USA > Minnesota > Faribault County > The history of Faribault County, Minnesota : from its first settlement to the close of the year 1879 : the story of the pioneers > Part 6
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SURVEYING THE TOWN SITE.
Settlers now began to come into various parts of the county rapid- ly and locate. A number of claims were taken and cabins erected, and as the pleasant month of June arrived, the ground became settled and the great work of surveying the town site was begun.
Thomas Hood, of Shakopee, a first-class surveyor, was employed and a surveying corps was organized, consisting of Mr. Hood as chief, with Messrs, Kingsley, Constans, Hibler, and one Osgood, a new settler, as assistants, and Wakefield as a general advisory member. The surveying and staking out of the city required about a month's labor, and was completed in the first days of July.
THE FIRST STORE.
In the mean time and in the month of June, one Cornelius Gar- retson arrived with an assorted stock of merchandise, and proceeded to erect a hewed log house. This important building was erected on the southeast quarter of section seventeen (17), adjoining the town site; and was some twenty feet square and one and one half stories high. It had, also, actually two floors, two windows, a counter and shelves. Here now was a honse as was a house, and the style and finish were the subject of remarks throughout the whole settlement. Here Mr. Garretson displayed his goods-an excellent assortment too-and this was the first store in the county,
THE METROPOLITAN.
And now our pioneers had established their town and had built various houses-log cabins. They had a store and a boarding house- the Elkhorn-and a weekly mail, and each of them had secured a "claim" to a quarter section of land and the prospects were glow- ing. But there was one thing lacking to give character to the place-there was no regular hotel. Immigrants were coming in, land hunters were traversing the country, visitors were calling to see what a country this was, but there was no hotel. A consulta- tion was had. The enterprise was important and expensive. Money was scarce and town lots were not selling yet. Who would undertake this great work ? Here our friend Constans, with the
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indomitable energy and active industry which have always charac- terized him, came to the rescue. "Boys," said he. "I'li build and keep the hotel." But it was remarked that he was not married and to keep a hotel required the supervision of a landlady as well as that of a landlord. "I'll manage that matter," said he blushing profusely at the suggestion, as his mind doubtless reverted to a dark eyed Swiss girl, modest and neat, "The girl he left behind him."
In the month of August the hotel was built. The main building was twenty by forty feet. with a wing in the rear, sixteen by twenty-two feet, and the whole building was one and one-half stories high. The house was built of hewn logs and about three thousand feet of hardwood boards were used in the flooring and for other purposes, at a cost of one hundred dollars per thousand feet. The building was completed in the fall and named the Metropolitan. New York had its St. Nicholas. Washington its National, St. Paul its International, why should not Blue Earth City have its Metropol - itan ? In the fall Mr. Constans was married and fitted up and opened the hotel for the reception of guests.
This house-the first hotel in the county-disappeared several years ago, but it long stood as a land mark of the early days. Within its walls were born all the children of Mr. Constans, now all grown to manhood's years.
It was the first home in this new land of the writer, and of many others, and many were the days, in the long ago, spent by him be- neath its hospitable roof, when the winter winds were fierce and cold and in those darker times of Indian troubles, when the ruthless sav- age went prowling along the frontiers, murdering and burning, this rough old log house was the last and best refuge in all the land.
And here we shall leave these pioneers to be named hereafter as others, only incidently as they may be counected with this history. The thoughit may be stated here that little does the citizen of to day, surrounded by all the comforts and blessings of civilized life, know of the hardships, dangers and privations of those early years, and little too of the fortitude and courage with which they were borne by the first settlers, ever hopeful and confident in the rose- colored future.
THE FIRST PUBLIC RELIGIOUS SERVICES.
We now proceed to relate a pleasant and memorable event-the preaching of the first sermon at Blue Earth City, and probably the first in the county. The morning of July 13. 1856, broke bright and clear over this new land. It was the Sabbath-the day of rest and worship.
"But the sound of the church-going bell Those valleys and rocks never heard -
Never sighed at the sound of a knell, Or smiled when a Sabbath appeared "-Comper.
t
.
THE METROPOLITAN, The First Hotel.
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It was a day of peculiar loveliness. The wide, silent prairies were blooming with innumerable flowers, the neighboring forests and groves seemed more green than usual, and the summer air more balmy. Silence and peace rested like a blessing upon all nature, while the sun in a blue and cloudless sky, shone forth as the central glory and beneficence of the universe, the scenes reminding the be- holder of that far gone golden age, sung by the poets, when men led a quiet. pastoral life on the plains of the East-when peace and good will reigned supreme on the earth-when heaven and earth were nearer together and the Sons of Light came down to walk and hold converse with the sons of men.
At such a time and amid such scenes, were the first religious services in Blue Earth City held. A small company, comprising a large majority of the settlers of the county, assembled about ten o'clock in the forenoon, in a shady grove on the plot of the young city. The preacher was the Rev. James G. Whitford, of the Metho- dist Episcopal Church-a plain nulettered man-sporting no high sounding titles, but possessing a heart full of zeal for the salvation of men-one of those good self-sacrificing men, who, ignoring a life of ease-the allurements of wealth and fame, go forth into the by- ways and hedges, and into the wilderness and amid toils and priva- tions, preach the blessed gospel of the Redeemer and-
"Spend their sweat and blood and tears To cultivate Emmanuel's land."
With reverend and uncovered heads the services commenced, and all joined in the simple but pathetic hymn of praise announced by the preacher, and then all bowed low as the humble prayer of thanks and invocation went up to the great white throne. The text, a part of the 16th verse of the first chapter of Second Peter -- "For we have not followed cunuingly devised fables"-was read. And then the preacher, in simple and earnest language, told the story of the Cross and pointed out the way of salvation and showed how these were not fables, cunningly devised, but the most blessed and important truths, which had in the course of all the ages, been proclaimed to man. The sermon ended, they all again united in a hymn of praise. and kneeling once more, the preacher poured forth an impassioned prayer to the God of nature and revelation, for the blessing and final salvation of all this little company, and then the benediction was pronounced and the first public services were ended.
The reader may have stood beneath the mighty dome of St. Peters-he may have heard ten thousand voices unite in the praises of the Most High in that grandest Cathedral of all the earth, made by human hands, and may there have witnessed the most awe inspir- ing ceremonies of religious worship known among men, but here
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was a grander Cathedral -nature's temple of the ever living God-a temple bounded only by the distant horizon and whose dome was the clear, blue summer skies-whose floor was not made of the polished mosaics of art, but was the solid earth, clothed and garnished by nature. And here too, was a worship grand in its simplicity. af- fecting in its pathos and acceptable in its humility and sincerity.
THE PIONEERS OF THE MINISTRY.
But regular religious services were not yet established in the county. That work was left for the Rev. J. W. Powell and Rev. R. A. Judd, of the Methodist Episcopal Church and a little later the Rev. J. E. Conrad. of the Presbyterian Church, who soon after preached regularly in the county, and were the pioneers of the min- istry in this county.
Mr. Judd died many years ago. having given his life to his country during the great rebellion. The others are yet living. And they still, as the years go by, continue to call men to repen- tance and a preparation for the life to come, and will doubtless labor on in this highest and holiest of all callings, whatever may betide. until the great Master shall say to each of them. it is enough, "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."
"The path of the just is as the shining light,
That shineth, more and more, until the perfect day."
CROPS.
There was no harvest in this county in 1856. It is said that no wheat or oats were sown, or if any. so little that no account was taken of it. The principal crops raised during this year, were some seed corn and small patches of potatoes and a few garden vegetables. The great bulk of the provisions, flour, pork, beef, beans, corn meal and other articles were imported, mainly from Iowa.
And now next in the order of time, is the story of the foun- ders of
WINNEBAGO CITY.
In September, of this year, five energetic young men, then in St. Paul, moved by the spirit of the times and impelled much by the same motives which had actuated the founders of Blue Earth City. also conceived the idea of establishing a town somewhere in the great Territory of Minnesota. Their names were Andrew C. Dunn, Warren N. Dunham, Elijah H. Barritt, James Sherlock and Charles H. Parker. Having determined on this project, they at once pur- chased a team and outfit, and all except Mr. Parker, started out to find an eligible location. They laid their course for Lake Albert Lea, in Freeborn county, adjoining this county on the east, and ar-
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rived there about the first of October. But on reaching that point they found that the only suitable location for a town had already been taken up by George Ruble and others. They endeavored to get an interest in this location, but failed. The question then arose to what point should they now direct their course? Mr. Dunn re- membered having met, during the summer of this year, at Mankato, Grover C. Burt and Hiram L. Young, who were at the time living on the Blue Earth river, in this county, and who had given him very glowing descriptions of the Blue Earth Valley and strongly invited him to visit this region. So they started for the Blue Earth, where they safely arrived and made inquiry for Mr. Young, whom they found living in a tent on the lands of Capt. H. H. Bigelow, adjoin- ing what is now the site of Winnebago City. Mr. Young and one B. K. Burt were then "claiming" the two quarter sections on which the village of Winnebago City was afterwards located, but on learn- ing that our company were desirous of founding a city, they sur- rendered their claims and took others. Our company camped with Mr. Young about six weeks, while making the claim and locating the town. The town was located upon the south-east quarter of section thirty-four and the south-west quarter of section thirty-five in town one hundred and four of Range twenty-eight west.
The final surveys were made in January, 1857, by Messrs. Well- man and Johnson, civil engineers, of St. Paul, and the plats were filed soon after, in the office of the register of deeds of the county. Mr. Young having the logs hewed for a small house (12x14) was induced by the company to erect the house on the town site, which was done in November and was occupied by an agent of Mr. Parker, with a small stock of goods during the winter of 1856.7. This was the first house in the town and the first store in the city.
A hotel building next demanded attention. One Dr. W. N. Towndrow, assisted by the town proprietors, undertook this im- portant work. This structure was twenty by thirty-six feet and one and one-half stories high. The boards for the floor and roof-green basswood and elm-were purchased at Mankato, at an expense of about seventy-five dollars per thousand feet. The building, however, was not finished until the next year, but served a good purpose as a fort, during the Indian excitement, in the spring of 1857. A steam saw mill was also purchased in Chicago, by the com- pany during the year, but did not arrive until the following spring. The further history of this young city will be found in the his- torical sketch of Winnebago City township.
Here now was another village, between which and Blue Earth City there sprang up in after years, contests and rivalries like " The Wars of the Roses," and lasted a long time. No blood was shed, indeed, but in political figuring, bitter denunciations, heated con-
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tests and prodigious blustering, resembled somewhat, on a small scale, the old wars of the houses of York and Lancaster. But the old fends have now happily passed away.
THE FIRST ELECTION.
On the second Tuesday, the 14th day of October, the first elec- tion in the county for civil officers occurred. It was held at Blue Earth City, the county seat. The whole county was then one election district. The question also of the permanent location of the county seat was voted upon as required by law, and resulted in the unani- mons choice of Blue Earth City. The judges of election were Moses Sailor, J. B. Wakefield and H. T. Stoddard. The whole number of votes cast was eighty-two. It seems that no votes were cast for members of the legislative council and house of representatives, in this county at this election County officers only were elected as follows :-
For County Commissioners-Moses Sailor, Crawford W. Wilson and William M. Scott.
For Register of Deeds-James B. Wakefield.
For Surveyor- Orville Kimball.
It cannot now be determined whether any other county officers were elected at this election, or not, as no record of the election can now be found. This was the year of the eighteenth presidential election, but as Minnesota was then but a territory, no vote was cast here for presidential electors.
The presidential candidates were James Buchanan, democrat, John C. Fremont, republican and Millard Filmore "know- nothing." Mr. Buchanan was elected, but had only what is called a plurality popular vote. This was the first great contest of the new republi- can party and the election was an exciting one. The main issue be- tween the republicans and democrats was that of the further ex- tension of slavery. The great plank in the platform of the know- nothing, or American party, was that none but native Americans should be put in office. The real contest, however, was between the two former parties and various causes rendered it a lively one. A great principal was involved, in which the troubles in Kansas heretofore referred to, intensified the interest. An event had also occurred in Washington of such significance as to add fuel to the fires. In May of this year, on the floor of the U. S. senate chamber, Charles Sumner, senator from the state of Massachusetts-a noble and honored statesman, one of the foremost men of the age and a great champion of human rights, while sitting at his desk, was, because of some words spoken in debate, brutally assaulted and beaten over his bare head until he fell to the floor insensible, gashed. bleeding and powerless, by a detestable coward named Brooks-a
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representative from South Carolina. It was a most infamous deed and without a parallel anywhere in history. But to return to our local election. It was as above stated the first in the county and we are happy to say it was a model election. Those were the days here of republican (or if you choose democratic) simplicity and purity of the ballot box. There were no parties, nor partizan politics in- volved at this election. It was not preceded by "packed" caucuses in the townships. There were no county conventions managed by party wire pullers, or political demagogues, dictating for whom the people should vote by setting up candidates. There were no country school house meetings and no riding up and down the county, canvassing the electors and extolling the vast abilities and immaculate virtues of one set of candidates and the prodigious villainy and utter incompetency of the other set. Office hunters and office hunting were unkuown and the candidates were the free choice of the electors. The honors of office were unsought and were borne by the recipients with modesty and diffidence. Blessed days were those, but never to return again. Alas! alas! how the times have degenerated! But we must now turn from these sub- jects to deeds of violence and death nearer home and recount the
SECOND HOMICIDE.
Samuel V. Hibler, the register of deeds of the county and one of the original town propietors, was holding the southwest quarter of section seventeen in township one hunderd and two, range twenty- seven, adjoining the town-site of Blue Earth City, as a claim under the pre-emption laws. He had erected a small log cabin and made some other improvements on the land. Not probably living up to the strict letter of the law as to residence upon the land and the land then being deemed quite valuable, one Theophilus Bowen "jumped the claim," as it was called in those days and determined to contest Hibler's right and ordered trial at the local land office. than located at Chatfield, Minnesota. In Hibler's absence Bowen had gone upon the land and taken possession of the building. The jumping of claims was in those days, very unpopular and was viewed as a gross infringement of private rights, which warranted extreme measures. Many persous in those early days lost their lives in this territory because of claim jumping. In many places on the frontiers law and order in the first settlement of the country is not well established, and but little respected and persons con- sidering themselves trespassed upon, often seek to right their wrongs "by the strong and bloody hand."
Hibler returned and on the fifteenth day of October, taking sev- eral friends with him, proceeded to the house on his claim and ordered Bowen off of the premises. A young man named Alfonso Brooks,
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was in the house at the time with Bowen. High words followed between Hibler and Bowen, and they got into a seuffle, when Brooks interfered and Hibler, who had a stout cane in his hand, struck Brooks over the head. Brooks stooped down to pick up a piece of brick from a small pile in the corner and as he arose, Hibler struck him again on the head several times. Brooks fell and died in about an hour. His skull was broken. Mr. Brooks was buried in the graveyard at Blue Earth City, the Rev. J. G. Whitford preaching his funeral sermon. It was indeed a sad affair. A young man of good habits, intelligent, of inoffensive character and not one of the principal parties to the quarrel, stricken down in the prime of life.
Bowen immediately went to Mankato, in Blue Earth county. to which this county had been attached for judicial purposes, and made complaint against Hibler and some others, whom he considered im- plicated. The complaint was made before a justice of the peace, who forthwith issued a warrant for the arrest of Hibler and the others. They were arrested and taken before the justice for exam- ination. Thomas J. Galbraith, an able lawyer of Shakopee, and James Dow, an attorney residing at Red Wing, were retained as coun- sel by Hibler and his friends, and Lewis Branson, of Mankato, who afterwards became judge of the sixth district, appeared as prose- cuting attorney. When the case was called, Mr. Galbraith moved the court to discharge the prisoners on the ground that the justice had no jurisdiction over the territory (in the county) where the offence had been committed, the statute of the time enacting that the jurisdiction of a justice of the peace should be "Co-extensive with the limits of his county and no other or greater." They were discharged. Mr. Hibler never returned to this county. He went to Shakopee where he remained a short time, and then returned to Pennsylvania, his native state. The others, being no more than mere spectators of the homicide, came home. Bowen subsequently pre-empted the land in dispute. the larger part of which, in after years, was laid out in additions to Blue Earth City. The current opinion of the time was, that the killing of Brooks was mainly an accident and that Hibler was not seriously to blame under the cir- cumstances.
THE WEATHER.
The weather, during the summer and fall of this year, was very pleasant until the winter set in, on the twenty-second day of Novem- ber, coming down suddenly in the shape of a foot of snow, and became very severe. The winter of 1856-7 will long be remembered over the whole north, as one of the longest, coldest and stormiest ever known in the northwest.
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FARIBAULT COUNTY, MINNESOTA.
FROZEN TO DEATH.
But the tragedies of the year are not all told. About the first of December, Daniel Schneider, a resident of the county, and a man named Porter, started for Twin Lakes in the state of Iowa, to bring in a load of provisions, which Porter had succeeded in getting that far, but being unable alone to get further with his load, he had come to the residence of Schneider to get assistance. It was very cold and the snows deep, but they safely reached Twin Lakes and got ready for starting, but were delayed one day as a great snow storm was raging. There was then no one living at Twin Lakes, and they had to camp out.
While at this place there came there a man named Jones, and another man quite advanced in years, whose name is now forgot- ten, who were on their way to this county. They soon found that they could not move with their load, owing to the great additional depth of snow and the drifts, and the cold becoming very severe, they were compelled to leave everything and seek some human hab- itation or perish. They turned their oxen loose to shirk for them- selves and all started for the residence of one Adams, in the Big Brush, near Forest City, about fourteen miles distant over the open prairies. All were frozen to death on the way, except Jones, who, almost exhausted and with feet and hands badly frozen, reached the cabin of Adams. It appears that Schneider was the first to fail ou that terrible journey, as he gave out and laid down to die about six miles from Twin Lakes. Porter kept along some miles further and wandered off the road in the direction of Coon Grove, where he sank down in the sleep of death. The old man whose name is unknown, next succumbed, not far from their destination. A party went out from Forest City in a few days after and brought in the body of Porter, but the others were not found at the time. It was said that Porter had about one thousand dollars in gold with him, but no money was found on his body. Schneider's remains were found the next April, by his father. He was lying on his back, his limbs quietly composed, as though he had gone to sleep. His face and hands had been eaten away by wolves. His pockets had been turned inside out and his wallet lay upon his breast, empty. Whether the remains of the old man were ever found and what became of the oxen and load of provisions, the writer has never been able to learn.
IMMIGRATION.
Many permanent residents came into the county during the year, and great improvements were made, but there is now no means of knowing what the population of the county was at the close of the year.
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The first settlements were made during the year in the towns afterwards known as Minnesota Lake, Lura, Delavan. Walnut Lake, Foster. Emerald, Jo Daviess and Seely, as will be seen by reference to the historical sketches of the several towns. The times were prosperous, the future promising and the people ac- tive and hopeful.
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CHAPTER III.
A. D. 1857.
"Whoop after whoop with rack the ear assailed, As if unearthly fiends had burst their bar." -Gertrude of Wyoming.
The year 1857 begun in the midst of one the severest winters ever known in this country. The snows lay very deep on the level prairies and great drifts, lying in every direction. rendered traveling almost impossible.
During the winter, there was nothing to break the monotony, even in the two so-called villages, except the arrival of the weekly mail, bringing letters and papers from the great world, from which the people here were as much isolated as if they were situated on a distant island of the ocean. Sometimes the mail carrier, venture- some as any man, owing to the deep snows and unbroken roads, failed to get through for days after his expected arrival, causing great disappointment and many surmises.
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