal structure, provided by Wm. T. James, then a prominent man in that part of the township. It was framed in Wabasha and drawn to the place of erection in sections, and for years did duty as both church and schoolhouse. In the year 1869 this district erected a large and handsome substitute, for the better accommodation of their many scholars. This new building stands near the center of the district, which is three miles square, and cost fifteen hundred dollars. The Hampi Mill district, No. 64, and the Appel's Mill district, No. 66, both located in West Indian Creek valley, were also pioneer districts. These last-named districts have since been somewhat weakened by the establishment of two new districts, the one in the Grarey neighborhood, and the other in the McNallan neighborhood. Without exception, the schoolhouses in Highland are in excellent condition, and are in marked contrast with the rude log huts that only a few years ago attested the high regard which the poor but intelligent pioneers of this township had for education in early days.
The entire tract, since embraced by this township, was included in the Sioux half-breed Indian reservation that stretched for some thirty miles along the general course of the Mississippi river, from a point in the township of Greenfield, section 18, east, northward, and it was due to this fact that the first white settlers in Highland for
917
HIGHLAND TOWNSHIP.
several years made only moderate progress in the improvement of the claims. Fearing that the "half-breed script" would be success- fully "laid upon " their new possessions by the land-sharks that in- fested the country, it was but natural for them to delay their work of clearing the land and making the more permanent improvements, until the validity of their titles should be declared and peaceable possession of their new homes be vouchsafed them. Some of them finally bought up scrip and "laid it" themselves, thereby securing an unquestionable title, but the majority of the new-comers were too poor to solve the problem so easily, and were occasionally induced by those holding this scrip to surrender one half of their quarter- sections in order to have the title to the remaining half perfected. Here and there a settler more gullible than the others was induced by threats and false representations to abandon his claim and go elsewhere. In this way many of the best claims were temporarily controlled by speculators, to whom tribute was sometimes paid.
In 1858 the first road in the township was laid out and worked; the same being the road that connects Appel's (then Watkins') Mill with Canfield Springs. It is now well provided with suitable high- ways leading out in all directions ; many of them following the course of ravines.
The valuation of property in Highland was in 1860 as follows: 12,027 acres, valued at $39,460 ; personal property, $2,479. In 1883, 22,792 acres, at 8228,742 ; personal property, $32,519 - an average of $10.03 per acre. At the fall election in 1883 the polling list shows 160 voters.
Besides the Catholic cemetery before mentioned there is another near the Lutheran or Reform church in West Indian Creek valley, and one grave is to be found marked by an unpretentious marble slab on ground that A. T. James once gave to the settlers for burial purposes, in southeast Highland, near Smithfield.
The only tragedy that has occurred within the township of High- land since its settlement, occurred in 1866, on the Canfield Spring road. A book agent was riding along this road when some one, secreted in the bushes that skirted the highway shot him and rifled his pockets. The author of tliis dastardly act was never discovered, bnt years afterward a rusty rifle was found in the bushes on the top of a neighboring bluff, from which it is surmised the murderous bullet was fired.
918
HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY.
SMITHFIELD POSTOFFICE.
In 1858 the inhabitants of Highland petitioned the postal author- ities for the establishment of a postoffice in sontheast Highland, along the Rochester and Wabasha stage route. The prayer of the petition was granted, a commission was issned to Israel Smith as post- master, and the office was dubbed Smithfield ; before the arrival of this commission Mr. Smith left the country. Soon after Mr. Thomas Smith opened a little store on section 24, and was abont to be ap- pointed to this office when his store burned down, and he also departed from the country. The third petition in the summer of 1859 resulted in James S. Felton becoming the first postmaster. This same summer the Dugans, of Wabasha, who had quite an extensive landed interest in this part of the county, erected a store and a hotel ; a blacksmith-shop was also a feature of this pioneer hamlet. In 1862 the Jameses bought out the Dugans, and about three years later abandoned the store and closed np the hotel, thus terminating the business life of Smitlifield. The postoffice is still retained, with C. G. Dawley as postmaster since 1865. Daily mail is received from Plainview in the morning, and Wabasha in the afternoon.
LYONS, OR WATKINS' MILL.
In 1856 Daniel J. Watkins erected a sawmill on West Indian creek, on section 16, in Highland. Five years later Mr. Watkins found that the community had greater need for a gristmill than they had for a sawmill, and at once proceeded to remove the latter and erect in its stead the first gristmill of Highland. This same season Alfred Lathrop opened a store near by, and the following year, 1862, Lyons postoffice was established here, with Mr. Lathrop as post- master. In 1865 Mr. Watkins sold his mill to John Yale, who continued to run it for nine years. The proprietorship was then transferred in rapid succession from Yale to Richard Ralf, and through C. W. Hackett's hands to Stephen Appel, its present pro- prietor. The store has continued to exist withont interruption - under various proprietors - since it was first opened, and without local competition. E. W. Cleaveland is its present owner. The postoffice was discontinued in ISSI.
HAMPE MILL.
In 1866 Henry Hampe erected a gristmill on Indian creek, about two miles below the Watkins mill. This mill was burned down in 1881, February 19, and has not been rebuilt.
919
HIGHLAND TOWNSHIP.
INCIDENTS.
The early settlers were not only annoyed by parties holding half-breed script, but by cliques of land-sharks who often songht by force to drive off those settlers who had come without an invitation from these would-be lords of all the rich and fertile lands in the county. They were sometimes successful, but not always. An incident illustrating their manner of proceeding is the case of John Redden. Mr. Redden had taken a claim near the McNallans in Highland, which was erected by certain Wabasha 'parties ; and " Blind-Charley " Lessling and a man by the name of Harrecaine, with a posse of congenial spirits, called upon the intruder Redden, after first giving him due notice to quit, and were in the act of hang- ing him to a tree, when John McNallan and his father Thomas McNallan appeared upon the scene, and by a vigorous protest, backed by a threat to brain with axes which they carried the first man that laid a hand on their intended victim, succeeded in effect- ing Redden's release, though the cowardly gang of mobbers retired threatening to renew the attempt on Redden's life unless he should speedily leave the country, which he soon after did.
Though the Indians were numerous they were never guilty of committing depredations on the farmers of Highland, but annoyed them by incessant begging. The whites were afraid to deny their requests, and occasionally became the butt of the redskins' practi- cal jokes. On one occasion an old squaw and two young bucks called on Mrs. Patrick McDonough during the absence of her hus- band, and by signs induced her to prepare them a meal of victuals, which she did with much trouble. As soon as it was ready they laughed at her .and bolted out of the cabin, leaving the meal un- touched.
CHAPTER LXXXVIIL.
THE VILLAGE OF PLAINVIEW.
THE charming little village of Plainview is found in the heart of that delightful tract of country in the southern part of Wabasha county known as Greenwood Prairie. The place now (in 1884) has a population of probably eight hundred, the result of a steady and wholesome development through a period of twenty-eight years. It is located in the township of Plainview, on parts of sec- tions 7, 8, 9, 16, 17 and 18, about four miles north of the White Water, the nearest river. It is the terminus of the Plainview divi- sion of the Chicago & Northwestern railway, which has its june- tion with the main line at Eyota in the adjoining county of Olmsted.
In the spring of 1856 J. Y. Blackwell, an Iowa lawyer, pos- sessed of pioneer proclivities, arrived with his family on what is now the village site, and erected an insignificant domicile, half logs and half boards, near the present location of Geo. S. La Rue & Co's drug store, corner Broadway and Jefferson street; and the same season Levi Ormsby constructed a claim shanty a half-mile farther west. Mr. Blackwell was possessed of some means and at once set about getting out the timbers for a hotel, which was raised on the site of the present Plainview House, on the ensuing 4th of July. Ozias Wilcox arrived that summer, bought forty acres opposite the hotel, on section 8, from Hugh Wiley, and erected a store and dwelling combined. David Van Wort put up a carpenter-shop, and a Mr. Bray a blacksmith-shop. A few others had located on land that has since become a part of the present village of Plain- view ; among these were Edwin Chapman, Lloyd Yale and David Ackley ; Dr. Gibbs was also an early comer. Thus populated the embryo city encountered the terrible winter of 1856-7, which opened up in November with a terrific snowstorm. The snow lay to a depth of about four feet on the level until the following April, and in places was drifted so as to nearly bury the poor little shanties of these humble pioneers. Communication with the out- side world was practically cut off, and fortunate was this little com-
921
THE VILLAGE OF PLAINVIEW.
munity in having Mr. Wilcox and his well stocked store of groceries and provisions to draw upon in its extremity. This store is the same building now occupied by the Plainview bank. Throughout the entire winter of 1876-7, it was surrounded by a narrow court, swept bare by the same' sporting winds that banked the snow sev- eral feet high on every side. Into these walls of snow, hard packed and frozen, steps were cut, that proved a substantial means of exit from the court below until an April sun destroyed them.
The severity of this first winter disheartened many people in the settlement, and but for poverty and a beautiful spring another winter would have found Plainview quite deserted. However, with the return of spring came new pioneer reinforcements from the States, other industries were established, and a delightful and pros- perous season reassured all save Mr. Blackwell, who shrank from encountering the hardships of another winter, and busied himself in the disposal of his Plainview possessions, that he might be off before the approach of cold weather. In this he succeeded, and at once left for his Iowa home, deserting forever his little prairie protégé.
The new town was first dubbed Centerville, and was platted under that name, which was changed to Plainview - signifying its sightly location- upon learning that another Minnesota town had also been christened Centerville. So successful have the inhabitants of Plainview been in arboriculture, that the plain view of early days is in these times much obscured ; indeed the little city is fairly encom- passed by groves of beautiful trees that effectually moderate the blasts of winter and parry the fierce heat of the midsummer sun, adding much to the physical beauty of the town.
The platting of the village of Plainview in the summer of 1857 was the conjoint work of J. Y. Blackwell, Ozias Wilcox, T. A. Thompson, Lloyd Yale and Dr. Gibbs. Additions to the village have since been made by T. A. Thompson on the west, H. P. Wil- son on the east, and A. P. Foster on the sonth.
Its existence was at first menaced and its prosperity retarded by Greenville (afterward Greenwood), a rival aspirant for urban honors, located two and one-half miles east of Plainview. Fortunately for the latter town, Greenville could not give an unquestionable title to her real estate, as it was a part of the Sionx balf-breed tract, and capitalists seeking investments for their money in village property were prone to pass her by. Plainview, on the other hand, had no
922
HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY.
such unfortunate circumstance to contend against, and thus having decidedly the advantage of her rival, soon vanquished her in the race. A few years later and Greenville is a thing of the past, while her leading spirits have augmented the industrial ranks of her elated and flourishing rival.
As early as the summer of 1858 we find a school established in the village. David Van Wort's carpenter-shop sufficed for a school- room, and a young Vermonter by the name of Hale wields the fernle. An old building that still stands on High street became the next schoolhouse ; prior to this it had served duty as a drug- store for Dr. Gibbs. The district when first established was known as No. 60, and retained this number until it was organized into an independent district in 1869. The present school-building was erected on the public square, near the center of the village, in 1867, at a cost of nearly sixteen thousand dollars. The follow- ing year the school was graded. A few years ago the high school was created, and the required course of studies adopted, and today the Plainview public schools rank high among the schools of Minnesota.
The first religious organization of any kind in Plainview was effected by the Rev. O. P. Crawford, of Forest Mound, in August, 1857, and consisted of a class composed of the following named ladies and gentlemen, namely, J. Y. Blackwell, Gnerdou Town, Sophronia Town, S. Lattie, Mrs. Lattie, Matilda Todd, Mrs. Thomp- son and Edwin L. Ball. This class afterward developed into the Methodist Episcopal church society of Plainview, which opened the first Sunday school in the village in April, 1861, with Franklin Syl- vester as superintendent. The present Methodist church edifice was erected in 1866; it is 33×60 feet, and cost four thousand dollars. The society have also a parsonage that cost them one thousand dol- lars, which was built in the summer of 1867.
In 1863 the Rev. Henry Williard organized the Congregational church society, which has since become the leading church of Plain- view. In 1871 their present church edifice was built, at a cost of seven thousand dollars. Its dimensions are 36×56 feet, with a ves- try (the gift of the Rev. H. Williard) 28×32 feet.
The Society of Christians was organized in Plainview February 1, 1864, with twenty members. The first pastor was Abraham Shoemacher. In 1866 they purchased the old schoolhouse and converted it into a church.
923
THE VILLAGE OF PLAINVIEW.
The Methodist and Congregational societies support regular weekly preaching.
A Catholic society is organizing and preparing to build a church.
Both the Odd-Fellows and Masonic fraternities have good healthy organizations in Plainview. Plainview Lodge, No. 63, A.F.A.M., was organized December 24, 1866, and Plainview Lodge, No. 16, I.O.O.F., was instituted with fifteen chartered members on Decem- ber 26, 1866.
Several lodges of Good Templars have had brief existences ; and the Ancient Order of United Workmen once flourished in Plainview, but is now defunct.
While the prevailing spirit is anti-rum, there is yet no organized temperance society in the town except a branch of the Women's Christian Temperance Union.
The first attention to the banking business in Plainview was in 1864, when E. B. Eddy established a small bank in connection with his hardware store. In 1867 we find Mr. Eddy giving his exclusive attention to the management of the first and only bank in the place, which is known as the Plainview bank. The business has seemed to prosper from the very first; has changed hands several times; at present the firm is Henry Amerland & Co., of which the Hon. W. E. Wording is the managing spirit, with a capital of twenty-one thousand dollars.
Long before the advent of the Plainview railroad the village had become an excellent market for the productions of the large and extended tract of rich farming lands that surround it. Large quan- tities of grain were bought by Plainview buyers, who hauled it with teams to shipping points on the Mississippi river. In 1878 the rail- road was completed from Eyota to Plainview, and the building of elevators was commenced, of which there are now three, each having a capacity of about thirty thousand bushels.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.