Compendium history and biography of North Dakota; a history of early settlement, political history, and biography; reminiscences of pioneer life, Part 19

Author:
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: Chicago, G.A.Ogle
Number of Pages: 1432

USA > North Dakota > Compendium history and biography of North Dakota; a history of early settlement, political history, and biography; reminiscences of pioneer life > Part 19

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Wells county was set off by act of legislature as Gingras county, January 4, 1873. The name was changed February 26, 1881, and the boundaries readjusted in 1883, and again in 1885. June 24, 1884, the governor appointed as a board of commis- sioners to organize the county the following gen- tlemen : Marshal R. Brinton, chairman ; Joseph P. Cox and Thomas R. Williams. They held their first meeting August 28, 1884. The first officers of Wells county were: J. J. Le Tourman, county clerk and register of deeds; J. J. O'Connell, sheriff ; Charles V. Brown, assessor; D. T. Davis, treas- urer; Newton Athow, surveyor; Frank McCallon, coroner ; Richard Wixey, superintendent of the schools, and T. C. J. Wych, probate judge. Sykes- ton was chosen as the county seat. The present seat of justice in the county is Fessenden.

Sargent county was created by an act of the territorial legislature, from part of Ransom county and a part of the Sisseton and Wahpeton Indian reservation, March 3, 1883. March 8, of the same year, its boundaries were changed, part being set off to Hyde county. August 1, 1883, the governor appointed, as a board of county commissioners to

organize the county, the following named gentle- men: B. S. Haskell, chairman ; C. C. Newman and J. R. Herring. These commissioners met for the first time October 8, 1883, and proceeded to organ- ize. The first officers of the county were: T. C. Lauder, register of deeds; L. O. Berg, judge of probate court ; John Devlin, sheriff ; E. J. Williams, treasurer; James H. Vail, clerk of court. Milnor was chosen for the county seat, but in 1886 the seat of justice in Sargent county was removed to For- man.

McIntosh, which was set off from a part of Lo- gan, county, was created March 9, 1883. It was or- ganized by three commissioners who were appointed by the governor, September 25, 1884. This board, which consisted of Charles C. Morrell, George W. Lilly and Charles V. Basye, assembled October 4, the same year, and proceeded to the organization for which they were appointed. The first officers were: John J. Wishek, register of deeds and county clerk; Alanson Richards, judge of probate court ; Alexander McDonald, sheriff; Horace S. Bear, treasurer; G. W. Abbott, superintendent of schools; C. D. Johnson, assessor ; David Rickey, coroner; S. Basye, C. D. Johnson, W. O. McIn- tosh and Isaac Lincoln, justices of the peace. Hos- kins was selected as the county seat. In November, 1887, by a vote of the electors, the seat of justice was transferred to Ashley.

Emmons county was created by act of legisla- ture, February 10, 1879. October 16, 1883, the governor commissioned James B. Gayton, William L. Yeater and Robert S. Whitney as a board to or- ganize the same. At their first meeting, held in November, they completed the act for which they were appointed and formed the first board of county commissioners. The first officers were: Daniel' Williams, auditor; J. N. Ropp, treasurer, and J. Tape, assessor. Williamsport was chosen for the county seat, but some years later it was removed to Linton.

In 1885, from parts of the counties of Stevens, Renville and Wallace, was created a new county which was to bear the name of Ward county. March 1I, 1887, its boundaries were changed. J. A. Baker, Chris Rasmussen and John Murray were appointed the first board of county commissioners. The first meeting of the board was held November 23, 1885, in a store building at Burlington, which town was chosen the county seat. The first offi- cers in the new county were: L. S. Foote, county clerk and register of deeds; Amos T. Tracy, sheriff ;

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Michael Muir, treasurer ; James W. Bell, probate judge; Mrs. Frank Spear, county superintendent of schools; James Johnson, clerk of the court, and D. E. Preston, county attorney. A few years later the county seat was removed to Minot.

Mercer county was the outgrowth of legisla- tion of January 14, 1875, when it was created. Twice since its boundaries have been adjusted, once in 1881 and again March 12, 1885. November 6, 1883, the governor appointed Thomas McGrath, Horace C. Walker and George Williams commis- sioners to organize the county. At the first meet- ing of the board George Hawley was substituted for Mr. McGrath. This meeting was held August 22, 1884. The first officers were as follows: B. J. Van Vleck, county clerk ; S. C. Walker, register of deeds ; George Gordon, sheriff ; A. R. Granberry, judge of probate ; Louis Connolly, treasurer ; James McGrath, superintendent of schools; W. C. Fress- ler, coroner, and J. F. Kiebert, surveyor. Stanton is the county seat.

McHenry county was created from a part of Buffalo county, by legislative action, January 4, 1873. In 1885 and in 1887 the original boundaries were changed. The organization of McHenry county dates from October 15, 1884, when, at a meeting held at Villard postoffice, of which O. M. Towner was chairman and Edward Hackett secre- tary, the following temporary officers were appointed to carry on the business of the county: G. W. Crane, register of deeds and county clerk; F. A. Frisby, treasurer ; Michael McLear, sheriff; W. D. McClintock, probate judge and county attorney ; Parley Teare, assessor ; C. E. Jones, county sur- veyor ; George T. Inkster, county superintendent of public schools; R. H. Copeland, coroner. By an act of the territorial legislature it was ordered that a special election be held in McHenry county, on the second Tuesday in May, 1885, for the purpose of electing county officers and for the designation of a temporary county seat. On holding this election Scripton was voted the county seat and the following officers were elected : A. L. Hanson, Ole Gilbertson and J. M. Pendroy, county commission- ers; George T. Inkster, register of deeds; Olof Berg, auditor ; Benjamin Reed, sheriff ; A. J. Oslie, judge of probate; G. A. Cameron, superintendent of schools; J. T. Bailey, county surveyor ; J. A. Larson, assessor; H. B. Johnson, justice of the peace.

September 20, 1886, the county was divided into five commissioner districts, with the following

board: Ole Gilbertson, J. M. Pendroy, O. M. Towner, E. W. Carlwright and Charles Schilling. Towner was made the permanent county seat at the election held November 2, 1886, and the 18th of December of that year, the records and county prop- crty were removed to that place.

Stutsman county, which was named in honor of Enos Stutsman, one of the pioneers and promi- nent citizens of early days, was organized June 10, 1873. The governor appointed A. W. Kelley, George W. Vennum and George Tibbetts commis- sioners for the purpose. The latter left about the time of the organization and was replaced on the board by H. C. Miller. Mr. Kelley was chosen chairman. The following officers were appointed to fill the places until the election could be held : George W. Vennum, register of deeds; P. Moran, county treasurer ; A. McKechnie, sheriff, and Frank C. Myrick, auditor. The first election was held in November, 1873, at which time there were built eighty votes cast. Stutsman county was created by the tenth territorial legislature, January 4, 1873. Its boundaries were changed from those originally assigned it in 1885.

Dickey county was created by an act of the leg- islature, March 5, 1881, and July 1, 1882, the fol- lowing named gentlemen were appointed by the governor as a board of commissioners to organize it: R. C. Olin, A. H. Whitney and H. E. Geschke. These met at the Dickey county bank at Ellendale, August 18, 1882, and appointed the following offi- cers: M. M. Chamberlain, county clerk and regis- ter of deeds; George Kreis, treasurer; W. H. Becker, county attorney and judge of probate court ; H. J. Van Meter, sheriff ; J. L. Stephenson, assessor ; J. E. Brown, surveyor ; Miss F. F. Arnold, superintendent of schools; W. F. Duncan, coroner ; J. A. Scott and W. A. Caldwell, justices of the peace. Ellendale was chosen as the county seat temporarily. The Dickey County Leader was made the official organ. At the first election, held No- vember 6, 1882, the following officers were chosen : A. H. Whitney, J. A. Speilman and R. C. Olin, county commissioners ; A. L. Decoster, register of deeds ; W. H. Becker, probate judge; George Kreis, treasurer ; C. L. Demming, sheriff ; J. E. Brown, surveyor ; Miss F. F. Arnold, superintendent of schools ; J. A. Scott, H. Gleason and N. B. Phillips, justices of the peace. At this same election the question of location of a permanent county seat was voted upon, and Ellendale had 162 votes and Keystone 62.

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Griggs county was formed from parts of Traill and Foster, February 18, 1881. June 10, 1882, Allen Breed, Rollin Cooper and William A. Glives were appointed by the governor a board of county commissioners for the purpose of organization. June 16, 1882, the county seat was located at Hope, but November 7 of the same year, by a vote of the peo- ple, the seat of government of the county, was re- moved to Cooperstown, a division of the county in that year having thrown the town of Hope into the newly formed county of Steele.

Traill county was created by an act of the legis- lature January 12, 1875, from parts of Burchard, Cass and Grand Forks counties. March 8, 1883, part of the original county was detached and added to the new county of Steele. Asa H. Morgan, John Brown and James Ostland were appointed, Janu- ary 12, 1875, as a board of commissioners to prop- erly organize the new county, and the southeast quarter of section 15, township 146 north, range XLIX west, was designated as the county seat by act of legislature. The first officers of the new county were as follows: A. H. Morgan, Halvor Berg and Michael O'Flaherty, county commissioners ; George E. Weston, register of deeds and county clerk; Asa Sargent, treasurer ; C. M. Clark, sheriff ; J. C. Pat- ten, superintendent of public instruction. The name of Caledonia was given to the county seat. Hills- boro is now the seat of justice of Traill county.

Steele county was created by the legislature March 8, 1883, from portions of Traill and Griggs county. June 8 of the some year three commis- sioners to organize the new sub-division of the state were appointed by the governor. This first board of county commissioners consisted of the fol- lowing gentlemen: Thomas Ward, P. S. McKay and R. W. Berry. The first officers of the county, other than these, were: E. J. McMahon, register of deeds and county clerk ; C. A. Renwick, probate judge : C. J. Paul, treasurer ; R. H. Simpson, county superintendent of schools; C. H. Ward, sheriff ; H. D. Carpenter, assessor; Dr. W. H. M. Phillips, coroner, and H. L. Smith, C. Sloper and W. J. Skinner, justices of the peace. Sherbrooke is the county seat.

Towner county, which was named after the Hon. O. M. Towner, of Grand Forks county, was formed by the fifteenth territorial legislature., March 8, 1883. out of parts of Cavalier and Rolette counties. November 16, 1883, the governor made the appoint- ment of three commissioners for the purpose of or- ganizing the new county. The board consisted of

Prosper P. Parker, chairman ; H. Curtis Davis and Jolın S. Conyers. They held their first meeting January 24, 1884, and selected the following as the first officers : W. E. Pew, register of deeds ; Albert MI. Powell, clerk of the court; John W. Hardee, probate judge; John W. Roche, county treasurer ; David W. McCanna, assessor; Clarence N. Perci- val, sheriff; Frank L. Wilson, surveyor; Guy W. Germond, superintendent of schools; Dr. Thomas W. Conyers, coroner ; John A. Bennett and Charles H. Ensign, justices of the peace. February 14, 1884, the county seat was located at Cando.

Of Ramsey county, the record of organization is as follows: January 25, 1883, D. W. Ensign, E. V. Barton and G. S. Moore, the three commis- sioners appointed for the purpose by the governor, met at Devil's Lake City. This was a town laid out by Ensign Benham & Co., about two miles southeast of the city of Devil's Lake, near the main lake, on sections I and 12, township 153 north, range 64 west. This place was chosen as the county seat. A substantial court house was erected and the town seemed to flourish. The railroad, how- ever, was located a short distance away, and Creel City (now the city of Devil's Lake) was laid out a few months later, when the superior advantages of the latter place drew the older place to it. The county seat was changed and the court house, as well as every other building of the former town, was removed to the site of its younger rival. The first officers elected were: E. V. Barton, D. W. Ensign and H. H. Ruger, commissioners; J. A. Percival, register of deeds; T. C. Saunders, clerk of the court; Charles F. Smith, sheriff, and Capt. J. W. Palmer, treasurer. Ramsey county was created from part of Pembina county, by act of leg- islature. Several times its boundaries have been changed.

The county of Bottineau was created by act of legislature January 4, 1873, but not organized. Its boundaries as first set off were changed in 1883, and again in 1887. May 13, 1884, the governor ap- pointed a board of county commissioners to organ- ize the county. This consisted of William F. Sim- rall, Albert C. Barnes and Lorenzo D. Dana. These held their first meeting July 17, and proceeded to select officers to carry on the business of the county until the first regular election. Bottineau was chosen the county seat.

Nelson county was formed by an act of the ter- ritorial legislature, March 9, 1883, from parts of Ramsey, Grand Forks and Foster counties. May

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15, of the same year, the governor appointed three commissioners to carry out the organization. This first board consisted of the following named : David S. Dodds, Francis I. Kane and George S. Martin. At Lakota, which had been made the county seat, the board organized in June and ap- pointed the following officers: H. W. Alexander, register of deeds and county clerk; W. S. Tallant, clerk of the courts; E. L. Owen, treasurer; D. J. Tallant, probate judge; Josiah Pierce, sheriff, and M. A. Coons, assessor.

Ransom county was created January 4, 1873, by an act of the tenth territorial assembly. Its boun- daries were changed in 1883. March 7, 1881, the governor appointed Frank Probert, Gilbert Hanson and George H. Coulton as commissioners to com- plete the organization. The first meeting of this board was held April 4, 1881, at Lisbon, that vil- lage having been decided upon as the seat of justice. The following were appointed Ransom county's first officers: . J. L. Colton, register of deeds ; John Kinan, treasurer; J. P. Knight, probate judge; George H. Manning, sheriff ; W. W. Bradley, coro- ner; E. W. Knight, superintendent of schools; A. M. Smith, assessor, and E. C. Pindall, surveyor. At a meeting of the board, held May 16, 1881, the Lisbon Star, a newspaper, was made the official journal of the county. The county drew its name from old Fort Ransom, which formerly stood within its limits, and which had been named in honor of General T. E. G. Ransom.

La Moure county, which was named in honor of Hon. Judson La Moure, one of Dakota's promi- nent old settlers and influential citizens, was created January 4, 1873, from parts of Buffalo and Pembina counties. Twice since then its boundaries have been changed, in 1881 and again in 1883. January 29, 1881, the governor appointed Jolin R. Crum, Homer T. Elliott and Charles H. Potter commis- sioners to complete the organization. October 27, the same year, this board met in Grand Rapids, which had been selected as the county seat. The following were appointed the first officers of the newly made county: Albert E. Franks, county clerk and register of deeds; C. G. Holcomb, treas- urer ; C. W. Davis, judge of probate ; C. Carpenter, sheriff ; George H. Merrifield, coroner ; J. W. Stod- dard, surveyor; Miss Amy Mamtolle, superintend- ent of schools; and George D. Crum, county as- sessor. La Moure, a rising city on the James river, is the county seat.

Pembina county was created by an act of the 7

sixth general assembly, January 9, 1867. Three times since then have its boundaries been readjusted was changed, once in 1871, once in 1873, andagain in 1881. At the time of the passage of the act origin- ting the county, it was made to include most of the eastern portion of the state and the county seat was located at Pembina. Charles Cavileer, Joseph Ro- lett and Charles Grant were the first county commis- sioners. The county was organized August 12, 1867. John E. Harrison was appointed register of deeds and county clerk; William H. Moorhead, sheriff ; James McFetridge, judge of probate, and John Dease, superintendent of public instruction.

This appears to have been the first civil organ- ization in North Dakota excepting the old Pembina county in Minnesota, which ended, so far as North Dakota is concerned, in 1858. Voting precincts were established at this time at St. Joseph, Pembina, Park River, Dead Island (Cavalier county ), Pop- lar Creek (Nelson county), Sheyenne (now Cass and Richland counties). The voting places were at the custom house in Pembina; at the store of A. Gingrass, St. Joseph; at Stump Lake, in Poplar Creek precinct; at Georgetown, in the Sheyenne precinct.

The first term of court was at Pembina in July, 1871. Judge French presided and George I. Foster was clerk. The following were the mem- bers of the grand jury for that term : D. M. Moore- head, R. D. George, Peter Ferguson, John F. Rob- inson, William H. Moorehead, L. E. Guillon, Lu- cene Geroux, James Hastings, James A. E. Duffie, Frank LaRose, Francis Columbo, John Rivelt, John Anderson, Daniel Olsen, Thomas Clover and Charles Bronson. ¥

Cass county was organized October 27, 1873. William H. Leveret, Jacob Whitman and N. Will- iams held a meeting at the blacksmith shop of the last named, which stood at the foot of Front street, in Fargo. They organized themselves into a board of county commissioners, of which Mr. Williams was chosen chairman. Terence Martin was ap- pointed county clerk and register of deeds, and John E. Haggart sheriff. Shortly after H. S. Back was appointed county treasurer, and G. J. Keeney. county attorney. The first election, which was held February 14, 1874, resulted in the election of the following officers of the newly organized county : S. V. Hoag, M. Hexom and Ole Hetzgaard, com- missioners ; Terence Martin, county clerk and reg- ister of deeds; P. P. Nokken, county treasurer ; John Haggart, sheriff, and N. B. Pinkham, attor-

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ney. The question of bonding the county for $15,- 000 to erect suitable county buildings was also car- ried. The whole vote cast at that time was 179. The first court house was erected the same year. In the spring of 1883 was commenced the new and more commodious court house. The jail had been completed the previous year.

Barnes county was not organized until 1878, at which time Chris Anderson, Otto Becker and Chris Pacto were appointed county commissioners. The gentlemen met and chose Mr. Anderson as chair- man of the board. At its first session the follow- ing officers were appointed to fill the various county offices : L. D. Marsh, county clerk and register of deeds ; J. S. Weiser, treasurer, and Jolin Morrison, sheriff. At the hrst election all these gentlemen were chosen to fill the same offices, except that D. D. McFadgen was elected sheriff in place of Mr. Morrison. Valley City, located at the second crossing of the Cheyenne, was designated as the county seat. A fine court house was erected in that place in 1880.

Kidder county dates its organization from 1881. In the spring of that year a board of county commissioners, appointed for that purpose by the governor, met at Steele to perform the duties of their office. They were the following named gen- tlemen : John W. VanDeusen, W. F. Steele and Frank Whipple. The county seat was located at Steele, and the following were chosen to fill the various offices : D. F. Allison, county clerk and register of deeds; J. D. Thompson, county treas- urer, and Leon Mclaughlin, sheriff.

Burleigh county, in 1873, contained few, if any, settlers outside of the city of Bismarck, but felt the need of county government. In June of that year a caucus was held, of which E. A. Williams was chairman and Col. C. A. Lounsbury was secretary. The resolution to petition the governor for author- ity to organize was adopted 'unanimously, but on the question of naming the commissioners there was discord. Three factions were developed, and three sets of names were accordingly sent in to the gov- ernor for him to appoint as county commissioners to organize the new county. In order to please all, Governor Burbank selected one from each list and appointed the following board: J. P. Dunn, Will- iam H. Mercer and James A. Emmons. In July of that year the board met and appointed the follow- ing officers of Burleigh county: Daniel Williams, county clerk and register of deeds; J. S. Carvelle, probate judge ; John E. Wasson, county attorney,

and Major William Woods, sheriff. A regular elec- tion was held in the fall of 1873, at which the result was close, but the following were declared elected: E. P. Davis, J. P. Dunn and William Mercer, county commissioners; J. H. Richards, county clerk and register of deeds; W. B. Watson, county treasurer ; E. N. Corey, judge of probate, and Alexander Mc- Kenzie, sheriff. In 1882 a fine court house was erected.

In January, 1881, Governor Ordway appointed Elijah Bouleigh, M. Lang and L. Gill a board of commissioners to organize the county of Morton. They met at Mandan, February 25, 1881, and or- ganized by the selection of Mr. Bouleigh to act as chairman. Frank J. Mead was appointed county clerk. On the 17th of March they again met and chose the following named gentlemen to fill the various offices : Frank J. Mead, in addition to his office of county clerk, was made register of deeds ; P. M. Cranberry, county treasurer ; P. O. Chilstrom, judge of probate; Carlos Mann, assessor ; Mrs. F. H. French, county superintendent of instruction, and William A. Carr, sheriff. Mandan was made the county seat.

The organization of Stark county dates from May 25, 1883, when H. L. Dickinson, James Collis- ter and James G. Campbell met for the first time as a board of county commissioners. Mr. Dickinson was chosen chairman. The following officers were appointed at that time: N. C. Lawrence, register of deeds ; R. E. Lawrence, treasurer ; William Gib- son, probate judge ; J. L. McKittrick, clerk of courts and William Cushkelly, sheriff. Dickinson, so named in honor of the first chairman of its board of county commissioners, is the county seat. The county was created by act of legislature, February 10, 1879. Its boundaries were changed March 9, 1883, and March 10, 1887. The commissioners above were appointed by the governor, May 1, 1883.

The county of McLean was duly organized November 1, 1883, by commissioners appointed for that purpose by Governor Ordway, October 16, of that year. These gentlemen were: John S. Veeder, Charles T. Martenson and Warner F. Lewis. The board held its first meeting on the date above given at the village of Washburn. On or- ganization, Mr. Veeder was chosen chairman. Washburn was made the county seat, and the fol- lowing officers were appointed : E. W. Gray, county clerk and register of deeds; James Heath, judge of probate ; E. T. Winston, treasurer ; John Satterlund,

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sheriff ; E. H. Belyea, coroner; J. M. Carnahan, county superintendent of schools ; Dr. J. H. Moseley, county physician ; L. M. Wallin, James Barton, Charles Weller and S. L. Crossley, justices of the peaće.

The county of Grand Forks was created by legis- lative enactment June 4, 1873, and an abortive at- tempt was made to organize the county the same year. The governor, John A. Burbank, appointed George B. Winship, O. S. Freeman and Ole Thomp- son commissioners for the purpose. These gentle- men transacted no business, there not being more than seventy or eighty people living in the county.

In the following year, 1874, the governor ap- pointed D. P. Reeves, Alexander Griggs and George A. Wheeler county commissioners. On the evening of March 2, 1875, these gentlemen met at the resi- dence of Mr. Reeves, at Grand Forks, and proceeded to organize by the election of D. P. Reeves to the po- sition of chairman of the board of commissioners. The county officers, who had been previously se- lected, came forward with their bonds and were sworn into office. They were as follows: James Elton, register of deeds ; Thomas Walsh, treasurer and probate judge; Nicholas Hoffman, sheriff ; Thomas Walsh and D. P. Reeves, justices of the peace and George A. Wheeler, superintendent of schools. The other officers appointed did not qual- ify. Grand Forks is the county seat. At the first election the following named acted as judges of election in various parts of the county : Eric An- derson, Frank Lambert, Knud Rouen, E. B. An- drus, Nels. P. Olsen, George Ames, Thomas C. Campbell, Duncan McMillan and James McCaffrey.

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Compendium history and biography of North Dakota; a history of early settlement, political history, and biography; reminiscences of pioneer life, Part 19

Author: Publication date: 1900 Publisher: Chicago, G.A.Ogle Number of Pages: 1432

Author:
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: Chicago, G.A.Ogle
Number of Pages: 1432