Compendium history and biography of North Dakota; a history of early settlement, political history, and biography; reminiscences of pioneer life, Part 20

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

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The organization of Walsh county took place in 1881. February 11, of that year, certain territory consisting of the two southernmost rows of town- ships of Pembina, and the two northernmost rows of Grand Forks townships, were set off from those sub- divisions of the state and formed into a new county. To this was given the name it bears in honor of George H. Walsh, of Grand Forks. Governor Ordway July 30, 1881, appointed a board of county commissioners to carry out the organizaton. This consisted of the following named gentlemen : George P. Harvey, William Code and B. C. Askel- son. This board met August 30, 1881, at the resi- dence of George P. Harvey and organized by the election of that gentleman to the position of chair- maan. The following officers were appointed: N. L'pham, county clerk and register of deeds ; K. O. Skatteboe, treasurer ; E. O. Faulkner, judge of pro-

bate; Jacob Remhardt, sheriff ; J. N. Nelson, asses- sor ; Eugene Kane, surveyor ; R. M. Evans, superin- tendent of schools, and Dr. H. H. Hamilton, cor- oner. After several ineffectual attempts to locate the county seat, the towns of Grafton, Minto and Kensington all competing for the honor, finally at a meeting of the board, held September 14, the seat of justice for the new county was located at Grafton.

By an act of the tenth territorial legislature, dated January 4, 1873, a part of Buffalo county was set off and formed into a new county to which was given the name of Rolette, after that early pioneer of the state. The original boundaries of the same were twice changed, once in 1883 and again in 1887. November 6, 1885, the governor appointed as commissioners to or- ganize the new county, the following named : James Maloney, Jasper Jeanotte and Arthur Fous- sard. The two last mentioned failed to qualify and Fred Schutte and Lemuel M. Melton, of Dunseith, were appointed in their stead. „The board so con- stituted met at Dunseith, which had been selected for the county seat, October 14, 1884, and Fred Schutte was chosen chairman. Courtland P. Clem- ents was appointed register of deeds; James Elton, judge of probate ; F. E. Farrell, county superintend- ent of schools; James D. Eaton, county treasurer ; Barney Cain, sheriff ; Dr. Stephen Howard, coroner ; Gavin Hamilton, county attorney. W. A. McKee succeeded Elton as judge of probate. Thomas Hes- kett, L. E. Marchand, Samuel Shreckengast and Philip T. Metler were appointed justices of the peace.

Williams county was created by act of legisla- ture January 8, 1873. In 1885 its boundaries were changed, parts of it going to Mercer, Dunn and Wal- lace counties.

February 10, 1879, was the date of the act creat- ing the new county of Stark from original territory. March 9, 1883, part of it was taken off and added to Hellenger county,, and March 10, 1887, its bounda- ries were again changed. Its organization dates from May 1, 1883, when Horace I. Dickinson, James Collister and James Y. Campbell were ap- pointed commissioners to inaugurate the county gov- ernment.

Pierce county was created by an act of the gen- eral assembly, dated March 11, 1887, from parts of Rolette. Bottineau, and McHenry. February 12, 1889, an election notice was issued from theexecutive branch of the state government at Bismarck, order- ing an election to be held in Pierce county, for the

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purpose of electing officers to organize the govern- ment of that county. The election was held April 11, 1889, at which time were chosen the following officers : George W. Spaun, W. R. Tuff, and H. Hendrickson, county commissioners ; Charles A. Erickson, register of deeds F. J. Sikes, sheriff ; E. Strommen, assessor ; D. P. Thomas, probate judge; C. Evenson, treasurer; Frank Creek, county sur- veyor; G. W. Sewell, coroner; Isaac M. McBride, superintendent of schools; E. Trueman, D.A. Briggs, and M. Nash, justices of the peace. The first meet- ing of the county board was held April 16, 1889, at which George W. Spaun was chosen chairman. Rugby is the county seat.

Oliver county is a creation of the legislature, dating from March 12, 1885. It was taken from a part of Mercer county. The same day the governor designated Henry Sawyer, H. E. Fisher and Lewis Connolly as commissioners to proceed with the or- ganization, and Raymond was designated as the county seat.

Logan county formed from a part of Buffalo county, January 4, 1873, had its boundaries changed March 9, 1883, a part of its territory going to Mc- Intosh county. George Lightfoot, J. A. Wise and Edmond R. Weed were appointed by the governor April 17, 1884, for the purpose of its organization.

January 4, 1873, at a session of the tenth gen- eral assembly was formed a new county, to which was given the name of Foster. It was formed from a part of Pembina. Several times the original boundaries have been changed, usually reducing its size. September 27, 1883, three commissioners were empowered by the governor to organize the county. These gentlemen were E. W. Brunner, Horace M. Clark and L. R. Casey.

Eddy county was formed from a part of Foster county, March 9, 1885. April 15, of the same year, the following commissioners were appointed by the governor to organize the newly created sub-division : Paul J. Braman, F. J. Dunham and John Prader.

By one of the acts of the thirteenth territorial legislature, passed February 10, 1879, the county of Billings was created. Three times its boundaries have been changed, in 1883, 1885 and in 1887. Oc- tober 25, 1883, the governor designated a board of commissioners for the purpose of organizing the county. These commissioners were C. E. Haupt, C. A. Boyle and Hugh J. McBirney.

Benson county owes its existence to an act of the general assembly, March 9, 1883. It was formed from parts of Ramsey and DeSmet counties. The

original boundary lines of the county have been changed twice, once in 1885, and again in 1887. The county was organized November 6, 1883, at which time the governor selected Hugh McGarvey, M. D. Flint and T. J. Larison as commissioners for the purpose.

Boreman county was created by the tenth general assembly from original territory, January 8, 1873.

Allred county was created by an act of the legis- lature, March 8, 1883, and was formerly a part of Howard county. Its boundaries were changed by the act of March 10, 1885. Most of this county lies within the lines of Military and Indian reserva- tions, and the balance is unsurveyed and practi- cally unoccupied.

Bowman county, also, was created at the same time from a part of the county of Billings. It has never been organized as a political sub-division of the state.

March 9, 1883, the legislature, from a part of Howard county, created the county of Dunn. Its boundaries were changed by the act of March IO, 1885.

The same act of March 9, 1883, created Hettin- ger county from a part of Stark.

Mckenzie county was also created by the same act of March 9, 1883, from a part of Howard county.

Wallace county was also formed by the same act at the same time.

PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS.

The constitution of North Dakota makes am- ple provision for numerous public institutions. It takes the matter out of the hands of the legislative bodies, and settles their location, thus preventing contests or ill feeling. It locates the capital at Bis- marck, the state university and school of mines at Grand Forks, the agricultural college at Fargo, a normal school at Valley City, appropriating fifty thousand acres of land for the latter ; the deaf mute asylum and school at Devil's Lake, the reform school at Mandan, a normal school at Mayville, for which twenty thousand acres of land are appropriated, and a hospital for the insane and feeble minded at James- town for which twenty thousand acres of land are set apart. It also permanently locates the following institutions : A blind asylum at such place in the county of Pembina as the electors may determine, with a grant of thirty thousand acres of land ; an in- dustrial school for manuel training, at Ellendale, with a grant of forty thousand acres; a school of

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forestry at a place in one of the counties of Rolette, Bottineau, McHenry or Ward, as may be determined by the electors, and a scientific school at Wahpeton, with a grant of forty thousand acres. It is also provided that no other institution of a character sim- ilar to any one of those located shall be established or maintained without a revision of the constitution.

The educational, benevolent and reformatory in- stitutions of North Dakota are among the best in the land, and reflect great credit upon the people for their broad and liberal methods and expenditures in providing higher educational advantages, and in caring for the defective and criminal classes. Of the latter there are, however, but few, the per cent- age as to population being less than in any state in the Federal Union. The cause of higher education is cared for by a state university, besides several denominational colleges, to which aid is given in sup- port of normal courses.

STATE CAPITOL.

At the fifteenth session of the territorial legisla- ture, in 1883, a commission was appointed for the purpose of locating the capitol of the territory per- manently. To secure the coveted honor the citizens of Bismarck donated one hundred thousand dollars in cash and grounds of three hundred and twenty acres of land largely laid out in town lots, to be sold for the benefit of the territory. The main part of the building only has been erected. The North and south wings to complete the building as planned have yet to be built. It is four stories in height, built of native pressed brick and terra cotta, trimmed with white limestone facings, col- umns and sills. It is heated throughout by steam. Upon the second floor are located the offices of many of the state officials, among them being the governor, secretary, treasurer, auditor, and attorney-general. The third floor is taken up by the legislative cham- ber, which extends upward and includes a portion of the fourth story, and by the offices of the rail- way commissioners, legislative committee rooms, library and historical collections. The hall in use by the senate is located upon the fourth floor. On the division of the territory and the admission of the state to the Federal Union the capitol, which when finished will be one of the finest edifices in the northwest, became the property of the state of North Dakota.

The report of the capitol commission furnishes the following data concerning the financial statuts of the capitol building and grounds :

Cash donated by citizens of Bismarck. .$100,000 00 Cash received from 240 lots sold. 38,849 00

Total indebtedness, including interest to April 1, 1889. 83,507 46

Total cost of capitol and grounds, including in-

lerest and indebtedness to April 1, 1889. ... 222,356 46 Unsold lots now owned by state, 749-appraised value. 85,521 00 The north half of the north half of section 9, township 139, range 80, 160 acres, not valued.

Capitol Park, 20 acres, and buildings, not valued.

PENITENTIARY.

The state penitentiary located at Bismarck, Bur- leigh county, the state capital, is one of the complete prisons of the country. It is a well-constructed and suitably arranged building of brick, iron, and stone, and contains besides the usual cells, warden's office, departments for guards, officers' and guards' dining hall, chapel, barber shop, kitchen and storeroom. It stands on a tract of forty-three acres, two miles east of the business centre of Bismarck, and cost nearly one hundred thousand dollars .. The furnishings and appliances are of the plans adopted by the other states, including steel cells, water works, sewers, laundry and steam-heating apparatus. The prison grounds have been nicely laid out, and several hundred young trees planted, stables, root houses, and other out buildings erected, mostly by prison labor. The pris- oners have also been employed in improving the capitol grounds. This is one of the few peniten- tiaries in the land in which the convicts are not dressed in stripes, and the large number of "trus- ties"-those on good behavior-and no escapes, in- dicate that kind treatment is more beneficial, not to say humane, than to subject convicts to harsh and humiliating treatment. May 1, 1883, the territory issued fifty thousand dollars in six per cent. bonds for the construction of the penitentiary. These were to run twenty years or redeemable at the option of the territory at any time after May 1, 1888. May 1, 1889. the state isstted twenty-nine thousand dol- lars in four and one-half per cent. bonds for the im- provement of the same institution, which were made payable in 1917, or at the option of the state after May 1, 1897.

HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE.

This noble institution is located at Jamestown, Stutsman county, and is a model of its kind. The buildings consist of four ward buildings, two for each sex. kitchen buildings, assembly hall, office building and residence, engine house, water tower,

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barns, etc., and cost over $276,000. Except the barns and stables, all the buildings are substantially erected of brick, on solid stone basements, in the most approved style of modern architecture for hos- pital purposes, designed with a view to securing the best sanitary conditions, with strict reference to comfort and convenience in the care and treat- ment of patients. The buildings are all separate and distinct, so that while more room, comfort and privacy is secured between the sexes, any extension may be easily made as needed. The buildings are connected with corridors. In case of fire or epi- demic diseases, the advantage of separate buildings is apparent. The buildings are lighted with incan- descent electric lights, supplied with water pipes throughout, steam-heating apparatus, and a perfect system of sewerage. It has been the constant aim of the management to have the furnishings perfect and convenient, even to the smallest details. Pic- tures, musical instruments, flowers and other evi- dences of refinement and taste are found in pro- fusion. The patients are kept as neat and clean as possible. Their minds are diverted from despond- ent subjects, and all are cheered and amused and exercised in every reasonable way, which method seems to be the only proper course to pursue with insanity. Many, with this treatment, recover. There is very little, if any, force used, and there are no jail cells or iron bars to give the impression of confinement or prison life. Kindness and cheerful- ness, judging from the results here, certainly seem to be the best remedies for unhinged minds.

The location for the hospital is all that can be desired, commanding a view that is unsurpassed for beauty-the varying landscape spread out for miles in every direction-the James river, skirted with timber, winding around the foot of the bluff, with a grand view of the city of Jamestown and the valley of the James for miles around. There is a large farm and garden of about two hundred and fifty acres connected with the institution, enclosed with a neat wire fence, much of the work being done by the patients. All the vegetables used are grown in the garden, and the fields supply all the grain and hay needed for horses and cows.

The average of insanity in North Dakota is much less than in most of the older states. The institute for the benefit of the feeble-minded is a part of this hospital for the insane, it being deemed best to unite under one head these two beneficent asylums.

The Soldiers' Home, located at Lisbon, North

Dakota, is one of the most beautifully situated homes of its kind in the United States, and added to its natural surroundings, the buildings are of mod- ern architectural beauty, and altogether form a comfortable retreat for veteran soldiers. The man- agement of the institution is of the highest order, and everything about the place bespeaks the true spirit of faithfulness in connection with the labors therefor.

The main building of this institution is of Me- nominee brick, and is 50x80 feet, and was erected at a cost of $18,000. It is finished in native wood, with maple floors, and the architecture is of the best in design and finish. In the present year, 1899, a hospital building has been erected, 35×57, with an L 28x50, built of Menominee brick and stone, with large basement, an elegant and commodious structure. In 1898 a splendid system of water- works was constructed. The water for drinking purposes is obtained from two wells twenty-five feet in depth, the water raised by steam power, while the water for irrigating purposes is obtained from the Sheyenne river. The grounds consist of eighty-five acres of land, lying within the corporate limits of the city of Lisbon. The Sheyenne river forms the west boundary of the grounds, and on its banks, and surrounding the buildings, is about forty acres of native timber, oak, ash, elm, box elder and fine linden trees. It is a picturesque spot, and suggestive of peace and security.

The bill for the location of the home was intro- duced in the house February 24, 1890, and in 1891 the land was purchased, and the buildings were soon in course of construction. The home was opened for occupancy August 2, 1893, since which time it has afforded shelter to ninety old soldiers, and at the present time thirty-eight veterans call it home. Colonel William W. McIlvain is command- ant of the home, and Mrs. Helen R. McIlvaine is matron of the same. To a review of their lives space is devoted in this volume.

William W. McIlvaine was born in Champaign county, Ohio, July 15, 1835. He is of Scotch- Irish extraction, and his grandfather, Robert Mc- Ilvaine, was a pioneer settler of Kentucky. He was captured by the Indians, and was their prisoner in Pennsylvania two years. The father of our sub- ject was a native of Kentucky, and his mother was from Virginia.

While but a young child our subject went with his parents to Cass county, Michigan, where he grew to manhood on a farm, and was educated in

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Kalamazoo Baptist College. He served during the Kansas border disturbances in 1856 and 1857, and June 20, 1861, enlisted for the Civil war, as cor- poral of Company D, Sixth Michigan Infantry. He was mustered into the service as sergeant Au- gust 20, 1861, and participated at Fort Jackson, St. Phillips and New Orleans, and he was com- missioned second lieutenant December 1, 1862, after which followed the battle of Baton Rouge and the siege of Port Hudson. He was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant September 1, 1863.

Returning from the war, Mr. McIlvaine en- gaged in the merchandise business at Cassopolis, and in 1883 located in Fargo, Dakota, as a special land agent for the United States government. He began farming near Sheldon, in Ransom county, in 1884, and developed a farm comprising eight hundred acres, which place he left to accept his present position.

Our subject was married in 1864 to Miss Helen R. Reed, a native of Cassopolis, Michigan, who was born September 10, 1845. Mrs. McIlvaine was a student of Olivet College, Michigan, and is a lady of culture and rare attainments. She has devoted her life to kindly deeds, and is an able matron and help- meet of her husband in the great work which they are doing at the Soldiers' Home. Upon the open- ing of the home Mr. McIlvaine was chosen com- mandant, and Mrs. McIlvaine matron of the in- stitution, and under their fostering care the in- stitution has been successful and meets the hearty approval of inspectors and is a credit to the state and to the city of Lisbon. The board of directors and those in charge are in hearty co-operation, as a result of which a comfortable, cleanly and peaceful home is afforded the inmates of the in- stitution.

The University and Normal schools are men- tioned in their proper place in the chapter on Edu- cation and Educational Institutions, to which the reader is referred.

OTHER PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS.

So interwoven are the life histories of the two gentlemen who head North Dakota's remaining

notable public institutions with the annals of those communities, that it were but repetition to write of them in this connection, and the reader is respect- fully referred to the biographical department of this history. Reference is made to the School for the Deaf and Dumb at Devil's Lake, under the supervision of Prof. D. F. Bangs, and the Agri- cultural College at Fargo, presided over by Hon. J. H. Worst.

SOME FIRST ITEMS.

The first instrument of any kind recorded in North Dakota was a bill of sale, September 12, 1868, by which Baptiste Gardipee sold to William H. Moorhead four head of horses and an ox for the sum of $563. The second paper filed was one reg- istering his marks for animals, by Charles Cavileer, April 10, 1869.

The third was a contract by which Joseph Rolette covenanted to sell Frank Colombo ten acres of land.

The Pembina land office was opened December 20, 1870, and Charles Cavileer made the first pre- emption entry in North Dakota, and received the first patent for land in the state. Hon. Judson La Moure made the second entry for land, Allegany set- tlement, October 28, 1870. Entries were made the same day, that of the opening of business at the land office, by seventeen others, among whom were John Hancock, Joseph Rolette, Jr., W. H. Moor- head, Frank Colombo and John Bagley.

Hon. N. E. Nelson made the first homestead entry in North Dakota ; Charles Bottineau, the sec- ond; Peter Hayden, the third; John McMahon, fourth, and Joshua Park, the fifth.

The first entry of land included in what is now the state was, made at the United States land office at Vermillion, June 15, 1868, by Joseph Rolette, Sr. This was the site occupied by the old post, established in 1797, by Peter Grant, and occupied by Captain Henry at the beginning of the century. This historic piece of land, containing about five acres, was purchased January 25, 1871, by James J. Hill, president of the Great Northern Railroad, and the instrument conveying it was the first war- rantee deed recorded of land in the state.

CHAPTER X.

THE PRESS;

after affis offs

INTRODUCTORY; FIRST NEWSPAPER; OTHER EARLY NEWSPAPERS.

THE PRESS.

The inception of journalism dates, in its broad- est sense, from remote ages. The institution now known as the newspaper was preceeded more than a thousand years by manuscript or tablet publica- tions upon which the accounts of public occurrences in Rome were made public. These journals, often official in their origin, were made known by the name of Acta Diurna, which may be freely trans- lated as "Day's Doings." Their issue in the time of scarcity of news or gossip was but irregular, the editor either engaging in some other calling or in- dulging in the sports of the day.

But little progress was made from this for many centuries. Few of the people, high or low, could read or write, and their interests were confined to the happenings of their immediate vicinity. Prior to 1622, the date of the first publication of any- thing worthy of the name of newspaper, the mental appetite of the learned of modern Europe had sub- sisted upon periodical manuscript literature. In England, the writen newsletter, furnished only at fabulous prices, was, for a long time, the vogue. This news pamphlet was the nearest approach to the newspaper that had obtained up to 1622, when, as has been said, the first regular series of news- papers was born. This was entitled the "Weekly

News from Italie and Germanie." It was printed upon a mechanical contrivance, perfected by Na- thaniel Butler, who is the progenitor of the news- paper proper. The first attempt at the publication of parliamentary reports was made in 1641, when the political parties of the realm of Great Britain first occupied a place in the paper. The first ad- vertisement was inserted in 1648, was in verse form, and tradition truly says it paid to advertise then as now.

The first daily morning newspaper was the "Lon- don Courant," published in 1709, and consisted of only one page of two columns, each five paragraphs long, and was made up from translations from foreign journals and newsletters. Fifty years from that date had not expired before seven millions of newspapers were sold in England annually.

The revolution in journalism in the present cen- tury has been of so stupendous a form as to be almiost beyond comprehension. Compare the few hun- dreds from the Franklin hand-press of the not long ago with the twenty or thirty thousand an hour of perfect newspapers thrown out by the perfecting press of to-day. Contrast the almost absolute paucity of news with the present well-filled col- umns of the doings in every land upon which the sun shines. The press, too, has increased in power and usefulness, and to-day it stands as one of the

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most important factors in the upbuilding of the community or state, and the preservation of the rights of all. It is an instrument well calculated to elevate and enlighten the people as well as aid in the enforcement of the laws and perpetuation of good government. It is its mission to hold up to the public gaze the wrong doings or omissions of its public servants, to air the misdeeds of those guilty of crimes against law or society, and to hold up to admiration the great, good or noble deeds of those who are worthy of respectful homage. With the bright searchlight of modern journalism turned upon the life of our public men, how few of their unworthy acts can be hid in oblivion ?

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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 20

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