XIV. WASHINGTON COUNTY…

XIV. WASHINGTON COUNTY

The early history of Washington county is to be found in the history of St. Croix county, Wisconsin, of which it was a part until the organization of Minnesota Territory in 1849. At the first session of the territorial legislature Washington county was established in full for county and judicial purposes. It included all that part of the Territory lying east of the range line between ranges 21 and 22 and north of the Mississippi as far as the British possessions and fractional parts of townships 29 and 30, range 22.

The courts held prior to this organization are referred to elsewhere. The first territorial court in Washington county was held Aug. 13, 1849, Judge Aaron Goodrich, presiding; Judge David Cooper, associate. It continued in session six days. There were sixty cases on the calendar. Harvey Wilson was clerk of court; A. M. Mitchell, of St. Paul, United States marshal; Henry L. Moss, district attorney; John Morgan, sheriff. The lawyers present were H. L. Moss; M. S. Wilkinson, M. E. Ames, A. M. Mitchell, L. Babcock, and David Lambert. The second court house (the first under the new organization) was built in Stillwater, corner of Fourth and Chestnut streets, in 1849, at a cost of $3,600. This was the first court house in the territory of Minnesota. The lot was donated by John McKusick. In this building were held all the courts from 1849 to 1867. In that year Churchill & Nelson donated a city block on Nelson Hill, a fine location overlooking the city and lake, and the county erected upon it a fine stone structure costing $60,000, including jail and ground improvements.

The first election was held Nov. 26, 1849. The following board of county officers was elected: Commissioners, John McKusick, Hiram Berkey, Joseph Haskell; treasurer, Socrates Nelson; register of deeds, John S. Proctor; judge of probate, Harvey Wilson; sheriff, Jesse Taylor. At the same election the following persons were elected justices of the peace in their various precincts: St. Croix Falls, Jerry Ross; Point Douglas, Martin Leavitt; Stillwater, Albert Harris and H. K. McKinstry; Marine, James Moore and W. H. Johnson.

The territory of the county has been from time to time divided and subdivided for the organization of new counties. Washington county, however, was divided but once. In 1852 the county of Chisago was set off in the north, since which time its boundaries have been, Chisago on the north, the St. Croix river and lake on the east, the Mississippi river on the south, Anoka and Ramsey counties and the Mississippi river on the west. It includes the following townships: From 27 to 32 inclusive, ranges 20 and 21, and fractional parts of townships 31 and 32, range 19, and fractional part of township 26, range 20.

AFTON

Was organized as a town in 1858. Joseph Haskell, G. W. Cutler and H. L. Thomas were the first supervisors; Minor H. Thomas, clerk. It includes a fractional part of township 28, range 20. It is well watered by Bolles and Valley creeks, streams tributary to the St. Croix. The southwestern part of the township is rolling prairie, the remainder somewhat broken. The soil is all productive and the streams afford good water powers. The township had French settlers as early as 1837,--Baptist Fornier and others. Joseph Haskell commenced his farm in 1839. Prior to 1850 A. Mackey, L. Bolles, P. J. Carli, T. F. Randolph, E. Bissell, N. H. Johnson, James Getchell, and A. McHattie located in the town.

The first crops were raised by the French settlers. The first marriage was that of Andrew Mackey to Mrs. Hamilton, in 1844. The first child born was Helen M. Haskell, daughter of Joseph Haskell. The first death was that of Paul J. Carli, in 1844, accidentally drowned in the lake. The first road was located between Stillwater and Point Douglas, in 1847. A military road was surveyed from Point Douglas to Superior through this town in 1850. Lemuel Bolles erected a flouring mill on Bolles creek, in the winter of 1845-46, the first to grind wheat north of Prairie du Chien. The old mill was long since replaced by a new one, and the mill property has changed owners many times, Emil Munch being the last owner. The present mill is a fine structure with a capacity of fifty barrels per day. The first post office was at the old mill; L. Bolles, postmaster. The first organized school was in the Haskell district, in 1855. The Scandinavian Methodists have a church in section 18, built in 1885. The German Lutherans have a church in section 6, and a parochial school.

AFTON VILLAGE.

In May, 1855, Afton village was surveyed and platted by Haskell, Getchell & Thomas, in section 23; Emerson & Case were the surveyors. The village is beautifully located on the shore of the lake and contains one hotel, one church (Congregational), one school house, an academy building, and several stores, shops and dwellings. The academy, known as the St. Croix Academy, was established in 1868, and the building, a handsome three story brick structure, erected the same year. Mr. Gorrie was the first principal. Simon Putnam was the first pastor of the Congregational church.

SOUTH AFTON

Is located one mile south of Afton, on the shores of the lake. It has an elevator, store, warehouses and other buildings. A saw mill was built by Lowry & Co., between Afton and South Afton; in 1854, and rebuilt in 1855 by Thomas & Sons. The Getchell Brothers built a mill in 1861, which was burned.

VALLEY CREEK

Is a small village on Bolles creek, in sections 9 and 10. Erastus Bolles located here in 1857, and improved the water power, built a machine shop and manufactured edge tools. He sold out to his son, C. E. Bolles, who further improved the property by building a corn and feed mill. In 1860 Gilbert & Buswell erected a flour mill with three run of stone. The post office in this village was established in 1874, with Erastus Bolles as postmaster.

ST. MARY VILLAGE

Was platted in 1855, on lots 1, 2 and 3, section 14. Thomas W. Coleman, proprietor; James A. Carr, surveyor.

JOSEPH HASKELL was born Jan. 9, 1805, in Kennebec county, Maine. During his minority he worked with his father on a farm at Skowhegan, Maine. In 1837 he came West, stopping two years in Indiana. July 24, 1839, he arrived at Fort Snelling on the steamer Ariel, obtained employment of Frank Steele for whom he, with others, rowed a mackinaw boat from Fort Snelling to St. Croix Falls. While at the falls he worked on the dam and mill, then in process of building. In the fall of 1839 he made a trip to Fort Snelling and returned to the Falls, carrying the mail in a birch canoe to Catfish bar, and then across by Indian trail to the Fort. While on this trip he made the claim for his homestead in Afton. In 1840 he put three acres under cultivation, raising corn and potatoes. This was the first attempt at farming, except by the French pioneers, who raised only garden crops, north of Prairie du Chien. September, 1844, he made a trip to Maine, and returned bringing three sisters with him. They kept house for him until he married. Mr. Haskell was married to Olive Furber, sister of J. W. Furber, in 1849. They have four children, Helen M., Mary E., Henry Pitt and Hiram A. Mr. Haskell was a representative in the state legislatures of 1869 and 1871. He was of most exemplary habits. He died at his home Jan. 23, 1885.

LEMUEL BOLLES was born in New York. He came to St. Croix Falls in 1840. In 1843 he opened a grindstone quarry in the soft, coarse sandstones, a short distance below the Dalles. In 1844-45 his grindstones were much used. He made Stillwater his home in 1844-55, when he removed to Afton. He was industrious, ingenious and eccentric. He died in Stillwater in 1875.

TAYLOR F. RANDOLPH was the first school teacher in Washington county. He and his wife taught at Red Rock in 1837-38-39-40, under the supervision of the Methodist mission at that place. In 1842 he settled on a farm in a valley near Bissell's Mounds, Afton, where he and his wife died in 1846.

ELIJAH BISSELL, in 1842, located a farm near the three mounds in section 8, which now bear his name. He left the county in 1850.

ANDREW MACKEY.--Mr. Mackey, of whom some mention is made in the chapter concerning the early history, is one of the first pioneers, having come in 1837 with John Boyce to the valley of the St. Croix in a mackinaw boat, towed from St. Louis to the mouth of Lake St. Croix by a steamer, from which point they poled their boat up to the St. Croix falls, where they landed on the west side. From this point they made a portage and cordelled their boat, and with poles and lines ascended to Snake river. He engaged for some time in lumbering, and worked at the falls until 1841, when he settled on a beautiful farm, on a part of which Afton is now situated. Mr. Mackey was born in Kilkenny, Ireland, in 1804, and (in 1888) is still living. His wife died in 1873.

BAYTOWN

Comprises the north half of fractional township 28, range 20. The surface is somewhat uneven and broken, owing to the lake bluff formation, but there is much good farming land. Originally it was covered with oaks or oak openings. It derives its name from a bay indenting the western shore of Lake St. Croix. At South Stillwater village a considerable stream, known as Spring creek, flows from some large springs and forms a good water power in its descent to the lake. Two flour mills are located on this stream. In 1842 Francis Bruce built a house on the present site of the office of the St. Croix Lumber Company. In the same year Norman Kittson built a trading post at what has been since known as Kittson's Point. Both of these parties left in 1844 and John Allen built a house and cultivated a field on the east side of Kittson's Point. Allen sold the place in 1846 and removed to California. He raised the first crops in the town. In 1847 Joseph Pero became a prominent settler and made him a good home on Spring creek. Other parties made claims and abandoned or sold them. Fiske & Marty located here in 1848. In 1860 came Ambrose Secrest and some others. In 1852 Nelson, Loomis & Co. built a steam saw mill on the bay. In 1854 Secrest & Booth built a flour mill on Spring creek. In 1858 Baytown was organized as a town. The first supervisors were Ambrose Secrest, John Parker and W. H. Crosby; John J. Hale, clerk.

BAYTOWN VILLAGE.

Socrates Nelson, D. B. Loomis, Levi Churchill, Daniel Mears, and James W. Hinton, in February, 1856, platted the village of Baytown. Harvey Wilson was the surveyor. The location was on the lake shore, lots 3 and 4, section 11, and lot 7, section 2. In 1872 a post office was established called South Stillwater; William Graves, postmaster.

BANGOR VILLAGE

Was platted May. 1857, by C. I. and J. E. Whitney, Albert and Edwin Caldwell, Wm. Hollinshead, Isaac Staples, and A. J. Short; J. J. Carleton, surveyor. It was situated on the shore of the lake south of Baytown.

MIDDLETOWN VILLAGE

Was platted in July, 1857, in parts of sections 2 and 3, by William Holcomb; Myron B. Shepard, surveyor.

SOUTH STILLWATER

Was platted in January, 1873, by the St. Croix Railway Improvement Company; Peter Berkey, president; A. B. Stickney, secretary; J. S. Sewall, surveyor. South Stillwater was made to include the platted villages of Baytown, Bangor and Middletown. It has prospered greatly as a manufacturing village. In 1854 Torinus, Staples & Co. built a steam saw mill, to which from time to time they added various manufacturing establishments. Subsequently the firm became the St. Croix Lumber Company. In the spring of 1876 this company sustained a loss by fire on their mill and appurtenances to the value of $70,000, which was not insured: With indomitable energy they rebuilt, and prospered. The two leading business men in this firm were Louis Torinus and William Chalmers. Turnbull's steam saw mill, on the lake shore, has a capacity of 100,000 feet per day. The property is valued at $70,000. The South Stillwater Lumber Company has a mill with a capacity of 90,000 feet per day, with planer and other machinery attached, in which they have invested $70,000. The firm consists of D. Tozer, A. T. Jenks, H. McGlinn, E. W. Durant, and R. Wheeler. The mills of the Herschey Lumber Company, valued at $70,000, have a capacity of 100,000 feet per day. The proprietor, ---- Herschey, lives in Muscatine, Iowa.

The Stillwater Dock Company was organized in 1877. The company consists of Durant, Wheeler & Co., St. Croix Lumber Company and Jonah Bachelder. They have built many fine steamers and barges. Their repairing docks are a great convenience to steamboat lumbermen. The South Stillwater Soap Factory, owned by McKenzie & Co., deserves honorable mention. The construction of the branch railroad from Stillwater in 1872, and the St. Paul & Milwaukee railroad, built in 1883, have greatly increased the prosperity of the village. Aside from mills and manufactories there are many private residences, one hotel, stores, shops, a Lutheran church, and a school house. There are three cemeteries in the village limits known as Hazlewood, St. Michael's, and the potter's field. The block for the former was contributed by Secrest & Pero, in 1858. St. Michael's was established by the Catholics in 1873. The potter's field was established by the city of Stillwater in 1873. The first death in the limits of South Stillwater was that of Sylvester, son of Joseph Pero. South Stillwater was organized in 1881. First board of officers were: President, B. E. Meigs; clerk, Edward Ivison; councilmen, Richard Burns, C. M. Anderson, Charles Kregor; justice of the peace, Ambrose Secrest. South Stillwater has a graded school with four departments.

COTTAGE GROVE

Includes township 27 and a fractional part of township 26, range 21. It was organized as a town in October, 1858; James S. Norris, moderator; William Watson, clerk; John Atkinson, Jacob Moshier, Joel Munger, judges of election; William Watson, John Atkinson, B. Winant; supervisors. Wm. Ferguson, Lewis Hill, James S. Davis, Jonathan Brown, and Jacob Moshier were the first settlers, locating here in 1844. The first marriage was that of Henry W. Crosby to Hannah Waterman, in 1854. The first child born was Nathan, son of John Atkinson, in 1846; the first death was that of Mehitable, wife of P. P. Furber, in 1851. A post office was established at Cottage Grove village in 1850; J. W. Furber was postmaster. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad was completed through the town in 1871. With its fine natural advantages of soil, and its convenient access to markets, Cottage Grove is well settled and prosperous.

COTTAGE GROVE VILLAGE

Is situated in section 12. It is a pleasant inland village, well supplied with stores, shops and dwellings. It has one hotel, one school house and three churches, Congregational, Evangelical German Lutheran and Methodist. The Congregational society was organized in 1858, Rev. B. Hall, pastor; the Evangelical in 1874; the Methodist some years later. The Universalists also have an organization. The village was platted in April, 1871, by John P. and S. W. Furber, James A. McClusky, Margaret M. Ellwell and Clarence Smith, in the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section 12; J. W. Furber, surveyor.

LANGDON VILLAGE

Was platted in December, 1871, in the southwest quarter of section 21, on the line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad. It contains an elevator, hotel, three stores, a school house, Catholic church and other buildings. The Catholic church was erected in 1873. Father Huxley is the officiating clergyman. The village was platted by Joseph J. Dodge; C. B. Lowell, surveyor.

JOSEPH W. FURBER was born in New Hampshire in 1813. His ancestors came to this country with the early colonists of New England. His father was a soldier in the war of 1812. During his minority he worked at farming, obtaining, meanwhile, an education in the common schools and at Foxcroft Academy, Maine. He emigrated to the valley of the Mississippi in 1838, locating at Alton, Illinois, where he remained for two years. In 1840 he came to St. Croix Falls and engaged in lumbering until 1844, when he located in Cottage Grove. In 1846 Mr. Furber represented Crawford county in the Wisconsin legislature as representative. He traveled on foot as far as Prairie du Chien on his way to the capital of the Territory. He represented the First district in the first Minnesota territorial legislature and was elected speaker of the house; was again a representative in the eighth territorial legislature in 1857; was a member of the tenth and seventeenth state legislatures. In 1857 he was commissioned major general of Minnesota militia. He was also appointed United States marshal of Minnesota by President Fillmore. He died at his residence in Cottage Grove in 1883. He was a man of strong intellect, sound judgment and high moral character. His widow, Sarah Wimples, to whom he was married in 1843, one son, William W., and two daughters survive him.

SAMUEL W. FURBER was born in Stafford county, New Hampshire, in 1819. He removed with his parents to Milo, Maine, and came to Cottage Grove in 1860.

THEODORE FURBER was born in 1817, in Farmington, New Hampshire; came West in 1845 and located at St. Croix Falls. In the following year he moved to Cottage Grove. Mr. Furber was married to Sarah J. Hale in 1843, in Skowhegan, Maine. Mr. and Mrs. Furber visited California in 1867. In 1885 they removed to California.

JAMES S. NORRIS.--James S. Norris was born in Monmouth, Kennebec county, Maine, in 1810. He was married at Newport in 1845 to Miss Haskell. Mr. Norris came to St. Croix Falls in 1839, removed to Washington county in 1842, where he settled on a farm at Cottage Grove, and lived continuously till his death, March 5, 1874. He raised the first crops in Cottage Grove, and though he made farming his chief business, his abilities were such that his fellow citizens intrusted him with many official positions, in all of which he acquitted himself with honor. He acted as county commissioner, was a member of the first territorial council, member of the sixth and seventh territorial house of representatives, and speaker of the sixth, a member of the Democratic wing of the constitutional convention, and of the twelfth state legislature (house).

LEWIS HILL was born at Hollis, Maine, in 1822. In 1843 he came to the valley of the St. Croix and located at St. Croix Falls. In 1844 he came to Cottage Grove and engaged in farming, and, excepting a few years spent in Dakota county, has resided there since. He was married to Abbie Welch in 1854. Their living children are Emma C., Jessie L. and Frederick E. G.

JACOB MOSHIER was born in Nova Scotia in 1820. He removed with his parents in 1829 to Canada West. In 1839 he removed to Illinois, in 1843 to St. Croix Falls, and in 1845 to Cottage Grove, where he still resides. He is a house carpenter, and has also been engaged in farming. He was married in 1854 to Maria Shatto. Their children are Annie F., Mahala, William, Addie, Grant, Laura, and George.

WILLIAM FERGUSON came to Cottage Grove in 1844, and made a claim in section 26.

JOHN ATKINSON was born in Lewiston, Maine, April 4, 1805. He remained in his native town until 1833, resided in Pittsfield until 1844, when he came West and located in Cottage Grove. He pre-empted eighty acres of land, purchased additions to it from time to time, and made for himself a very attractive home, where he resided thirty years. Mr. Atkinson was twice married, first to Hannah Moore, at Lewiston, Maine, who died in 1874, then to Mrs. A. B. Fiske, of Baytown, at which place he now resides, an aged, much respected citizen. His first wife left four sons and two daughters.

DENMARK.

This town is located on the point of land between the Mississippi river and Lake St. Croix, and includes the territory lying south of Afton, and between Cottage Grove and Lake St. Croix, fractional townships 26 and 27, range 20. The surface is elevated, somewhat rolling, without lakes or streams, and the soil rich and well adapted to agricultural purposes. The early history of the town is substantially that of its earliest settlement, Point Douglas. It was organized in 1858. Supervisors, John Shearer, Thomas Wright and David Hone.

POINT DOUGLAS.

Levi Hertzell and Oscar Burris, young men, located in 1839 on the extreme point of the delta between the Mississippi and St. Croix lake, where they cut wood and sold it to the steamboats. They built a log cabin and store, under one roof, and traded with Indians, discharged soldiers and French settlers. They were diligent and industrious, and prospered. In 1846 they built a frame store building. Their trade increased and they grew wealthy. Messrs. Levi Hertzell, Oscar Burris and David Hone, in 1849, platted the village of Point Douglas, Harvey Wilson acting as surveyor. It was named in honor of Stephen A. Douglas.

The following settlers came to Point Douglas prior to 1850: Wm. B. Dibble, the Truaxes, Harley D. White, David Barber, E. H. Whittaker, James Shearer, Martin Leavitt, Simon Shingledecker, H. A. Carter, Thomas Hetherington, Geo. W. Campbell, John Allibone, Mark Wright, John H. Craig, John O. Henry, and George Harris. The first post office north of Prairie du Chien was established in 1840, on the site of Prescott, at that time known as "Mouth of St. Croix." This office was removed to the opposite side of the lake in 1841, and Levi Hertzell was appointed postmaster. The first school was taught in 1850, by John Craig. Rev. Joseph Hurlbut, a Methodist minister, preached here in 1848. In 1656 Rev. T. Wilcoxson, Episcopalian, established "St. Paul's Parish." Mr. Woodruff erected a saw mill in 1851. The enterprise was not successful. A. J. Short built a saw mill in 1858, which eventually passed into the hands of John Dudley. The first road to Point Douglas was the Stillwater county road, located in 1847. The Point Douglas and Lake Superior military road was built in 1849. A ferry was established in 1851 from Point Douglas to Prescott, which was chartered in 1856, and controlled by W. B. Dibble, who also established a ferry from Point Douglas to Hastings in 1857. The first marriage was that of Oscar Burris to Amanda M. Henry, Nov. 14, 1847. The first birth was that of Emmet M. Hone, born in 1845, son of David and Mary G. Hone.

LEVI HERTZELL came to Point Douglas in 1839, and was quite successful in business. In 1846 he was married to Rhoda C. Pond, an adopted daughter of Cornelius Lyman, of Stillwater. In 1849, in company with Burris and Hone, he platted the village of Point Douglas. In the spring of 1856, while in New York, whither he had gone to purchase goods, he mysteriously disappeared, and nothing has since been heard from him. Mrs. Hertzell and her three children were left in a dependent condition, she being able to realize but little from the property held in Point Douglas. She soon after married again. Of her subsequent history nothing is known.

OSCAR BURRIS, associated with Levi Hertzell as one of the first settlers of Point Douglas and pioneer merchants and traders, left in 1849 for California.

DAVID HONE.--The following statement was given me, on request, by Mr. Hone himself: "I was born in Cherry Valley, Otsego county, New York, April 5, 1808, and was married to Mary Henry in 1835. We came by stage over the mountains of Pennsylvania to Pittsburgh and by steamboat from there to Cairo, Illinois, and stopped at the Marine settlement until Sept. 10, 1838. At that time I embarked on the steamboat Ariel, at St. Louis, and in twenty-five days reached the head of Lake St. Croix, from which point I proceeded on a flatboat, propelled by poles, to St. Croix Falls, the trip occupying two days. I made a pine timber claim on an island opposite the mouth of Kettle river. On my return, which was made with eight companions in birch canoes, I stopped at Marine and made a claim where the Marine mill now stands, intending to build a saw mill. We then proceeded in our canoes to Galena, where we took passage on the Ariel for St. Louis, landing there November 10th, after an absence of two months, more than half of which had been spent on the water. We reported favorably, and, organizing a company of thirteen at Marine settlement, Illinois, with a capital of $26,000, got our material together at St. Louis during the winter, and embarked on the Fayette, May 4, 1839, for the point afterward known as Marine Mills, Minnesota. We arrived May 13th and commenced at once to work upon the projected mill, which was completed Sept. 1, 1839. I remained at the mill until March, 1841, when I removed to Gray Cloud. I made a claim at Point Douglas in 1843, and moved upon it in April of that year. In 1844 I built the Union House, the first frame house built in the territory now embraced in Minnesota. At Gray Cloud I acted as justice of the peace. I was appointed deputy sheriff by Sheriff R. D. Lester of Crawford county, and held the office until Minnesota Territory was organized. My first wife died in November, 1864, leaving three sons, Edwin A., John H. and Emmet M. In 1865 I was married to Electa Barnes, of St. Paul. In 1872 I removed to Hastings, my present home." Mr. Hone died at Hastings, July 11, 1887.

WILLIAM B. DIBBLE was born in the state of New York in 1815. He spent part of his early life in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Alabama and Illinois. He came to the St. Croix valley in 1839, and was one of the founders of Marine, Minnesota, from whence he removed to Point Douglas in 1844, and established ferries across Lake St. Croix to Prescott, and across the Mississippi river to Hastings. He also engaged in farming. He was twice married, first in 1844, to Eliza McCauslin, who died in 1847, then to Mary Wright, who, with nine children, survives him. Mr. Dibble died in 1884.

GEORGE HARRIS was born in Pennsylvania in 1824. In 1827 his father removed to Illinois and was killed during the Black Hawk War while acting as sentry. At the age of eight years George commenced working on a farm, and continued nine years. He then removed to Missouri and remained until 1845, when he came to Stillwater and engaged in lumbering. Soon afterward he settled on a farm near Point Douglas, where he still resides. His family consists of a wife (formerly Alice White) and seven children.

HARLEY D. WHITE was born in Orange county, Vermont, in 1812; came to Prairie du Chien in 1840 and engaged in selling goods; removed to Red Rock in 1844 where he sold goods in partnership with Daniel Hopkins, and settled on a farm at Point Douglas in 1847. Some years later he removed to Beattie, Kansas. He was married to Mrs. E. Tainter, of St. Croix Falls, in 1849. She died in 1850, leaving a daughter, who was adopted into the family of W. H. Tinker, of St. Paul. This daughter became a teacher and taught in the public schools of St. Paul for a period of eighteen years, and with her earnings purchased a home for her foster parents. Mr. White married a second time and reared two sons, one an editor, now residing in Alameda, California. The other is engaged in farming in Kansas. Mr. White died in April, 1888.

THOMAS HETHERINGTON was born in Northumberland, England, in 1818; came to Canada at the age of sixteen years and to Point Douglas in 1849 and settled on a farm at Basswood Grove, where he died in 1885, leaving his family in good circumstances. He was held in great esteem as an upright man by those who knew him.

JAMES SHEARER was born at Palmer, Massachusetts, Oct. 30, 1815. He was engaged in the mercantile business from 1837 to 1843, when he sold out and went to Canada. He came to Point Douglas May 8, 1849, and engaged in farming. He held various offices of trust in the county and town. He served as county commissioner for 6 years, postmaster 2 years, chairman of town board of Denmark for 4 years, and town treasurer 12 years. Mr. Shearer was married to Minerva J. Taylor, March 6, 1866. Their children are Marcus, Martha and Irvin.

SIMON SHINGLEDECKER was born in Germany in 1815; came to America in 1831 and located in Ohio, where he worked nine years as a farmer. He removed thence to Illinois, then to St. Louis, and in 1845 came to Hudson, Wisconsin, where he engaged in lumbering. In 1848 he located on a farm near Point Douglas, which is still his home. In 1850 he was married to Margaret Truax. They have eight children.

CALEB TRAUX was born in Mohawk valley in 1810. He became a citizen of Montreal and was there married to Elisabeth Morehouse. He removed to Point Douglas in 1849, where he followed the business of farmer and house carpenter. He was a representative in the fourth territorial legislature. He died at his home in 1878, leaving seven sons and three daughters.

ABRAHAM TRUAX was born in Brooklynn, Canada West. He came to Point Douglas in 1848; removed to Hastings in 1850. While there he was elected sheriff of Dakota county. He returned to Point Douglas in 1859, where he still resides. He was married to Mary Lahey in 1859. Mrs. Truax died in 1867, leaving five children.

GEORGE W. CAMPBELL was born in Canton, New York, April 8, 1810. He received a common school and academic education. His father died in 1826, leaving to George W. the care of the family and the management of the estate. He was married in 1832, at Cornwell, Canada West, to Margaret Harriet Robinson. He came to Point Douglas in 1848, where he has lived since, engaged in farming and lumbering. He was a representative in the first state legislature, 1857-58. Mrs. Campbell died at her home in Point Douglas in 1886, aged seventy-four years. She had been a member of the Episcopal church for sixty years. Six of her seven surviving children with the aged husband and father attended the funeral. Mr. Campbell died in 1887.

FOREST LAKE.

This town includes township 32, range 21. The surface was originally covered with hardwood timber, interspersed with wild meadows; the western part with oak, maple, poplar and tamarack. The first settlers were Louis Schiel, Wilson, Rice and Cyrus Gray. Later came Simmons, Posten, Marsh, York, and Banty. The first marriage was that of Francis Cartwright to Mary Long, in 1865. The first child born was Rebecca Simmons. The first death was that of Frederic Veith, in 1867. In 1873 the first school district was organized. A Methodist church was organized in 1876 by Rev. Adam Ringer. The Forest Lake Lodge, I. O. G. T., was organized in 1879. A post office was established in 1868; Michael Marsh, postmaster. The town of Forest Lake was organized in 1874; W. D. Benedict, A. C. York and George Simmons, supervisors; Louis Schiel, clerk.

FOREST LAKE VILLAGE

Was platted May, 1869, in the northwest part of the town, by Luther Mendenhall, agent of the Western Land Company, and surveyed by B. W. Brunson. It is beautifully located on the shore of Forest lake and is rapidly becoming a popular place of resort for summer tourists and pleasure parties. The lake is almost separated into three distinct parts by points or capes. It is five miles from the northwest to the southeast extremity and is nearly two miles wide at the widest point. Its shores are well timbered and approach the water's edge in gravelly slopes. The indications are that the lake was once much larger. In the south lakes the water is deepest, averaging twenty feet. The south lakes have also higher banks. The lake covers territory in sections 8 to 15, inclusive, of township 32, range 21.

CAPT. MICHAEL MARSH is a native of Wesemburg, Germany, and has resided at this lake nineteen years. He has done much to make it attractive as a place of resort. He has built a hotel with seventy-five rooms for the accommodation of summer visitors, and has placed a steamer, the Germania, upon the lake. Capt. Marsh was married in Germany and has a family of two sons and three daughters.

GRANT.

This town was organized in 1858, under the name of Greenfield. In 1864 the name was changed to Grant. It comprises township 30, range 21. The soil is a sand and clay loam, with clay gravel subsoil. The surface varies from undulating to rolling, and was originally well timbered with white, black and burr oak. White Bear lake lies partly within the township, occupying about 1,200 acres. Other and smaller lakes are Pine, Stone Quarry, Deep, Ben's, and Long.

The first officers of the town were: Moderator, Joseph Crane; clerk, Jesse H. Soule; supervisors, Albion Masterman, James Rutherford and Joseph Crane. The first settlers were Albion Masterman and William Rutherford, in 1849. Soon after came James Rutherford, Thomas Ramsdell and George Bennett. Albion Masterman built the first house, and his wife, formerly Eliza Middleton, was the first woman in the settlement. The first public highway through the town was the Rum river road. The first child born was Castinea O. Rutherford. The first death was that of James, son of James Rutherford. The first school house was built in section 1, in 1856. Joseph Crane taught the first school. The first sermon was preached by Rev. ---- Hamlin, a Free Will Baptist, but the first religious organization was that of the German Protestant Lutheran. Rev. Siegrist was the first pastor. The church building is in section 2, and was built in 1872. The Spiritualists had an organization in 1868, of which Jesse H. Soule was president, and George Walker secretary. Summer meetings were held, and lecturers from abroad invited to address them.

DELLWOOD VILLAGE

Was platted in September, 1882, on the line of the Stillwater & White Bear railroad, on the shore of White Bear lake; Augustus K. and Carrie Barnum, proprietors; Simon & Morton, surveyors.

EAGLE CITY

Was platted in 1854; proprietors, K. Starkey and Chas. G. Pettys; surveyor, Daniel S. Turpen. It is located in the southwest quarter of section 27.

MAHTOMEDI

Was platted in July, 1883; proprietors, Mahtomedi Assembly; surveyors, Hone & Holland. White Bear lake has become a noted resort for tourists and pleasure parties. A steamboat plies regularly upon its waters during the open months, and the Stillwater & White Bear, the St. Paul & Duluth and the Wisconsin Central railroads render it easy of access. It is made attractive by the beauty of its scenery, the clearness and brightness of its waters and its convenient distance from St. Paul, Minneapolis and Stillwater. The Mahtomedi Association have erected here a fine hotel, assembly houses and numerous cottages for the accommodation of summer visitors. Summer schools are held here under the auspices of the Chautauqua Association. The grounds are also adapted to camp meetings, conventions and military parades.

WILDWOOD PARK

Was platted in 1883, by the Park Association; Elmer & Newell, surveyors. It is located on White Bear lake, on the line of the Stillwater & White Bear railroad.

WILLIAM ELLIOTT was born in Ireland in 1825. His parents removed to New Brunswick in 1830, whence he came to Minnesota in 1850, and located in Grant in 1862, devoting himself to farming. He had been a pilot and a lumberman. His second wife was Mary Crawford. They have eight children.

FREDERICK LAMB was born in Prussia in 1825; served three years in the Prussian Army, traveled some time for a manufacturing firm in Germany through Switzerland, France, England, and Italy; came to America in 1848, and to Stillwater in 1849. For some time he was unsettled as to his location, but in 1852 made his home in Stillwater, where he remained until 1866, when he located in Grant. He was married in 1851 to Lena Laroche. A son and a daughter lost their lives by accident. Three daughters are living.

JAMES RUTHERFORD was born in the parish of Elsdon, Northumberland county, England, in 1812. In 1818 he came with his parents to America. In 1849 he came to the valley of the St. Croix and located in what is now the town of Grant. He built a flour mill on Brown's creek. He engaged in farming and also in lumbering for many years. He was married to Elisabeth Smith in 1836. He died at his residence Sept. 14, 1874. Four children survive him.

JESSE H. SOULE has been a prominent and enterprising citizen of Grant since 1854. He was born at Avon, Franklin county, Maine, in 1823. Mr. Soule came to Grant when there were but six families in the town, and pre-empted one hundred and fifty acres of land, where he made him a pleasant and attractive home. He has held many positions of trust, having been elected town clerk, which office he held twenty-two years, justice of the peace, assessor, superintendent of schools and county commissioner. He represented his district in the house of the sixth state legislature in 1864. Mr. Soule has been married three times. His first wife left one daughter, his second wife two sons, twins, Osmar and Winfield; his third wife, who still lives, Rachel Michener, to whom he was married in 1871, has three children, Alice, Olive and Reuel.

Albion Masterman and William Rutherford, the first settlers of Grant township, are mentioned among the biographies of the chapter on Stillwater.

LAKELAND.

This town includes the south half of fractional township 29, range 20, and comprises about 65,920 acres. The surface is quite diversified, ranging from undulating prairie land to hills. Before settlement there were prairies and oak openings. The soil is productive and is well cultivated.

The first settlers were French, who located along the lake shore in 1838-39. These early settlers raised the first crops, but were gardeners rather than farmers, and were transient. The first American settler was Henry W. Crosby, who came in 1842, and located on the site of the present village of Lakeland. George Clark, a young man, came with him and made a claim near the ferry, but was drowned not long afterward. This was the first death in the town of which we have any mention. The first marriage was that of Wm. Oliver and Mrs. Mary Davis, a sister of Joseph Haskell, in 1848; the next was that of A. B. Green to Eliza M. Oliver, Oct. 1, 1851.

A ferry was established in 1848. Moses Perrin built a hotel and saw mill the ensuing year, and platted the village of Lakeland. Another mill was built by Ballard & Reynolds. In 1857 Stearns, Watson & Co. built an extensive saw mill at a cost of $45,000. This mill changed hands many times, finally passing into the hands of C. N. Nelson, who enlarged it to a capacity of 20,000,000 feet per annum, a $50,000 investment. The St. Paul & Milwaukee railroad traverses this town near and parallel to the lake shore. The town contributed $5,000 in ten per cent bonds to the building of the road, for which they received an equal amount of railroad stock. The St. Paul & Omaha railroad crosses the lake and a part of the northeastern part of the township of Lakeland. The railroad bridge has its western terminus in Lakeland, a short distance above the village. Lakeland was organized as a town Oct. 20, 1858. The first board of supervisors consisted of Charles A. Oliver, Elias Megean and A. D. Kingsley.

LAKELAND VILLAGE,

Situated on the lake shore, nearly opposite Hudson, Wisconsin, was platted in 1849 by Moses Perrin. A school was taught in 1852 by Harriet E. Newell. A post office was established in 1854; Freeman C. Tyler was the first postmaster. Lakeland has the following benevolent and social societies: Masons, Golden Rule Lodge, No. 65, organized in 1867; Temple of Honor, organized 1877; the Independent Order of Good Templars, No. 200, organized in 1876. It has a Baptist and Congregational church.

HENRY W. CROSBY was born in Albany, New York, in 1819. He spent his youth in Buffalo. In 1840 he came to St. Croix Falls, and in 1842 to the banks of Lake St. Croix, and located on the site of the village of Lakeland where he resided ten years. During the ensuing thirteen years he followed his trade as machinist at various places, besides serving three years as a volunteer in the Eighth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. He was married in Cottage Grove in 1845, to Hannah Waterhouse. He has four sons.

REUBEN H. SANDERSON.--Mr. Sanderson was born in Genesee county, New York, in 1831. He received a common school education and studied one year in Brockport Collegiate Institute. He came to Lakeland in 1855, and followed the business of a house carpenter. Mr. Sanderson has filled many town offices, and was a member of the Democratic wing of the state constitutional convention in 1857.

NEWTON MCKUSICK, the oldest son of John McKusick, was born in Stillwater in 1850. He received a good education in the city schools, completed at the Minnesota State University, and located on a farm in Lakeland in 1871. He was married to Jennie L. Green, of Stillwater, June 6, 1872. His home and farm display taste and thrift worthy of commendation.

CAPT. JOHN OLIVER.--John Oliver was born March 9, 1796, at Land's End, England. He was bred to a seafaring life, and the early part of his life was well spiced with adventure. He escaped from the British service to enter the American, but was twice captured, and after the second capture suffered a rigorous imprisonment at Dartmoor, England. At the close of the war he came to the United States and became a Boston harbor pilot, a responsible calling which he followed for thirty-three years. He came to the West in 1848, and settled in Lakeland. In 1819 he was married to Sarah Spear, whose father was one of the celebrated Boston Tea Party in 1774. Capt. Oliver, after his removal to Lakeland, busied himself in farming. He died on the homestead in 1869, leaving a widow who survived until 1883, and five sons, two having died prior to 1869. Of his seven sons, six were in the Union Army in Minnesota regiments during the Rebellion: Wm. H., Thomas E., Charles A., George A., Walter J., and Howard F. Walter J. died in the army.

ASA BARLOW GREEN.--The name of Capt. Green was once familiar on the St. Croix. He was a man of varied talents and striking characteristics, who, in a public life extending over a period of many years, figured as a lawyer, sheriff, probate judge, steamboat captain, minister, chaplain, and missionary. He was born at Warren, Vermont, 1826, and during his minority lived at home. He had a common school education, and by his own efforts attained a knowledge of the law and was admitted to practice in Minnesota and Wisconsin in 1858. He served as sheriff in Washington county, held the office of probate judge, and some minor offices. He commanded the steamer Equator in 1859, when that boat was wrecked on Lake St. Croix. He was part owner of the boat. In 1860 he was ordained as a minister of the Calvinist Baptist church. In 1862 he entered the United States service as chaplain of the Third Wisconsin Volunteers, and served three years, after which he devoted himself to ministerial and missionary labors. He died in Whitewater, Wisconsin.

L. A. HUNTOON located in Lakeland in 1857, and engaged in mercantile pursuits. He served as town clerk and postmaster, filling the latter position fifteen years. He represented his district in the house of the seventh and nineteenth legislatures. He died suddenly at his home in 1879, leaving a wife and three children. His oldest son, Samuel, a promising young man, principal of the Hammond high school, and fitting himself for the medical college, was drowned Oct. 9, 1872, in Cutter's lake, at the age of twenty-one. He was much esteemed and lamented.

MARINE.

The town of Marine includes townships 31 and 32, range 20, and fractional townships 31 and 32, range 19. The surface is somewhat rolling, and before settlement was timbered chiefly with hardwood. It is dotted with beautiful lakes, some of which have abrupt and hilly shores. The more noted of these lakes are Big, Carnelian, Square, Bony, Terrapin, Long, Fish, and Hay.

Next to St. Croix Falls, Marine contains the earliest settlement in the valley. In September, 1838, Lewis Judd and David Hone were deputized by a company of men residing in Marine, Illinois, to visit the Northwest and examine the region recently secured by treaty from the Chippewas, and to return the same year and report upon its advantages of climate, soil and other resources. They were authorized also to locate a claim for a future settlement, if they found one entirely suitable. They embarked on the steamer Ariel at St. Louis, September 10th, and were twenty-five days reaching the head of Lake St. Croix, whence they proceeded in a flatboat propelled by poles up the St. Croix as far as the falls, and thence to the mouth of Kettle river. Returning by birch canoes, they stopped at the site of the present village of Marine, and there made a mill claim. They then returned to Marine, Illinois, where they arrived November 10th, and reported favorably on the location chosen.

During the following winter a verbal agreement was made by thirteen persons, all of Marine settlement, to start in the spring and build a saw mill on the distant St. Croix. On April 27th this company left St. Louis on the steamer Fayette for the new settlement, which they reached on the thirteenth of May. The Fayette was chartered expressly for this voyage. They took with them mill irons, farming tools, household goods, three yoke of oxen, and cows.

The members of the party were Lewis, George and Albert Judd, David Hone, Orange Walker, Asa S. and Madison Parker, Samuel Burkelo, Wm. B. Dibble, Dr. Lucius Green, Joseph Cottrell, and Hiram Berkey. When they landed they found Jeremiah Russell and Levi W. Stratton in possession of the claim, they having taken possession during the preceding winter. These men demanded and received three hundred dollars for relinquishing the claim to its rightful owners.

The colonists set to work immediately to build a log cabin as a temporary shelter, which being completed, they commenced the mill, and worked with such energy that it was finished in ninety days. The first wheel used was a flutter wheel, which, not proving satisfactory, was replaced by an overshot with buckets. This mill sawed the first lumber in the St. Croix valley.

Orange Walker was the first clerk and chieftain of the concern, and when anything was wanted a call of the company would be made, and the members assembled. No article of agreement existed. Only one book was kept for a series of years--a unique affair, no doubt. The first installment was $200; second, $75; third, $50; all within two years, after which the company became self sustaining. No partner forfeited his stock. One by one the partners sold out their interest, until Orange Walker and G. B. Judd were the owners. The company was first known as the Marine Lumber Company. In 1850 the name was changed to Judd, Walker & Co., the firm consisting then of the Judd brothers, Orange Walker, Samuel Burkelo, Asa Parker, and H. Berkey. In 1863, when Orange Walker was sole owner, he associated with him Samuel Judd and W. H. Veazie, and the firm name has since been Walker, Judd & Veazie.

The colonists raised, during the first year, corn, potatoes and garden vegetables. They found the Indians peaceably inclined toward the settlers, though the Chippewas and Sioux kept up a constant warfare with each other. During the winter of 1839-40 four members of the company, Parker, Berkey, Green and Dibble, were sent to the mouth of Kettle river to cut logs. Marine was organized as a town in 1858, with the following supervisors: J. R. M. Gaskell; John E. Mower and B. F. Allen.

MARINE MILLS VILLAGE.

The settlement gradually grew into the village of Marine Mills, which was not platted, however, until 1853, nor incorporated until 1875. The following was the first board of officers: President, Orange Walker; councilmen, J. R. M. Gaskell, Ola Westergreen and Asa S. Parker. Until 1842 the mail was received from Ft. Snelling by private conveyance, when a monthly mail service was established from Point Douglas, and Samuel Burkelo was appointed postmaster.

The first jury trial in the St. Croix valley was held at Marine, in 1840, before Joseph R. Brown, justice of the peace. The case was that of Philander Prescott against Chas. D. Foote, plaintiff charging defendant with jumping a claim. The jury consisted of Samuel Burkelo, Orange Walker, H. Berkey, David Hone. J. Haskell, J. S. Norris, A. McHattie, A. Mackey, H. Sweezy, Francis Nason, and two others. The claim in dispute was located near Prescott. The court adjourned to allow the jury to visit Prescott to ascertain if the claim had been made in accordance with custom. On viewing the premises the jury failed to agree, and the matter was compromised by Prescott allowing Foote eighty acres of the claim.

The first white child born in Marine was Sarah Anna Waterman, in 1844. Dr. Wright, the first physician, located in Marine in 1849. The first marriage was that of Wm. B. Dibble to Eliza McCauslin, in 1842. The first death was that of a child of W. H. Nobles, in 1843. The first sermon preached was by Rev. J. Hurlburt, a Methodist missionary, Jan. 1, 1844. The first school was taught by Sarah Judd, in 1849. The Swedish Evangelical Lutherans built the first church in the town of Marine, in section 27, in 1856, a log structure afterward used as a school, its place being supplied by a new structure in section 14 in 1858. In 1874 a large church 50 × 80 feet, ground plan, and with steeple 80 feet high, succeeded the second structure. A fine parsonage was attached. This church was blown down by a cyclone in 1884, but was rebuilt.

The Swedish Methodists built a church on the south side of Long lake in 1856; C. P. Agrelius, pastor. The Congregationalists commenced the first church and perfected the first organization in Marine village, in 1857. The church was completed and dedicated in 1859. Rev Geo. Spaulding was the first pastor. The second Congregational church was erected in 1878, in section 21. The Swedish Lutherans have a church and congregation in the village of Marine. The church was built in 1875. Rev. L. O. Lindh was the first pastor. Oakland Cemetery Association was organized in 1872 and the cemetery located near Marine village.

IMPROVEMENTS.

A passable road was opened from Stillwater to Marine in 1841. The government road from Point Douglas to Superior was built through Marine in 1852-3. The company built the first frame dwelling, on a point above the mill, in 1848. The mill company built a frame store in the same year. This building was burned in 1863; loss, $4,000. The only hotel until 1850 was a log building, when the Marine store was built. The Lightner House was built in 1857, the St. Croix House in 1858. The Marine flour mill was built in 1856 by Gaskell & Co. The first flour was manufactured in 1857. The mill is four stories high and is furnished with a turbine wheel. The water is brought a distance of 1,000 feet by an elevated race. The Arcola saw mills were built in the winter of 1846-7, by Martin Mower, David B. Loomis, Joseph Brewster and W. H. C. Folsom. They were located on the river shore three miles below Marine Mills. The motive power is an overshot wheel, propelled by water from two large springs. The mill is now the property of Martin Mower. The losses by fire in Marine have been:

The Marine saw mill, Sept. 16, 1863, loss $6,000; Judd & Gaskell's store, Jan. 9, 1864, loss $4,000; Samuel B. Judd's dwelling, April, 1884, loss $12,000;

W. H. Veazie's dwelling, April, 1885, loss $6,000.

A heavy financial failure occurred in the winter of 1885-6. The firm of Walker, Judd & Veazio were compelled to make an assignment; indebtedness, $250,000. In the ensuing May, by order of the court, the mill property with its assets passed into the hands of a newly constituted organization, styled the Marine Lumber Company. This company was composed of the creditors of Judd, Walker & Veazie; B. C. Keater, president; Ed. St. John, superintendent; capital stock, $750,000. In 1888 the property passed into the hands of Anderson & O'Brien.

VASA VILLAGE

Was platted in 1856, in section 30, township 32, range 19, by B. F. and Mary Jane Otis and John Columbus; W. P. Payte, surveyor. James Russell, James Cilley and Frank Register in 1857 built a steam saw mill. James Russell built a three story hotel. A saloon and other buildings were erected, but the village did not prosper, and the site is now abandoned. There are several ancient mounds in the town site which have been utilized to some extent as burial mounds. One in the rear of the school house contains the remains of Caroline Reid, a sister of Mrs. B. F. Otis, and Hiram Otis, a son of the latter. A mound on the farm of John Copas contains the remains of John Columbus, buried there at his own request with the body of his favorite dog. A post office was established at Scandia, in the northern part of Marine, in 1878; John M. Johnson, postmaster. The upper part of the town of Marine was at one time organized as a town called Vasa, but has since been merged in Marine.

ORANGE WALKER was born at St. Albans, Vermont, Sept. 1, 1801. His ancestors were of English stock and Revolutionary fame. He received a good common school education, and at the age of sixteen entered as an apprentice in a tanner and currier's establishment in St. Albans. After learning the trade he worked at it some time in Milton, Vermont. In 1834 he came West, and located at Jacksonville, Illinois, where he worked at his trade and also engaged in farming until 1839, when he became a member of the Marine Lumber Company, and came with them to Marine, where he resided a period of forty-eight years. During that time he has been the most active and influential man in the company, having been in almost constant service as its president or principal agent. Mr. Walker was well known to the earlier dwellers in the St. Croix valley as a hale, hearty, well informed man, prompt in fulfilling his engagements, and liberal in everything that pertains to the general good. Mr. Walker filled many public positions. He was county commissioner ten years, postmaster twenty-five years, and represented his district in the house of the Second Minnesota legislature in 1859-60. He was married Sept. 16, 1848, to Mrs. Georgiana Lockwood, of Prescott, formerly Miss Barton, a native of Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Walker died Oct. 9, 1885. Mr. Walker died Aug. 17, 1897.

LEWIS WALKER, brother of Orange Walker, was born in St. Albans, Vermont, in 1811; in early life removed to Marine, Illinois, and in 1853 came to Marine Mills, Minnesota. He spent many years at the St. Croix upper boom, and the last fifteen years of his life he lived in Osceola. He was a quiet, peaceable citizen, exemplary in his habits and respected by all his acquaintances. He died in Osceola in 1882. Mr. Walker was married in 1853 to Calphrunia White, who, with two daughters, survives him. The oldest daughter, Ella, has been for many years a teacher in the Minneapolis and St. Paul and other schools. Emma is the wife of Henry Fifield, a printer and journalist of Northern Michigan.

SAMUEL BURKELO was born in Kent county, Delaware, March 31, 1800. He came to Marine in 1839, being one of the thirteen constituting the Marine Lumber Company. He remained with the company ten years, removed to Stillwater and engaged in the mercantile business. In 1858 he removed to a farm in Lakeland, where he died in 1874. He was one of the commissioners appointed in 1840 to organize St. Croix county, and represented his district in the council of the first and second territorial legislatures. He was married Dec. 7, 1844, to Susan McCauslin, at Point Douglas. Four children survive him.

ASA S. PARKER was born in Windsor county, Vermont, July 11, 1812. His youth was spent in Vermont, New York and Illinois. He was by trade a brickmaker. He joined the Marine Company and came to Marine in 1839. He continued a member of the company until 1858, since which time he has been engaged in farming and selling goods at Marine. Mr. Parker is a quiet, unobtrusive gentleman, well posted in general matters. He was a very useful member of the company. He was eight years county commissioner, and has filled responsible town and county positions. He was married in 1859 to Isabella Thompson. Archie I., an only son, living with his parents, was married to Lena Smith in 1883.

HIRAM BERKEY was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, Oct. 22, 1813. He came to St. Louis, Missouri, in 1819, but made Collinsville, Illinois, his home, and engaged in farming. He came to Marine Mills in 1839, and was one of the original company that founded Marine. He sold his interest in 1860, since which time he has been engaged in hotel keeping and farming. He served as county commissioner four years, and filled local offices. He was married to Jennie McCarty, of Pennsylvania, Oct. 23, 1860. They have one son, John R.

GEO. B. JUDD was born in Farmington, Connecticut, Oct. 19, 1799. In 1832 he came to Illinois and engaged in farming and merchandising. In 1839 he became a member of the Marine Company, and came up on the Fayette, but did not make his residence there until 1862. He retained his interest in the company until about 1863. He removed to St. Louis in 1844, and became a member of the enterprising commission firm of Judd & Hammond. After his removal to Marine he engaged in the mercantile and lumbering business. Mr. Judd died at his home in Marine in 1872.

JAMES HALE was born in 1822, in Putnam county, Indiana; lived five years in Illinois, and came to Marine Mills in 1844, where he engaged in farming. He was married to Mary Finnegan in 1855. Mr. Hale died Feb. 9, 1888.

JOHN HOLT was born in Jefferson county, Kentucky, in 1818. He came to Marine in 1846. In 1852 he was married to Mary Jane Ward, and removed to Stillwater, where for two years he kept the Minnesota House, at the southwest corner of Main and Chestnut streets. Returning to Marine in 1853 he followed lumbering and farming many years. During the latter portion of his life he was afflicted with partial blindness. He died Jan. 12, 1874, leaving two children.

GEORGE HOLT, brother to John Holt, was born in Kentucky in 1822, where he spent his early life. After spending a year at Prairie du Chien, in 1846 he came to Marine and obtained employment with the Marine Company. In 1850 he removed to Stillwater, and engaged in the livery stable and hotel business until 1853, when he returned with his brother to Marine. He claims to have carried, in 1851, the first leathern mail pouch from Stillwater to Taylor's Falls. During the Rebellion he served one year in Company G, Fourth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. While residing in Marine he has been engaged chiefly in farming, rafting and lumbering. In 1851 he was married to Melinda Ward. They have five children.

WILLIAM TOWN was born in Rome, N. Y., 1814. In 1836 he removed to Warren county, Illinois, and in 1838 he was married to Louisa Robinson. He came to Marine in 1846; removed to St. Croix Falls in 1847; to Osceola Prairie in 1852, and to Taylor's Falls in 1860, where he died in 1870. His first wife died at Osceola in 1855, leaving three daughters, one the wife of W. J. Seavey, of Taylor's Falls, one the first wife of Henry Mallen, of Farmington, Wisconsin, and one the wife of E. Hines Bates, of Taylor's Falls. Mr. Town was married in 1857 to Mrs. Mary Collins, formerly Mary Talboys. A daughter of Mrs. Town, by her first husband, is the wife of N. P. Bailey, of Taylor's Falls. Mr. Town's aged mother came to Osceola Prairie in 1856, and died in June, 1886, aged ninety-seven years. Mrs. Abbott, of Moorhead, and Mrs. Richmond, of Farmington, are her daughters.

MATTHIAS WELSHANCE was born in 1818, in Pennsylvania, where he lived during his minority and learned the carpenter's trade. In 1843 he removed to Galena, Illinois, in 1847 to St. Croix Falls and in 1848 to Marine Mills, where he worked at his trade until 1856. From that time until his death, May 19, 1886, he was engaged in hotel keeping. He was for nine years keeper of the Marine Hotel and has since been proprietor of the St. Croix House. He was married Nov. 12, 1848, to Mary J. Hooper. They have five children living. One daughter, Mrs. Tolan, met a tragic death at the hands of an insane husband, in 1881. Mr. Welshance died in 1886.

BENJAMIN T. OTIS was born in Fairfield, Maine, in 1816. He came to St. Croix Falls in 1841, and engaged in lumbering. In 1846 he located on what is known as Colby Flat, on the site of Taylor's Falls, and improved a farm. In 1849 he removed to Marine. His first wife died suddenly at Marine. He was married to Mrs. Church, of Stillwater, in 1859. Henry F., a son by his first wife, enlisted in 1862, in the Seventh Minnesota Volunteers, was wounded in 1864, and honorably discharged.

WILLIAM CLARK was born in New Brunswick, July, 1815. He came to Marine Mills in 1848, and since has followed lumbering. He married Elisa Jane Nelson in 1861. Mrs. Clark died in 1879, leaving two daughters.

JAMES R. MEREDITH was born Aug. 22, 1812, in White county, Illinois, where he lived until eighteen years of age, when he removed to Galena, where he spent five years in mining. He went thence to Burlington, Iowa, and in 1849 located in Marine, and was employed by the Marine Company several years. In 1860 he located upon his present farm. In 1847 he was married to Eleanor Freeman. They have three children living.

JOHN D. AND THOMAS E. WARD. The Ward brothers are natives of Massachusetts. They came to the St. Croix valley with their brothers-in-law, John and George Holt. They have engaged chiefly in steamboating and river business.

SAMUEL JUDD, son of Lewis Judd, was born in Illinois in 1840. He graduated at McKendrie College, Lebanon, Illinois, and came to Marine in 1863, and became a member of the firm of Walker, Judd & Veazie. In 1874 he was married to Amelia D. Flaherty, at St. Louis. Their children are Orange W. and Lucille M. In 1886 he changed his residence to St. Paul.

FREDERIC W. LAMMERS was born in Germany in 1829. He came to America in 1843, locating first at St. Louis, where he remained two years. In 1845 he removed to the St. Croix valley, and for several years engaged in lumbering. In 1852 he settled on a farm in Taylor's Falls, and was married to Helen C. Nelson, of Marine. In 1865 he sold his farm and removed to Big Lake Marine. Mr. Lammers has been a public spirited and excellent citizen. His family consisted of fifteen children; of these thirteen are living.

JAMES R. M. GASKILL was born in Madison county, Illinois, in 1820; graduated from McKendrie College in 1843; graduated from the medical department of the Missouri State University in 1854; practiced medicine a short time at Centralia, Illinois, and came to Marine in 1855, where he practiced medicine and interested himself in milling, lumbering and merchandise. He represented his district in the house of the first legislature of Minnesota, 1857-58, and of the fourteenth and fifteenth, 1872-73. He served during the Rebellion as surgeon of the Forty-fifth Illinois Volunteers. He was for many years a trustee of the Minnesota State Prison. In 1861 he was married to Clara E. Hughes. They have one son and one daughter.

NEWPORT.

The town of Newport includes fractional townships 27 and 28, range 22, and part of sections 34, 35 and 36, in township 29, range 22: It was organized as a town Oct. 20, 1858. The first supervisors were William Fowler, E. B. Schofield and John Willoughby. The surface is mostly prairie. This town has some points of great historic interest. Gray Cloud island, in the southern part, in the Mississippi river, separated from the mainland by a slough, is the place where, according to some historians, Le Sueur planted a French fort in 1695. It was styled the "Isle Pelee," and was described as a beautiful "Prairie Island."

The description of the island tallies precisely with that of Gray Cloud, and is applicable to none of the other conjectured localities. It is mentioned by many antiquarian writers as a place of rendezvous for French traders during the French domination in this part of the continent. Gray Cloud has been known as a trading post for the last hundred years, and has the credit of being the first white settlement in Washington county, and probably in Minnesota. Here came Joseph R. Brown in 1838, and here he married the daughter of Dickson, the trader. Hazen Mooers, one of the commissioners of St. Croix county in 1840, Joseph Boucher and others were living at Gray Cloud when the Methodist mission was established at Kaposia in 1836. Gray Cloud is the translation of the Indian name of the island. It was also borne by an Indian maiden, who became the wife of Hazen Mooers, who seems to have been a man of excellent repute and considerable influence. The Browns cherished for him a very warm feeling of regard.

Red Rock, another historic locality, derives its name from a painted rock which seems to have been held in great reverence by the Sioux Indians. According to Rev. Chauncey Hobart, a veteran pioneer and preacher still living in Minnesota, it was the custom among the Sioux to worship the boulders that lie scattered along the hills and valleys. When a Dakotah was in danger, it was his custom to clear a spot from grass and brush, roll a boulder upon it, paint it, deck it with feathers and flowers, and pray to it for needed help.

The peculiarity of the painted boulder from which Red Rock took its name is that it was a shrine, to which from generation to generation pilgrimages were made, and offerings and sacrifices presented. Its Indian name was "Eyah Shah," or "Red Rock." The stone is not naturally red, but painted with vermillion, or, as some say, with the blood of slaughtered victims. The Indians call the stone also "Waukan," or "mystery." It lies on a weathered stratum of limestone, and seems to be a fragment from some distant granite ledge. The Dakotahs say it walked or rolled to its present position, and they point to the path over which it traveled. They visited it occasionally every year until 1862, each time painting it and bringing offerings. It is painted in stripes, twelve in number, two inches wide and from two to six inches apart. The north end has a rudely drawn picture of the sun, and a rude face with fifteen rays.

Red Rock is noted as the site of a mission planted here in 1837 by the Methodist Episcopal church, by Alfred Brunson, a distinguished pioneer preacher and missionary. The mission was originally established at Kaposia, on the western bank of the river, in 1837, but removed by Alfred Brunson in the same year to Red Rock. Rev. B. T. Kavanaugh, of this mission, and afterward a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal church South, superintended the erection of the first buildings. Taylor F. Randolph and wife were teachers here, as assistants in the Indian school, and also in a school of mixed bloods and whites. B. T. Kavanaugh was postmaster in 1841. John Holton was mission farmer in 1841, under a commission from Maj. Taliaferro, of Fort Snelling. The mission was discontinued in 1842. Mr. Randolph and wife made them a home in the town of Afton, where both died in 1844.

The first marriage was that of John A. Ford to Mary Holton, daughter of John Holton, in 1843. The first birth was that of Franklin C. Ford, September, 1844. The first death was that of a child of Rev. B. T. Kavanaugh. The village of Newport was platted in 1857. W. R. Brown's addition was platted in 1874. A steam saw mill was built in 1857 by E. M. Shelton & Brothers. The mill was destroyed by fire in 1874. A flour mill was built in its place by Joseph Irish. The first Baptist church was organized Jan. 18, 1858. The first commodious house of worship was built in 1878. The Red Rock Camp Meeting Association was organized in 1869. A plat of ten acres, beautifully situated in a natural grove near the village, and on the line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad, was donated to the association by John Holton. These grounds have been improved, and adorned with tasteful cottages. The camp meetings held during the summer are largely attended.

GRAY CLOUD CITY

Was platted in June, 1856, by J. R. Brown and Truman W. Smith, and surveyed by J. Donald McCullom.

NEWPORT VILLAGE

Was platted May 2, 1857, by Joseph H. Huganin, R. C. Knox, Wm. and James Fowler, and surveyed by B. Densmore.

JOHN HOLTON came to Red Rock in 1831, with the Methodist missionaries; served some years as Indian farmer under Maj. Taliaferro, Indian agent, and afterward settled on a farm just above the mission ground. He donated ten acres of this farm to the Methodists for camp meeting grounds. Mr. Holton died in 1884, leaving two children, Mrs. Ford and Mrs. Winters.

JOHN A. FORD was born in Utica, New York, in 1811. He learned the trade of edge tool and rifle making, and in 1834 came West with his father, locating a land claim where Chicago now stands. In 1841 the son came to Red Rock and erected a store building in which he sold goods for twelve years. Subsequently he engaged in farming. With the exception of the traders Mr. Ford was the first merchant in Washington county. Mr. Ford was a representative in the second territorial legislature. He was married to May Holton in 1843. Their children are Franklin and Willis. Franklin, the eldest son, was married to Addie Witherspoon in 1870, and resides in Newport.

DANIEL HOPKINS, a native of New Hampshire, came West at an early age. He was a gunsmith by trade. He located in Green Bay in 1836, and removed to Prairie du Chien in 1838, where he built a stone shop with a large double window over his workbench and overlooking a spot where he kept his money buried. A large mullein growing over it sufficiently indicated that his treasure was still undisturbed. Growing somewhat doubtful of the security of his hoard, he removed and placed a thousand dollars in a stone quarry as a safer place of deposit. Unexpectedly to him, the quarry was reopened and a well placed blast scattered the old gentleman's treasure to the four winds. He recovered but a portion of it. In 1844 he left Prairie du Chien and came to Red Rock. He was three years associated with John A. Ford in selling goods, after which, in 1848, he removed to St. Paul, where he opened a store. He died in 1852, aged sixty-five years.

WILLIAM R. BROWN was born in Urbana, Ohio, in 1816. He spent his boyhood at home on a farm and served as an apprentice to a carpenter in Mt. Carmel, Illinois. In April, 1848, he came to Red Rock mission in company with Rev. B. T. Kavanaugh, Charles Cavalier and Julia Bosnell. He lived upon a farm until 1854, when he sold out and removed to St. Paul, where he dealt in real estate. During the Rebellion he served three years in Company C, Sixth Minnesota Volunteers. He was married in 1841 to Martha Neuman. He died Nov. 25, 1874.

WILLIAM FOWLER settled in Newport in 1852 and has become a prominent farmer and successful stockman. His farm, which originally cost him $2,500, he sold in 1887 for $80,000. He was for two years president of the Minnesota Agricultural Society, and five years of the Dairymen's Association. He was a member of the house of representatives in 1872. During the war he served as lieutenant in the Eighth Minnesota Volunteers.

OAKDALE.

Oakdale includes township 29, range 21. Originally it was covered with white, black and burr oak timber; the surface is rolling, and the soil well adapted to the cultivation of wheat. It is well watered and has numerous lakes, among which Lake Elmo is favorably known as a summer resort.

Oakdale was organized as a town November, 1858. The first supervisors were E. C. Gray, John Bershen and E. L. Morse. The clerk was W. Armstrong.

The first settler was B. B. Cyphers, who kept a hotel or stopping place on Sun Fish lake in 1848. The year following John Morgan built a more commodious house a mile and a half west on the stage road, and this was afterward known as the "Half-way House," it being nearly midway between St. Paul and Stillwater. At this well known station the pioneer stages of Willoughby & Powers changed horses at noon, and the passengers took dinner. In 1855 the property passed into the hands of E. C. Gray. The Malones, Lohmans, Grays, Day, Stevens, and Gardiner located here in the '50s.

The first post office established was in 1857, in the south part of the town, in section 35. Arthur Stephens was for ten years postmaster. The office was called Oakdale, and was discontinued and another established at the Half-way House, and called Lohmanville post office. In 1873 it was transferred to the Oakdale station on the railroad. It was discontinued in 1876, and re-established at Bass Lake station, where it has since remained but is now known as the Lake Elmo post office.

The St. Paul & Stillwater railroad passes through this town from east to west. It has three stations, Lake Elmo, Oakdale and Midvale.

The churches of Oakdale are the St. John's Lutheran and the Church of the Holy Angels. These churches have fine buildings and good congregations. The buildings are located on the line of the old stage road, and have spacious burial grounds attached.

Lake Elmo is the only village in the town. It is handsomely located on Lake Elmo. The company that platted the village has expended over $65,000 on improvements. The hotel is an elegant and spacious building, and a favorite resort for summer tourists. The lake was originally known as Bass lake, and the station was known as Bass Lake station. In 1879 the lake and station were rechristened Elmo, a name certainly more musical and charming than the original, and inferior only to the aboriginal name, which ought to have been retained.

E. C. GRAY came originally from Pennsylvania, and located in Oakdale in 1855, having purchased the Half-way House of John Morgan. He died in 1874, leaving a large family of children. Two of his sons, M. P. and W. H., remain on the family homestead. Others are in St. Paul. All are known as men of good business ability.

ARTHUR STEPHENS was born in Scotland in 1830. He came to America in 1839, lived awhile in Illinois, learned the trade of a mason and plasterer, came to St. Paul in 1849, worked at his trade until 1854, when he removed to Oakdale, where, with the exception of six years' residence at Stillwater, he has since lived. Mr. Stephens served as postmaster ten years, as county commissioner three years, and has filled town offices. He was married to Marie Payden in 1852. Their children are Harris S., Arthur, Elizabeth and Emma.

ONEKA.

The town comprises township 31, range 21. It was organized as a town in 1880. A. J. Soule was the first moderator, George Walker the first clerk and treasurer. The eastern and southern portions are diversified, being quite rugged and uneven. The western part is quite level, and was originally timbered with burr oak and poplars. The town abounds with lakes. Bald Eagle lies partly in the town; Oneka; Rice, Egg, Eagle, Horseshoe, and others are within the town. Small springs and rivulets abound. A tamarack swamp, varying in width from a few rods to a half mile, traverses the town from north to south, forming a natural barrier between the eastern and western divisions. The principal lake is Oneka, located in sections 9 and 16. Rice lake has been celebrated as the resort of Indians from Mendota, who camped here annually to gather wild rice for the St. Paul and Minneapolis markets.

The first settlers were Fayette Tainter and John Chester, young men who came together in 1850 for the purpose of locating claims and baling hay. They carried on a stock farm for five years. The next settlers, Lewis Sempler and his son-in-law, Joseph Freeman, came in 1855. They were followed by Dunn, Barnum, Hatch and Beecroft.

The St. Paul & Duluth railroad passes through the western part of the town, entering in section 31, and leaving in section 5. There is but one station upon the road, Centreville, a thriving little village, having a hotel, store, school house, etc. Its post office was established in 1874.

The first school district was organized in 1867. Ruth Miller taught the first school. The first marriage was that of Joseph Lambert and Mary Courtone. The first child born was Hoyt E., son of O. L. Kinyon, Dec. 27, 1863. The first death was that of Herbert, son of O. L. Kinyon, May 30, 1869.

ONEKA,

Located in the northeast quarter of section 8, was platted May, 1847, by Franklin Jones; Chas. B. Lowell, surveyor.

SHADY SIDE VILLAGE,

Located on Bald Eagle lake, was platted in 1880, by Chas. P. Hill; Brinckerhoff & Phillips, surveyors.

DANIEL HOPKINS, SR., son of Daniel Hopkins, of whom biographical mention is made in the history of Newport, was born in New Hampshire. He came to St. Paul in 1850, and engaged in the mercantile business on Third street until 1852, when he removed to a farm between St. Anthony and St. Paul, and dealt extensively in blooded stock until about 1855-56, when he purchased the farms of Austin and Tainter, on Rice creek near the railroad. His farm consists of about 600 acres. The railroad has a flag station at the farm known as Hopkins station.

STILLWATER.

Stillwater comprises fractional township 30, range 20, excepting the site of the city of Stillwater. The surface is rolling and the soil good. It is well watered with rivulets and small lakes. The first settlers in the town outside the city limits were the Lymans, consisting of the father (Cornelius) and two sons, C. Storrs and D. P., Charles Macy, W. T. Boutwell, Sebastian Marty, Wm. Rutherford, J. J. McKenzie, Albion Masterman, and Dr. James Carey. The first white child born in the town was Emily S., daughter of C. S. Lyman, in 1846. The first death was that of Betsey, daughter of C. S. Lyman, in 1846. The first marriage was that of Abraham Click and Jane Sample, in 1853. The first school was taught by Cynthia Pond, in 1852. The first road through the town was from Dakota village via Carnelian lake and Marine to St. Croix Falls. Messrs. Rutherford & Booth in 1857 built a flour mill on Brown's creek, which empties into the St. Croix near the head of the lake. The mill was located above McKusick's lake, and has been for some years abandoned. Brown's creek originally passed through sections 18, 19, 20 and 21 to the river, but was turned in 1843 from its natural course, and made to connect McKusick's lake with the St. Croix by a new channel cut through sections 28 and 29, thus giving to Stillwater its initial advantages as a manufacturing centre. The Washington county poor farm, consisting of 207 acres of improved laud with good buildings and other conveniences, was located in this town in 1858.

OAK PARK

Was platted May 27, 1857. It is situated between the city of Stillwater and South Stillwater, with frontage on the lake. The proprietors were John Parker, Wm. Dorr, Gold T. Curtis, Mary Curtis, Olive A. B. Anderson, and Wm. M. McCluer. The surveyor was A. Van Voorhes.

The township of Stillwater was organized April 3, 1860, with the following board of officers: Moderator, Cornelius Lyman; judges of election, H. Packard, W. T. Boutwell, D. P. Lyman; supervisors, C. Storrs Lyman, H. Packard, Henry A. Jackman; clerk, Sylvanus Trask.

DAVID P. LYMAN was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, in 1822. In 1844 he came with his parents to Marine. In 1846 he removed to his present residence in the town of Stillwater. He was married to Anna J. Hannah, at Farmingdale, Illinois, in 1850. They have five children. Mr. Lyman is an upright, reliable citizen, and a consistent member of the Presbyterian church.

HENRY A. JACKMAN, a native of Robbinstown, Maine, was born July 30, 1819. He was married to Sarah Blanchard in 1848. Mr. Jackman, with his family, his father and his wife's parents, came West in 1849 and located in Stillwater. In 1851 he removed to his farm. He has since engaged in farming and lumbering, and has filled several important positions. He served as school trustee for 30 years, as county commissioner 8 years, as warden of state prison 4 years, as state prison inspector 20 years, and was a representative in the territorial legislature of 1856, and the state legislature of 1867. Mr. Jackman's father, a native of Brunswick, Maine, died at his son's residence in Stillwater, April, 1867, aged seventy-four years. He was a man honored for his kindness and sterling integrity. His wife, the mother of Henry A., died in Maine in 1844. Three sons and four daughters survive them. The children of Henry A. Jackman are Mary E. (Mrs. Russell Pease), James E. and Alice (Mrs. Wm. A. Boxwell).

FREDERIC J. CURTIS, a native of Ireland, was born in 1818. Before coming to America he learned the trade of boot and shoe making. He came to America in 1843, and spent two years in New York City working at his trade. He also spent two years in St. Louis and New Orleans. He came to Stillwater in 1848 and settled on his farm in section 9, where he has since lived. He held the office of sheriff two years. He was one of the first police of the city of Stillwater and has been town treasurer and school director. He was married to Bridget Fenton in 1849. Their children are Daniel, Thomas, James, Elisabeth, Mary, Maggie, and Ellen B.

DAVID COVER was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, May 22, 1826. In 1844 he came with his parents to St. Louis, Missouri, where he became a river pilot, and engaged in lumbering for eight years, when he came to Stillwater, and for some years gave his attention largely to selling logs and lumber between Stillwater and St. Louis. During the years between 1860 and 1870 his business transactions were heavy, involving hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, and from some injudicious movements, due to lack of experience, resulted in disastrous failure. After his failure he devoted himself to farming and fire insurance business. He was married in 1850 to Elisabeth Harrold. They are the parents of three sons. Mr. Cover was accidentally drowned in Lake St. Croix Sept. 14, 1884. His life was insured for $17,000.

JOHN PARKER came from Vermont to the valley of the St. Croix in 1848, located for a couple of years at St. Croix Falls, and came to Oak Park, town of Stillwater, about 1850. In 1848 Mr. Parker was married to Susan, daughter of David Cover, who bore him three children: Edwin E., the oldest, killed by the explosion of the boilers of the steamer Penn Wright, near Winona; John E., living at home with his mother, and Ella, wife of Henry Pevey, of Stillwater. Mr. Parker was a kind hearted, genial man. He was one of the early river pilots, and came to his death in June, 1867, while in the performance of his duties as a pilot. In handling a line to "snub" a raft, he was caught in its coils and so bruised that he died.

WOODBURY,

As at present organized, includes township 28, range 21. At the date of its organization, in 1868, it was named Red Rock, and made to include a little over two sections of fractional township 28, range 22. This fragment contains the famous painted rock, now included in the town of Newport, and from this rock, familiarly called Red Rock, the town received its first name. The first board of town officers consisted of John Colby; moderator; David Little and C. Schmeiding, judges of election; John Colby, John A. Ford, J. J. Miller, supervisors; Ebenezer Ayers, clerk.

The town held the name of Red Rock until 1859, when, by notification from the legislature that another town bore the same name, the board changed the name to Woodbury, a name given in honor of Judge Woodbury, of New Hampshire, a particular friend of Mr. Colby, at that time chairman of the board. The fraction containing the painted rock was set off by order of the board of county commissioners, meeting at Stillwater in 1861, and added to Newport. It is said that this act did not meet with the hearty approval of the citizens of the town.

The town was originally timbered with various species of oak. The surface is undulating, and in the western part there are abrupt hills or bluffs. It is a fine agricultural town, well watered with creeks, springs and small lakes.

The first settlers were the McHatties, Middletons, Robert Cummings, John Towner, and Joseph Cooper. The first marriage was that of John McHattie and Jane Middleton, Jan. 15, 1847. The first child born was Sarah Middleton, afterward the wife of Anthony Fritz, of Newport. The first death was that of Sarah Middleton, May 4, 1849. The first traveled road in the town was from Stillwater to St. Paul via Bissell's Mound. The first post office was established in 1850, at Oakdale, in the northern part of the town; G. Hartoung, postmaster. The first school was taught in 1855 by Miss A. F. Colby. The German Methodist church was organized in 1855; Rev. Jacob Young, pastor. The church and parsonage are built of stone. The Salem Evangelical Lutheran church was organized in 1865; Rev. J. W. Huffman, pastor.

JACOB FOLSTROM.--The history of Jacob Folstrom reads like a romance. He was born in Sweden June 25, 1793, and when he was nine years of age left home as cabin boy on a steamer commanded by his uncle. The steamer was wrecked on the coast of England. He escaped with his uncle to London, and there lost sight of him. What was his uncle's fate he never knew. He understood nothing of the English language, and applied to the Swedish consul for aid. Lord Selkirk was then raising a company of men to go to his settlement on Red river, British America, and Selkirk, who could speak Swedish, spoke kindly to the friendless lad, and offered to take him with him to the New World. He, not knowing what else to do, consented to go. After his arrival he found employment with the Hudson Bay Company for a time, and subsequently came down to the Fort Snelling reservation. When the settlers were driven from the reservation in 1839; he made a farm in what is now Woodbury, Washington county. At Lake Superior, in 1823, he had been married to Margaret Burgo, a woman of fine mind. With her limited educational privileges, very few of any age or race can be found her equal. Mr. and Mrs. Folstrom were both consistent Christians, and members of the Methodist church for many years. He lived a stirring, adventurous life, and, during his service as mail carrier between Prairie du Chien and Fort Snelling, he had many hairbreadth escapes from hostile Indians. He died in July, 1859. His wife survived him till Feb. 6, 1880.

ALEXANDER MCHATTIE.--At the age of sixteen Mr. McHattie left his home and worked as a teamster and farmer for about five years; and in 1833 came from Scotland, his native country, to America. He lived a couple of years in Vermont, a short time in New York, Ohio and Indiana. In 1839 he came to Galena, Illinois, and migrated thence in the same year to St. Croix Falls. He also made a short stay at Gray Cloud island; was in Prescott in 1840; in 1841 made a home in Afton, and in 1845 at Woodbury. He married Margaret Middleton in 1848.

JOHN MCHATTIE.--John, the oldest brother of Alexander McHattie, came from Scotland to this country in 1833, and settled in Woodbury in 1841. He was married in 1846 to Jane Middleton.

THE MIDDLETON FAMILY.--James Middleton, Sr., with his wife, three sons, William, Samuel, and James, and five daughters, came to this country from Ireland. William, the oldest, inspired by filial duty, came first, it being his ambition to secure for his parents a home on American soil. He was not of age when, in 1838, he left Ireland, full of hope and enthusiasm for his project. He found his way to St. Louis in 1842, and came thence with Hungerford & Livingston to St. Croix Falls. He remained with them two years and then, removing further south, made a claim on unsurveyed government land in what is now the town of Woodbury. During the succeeding year, 1845, he and his brother Samuel worked for John McKusick, and by diligence and self denial succeeded in earning enough to pay the passage of his father and his family to the United States, and to bring them to their claim on the prairie. It was a joyful day when the parents arrived, and since then the united family have their home at and near the selected homestead, a model family in their unity of purpose and affectionate regard for each other. William visited California. He died at his home in 1855. Samuel enlisted and did gallant service in the Union Army during the late Civil War as a member of Company E, Tenth Minnesota Volunteers, and died in the hospital at Memphis, Feb. 29, 1865. James, a younger brother, was born in 1833. He made a claim near that of his brother, and is prominent in the community, in which he lives. He was sergeant-at-arms in the legislature, a member of the house in 1876, and served five years in Washington county as county commissioner. Mr. Middleton removed to St. Paul in 1880, where he now resides. The father died in 1854, the mother in 1876.

NEWINGTON GILBERT was born in Onondaga county, New York, Feb. 17, 1815. Mr. Gilbert settled in Woodbury in 1851. In company with Mr. Buswell he built the North Star flouring mill in 1860. He operated this mill eleven years. Mr. Gilbert was a member of the Democratic wing of the constitutional convention in 1857. He was married to Celestia Bangs in 1860. They have two children.

EBENEZER AYERS was born in Herkimer county, New York. His early life was devoted to hard labor, still such was his zeal for study and the acquisition of general knowledge, that he managed to acquire a very respectable and thorough education. In 1856 he came with his parents to Fort Wayne. He commenced teaching school soon after and taught eight years. In 1844 he removed to Shelby county, Kentucky. He was married in 1846 to Lucy Connelly, of Shelby county. He removed to Buffalo, New York, in 1850, and sold goods until the spring of 1854, when he located in Woodbury and engaged in farming. He was a man of energy, and possessed of great will power. He took a deep interest in town and county affairs, and served as town clerk in Woodbury eleven years. He was a representative in the Minnesota state legislature in 1867 and 1872, and while in that capacity proved himself a ready debater. He had natural ability as an organizer. He was an active member of the Greenback party, and was rigidly opposed to monopolies. He died in 1883.

XV. WASHINGTON COUNTY--CONTINUED

CITY OF STILLWATER.

The organization of the territory of Minnesota in 1849 naturally gave a new impetus to settlement, and marked an era in the progress of the settlements already made. None profited more by the new order of things than did Stillwater. The future metropolis of the St. Croix valley, though yet unorganized even as a village, and governed by town and county law, in 1850 presented a scene of unwonted activity. Out of nearly a hundred arrivals we find the names of John C, Gardiner, Samuel M. Register, H. C. Van Voorhees, John N. Ahl, Ralph Wheeler, Dr. E. G. Pugsley, Dr. Morey, dentist, and Theodore E. Parker, a lawyer. This year was rendered notable by the establishment of a livery stable, by Holcomb & Johnson, a new store by Burkelo & Mower, a bakery by R. Hersey, by the building of the second saw mill by Sawyer & Heaton, by the commencement of Remmick's brewery, by the advent of Antonio Brothers' circus, and the occurrence of a remarkable freshet, on which occasion the steamer Lamartine, taking advantage of the high water, made a pleasure excursion up the river, and over the shallows at the mouth of Apple river and a short distance up that stream. Morton Wilkinson and Michael Ames were amongst the excursionists, and, looking out from the steamboat upon the broad, deep expanse of the swollen river, congratulated their fellow passengers upon the discovery of a hitherto unknown navigable stream, tributary to the majestic St. Croix. The Swiss Bell Ringers were on board, and added greatly to the pleasure of the occasion by their weird and peculiar music. The Lamartine, on returning to Stillwater, found the shores and levees submerged, and passing over them landed her passengers directly from the boat upon the floor of the Minnesota House, on the southwest corner of Chestnut and Main. The water was four or five feet deep in the street before the hotel. The streets in the lower part of the city have since been raised several feet, so that a flood of the same dimensions would not overflow them as it did then. There has, however, in the memory of the oldest inhabitant, been no other flood equal to that of 1850.

Allusion has been made in the history of Stillwater town to the diversion of the waters of McKusick's lake by a new outlet to the river. This device, so beneficial to the city of Stillwater in other respects, came near resulting in disaster. The old outlet of the lake had been obstructed by a dam, while the waters were conducted by a new outlet down a deep ravine and confined to their channel by dikes consisting of a mixture of clay, sand and gravel. This extended to within six hundred feet of the mill on the lake shore. On May 14, 1852, during a terrible storm, the dam at the new outlet gave way and a tremendous body of water, carrying with it the debris of dikes and dams, rushed tumultuously down the ravine, covering the low shores of the lake beneath, and depositing a new geological stratum of drift over a surface of at least six acres to an average depth of about ten feet. It was wittily said at the time that such an extraordinary movement in real estate had never before been known; but, although a downward movement, that seemed very much like ruin to all concerned, especially to the mill, the machinery of which was completely buried, it nevertheless heralded a rise in prices. Quagmires were filled, unsightly obstructions buried or swept away and a fine plateau for buildings was formed along the lake.

The dam was replaced and greatly strengthened, and the water was conducted through pipes and hydrants to the city. Occasionally, for years afterward, the diggers of cellars or cisterns in the buried region would unearth interesting antediluvian relics. Three barrels of pork were exhumed from the cellar of McKusick's store, and found in a good state of preservation. Some years later remains of a far more ancient character were also unearthed near the corner of Third and Myrtle streets. The tusk of a mastodon was brought up from a depth of thirty-six feet below the surface.

CITY GOVERNMENT.

Stillwater was incorporated as a city in 1854. The following officers were elected on the first Monday in April of that year: Mayor, John McKusiek; recorder, C. D. Gilfillan; treasurer, W. H. Mower; Councilmen, J. C. York, J. N. Masterman, C. Carli. We append a list of mayors from 1854 to the present time: John McKusick, 1854; John Fisher, 1855; Wm. Willim, 1856-66-67; Albert Stinson, 1857; A. B. Gorgas, 1858; T. M. Fullerton, 1859; Mahlon Black, 1860-61; F. R. Delano, 1862; David Bronson, 1863-64; Wm. Grover, 1865; C. J. Butler, 1868; Wm. Holcombe, 1869-70; Wm. McKusick, 1871-72; A. K. Doe, 1873; Wm. G. Bronson, 1874-75-76; E. W. Durant, 1877; John S. Proctor, 1878-79-80; Samuel Mathews, 1881-82-83-84; Hollis R. Murdock, 1885; Isaac Staples, 1886; George M. Seymour, 1887-88.

CITY MARSHALS.

The following is a complete list of city marshals since 1854: Jonathan E. McKusick, 1854; John Parker, 1855; John Cilly, 1856; Dennis Sullivan, 1557; Robert Hasty, 1858; Thomas Sinclair, 1859; Duncan Chisholm, 1860-61-62-63; John Shortall, 1864-65; John May, 1866, six months; P. E. Keefe, 1867; John May, 1868, six months; John Shortall, 1869; H. McIntyre, 1870; Duncan Chisholm, 1871; John Lyons, 1872-3, eighteen months; Mathew Shortall, 1873, and continuously to the present time. Mr. Shortall's long term of office proves him an effective and popular officer. F. L. McKusick is police court officer. He is a veteran of the police force and has acquitted himself to the satisfaction of the people of Stillwater.

THE POST OFFICE,

Established in 1845, was located first at the corner of Main and Chestnut streets. The first postmaster was Elam Greely. His successors were John McKusick, John S. Proctor, Harley D. Curtis, Mahlon Black, Abraham Van Voorhes, H. D. Cutler, E. J. Butts, and ---- McCarthy. During 1845 a citizens' mail was brought from Point Douglas. Its regularity depended somewhat on the season. During the winter it was brought some times as infrequently as once a month. In 1846 a government line was established from Point Douglas, and the mail was brought with greater regularity. In 1848 a mail coach line was established between Stillwater and St. Paul. The year following a weekly mail was established. The rapid increase of settlements on the Upper Mississippi created a demand for more frequent mails; consequently from 1850 to the completion of the railroad leading into Stillwater, a daily mail was brought into Stillwater during the summer by steamboats, and by the Wisconsin overland route during the winter.

RAPID GROWTH.

As an evidence of the growth of the city we append post office statistics of salaries, expenses and income for the year 1885:

RECEIPTS.

Sales of postage stamps, envelopes, newspaper wrappers, postal cards, etc. $12,693 34 Box rent received 2,166 25 ----------- Total $14,859 59

EXPENSES.

Postmaster's salary $2,400 00 Expenses for rent, fuel, lights, clerk hire, etc. 3,300 00 $5,700 00 ---------- Net income $9,159 59

MONEY ORDER BUSINESS.

Received for domestic orders $30,305 62 Received for fees on same 131 50 Received for international orders 1,518 81 Received for fees on same 24 95 ---------- $31,980 88 Money orders paid $24,140 88 Certificates of deposit 7,840 00 $31,980 88

REGISTRY BUSINESS.

Domestic and foreign letters and packages registered 1,621 Registered matter in transit 2,327 ----- Total pieces handled 3,948

Number of pouches dispatched daily 24 Number of pouches dispatched semi-weekly 2 Number of pouches received daily 24 Number of pouches received semi-weekly 2

HOTELS.

The following hotels were built in Stillwater prior to 1850:

Northrup House, built by Anson Northrup, northwest corner Main street and Nelson alley, 1844.

Stillwater House, built by Anson Northrup, lot 2, Main street, 1845.

Minnesota House, built by Elam Greeley, southwest corner Main and Myrtle, 1846.

Lake House, built by John W. Brewster, east side of Main street between Nelson and Chestnut, 1849.

Of the hotels built subsequently to 1850, the most popular and well known is the Sawyer House, on the northwest corner of Chestnut and Third streets. It was built in 1857, by Henry Sawyer, opened by G. E. B. Whitcher, and kept in succession by J. and A. Lowell, Isaac Staples, A. Lowell and A. K. Doe. The other hotels built during this period were the Liberty House, by John N. Ahl, 1856; Farmers Home, 1867; Williams House, 1870; Wexio Hotel, 1870; the Keystone House, 1872; the Mansion House, 1872; Central House, 1879; Elliott's Hotel, 1883.

CITY BANKS.

To Christopher Carli is due the honor of conducting the first banking operations in Stillwater. In 1855 he issued and redeemed fractional currency. Darling, Caswell & Scheffer, Jan. 27, 1857, opened a private banking house, and from 1859 to 1865 operated it as a state bank, when it was changed into the

FIRST NATIONAL BANK

of Stillwater. The capital stock was $50,000. The first officers were: Charles Scheffer, president; O. R. Ellis, cashier. The officers in 1886 were: Louis Hospes, president; C. N. Nelson, vice president; F. M. Prince, cashier. The capital stock is $250,000. The gross amount of debits and credits during the year closing June 3, 1886, were $20,000,000. We append the annual report of 1886:

RESOURCES.

Loans and discounts $727,286 70 Overdrafts 1,745 82 United States bonds to secure circulation 50,000 00 Due from approved reserve agents $30,999 72 Due from other national banks 4,266 85 Due from state banks and bankers 3,491 48 38,758 05 Real estate, furniture and fixtures 12,000 00 Current expenses and taxes paid 11,108 56 Premiums paid 9,000 00 Checks and other cash items 1,662 91 Bills of other banks 1,295 00 Fractional paper currency, nickels and pennies 77 07 Specie 33,392 00 Legal tender notes 17,440 00 53,866 98 Redemption fund with United States treasurer (five per cent of circulation) 2,250 00 ----------- Total $906,016 11

LIABILITIES.

Capital stock paid in $250,000 00 Surplus fund 60,000 00 Undivided profits 25,617 60 National bank notes outstanding 45,000 00 Dividends unpaid 20 00 Individual deposits subject to check $236,095 72 Demand certificates of deposit 6,305 93 Time certificates of deposit 224,223 41 Cashier's checks outstanding 679 95 Due to other national banks 3,507 67 Due to state banks and bankers 5,266 78 476,079 46 Notes and bills rediscounted 49,299 05 ---------- Total $906,016 11

LUMBERMAN'S NATIONAL BANK,

Organized Jan. 10, 1871. Capital stock, $150,000. First officers: Isaac Staples, president; H. W. Cannon, cashier. In 1886 the bank had in capital stock $250,000 and a surplus of $50,000. The present officers are: President, Isaac Staples; vice president, R. F. Hersey; board of directors, Isaac Staples, R. F. Hersey, E. S. Edgerton, David Tozer, E. W. Durant, David Bronson, J. McKusick, Matt Clark, Wm. G. Bronson, E. L. Hersey, R. S. Davis.

STILLWATER SAVINGS BANK,

Organized Jan. 10, 1873, under an act of the legislature of 1867, with the following board of trustees: Isaac Staples, president; David Bronson, Dwight M. Sabin, Lewis E. Torinus, Wm. Willim, I. E. Staples, and H. W. Cannon.

ST. CROIX LUMBERMEN'S BOARD OF TRADE

Was incorporated March 8, 1867. The first officers were: President, David Cover; vice president, Louis Hospes; secretary, E. W. Durant; treasurer, David Bronson, Jr.; surveyor, Ivory E. McKusick.

STILLWATER BOARD OF TRADE.

The board was organized in January, 1871. The first officers were: President, David Bronson; vice president, C. J. Butler; secretary, D. W. Armstrong; treasurer, C. N. Nelson; board of directors, John McKusick, Isaac Staples, J. E. Schlenk, J. O'Shaughnessy, M. Moffatt, E. W. Durant, J. N. Castle, B. G. Merry, G. M. Seymour, L. E. Torinus.

STILLWATER WATER COMPANY.

The site of the city abounds in beautiful springs. Charles Hathaway, while excavating on his lot near Third street, struck a large vein capable of supplying 1,000 barrels per day. He constructed a reservoir with an elevation of about fifty feet above the street, and from this source supplies the city with water for sprinkling streets and other purposes.

The Stillwater Water Company was organized April 15, 1880, with a capital stock of $100,000, and commenced at once the work of improvement. This company has never yet declared a dividend, having applied all its surplus earnings upon improvements. They have now 8 1/2 miles of water mains, 88 hydrants and about 260 taps. The water supply is obtained from Lake McKusick, which is supplied from Brown's creek. The lake is 155 feet above the business portion of the city and is about a mile distant from the same. The water is pumped into a reservoir on the highest spot of ground in the city, which is 110 feet above the lake. The system is similar to that of St. Paul, the city being supplied in part by gravitation, and in part by direct pressure. The elevation of the reservoir results in a saving to the city in the matter of fire engines, etc. Any fire in the business part of the city can be extinguished with the use of hose alone. One fire engine answers the purposes of the city. The first board of officers were: President, Edward Durant; vice president, R. F. Hersey; secretary and treasurer, H. W. Cannon.

FIRE DEPARTMENT.

Futile efforts had been made as early as 1859 for the organization of a fire department. In 1872 a fire company of sixty was organized and an engine worth $7,500 was purchased. The first officers of the company were: Chief engineer, David Bronson; first assistant, B. G. Merry; second assistant, H. P. West; engineer, C. C. Johnson; secretary; N. T. Lee; treasurer, Fayette Marsh.

THE ST. CROIX HOOK AND LADDER COMPANY

Was organized in 1872, by the election of the following officers: Foreman, Charles McMillan; assistant, D. B. Loomis; secretary and treasurer, A. K. Doe. The company has received awards of honor for meritorious performance of duty.

STILLWATER GASLIGHT COMPANY.

This company was organized May 12, 1874, with a capital stock of $25,000 and the exclusive right to the sale and manufacture of gas for a period of forty years. Their buildings are located on Third street. The first officers were: President, Isaac Staples; manager, H. W. Cannon; board of directors, John McKusick, D. M. Sabin, Isaac Staples, David Bronson, L. E. Torinus, H. W. Cannon, C. H. Nash.

TELEGRAPH OFFICE.

In 1863 a telegraph office was located in Stillwater by a A. C. Lull, and a line extended to St. Paul. The office is on Main street between Chestnut and Myrtle.

THE NATIONAL BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY

Established a line from Stillwater to St. Paul in January, 1880. It has a branch to Marine.

UNION ELEVATOR COMPANY

Built an elevator near the Stillwater & White Bear depot in 1870-71. It has a capacity of 300,000 bushels. The officers are: President, Louis Huspes; secretary and treasurer, H. W. Cannon.

EXPRESS COMPANIES.

The first office was established by the Northwestern Express Company, in 1855; Short, Proctor & Co. were agents. This company was succeeded in 1858 by the American, and in 1869 the United States also established an office here.

THE STILLWATER BRIDGE.

A charter was obtained from the legislature in 1875 to build a bridge across Lake St. Croix, from Stillwater to Houlton. The bridge was completed the ensuing year at a cost of $24,000. It is 1,500 feet long, and is furnished with a pontoon draw 300 feet in length, operated by an engine.

LUMBERING INTERESTS.

Stillwater is the metropolis of the lumbering interests of the St. Croix valley, and is indebted to them chiefly for its welfare. These are considered separately in other parts of this history. The local interests are centred chiefly in mills and manufactories, of themselves an important element in the prosperity of the city. The principal proprietors of the saw mills since the first settlement of Stillwater have been McKusick & Co., Sawyer & Heaton, McHale. & Co., Schulenberg & Co., Hersey, Staples & Co., Hersey, Bean & Brown, Isaac Staples, Seymour, Sabin & Co., Herschey Lumbering Company and Turnbull Lumbering Company.

FLOURING MILLS.

In 1872 J. H. Townshend and W. F. Cahill erected a flouring mill on Third street. It was run by water brought from McKusick creek, the motive power being an overshot wheel forty-five feet in diameter. In 1880 D. M. Sabin became interested in the firm. The capacity of the mill was increased from fifty to three hundred barrels per day. A Corliss engine and other improvements were added, and the mill was run on the Hungarian roller system. The firm name was changed to Townshend & Co.

The St. Croix flouring mill was built in 1877, on Upper Main street, near the lake, by Isaac Staples. Its dimensions were 40 × 50 feet. Its capacity was two hundred and fifty barrels per day. It was removed to make way for the buildings of the Car Company.

The Stillwater Flour Mill Company was organized under state laws in 1878, and mills were erected on the lower levee, 50 × 70 feet, ground plan, and five stories high. These mills were run on the Hungarian roller system. The cost was $100,000. Their capacity is four hundred barrels per day. The motive power is a Corliss engine of one hundred and seventy-five horse power. The principal owners are R. F. Hersey, Smith Ellison, D. M. Sabin and L. Hospes.

MANUFACTORIES.

Swain's machine shop, D. M. Swain, proprietor, was established in 1873, on Third street between Myrtle and Chestnut. Geo. Swain established a foundry on Third street in 1874. His manufactures consist chiefly of engines, mill machinery and farm utensils. The St. Croix Iron Works, Door, Sash and Blind Factory, established originally as a machine shop in 1865, on the river bank, near the Chicago & Omaha round house, has been owned by various parties. A foundry was added in 1874, and in 1878 Isaac Staples added a sash and blind factory.

CARRIAGE MANUFACTORIES.

Richard Daw established the Novelty Carriage Works in 1875, one door east of the Sawyer House.

D. J. Sullivan established the Stillwater Carriage Works in 1878, one door east of the Sawyer House, but afterward removed to a better location on Second street.

Wm. Miller erected the Pioneer Carriage Manufactory in 1866, on Main street.

Albert Saeker in 1872 established a wagon shop on Second street between Myrtle and Chestnut.

Frederick Steinacker commenced the manufacture of brick in 1859, in a yard located in Ramsey & Carter's addition, but afterward removed to the lower end of Sunfish lake.

It is claimed that Herman Tepass' brewery is the outgrowth of the first in the county, if not in the State, a still having been located at the corner of Third and Chestnut streets in 1851. The present site is on Lower Main street. Joseph Wolff's brewery is located on the corner of Main and Nelson streets, and was established in 1868.

Heitman & Becker established a bakery in 1879. Messrs. Muller Brothers established a boat factory in 1873. A vinegar factory was commenced by Ciopac & Tuor in 1875, and is continued by the latter. Of the several livery stables in Stillwater the first was established by C. A. Bromley in 1853.

The Stillwater Building Association, organized under the laws of the State, March 23, 1887, has done much for the prosperity of the city, affording as it does to persons of limited capital an opportunity of building suitable homes and business houses. Private enterprise has done much in the erection of substantial blocks for business purposes. Henry Sawyer, in 1856, built the first stone block in the city. It is located on Main street. Other fine blocks were built by McComb, Eldridge, Bernheimer, Elam Greely, Wm. Holcombe, Schlenk, L. E. Torinus, Hersey & Staples, McKusick, and others. Many of these blocks are fireproof and built of stone, and are fine specimens of architecture, convenient and commodious.

CHURCH SOCIETIES AND BUILDINGS.

Stillwater has sixteen church organizations and fifteen buildings, the latter having a total valuation of $315,000.

The Ascension church (Episcopal) originated in the labors of Rev. E. A. Greenleaf, in 1846. The corner stone of the first building was laid in 1851. Rev. Joseph A. Russell was the first rector. In 1873 the corner stone of the present edifice was laid by Bishop Welles of Wisconsin. This building cost $10,000, and was burned in 1886 and rebuilt in 1887.

The First Presbyterian church grew out of the missionary labors of Rev. W. T. Boutwell, in 1847 and 1848. The church was organized in 1849; Rev. J. S. Whitney, pastor. The first building was erected in 1851, and the second, the armory, in 1857. The present edifice, located on the corner of Myrtle and Third, was built in 1884, at a cost of $22,000, and the total value of building and ground is $30,000.

THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH

Dates its beginning from a society formed by Rev. James Harrington in 1850. It was organized regularly in 1853 by Rev. T. M. Fullerton. The first house of worship was a small frame on Myrtle street, between Second and Third streets. It was enlarged and improved in 1862. The present edifice on Third street near Myrtle, with the parsonage adjoining, cost about $4,200. The church has a membership of two hundred.

ST. MICHAEL'S (CATHOLIC) CHURCH

Was organized in 1853, the first services being held by Rev. Father Peyragrosse, a missionary. The first edifice was built on Fourth and Mulberry streets, and Rev. Father Fisher was the first clergyman in charge. The building was enlarged and improved in 1857. The present commodious edifice was commenced in 1872 and dedicated in 1875. The church property, including the school parish buildings and cemetery of twelve acres in South Stillwater, is worth $130,000. There are now two resident clergymen, Revs. Murphy and Gaughan.

ST. MARY'S (CATHOLIC) CHURCH,

Rev. P. Alphonse Krusle, pastor, was organized in 1865, and owns a church building on Fifth street, near Pine, valued at $25,000. The total value of church and parish buildings, and of the six lots on which they are located, amounts to $55,000.

THE UNIVERSALIST CHURCH

Society was incorporated June 6, 1868, and the first preaching was by Rev. E. A. Hodsdon, of St. Anthony. The edifice is on Third street South; cost about $15,000.

SWEDISH LUTHERAN.

The society was organized in 1871; the church building was erected in 1882-83, at a cost of $15,000. The pastor is Rev. A. F. Tornell.

THE FIRST GERMAN LUTHERAN

Church was organized in 1871. The church building and parsonage are on Third street, near Olive, and are valued at $4,500. The pastor is Rev. J. J. Weiss.

THE NORWEGIAN LUTHERAN

Society uses the German Lutheran church buildings, corner of Olive and Fourth streets.

THE GERMAN METHODIST

Congregation worships in a frame building, corner of Linden and Everett streets.

THE SALEM GERMAN LUTHERAN CHURCH

Was formed by the withdrawal of a part of the members of the First German Lutheran church for separate worship. The Swedish church and school, on the corner of Olive and Fourth streets, were purchased for $2,150. To this a parsonage was added at a cost of $2,150. Rev. L. F. Frey is the pastor.

THE DANISH LUTHERAN CHURCH

Has a cosy frame edifice on Laurel, between Williams and Owen, but is not holding services at present. The edifice cost $7,000 and the membership is one hundred and fifty.

SWEDISH CONGREGATIONAL.

The Swedish Congregational church occupies a frame building on Fourth street, between Hickory and Elm streets, which cost $2,000 and has sixty members.

THE ST. JOSEPH'S (CATHOLIC) CHURCH

Was organized by the present pastor, Rev. Father E. Roe, in 1882, with seventeen members, which has since been increased to eighty families. A frame edifice was erected in 1884, with a seating capacity of four hundred, costing about $8,000, corner of Olive and Greely streets. The church property consists of the edifice and the priest's house, and cost $11,000.

THE SWEDISH METHODIST CHURCH

Was organized in 1880 by Rev. C. S. Carlander. The church building is located on Myrtle and Fourth streets, and cost $2,000.

THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION

Has a membership of seventy-five and a frame building erected in 1872 at a cost of $1,200.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

The court house and other public buildings of the city are creditable specimens of architecture, rooms convenient and well adapted to the purposes of their construction. The present court house building is the third erected. Its cost, including that of the jail buildings, the wall around them and other improvements, has been something over $75,000. The city hall, at the corner of Myrtle and Third streets, is a substantial and convenient building. It contains also room for the city officers. The public school buildings have kept pace with the growth of the city. In the summer of 1887 the city erected a high school building at a cost of $60,000. The engine house is a good building, centrally located. An elegant union depot was built in 1887, of brown stone from the Apostle islands, at a cost of $30,000.

THE OPERA HOUSE.--The opera house occupies the site of the old Lake House, on Main street between Nelson and Chestnut streets. It was commenced in 1880 and finished in 1881, under the supervision of L. W. Eldred, architect. Its size is 90×120 feet, ground plan, and four stories in height, or seventy-one feet from lower floor to cornice. The style of architecture is a blending of the Queen Anne, Victoria and Gothic. The entrance to the upper part of the building is by a stairway twelve feet wide, in a lofty, ornamental turret. The auditorium is 64×120 feet, and beautifully and elaborately finished and furnished, and is capable of seating over 1,200 persons. It is well lighted, being supplied with 130 gas jets, warmed by steam, and well ventilated. The stage is 39×64 feet, complete in all its appointments, and supplied with all the necessary stage scenery, wings, border bridge, balcony, interior and other decorations. The ceiling of the auditorium is superbly frescoed and the cornice is adorned with medallions of Shakespeare, Haydn, Schiller, Goethe, Dickens, Handel, Scott, Longfellow, Mozart, Tennyson, and Beethoven. The parts of the building not occupied for stage purposes are appropriated to halls, offices and stores.

SOCIETIES AND ASSOCIATIONS.

I. O. O. F.--Lodge No. 1, organized June, 1849; Stillwater Lodge, No. 51, organized January, 1876.

Masonic.--St. John's Lodge No. 1, organized 1849; Washington, Royal Arch Chapter, No. 17, organized March, 1868; Bayard Commandery, K. T., No. 11, organized March, 1878.

Knights of Pythias.--Stillwater Lodge, No. 7, organized November, 1872.

A. O. U. W.--St. Croix Lodge, No. 11, organized July, 1876.

Sons of Herman.--Stillwater Lodge, No. 3, organized January, 1876; Concordia Lodge, No. 19, organized January, 1881.

Temperance Societies.--I. O. G. T. Lodge of Stillwater, organized in 1859; L'Etoile du Nord Lodge, No. 57, organized May, 1866; Temple of Honor, No. 10, organized September, 1876; Father Matthew Temperance Society, organized November, 1872.

Miscellaneous.--St. Ann's Society, organized November, 1866; St. Vincent de Paul Conference, organized October, 1870; St. Joseph Benevolent Society, organized November, 1879; Y. M. C. A., organized in 1878; Washington County Bible Society, organized in 1851; Northwestern Benefit Society, No. 1, organized in 1879; Subordinate Union Penn Equitable Association, No. 165, organized in 1880; Stillwater City Hospital, organized March, 1880; Stillwater Mannerchoir, organized in 1875; the Stillwater Turnverein, organized in 1859; G. A. R., Stillwater Post, No. 13, organized March, 1868.

CEMETERIES.

The first burial ground was selected in 1846. Ten years later, by a survey of the city, these grounds were included in what is now known as block 3. These grounds were used until the organization of the Fairview Cemetery Association in 1867, when the bodies were removed to the new cemetery in the burial ground in South Stillwater. Fairview cemetery is beautifully located on undulating or hilly ground and is adorned with shrubbery and made attractive by the hand of art. Its location is within the city limits, near the corner of Orleans and Fourth streets.

WASHINGTON COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

An attempt was made at organization in 1856, but it proved premature. The present society was organized in February, 1871, at Cottage Grove, and incorporated the same year. The first board of officers consisted of J. W. Furber, president; J. S. Norris, vice president; T. Elwell, secretary, and James Middleton, treasurer. In 1873 the fair grounds were established near Stillwater, under the joint control of the Agricultural Society and the Driving Park Association. In 1875 the fair grounds were established at Lake Elmo. But one fair had been held there when a cyclone struck the grounds and swept away all the improvements. The society again effected an arrangement by which their fairs were held on the grounds near Stillwater.

MINNESOTA STATE PRISON.

At the organization of Minnesota Territory Congress appropriated $5,000 for a territorial prison. The legislature expended the money thus appropriated in building a prison at Stillwater. The site was located by a commission appointed by the legislature in 1849, consisting of John McKusick, E. A. C. Hatch and Lewis Robert. The commission was also authorized to locate the Territorial University and select a site in St. Paul for the capitol. Their task was not completed until the ensuing year. Their selection of a location for the university and of a site for the capitol were satisfactory, but it was generally conceded that the site for the prison was badly chosen. The ground, nine acres, was mostly quagmire, and was, moreover, crowded in a ravine between high bluffs. However, it was convenient to the lake and steamboat landing, and was well watered with pure spring water.

In 1851 Jesse Taylor, F. R. Delano, Martin Mower, J. E. McKusick, and Jacob Fisher entered into contract with the commissioners, under the firm name of Jesse Taylor & Co., to build one stone wing of the prison building, to be inclosed with a stone wall. The dimensions of the wing were 30 × 40 feet and three stories high. In 1853 an addition was built, and Francis R. Delano was appointed warden. Until 1858 the expenditure of the public money used in building and other expenses was under the control of the warden. Under state rule the warden was relieved of this burden of responsibility. The legislature had provided that prisoners might be received in the penitentiary not yet convicted of crime, on condition that their board should be defrayed by the counties from which they were sent. When this expense was not promptly met by the counties the prisoners thus held were set at liberty. The Washington county grand jury investigated the matter and memorialized the ensuing legislature, which effected a change in the laws regarding such commitments. Wings were added to the prison, walls were built, shops and other accessories added from year to year, and appropriations were made from time to time. In 1870 an appropriation of $74,000 was made for extending the building. Outside companies were permitted to build shops and manufactories within the prison limits that they might avail themselves of convict labor.

The following are the wardens who have served since the prison was built: Territorial, F. R. Delano; state government: Francis O. J. Smith, appointed March 4, 1858; Henry N. Setzer, Aug. 4, 1858; John S. Proctor, Jan. 1, 1860; Joshua L. Taylor, Feb. 16, 1868; A. C. Webber, March 16, 1870; Henry A. Jackman, Oct. 10, 1870; John A. Reid, Aug. 3, 1874; H. G. Stordock, 1887.

The following table shows the number of convicts each year up to the present time:

1853 0 1854 2 1855 8 1856 1 1857 0 1858 2 1839 5 1860 16 1861 12 1862 7 1963 8 1864 7 1865 11 1866 29 1867 36 1868 31 1869 47 1870 39 1871 60 1872 59 1873 64 1875 93 1876 90 1877 145 1878 218 1879 254 1880 254 1881 247 1882 279 1883 301 1884 356 1885 395 1886, Mar. 31 416

The prison on the whole has been well and humanely managed. There have been occasional outbreaks, easily suppressed, or cases of individual insubordination, two or three with fatal results to the insubordinates.

The prison buildings have been several times visited by damaging and disastrous fires. The most serious were in 1884. The first occurred January 8th, by which the large workshop and machinery owned by the State and the Northwestern Car Company were destroyed. The second occurred January 26th, and destroyed the main prison buildings, including the cells, from which the prisoners were rescued with the greatest difficulty. One perished of suffocation. On this occasion guards, prison officials and some of the convicts displayed heroism worthy of the highest commendation. The convicts on the whole behaved well. Mr. Reid, the warden of the prison, behaved with great coolness and decision, and so averted what might have been a fearful disaster.

FIRES.

Stillwater has suffered occasionally from fires. The first house burned was the McKusick boarding house, in 1846. The Northrup hotel was burned in 1847. In 1866 a fire occurred on the west side of Main street, between Myrtle and Chestnut, in which twelve buildings were burned, principally frame structures. In 1872 the Lake House and four adjacent buildings were burned. The Schulenburg mill was burned in 1878. Two great fires occurred in the penitentiary in 1884. The Episcopal church building and the mills of Hersey & Bean were burned in 1887. Numerous smaller fires occurred at intervals, but owing to the efficiency of the fire companies they were easily suppressed.

BONDS AND INDEBTEDNESS.

Up to 1886 the bonded indebtedness of the city has aggregated the sum of $345,000. The bonds were issued at various times for railway and levee improvements, city bridge, city buildings, water works and current funds. The interest on these bonds has always been promptly met, and the expenditures for improvements have been more than repaid to the taxpayers by the increased valuation of property within the city limits.

ISSAC STAPLES, son of Rev. Winslow Staples, was born in Topsham, Maine, Sept. 25, 1816. At eighteen years of age he bought his time of his father for three hundred and sixty dollars. He found employment on the Penobscot river at lumbering for two years, when he engaged in selling goods at Old Town, but soon after went into the lumbering business with S.F. Hersey. In 1849 Mr. Staples was appointed agent for the Penobscot Indians living at Old Town, twelve miles above Bangor, on the Penobscot. In October, 1853, Mr. Staples came to Minnesota for the purpose of purchasing pine lands, and located at Stillwater, moving his family here in 1854. Mr. Staples represented a wealthy company, composed of himself, S. F. Hersey and some Massachusetts men, who furnished all the money needed to buy pine land or make any other investments deemed advisable. They, through the agency of Mr. Staples, purchased immense quantities of pine timber. They built a large saw mill in Stillwater, and dealt in any and all branches of business considered remunerative. The advent of Isaac Staples in Stillwater gave to the city new life. Mr. Staples was indefatigable in his labors, full of vigor and in prime health. His ambition was unlimited, his judgment good. Backed up by a successful lumbering experience in Maine, and with money sufficient to meet all necessary calls, he was financially progressive and prosperous. In after years Messrs. Staples & Hersey purchased the entire interest of the firm of Hersey, Staples & Co. Subsequently the firm changed to Hersey & Staples and Hersey, Staples & Bean, and finally a division of property was agreed upon. Since the division Mr. Staples has been just as extensively engaged in the name of Isaac Staples in doing business as at any period in his past life.

In 1887 Mr. Staples purchased the property of the Cushing Company, located at St. Croix and Taylor's Falls, for $50,000. This property has long been in litigation and consequently has been unimproved. The advent of Mr. Staples, as proprietor, opens a new era in the history of the two villages at the head of navigation on the St. Croix.

In addition to his lumbering and real estate interests, Mr. Staples has also engaged in farming and stock raising on an extensive scale. He owns one farm of six hundred and forty acres within the limits of Stillwater. This farm is well stocked and supplied with stores, barns, shops and other buildings. It is used as a stork farm, and as a headquarters for supplying his lumbering camps.

Mr. Staples has another farm located on the line of the Minneapolis, Soo & Atlantic railway, eleven miles northwest of Stillwater, known as the Maple Island farm, which contains 1,400 acres of land, inclosed and supplied with barns, farm houses and other buildings. There are fine wells and lakes and some well stocked fish ponds. He owns a flouring mill on this farm.

Mr. Staples has a third farm at Bronson, Kanabec county, containing 2,000 acres of land, well under cultivation. Ann river flows through this farm, and is supplied with a dam to facilitate the driving of logs into Fish lake. The farm is also made a fitting-out place for the lumbering camps. These three farms are valued at $250,000.

Mr. Staples has lived an unusually busy life, and has been unusually successful. Though past the ordinary limit of human life, he is still active, and will probably continue to plan and work as long as he lives. He is happiest when most busily employed. His mind is of the active type. He is restless, alert, far-seeing, systematic, and persistent. Without these qualities he never could have achieved the success that has crowned his career. He has been twice married; first in 1839, to Miss Caroline B. Rogers, of Old Town, Maine, by whom he had one child, who is still living. Mrs. Staples died in 1810. He was again married, Jan, 31, 1841, to Miss Olivia J. Pettengill, of Old Town, Maine, by whom he has had eight children,--four sons and four daughters,--four of whom are living.

SAMUEL F. HERSEY, of the late firm of Hersey, Staples & Co., was born in Sumner, Maine, in 1812. At an early day he became a citizen of Bangor, Maine, and wisely invested in pine timber lands on the Penobscot waters, when lands were cheap. Their true value was not appreciated by many. The business interests of the county had not been developed and lumber dealing was not profitable. The increase in value on his investments made him a wealthy man. He was a banker, merchant and lumberman. His investments always yielded a rich return. His associates and townsmen often elected him to posts of honor and trust. In 1842-57-65-67 and 69 he was in the Maine state legislature. When he died, Feb. 3. 1875, he was serving his second term (four years) as representative in Congress, from the Bangor or Fourth district of Maine. He died at his home in Bangor. Both houses of Congress paid fitting tributes to his high business, social and christian standing, and his worth as a legislator and statesman.

Mr. Hersey was not a citizen of Minnesota, but as early as 1851 became a member of the firm of Hersey, Staples & Co., of Stillwater, and interested himself greatly in Minnesota and Stillwater enterprises. Amongst other things he aided in building two railroads, and gave liberally for the erection of the Universalist church and to its library. He was thrice married, and left a family of four sons, the children of his second wife.

ROSCOE F. HERSEY, the oldest son, was born July 18, 1841, in Milford, Maine; was educated at the graded school in Bangor, and clerked in his father's store until 1862, when he volunteered as a soldier in Company A, Eighteenth Maine Infantry. He was appointed second lieutenant and rose to the rank of captain in 1863, but on May 19, 1864, was severely wounded at the battle of Spottsylvania Court House, was confined in the hospital nine months, and discharged with the brevet rank of colonel.

Col. Hersey spent two years in New Orleans, engaged in the shipping and commission business, and in the spring of 1867 came to Stillwater and thence to Lake City, where he had charge of the lumber and mercantile business of Hersey, Staples & Co. in that city for five years. In 1872 he returned to Stillwater, entered the firm of Hersey, Brown & Bean, dealers in lands, lumber and merchandise. In 1877 he was elected state senator and served one term. He has held many responsible positions. He married Eva C. Wardwell, of Bangor, Maine, Jan. 4, 1864. They have one son, Clinton, an enterprising, public spirited man, inheriting much of his father's will power.

DUDLEY H. HERSEY, the second son, was born in Bangor, Dec. 25, 1847. He was educated at Westbrook Seminary, Maine, and came to Stillwater at an early age in the employ of his father. In 1872 he became one of the firm of Hersey, Bean & Brown. Mr. Hersey was married to Estella Wardwell, of Bangor, Maine, in 1870. They have one son, Samuel F.

EUGENE M. HERSEY, the third son, was born in Bangor, Maine, May 6, 1850. He was educated at the high school in Bangor. With his brother he has been interested in milling and lumbering operations. He was married in 1876.

EDWARD L. HERSEY, the youngest son, was born in Bangor, Maine, April 29, 1852; graduated at Westbrook Seminary in 1871, and was married to Mary L. Merrill, of Chicago, in 1877.

JACOB BEAN was born in Upper Stillwater, Maine, in 1837. In that centre of the lumbering interests he early and easily took to lumbering, and pursued the business continuously until 1863, when he came to Stillwater, where he became an active member of the firm of Hersey, Staples & Bean, and of Hersey, Bean & Brown.

CHARLES BEAN was born in Sandwich, New Hampshire, in 1827; removed to Orono, Maine, in 1835; followed lumbering on the Penobscot river for a few years. He came to Stillwater in 1863, and some years later sent for his aged parents, giving them a home until their death. In 1865 he became one of the firm of Hersey, Staples & Bean, dealers in pine land. He is at present with his oldest son in California, where both are interested in real estate and irrigation enterprises. Mr. Bean has been twice married and has a family of eight children. The oldest daughter married Jerry Brown, now deceased. Mr. Bean moved to California in 1887.

RUDOLPH LEHMICKE was born in Prussia in 1822. He learned the trade of cabinet and organ making; came to America in 1849, and to Stillwater in 1854, working at his trade until 1858. He served one year as justice of the peace, and having studied law was admitted to practice in 1859. In the fall of 1859 he was elected county auditor and served until 1874. He was elected judge of the probate court, in which position he continued until 1881. He has served as inspector of the prison, superintendent of public schools, and member of the board of education. Judge Lehmicke was married in 1853, in Coldwater, Michigan, to Jane Tackeberry. They have a family of five sons and two daughters.

HOLLIS R. MURDOCK was born in Governeur, New York, Aug. 15, 1832. He graduated at Williams College, Massachusetts, in 1854, came to Stillwater in 1855, and was admitted to the practice of law in 1856, since which time he has been in continuous practice. He has held many offices of trust. Has been judge of the probate court and member of the legislature from Washington county, and director of a bank and railroad company. Mr. Murdock was married to Sarah A. Rice, Nov. 3, 1857.

GEORGE M. SEYMOUR was born in Onondaga county, New York, March 26, 1829. Part of his early life he spent on a farm, but later he learned the carpenter's trade and became a builder and contractor. While in Syracuse he engaged for some years in the manufacture of lumber and staves, and later, of salt. He was married to Anna B. Kingsley in 1851. In 1858 he came to Stillwater, and in 1861 was awarded the prison contract, and engaged in making cooperage. He was one of the founders of the firms of Seymour, Webster & Co. and Seymour, Sabin & Co. (the Northwestern Car Company). He was sheriff of Washington county for two years.

FRANK A. SEYMOUR, only son of George M., was cashier of the First National Bank of Stillwater for four years, and subsequently cashier of the Merchants Bank, St. Paul.

MARION O., only daughter of George M. Seymour, graduated from Mount Holyoke Seminary in 1880.

LOUIS HOSPES, for many years identified with the Schulenberg-Boeckeler Lumber Company, and father of A. C. Hospes, surveyor general of logs and lumber, E. L. Hospes of the Schulenberg-Boeckeler Company, and Otto G. Hospes of the hardware firm of A. C. Hospes & Co., died April 9, 1888. The deceased was born in the landgravate of Hesse-Cassel, Germany, Feb. 8, 1809, and attended school in the city of Witzenhausen until he was sixteen years old. He then became a farmer, which avocation he followed for four years. He then entered the University of Gottingen, where he made a special study of the theory and practice of agriculture and of veterinary medicine and surgery. Retiring from the university, for two years he took charge of the farms on some large estates. In 1832 he sailed from Bremen for America, arriving at New York on September 4th of that year. Leaving that city on the eleventh of the same month, he arrived in St. Louis on October 18th. From that city he went to St. Charles county, where he engaged in agriculture and other pursuits until 1840. During his residence there he married Elvira Wurdeman, who survives him. In 1840 he removed to Green county, Southwest Missouri, where he made his home for the next six years among the Ozark mountains, where he and two brothers engaged in the distilling business. In 1848 Mr. Hospes went to St. Louis and entered the employ of Schulenberg & Boeckeler, where he remained until Oct. 21, 1854, when he came to Stillwater to take charge of the business of his employers here. In 1856 he became a partner in the concern, and continued so until 1874, when the firm reorganized as the Schulenberg-Boeckeler Lumber Company. When he retired, his son, E. L. Hospes, succeeded to his interest, which he now holds. In 1871 Mr. Hospes visited Europe with his family, spending a year abroad. In 1862, with his associates, he organized the First National Bank of Stillwater, of which he has been president for twenty years. His life in this city has been that of an active, energetic and generally successful business man, and though conservative in his business operations has always been ready to lend a helping hand to any deserving or practical business enterprise. He was marked for that fixed and reliable character which made his name a tower of strength to any enterprise with which he was connected, and his integrity, extending to little things, became proverbial. Besides the sons named he left two daughters, Mrs. H. E. Mann, of Milwaukee, and Mrs. J. Schlenk, of St. Paul.

DAVID TOZER was born in Miramachi, New Brunswick, in 1823. His early opportunities for obtaining an education were somewhat limited, and he obtained only three months' schooling. He came to Stillwater in 1856 and engaged in lumbering, working by the month for five years, and afterward independently or in partnership with his brother Albert, and in the firm of Sauntry & Tozer, cutting and rafting lumber. He was married in Canada, in 1867, to Margaret McKay. Mr. Tozer has been an industrious and successful man.

DAVID BRONSON was born in Anson, Maine, in 1834. He clerked in Boston from 1850 to 1855, when he came to Stillwater, where he has since been engaged in selling goods, lumbering and manufacturing. He was married in 1861 to Ianthe Davis.

JOHN MALOY is of Irish descent. He was born in Ireland, and emigrated to New Brunswick. He came to Stillwater with his family in 1853, and engaged in lumbering. His family consisted of nine sons and three daughters. The daughters are married. Four of the sons are living; two of them. Patrick and William, in Oregon, and the others, James and Robert, in Stillwater.

MRS. SUSANNAH TEPASS, nee Burkhart, was born in Germany, Aug. 10, 1824. Her parents emigrated to America in 1847 and settled in Freeport, Illinois, where she was married, in 1849, to N. Kimmick, and the same year came to Stillwater. Mr. Kimmick died in 1857. In 1860 she was married to Frank Aiple. Mr. Aiple died Nov. 10, 1868. Dec. 9, 1869, she was married to her present husband, Herman Tepass. Her children are Mary, Herman and Frank Aiple.

WILLIAM E. THORNE came to Stillwater in 1853. He has been an attentive and successful merchant, a polite and honorable gentleman, and a good citizen.

EDWARD J. BUTTS was born in Delaware county, New York, in 1832; graduated at the Albany Normal School in 1853, and taught school awhile during his minority, and some years after studied law (in 1861), and was admitted to practice in Broome county, New York. In 1862 he enlisted in a New York regiment and served his full time of enlistment. In 1864 he was appointed clerk in the third auditor's office, Washington, which position he resigned in 1865 and came to Stillwater to practice his profession. He served some time as justice of the peace, and for ten years as judge of probate in Washington county. He was collector of internal revenue one year, and was eight years postmaster in Stillwater, completing his term of service in 1886. Mr. Butts was married to Augusta Miller in 1856. Mrs. Butts died in 1869, leaving one son and one daughter. Mr. Butts married Ida Ellsworth in 1878. They have one son and two daughters. His oldest son is in the military school at West Point.

A. B. EASTON was born at Mesopotamia, Trumbull county, Ohio, March 1, 1828. His parents were natives of Massachusetts, tracing their lineage to the Pilgrim Fathers. At the age of fourteen years he was clerk in a store, but at the wish of his parents, left the store and attended school, finishing his studies by a course at the high school. Soon after he again assumed the position of clerk, in which he continued two years, when, in 1855, he took charge of his father's hotel. Two years subsequently he came to Stillwater, beginning work as a compositor for the Stillwater Messenger, A. J. Van Voorhes, proprietor. During the absence of the proprietor Mr. Easton was manager. Finally, in 1863, he and A. B. Stickney rented the paper, which they operated one year, then carried it on alone until 1865. During this time Mr. Van Voorhes had been filling the position of quartermaster, and on his return made Mr. Easton foreman, where he continued until 1868. The St. Paul Dispatch had just been established, and he was connected with the interests of this paper until his return to Stillwater in 1869. Aug. 6, 1870, he issued the first number of the Stillwater Gazette. His son William E. was taken as a partner in 1876. Mr. Easton and son have through their ability and industry made the Gazette a readable, reliable and popular paper. Mr. Easton was married to Julia Burke, Oct. 14, 1849. They have four sons and three daughters.

EDWIN A. FOLSOM was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, June 30, 1833. He spent most of his youth with his parents in Bangor, Maine, where he was educated in the common schools. In 1856 he came to Stillwater and for six years was book-keeper for Hersey, Staples & Co. In 1862 he enlisted in Company C, Eighth Minnesota Volunteers, and was commissioned as captain. He left the service at the close of the war with the rank of brevet colonel. Returning to Stillwater, he served six years as county treasurer, and has since been engaged in lumbering and selling goods under the firm name of Bronson & Folsom. He was married Oct. 12, 1872, to Frances E. Staples.

JOHN B. H. MITCHELL.--The ancestors of Mr. Mitchell were Revolutionary patriots, originally Scotch covenanters, who settled in North Carolina, but who in after years freed their slaves and came to the Northern States. Mr. Mitchell was born Nov. 26, 1820, in Monroe county, Kentucky. His education was obtained chiefly in the printing office of H. H. Houghton, of Galena, Illinois. He came to St. Paul in 1852, and was employed two years in the Pioneer printing office. In 1854, in company with T. M. Newson and others, he published the St. Paul Daily Times. In 1855 he located on a farm near South Stillwater. During the early part of the Civil War he was in Nashville, Tennessee, and reported proceedings of secession conventions to northern papers. In 1863 he was elected a member of the Minnesota legislature. Mr. Mitchell has filled other offices of trust. He was married in 1850 to Mariana B. Fiske, a daughter of David Fiske, of Baytown.

JOSEPH SCHUPP was born in Baden, Germany, in 1831; received a college and general business education and came to America in 1852, locating first at Buffalo, New York, and thence at Toledo, Ohio, whence he removed to Stillwater in 1858, and engaged in the mercantile business. Commencing moderately, he extended his operations and now owns several buildings and blocks, and conducts a heavy wholesale trade. He was married in 1855 to Mary Fuller, of Toledo, Ohio. They have three sons living, Joseph A., Thomas O. A. and Frank.

CLIFFORD A. BENNETT was born in Portage county, Ohio, Sept. 7, 1841. He received a common school and collegiate education. He attended Hiram College during the time that President James A. Garfield presided over it. April 24, 1861, he enlisted in Company D, Twenty-third Ohio Volunteers. He was subsequently promoted to the staff of Gen. W. D. Hazen and served until mustered out at the close of the war. He came to Illinois in 1865, read law and was admitted to practice in 1867; came to Stillwater in 1868, and for ten years was in the office of the surveyor general. In 1878 he was elected clerk of court.

SAMUEL MATHEWS was born in New Brunswick, July 7, 1832. His opportunities for schooling were limited, and he is practically self educated. He came to Stillwater in October, 1856, since which time he has been engaged in lumbering, dealing in pine lands and in the mercantile business. He is a member of the firm of Mathews & Jourdain, and has been quite successful in his business undertakings. Mr. Mathews has been called upon to fill many positions of trust. He has served over twenty-five years as manager, receiving and disbursing agent of the Stillwater fire department. He served four years as mayor of Stillwater, was county commissioner for twelve years, and for many years director in the First National Bank of Stillwater. He was married to Elisabeth Foley in 1867. Their children are Samuel, Thomas, James, Mollie, Adie, Stella, and May.

JOHN AND JAMES MATHEWS, brothers of Samuel, came to Stillwater in 1856, and are active, enterprising business men and good citizens. Their business is farming and lumbering.

PETER JOURDAIN is a native of Canada. He came to Stillwater about the year 1856, and successfully engaged in lumbering. He is a member of the firm of Mathews & Jourdain, a firm engaged in dealing in logs and in manufacturing them into lumber. Mr. Jourdain has a family.

JAMES ROONEY was born in New Richmond, Canada East, in 1829. He remained in Canada until 1850, when he removed to Maine, coming thence to Stillwater in 1854. He engaged in lumbering, working at first by the month, and gradually acquiring means and influence for independent work. He is well situated, has a happy home and prosperous business. He was married to Elisabeth McGuire, of Stillwater, in 1863. They have five children.

JAMES N. CASTLE is a native of Sheffield, Sheffield county, province of Quebec. He received a common school education; read law four years and was admitted to practice. He came to Minnesota in 1862, and taught school part of the time at Afton until 1865, when he was elected county attorney of Washington county. Mr. Castle served as state senator in the eleventh, twelfth, twenty-first, twenty-second, twenty-third and twenty-fourth legislatures of Minnesota. He settled in Stillwater in 1866.

ABRAHAM L. GALLESPIE was born at Shiloh, Randolph county, Illinois, in 1836. He came to Osceola, Polk county, Wisconsin, in 1850. In 1859 he moved to Stillwater, since which time, with the exception of a year spent in Colorado, and two years in the army as a member of Company D, Second Wisconsin Cavalry, he has followed the business of lumbering and dealing in logs. He has filled the position of alderman in Stillwater. He was married to Adelia F. Wilson, of Osceola, in 1860.

JOHN C. GARDINER came to Stillwater in 1850, from Washington county, Maine. He was born Jan. 5, 1822. On coming to Stillwater he located on a homestead near the city, and followed farming and lumbering for some years. In 1873 he was appointed prison guard, which position he held until a recent date. In 1845 he was married to Mary R. Jackman, in Maine. They have two sons living, Frederic and Albert L. Mrs. Gardiner died in August, 1887.

V. C. SEWARD was born July 10, 1845, at Laketon, Wabash county, Indiana. He came to Mankato at the age of ten, served an apprenticeship at printing in the office of the Mankato Independent, subsequently attended the Western Reserve College, Ohio; and then became editor of the Cleveland (Ohio) Leader. He returned to Minnesota in 1869, and founded the Redwood Falls Mail. In 1872 he came to Stillwater and purchased the Stillwater Messenger in company with S. S. Taylor. He has had entire control continuously since, and has been successful in its management. He was married to Lily M. Lumbard, at Shakopee, Minnesota, in 1873.

RALPH WHEELER, one of Stillwater's early citizens, commenced piloting an the St. Croix in 1850, and has been continuously engaged in the piloting, steamboating, log and lumber business since. He is one of the original proprietors of the opera house. He was born in Chautauqua county, New York, in 1829. W. H. H. Wheeler, brother of Ralph, has long been a prominent citizen of Stillwater. He married Lura, daughter of Daniel Mears, of Osceola.

EDWARD SCOTT BROWN, of the firm of Hersey, Bean & Brown, was born Feb. 9, 1830, at Orono, Maine. He received a good education in the common schools and at Foxcroft Academy. He learned the trade of millwright, and in 1852 went to Puget Sound, Washington Territory, via Panama and San Francisco, and was employed two years in building mills. He returned to Orono in 1854, and in 1855 came to St. Anthony, Minnesota, and engaged in the manufacturing and millwright business. He came to Stillwater in 1873, entered the firm of Hersey, Bean & Brown, and in 1883 was appointed receiver of the Northwestern Car Works. Mr. Brown represented his district in the state senate of 1876.

WILLIAM LOWELL was born in Concord, Maine, April 26, 1807. Mr. Lowell was raised on a farm, but followed lumbering after he was twenty-one years old, with the Coburns on the Kennebec river, and afterward took a vessel around Cape Horn to San Francisco, California, with a cargo of manufactured lumber, consisting of ready made houses. He returned in 1850 by the overland route. Two years later he came to Taylor's Falls, but in 1853 settled in Stillwater, where he engaged in lumbering as a partner of S. M. Sawyer. He made a fine farm in Sterling, Polk county, Wisconsin, and lived upon it three years. He was interested in locating pine lands in company with the Colburns of Maine, on the St. Croix waters. He was a member of the Minnesota legislature in 1870. He was married in Concord, Maine, in 1836, to Rhoda Heald. She died in 1842, leaving two daughters. In 1856 he was married to Mrs. Elisabeth Rich, sister of Isaac Staples. Mr. Lowell died in Stillwater, July 15, 1873, leaving a widow and four children.

ALBERT LOWELL was born at Concord, Maine, July 10, 1819. He was married Feb. 5, 1850, to Miss Abby Reed, at Kendall's Mills, Maine. From this union there were four children, of whom three are living, Elmore, Charles G. and Ernest. Mr. Lowell spent his early days in farming on the banks of the Kennebec river. In 1854 he came to Stillwater and settled on a farm near Lily lake, a portion of which farm is now used as a driving park. May 19, 1863, he took charge of the noted Sawyer House in Stillwater, which he afterward purchased. Himself, Mrs. Lowell and their son Elmore have by their invariable courtesy and close attention to business made this hotel one of the most popular in the State. They sold and left the hotel, December, 1887.

NELSON HOLMES VAN VOORHES, eldest son of Abraham Van Voorhes, settled in Ohio and became a respected and useful citizen, at one time representing his district in Congress.

ANDREW JACKSON VAN VOORHES, the second son, born June 30, 1824, came to Stillwater in 1855, and in 1856 founded the Stillwater Messenger and conducted it until 1868, excepting two years which he spent in the army during the Civil War. He was a member of the Minnesota legislature in 1859-60, and served as clerk of the Minnesota supreme court for one year. From 1863 to 1865 he served as quartermaster in the army, with the rank of captain. He died in Stillwater in 1873.

HENRY CLAY VAN VOORHES, the youngest son, was born in Athens, Ohio, in 1839, and came with his father to Stillwater in 1850. During the war he was a member of Company B, First Minnesota Volunteers, for about eighteen months, when he was discharged for disabilities. He afterward returned to the field with his brother, Capt. A. J. Van Voorhes, but was not on active duty. At the close of the war he returned to Stillwater, which has since been his home. He was married at Arcola, Feb. 9, 1868, to Emily Mower, daughter of John E. and Gracia Mower. In 1887 he went to Alaska.

LOUISA, eldest daughter of Abraham Van Voorhes, was married to C. A. Bromley. She died in 18--. Maria, the youngest daughter, was married to D. H. Cutler, of Stillwater.

C. A. BROMLEY was born in Plattsburg, New York, Oct. 31, 1829. He came to Minnesota in 1851. He erected a fine livery and sale stable on Chestnut street in 1863. Mr. Bromley served in the war of the Rebellion as captain of Company B, First Minnesota, and afterward of Company I, Sixth Minnesota Volunteers. He was married to Louisa Van Voorhes, who died some years ago. He was married a second time, to a Miss King.

CHARLES J. BUTLER was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, March 6, 1822. He was educated at the Western University of Pennsylvania. He removed to St. Louis in 1839, where he remained for ten years. He was married to Margaret E. Lansing, of Madison, Wisconsin, in May, 1846. The following July he went as paymaster's clerk, under his father, Maj. John B. Butler, to Mexico, in the Chihuahua expedition, commanded by Gen. John E. Wool. Returning to St. Louis, he engaged in the wholesale grocery business until the spring of 1849, when he disposed of his stock and went to California, where he engaged in mining operations. In August, 1851, he came to Marine as book-keeper for Judd, Walker & Co., remaining with them until he was appointed secretary of the St. Croix Boom Company, which position he held until 1875. In 1856 he removed to Stillwater. In 1857 he was elected delegate to the constitutional convention. He served one term as mayor of Stillwater. In 1862 he served as first lieutenant under David Bronson as captain, and with S. J. R. McMillan as second lieutenant, in the Chengwatana expedition sent from Stillwater to prevent the Chippewas from rising and joining in the Sioux insurrection. He purchased the Nelson warehouse, and, with Capt. Isaac Gray as partner, engaged in the towboat business until 1878. Of late years Mr. Butler has been engaged in business ventures in Western Minnesota, but he still retains his residence at Stillwater. Mr. Butler has always been a lover of field sports and his prowess as a sportsman is well remembered by his old friends. He has four children--two sons and two daughters.

LEVI E. THOMPSON was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, May 5, 1829; educated at Troy Wesleyan Seminary, New York; commenced studying law at the age of fourteen; was admitted to practice by the supreme court at the age of twenty, and, coming to Stillwater in 1852, commenced practice, having associated with him at various times T. E. Parker, Allen Dawson and John Vanderburgh. He was married, October, 1856, to Martha G. Harris, daughter of Albert Harris, an early settler of Stillwater. Mr. Thompson died Nov. 8, 1887.

GEORGE DAVIS was born in Lancaster, Massachusetts, Sept. 22, 1832. He received a good school and academic education. He removed to St. Louis in 1852, and to Stillwater in 1853, where he served some years as a mercantile clerk, then as deputy sheriff, then ten years as sheriff of Washington county. He also served as clerk of the district court, and in 1876 as county auditor. In 1865 he was married to Georgiana Stanchfield, of Stillwater. Mr. Davis died in 1879 and Mrs. Davis in 1882, leaving five children.

WM. MONROE MCCLUER was born Sept. 6, 1831, in Franklinville, New York. He graduated from Temple Hill Academy, Geneseo, New York, in 1850; studied law in Moscow, New York; graduated at the State and National Law School at Poughkeepsie in 1854, and, removing to Stillwater the same year, engaged in the practice of his profession, in which he has been eminently successful. In November, 1881, he was appointed additional judge for the First district, an office created by the legislature at its special session. Judge McCluer served one term in the house of representatives. He was married to Helen A. Jencks, of Waterford, Saratoga county, New York, Sept. 27, 1858. They have one son, Charles M., practicing law in Stillwater.

JOHN NICHOLAS AHL was born at Strasburg on the Rhine, Oct. 7, 1807. After seven years' study he was graduated as a physician at Strasburg Medical College in 1839. He emigrated to America and located in Galena, Illinois, in 1843, where he practiced medicine some years. He was married in 1846 to Lucretia Hartman. In 1850 he removed to Stillwater. In 1852 he built the Washington Hotel (afterward changed to Liberty House), on south Main street. He practiced medicine and followed lumbering and hotel keeping in Stillwater until his death, which occurred in 1878.

SAMUEL M. REGISTER is a native of Dover, Delaware. He is of French descent, and some of his ancestors took part in the Revolutionary War. He was born in 1827, and came to Stillwater in 1850, where he engaged actively in business, dealing in lumber and pine lands, piloting, steamboating and farming. He was at one time a member of the city council, and a representative in the territorial legislature of 1854-5. He was married to Minerva Causlin in 1856.

J. A. JOHNSON was born near the city of Wexio, Sweden, April 24, 1842. In 1854 he emigrated with his parents to the United States, arriving at Marine Mills, Washington county, Minnesota late in the fall of that year. He remained at Marine and Stillwater till 1858, attending school a large portion of the time. In the fall of that year he went to school at Dubuque, Iowa. After completing the course of study he learned the trade of locomotive engineer, which occupation he followed till 1866, being in the employ of the United States government the last years of the war, in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. After the close of the war, in 1865, he returned north as far as St. Louis, Missouri, where he married Miss Agnes A. Coler, of that city. He has 5 children, 3 boys and 2 girls. His health having been impaired in the government service, he returned to Marine in 1866, where he remained till Jan. 1, 1874. In the fall of 1873 he was elected to the office of sheriff of Washington county, which position he held for six years, and has been twice re-elected without opposition. Retiring from the sheriff's office in 1880, he removed to Fargo, Dakota, and engaged in the sale of agricultural implements, in which business he has remained up to the present time.

During his residence in the city of Fargo he has held various offices, such as alderman, member of the board of education, etc. In the fall of 1884 he was nominated for the territorial senate and received a majority of 1,133 votes in Cass county, and 835 out of a total of 1,669 in the city of Fargo. In the spring of 1885 he was elected mayor of Fargo by over 300 majority, after one of the most hotly contested campaigns in the political history of the city. In 1886 he declined a re-election. While sheriff of Washington county he devoted his leisure moments to the study of law, and was admitted to practice in all the courts of Minnesota. Although not in active practice his knowledge of law has been of great value to him in the business in which he has been engaged since that time.

GOLD T. CURTIS was born in Morrisville, New York, Aug. 16, 1821. At the age of eighteen he graduated at Hamilton College, New York, and entered upon the study of law with Judge Morrill, Chenango county, New York. He commenced practicing law at Belleville, New York, in 1850. During the same year he was married to Abigail Anderson, a descendant of Gen. John Stark, of Revolutionary fame, and of the Protestant branch of the royal house of the Stuarts, some of whom came from Scotland to America in 1742. Mrs. Curtis is a lineal descendant of the unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots. Mr. Curtis removed to Stillwater in 1854 and entered upon a lucrative law practice. He was elected a member of the Minnesota constitutional convention. In 1857 he was also nominated for the position of district judge, but was defeated by S. J. R. McMillan. He was much respected and held some offices of trust in the city and county. At the breaking out of the Rebellion he enlisted in Company I, Fifth Minnesota, and was promoted to the captaincy of the company, but his health failed and he died in St. Louis July 24, 1862. His remains were brought to Stillwater and interred with military and masonic honors, Aug. 2, 1862.

HARLEY D. CURTIS, a native of New York and a brother of Gold T. Curtis, came to Stillwater in 1851. He held the positions of postmaster and justice of the peace.

FRANCIS ROACH DELANO.--The ancestors of Mr. Delano came to America in 1621, and were active participants in the stirring scenes and controversies preceding the Revolution. Francis Roach, after whom Mr. Delano was named, was the owner of the ship Dartmouth, one of the vessels out of which the tea was cast into Boston harbor, on the memorable occasion of the Tea Party of 1774. Notwithstanding the affair of the tea, the family, who were ardent patriots, have preserved as a precious relic some of the tea rescued from the general destruction.

Mr. Delano is one of sixteen children in his father's family. He was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, Nov. 20, 1823; received a common school and academic education, and was employed in a machine shop some years. At the age of twenty he was employed in an engineering corps and served two years. He was for two years superintendent of the Boston & Worcester railroad. In 1844 he came to St. Louis, Missouri, and was variously employed until 1848, when he removed to Minnesota and was engaged for a year in St. Anthony (now Minneapolis), in running the government mill. The mill had been leased for five years. Mr. Smith fulfilled the contract, and Mr. Delano, being released from it, came to Stillwater in 1851 and entered into contract with Jesse Taylor, Martin Mower, Jonathan E. McKusick, and Jacob Fisher, under the firm name of Jesse Taylor & Co., to build the territorial prison. Mr. Delano was appointed first warden, March, 1853, and served until 1858. He was intrusted with the expenditure of public moneys from territorial authorities, in caring for and improving the prison. When the state government was organized he was released. He was afterward a member of the firm of Delano, McKusick & Co., sawing and selling lumber. J. E. McKusick and Robert Simpson were members of this firm. Mr. Delano moved to St. Paul in 1862, and was afterward engaged in railroad employment. In 1862 he was commissioned colonel to take command of five companies during the Indian outbreak. The command was stationed at Chengwatana, Pine county. He died February, 1887. He was married Oct. 11, 1846, to Calista Ann Cavander, who, with two sons, survives him.

HENRY W. CANNON was born in Delhi, New York, Sept. 25, 1852. He was educated at Delaware Literary Institute. He came to St. Paul in 1870, and in 1871 to Stillwater, where he accepted the position of cashier of the Stillwater Lumberman's Bank. In 1882 he was appointed by President Arthur United States bank comptroller. He was removed by President Cleveland. He is now a resident of New York City, and is engaged in banking.

DWIGHT M. SABIN was born at Marseilles, La Salle county, Illinois, April 25, 1843. The ill health of the father, who was an extensive land owner and stock raiser, necessitated a removal to the seaside in Connecticut in 1856. In consequence of the continued ill health of the father and his death in 1864, young Dwight was deprived of the thorough education to which he aspired, and, being the oldest son, found the cares and responsibilities of managing his father's business thrown upon his shoulders while he was yet a boy. In 1867 he removed with his mother and younger brother to Minnesota, the year following to Stillwater, where he engaged in business with the firm of Seymour, Sabin & Co. This firm contracted for the convict labor in the state prison, and engaged in the manufacture of doors, sash, blinds and cooperage. The business in 1874 was extended and made to include the manufacture of agricultural implements, including also a machine, boiler shop and foundry, until it is now one of the most extensive establishments in the country.

Mr. Sabin is also interested in other manufactures, among them the C. N. Nelson Lumber Company and the Duluth Iron Company. In 1882 Mr. Sabin was the prime organizer of the Northwestern Car Company, with a capital of $5,000,000. The company was to receive a bonus from the city of Stillwater of $100,000 in bonds, on certain conditions. The company purchased the interests of Seymour, Sabin & Co., thereby coming into possession of their immense manufactories, including those managed under the prison contracts, and elected Mr. Sabin president, and was making rapid progress toward the completion of its plans, when, owing to the stringency of the financial world, it was compelled to make an assignment.

While Mr. Sabin has been busy with the management of his vast manufacturing establishments, he has been no less active and conspicuous as a public spirited citizen, ever taking a great interest in the affairs of his adopted city, of the State and country at large, and his talents and efficiency have been recognized by his fellow citizens, who elected him to the state senate in 1871-72-73, and to the house of representatives in 1878 and 1881. He has several times been a delegate to the National Republican convention, and was chairman of the convention at which James G. Blaine was nominated for the presidency. He was elected to the United States senate in 1883 as the successor of Hon. Wm. Windom.

XVI. STEARNS, ANOKA AND SHERBURNE COUNTIES

STEARNS COUNTY.

Stearns county derived its name from Hon. Charles T. Stearns, a prominent citizen of St. Cloud, a representative of the precinct of St. Anthony Falls in the fifth and sixth territorial councils.

It is bounded on the north by Todd and Morrison counties, on the east by Benton, Sherburne and Wright counties, the Mississippi forming the dividing line against Benton and Sherburne, and Clearwater against Wright county, on the south by Kandiyohi and Mecker, and on the west by Pope county. It contains an area equal to thirty-six townships. It is a fine agricultural county and is well watered by the tributaries of the Mississippi, the principal of which is Sauk river. It has also an abundance of small lakes. Its oldest settlement and principal city is St. Cloud, and among its most flourishing villages are Sauk Centre, Fair Haven, Clearwater, Melrose, St. Joseph, Albany, Paynesville, Richmond, and Cold Springs.

The county was organized in 1855, under the legislative act of that year. Gov. Willis A. Gorman appointed the following commissioners: David T. Wood, John Ferschniller and John L. Wilson. They held their first meeting at the house of John L. Wilson, April 9, 1855. J. L. Wilson acted as chairman. The board appointed the following county officers: Charles Ketchum, clerk; Robert B. Blake, treasurer; L. B. Hammond, sheriff; N. N. Smith, judge of probate; R. B. Blake, surveyor; and John Harry Weltshimer, assessor. The board established three precincts, viz.: St. Augusta, St. Cloud and Tamarack. The judges of election for St. Augusta were John M. Feble, John G. Lodenbeck and Anton Emholt; for St. Cloud, Joseph Demil, L. B. Hammond and Battise Arsenan; for Tamarack, Henry Foster, Louis Amel and John Smith. License was granted to Joseph P. Wilson, George F. Brott, L. B. Hammond, and O. Carter to run a ferry across the Mississippi river. April 30, 1855, Farmington precinct was established. John M. Lindeman, Jacob C. Staples and D. T. Wood were judges of election. July 5, 1855, the first rate of taxation was fixed for the county at one per cent.

The first license to sell spirituous liquors was granted to Anton Edelbrock. The first order issued was to pay for county books, $31.86, to John L. Wilson. Ordered that Washington avenue and St. Augusta street be adopted as county roads. Aug. 27, 1855, it was ordered that Chippewa Agency precinct (now in Crow Wing county) be and remain as it was when a part of Benton county, and J. D. Crittenden, Truman Warren and D. B. Herriman were appointed judges of election. It was ordered that Long Prairie precinct (now in Todd county) remain as it was when a part of Benton county, and Anson Northrup, Lewis Stone and Harman Becker were appointed judges of election. On Jan. 6, 1856, a new board of commissioners qualified, consisting of Anton Edelbrock, chairman, Reuben M. Richardson, and M. J. Orth. H. C. Waite was appointed prosecuting attorney. The county was organized for judicial purposes in 1855, and the counties of Crow Wing and Todd were attached. The first term of court was held June 25, 1855; Hon. Moses Sherburne, presiding, Taylor Dudley, clerk, and Joseph Edelbrock, sheriff. The writer is indebted to the efficient clerk of court of 1887, A. L. Cramb, for collecting data, as the old records are quite unintelligible.

Judge E. O. Hamlin held the first term of court under the state organization. At the session of the commissioners in July, 1856, the first bonds of the county were ordered for building a court house, amounting to $7,000, at twelve per cent interest for eight years. The bonds were offered in New York City by an agent. These bonds were lost, and only two of them were recovered. At the session of the commissioners for August, the donation of John L. Wilson of four blocks of ground, containing eight acres, for court house purposes, was accepted. Three-fourths of the ground was sold by the county, and the funds received from the sale, together with $6,000 in bonds issued in 1857, and other bonds issued later, were used in erecting the court house.

ST. CLOUD.

The eastern side of the Mississippi river was the first settled. As early as 1848 David Gilman had located at a point now called Watab. During the ensuing year, Jeremiah Russell, Philip Beaupre and James Beatty were keeping trading posts at Sauk Rapids. In 1849 J. Q. A. and W. H. Wood, brothers, located there. In 1854 the Rapids had become quite a point with its Indian trading posts, its stores and its United States land office. Among the early residents were many subsequently identified with the interests of St. Cloud. In the spring of 1854 John L. Wilson crossed the river at the point now known as the upper landing, then covered with a dense growth of trees and underbrush. On the adjoining prairie, a Norwegian, Ole Burgerson by name, had staked out a claim and put up a shanty. Mr. Wilson purchased his interest and in June of the same year erected a frame dwelling (still standing) near the railroad bridge. Nicholas Lake put up a blacksmith shop near by. During this year James Hitchins put up a small log dwelling for Gen. S. B. Lowry, who platted the township of Acadia, now Lowry's addition to St. Cloud. A post office was established here through his influence. The same year Brott & Co. laid out St. Cloud city. The earliest claimants of the town site, owning claims fronting on the river, were S. B. Lowry, Ole Burgerson, Martin Woolley, and Michael Zoms. John L. Wilson having purchased the claim of Ole Burgerson, platted the village of St. Cloud, and this was the first recorded of any of the St. Cloud plats. The village of St. Cloud made but little progress until 1856, when a hotel known as the Stearns House, now used in connection with the normal school, was built, a ferry established and other improvements made. A notable incident connected with this ferry is the fact that the Rev. Abbot Alexius Edelbrock, now president of St. John's University, then a lad of thirteen years of age, was ferryman, he being the son of the proprietor of the ferry. The craft was swung back and forth like a pendulum, by the current acting against its keel, being fastened by a long rope some distance up the river. It was not therefore beyond the ability of so youthful a ferryman to manage. The post office, established first at Acadia, became the St. Cloud post office and Joseph Edelbrock was appointed postmaster. He was reappointed by President Cleveland to the same position in 1886. The first newspaper in St. Cloud was the Visitor, established in 1857, by the gifted and somewhat erratic journalist and reformer, Jane Grey Swisshelm. This paper had but a brief and troubled career--the advanced views and dictatorial style of its publisher and editor proving somewhat distasteful to the community at large. Mrs. Swisshelm, who had already won a national reputation, went to Washington, became a contributor to the New York Tribune, and had thereafter a somewhat variable, and upon the whole brilliant, career as a lecturer, editor and reformer. She was amongst the strongest, though not the most radical, of the advocates of woman's rights. She was not a woman suffragist, but directed her efforts chiefly toward establishing the legal identity of married women. She was also very pronounced in her anti-slavery views.

The first records of the organization of St. Cloud as a village have been lost. It was reorganized by legislative enactment in 1862, and the following were the first officers: Mayor, Judge L. A. Evans; councilmen, H. C. Burbank, John W. Tenvoorde, Joseph Broker and Barney Overbeck; clerk, A. B. Curry.

St. Cloud was organized as a city in 1868, under the following officers: Mayor, Judge E. O. Hamlin; aldermen, L. A. Evans, president; Peter Smith, Thomas Smith, T. C. Alden, Leander Gorton, T. R. Bennett, O. Tenny, C. Bridgman, Andrew Fritz, L. R. Roberts, Lewis Clarke, H. C. Burbank; clerk, N. F. Barnes. The city government has been judiciously managed. The United States land office, established first at Sauk Rapids in 1853, was removed to St. Cloud in May, 1858. The first receiver was W. H. Wood. His successors have been S. B. Hayes, C. A. Gilman, W. B. Mitchell, H. G. Burbank, Ole Peterson, and C. F. McDonald, the present incumbent. The first register was George W. Sweet. His successors have been W. A. Caruthers, T. C. McClure, H. C. Waite, H. L. Gordon, J. A. Brower, and D. H. Freeman.

The city has paid for various improvements as follows: City water works on the Holly system, $25,000; city bridge over the Mississippi, 500 feet in length, $12,000; to the Manitoba railroad in real estate and bonds, $100,000; in cash, $27,000; gas works, $10,000. The fire department is well equipped. An electric light plant has been established. Considerable money and work have been expended in dredging Lake George, a beautiful lake about fifty-five acres in extent, lying in the heart of the city, and surrounding it with parks. Street cars have been introduced and altogether the city has made most commendable advancement in all those things that pertain to beauty and comfort.

Not less rapid and substantial are its advances in commerce and manufactures. Before the completion of the railway it had regular communication by water with all river points, and since its facilities for transportation have made it the peer of any inland city of its size in the State. The railroads of St. Cloud are the Manitoba with its various branches and the Northern Pacific, the latter passing through East St. Cloud. Among the improvements of which its citizens are justly proud we may mention the St. Cloud dam, constructed in 1886, at a cost of $200,000. The city gave $100,000 for this improvement. The dam has for its foundation the underlying granite of this section. It is intended as a permanent structure and must conduce largely to the growth and prosperity of the city. The dam has 10 feet head of water and furnishes 1,500 horse power. A flour mill with a capacity of 300 barrels per day is run by the water power. The Phoenix Iron Works, established at a cost of $175,000, give employment to 100 men. Bridgman's steam saw mill has a capacity of about 40,000 feet of lumber per day.

St. Cloud is backed by a rich agricultural and timbered district. In the vicinity are valuable quarries of jasper, and of gray and red granite. Two granite polishing works, operated by steam, are located near the city. These quarries stretch away to the northeast, through the counties of Benton, Morrison, Mille Lacs and Kanabec. They give employment to 1,000 men. The Manitoba Railroad Company has purchased recently about 400 acres of land, on which to build extensive shops and stock yards, calculated to give employment, when completed, to 1,000 men. The principal hotels are the Grand Central and the West House.

The first bank in St. Cloud was established by Waite & McClure in 1859. This bank, a private institution, was the beginning of the banking system in St. Cloud. It is now operated by N. P. Clarke. The First National Bank was organized as a private bank in 1867, with a capital stock of $25,000; James A. Bell, president; Joseph G. Smith, cashier. It was reorganized as a state bank in 1879, with a capital stock of $50,000. In 1886 it was reorganized as a national bank. The first board of officers have served continuously to date. The business of the bank amounts to over $300,000. The German American National Bank was organized in 1883; Chas. A. Hull, president; Edgar Hull, cashier; capital stock $50,000. The business (in 1886) amounts to $250,000. The present board of officers are: F. E. Searle, president; John Cooper, vice president; F. M. Morgan, cashier.

St. Cloud has many fine buildings. The court house cost $40,000, and four school buildings an aggregate of $75,000. The bishop's cathedral cost $40,000, and the Catholic church $30,000. The Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, Congregationalists, and Lutherans have organizations and good church buildings. The normal school buildings located here cost $100,000. St. Cloud University is a flourishing institution. St. John's University, although located in the adjoining town of St. Joseph, has been identified more or less with the interests of St. Cloud, and deserves mention in its history. It was originally located two miles south of St. Cloud, but was subsequently removed to a point northwest, a mile distant from the thriving village of Collegeville.

The university owes its existence to the zeal, energy and self devotion of the Benedictine Fathers, a colony of whom came to America in 1846. This colony settled first in Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, but in 1856, at the invitation of Bishop Cretin, came to Minnesota, where, the year following, they commenced their educational work on the banks of the Mississippi near St. Cloud. The school was commenced as a seminary, but in 1869 the state legislature granted authority to confer degrees, and in 1883 formally changed the name from St. John's Seminary to St. John's University. The buildings are ample and commodious, and located pleasantly on the banks of a beautiful lake. The faculty consists of Rt. Rev. Alexius Edelbrock and twenty-two professors. In 1885 St. Benedict's Hospital was erected at a cost of about $15,000. It is under the supervision of the Benedictine Nuns. The state reformatory was located at East St. Cloud in 1887.

LA SAUK,

Formerly St. Joe, adjoining St. Cloud on the north, had a saw and flour mill erected in 1855. These mills were burned in 1886, and rebuilt in 1887. Amongst the early settlers were J. H. Lineman in 1854, J. A. Upham and George Rieder in 1855.

PETER SCHAELER, a farmer, a native of Germany, came to America in 1850, and to St. Joseph in 1856. John, his only son, retains the old homestead, and was in 1883 engaged in the insurance business in St. Cloud.

JOHN L. WILSON was born in Columbia, Washington county, Maine, in 1820. He came to Minnesota in 1851, locating at St. Anthony, but in the following year removed to Sauk Rapids and in 1854 to St. Cloud. The first deed on record in Stearns county was from John L. Wilson to L. C. Kenna, and bears date of 1855. In 1855 he was married to Harriet N. Corbett. They have three children living.

CHARLES T. STEARNS, from whom the county took its name, has been for many years a resident of Louisiana, and is a wealthy planter.

HENRY G. FILLMORE, a nephew of President Fillmore, was born in the state of New York in the '20s, and came to Watab in 1848. He has lived in St. Cloud many years.

NATHANIEL GETCHELL was born in Washington county, Maine, in 1828. He came to St. Anthony in 1852, and to Stearns county in 1855.

JAMES KEOUGH came from Ireland to America in 1850, and directly to Watab. He settled in St. Cloud in 1854, was married in 1855, and has a large family.

LOREN W. COLLINS was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, Aug. 22, 1839. He received a common school education; came to Hastings, Minnesota, some time prior to the Rebellion, studied law with Smith & Crosby and was admitted to practice, but in August, 1862, entered the service of his country in Company F, Seventh Minnesota Volunteers, of which company he was commissioned second lieutenant, and a year later first lieutenant. He was discharged with his regiment at the close of the war, and returned to his law practice. In 1866 he removed to St. Cloud and practiced law. He served as county attorney a number of years; was a member of the Minnesota house of representatives in 1881-83; was appointed judge of the Seventh Judicial district April 8, 1883, and elected to that office in 1884. Nov. 12, 1887, he was appointed to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge Berry, an appointment that gives general satisfaction, Judge Collins having won an enviable reputation as a jurist and as a man.

HENRY C. WAITE was born in Albany county, New York, in 1830; graduated at Union College, Schenectady, New York; was admitted to practice law in 1852, and the same year came to Iowa. A year later he removed to Wisconsin, and located at Madison, where he practiced law two years. In May, 1855, he came to St. Cloud, where he has since continuously resided. The first ten years of his residence in St. Cloud he devoted to the practice of his profession, after which he devoted his time to farming and milling.

Mr. Waite was a member of the constitutional convention in 1857. He also served several terms in the senate and house. During President Lincoln's administration he served as register of the land office. He was married to Maria D. Clark in 1860. He has two sons.

GEN. S. B. LOWRY was the son of the devoted and zealous missionary, Rev. David Lowry, who labored among the Winnebagoes in Northern Iowa in the '30s and '40s. He located first at Brockway, ten miles above St. Cloud, and established a trading post, but in 1853 removed to St. Cloud, where he surveyed and platted the village of Acadia, afterward known as "Lowry's addition." He made St. Cloud his home until his death, which occurred in 1861.

ANTHONY EDELBROCK was the first resident of St. Cloud. His oldest son was the first child born there. This son died in infancy. His second son became the abbot of St. John's University. Mr. Edelbrock is now a resident of Missouri.

JOSEPH EDELBROCK was born in Westphalia, Prussia, in 1826. He learned the trade of a carpenter, came to America in 1847, and lived in Chicago until 1855, when he came to St. Cloud and engaged in mercantile pursuits. He is the oldest merchant continuously in business in the city. He served as sheriff two years and as register of deeds four years. He was married in Chicago in 1852, and has six children living. A daughter, the second child born in St. Cloud, is the wife of Peter E. Kaiser.

JOHN RENGEL, made a claim here in 1855. He has been and still is a prosperous citizen. He has a family of ten children.

LOUIS A. EVANS was born near Philadelphia, Nov. 2, 1822. His forefathers came to America with William Penn and bought of him a township of land, on which still reside many of his descendants. His father served as a soldier in the war of 1812. Louis was educated at the graded schools in Philadelphia; was apprenticed to a piano maker, and worked at his trade at Cincinnati, Ohio, Clinton, Mississippi, and New Orleans until 1856, when he came to St. Cloud, where he still resides. During his residence he has served as postmaster, judge of probate, clerk of the district court, editor of the St. Cloud Times, mayor of St. Cloud, and president of the council and member of the house and senate of the state legislature. He was married to Elisabeth W. Libby in 1871.

AMBROSE FREEMAN.--We have no datum as to when Mr. Freeman came to St. Cloud, but it was probably prior to 1860. He was a stonemason, and while working on a cellar wall heard the report of the Sioux uprising and massacre (in 1862), and, dropping his tools, hurried off to satisfy himself as to the truth of the reports, called a meeting of citizens, and organized a company of twenty-five volunteers to assist in caring for the wounded and burying the dead. On his return he was commissioned captain of the Northern Rangers and marched with his command to the relief of Forest City and Fort Abercrombie. He was with Gen. Sibley's command in 1863, and while riding over the prairie was shot with an arrow by an Indian, and expired instantly.

NATHAN F. BARNES has lived a somewhat eventful life. He was born at Portland, Maine, June 26, 1817; received an academic education; served as a midshipman in the navy from 1834 to 1839, visiting many parts of the globe. In 1840 he commenced the study of law, was admitted to practice in 1843 and practiced awhile at Conway, New Hampshire, where in 1844 he was married. In 1850 he was appointed mail agent on the Isthmus route to California, served six years, and then located in California. Two years later, in 1858, he removed to Alexandria, Minnesota. During the Sioux massacre he and Andreas Darling were the only persons remaining in the neighborhood who escaped being killed. In 1865 he came to St. Cloud, where he has been an active and prominent citizen. He served many years as city clerk and city justice and was elected to the house of the state legislature in 1875. He was influential in securing the location of the normal school in St. Cloud. One son, Percival S., died in the Saulsbury prison during the Civil War. He has one son and one daughter living.

NEHEMIAH P. CLARK was born in Worcester county, Massachusetts, April 8, 1836. In his youth he attended school in Kentucky and at seventeen years of age was clerking in a store at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. In 1856 he came to St. Cloud and engaged actively in business, selling goods, farming, staging, lumbering, and dealing in pine lands. He has a farm in Le Sauk of 2,000 acres, a creamery, a cheese factory, and one of the largest and best herds of cattle, horses, hogs and sheep in the State. For office and official honors he has no taste. He served, however, as president of the State Agricultural Society in 1886.

OSCAR E. GARRISON was born at Fort Ann, New York, in 1825, and was early thrown upon his own resources. He came to Minnesota in 1850, and built the first house on the shores of Lake Minnetonka where Wayzata is now located. In 1850 he surveyed and platted the village of Wayzata. In 1860 he came to St. Cloud. He made a land claim in Polk county in 1862 and narrowly escaped being murdered by the Sioux at their uprising. His house and property were destroyed. While hiding with his wife and four-year-old son, Indians passed within twenty feet of him. After a perilous night journey, during which he came almost within touching distance of sleeping Indians, he arrived safely at Sauk Centre.

THE GILMAN FAMILY.--The Gilman family of which Charles A. is a descendant came to America from Hingham, England, with the Folsoms, in 1638, and are the founders of the town of Hingham, Massachusetts. The Gilmans were renowned for their loyalty to the colonies, and later to the state and national government.

CHARLES A. GILMAN was born in Gilmanton, New Hampshire, Feb. 9, 1833. His youth was spent at home, where he received a common school and academic education, the latter at Gilmanton Academy. He taught school during the winters. In 1855 he came to Sauk Rapids, Benton county, where he engaged in farming and real estate business; he also filled the offices of auditor and register of deeds. In 1861 he removed to St. Cloud, having been appointed register of the United States land office for that place. He served seven years as register and receiver. He studied law, and was admitted to practice in 1876. Mr. Gilman has lived a busy life, and besides his real estate, law, surveying and exploring business, he has taken a conspicuous position in the politics of his State, having served as state senator in the years 1868-69, and as representative from 1875 to 1879. In 1878-79 he served as speaker of the house. From 1881 to 1884 he was lieutenant governor of the State. He was elected to the legislature several times as a Republican, when the district was strongly Democratic, a high compliment to his ability and integrity. He was married to Hester Cronk, at Sauk Rapids, Jan. 1, 1857. They have six children living. He has lived at St. Cloud since 1861, where he has a delightful home.

Of St. Cloud citizens not elsewhere mentioned in this work, and who have been prominent in advancing its interests, are Charles Bridgman, Henry G. Mitchell and son, C. F. McDonald, Lewis Clark, Alonzo F. Cramb, C. F. Davis, Levi S. Geer, Josiah G. Hayward, David L. Kiehle, A. Montgomery, Overbeck brothers, John H. Owen, and John Cooper. St. Cloud has furnished three able jurists for the supreme bench in this district, E. O. Hamlin, J. M. McKelvy and L. W. Collins.

ANOKA COUNTY.

Anoka county was organized in 1857, the nucleus or first settlement being a small village on the Mississippi, at the month of Rum river, named Anoka, from a Chippewa word meaning work or labor. The county has a fine location on the east bank of the Mississippi. Its boundaries on the north are Isanti county, on the east Chisago and Washington counties, on the south Ramsey county, and on the west Sherburne county and the Mississippi river. Rum river flows in a southeasterly direction through the county, and by this river, its tributaries and those of the Mississippi and St. Croix, the county is well watered and drained. The valleys of these streams furnish many fine natural meadows. The soil is a black sandy loam with clay subsoil. Townships 31, 32 and 33, range 22, are drained by the tributaries of the St. Croix. Originally consisting of oak openings, natural meadows and tamarack swamps, interspersed with small lakes, with excellent roads, school houses, churches and town organizations, the county is well settled and has many fine farms under a high state of cultivation. Its proximity to the pineries of Rum river and to the markets of Minneapolis and St. Paul makes it a desirable location for the lumbermen and farmers.

The county is subdivided into the following townships: Anoka, Bethel, Blaine, Burns, Centreville, Columbus, Fridley, Grow, Ham Lake, Linwood, Oak Grove, Ramsey, and St. Francis. The Northern Pacific and St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba railroads traverse this county near its western boundary, following the course of the Mississippi river. Outside of Anoka the first settlement in the county was within the bounds of the present town of Ramsey. Nathan Shumway, Cornelius Pitman and Daniel Hawthorne settled there in 1850.

The first county commissioners were appointed by the governor. They were E. C. H. Davis, J. P. Austin and Silas O. Lum. They met June 30, 1857, and appointed the following officers: Sheriff, James C. Frost; treasurer, James M. McGlauflin; coroner, Joseph C. Varney; assessors, Daniel Robbins, S. L. Guice, Francis Peeler. The first deed on record in the county bears date of June 30, 1857. It conveys the northwest quarter of section 26, township 33, range 24, from Nathaniel S. Davis to Mary S. Small, for a consideration of five hundred dollars. There is, however, a transcript of a deed from Ramsey county bearing original date of Sept. 11, 1849, conveying the north half of the northwest quarter of section 35, township 31, range 24, from Abel Bloodgood, of Minnesota Territory, to Henry M. Rice, for a consideration of two hundred dollars. The first town plat, that of Anoka, bears date of July 5, 1854.

ANOKA.

This town lies on the east shore of the Mississippi and includes part of fractional township 31, range 24. It is watered by Rum river, which traverses the northwestern part, and by Coon creek in the eastern part. The town originally was chiefly prairie. Its early history is included in that of Anoka county.

ANOKA CITY.

The county seat of Anoka county is located on the Mississippi at the mouth of Rum river and dates its settlement to the year 1847, when Thomas Holmes located on the east bank of the river, and built the first log house for a trading post. Aaron Betts, in the employ of Holmes, brought his family with him, the first family in the town. In the winter of 1847-48 Holmes sold out to Simeon P. Folsom, whose family was the second in the town. Mr. Folsom raised the first crop in the township. In September, 1848, Mr. Folsom removed to Sherburne county, selling out his claim to Louis Roberts. In the winter of the same year Wm. Dahl took possession for Mr. Roberts. In the spring of 1849 Antoine Roberts, brother of Louis, came from Prairie du Chien, took possession of the home, and lived there some years, when he was killed by an Indian. When the land on which the improvements were made was brought into market Louis Roberts entered it.

In 1851 Anton Guion entered a quarter section of land on the west side. He immediately sold his claim to Henry M. Rice, who bought it with the intention of platting it as a town site. His brother, Orrin Rice, occupied it and made improvements. Rum river has a fall of five feet, which is fully utilized at Anoka.

In 1851 Geo. W. Branch took up a claim on the west side, and built a house near what is now the corner of Main and Ferry streets. This was the first frame house in Anoka, which, from this time forward, grew almost imperceptibly into a village, till in 1855 the census showed nearly 300 inhabitants. In 1860 the population was 602, and in 1886, 5,000. Anoka was incorporated as a city in 1878, with the following board of officers: Mayor, G. W. Church; aldermen, D. C. Dunham, D. H. Lane, L. G. Browning, A. Davis, H. N. Seelye, and J. H. Pierce; treasurer, H. E. Lepper; justices of the peace, W. W. Fitch and E. S. Teller; constables, George Geddes and Norman McLean. At that time the city was divided into two wards, the First including the east side, and the Second the west side, of Rum river. In 1881 the west side was changed to the First ward, and the east side became the Second and Third wards.

In 1853 Ed. I. Shaw built and opened the first store. It was on the west side, and the building still stands, and is known as the Schuler building. It is now the hospital: Caleb and W. H. Woodbury erected a saw mill on the east side. It was subsequently owned by Woodbury, Shaw & Farnham. During the same year a bridge was built across Rum river by the government; Orrin Rice, contractor. The first flour will was finished in 1855. It was burned ten days after with $5,000 worth of wheat and corn a total loss, as there was no insurance. It was owned by A. P. Lane, Caleb and Henry Woodbury. The mill was rebuilt by Caleb Woodbury and Wm. L. Barnes. In 1855 H. L. Ticknor erected and opened the first store on the east side. Rev. Royal Twitchell preached the first sermon and taught the first school. The first mill was utilized on Sundays as a church.

The Congregationalists organized the first church in Anoka in 1855, and erected a church building in 1857. The Baptists and Catholics organized in 1856, the Methodists and Episcopalians in 1860, the Universalists in 1867, the Swedish Lutherans in 1870, the Adventists in 1880, and the Free Methodists in 1882. The Masons organized a lodge in 1866, the Knights of Pythias in 1872, the United Workmen in 1877, the Patrons of Husbandry in 1874, and the Odd Fellows in 1882.

Anoka has suffered from time to time by fires. A flour mill, two saw mills, half a dozen hotels, and a large number of stores have been burned at different times, and twice the business part of the city has been destroyed. Aug. 16, 1884, the entire business portion of the city, including 60 business blocks and the Washburn mills, was consumed. The loss amounted to $750,000, on which there was an insurance of $316,000. The burnt district has since been handsomely rebuilt, and the Washburn flour mill has been replaced with a superior building, five stories high, 60 × 180, ground plan, and rising to the height of 112 feet. This is one of the finest mills in the State.

The court house is valued at $35,000, the city hall at $12,000, and four school buildings at $75,000. The bridge across the Mississippi, a fine structure, 700 feet long, was built at a cost of $100,000. Street cars have been introduced on some of the streets. The principal manufactories are the Lincoln flouring mill, with a capacity of seven hundred bushels per day, owned by the Washburn Mill Company; four saw mills belonging to the Washburn Mill Company, with a capacity of 50,000,000 feet per year; the Anoka Sash and Door Factory, one of the most thriving industries in the city, Jonas Morell, manager; a starch factory, a boot and shoe company, with a capital of $30,000, recently organized. Other industries are well represented; the whole giving employment to over 1,000 men.

The First National Bank of Anoka was organized as a private banking institution in 1872. It became a state bank in 1882, with a capital stock of $25,000, and a national bank in 1883, with a paid up capital of $50,000. The officers are: President, H. L. Ticknor; cashier, B. F. Pratt. The Anoka National Bank was organized in 1883, with a paid up capital of $100,000. The officers are: President, W. D. Washburn; vice president, C. C. Crane; cashier. C. S. Guderian.

BETHEL

Includes township 33 and the twelve south sections of township 34, range 23. Its surface is partially prairie land, and is dotted with small lakes. The first settlers were Quakers, with the exception of Rice, Price, O. Evans and Robert Minard, who came in 1855. Bethel post office is located at what is known as Bethel Corners. The town was organized in 1858. The first supervisors were O. Evans, W. Dickens and R. Price.

BLAINE,

Named in honor of James G. Blaine, embraces township 31, range 23. It was originally included in Anoka, but was set off and organized in 1877. The first supervisors were Moses Ripley, George Tisdale and Richard de Long. The records have not been kept with sufficient accuracy to enable us to determine who were the first settlers. It appears, however, that the first comers abandoned their claims. Green Chambers is the first settler recorded. He came in 1865.

BURNS

Includes township 33, range 25, and is in the northwestern part of the county. The soil is clay loam, and in the western part are many lakes. Of these Twin lakes are ninety feet in depth. The first settler was John Derigan, who was also one of the first settlers of Elk River township, in Sherburne county. The town was organized in 1869. The supervisors were John D. Keen, John A. Mussey and W. D. Le Clair. A German Lutheran church was built in 1878.

CENTREVILLE

Includes township 31, range 22. It is the oldest settlement in the county, Alphonse Jarvis having located here in 1840. Frank Lamott settled here in 1849. The first considerable settlement was made on Rice lake, in 1850, by F. W. Traverse and other German families. A French colony settled in the eastern part of the town in 1852. Prominent among these colonists were Francis X. Levalle and brother, Oliver and Frank Dupre, Francis Lamott and Oliver Peltier. The town was organized in 1857, with the following commissioners: Oliver Peltier, chairman; Francis Lamott, treasurer, and Stephen Ward. The town was originally a timbered and meadow district. It has a good black loam soil, and is well watered by Rice lake and numerous small streams. It contains a number of ancient mounds. Its nearest railroad station is Centreville, on the St. Paul & Duluth road, an Washington county.

CENTREVILLE VILLAGE

Was platted in 1853, by Peltier, Lavalle & Lamott. It contains a substantial brick church known as the Church of St. Genevieve of Paris, built in 1859. The congregation numbers about four hundred.

COLUMBUS,

Township 32, range 22, was settled in 1855 by James Starkey, Isaac Conway, John Kleiner and Henry Batzle. Mr. Conway became a dealer in real estate, and removed to California where he died.

JAMES STARKEY figured prominently in the early history of the Territory and State, but may be mentioned here as the founder of the village of Columbus, in 1855 and 1856. He expended $60,000 in building a hotel and other improvements, not a vestige of which now remains.

FRIDLEY.

This town, including fractional township 30, range 24, was organized as Manomin county in 1857, and held that organization, with A. M. Fridley as chairman of county commissioners, until 1870, when it was disorganized and attached to Anoka county, retaining Manomin as its town name until 1879, when it was changed to Fridley by legislative enactment. John Sullivan, G. W. Thurber and Thomas Casey were the first supervisors. The town contains about thirteen sections of land in the eastern part of township 30, range 24, pleasantly located on the east bank of the Mississippi. It is traversed by Rice creek.

JOHN BANFIL settled here in 1848 and was the first postmaster of the village of Manomin, of which he was proprietor. He represented the Twenty-fourth district as senator in the first state legislature. He removed to Bayfield, Wisconsin, and died there in 1886. It has been improved by the introduction of large manufacturing establishments. A flouring mill was built in 1871. In 1887 $100,000 was expended in manufactories, and real estate to the amount of $400,000 changed hands. It has one church building (Episcopal), erected in 1858.

GROW

Includes township 32, range 24. It is watered by Rum river and Coon creek. George Branch settled here in 1853, and about the same period, J. C. Frost, Joseph McKinney, Andrew J. Smith and Walter D. Gary. The town was organized in 1857 as Round Lake, but changed to Grow in 1860, in honor of Senator Grow of Pennsylvania. The first supervisors were Silas O. Lum, W. W. Hank and Wm. Staples. The town records were burned in 1856. In 1873 the Catholics erected a church building.

HAM LAKE,

Formerly a part of Grow, was set off and organized in 1871. It includes township 32, range 23. It was settled chiefly by Swedes and Norwegians, of whom Matts Gilbertson, of Norway, was first to locate here. There were many transient persons among the first comers, but the first permanent settler of any nationality was Josiah Hart, from Vermont, who came in 1857. He died in 1876. John Scully came in 1858. The first supervisors were John Rowe, A. B. Lingard and C. Olsen. The Swedes and Norwegians have each a house of worship.

LINWOOD.

This town, consisting of township 33, and twelve sections of township 34, range 22, lies in the northeastern part of the county. It is well watered and traversed by a chain of lakes. The first settlement was by Joseph Sanson, a German, who located here in 1855. W. Dickens, an Englishman, came in 1857. Linwood was set off from Bethel and Columbus, and organized September, 1871. The first town officers were J. G. Green, F. McGregor and Michael Hurley. There is a post office in the village of Linwood. A Methodist church was built in 1873, and a saw and feed mill, by Shanton & Haskell, in 1875.

L. S. ARNOLD, a native of Montreal, Canada, born in 1820, came to Minnesota in 1847. He seems to have made his home at Linwood, which he left, but after living some years in Michigan and Missouri, he again returned in 1866.

SAMUEL RIDGE came to Linwood in 1860.

J. G. GREEN, born in 1819, located here in 1863, and since 1867 has served as postmaster in Linwood village. He has served several years as county commissioner. The Green brothers are descendants of the Plymouth Pilgrims.

G. W. HASKELL was an early settler. He originally came from Skowhegan, Maine. He died in 1885.

MICHAEL M. RYAN was born in Ireland in 1845. He came to America in 1858 and settled in Linwood with his father's family. Two brothers enlisted as volunteers during the Civil War, and died in the service.

THE HURLEY FAMILY come to Linwood some time in the '50s. The sons are prominent business men at North Branch, Pine City and Hinckley. The father moved to North Branch in 1887.

OAK GROVE

Includes township 33, range 24. It abounds in small lakes and the Rum river drains the western portion. The first settlers were David Rogers, Moses Seeley and James Nutter, in 1855. Dennis Mahoney, of Ireland, born in 1813, came to Oak Grove in 1856, held the office of supervisor fourteen years, and that of justice of the peace continuously to the present. The town was organized in 1857, with the following supervisors: A. W. Norris, Dennis E. Mahoney and Peter Brennan. Rose, daughter of William Smith, was the first child born.

RAMSEY,

Named in honor of the first territorial governor, occupies fractional township 32, range 25, in the western part of the county, on the Mississippi river. It was organized in 1857 as Watertown, which name was changed to Dover, and then to Ramsey, in 1885. In 1849 an Indian trading house was opened in section 19, by T. A. Holmes and Thomas Beatty. The first permanent settlement was made by a New England colony in 1850, amongst whom were P. Shumway and sons (John and Peter), Nathan and Benjamin Shumway, and Cornelius Pitman. In 1852 the town plat of Itasca was surveyed in sections 19 and 30. William Vincent, Thomas Miller and J. C. Bowers came to Ramsey in 1852. Mr. Bowers was postmaster for twenty-five years at Itasca, and died Oct. 4, 1879. The first supervisors were Jared Benson, Isaac Varney and Cornelius Pitman.

ST. FRANCIS

Includes the two southern tiers of sections of township 34, ranges 24 and 25. The first settlers were George Armsby and E. Fowler, in 1855. The town was organized in 1857, but the records have been lost. Dwight Woodbury, who has been prominent in the history of the county, located a water power flour and saw mill and built a hotel on Rum river where the village of St. Francis has since been built, and surveyed the village plat. The mills were destroyed by fire in 1869, but were immediately rebuilt. In 1880 a bridge across Rum river was built at an expense of $7,000. Mr. Woodbury's investments have been over $25,000. Mr. Streetly opened the first store and was first postmaster at St. Francis.

AN INDIAN RIOT.

In the fall of 1847 a German baron, a single man, and Wm. Noot and wife settled on Big island, in the Mississippi, about two miles above the mouth of Rum river. They were traders. In March, 1848, in consequence of the revolution in Germany, the baron returned to his native land. Noot remained until June, when the Winnebago Indians were removed by Gen. Fletcher. Pending their removal the Winnebagoes made a raid on the trading post, confiscated the whisky and provisions and fastened Noot in a stable and his wife and child in a small cabin, where they were found by S. P. Folsom the same day, surrounded by drunken Indians and in imminent peril. Noot appealed to Folsom for aid. The Indians, however, were furious and threatened Folsom's life. The chief, "Whistling Thunder," used his influence in a novel way to quiet the turbulent, by placing before them all that remained of the barrel of whisky, which they eagerly drank. Folsom then released Noot. The wife, who had been previously released, ran with her child, frightened out of her wits, no one knew whither. After a long search the captain found her, and at great risk took her across a slough to the mainland in a canoe, which nearly sank before the shore was reached. Noot afterward went to St. Paul and purchased eighty acres of land, now in the heart of the city. He was a member of the house, Fourth and Fifth Minnesota legislatures. At present he resides at Big Lake, Sherburne county.

JARED BENSON.--Mr. Benson was the son of Jared and Sallie Taft Benson, and was born in Blackstone. Massachusetts, Nov. 8, 1821. The farm on which he was born was purchased of the Indians by his great, great grandfather. His paternal grandfather, Benoni Benson, and his maternal grandfather, Ebenezer Taft, served in the Revolutionary War, the former as a lieutenant. Jared Benson, his father, served in the war of 1812.

Mr. Benson had a fair common school education and occupied himself in farming until 1844, when he joined the corps of engineers who were locating the Providence & Worcester railroad. He was afterward agent for the company and superintendent of transportation. In 1856 he came to Minnesota, locating at Anoka and engaging chiefly in farming and stock raising. He has served his townsmen as justice of the peace and county commissioner. For some years he has been a director of the St. Paul & Pacific railroad. He served as clerk of the house of representatives in 1859-60, and was afterward member and speaker of the house for three years, including the extra session of 1862. He was revenue collector for his district in 1870-72, and was again elected to the legislature in 1878. He was married to Martha Taft, of Mendon, Massachusetts, Feb. 5, 1857. They have five children.

JAMES C. FROST was born in Rumford, Oxford county, Maine, in 1816. He was raised on a farm. On reaching his majority he came to Jefferson county, Wisconsin, where he lived fourteen years. In 1852 he came to St. Anthony and in 1853 to Anoka. He held the office of postmaster several years and was again reappointed in 1888; served fifteen years as sheriff and as a member of the legislature in 1857-58. He was in the employ of the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Company for nine years. He was married in 1840 and has a family of eight daughters.

A. J. MCKENNEY, born in Lowell, Maine, Feb. 20, 1829, came to St. Anthony in 1850 and followed lumbering until 1854, when he came to Ramsey, Anoka county, and located in section 2 as a farmer. He has been a prominent citizen.

JOHN HENRY BATZLE was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, in 1830; came to America in 1837; lived in New York until 1855, when he came to Minnesota and located in what is now the town of Columbus, Anoka county, where he engaged in farming. He has been a member of the Methodist church for twenty-five years. He is in every way much esteemed as a citizen. He was married in 1854, but has no children.

JOHN R. BEAN was born at Salmon Falls, New Hampshire, April 25, 1831; came to St. Anthony in 1849 and to Ramsey, Anoka county, in 1850, where he made a farm in section 33. He says this was the first farming done in Anoka county. From 1850 to 1859 he lived alternately at his home in St. Anthony and his farm in Ramsey. In 1870 he removed to Anoka city, where he is engaged in lumbering.

WILLIAM STAPLES was born in 1815, in York county, Maine, where he was married in 1840. He came to St. Anthony in 1850. He has lived in the town of Grow, of which he was one of the founders, for many years. He is a farmer and brickmason.

ABRAHAM MCCORMACK FRIDLEY was born May 21, 1818, at Corning, Steuben county, New York. His parents were Pennsylvanians, of German descent. He received a common school education. At the age of twenty-one years he was appointed deputy sheriff of Steuben county, and was afterward collector of canal tolls at Corning. In April, 1851, he was appointed by President Fillmore agent for the Winnebago Indians then at Long Prairie, Todd county. In that year he was also admitted to practice law. In 1853 he removed to St. Paul and was elected sheriff of Ramsey county. The next year he removed to St. Anthony Falls and was elected to the house of the territorial legislature. A little later he removed to Manomin, now Fridley. He was elected a representative in the legislatures of 1869-70-71 and 79. For many years he cultivated a large farm at Becker. For ten years he has been in the employ of the Manitoba railroad as land agent. He is a Democrat, and in 1860 was delegate to the conventions at Charleston and Baltimore. Mr. Fridley died March 26, 1888, leaving a widow and three sons, Henry C., Frank and David H.

CAPT. JAMES STARKEY was born in England in 1818. He came to America in 1849 and located in St. Paul in 1850. He removed to the town of Columbus, Anoka county, in 1855, and was active in promoting its interests. His first enterprise, the building up of the village of Columbus, was not successful. In 1857, by order of Gov. Medary, he commanded a military expedition against the Chippewas at Sunrise Prairie, the object being to compel them to return to their reservation, an expedition attended with some tragical results, as elsewhere narrated. Capt. Starkey took part in the Civil War as captain of a cavalry company. He was the first to survey a road through the country lying between St. Paul and Lake Superior. He was a representative of the first state legislature. Since 1865 Capt. Starkey has resided at St. Paul, and is at present prominent as a citizen and as an official in West St. Paul.

SHERBURNE COUNTY.

Prior to its organization, Sherburne was part of Benton county. It was named in honor of Judge Moses Sherburne, an appointee to the bench of the supreme court of Minnesota Territory. The county is bounded on the north by Benton, on the east by Anoka and Isanti counties, and on the south by the Mississippi river. It is somewhat irregularly timbered with pine and hardwood, interspersed with oak openings, rolling prairie lands and natural meadows. The surface is generally undulating. A prominent ridge of high land, from three to five miles wide, extends from Elk river in a northeasterly direction into Anoka county. The county is well watered by tributaries of the Mississippi, Elk and St. Louis rivers, and has besides many clear and sparkling lakes. The soil is mostly sandy loam with clay subsoil, and valuable granite quarries are found in the northern tier of towns.

David Faribault was the first settler or trader, he having established a post on the Elk river in 1846, where he made a garden and raised potatoes. In September, 1848, H. M. Rice and S. P. Folsom bought Faribault's improvements, and Folsom moved his family to the place and built a log cabin on what is now Auditor's addition to Elk River village. He was succeeded in the ownership by Pierre Bottineau.

The county was organized in 1856, under territorial law. The governor, Willis A. Gorman, appointed J. H. Stevenson, Ephriam Nickerson and Eli J. Cutter commissioners (Stevenson being chairman); Eli Houghton, treasurer; H. J. Putnam, register of deeds; Andrew Boyington, judge of probate; John G. Jamieson, county attorney; Orlando Bailey, sheriff. The first commissioners' meeting was held at the house of Joseph Brown, at the village of Humboldt, which was made the county seat and so remained until 1867, when it was removed to Elk River village. The county was attached to Benton for judicial purposes until 1862. Prior to this Mr. Brown's house was used for county commissioners' meetings and for courtrooms until burned down some years later, when the commissioners met at the house of John E. Putnam.

A court house was built at Elk River on lots donated by J. Q. A. Nickerson, the village donating $1,000 and the county the remainder necessary for the building.

Prior to the formation of the state government, the county was divided into election precincts. The first term of district court was held at Humboldt in December, 1862; Judge C. E. Vanderburgh, presiding; J. E. Putnam acting as clerk. The first commissioners who held their meeting at Elk River were H. Houlton, chairman; A. Boyington and O. Bailey. The first meetings were held at the house of J. Q. A. Nickerson.

In 1867 the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba railroad was completed through the county on a line parallel with the general course of the Mississippi river. The North Pacific railroad, since built, runs parallel on the same grade. The depots were built upon the same plan and placed on opposite sides of the two tracks. The stations are Elk River, Big Lake, Becker, Clear Lake, and East St. Cloud. The Manitoba has a branch line from Elk River to Princeton and Milacca, built in 1884.

The first deed recorded was transcribed from the Benton county records, transfers of property from James Beatty to Richard Chute and David Olmstead, and bears date of July 28, 1851.

TOWNS.

The towns in Sherburne are: Baldwin, deriving its name from F. Eugene Baldwin, an old citizen; Big Lake, from the lake on which located; Becker, from Hon. G. L. Becker, of St. Paul; Blue Hill, from a high hill in the town; Clear Lake, from a lake of that name; Elk River, from the river on the shore of which it is located; Haven, from Hon. John Ormsby Haven, who represented his district in the state senate in 1872-73; Livonia, from the christian name of the wife of an old citizen; Orrock, from Reuben Orrock, a pioneer, originally from Scotland; and Palmer, from Dr. Palmer, of Sauk Centre.

Elk River was the first town organized, and included the whole county. The first election was held Sept. 30, 1858, at which the following board of officers was elected: Moderator, Alden B. Heath; supervisors, J. G. Jamieson, Alden B. Heath, J. Q. A. Nickerson; clerk, George H. Davis.

VILLAGES OF SHERBURNE COUNTY.

Orono, a post office, was established at Orono in 1850. The office was merged into the Elk River post office in 1853. This post office, with the mills erected in 1851, became the nucleus of the Elk River settlement, which some years later became Elk River village, within the corporate limits of which Orono is now situated. Orono was surveyed and platted May, 1855; Ard Godfrey, proprietor.

ELK RIVER,

Located originally about a mile below Orono, was not platted as a village until 1865. J. Q. A. and Julia Nickerson were the proprietors. It is on the east bank of the Mississippi, at its junction with Elk river, above which it now extends a distance of two miles. It has a pleasant location. It was incorporated in 1881, with C. S. Wheaton, president; W. T. Struble, recorder; N. K. Whittemore, H. P. Burrell and L. Pollard, commissioners. Elk river affords a fine water power with ten feet head. Mills were erected here in 1851. A great fire in May, 1887, destroyed mill property valued at $50,000. Since the fire a flour mill with a capacity of 250 barrels a day has been completed at a cost of $25,000. A saw mill is also in process of construction. The village has an elevator with a capacity of 10,000 bushels, 2 town halls, 3 churches, Episcopal, Free Will Baptist and Congregational; a first class school building, with rooms for four departments; a school building at Orono, with two departments; and two railroad depots, built at a cost of $9,000.

In June, 1885, a private bank was incorporated as the Bank of Elk River.

EAST ST. CLOUD,

In the town of Haven, is a thriving village. It has one of the best granite quarries in the State. The State, in 1887, located here its reformatory school, receiving a donation of two hundred acres of land, covered with gray and variegated granite. The village was surveyed and platted in August, 1853; Geo. F. Brott & Co., proprietors.

CLEAR LAKE

Was surveyed and platted March 24, 1882; Alanson Potter and wife, proprietors.

BECKER

Was surveyed and platted Dec. 5, 1870; J. Freeman and H. C. Fridley, proprietors. Mr. Vadnais was the first settler, in 1855.

BIG LAKE,

Originally Humboldt village, is located on Elk river, ten miles above its junction with the Mississippi. Its first settler was Joseph Brown, a veteran pioneer, but not to be confounded with the invincible Joe R. Brown, elsewhere referred to. Mr. Brown came here in 1848, and made substantial improvements. He died in 1886. His family still reside here. James Ely and Newell Houghton also settled here in 1884. Mr. Houghton was killed at the New Ulm massacre in 1862.

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS NICKERSON was born in New Salem, Franklin county, Maine, March 30, 1825. He received an academic education; taught school and followed farming in Maine. In 1849 he came to St. Anthony Falls, and in 1853 settled at Elk River, which then contained but one house, a hewed log structure, which he, in company with B. F. Hildreth, purchased for a hotel. The house has been enlarged from time to time, and has been continuously under the charge of Mr. Nickerson. He has besides employed much of his time in farming and lumbering, and has dealt in village lots. He was appointed postmaster at an early day. He has filled various responsible offices, among them that of county treasurer and town and county supervisor. He was married to Julia A. Farnham, of St. Anthony Falls, Oct. 2, 1852. They have five children.

HENRY BITTNER was born in Bavaria in 1799; came to America in his boyhood; enlisted in the United States Army in 1835; served in the Mexican War; was present at the battle of Buena Vista, and when the American forces were surrounded performed a daring feat, carrying a dispatch from Gen. Taylor through the Mexican lines to an American fort. He was a target for the bullets of the Mexican Army, but arrived at his destination severely wounded. He was discharged on account of his wounds. In 1855 he came to Clear Lake and made him a home. He offered himself as a volunteer during the late Civil War, but was not received on account of age and disability. He died at his home at Clear Lake in 1885.

FRANCIS DE LILLE, of French descent, was born in Canada in 1782. He came with his family to St. Anthony in 1848, and in 1852 to Elk River, where he occupied the first house built in the lower town. He settled on a farm, where he lived the remainder of his life. He died April 18, 1874, under peculiar circumstances. He was a devout Catholic, and died suddenly in the church while kneeling during a part of the service. His widow and youngest son reside at the old homestead.

MRS. DE LILLE, formerly Catharine Queenan, of Ireland, is one of the oldest settlers of Sherburne county. She has eight children living, Mary F., married and living in Dakota; Frank, Agnes; Elisabeth, married to Peter Trump of Taylor's Falls; Harriet, wife of Joseph Holt, of Taylor's Falls; Joseph F., Rosanna and Sarah, all married.

HOWARD M. ATKINS was born in New Sharon, Franklin county, Maine, May 11, 1838. His father was stricken down by lightning, leaving him at the age of thirteen to assist in taking care of the family. Howard was near his father and was struck senseless by the same flash that deprived him of a father. Recovering, he set himself earnestly and seriously to the duties of life, performed his allotted tasks about the household, and succeeded in obtaining a good high school education. He came to Princeton, Mille Lacs county, in 1856, studied law and was admitted to practice in Mille Lacs county in 1863. Subsequently he practiced law five years in St. Cloud. He came to Elk River in 1876. He has held official positions in Mille Lacs, Stearns and Sherburne counties. Mr. Atkins has acquired an honorable position through his own exertions and richly deserves the respect of his fellow citizens. He was married in 1862 to Virginia Sinclair, of Illinois. They have two sons and four daughters.

B. F. HILDRETH was born in Milford, Maine, March, 1822. He learned the trade of a blacksmith and came to St. Anthony in 1849, and the year following did part of the crew work of the first steamer launched on the Mississippi above the falls. Since then he has engaged chiefly in lumbering and farming. In 1850 he was married to M. E. Farnham, of St. Anthony. He removed to Elk River in 1873.

SAMUEL HAYDEN was born Oct. 12, 1806, at Madison, Maine. He came to Livonia, Sherburne county, in 1856. He has a family of four sons and three daughters, residents of Minnesota. His brother, the Hon. Wentworth Hayden, was a member of the constitutional convention of 1857.

The writer of these sketches had known Mr. Samuel Hayden in early life, and distinctly remembered seeing him the winter of 1827, driving an ox team in the pineries on Dead river, Maine. He was then a young man of twenty-one, and the writer was a boy of ten. Sixty years later they met in Sherburne county, and the writer recognized in the aged man of eighty-one years the young man of twenty-one, though for the moment unable to call his name. It is seldom that memory bridges so wide a chasm.

JOSEPH JEROME settled in the town of Haven in 1846, and is therefore among the first of the pioneers. In 1848 he sold his property to Samuel Sturgis and removed to Michigan.

JOSHUA O. CATER came from Stafford county, New Hampshire, and was one of the earliest settlers of the town of Haven, where he still lives.

J. F. BEAN also came from New Hampshire to Sherburne county, and is now a resident of Livonia, and postmaster at Lake Fremont.

J. H. FELCH, of Maine, an early settler of Livonia, is now living at Elk River.

JAMES BRADY came to Palmer in 1855. He died about 1868.

JOSHUA BRIGGS settled in Palmer in 1855, and died there in 1881.

ROBERT ORROCK, for whom the town of Orrock was named, died at his home, at a good old age, January, 1885.

JOHN G. JAMIESON died at Elk River in 1869.

A. B. HEATH removed to Oregon in 1873, where he still lives.

DR. B. R. PALMER, for whom the town of Palmer was named, was a resident of Sauk Centre and died there in 1885.

JUDGE MOSES SHERBURNE, for whom the county was named, died at Elk River in 1869.

CHAS. F. GEORGE, who settled in Santiago in 1856, is at present chairman of the board of county commissioners.

ROYAL GEORGE, a pioneer of the same date, returned to Vermont, where he died in 1887.

W. L. BABCOCK, a merchant of Santiago, still resides here.