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 80

Author: H.H. Hill and Company. 4n
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : H.H. Hill & Co.
Number of Pages: 1176

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 80

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GEORGE D. SANDFORD, merchant, is a son of J. H. Sandford, elsewhere mentioned in this work, and was born in Topsham, Maine, June 14, 1850. He was brought to Mazeppa with his father's family in the fall of 1855, and has dwelt here ever since. His life was passed on a farm till twenty-one years old, and his education was fur-« nished by the common schools, of whose advantages he made the best use. His natural abilities and energies have made him a suc- cessful business man. In 1871 he went to Lake City, where he spent three years in learning and following the wagonmaker's trade. In 1874 he built a wagon-shop near the mill in Mazeppa, which he operated five years and then sold, the advent of the railroad spoiling the location. He has dealt considerable in real estate, and is now the owner of a farm near the village, which he rents. On April 25, 1881, he was deputized as postmaster, and has kept the postoffice ever since. The following year he opened a stock of groceries and boots and shoes in the postoffice building, and does considerable trade in those commodities. He was elected town clerk in 1882, and is now fulfilling the duties of the same office. He is a repub- lican, and a member of the masonic order. He has been twice married, and was robbed of his first mate by death in July, 1875. Jennie Dickey was the lady's name before her marriage to Mr. Sandford, which occurred October 22, 1874. On Christmas day,

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1879, he was united in marriage with Miss Alice, daughter of J. B. Miller. They have a son, born December 5, 1880, and christened Frank Burnett.

GEN. SETH L. MCCARTY, of Plainview, Wabasha county, is a staunch old pioneer farmer with a career. His father, William McCarty, was a farmer, residing in Muncy, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, where Seth was born June 9, 1808. Here he acquired the rudiments of an education in the common school and continued to reside until his twenty-first year. During two years of this time he worked for John Crouse, cabinetmaker, of Muncy, learning that trade, which he followed in Towanda, Bradford county, Pennsyl- vania, until the spring of 1832, when he went to Newmarket, Can- ada, and opened a cabinetshop. He continued in business there until the breaking out of the patriot war in 1837. This war at once furnished him the opportunity that his military nature sought, and . he soon found a place on Gen. Mckenzie's staff, and was immedi- ately employed to bear dispatches to divers members of the Domin- ion parliament concerned in the revolt. On his good stout war-horse he performed this task, that required not a little nerve and energy. Frequently the enemy crowded him in close pursuit, on one occasion forcing him to ride a distance of fifty-two miles in six hours, and on another sixty-eight miles in eight hours. He was next transferred to Gen. Van Rensselaer's staff, and served under him until the winter of 1837-8, when he was sent to the support of Gen. McClellan, of the western division, and remained with him until the war closed. Gen. McCarty led the forces that stormed and captured Windsor, opposite Detroit, and it was after this battle, in which he displayed great bravery and military genius, that he was raised from the rank of colonel to that of brigadier-general. With the close of this war terminated the active military life of Gen. McCarty. He soon after resigned his commission and removed to Detroit, Michigan, and the following year to Port Huron, in the same state, where he continued to reside until 1855, when he came to Minnesota and located on the S.E. ¿ of Sec. 21, in Plainview township. Here he has since con- tinued to pursue the even life of a farmer. On one occasion only has the peace been sufficiently disturbed to rouse the old warlike nature in his breast and drive him to the front, and that was during the Indian outbreak which occurred in Minnesota in 1862, though he held a commission as major in the state militia from 1860. Two years after his settlement in Minnesota a postoffice was established

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at his house under the name of Independence, of which office he was postmaster until it was discontinued in 1862. Gen. McCarty was the first settler in southwest Plainview. He has always affiliated with the democratic party, and is a member of the masonic frater- nity. He was married in York county, Canada, to Rebecca Mc- Causland, daughter of James and Anna McCausland, in 1835. They have three children now living, viz : James, a farmer of Plainview township ; David, farmer, residing in Winona county ; and Mary Ann (Mrs. Samuel Loy) of Spokane county, Washington Territory.

RHODERICK W. DRINKWALTER, farmer, Zumbro, is among the early settlers of Mazeppa, that part in which he resides having been set off quite recently. In 1856 he built a sawmill on the main Zumbro near where the bridge now crosses the same, a mile above the mouth of the north branch. He was a pioneer in the town of Fox Lake, Wisconsin, where he settled in 1842, and was one of the first supervisors of that town, as well as of Mazeppa, being elected in 1858. He is a republican in politics. Himself and wife have been forty years members of the Methodist Episcopal church. They were married October 1, 1838. Mrs. Drinkwalter's name was Mary Lord, and she was born in Connecticut. Her parents were Andrew and Mary Lord, born in the same state. Mr. Drinkwalter was born in Pike, Bradford county, Pennsylvania, October 30, 1814. He received a common-school education, and was always accustomed to farm life. His mother, Betsey Pratt, was born in the same town as he. His father, Stephen K., was a native of Connecticut. He became a resident here in 1856, and secured one-fourth of section 13, where he lives. Has since acquired eighty acres more, and one hundred and five on the river, where his sawmill stood. His eldest child was born July 30, 1839, and christened Pratt. He was married April 5, 1883, to Lena Scholer, born August 25, 1863, in Glasgow, this county. He has one hundred and sixty acres adjoining bis father's land, and dwells in the same house with him. Cordelia was born September 12, 1844, and married George Hall, as elsewhere noted.

ROBERT HALL (deceased) was born in Dows, Lincolnshire, Eng- land, April 1, 1801. His wife, Charlotte, was born Spencer in 1804, in Ednum Parish, same county. They were married October 2, 1826. In 1851 they left England and settled on a farm in Onondaga county, New York. Came to Zumbro in May, 1856, and took claim on section 12, where his widow and son now reside. Mr. Hall died August 2, 1865. He and wife were Episcopalians. Mrs. Hall is

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very active at this writing, and appears good for twenty years of life yet. Of their twelve children only two are living now. The first death in the town occurred in this family, taking Sophia, a twenty- year-old daughter. Emma J. married J. L. Bent (now deceased) and resides at Zumbro Falls. George, the eldest living child, was born in Dows, October 22, 1833. He was nearly eighteen when he came to America, and attended one term of school in New York. He came to Minnesota with his parents. He was married February 1, 1862, to Cordelia Drinkwalter, whose parentage elsewhere appears. They have seven children living, born as follows : Maria C., April 15, 1864; Henrietta, October 22, 1866 ; Effie S., May 12, 1868 ; Frederick P., September 16, 1870 ; Wallace R., November 11, 1874 ; Prosper R., January 4, 1880 ; Jessie, May 23, 1883. Four children have died.

IRA A. FIFIELD, farmer and fruit-grower, Mazeppa. Among the earliest residents of Mazeppa was the father of this subject, Joseph Fifield, now residing in Lyon county, this state. Mary Nicholls married Joseph Fifield, and gave birth to a son on November 4, 1835, and that son grew to be the substantial citizen of whom this page shall now speak. Ira A. Fifield became a citizen of Mazeppa in June, 1856, coming here with his father. He made claim to one hundred and twenty acres of land on section 29, where he now dwells. His estate at present includes over two hundred acres, of which he has cleared and tills eighty. He pays a good deal of atten- tion to the growth of small fruits, and does considerable trade in supplying others with choice plants. He has never taken any part in public affairs, but has always adliered to the republican party. Has no faith in religion. Beginning with nothing save his hands, lie has become independent by his own labor and the faithful assist- ance of his helpmeet. The latter, Emma, born Ruber, was espoused by Mr. Fifield in 1867. Her father is among the foremost citizens of the adjoining town of Oronoco, Olmsted county. Mr. Fifield served from January 28 to September 27, 1865, in Co. G, 1st Minn. Heavy Art., being stationed at Chattanooga, Tennessee. Children have been given to him and christened as follows: Nellie L., October 18, 1868 ; Clara May, April 25, 1870 ; Ella Grace, Decem- ber 11, 1871 ; Celia Ann, December 17, 1873 ; George F., October 10, 1875 ; James S., June 30, 1877; Charles E., June 27, 1879; Abram W., June 3, 1883.

JAMES M. HARRISON, fariner, Mazeppa, is a son of Elias S. and

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Maria (Gardner) Harrison, of Pennsylvania, and was born in School- craft, Michigan, April 2, 1848. The father (now deceased) settled with his family at Center Point, near Lake City, in July, 1852. He erected the first hotel building there, where he died in July, 1863. The subject of this sketch attended the common school there till the death of his father. He then came to Mazeppa, and attended one term here. Farming has always been his vocation. July 27, 1867, he married Phobe Ann Youngs, daughter of John Youngs, else- where mentioned. Mr. Harrison is tilling rented land. He is a member of Mazeppa Lodge, I.O.O.F., and is a republican.

GARRET A. Cook, postmaster at Cook's Valley, is a grandson of Garret Albertson, a continental soldier during the American revolu- tion. In the town of Hardwick, Warren county, New Jersey, January 2, 1818, the subject of this sketch was born to Abram H. and Ann Galicia (Albertson) Cook, themselves natives of the same commonwealth. Until fifteen years old Garret A. Cook remained on his father's farm, receiving the limited benefits of the common school of the time. He was apprenticed to a saddler and harness- maker, and pursued such occupation for twelve years. He went to Virginia in 1852, and thence came to Minnesota in 1855, locating on section 30, Greenfield. His home has ever since remained there. By his thrift he has acquired three hundred and forty acres of real estate, and is passing his old age in peace and plenty. He was elected clerk of the first school district organized here, in November, 1857, and still fills the same position ; has been postmaster for the past twenty-two years ; was justice of the peace four years here, and eight years in New Jersey ; affiliates with the republican party. Himself and wife are communicants in the Methodist Episcopal church, and were instrumental in the building of Cook's Valley church for that society. Mr. Cook was made a mason in Virginia and served as secretary of the same lodge in which George Wash- ington was initiated. In 1841 Mr. Cook was united in marriage to Miss Mary, daughter of Jeremy and Lana Mackey, all of New Jer- sey. They have since become the parents of six children. Abram and Elizabeth (Mrs. Herman Graff) are resident at Hancock, Min- nesota. Lytle O., Anneta, Irwin and Viola still dwell with their parents. Abram entered the United States army, and served till the close of the civil war in the 3d Minn. regt. Lytle is now conduct- ing the village school at Kellogg. While resident at Alexandria, Virginia, Mr. Cook fell into an unguarded railway cut, which caused a permanent injury of his left limb.

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JOHN HENRY WEHRENBERG, farmer, Greenfield, was born in Hanover, Germany, April 10, 1835. Up to fourteen years of age he attended school and assisted his parents in their farm labors. He was then apprenticed to a cabinetmaker and soon became master of the trade. When seventeen years old he left his native land and made his way to St. Louis, Missouri, where he was employed at cabinetwork. In 1856 he came to Minnesota and took up one- fourth of section 20, Greenfield, which he still retains. He now has half a section and resides on 29 in a handsome brick house. His wedding was the first celebrated in the township and occurred March 28, 1858, the bride being Miss Anna Frye, daughter of another pioneer mentioned elsewhere. Mr. Wehrenberg has always been a republican, and all the family were baptised in the Lutheran church. The children, in the order of their age, were christened Herman G., Lena L., Emma C., Augusta M., Henry J., Edward, Minnie, Charles and Eliza. Mr. Wehrenberg joined the Union army in February, 1865, and served nine months in the 1st Minn. Heavy Art., stationed at Chattanooga. He is now quite extensively en- gaged in stock raising, and has, among other animals, forty head of cattle.

HENRY FRYE, retired farmer, is one of the pioneers of Greenfield, having located in 1856 on section 29, where he now dwells with his daughter. He was born in Hanover in 1799, and emigrated direct to Minnesota in the spring of 1856. In 1827 he married Mary Koenig, now deceased. The family includes two daughters, the eldest, Mrs. Henry Graner, residing near by ; the other, Mrs. J. H. Wehrenberg, is spoken of above. All are Lutherans.

EWIN ALEXANDER, carpenter and builder, Lake City, was born in Richmond, Maine, August 25, 1835. His parents, Ewin Alex- ander and Sarah Melcher, were born in Brunswick, same state. The early life of this subject was passed on the farm, and his education was supplied by the common school. At eighteen he began carpen- terwork and has followed it nearly ever since. Many fine buildings in this county, including the county-house and the new Lake City schoolhouse, are of his construction. He became a resident of Lake City in 1856. Two years were subsequently spent in Missis- sippi and he returned in 1860. September 18, 1861, he entered the 1st Minn. regt. Vols., Co. I, and served in the army of the Potomac. He was a participant in the battles of Ball's Bluff, the Peninsula cam- paign, West Point, Fair Oaks, Savage Station, White Oak Swamp,

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Malvern Hill and Antietam. He was discharged in 1863, and soon went on board the merchant vessel General Grant as ship's carpenter. After sailing from Boston to San Francisco, he then went on the Seaman's Bride to Baker's Island where the vessel was wrecked in the spring of 1865, and the crew was left for fifty-five days on this barren coral island until picked up by the packet schooner Odd- Fellow. Arriving at San Francisco Mr. Alexander set out for Bos- ton in the Wild Hunter, which was ont one hundred and forty-four days on the voyage around Cape Horn to Boston. In the fall of 1866 our subject returned to Lake City, which has been his home since. December 7, 1870, he espoused in marriage Miss Frances C., eldest daughter of F. G. Slocum, of this city. Their children are bright and promising, christened Helen, Kate, Sarah and Anna. Mr. Alexander is a member of the Masonic order and of the A.O.U.W. His religion is "Peace on earth, good will to man," and his voting has always been with the republican party.

GEORGE PATTON, retired merchant, Lake City (see portrait), is the only child of George Patton, a successful teacher of twenty-eight years' experience, and Jane (Humphreys) Patton, natives of Stra- bane, Ireland, of Irish and English ancestry. In the city of Phila- delphia, on August 24, 1802, was born the subject of this page. When he was nine years of age, the family then residing at Will- iamsport, his mother was drowned in a stage coach which was swept away by a swollen stream on the way to Pennsborough. The youthful George was only prevented from sharing his mother's journey and fate by a mere childish accident. Just as they were about to start, he fell down and soiled his clothing, for which he was compelled to forego the trip. When in his fifteenth year, our sub- ject began his mercantile career, entering a store in Lewistown, Pennsylvania. After serving one employer five years and another nine, he engaged in business for himself at Allenville, Mifflin county, in 1831. By the industry and shrewd business management of fifteen years here, he secured financial independence, and resolved to locate in Cincinnati, where his children, six sons and one daugh- ter, might be properly educated. For nine years his only business was their care and intellectual advancement. Their mother, Eliza, daughter of James Kellogg, one of the substantial citizens of Lewis- town and Mr. Patton's employer for nine years, was a woman worthy of such a husband, and ably seconded his efforts. The loss of health prompted Mr. Patton in 1855 to travel in the west. A tour

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of some weeks' duration through Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota territory, satisfied him of the healthful climate and flattering mater- ial prospects of this section. Now, in his eighty-second year, his general health is good, and his long life is no doubt to be largely attributed to our invigorating climate, together with a clear con- science and regular, temperate habits. He left Ohio in May, 1855, on his prospecting trip, and removed his family to Winona in July of the same year. Here he bought lots and contemplated a per- manent residence. In the following winter his attention was called to the site of Lake City by its projectors, and after a survey of the adjacent country, he became convinced of its natural advantages and decided to purchase an interest in the town, which he did, and removed his family hither the following May. At that time boats did not land here, but Mr. Patton persuaded the captain of the War Eagle to put off his household effects, cow, etc., on the shore. The boat arrived after dark, and they were obliged to make their way as best they could to a shanty near by. A severe storm was in progress at the time, and on reaching the cabin its floor was found to be soaked with the rain ; but here they were compelled to arrange their bedding and set up a stove and prepare supper. Mr. Patton at once set about preparations to build, and during this season completed his present residence, corner of High street and Lyon avenue, and occu- pied it in November. All the material had to be freighted fromn Read's Landing, and much of it was purchased in Dubuque, the lumber being brought in a raft from the St. Croix river. The latter was dried in a kiln, erected for the especial purpose. Stones for the foundation were rolled down the bluffs, and Mr. Patton was obliged to mix mortar and wait on the mason, in order to fit the house for a shelter before winter came on. Only one carpenter and one mason could be found, and day-laborers were unheard of at that time. In the spring of 1857, Mr. Patton built a store and opened for trade in April, 1859, continuing in mercantile business till January 1, 1881. Associated with him were his sons, Hiram and Augustus. The eldest son, James E., is a prosperous mer- chant and manufacturer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he has dwelt nearly thirty years. George R., the second, is in successful medical practice here. Nathan, the fourth, is now dealing in gen- eral merchandise at Tower City, Dakota. Augustus M., died Feb- ruary, 1869, aged twenty-nine years, at Lake City, leaving a widow and two sons. The only daughter, Eliza J., married Rev. Silas

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Hazlett, and is now deceased. December 31, 1878, was celebrated the golden wedding of George Patton and Eliza Kellogg, at their elegant home, where they were surrounded with the friends of a quarter century, as well as many later ones. At the family reunion in the evening were present all the living descendants of Mr. and Mrs. Patton, except Dr. E. A. Patton, of Cincinnati, including a great-grandchild, Eliza McLean.

GEORGE RANDOLPH PATTON Was born in Allenville, Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, August 16, 1834. His parentage is American ; the an- cestors of his father (who is a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) being Irislı, and those of his mother (who is a native of New Haven, Connecticut) English, who settled in Connecticut in 1687. His parents, yet in vigorous health, celebrated in Lake City, Minnesota, their golden wedding, December 31, 1878. The subject of this sketch removed with his parents to Cincinnati, Ohio, in April, 1845. He spent four years in the old Cincinnati College, now merged into Herron's Classical Seminary, and subsequently graduated A.B. at the Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, after pursuing its four years' course of study. During his first college year he carried forward at the same time the studies of both the freshman and sophomore classes, entering the junior on a grade of ninety-seven and two- thirds at the end of the first year. One of his achievements in the university was a literal translation, in book form, of the odes, sat- ires and epistles of Horace ; also the "Greek Antiquities " of Thu- cydides, " Plato Contra Atheos," and the "Prometheus " of Æschy- lus. During the last year of his college course he pursued the study of Hebrew in the Associated Reformed Theological Seminary, with the view of the ministry. After studying theology one year in the Western Theological Seminary, then located in Cincinnati, he turned his attention to medicine ; entered the office of Prof. George Men- denhall, and graduated M.D., in the Miami Medical College, Cin- cinnati, in February, 1855. From February, 1854, to his gradua- tion, he served as the outdoor physician of the city dispensary, affording a wide scope of clinical observation. He established himself in practice in Cincinnati in 1855, occupying an office with Prof. J. F. White, of the Miami Medical College, until 1856; after that, until March, 1857, he was associated in the same office with Prof. E. Williams, the celebrated oculist, professor of ophthal- mology in the Miami school. He then opened an office in his own residence, corner of Fourth and John streets ; removed to No. 241

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West Seventh street, in 1860; to 360 West Eighth street in 1867, and remained there till 1872, when ill-health, superinduced chiefly by overwork and an unfortunate post-mortem wound, compelling the relinquishment of a large and lucrative practice, he retired to Lake City, Minnesota. His contributions to the public press and medical literature have been voluminous. Among those of note upon medical topics may be mentioned an article on "Elephantiasis Arabica," in the Cincinnati Medical Observer, March, 1856; the following in the Cincinnati Lancet and Observer: "Contributions on Helminthology," June, 1862, January, 1863, and February, 1864 ; "Phlegmasia Dolens," June, 1863; "Hæmorrhagic Diathesis," December, 1867; "Antagonism of Aropia and Morphia," June, 1869 ; "A New Instrument for Urethritis," December, 1869; and in the Philadelphia Medical and Surgical Reporter, February, 1870; articles on the "Treatment of Urethritis," in the Cincinnati Lancet and Observer, 1870; "Hepatitis," ibid., March, 1870; on "Insomnia," in the Cincinnati Medical Repertory, February, 1870 ; "Hypodermic Injections and Treatment by Atomization," in Medi- ical and Surgical Reporter, March, 1870. He is the inventor of a large number of surgical appliances, the most noted of which is known as "Patton's reverse-flow fenestrated injecting canula and catheter"; also an apparatus for Colle's fracture of the radius, an instrument for deep-seated hæmorrhage, etc. In 1857 he was lec- turer on materia medica and therapeutics in the Miami Medical College, Cincinnati ; in 1856 was elected physician of Lick Run Lunatic Asylum, declined ; was physician and surgeon to Saint John's Hospital during 1855 and 1856 ; surgeon of the Seminary Hospital, 1862 ; surgeon of the United States Marine Hospital in 1863 ; the surgeon-in-chief of the Greenup Street Military Hospital during the war ; city physician of Cincinnati from 1858 to 1865, and for a number of years consulting physician of the city dispensary. In 1867 he was proffered the professorship of anatomy in the Cin- cinnati Dental College. From time to time since graduation, he has spent, in the aggregate, over three years in special studies, under specialists, in the colleges and hospitals of New York and Philadelphia. He is a member of, and has held many offices in, various medical associations. During the Crimean war he received a surgeon's commission in the Russian army for three years, but had it canceled at his own request, on account of the war terminat- ing as he was about to sail for Europe. He has performed about

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all the capital operations in surgery. The degree of M.D. ad eun- dem was conferred upon him by the Medical College of Ohio, Cin- cinnati, in 1858; and the degree of M.A. by the Miami University in 1857. Among his published addresses may be noted the " Med- ical Pendulum," delivered before the Alumni Association of the Miami Medical College, Cincinnati, at the annual meeting February 28, 1876. He is a very fluent and effective speaker, and has never used at any time either notes or manuscript. March 26, 1857, he married Frances Mary, daughter of A. W. Patterson, Esq., of Cincinnati, and has had two children, Edward A. and Ella Eliza. The former is now M.D .; graduated in the Miami Medical College, Cincinnati, Ohio.

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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 80

Author: H.H. Hill and Company. 4n Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago : H.H. Hill & Co. Number of Pages: 1176

Author: H.H. Hill and Company. 4n
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : H.H. Hill & Co.
Number of Pages: 1176