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 84
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JAMES ARNOLD, farmer. Among the early settlers of Zumbro township was the subject of this paragraph. He is a native of England, born July 9, 1832, in Swallowclift, Wiltshire. His father, James Arnold, was an innkeeper and market gardener, and died when the son was seventeen years old. The latter received a fair education, and is now a well-informed and useful citizen. He is a liberal patron of the newspapers, and has a large and choice library of books. Probably very few farmers maintain so large a one. At eighteen years of age young Arnold set out for America to find a home for his widowed mother and sisters. He spent three years at Brecksville, Ohio, serving the first two in learning the mason's trade. While here, his mother and family arrived, and all removed
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in 1853 to Danville, Illinois. Mr. Arnold purchased some land in Clark county, that state, on which the family dwelt, while he pur- sued his trade at Danville. In 1857 the family set out for Minne- sota, traveling all the way with four yokes of oxen. On arrival in Zumbro, Mr. Arnold took up one-fourth of section 32, where the family remained. Here the mother still dwells. Shortly before her removal to America she married Stephen Sumner, who died here in August, 1879. Her daughters, Mrs. G. C. Everett and Mrs. Sidney Corp, are elsewhere mentioned in this work. After two and one- half years' residence here, Mr. Arnold returned to Illinois and re- mained for a like period, and again returned to Minnesota, with a horse team this time, bringing a bride, to whom he was united in 1862. Mrs. Arnold's maiden name was Mary A. Wheeler, and she was born in Tavistock, Devonshire, England. In the fall of 1868 Mr. Arnold took up his residence in Farmington township, south of Zumbro, where he served two years as justice of the peace, and now resides. His political opinions agree with the republican party. Himself and wife were among the first members of Greenwood Wesleyan Methodist church. By persistence and continued toil Mr. Arnold has secured a comfortable home. He is now in possession of three hundred and sixty acres of fine prairie soil, a part of which lies in Zumbro. His family includes six sons and one daughter- all, save the eldest, at home, one son having died in infancy. Here are their names : Charles, Franklin William, Ernest G., Arthur Wesley, Wallace James, Alice M. and Earl R.
ADDIN JOHNSON CLIFF, farmer, resides on section 14, Chester, where he made claim in 1857. Mr. Cliff was born in Lancashire, England, February 9, 1834. His parents, James and Mary Cliff, were born there. In 1851 Mr. Cliff crossed the Atlantic, and dwelt six years in Connecticut, being employed in a bit and auger factory. His mother came here at the same time as himself, taking land in the south part of the town, where she died. After her death, Mr. Cliff built a house on his land (1879) and has lived there since. When he arrived here his pocket contained his whole capital of seventy-five cents, and he now owns a fine farm with comfortable and commodious buildings. He was married on the first day of the year 1867 to Huldah Converse, a native of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania. Her father, Samuel Converse, was for a time resi- dent, and died, here. His wife Emeline, née Taylor, is still living. Mrs. Cliff is a member of the Wesleyan church. Her husband has
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always supported the republican party, but never took any active part in politics. Their children were born as here noted : Carrie A., October 5, 1867 ; Minnie M., July 14, 1869 ; Samuel C., March 11, 1871; William Addin, February 2, 1873.
JOSEPH J. CLIFF, farmer, is a nephew of the above, and was born in the same locality May 7, 1844. His parents were John and Mary Cliff. He was but seven years old when he came with the above uncle to the United States, and was reared by the latter. He has been a resident of Chester since thirteen years of age. He is now the owner of two hundred and eighty acres of land, and has resided since 1875 on section 23. Here was his first purchase of forty acres. By industry and perseverance he has been enabled to gradually increase his domain. In 1873 he married Melissa Merrill, who died May.7, 1881. He has one child, born May 12, 1876, and named after the month of her birth. In June, 1882, he married Mary, daughter of C. C. Robinson, of this town. He is a liberal in religion, and a republican in politics. In 1883 he was elected town supervisor.
SAMUEL RADEBAUGH (deceased), son of Nicholas and Catherine Radebaugh, was born April 24, 1826, at Carroll, Fairfield county, Ohio. His youth was spent on the farm, and he received his educa- tion at the district schools. He married Catherine Brandt, and-from this union sprang six children : Namon C. (who is sketched below); Emma, now Mrs. Clark, living in Minneapolis ; Ethel (deceased), Jackson, Charles, and Kate, now Mrs. Post, residing in Moorhead. In the fall of 1856 he removed to Anamosa, Iowa, for a year ; thence to Marion, in the same state, remaining there a year, after which he came to this county, settling on section 19, Gillford township. In 1864 he enlisted in the 10th Minn., at Fort Snelling, but soon after was taken sick and died, seeing no active service. His politics were republican during the latter part of his life. Previous to this he was a " Know-nothing." His religion may be said to be embraced in the command, "Love thy neighbor as thyself."
NAMON C., son of Samuel and Catherine Radebaugh, was born at Carroll, Fairfield county, Ohio, in March, 1846. He worked on the farm summers, and attended the district school winters, after coming to this state in 1856, till he reached his majority. In the fall of 1876 he wedded Addie, daughter of A. K. Fancher ; bnt in November, 1881, she died, leaving two children, Leon, and Jay, who has since followed her. Mr. Radebaugh may be said to be one of the foremost farmers of the county ; has three hundred and seventy
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acres of land, located on sections 19 and 30, in Gillford township. He is a thorough republican, and was the candidate of his party for county treasurer in the fall of 1883.
LEWIS Y. LENHART, owner and commander of the ferryboat Pepin, now plying between Lake City and various points on the Wisconsin shore. The captain was born in Armstrong county, Penn- sylvania, in 1852, and is a son of Herman and Hannah (Schrecon- gast) Lenhart, both natives of Pennsylvania, and of pure German extraction, the family name originally being Leonhardt. Herman Lenhart was by trade a millwright, and built the first flourmill in Menomonee, Wisconsin, though he was principally engaged in school- teaching in his native state. In 1857 he came west with his family, and settled near the shore of the beautiful Lake Pepin, on the Wis- consin side, where he died on his farm in 1880. He was an active and energetic man, whose influence for good was felt by those with whom he was surrounded, though he was unassuming and reticent. His widow still resides on the old estate. The captain began life on the river in 1868 as a hand, but has worked his way np to his present enviable position. Six years prior to his ownership of the ferry, he run on the river with the Hon. Nathan Murry.
HENRY K. TERRELL, auctioneer, Lake City, is a native of Vir- ginia, born in Waynesborough, Augusta county, October 30, 1808. Henry Childs and Philadelphia (Smith) Terrell, his parents, were natives of the same state. Our subject received a fair common- school education, and worked during the busy season from ten years of age in a flourmill. In 1841 he went to Burlington, Iowa, and was employed some years in a large mill there. He went in 1850 to California, where he spent a successful year, and then went to St. Paul. Here he rented and operated a mill one year, and then engaged in real estate speculation with satisfactory results. He came to Lake City in the spring of 1857, and in partnership with Doughty, Baldwin & Phelps, bought fifteen thousand dollars' worth of real estate, which they cut up into town lots. The railroad depot now stands on a part of this track. Soon after, Mr. Terrell bought out his partners, and disposed of the property alone. In Jannary, 1858, he was sent as a delegate to Washington, by an association of farmers and business men, to secure a delay of the sale of the Half- Breed tract. His mission was successful, and hundreds of settlers who would otherwise have lost their lands were permitted to pre-empt them. In 1860 Mr. Terrell bought the Mazeppa
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HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY.
mills, which he operated for two years and then sold. For many years he has been employed as an auctioneer. November 11, 1828, he married Jane F. Cameron, a native of the same county as himself. Seven children were given them, of whom three are now living. The eldest, Henry C., was always employed as a steam- boat clerk, and died on the Mississippi, leaving seven children. The living are: Sarah P. (Mrs. Lorenzo Hoyt, St. Paul) ; Susan C. (widow of Henry E. Baker, here) ; Robert L., with parents.
WILLIAM J. JACOBS (deceased) was among the early residents of Lake City, having located here in May, 1857. He was born near Lewistown, Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, March 1, 1818 ; received a thorough common-school education ; studied law, and in due time was admitted to the bar. In February, 1850, he married Sarah D. Peebles, and removed at once to Lewistown, where he began prac- tice. He continued to practice here until 1866, and then removed to his farm in Hay Creek, Goodhue county. Here his wife died, leaving three daughters and one son. After two and a half years' farm life, he returned to the city, and served several years as city justice, in connection with his office practice and editorial work. For the first two years of its publication, beginning in 1870, he was edi- tor of the Lake City "Sentinel, " and again for three and a half years from October, 1873. He was a clear and strong writer, and made his influence felt. The "Sentinel " is a democratic journal, and Mr. Jacobs was a stable exponent of the doctrines of its party. In February, 1872, he married Mrs. Waters, who died four years later, leaving one daughter, Laura Louisa, now in the care of her eldest sister. Mr. Jacobs' death was caused by paralysis, and occurred April 2, 1881, at the home of his eldest child, Mrs. G. R. Bartron, in this city. He had previously spent a year in practice at Appleton and Lac qui Parle, this state, but came home to die when he found his health giving away. He was buried by Carnelian Lodge, No. 40, A.F.A.M., of which he was a member. His second child, John P., is publishing a paper at Lac qui Parle ; the third, Mrs. W. M. Strickland, resides at Philadelphia, and the fourth, Fanny, with Mrs. Bartron.
DAVID CORBIN ESTES, dentist, Lake City, is among the best known and most cultured citizens of Wabasha county. Morally and politically the doctor has done much for Lake City. In the great fire of 1882 was totally destroyed the largest private natural history collection of the Northwest, the property of Dr. Estes, which
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had always been kept open to the public in a large room devoted to the purpose. At the same time he lost a complete scientific library. All the natural sciences received a great deal of attention from his searching mind, but since his great loss most of his study has been given to astronomy. Upon this subject he gives occasional lectures, and has more calls for this line of enlightening work than he can meet. From boyhood he has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and gathered together the first Methodist society here and established the first Methodist Sunday school. He was four years justice of the peace and seven years a member of the board of education. His father, Dexter Estes, was an enthusiastic Henry Clay whig, and his sons followed in his political footsteps, our subject being an ardent republican. He is a member of the I.O.O.F., and now holds the highest position in the gift of the order in tlie state. Dexter Estes was born in Vermont and was one of the original Green Mountain boys of the revolution. He married Sally Thayer, of that state, and settled in Keene, Essex county, New York, where David Estes was born March 5, 1825. The youth of the latter was spent on a farm, assisting his father in its tillage and in pottery work. He was a great reader, and made the most of his limited opportunities for education. Later, at Albany, he attended the academy, state normal school and medical college. It was his intention to take a full medical course, but failing eyesight compelled him to abridge his studies, and he turned his attention to dentistry. At Albany he began its practice, and there continued until his removal to Lake City. He arrived here July 10, 1857, and has steadily pursued his practice. By his manly integrity and uni- form kindness he has become possessed of universal respect and regard, and yet our people will not fully appreciate his noble quali- ties till he is gone. May 2, 1849, he married Mary Ellen Dollar, born in Albany county, as was her mother, Fanny Terwilliger, and her father, Robert Dollar, the latter of Irish parents. To Mr. and Mrs. Estes were born seven children, the following six of whom survive : Orphena O. (Mrs. Virgil Borst), Independence, Wisconsin; Ornilla J., teacher in Lake City schools ; Tully C., Frank E., Robert D. and Charles H., at home. The third child, Fanny E., married Charles King, and died at Cincinnati. One of her two children dwells with Dr. Estes. .
JAMES CAIN, farmer, is one of the old residents of Mount Pleasant, and was born May 8, 1832, in Wexford county, Ireland.
63
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HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY.
He was the oldest of two children born to James and Jane Wren- Cain, who died when our subject was a child. James was raised on a farm, and at the age of seventeen he went to Liverpool. After working here one year he emigrated to Illinois, and a few months later went to Mississippi. Four years he passed there, taking con- tracts on levees, and in 1857 he settled in Mount Pleasant township. October 22, 1857, he was united in marriage to Mary A. Burns, of Kildare county, Ireland. Six children have been the fruit of this union, viz: Thomas M. (deceased), James R., William W., Frank (deceased), John, A. Jane (deceased). Mr. Cain and wife adhere to the Catholic faith. His farm comprises three hundred and sixty acres of good land, all of which is the result of his own industry. In politics he is independent, and besides being a member of the board of supervisors several years, has held a number of minor offices.
WALTER MONALLAN is one of the prosperous farmers of High- land township. He was born in County Sligo, Ireland, November 1, 1842. His parents, Thomas and Mary (Judge) McNallan, are also inhabitants of Highland. They came to Beaver Meadow, Pennsyl- vania, when the subject of this sketch was about four years old, and remained in the coal regions of the Keystone State, where his father and himself and brother continued to labor in the mines until the spring of 1857, when the family went to Michigan, and resided for several months in the vicinity of Grand Rapids. The next removal was to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which place they left in the spring of 1858, and came to Highland August 25, 1862. Walter, then in his twentieth year, enlisted in the 10th Minn., served three years, and was honorably discharged August 25, 1865. Soon after the close of his soldier's life Mr. McNallan purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land in Highland, and his father deeded him eighty acres more, and by purchase since he has added ninety acres more ; all on sections 3 and 10. In the summer of 1881 he erected a pretentions brick residence on his farm, at a cost of thirty-five hundred dollars, by far the finest house in the township. His matrimonial life dates from August 7, 1867, when he espoused Ellen Kinsella, daughter of Daniel and Catherine (Delany) Kinsella, an Irish lassie, then in her twentieth year. The fruits of this union are : Catherine, born November 20, 1868; Thomas, born August, 1870; James, born August 6, 1872 ; Daniel, born September 10, 1874; Mathew, born January 16, 1876 ; Mary, born April 26, 1879 ; John, born March
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14, 1881 ; Ellen, born April 14, 1883. Mr. McNallan is a well- informed and liberal-minded man, a member of the Highland Catholic church, and the Father Matthew Total Abstinence Society of Ilighland. He has held a place in the board of supervisors for three years, and was township treasurer for six years. His political faith is democratic. He receives four dollars a month pension for a wound in the right thigh.
JOHN H. ROBINSON was born in Shoreham, Addison county, Vermont, October 30, 1830. His parents were Samuel and Amanda (Phelps) Robinson. Young Robinson was brought up on a farm and received a fair common school education. He remained at home until the year 1854. During two years of this time he worked his father's farm. February 28, 1854, he married Cynthia Day, a native of New York State, and the following season came to Wisconsin, and worked at the carpenter's trade in Oshkosh and Waupun for two years. Not feeling fully satisfied with western life, he returned to the east in 1856, and tried his hand at farming in St. Lawrence county, New York ; but not finding as large a degree of prosperity there as his fancy had pictured it while he was pounding nails in Oshkosh, he again set his face westward, and continued to journey in that direction until he had crossed the mighty Mississippi and reached the beautiful promised land of Greenwood prairie. His first claim, however, he took in the grub-land of Highland township on section 30. He continued to reside on this claim until the spring of 1866, when he bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres just west of Plainview village, and removed his family thereto. Mr. Robinson has been a member of the Plainview board of supervisors, and is a member of the Plainview lodge of Odd-Fellows. His first wife died August 8, 1871, leaving two sons, viz : Merrill A. (Prof. Robinson), of Plainview, and Orrin L. (Prof. Robinson) of Mantor- ville. July 3, 1874, Mr. Robinson married a second time, to Mattie Day, of Plainview, by whom he has two children, viz : Frederick J. and Orie E.
TENNEY & EVANS, meat market and dealers in hides, pelts, live stock, etc. This business was established on Second street, same block as now occupied, in 1869, by Tenney and Florer. Six months afterward it was Jacob Tenney, and so continued until 1872, when it became Tenney Brothers, Jos. Teuny taking an interest, and was removed to the present location on the east side of Pembroke street, two doors north of Second. The firm continned as Tenny Brothers
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until 1875, when Joseph sold out to J. H. Evans, the firm becoming Tenney & Evans, and so continuing. The sales of this market are from four to six beeves a week, and from four to seven carcases of calves and sheep, each, for the same period. They handle from three hundred to six hundred hides, and from two hundred to three hundred pelts each season. They have a tract of three hundred and twenty acres of sand prairie, on which they keep from seventy to eighty head of cattle. Their slaughterhouses are in South Wabasha beyond the residence limits of the city. The members of the firm are Jacob Tenney and J. H. Evans. Jacob Tenney, who man- ages the affairs of the firm (Mr. Tenney being otherwise engaged), is a native of Switzerland; came to America with parents in 1856, when he was eleven years of age, the family settling in this city in 1858. Two years later Jacob Tenney, Sr., purchased the farm on which Jacob, Jr., now resides-a tract of ninety-seven acres within the corporate limits of the city on the east. This farm the elder Mr. Tenny sold in 1877, at which time he purchased a mill at Mishamokwa, Wisconsin; and removing to that place engaged in the manufacture of flour. The old home farm in this city was purchased by Jacob Tenny, Jr., in 1880, and it is now the residence of his family. They have five children living, two in school in this city. Jacob S. Tenney, born May 30, 1870; Joseplı, December 8, 1872, died April 15, 1874 ; John T., April 5, 1875 ; Harry E., August 29, 1877; Mary L., August 28, 1879 ; Joseph L., October 23, 1881.
G. W. TENNEY, grocer, and dealer in provisions, fruits, flour and feed ; location, west side Pembroke, two doors sonth of Main street. This business was established in this city in 1875, and at the present stand since 1878. Two persons and one delivery wagon are employed in this business. Mr. Tenney is a native of Stough- ton, Massachusetts. He came to Wabasha county in 1858, at which time the family settled on a farm in the Whitewater, six miles below Plainville, just over the county line in Olmsted county, at which time G. W. Tenney was about nineteen years of age. He remained on the farm until the third year of the war, when he came to Wabasha, and on August 8, 1864, enlisted in the 10th Minn. Inf., and was sent to the frontier. Before the regiment was ordered sonth Mr. Tenney was taken sick, completely lost his voice, was unable to speak, and was discharged on that account, having been in the service a little over a year. He returned to Wabasha in 1865, and was variously employed during the next ten years, and while in
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the employ of Johnson Schwirtz, drove the first omnibus that took passengers to the Milwaukee & St. Paul train at this point. In 1877, two years after he had commenced trade on his own account, Mr. Tenney started the first wagon for the delivery of groceries in this city, that was put upon the streets. August 8, the same day that he enlisted in the army, Mr. Tenney married Miss Clara Stone, Olmsted county, Minnesota. They have five children, three of whom attend the public schools in this city. Bertie, born Decem- ber 5, 1866; Ralph, born September 12, 1869 ; Grace, born Febru- ary 1, 1872; Arthur, born October 3, 1876; Bessie, born December 6, 1879.
CHARLES F. TRYON, watchmaker and jeweler, corner Main and Pembroke streets. This business was established in this city quite recently, although Mr. Tryon has long been a resident of the county, having come to Lake City with his parents in 1858, since which date that city has been his home, with the exception of the year spent in Wabasha, and the time he was completing his trade in Chicago. Mr. Tryon was born in Indiana; grew up in Lake City ; attended school there, and completed his school studies by taking a two years' course in Shattuck school, Faribault. Leaving school at nineteen years of age, he entered the jewelry and watchmaking house of Crane Brothers, Lake City, where he spent three years learning his trade. From that place he went to Chicago, and for two seasons worked in that city, perfecting himself in his trade, at the expira- tion of which time he established himself in this city, in the spring of 1882. During the eighteen months he has been here, he has succeeded in building up a very successful trade, which is constantly increasing.
H. N. SMITH, retired raft-pilot. Mr. Smith is a native of Ten- nessee, from which state he removed with his parents to Illinois when he was a small boy. The family finally settled in Burlington, Iowa, in 1841, at which time H. N. Smith was eight years of age. He came to St. Paul in 1852 as cabin-boy, and the following year made that city his home, remaining three years, during which time he was steward on steamers freighting and carrying passengers up the Minnesota river, the rush for the valley lands along that river at that time being very great. In 1856 Mr. Smith came to Read's Landing, and was for a time with his brother, P. C. Smith, then fol- lowing rafts down the river. Two years later, 1858, H. N. Smith commenced running the river as raft-pilot, floating until 1868, when
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HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY.
he took the wheel of a raft-boat, and was engaged in that business until 1877, when he retired from active service on the river. For the next four years Mr. Smith was deputy sheriff under L. M. Gregg, going out of office with his principal in 1881. Mr. Smith married Adeline Roberts at Read's Landing, February 17, 1864. They have five children, all at school in this city. Frances B., born December 6, 1864; Gracie A., born October 24, 1866 ; Harry A., born July 5, 1870; Gertrude S., born March 25, 1873; Mabel E., born June 5, 1876.
H. J. WHITMORE, postmaster of Wabasha, is a native of New York State, came to Wabasha in 1858, and was engaged in trade in this city, principally in grocery business, until appointed postmaster, February 6, 1882. He married Mis Sarah Wickham, of this city, in 1861.
E. J. DUGAN, general merchant, location northwest corner Main and Alleghaney streets. The location is most central ; the building itself, one of the two full plate-glass fronts in the city, well adapted . to the purposes of trade, fronts twenty-five feet on Main, eighty feet on Alleghaney, with entrances on both, and has an addition, 16×16, for provisions and dry storage. The structure is a solid brick, stone foundation and basement, cut'stone caps, sills and trimmings. The basement is eight feet deep; the storeroom proper fourteen feet ceiling, well lighted and conveniently arranged for business. House employs a force of four clerks, one delivery wagon, and reports an increase of trade of fully ten per cent over corresponding period of 1882. E. J. Dugan was born in New York city, educated in Brooklyn, completing his studies at Nogent sur Maine, near Paris, France, in 1855. Returning to his native city, he remained there until 1858, when he came west with his father's family and settled
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