USA > Minnesota > Hennepin County > Minneapolis > Personal recollections of Minnesota and its people : and early history of Minneapolis > Part 14
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S. S. Crowell was one of the original members of the Plymouth Congregational church in this city. He died sev- eral years ago, greatly respected.
Mark Baldwin, after the sale of his farm, lived for a time at Litchfield, in this state, from which place he moved to California.
Thomas W. Pierce has always been a valued citizen. He is still a resident on the land he obtained from the govern- ment.
Few men were better or more favorably known than Calvin Church. He was a pure specimen of manhood. His widow, now Mrs. Captain John Noble, lives in this city.
A. K. Hartwell for many years was a merchant on Wash- ington avenue. He now resides in California.
William Hanson lived to be over eighty yeats of age. He led an honest life, and died greatly regretted. His son, Hon. D. M. Hanson, was, in his day, one of our most prominent citizens. He died in the spring of 1856, while a member of the territorial council.
' Daniel M. Coolbaugh, who made an arrangement with Dr. A. E. Ames to enter a portion of his original claim, was for many years one of our most active citizens. A portion of the land Mr. Coolbaugh preempted is now known as Mattison's first and second additions to Minneapolis. Mr. Coolbaugh had a large circle of friends. His widow resides in the city. Three children survive him-Rev. Frank Coolbaugh, an Episcopal clergyman of great promise, Mrs. W. E. Jones, and Mrs. L. Hael.
Gordon Jackins, who was interested in a claim in this county, with his brother William, lived and died in Hassan, in this county and state.
Rev. Abner C. Godfrey, a brother of Ard Godfrey, who preempted a fraction of land on the bank of the river below the Falls, returned east in 1856, and is pastor of a Methodist church in the interior of Massachusetts.
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OF MINNESOTA AND ITS PEOPLE.
Edwin Hedderly, whose home joined Mr. Godfrey's, was for more than twenty years one of the most active business men in Minneapolis. His death occurred in this city.
There were one or two others who preempted land on the military reservation and the ceded Indian lands, in the imme- diate vicinity of the west bank of the Falls of St. Anthony, but their present residence (if they are alive) is unknown to me. There are others, not mentioned in this chapter, whose names will be recorded in the following pages.
BUT FEW ANSWER AT ROLL-CALL.
Only a few of those whose names are mentioned in the foregoing survive the years that have passed since they first occupied their lands. It is a duty I owe to their memory to record their names ; to bear a willing tribute to their many virtues ; to cheerfully hand down to this and future genera- tions my testimony as to the honesty of the first occupants of the soil. The fields, which they cultivated with so much pride, are now part of a large city, teeming with a multitude of people, who have but little knowledge of those who pre- ceded them as the owners of the land upon which their homes are made. The earnest faces, manly forms, free speech, frank manners and youthful appearance of the pioneers of those early days of trust and trial, tribulation and triumph, are so distinct in my memory that the foreground of the present, bright as it is, seems a background that brings more conspic- uously into view those glowing forms of the past.
CHAPTER XXV.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA.
The regents of the University held several sessions during 1851. At the first meeting Regent Marshall moved that immediate steps be taken for the erection of a building suita- ble for a preparatory department. Governor Ramsey, Sibley, Marshall, and Rice, were appointed a committee to secure a library. Advertisements were ordered published in the news- papers, soliciting the donation of a site for the University from land-owners. In response, Messrs. Franklin Steele, H. H. Sibley, W. A. Cheever, Joseph McAlpin, S. W. Farnham, C. T. Stinson, R. W. Cummings, and Henry Angell, offered lands for that purpose. After a thorough examination of the sites offered, that of Franklin Steele was accepted. This location was on the grounds and adjoining the lands of the Exposition building, and it consisted of less than five acres.
At the June meeting of the regents the secretary was directed to advertise for proposals for the immediate building of the preparatory department. Subscriptions were solicited from the citizens towards defraying the expenses of the build- ing. Two thousand five hundred dollars were raised by the . citizens for that purpose.
The standing committee, of the board on lands, for 1851, was composed of Regents Ramsey, Sibley and Van Vorhes. Regents C. H. Smith, Marshall, and Van Vorhes, were appointed a committee to devise a proper seal for the University.
The teachers in the public-school district No. 5, Ramsey county, during the summer, were Miss Mary A. Scofield and Miss Mary Murphy.
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OF MINNESOTA AND ITS PEOPLE.
ST. ANTHONY'S FIRST CELEBRATION OF INDEPENDENCE DAY.
The seventy-fifth anniversary of our National Independence was celebrated on Hennepin Island. It being the first cele- bration of Independence day by the citizens of St. Anthony, it was determined that it should be one that would be a credit to old St. Anthony of Padua himself. On St. John's day the following officers were selected to act on the occasion : Presi- dent, Hon. Charles T. Stearns ; Marshal, Dr. John H. Mur- phy, with Roswell P. Russell and G. Corvin, assistants ; Wil- liam H. Larned, reader of Declaration ; Isaac Atwater, orator ; Rev. C. W. Brown, chaplain ; John H. Stevens, master of toasts ; John W. North, W. A. Cheever, and Edward Patch, committee on toasts ; Chessman Gould, Leonard Gould, and Elias H. Conner, committee on music ; S. W. Farnham, Chas. Kingsley, Sylvanus Tourtlotte, committee on salutes. The entire programme was carried out, and a more interesting and patriotic celebration probably has not since taken place in the vicinity of the Falls. The oration pronounced by Judge Atwater was worthy of the occasion. Among the distinguished visitors present was Dr. Malony, long a member of congress from Illinois, whose eloquent speech in response to a compli- mentary toast was greatly enjoyed. The original settlers on the reserve were mainly indebted to Dr. Malony, in after years, for the passage of the bill by congress giving them their homes for a dollar and a quarter an acre.
A DISTINGUISHED WEDDING.
Early in July, St. Anthony was visited by Miss Sarah Coates, a noted lecturer on physiology. Miss Coates was a native of Chester county, Pennsylvania. Her lectures here, as well as elsewhere, were well attended. On the 15th of the following month, at the St. Charles hotel, this lady became the wife of Captain Daniel Smith Harris, one of the pioneer steamboat- men of the upper Mississippi. At the time this was consid- ered the most distinguished wedding that had ever taken place in the little village.
FIRST DOWNWARD MOVEMENT OF REAL-ESTATE.
On the morning of Tuesday, the 14th of July the whole vicinity was startled by what was supposed to be an earth- quake. The earth trembled, and there was a crash louder than heavy thunder. It was caused by a land-slide of the
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west bank of the Mississippi from the high precipice into the river. An acre or two of earth, near where the gas-works now are, went down-stream, carrying trees and rock.
On the 20th of July Messrs. Church and Getchell started a meat-market in the village. Heretofore fresh meats had to be bought mostly in St. Paul, sometimes at Fort Snelling. There being no swine in the territory, there was, as a matter of course, no fresh-pork, but there was plenty of salt-pork. Veal was unknown at this time. There was fresh-beef after the middle of the summer. In some instances it could be procured in May and June, but it was of oxen from the pineries, and not desirable. Wild game was abundant at all seasons.
The people of the young village greatly lamented the death of two married ladies. Mrs. Perrin Getchell died on the 26th of July, and Mrs. Ramsdell, wife of Edward Ramsdell, and daughter of Washington Getchell, died on the 15th of August at the age of eighteen years.
Preparations having been made, and the money raised by subscription having been paid into the treasury of the Uni -. versity, work was commenced August 9th on the preparatory building of the University of Minnesota, and prosecuted with vigor, the building being completed in eight weeks, and on the 11th of October was ready for the reception of students. The services of Prof. E. W. Merrill were secured as principal. He was one of the best educators of the day, and the regents were fortunate in their choice.
The first singing-school in St. Anthony was organized on the 23d of August by Prof. Bennett, of Ohio. Its patronage was large for several terms.
The Express of August 23 made sport of the pretensions of All Saints. The few of us on the west bank of the river laughed with those on the other bank, but were determined that All Saints (now Minneapolis proper) should be a rival to the east side that we would not be ashamed of. It came sooner than we expected; we swallowed the Express, its editor, St. Anthony, Cheever-town and all.
August 30th D. E. Moulton, a former prominent citizen of the lead-mines of southern Wisconsin, purchased and took possession of the St. Charles hotel.
On the first of September a change was made in the com-
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OF MINNESOTA AND ITS PEOPLE.
mand and the officers at Fort Snelling. Captain S. B. Buck- ner was ordered to take command at Fort Atchison, which was at the Santa Fe crossing, in Arkansas; and Captain R. W. Kirkham was sent to Jefferson barracks, Missouri. Both of these officers were greatly interested at that time in real- estate in this neighborhood.
On Monday, the 15th of September, the first temperance society was organized in St. Anthony, with Washington Getchell, president ; Isaac Brown, vice-president ; George F. Brott, secretary ; John W. North, Rufus Farnham, Isaac V. Draper, and Allen Harmon, committee.
On the 22d the entire Express outfit was purchased by Judge Atwater ; Messrs. Elmer Tyler, H. and J. P. Wood- bury, retiring.
On December 13th the mercury fell to twenty degrees below zero, which proved to be about the coldest day in the winter. The ice below the Falls became gorged and spread over the low grounds at Miller's and Cheever's landings, now the Bohemian Flats, so-called. The like was never known before by the primitive settlers, and has never occurred since. Mr. Lennon's warehouse received serious injury from the ice.
The Congregational church building was finished on the 15th. It was one of the best edifices of the kind in the territory.
The winter lectures before the Library association were commenced December 16th, when the new Chief-Justice, M. M. Fuller, delivered the first lecture.
The school-census was finished December 27th, and the result showed that the village contained one hundred and eighty-five school children, a large majority of them, with their parents, only residents since the opening of navigation the previous spring : the population having more than doubled during eight months.
ST. ANTHONY PIONEERS OF 1851.
The following are among the valuable citizens who came to the village in 1851, though a few of the names should have been included in the lists of previous years : Colonel Emanuel Case, Ira Murphy, George E. Case, J. H. Brown, Sweet W. Case, James Gale Case, Mark T. Berry, A. H. Mills, S. Jenkins, A. H. Young, Dr. A. E. Ames, Norman Jenkins, J.
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PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS
C. Lawrence, Thomas Self, Samuel Ross, Edward Lippincott, Hon. Samuel Thatcher, George A. Camp, John T. Blaisdell, Hiram Van Nest, Philip Fraker, S. B. Sutton, Joseph Le Duc, A. G. Mckenzie, Dr. V. Fell, James M. Jarrett, Lucius C. Walker, G. B. Dutton, Christopher Greeley, William Blaisdell, William W. Wales, Robert Blaisdell, Robert Blais- dell, jr., William G. Moffett, John C. Gairns, Joel B. Bassett, Fleet F. Strother, Isaac Brown, Charles Case, P. Strother, Joseph Menard, Rev. A. C. Godfrey, Waterman Stinson, David Bickford, Leonard Gould, G. Corvin, A. N. Hoyt, Otis T. Whitney, Chessman Gould, Sylvanus Tourtelotte, Isaac V. Draper, Prof. E. W. Merrill, H. H. Given, David A. Secombe, E. L. Hall, Timothy Fletcher, William Spooner, William Mc Farland, Henry Fowler, L. Cummings, J. C. Tufts, Z. E. B. Nash, Edgar Nash, Z. M. Brown, Benjamin Soule, Benjamin Brown, George Davis, William H. Hubbard, William A. Rowell, Thomas Stinson, Rev. Mr. Jones, John Wass, Charles Fish, Asa Fletcher, William Goodwin, Ezra Foster, Munson Brothers, Nathaniel Tibbetts and brothers, B. F. Hildreth, Leonard Day and sons, S. E. Foster, A. J. Foster, E. P. Mills, James H. Mills, and William Laschell.
LAST OF THE VISITS OF THE RED-MEN.
The Indian chieftain, Man-of-the-Clouds, with several of his tribe, came down from Oak Grove, on Christmas, seeking presents and alms from R. P. Russell, and other acquaint- ances at the Falls. He said he could not expect to meet his white friends in this neighborhood in the future, as his band would soon move for the winter into the hunting-grounds of the big-woods, and when spring came he should follow the Dakotas to their reservation on the upper Minnesota river. He was desirous of accepting such farewell gifts with the compliments of the season as his friends, Mr. Russell and other's, should see proper to give him, which he should cherish as tokens of friendship in his new home. As the wily chieftain mostly solicited perishable gifts (in their hands) such as bread, meat, sugar, coffee, and the like, it was evident that the immediate wants of the stomach were the tokens by which his former friends were to be remem- bered.
We made the old Man-of-the-Clouds and his wives and
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OF MINNESOTA AND ITS PEOPLE.
children happy. If I remember correctly, the old man was right in saying that he was visiting the Falls for the last time. Not so, however, with Good Road, chief of the other band of the lake Dakotas. He remembered us with visits after the removal to the Redwood country ; but the close of the year 1851 in a mersure ended the protracted visits of the Dakotas to the Falls. It is true they would occasionally swarm down on us by the hundreds, but in after years their sojourn was of short duration.
Both Man-of-the-Clouds and Good Road were born on the banks of Lake Calhoun. They had great faith in the healing virtues of the water of a spring at Owen Keegan's claim, which they would come all the way from Redwood and Yellow Medicine to bathe in, and drink of. Then again they would leave the Agency in the fall for the purpose of gathering the cranberries that grew on the marshes in the neighborhood of Minneapolis. These they would sell to the traders ; though as a matter of history it is well known that after their removal to the new reservation they would, on any occasion possible, visit their old haunts on the bank of the Mississippi on the east, and to the Iowa line on the south. This was not con- fined to the Medewakantonwans, but to the Wahpekutas, Wahpetonwans, and other bands.
Before the outbreak in 1862, they were often the source of much annoyance to the white settlers on the meadow lands, from their wandering habits, but the end of the Indian war of 1862 and 1863 mostly ended their visitations to their former hunting-grounds, the sites of their old villages, and the graves of their fathers.
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CHAPTER XXVI.
A TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT IN 1852 ..
There was from the beginning a strong temperance element in St. Anthony, which included a large majority of the citizens. This element observed New Year's day by a mass convention, determined to blot out by legislative enactment the selling of all intoxicating drinks, not only in the village of St. Anthony, but throughout the territory. As the annual meeting of the legislature was near, the convention was held with a view of influencing public opinion in favor of the movement, and of strengthening the backbone of such members as were in favor of the measure.
It was decided that a territorial temperance society should be immediately organized. A committee was appointed, con- sisting of Dr. V. Fell, G. G. Loomis, Edward Murphy, S. E. Foster, John McDonald, Isaac Brown, Dr. A. E. Ames, E. P. Mills, W. Getchell, E. B. Stanley, Isaac V. Draper, Rufus Farnham, Dr. H. Fletcher, James McMullen, and Henderson Rogers. This committee was to carry out the views of the convention.
As a matter of history, it can be stated that they were entirely successful in their movement ; the legislature passed a moderate prohibitory law; but at a term of the United States court held in St. Paul subsequent to the adjournment of the legislature the law was declared unconstitutional.
LYCEUM LECTURES-DELAYED MAIL.
The course of the New Year's lectures before the St. Anthony
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OF MINNESOTA AND ITS PEOPLE.
Library Association commenced with a great degree of success. The attendance was large at every lecture. Dr. A. E. Ames gave the first lecture, on physiology. He was followed, during the winter, by Chief Justice Fuller ; Rev. Mr. Merrick, of the Episcopal church, St. Paul ; Judge B. B. Meeker, Isaac Atwater, W. R. Marshall, W. G. Le Duc, and Prof. Merrill.
None of us expected to get our mail on time immediately after the close of navigation, but when weeks passed, and still no news from the great world outside of Minnesota, we became impatient. On the 2d of January the delayed mail arrived, containing the President's annual message delivered at the opening of Congress on the first Monday in December. The cause of the delay was the difficulty in crossing Black river, on Wyman Knowlton's road. While we were annoyed by the repeated failures of the mail, we were so pleased to hear from our friends in our early and their eastern homes, when the mail came, that we soon forgot the failures.
BY DOG-TRAIN FROM PEMBINA.
The delegates from Pembina to the legislature, Messrs. Norman W. Kittson, Joseph Rolette, and Antoine Gingras, passed through the village, on their way to St. Paul, on the evening of the 2d day of January, 1852. They were sixteen days making the journey. They came in a dog-train. In those days it was considered a remarkably rapid transit. True, the same journey is made now, by rail, in as many hours as it then required days. Three large Esquimaux dogs in single file were attached to a long, narrow, light sled, and were capable of making about forty miles a day, though it was necessary that frequent stops should be made for the dogs to rest, about one day in three. The animals were noble specimens of their species. Their heads were like those of the wolf ; they had powerful fore-shoulders ; were fleet of foot, and capable of great endurance ; and when well-trained were handled without difficulty. They readily followed a trail. Their food was mostly pemican, which is dried meat and tallow of the buffalo. These dogs were a great curiosity in St. Paul.
The third legislative assembly convened its session on the 7th of January. Governor Ramsey's message congratulated
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PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS
the people in regard to the treaty with the Indians. The session was a mild one. Among the laws of interest passed was one creating the county of Hennepin.
A PUBLIC DINNER TO FRANKLIN STEELE.
On January 8th, 1852, an event occurred at St. Anthony, of the greatest importance to its future prosperity. Mr. Steele, who had, in 1849, sold a half-interest in the mill and other real property in the village to A. W. Taylor of Boston, purchased it back from him, thus insuring prosperity to the place. Heretofore Mr. Taylor had refused to sell lots to those who wanted to settle on and improve them. Mr. Steele and his partner Ard Godfrey had adopted a liberal policy in relation to the disposal of property, but were, as to actual settlers, thwarted by Mr. Taylor. The sale that Mr. Taylor made to Mr. Steele was considered of so much moment to the people that it was determined by the citizens to tender Mr. Steele a public dinner at the St. Charles on the 16th of January. Messrs Charles T. Stearns, George F. Brott, Dr. J. H. Murphy, Samuel Thatcher, jr., and Pierre Bottineau, were appointed a committee to make the tender to Mr. Steele. That gentleman's reply to the invitation was asfollows : "Fort Snelling, January 16th, 1852. Gentlemen : I have received your kind invitation to dinner for Friday evening. Nothing can afford me more pleasure than to meet my St. Anthony friends on that occasion."
The dinner came off according to the programme. In response to the complimentary toast, "Our distinguished and esteemed guest : may he live to see a hundred anniversaries of this joyous occasion," Mr. Steele made an eloquent speech ; returning profound thanks for the confidence his fellow- citizens had in him; said he had been a resident of this neighborhood for fourteen years, during the last two of which the wilderness had given way to fruitful fields; that his friends had caused the hitherto lonely country to rejoice in enlightened occupation, and the wild lands to smile with har- vests. Interesting remarks were made by Hon. M. E. Ames, Judge Atwater, Major J. J. Noah, and Dr. C. W. Borup of St. Paul, Hon. Norman W. Kittson of Pembina, Hon.
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OF MINNESOTA AND ITS PEOPLE.
Martin McLeod of Oak Grove, Hon. C. T. Stearns, Dr. J. H. Murphy, J. G. Lennon, C. A. Tuttle, and other prominent gentlemen of St. Anthony.
A PIONEER OF THE LAST CENTURY.
Among the distinguished gentlemen present on that mem- orable occasion was the venerable Jean Baptiste Faribault, who visited the Falls as early as 1798, fifty-four years before. He was the pioneer of pioneers in Minnesota, trading with the Indians on the banks of the Mississippi two years previ- ous to the beginning of the present century. He had a store at Little Rapids (now San Francisco) in Carver county, in 1802. In 1805 he settled on Pike island, at the mouth of the Minnesota river. This island had been given to his wife by a vote of her Dakota friends in a grand council. She was a Miss. Pelagie, daughter of a French merchant, whose 'wife was a native Dakota. Mr. and Mrs. Faribault had four sons, Alexander, Oliver, David, and Frederick. He had also several daughters, one of whom was the wife of an army officer of high rank. Another married Hon. A. Bailey, first territorial representative in the legislature from this district. Mr. Faribault was one of the best judges in the northwest on the quality of fur. He was small of stature, and gen- tlemanly in his bearing. He sent his children east to be educated. He was born in Canada, in 1774, and died at the residence of his son, in Faribault, August 20, 1860. He received a liberal education in early life, and was a pure, honest man, whose memory is cherished by all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance.
NOTABLE DEATH-EXTREME COLD -- FIRST FIRE.
All classes of people were greatly surprised and grieved to learn that Hon. Henry L. Tilden, formerly U. S. Marshal, and secretary of the council, died at his home in St. Paul on on the 17th of January.
Considerable suffering was occasioned on the 20th in con- sequence of the extreme cold weather, the mercury falling to forty degrees below zero ; probably considerably lower, but no one had a spirit thermometer to indicate the temperature.
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The Express made light of the low temperature ; said it was true the weather was coolish, even chilly ; but no one suffered any inconvenience, and the cold made business more lively.
On the 18th the first fire occurred in the village. Geo. F. Brott's carriage-factory was totally consumed, at a loss of several thousand dollars. Mr. F. B. Bachelor's paint-shop was in the upper-story of the factory. His loss was also heavy. The property was not insured, as the fire occurred before the days of insurance companies in the country ; though in consequence of the fire one of the Hartford fire insurance- companies appointed an agent in St. Anthony.
VISIT TO THE PINERIES AND MILLE LAC.
In making an extended trip through the extreme northwest, leaving St. Anthony on the 20th, in company with John Geo. Lennon, I visited the pineries on Rum river, following that stream to its source, Mille Lac, where we found several Indian traders on the banks of the lake. The Mille Lac Indians, so called, were of the Chippewa nation. Of the many beautiful lakes in Minnesota, there are none superior to this. At a subsequent visit to this lake the same winter, with my ancient neighbor, Calvin A. Tuttle, he said the probabilities were that some day, when there would be a great city at the Falls of St. Anthony, the people of that city would depend upon this lake for their daily supply of water. A person cannot see across the lake. The distance from shore to shore is said to be forty miles. The surface of the lake contained numerous tents on the ice, which were used by the Indians for fishing. A hole was cut through the ice, a small tent placed over it, and an Indian would catch a large number of fish from the place during the winter. The Indians had a way of preserving the fish by drying them over a small fire, and afterwards smoking them. It was said that fish preserved in this way would be palateable for a long time.
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