USA > Minnesota > Mower County > The history of Mower County, Minnesota : illustrated > Part 13
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The poultry fanciers are the most numerous of all the thor- oughbred raisers. Space forbids mention of all the varieties of poultry that are to be found in this county. At a recent county fair 123 varieties were shown, of which 99 were of the hen, six of the turkey, eleven of the duck and seven of the geese family. Alfred Ziemer, of this city, has a Buff Orpington cock valued at $1,000, the highest priced bird of the breed in the United States. The Mower County Poultry Association is the largest organiza- tion of its kind in the state, and its annual show is larger than any other except those held at St. Paul and Minneapolis. Mower county birds in the last shows in the Twin Cities took more prizes than any other county in the state.
There is one farmer in the county who claims that every do- mestie animal on his place, from the driving horse to the family cat, is thoroughbred and registered.
Mower county has no state highways of macadam. The roads, which are made of the soil of the county, on the whole are good, and some of them are kept in the best of condition. This county was one of the first in the state to undertake road building, and it is interesting to note that the first bill ordered paid by the first board of couny commissioners was a bill presented July 7. 1856, by Louis Patchin, for work as road commissioner.
There was a time in Mower county when like all new lands, the first consideration was to build good barns for the housing of the lioeks and herds and the home was the most inconspienous object in the landscape. As the farmers prospered the log house disappeared and now there are not a half dozen log houses in the entire county. Now the farmers' house vies with the city residenee and has many of the modern conveniences. Where elec- trie light and power cannot be secured, gasoline engines furnish power and a number of farm houses are lighted by their own gas plants. By the use of elevated tanks in the house or barn, or pneumatie tanks in eellars, farm houses often have all the sani- tary conveniences of a house in town. Our farmers recognize the value of keeping their property in the best of shape. Houses and barns are well painted, lawns are carefully kept and flower gardens show that our people recognize that the things which beautify add a value to life as well as to property.
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AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES.
Mower County Agricultural, Horticultural and Mechanics' Society. On the third of September, 1863, the board of county commissioners, consisting of R. C. Heath, Alanson Beach and G. T. Angell published a call for the organizing of a society of the farmers of the county. Agreeable to this notice a number of prominent citizens of the county met at the postoffice in Austin September 22, 1863. The meeting was called to order by B. F. Jones, upon whose motion J. P. Jones, of Nevada township, was eleeted chairman. B. F. Jones was elected secretary. After some discussion Ormanzo Allen, Olivar Somers and Sylvester Smith were appointed a committee to draft a constitution for the gov- ernment of the society.
The following gentlemen were elected first officers of the so- ciety : President, Hon. Robert Lyle; vice-presidents, John M. Morrell, Geo. N. Conkey and John M. Wyckoff from the first, second and third districts respectively; recording secretary, B. F. Jones; corresponding secretary, Solomon Snow; directors- Austin, V. P. Lewis ; Lyle, S. R. Hughson ; Windom, Alonzo Fair- banks; Red Rock, A. D. Brown; Udolpho, Charles Stimson ; Nc- vada, J. P. Jones; Lansing, J. J. Rosenberg; Pleasant Valley, Robert Reed; Grand Meadow, Col. B. F. Langworthy ; Racine, Addison Harris; Frankford, N. Goodsell; Bennington, Edwin Angell ; Adams, Mathew Rooney; LeRoy, Daniel Caswell. This society held its first fair at the village of Lansing during the sec- ond week of October, 1864. It was an acknowledged success ..
Mower County Agricultural Society. During the year 1868 the project of organizing a second agricultural society was agi- tated. On July 31, 1868, a number of prominent citizens met at the brick school house in Austin. J. L. Davidson was chosen chairman, and Lyman A. Sherwood, secretary of the meeting. A committee was appointed, consisting of C. H. Davidson, Capt. A. S. Everest, G. G. Clemmer and Thomas Gibson, to draft a con- stitution and by-laws.
The following were the first officers elected: President, An- drew D. Brown; secretary, E. C. Door ; treasurer, S. Snow; vice- presidents, Sylvester Smith, Austin City; Abe S. Lott, Austin township; Alanson Beach, Lyle; Gunder Halverson, Nevada ; Matthew Rooney, Adams; W. B. Spencer, LeRoy ; G. T. Angell, Bennington; D. P. Putney, Frankford; W. E. Harris, Racine; B. F. Langworthy, Grand Meadow; Richard Hoppin, Pleasant Val- ley; James II. Stewart, Red Rock; A. B. Vaughan, Lansing; Thomas Richardson, Udolpho; A. P. Lounsberry, Waltham ; John Thompson, Windom. Executive committee-V. P. Lewis, chair. man; W. L. Austin, Austin; Thomas Gibson, Lansing; Orlando
.
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Wilder, Lyle ; Alanson Wright, Windom; J. M. Wyckoff, LeRoy ; Harvey Anderson, Red Rock; D. Chandler, Austin; J. W. Gregg, Nevada; H. M. Irgens, Adams; Capt. J. S. McKnight, Benning- ton ; Chas. Lamb, Frankford; Jonathan Stewart, Racine; O. W. Case, Grand Meadow; Ben. Carll, Udolpho; H. Edward, Wal- tham.
This society held its first fair on October 14 and 15, 1868.
The present society was organized at the meeting of the Grange council, held October 1, 1874, when it was found that the farming class was anxious to organize an agricultural society, such as existed in many other counties. After the usual pre- liminaries, the farmers proceeded to organize a society by elect- ing officers both from within and without the Grange. The society was to be called the Mower County Agricultural Society, and its object was the promotion of agriculture, horticulture and the mechanical arts. G. W. Grimshaw was elected president; C. J. Felch, vice president; Miles M. Trowbridge, secretary; H. F. Deming, treasurer. The executive committee consisted of nine members: S. Y. Paddock, M. C. Potter, Merril Mason, N. H. Thompson, William Rutherford, H. Knudson, E. I. Stimson, J. F. Cook and W. L. Austin. The society was incorporated March 31, 1875. The annual county fair is now held at Austin, and the live stock exhibit at the fairs exceeds that of any county fair in the state.
The Mower County Poultry Association is one of the strong- est organizations of this nature in the state, and there is not a more enthusiastic class of breeders than the men who form this association. The association holds an annual poultry show which is largely attended. A. W. Edson is president of the association and Alf. A. Ziemer is secretary.
THE WHEAT FAILURE.
In 1877 Mower county farmers reaped the last of the big wheat crops, which for twenty years had made this the land of Eldorado of the settler from the East. The history of this county from the year of the wheat failure in 1878 to the present time is of unusual interest. To give the reader an idea of the time of the failure, we quote the diary of one of the early settlers. "Au- gust 19, 1877. To-day I threshed forty acres of wheat, got 1,156 bushels, which went sixty-two pounds to the bushel." August 26, 1878. It has rained almost every day, mnd everywhere; have tried to eradle a little wheat for seed, and have saved but little. Am very blue."
"Am very blue" is the epitome of the history of almost every farmer of that section, for not only 1878 but for the next five
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years. During these years the farmers tried time and time again to raise wheat as they had for a quarter of a century previous, and each year saw the debt against the farmer growing larger and larger. Many who could do so left the county and went west to the Dakotas. But from the year of the big wheat failure dates the real growth of the county. In the failure of the wheat the farmer was driven to adopt other methods of agriculture, and diversified farming took the place of the one-crop system. The adoption of the new plan was necessarily slow. To the farmer who had in 1876 purchased 160 acres and paid for it with his wheat crop in 1877 diversified farming seemed a long and hard road to the material prosperity of the individual. But there were men who in their younger days were raised in this school and who were quick to see what could be done with the rich early- worked soil, and they became the pioneers of the movement. To- day they are the rich and prosperous farmers of the county. Thirty years ago the county from boundary to boundary line was one great sea of golden wheat. To-day its surface is like a great mosaic of corn, barley, oats, clover, timothy, and pasture blue grass. Herds of pure-bred Shorthorn, Holstein, Jersey, Gallo- ways, Aberdeen-Angus, Hereford, Red Polled, Guernseys, and Ayr- shires may be found in all parts of our county, and thousands of pure-bred sheep of Merino, Cotswold, Shropshire, Southdown, Lin- coln, Oxford, Hampshire, and Horned Dorset breeds may be found there. The following breeds of horses are raised in the county : Norman, Persian, Clydesdale, French draft and English shires, besides a high grade of coach, draft and trotting horses. Hog raising is a feature of every farm, and the following breeds are found : Berkshire, Poland-China, Chester White, Duroc-Jersey, Suffolk, improved Yorkshires, and small Yorkshires. At the annual fairs of the Mower County Agricultural Society all the above breeds are shown in registered animals. The livestock exhibit is one of the greatest attractions of the fair, and is yearly growing larger. It is not the intention of the writer to mention the individual efforts that have brought about the present pros- perity and demonstrated the value of diversified farming. Their work speaks for itself. But we are glad to say that many of those pioneers of diversified farming in Minnesota yet live to see their plans come to fruition and to see those who laughed at them when they entered upon the breeding and raising of regis- tered stock here adopt a similar method in order to keep up with the progress of the age. But the farmer of thirty years ago did not realize these advantages, and if he did, the single erop method was the most advantageous up to the year 1878. Mower county, lying on the boundary line of Iowa, lies within the corn belt and at the same time is within the small grain belt. Corn of as fine
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a growth as that of Iowa is raised in great quantities to fatten the droves of hogs to be found on every farm. At Austin, the county seat, is a packing house with a capacity of 2,000 a day, where the highest market price is paid, and which is within easy reach of the farmer with hogs to sell. Oats and barley are the other big crops raised in the county, and there are fourteen trading points besides the city of Austin at which the farmer ean dispose of his produce. Reaching from Austin are two tele- phone systems that ramify every corner of the county and reach over 1,100 farm houses, besides the 950 homes within the city. Mower county was the first county of Minnesota to have in- stalled a complete rural mail route. Three lines of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, three lines of the Chicago Great Western, and one of the Illinois Central traverse the county so that but little land lies as far as ten miles from railroad facilities. These are the changes of a quarter of a century of diversified farming not fully perfected. But Mower county is yet to be known along another line-that of apple raising. It has been sufficiently proven that apples can be raised on her soil. For instance, F. W. Kimball, of Austin, in 1907 shipped his apples to Illinois and netted from his two and a half acres of orchard over $700, after paying $148 for barrels, besides the expense of picking and pack- ing. Within the past few years more and more apple trees have been planted by the farmers of the county, and this industry will count among the valuable assets when some future writer twenty- five years hence shall speak of the remarkable prosperity and growth of one of the richest and most representative agricultural counties of the Northwest.
(By C. L. Rice.)
The Grange movement in Mower county has been an important one, and although but two of the original societies remain within the county at the present time, the movement accomplished its purpose in the bettering of farm conditions and the dignifying of the agricultural interests of the county. In 1873 and 1875 the Grangers eleeted E. II. Wells, of Lansing, to the Minnesota senate, on a Farmers' Alliance ticket, and in several campaigns took an active part in the Anti-Monopolist movement in politics. In addi- tion to this the prices paid by farmers for commodities were low- ered by the establishment of Grange stores at various places, and in faet it may truthfully be said that the Grange in this eounty was the forerunner of the general idea of farmers' co-operation which has resulted in creameries and stores on the community
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plan. It also fathered the Mower County Agricultural Society, which has held successful fairs at Austin for so many years.
On March 18, 1873, and in the few months following, nineteen granges were started in this county. They were: Hope Grange, Andrew Peters, master; Pleasant View Grange, George Elliot ; Brownsdale Grange, H. E. Tanner; Rose Creek Grange, D. S. B. Mollison ; Lyle Grange, R. B. Foster; Union Grange, D. Austin ; Enterprise Grange, No. 181, J. C. Hawkins; Frankford Grange, G. Tryer ; Prairie Grange, B. F. Langworthy ; Cedar River Grange, M. Teeter; Nevada Grange, G. Halverson; Hamilton Grange, E. W. Elder; Cedar Valley Grange, W. J. Merrick; Riverdale Grange, M. M. Trowbridge; Woodlawn Grange, A. K. Vander- walker; Lansing Grange, L. Hawley ; Nevada Union Grange, Sher- man Clow. These Granges were very progressive and did a great deal of good for the interests of agriculture, horticulture and animal industry. Many advantages were also received in a social way, as the farming people became better acquainted with each other.
June 30, 1873, a County Grange was organized at the Baptist church in Brownsdale. This was designated the Mower County Council. The meeting was called to order by F. A. Elder, the deputy. B. F. Langworthy was elected chairman and George C. Weed secretary of the temporary organization. Twelve Granges were represented, seventy-five delegates being present. The fol- lowing officers of the council were elected to serve for one year : Master, J. S. Bowers ; overseer, L. E. Pearco; secretary, George C. Weed ; chaplain, George Elliot ; steward, De Los Tanner; lee- turer, F. A. Elder ; assistant steward, S. R. Pearco; gate keeper, D. D. Pratt ; treasurer, G. W. Grimshaw ; Ceres, Mrs. B. F. Lang- worthy ; Flora, Mrs. Bettie Peters; Pomona, Mrs. L. E. Peareo; lady assistant steward, Mrs. A. J. Hunt.
At the meeting of the eouneil held October 1, 1874, it was found that the farming elass was anxious to organize an agricul- tural society, such as existed in many other counties. After the usual preliminaries, the farmers proceeded to organize a society by electing offieers both from within and without the Grange. The society was to be called the Mower County Agricultural So- ciety and its objeet was the promotion of agriculture, horticul- ture and the mechanical arts. G. W. Grimshaw was elected presi- dent ; C. J. Felch, viee president ; Miles M. Trowbridge, secretary ; H. F. Deming, treasurer. The executive committee consisted of nine members: S. Y. Paddock, M. C. Potter, Merril Mason, N. H. Thompson, William Rutherford, HI. Knudson, E. J. Stimson, J. F. Cook and W. L. Austin.
The Agricultural Society continued to live, but after a while the interest in the Grange movement died out. On April 2, 1910,
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after many years of inactivity, Enterprise Grange, No. 181, was reorganized as No. 604 by C. B. Hoyt at the Enterprise school- house. The following officers were elected: Master, C. L. Rice; overseer, C. B. Sayles ; lecturer, Mrs. C. B. Sayles ; steward, E. V. Hart ; assistant steward, Arthur Loucks ; chaplain, Mrs. C. L. Rice; secretary, F. G. Page; treasurer, H. R. Mills; gate keeper, Con. Downey ; Flora, Rosabel Pike; Pomona, Mrs. F. G. Page; Ceres, Mrs. E. B. Loueks; lady assistant steward, Ruth Fraser; organist, Mrs. F. G. Page. The officers were installed by C. B. Hoyt and the members were obligated. At that time Enterprise Grange had a membership of 103. It is now the banner grange of the state. This and Lansing Grange, No. 605, Arthur Parkins, master, are the only ones now in existence in the county.
The grange is considered of great benefit to all patrons of husbandry, agriculturally, educationally, and a great help in co- operative buying in large quantities, greatly to the benefit of the consumer. Educationally and socially it is a great benefit to any community. It was the cause of getting rural free delivery, and long defunct Granges are now rapidly springing into new life on every side. It is surely a great organization to get the producer and consumer together, thus avoiding too many middlemen's profits. It is also against the big combination and trusts. It has subordinate county, state and national Granges which are doing a splendid work.
STORM AND FLOOD OF 1908.
The month of June, 1908, brought to Mower county a series of severe storms that culminated on the afternoon of Saturday, June 20, with the most disastrous one that has ever swept the county within the memory of man. The loss to buildings and to crops was estimated at the time to be about $750,000, and this was followed on June 22 by a flood at the city that did damage to the amount of many thousands of dollars.
For several days there had been an unusual degree of humidity. On Thursday, June 18, there were cyclonic conditions. That evening a brilliant electrical storm swept the entire county and several buildings were destroyed by lightning. At 9:30 p. m. a tornado struck the village of Adams, doing damage to the amount of $2,500. The path of the tornado was four rods wide and extended a quarter of a mile. There were small twisters in Dexter and Sargeant townships. The lightning caused a $10,000 fire at Sargeant village. The bolt set fire to the Martin Stephen- son grain elevator which burned to the ground. The fire extended to the coal sheds, to the Chicago Great Western depot and a freight car was there totally destroyed. Lightning also struck
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the steeple of the German Lutheran church in the Seebach dis- triet in Dexter, practically destroying it. Several barns were destroyed by fire, caused by lightning, and much live stock was killed.
On the succeeding night, Friday, June 19, another wonder- fully brilliant electrical storm swept the county, killing much live stock and burning several barns.
Saturday, June 20, came with an increase of the cyclonic con- ditions. The morning was warm and the air was filled with moisture. As the day wore on the sultriness increased. Soon after noon the storm clouds again appeared. By 3:15 it was so dark that lamps were lighted in stores and workshops. Just before 4 o'clock a deep black eloud came up from the southwest with an advance line of foaming whitish cloud that reminded one of the surf beating against the shore. Just behind this lighter cloud appeared the sign of the approaching tornado-a copper colored band. The storm cloud caused intense fear and hun- dreds sought shelter in cellars. The tornado marked eloud veered to the west of the city, but the black eloud that followed passed directly over Austin. A few drops of rain, followed by hail varying from the size of a pea to the size of a walnut, fell. With the hail came a wind storm which lasted forty minutes. The course of the wind in that short space of time changed from the southwest to the north. Houses were raeked to the founda- tion and many were unroofed. Barns and sheds were blown down, trees that had weathered the elements for half a century were torn out by the roots and rolled about as playthings of the storm king. The electric current was turned off from the station, for hundreds of electric light, telephone and telegraph wires were strewn about the streets. Hardly a street was passable and the fire department, street department and half a hundred men were put to work as soon as the storm abated to eut a direet way along the streets of the city. At Evergreen Farm a thousand evergreen trees were destroyed. Great damage was done at beautiful Oakwood cemetery. Some of the heaviest losers by the storm in Austin were: The Hormel Packing Company, which had fine buildings partly unroofed, thousands of dollars worth of sugar and saltpeter spoiled by the rain, which also ruined a large amount of printed labels. Loss about $15,000. At the county fair grounds the grand stand, fine art building, ladies' building, poultry exhibit hall, besides many of the sheds and barns, were destroyed. The loss there was about $10,000. The round house and machine shops of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul road were damaged about $8,000. A. N. Kinsman's green houses were riddled with hail and the wind twisted the frames. HIis loss was estimated at $5.000. The two telephone systems
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were damaged $5,000 each. Wind and rain damaged the Grand hotel about $2,000. Some of the other heavy losses by the storm were Austin Cement Stone Company, building damaged $3,000; Austin Steam Laundry, $2,000; George Hirsh, $1,500; Donovan & Goslee, $2.000; S. M. Normal College, $1,000; Franklin school building, $1,000; Gripman Bros., $1,000. 'Twenty-two other buildings, damaged $200 to $1,000. Besides this almost every building in the city was damaged to some extent. Lightning struck the steeple of St. Augustine's church and tore out a rock of brown stone weighing 300 pounds.
The loss in the country to buildings and crops ran into hun- dreds of thousands of dollars. A tornado swept across the town- ship of Udolpho, cutting a path two to three rods wide and extending to Waltham township. Along this line the wind and hail destroyed every blade of the growing erops. The damage at Lansing was light, most of it occurring near the Austin line. The storm at Dexter made the fields look as if they had been plowed. At Grand Meadow the hail storm was so severe that searcely a pane of glass was left in the windows on the north side of any house in the township or village. Racine escaped with little rain and hail. In Waltham and Sargeant the storm did damage estimated at $30,000. In Adams village 600 panes of glass were broken by the hail. This township suffered severely in loss of crops, windmills and barns. Lodi suffered heavily from hail. In some parts of the county the hail congealed into jagged chunks of ice as big as a man's fist and hogs and horses were killed in the fields. Trees were stripped of every vestige of bark. There seems to have been several tornadoes connected with the storm, for the ruins left in widely separated townships showed the marks of the twister.
THE FLOOD OF JUNE 22.
On Sunday everybody was out viewing the ruins of the wind storm. There was no thought of more damage to come. Monday morning found the Cedar river rapidly rising and before the day ended the waters had taken out the iron bridge which spanned the Cedar on Bridge street, swept through the Kinsman greenhouses, doing thousands of dollars worth of damage. They flooded the electric light station, shutting down the power and leaving the city in darkness. The Austin gas plant was sub- merged and damaged $2,000. The plant of the Austin Weed Exterminator Company was under water and damaged about $1,000. The water was so high a couple of men rowed a boat into Brown's barber shop which was then located in the basement of the George Hirsh block. There was no way to drive across the
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Cedar river as all the bridges were submerged excepting the Chicago Great Western railroad bridge. Practically all work in the city was suspended and the people went out to watch the greatest flood the city had ever seen.
INSURANCE COMPANIES.
The Mower County Farmers' Fire and Lightning Mutual Insurance Company is a permanent feature in this county. It has 2,499 policies in force at the present time amounting to some $5,717,758. The company was organized as the Mower County Fire Insurance Company at a meeting held at the court house September 16, 1885. W. D. Medbery was in the chair and R. Eckford acted as clerk. The nine directors elected were: G. L. Case, Robert Eckford, H. W. Lightley, J. J. Furlong, G. Seebach, J. A. Thompson, Daniel Williams, Ole O. Finhart and E. S. Hop- pin. The officers were: President, G. L. Case; secretary, R. Eckford ; treasurer, E. S. Hoppin. The name was soon changed to the Farmers' Fire and Storm Mutual Insurance Company. Business was commenced December 1, 1885, and one year later 203 policies were in force, covering insurance of $271,226. In 1891 the name was changed to the Austin Farmers' Fire Insur- ance Company. Early in 1901 it became the Austin Farmers' Fire and Lightning Insurance Company, and on May 8 of the same year it assumed its present name. The present officers are : President, J. J. Furlong; secretary, A. Hotson; treasurer, C. Proeschel; J. H. DeRemer, Frank Haney, D. L. Tanner, C. L. Schroeder, H. F. Kezar and Nils Anderson.
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