USA > Mississippi > History of the upper Mississippi Valley, pt 2 > Part 13
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lives nt Pelican Rapids, Otter Tail county, Minne- sotu; the second, u son, is in the lumbering busi- ness; the youngest, William G., is at home carrying on the home farm aud providing for his widowed mother.
WILLIAM CONNELL was born in Derry county, Ireland, on the 9thi of April, 1816, where he lived till sixteen years of age, attending the common schools. Then he learned the baker business, and followed it till he emme to the United States. He landed in New York in 1833, eame to Chieago in 1838, and thence to Fort Snelling in 1840. He soon after went to Galena, Illinois, and was em- ployed in the lead mines at that place for nine years. Then returned to Swan River, Minnesota, where he lived one year, and after spending some time in other localitics, settled at Sauk Rapids, and was Sheriff of Benton county for two years. In October, 1856, he came to what is now Le Sank township, and selected his present farm on section thirty-four. He is Justice of the Peace, and has hield the position four or five terms. Soon after coming to this country (in 1835) Mr. Connell enlisted in the regular army, and served about four months in the Florida war. He was married to Miss Ann MeCanna, on the 6th of July, 1853. They have had seven children, six of whom are living. The four oldest daughters are teaching school, and the youngest, a Miss of thir- teen years, is at home. The son also resides with his parents.
MATIAS ENGELS was born in Myer, Germany, in the year 1811. Came with his parents to the United States, and located in Wisconsin in the fall of 1846, where he lived until 1854, and moved . to Sank Rapids, where he lived for one year, then removed to a farm in the town of St. Joseph, and lived there till the fall of 1880, when he came to his present home. His brother Peter enlisted in the late eivil war, in Company G, of the Ninth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, under Captain Bar- ret. His father died in June, 1872, in the town of St. Joseph. He was married in 1876, to Miss Mary Heisler, who was born in Towa. They have two little girls, one fonr years old and the other two.
JOHN FERSCHWEILER, a native of Trier, Ger- many, was born on the 28th of October, 1843, whero ho lived with his parents till thirteen years of age, when the family came to Minnesota und loented on a farm in section twenty-nine, town of Le Sank. Here he lived with his father till he
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LE SAUK TOWNSHIP.
onlisted on the 17th of Angnat, 1864, at St. Cloud, in Company G, of the Eleventh Minnesota Vol- unteer Infantry. He first went to Nashville, T'en- nessee, but returned to Fort Snelling on the 29th of June, 1865, and was mustered ont on the 11th of July following. He returned lo this town and how owns a farm of one hundred and forty acres adjoining his father's farm, and also a traet of timber land containing eighty acres, in the town of Brockway. He was married to Miss Catharine Iten, who was born in Switzerland. They have five children, three boys and two girls.
ASA G. HART was born in Madison county, New York, on the 3d of May, 1821, but lived most of the time in Orleans county until he was fifteen years of age, wlien he went to Lenawee county, Michigan, and remained till 1856, and then moved to Cedar county, Iowa. In 1860, he came to St. Cloud township, Minnesota, and in the fall of 1865, moved to his present farm in the town of Le Sauk. He has eighty acres in section twenty-eight, and twenty-six acres in section twenty-seven. He has a good farm, well adapted to grain raising. Ho was married to Miss Amy Foot in 1841. She was born in New York. They have three children. The oldest son, Edward, was in the Union army three years during the late civil war. He was in Company I, of the Seventh Minnesota Volnn- teer Infantry, and participated in the battles at Mobile, Alabama, and at Nashville, Tennessee.
SAMUEL COX JOHNSTON, a native of Onondaga county, New York, was born on the 23d of March, 1826. He was raised on a farm, receiving such education as the schools of the locality afforded, and afterwards run on the Erie Canal during his minority. He then run a barge on the Oswego line and Hudson river until the fall of 1855, when he came to Minnesota and seltled on his present farm. In Angust, 1862, he enlisted as a Sergeant in Company I, of the Seventh Minnesota Vohin- teer Infantry. He accompanied General Sibley on his expedition against the Indians, and in the fall of 1863, was ordered south, spending the winter in St. Louis. The summer of 1864 was spent with the army in Kentucky and Mississippi, where he took part in several engagements. He was mastered ont at Fort Snelling in August, 1865. Mr. Johnston was united in marriage with Miss Fatima M. Hay, in April, 1847. She was born in New York State, where she received an academical education. Since Mr. Johnston's residence in Le Sauk, he has been Chairman of Supervisors,
Justice of the Peace, Town Treasurer, and held a number of other local offices.
Ross RICHARDS was born in Michigan on the 16th of March, 1848. His father moved to Racine, Wisconsin, when Ross was only one year old. The subject of our sketch lived in this place, enjoying common school privileges, till 1876, when he came to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he stayed for one year, engaged in training horses. In 1877, he moved to St. Cloud, where he also followed horse training until the fall of 1880, when he ae- cepted the position of manager of the stock farm of N. P. Clarke, located in the town of Le Sank. He was married to Miss Lydia Greene in 1876, who was born in Wisconsin. Mr. Richards was in the late war, enlisting in January, 1864, in Company G, of the Third Wiseonsin Volunteer Infantry, uuder Captain Giddings. Was first ordered to Nashville, Tennessee, and took part in the battle at Peach Orchard; was in Sherman's " March to the Sea," and mistered ont of service in July, 1865, at Louisville, Kentucky.
JOHN SCHAFER was born on the 23d of Septem- ber, 1842, in the Kingdom of Bavaria, Germany. He came with his father to the United States in 1851. After living a short time in several places, came to his present farm, located on section nine- teen, in May, 1856. Mr. Schafer never enjoyed any school advantages, but by improving his leis- ure honrs and long winter evenings, has acquired a fair knowledge of the English language and a large amount of general information. He enlisted in September, 1862, in Company D, of the First Minnesota Mounted Rangers, under Captain Tay- lor. He was first ordered to Fort Abercrombie, and soon after to Fort Ripley on the Mississippi river; was in the battle at Big Mound, and Buffalo Lake, and on an expedition against the Indians as far as Bismarck on the Missouri river, then back to Fort Snelling after a campaign of thirteen months. He was married on the 3d of October, 1869, to Miss Bertha Klopfleish, who was born in Illinois. They have two children.
LUXEMBURG.
This town lies in the southern part of the county, and has an area of 23,010 acres, of which 1,846 are under cultivation.
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HISTORY OF THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.
The surface of this town is mostly covered with brush, except where remored for agricultural pur- poses. There is a considerable acreage of swamp land, and a number of small lakes. The soil va- ries from a dark to a claycy loam with a clay sub- soil.
The first settler in this town was Nicholas Post, who eamc in 1861, and settled ou section sixteen, where he now lives. He was followed during the same year by Paul Ryezck, Thomas Wirtzfeld, Cornelins Lutzen, Peter Weiler, and John Schrifels. The settlement has not been very rapid, the pop- ulation iu 1880 being but 299.
The town was organized in 1866, having been a part of Wakefield prior to that time.
The first Supervisors were: Nicholas Post, Chair- man, C. Lutzen, and Nicholas Maurin. The Clerk was John Loesch. The town was named by Mr. Post in honor of his birthplace in Germany.
The first school was taught in 1867. There are uow three schools in the township. There is also a German Catholie elmurch on section two, erected in 1859. A Post-office was established near the church in 1878; John P. Schmidt is the Post- master.
The agricultural report of 1880, shows the fol- lowing product: wheat, 17,351 bushels; oats, 6,386 bushels; corn, 1,311 bushels; potatoes, 1,956 bush- els; wild hay, 418 tons; wool, 260 pounds; and butter, 2,836 pounds.
LYNDEN.
CHAPTER CII.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION- EARLY SETTLEMENT-EAR- LY WEDDINGS -ORGANIZATION -MILLS - FATAL ACCIDENT-RELIGIOUS -- SCHOOLS -- SOCIETIES -- AG- RICULTURAL STATISTICS -- BIOGRAPHICAL.
Lynden is the most sontheastern town in the cotinty. It has an area of 15,360 acres, of which 1,830 are nuder cultivation.
The surface is undulating and generally cov. cered with a light growth of timber or brush, ex- cept where removed by the hands of the husband- man. The soil is mostly a light sandy loam, but quite productive.
T. C. Porter and Jolm Townsend made the first claims in what is now the town of Lynden, in 1853. Their claims were made in sections twenty and
twenty-one, on land now owned by W. T. Rigby and G. B. Benson. Mr. Porter sold his interest to Townsend, the following year, for ten dollars; it was subsequently pre-empted by Joseph and Peter Towusend, brothers of John, who had also arrived in 1853. Porter and the Townsends were natives of Pennsylvania, the former coming to Minnesota before the 'Territorial organization. Jonathan and William Dallas, natives of Indiana, settled on sse- tion four, in 1854; the former is deceased, and the latter resides in Washington Territory. Abel Hent, wife, and four daughters, accompanied by J. W. Stevenson, came from Ohio, in 1855, and set- tled on sections nine and ten. Traditiou says, T. C. Porter ferried the young ladies across the Clearwater river on his back, and escorted them to their new home.
J. W. Stevenson was married to Emma Hent in the fall of that year. Simon Stevens, another pioneer, lashed two Indian canoes together and took the wedding party across the Mississippi river, and the ceremony was performed on the east bank of the stream, between sundown and dark, by John H. Stevenson, Justice of the Peace of Sher- burne then Benton county. As soon as they were declared man and wife, a party of pioneers secreted in the timber near by, fired a salute in houor of the event.
Joseph Townsend and Harriet Ball were mar- ried in October of the same year, by the same of- ficial and under similar circumstances, there being no Clergyman or Justice of the Peace in this town at that time. The first ceremony performed in the town, was the marriage af A. B. Darling to Jerusha Ingalls, on the 19th of March, 1858.
In 1856, the population was increased by the arrival of S. A. Clifford, W. D. Davis, Truman Par- cher, L. C. Johnson, Martin Johnson, Stephen Oyster, E. G. Mathews, and others. The popula- tion in 1880 had increased to 286 persons.
The first child born was a son of Peter Town- send, named Byron, in Angnst, 1856.
The first death was J. W. Stevenson, to whom reference has just been made as the principal in the first marriage ceremony. He died on the 14th of September, 1856.
The first school was taught by J. Kingsley, of Vermont, in the winter of 1858-59, in a shanty which had been erected for a groggery. The first school house was built in the summer following, the funds being raised by subseription, and Mar-
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LYNDEN TOWNSHIP.
ietta Vorse taught the first school therein. The building is now used for a town-hall.
The first election was held nt the house of S. A. Clifford, in October, 1857, in what was then called Clearwater precinct. S. A. Clifford, Truman Par- cher, and Martin Jolmson were judges of election, and A. C. Powers and W. D. Davis were clerks.
The town was organized on the 15th of Janu- nry, 1859, and the first election held on that day at the house of John McDonald, now owned and occupied by Abijah Whitney. A preliminary meeting had been held in 1858, and the name of Corning chosen for the new town, but at the first annual meeting, the name was changed to "Lyn- don," though now written "Lynden."
The first township officers were: Supervisors, Seth Gibbs, Chairman, Martin Johnson, and Tru- man Parcher; Clerk, W. A. Sumner; Constables, T. Heaton and F. H. Thompson; Justices of the Peace, W. T. Rigby and Jolm McDonald; and Assessor, S. A. Clifford.
There are two school-houses in Lynden, and a graded school in Clearwater village, a part of which lies in this township, and the balance in Wright county.
There are also three church organizations, sup- ported jointly by the citizens of Lynden and Clearwater,-Methodist, Congregational, and Cath- olic.
The first mill was built at the mouth of Clear- water river in 1856, but it was carried into the Mississippi river by a flood on the night before it was to commence running. The timber was used by F. Morrison the following year, in the erection of a steam saw-mill which manufactured the first lumber in the township, in the fall of that year. But, here we have to record a fatal accident. As the last board fell from the last log to be sawed that season, Alvin Wilkins was thrown upon the saw and disemboweled-split from neck to pelvis and instantly killed. At this time there was no Clergyman nearer than St. Cloud, and the funeral sermon was preached by a Mr. Fowler, an avowed infidel, but who had formerly been a prencher of the gospel.
A flouring mill was built in 1858, by Thomas C. Rogers, and another in 1860, by James Campbell.
The first gathering of any society occurred in this way: H. D. Buxton, a Freemason, died, and W. T. Rigby culled together an assemby of masons in an emergent lodge for his burial. Those present consisted of, W. W. Webster, William
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Vorse, S. Churmard, Robert Shaw, James Abell, and E. C. Parmele.
In October, 1858, a Masonie Lodge was organ- ized. The first officers were: W. T. Rigby, W. M .; T. C. Rogers, S. W .; J. M. Mitchell, J. W .; S. Churmard, Treas., und W. W. Webster, Sec. At a meeting of the Lodge, held on the 20th of Octo- ber, 1866, npon the suggestion of W. T. Rigby, a committee was appointed to select suitable grounds for a cemetery. The committee reported on the 3d of November following, and were in- structed to file articles of incorporation for the Lodge, and in its name to purchase five and five- sixteentlis acres of land in section thirty-four, and to have the same surveyed and platted for a burial place, under the name of Acassia Cemetery. This was the first ground dedicated to that purpose be- tween Monticello and St. Cloud.
Rev. Levi Gleason was sent here by the Metli- odists about 1858, and soon after, the first relig- ions society was organized. The Episcopal and Congregational Churches were also organized abont the same time.
The products of Lynden, according to the agri- cultural report of 1880, were: wheat, 14,858 bush- els; oats, 7,259 bushels; eorn, 12,155 bushels; po- tatoes, 3,020 bushels; beans, 98 bushels; sugar cane, 1,240 gallons; cultivated hay, 83 tons; wild hay, 742 tons; timothy seed, 16 bushels; apples, 52 bushels; wool, 92 pounds; butter, 12,990 pounds; and honey, 215 pounds.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
SAMUEL A. CLIFFORD, a native of New Hamp- shire, was born in the year 1814. The family re- moved to Vermont while he was young. His father being a carpenter, he learned the trade at home, and followed the business until he came to Minnesota, in 1855. He farmed one year near Minneapolis; then, in 1856, removed to Lynden township, and took a homestead in scetion twenty- seven. He now owns a farm of two hundred and ten acres, n considerable portion of which is under enltivation. Mr. Clifford has held the office of Supervisor, County Commissioner, and been n mem- ber of the School Board for a member of years. He married Miss Zernh Blodgett, in the year 1838. The fruits of this nnion are six children; Franklin W., Carroll H., George C., Hiram, Laura A., and Ella.
JANES COLGROVE was born in Hornellsville, Steuben county, New York, on the 8th of May,
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HISTORY OF THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.
1841. He was reared to agricultural pursuits, having the advantages of a district sehool. Came to Minnesota in 1866, and soon after, settled on his present farm, which is situated on seetion thirty- four and contains four hundred acres. During the first seven years of Mr. Colgrove's residence in Lynden, he was engaged in teaching sehool, but has sinee devoted his entire attention to the eulti- vation of his farm. He has held the office of Su- pervisor for eleven years, has been Town Clerk a number of terms, and is now President of the Board of Education. Mr. Colgrove was united in marriage with Miss Mary L. Stearns, of Allegany county, New York, on the 3d of July, 1863. They have had four children, three of whom are living; Mary L., Franees A., and Pitt Payson.
WILBUR F. FISK was born in Vermont, in Sep- tember, 1834. He lived in his native place till 1857, when he came to Minnesota and took a elaim on seetions thirty and nineteen, in the township of Lynden. Mr. Fisk married Miss Sarah M. Town- send, of New York, in 1867. Their children are, Estella L. and Sarah E.
OTIS R. HEATH was born in Piscataquis county, Maine, in the year 1827. He was reared on a farm, and at the age of sixteen years, began working in a saw mill, which business he has continued the greater part of his life. He came to Minnesota in 1857, und located north of Minneapolis, on Elk rivor, where ho conducted a saw mill for seven yours. He then removed to Sauk Centre, whero he worked at the carpenter trade for thirteen years, coming to this township in 1877. His farm and home is on section thirty-four. Mr. Heath was married in 1856, to Miss Agnes P. Stevens, of Maine, who died in August, 1869, leaving four children; Miriam P., Georgiuna C., Agnes P., and Laura A. His present wife was Mrs. Emma A. Slattery, to whom he was married on the 20th of October, 1870.
DANIEL D. MILLER was born in Ohio, in the year 1843. He lived on a farm during boyhood. Whilo quito young, the family moved to Towa, engaging in agricultural pursuits. In 1868, he came to Fair Haven, Stearns county, worked in a briek yard for one year, then, in 1869, came to Lynden township and took a homestead on Nec- fien twenty, whero hestill resides in the enjoyment of a comfortable home. He married Miss Harriet Dunson in April, 1869. They have six children; Ernest C., Carrie A., Len N., Ella C., Eddie E., and William B.
TRUMAN PARCHIER is a native of Vermont, born on the 7th of April, 1811. Was employed in agri- eultural pursuits till about thirty years of age, when he engaged in the wheelwright and car- penter business for seven or eight years, then for about seven years, built railroad bridges in different parts of the country, east and west. He came to Minneapolis in 1855, and worked about two years at the carpenter business, then removed to Lynden township and took a claim on seetions twenty-eight and thirty-three, buying enongh land to make him a farm of two hundred aeres, where he lives, enjoying the quiet of his country home. He married Miss Jennette R. Per- kins in 1838. They had five children, three of whom are living; Frank M., Wilmot, and Wilford, the last two being twins. His wife died on the 16th of September, 1849. He married his second wife on the 7th of October, 1852. They have had five ehildren, four of whom are living; Lilla, Ola, Robert M., and Charles A.
LUKE H. STOKES was born in England in the year 1818. Came to the United States in 1849, stopping in Westehester county, New York, where he was employed at the wagon making and car- penter business until 1865, when he removed to Minnesota, and located in Lynden township. Mr. Stokes took a claim in section twenty, making a pleasant homo for himself and family. He mar- ried Miss Mary Wielding, in 1846. They have had four children, three of whom aro living; Georgo W., Mattie, mid Samuel.
ALVIN TOWNSEND, a native of Pennsylvania, was born on the 24th of Jnne, 1821. His early years were spent on a farm, after which he learned the carpenter trade, and followed that business till he eine west, in 1855. Mr. Townsend took a claim in Lynden township, in sections twenty-seven and twenty-eight, soon after arriving in the State, and still lives on the old homestead. He is among the carly settlers of the town. He married Miss Har- riet Patrick, in 1846. They have had five chil- dron, two of whom are living; Sarah M. and David L.
GEORGE E. WARNER, a native of Lower Canada, was born on the 15th of November, 1826. He was reared on a farm, and followed that ocenpation and humbering umtil 1853, when he removed fo Vermont. In 1855, removed to Clearwater, Min- nesofa, and in 1857, settled on sections nineteen and twenty, in the town of Linden, und is still liv- ing on the samo farm. Has been a member of the
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MAINE PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP.
board of Supervisors for eight years, and Chair- man for the last two years. Has been Justice of the Peace, and served as a member of the School Board for a number of years. He married Sarah A. Wilcox, of Canada, on the 18th of January, 1848. They have had two children, one of whom is living; Edward G.
MAINE PRAIRIE.
CHAPTER CIIL.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION - EARLY SETTLEMENT - IN- DIAN BATTLE -- FIRST THINGS -ORGANIZATION- SCHOOLS-RELIGIOUS-AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS BIOGRAPIIICAL.
Maine Prairie lies in the southeast portion of the county, and has an area of about 40,000 aeres, of which 6,706 are under cultivation. The popu- lation in 1880 was 1,105. The western and south- ern portions of the town are undulating, and in some places quite broken, and mostly covered with timber and brush. The balance of the town is a gently rolling prairie. The soil is a dark, sandy loam with a clay subsoil. This town is dotted with numerous lakes, the principal of which is Pearl Lake, lying in the northern part of the town- ship, and having an area of about 700 aeres. On the northeast shore of this lake, there is a beautiful park, laid out by the Lake Park Association, of St. Cloud, and a very desirable spot for pienics, and other summer gatherings.
The first man to settle in what is now Maine Prairie, was Albert Staples, who made a claim in the northeast corner of the town, on section six, in 1856. lle was followed, in April of the same year, by Herenles Dam, who made a elaim in section seven, not far from Mr. Staples, and built a log house, the first in the town. Mr. Dam now resides in St. Cloud. He was born in Maine, in the year 1806, and resided in Maine Prairie about seven years. Rev. Alvin Messer, Dudley Smith, Martin, Grecly, Fry .M. Kimball, and many others, eame during the summer of 1856, nearly all natives of Maine, and settled in the northeast portion of the town.
In the summer of 1855, a party of men from Massachusetts in search of western homes, passed through this locality, and being impressed with its beauty, named it Paradise, and at once set out for
their families, but on their return were unable to find the place, and located at Manannah, Mceker county. One of the number visited Mr. Grecly's house, on the bank of Pearl Lake, several years later, and at once recognized their Paradise, which was now lost to the discoverers.
INDIAN FIGHT .- Maine Prairie was the seene of some Indian blood spilling in the spring of 1859. A party of twelve Sioux had been over to the Chippewa country, and returning, brought with them a dead body of one of the Chippewa braves whom they had killed. On arriving in this locality, they cut the body in pieces and burned it in the door yard of one of the settlers, and after- wards began pilfering from the whites. This de- lay gave a band of Chippeways who were in pur- suit, an opportunity to get in advance of the Sioux, which they did, and lay in ambush near the path till they came along, when a well directed volley killed nine and wounded two, one escaping unhurt and making his way to the reservation. One of the wounded died on seetion twenty-six where the battle took place, and the other was taken away by his friends a few days later.
GENERAL MENTION .- The first school in the township was taught by Mrs. Alonzo Spaulding at their residence in the summer of 1857. The first district school was also taught in a dwelling house in 1859, but a log school house was built on section ten the same year. This was number twenty-eight. The next distriet organized was number thirty, and the school house placed on sec- tion twenty-three.
Alvin Messer, a Baptist minister, held the first serviee here in 1856. The following year, the Methodists sent Levi Gleason to preach occasion- ally, and that denomination has maintained an or- ganization ever since. They erected a church on section thirteen in 1873.
The Baptist denomination also have a church, on section twelve, erceted in 1879.
The first Post-office was established in 1858, with Orlin Farwell as Postmaster. D. B. Stanley is the present incumbent.
A Post-office was established at Kimball's Prai- rie in June, 1867, but discontinued in 1870.
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