CHAPTER XIII.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
JESSE TAYLOR, the first permanent settler of Taylor's Falls, came to
the Falls in 1838, as narrated in the general history of the village.
Nothing is known of his life before coming to the Falls, except that
he was originally from Kentucky, and lived at Fort Snelling, where he
was employed as a stonemason. By the death of his associate, B. F.
Baker, he came into possession of the mill property and its
belongings. This he sold to Joshua L. Taylor in 1846, and removed to
Stillwater, where he took a contract for stone work on the prison
walls. His name appears as a member of the house from Stillwater in
the territorial legislature for 1851 and 1852. He was married in 1844
to Abigail, daughter of widow Edwards, of Stillwater. He left
Stillwater in 1853.
JOSHUA L. TAYLOR was born in Sanbornton, New Hampshire, in 1816. In
1836 he removed to Alton, Illinois, where he lived until 1840, when he
came to Taylor's Falls in the employ of the St. Croix Falls Lumber
Company. In 1846 he purchased the property of Jesse Taylor. He engaged
in logging until 1849, meanwhile pre-empting portions of the site of
Taylor's Falls. In the fall of 1849 he went to California, and was
fairly successful in his mining ventures. He returned to Taylor's
Falls in 1852, where he has since resided. He was married in October,
1856, at Skowhegan, Maine, to Clarinda Wyman. Mrs. Taylor died May 4,
1860, leaving no children. Mr. Taylor built a fine residence in 1856,
on block 1, River street, Taylor's Falls, commanding a beautiful view
of the river. Mrs. Gilmore, a sister of Mr. Taylor, and her daughter
Mary, lived with him many years. Mrs. Gilmore died in 1868. Mary
Gilmore was married to D. G. Sampson in 1881 and now lives in Ashland.
Mr. Taylor had many opportunities of entering public life, but, with a
solitary exception, declined them. At the organization of the
territory of Minnesota, in 1849, he was appointed United States
marshal, but declined. He was afterward appointed warden of the
penitentiary at Stillwater, and served two years.
NATHAN C. D. TAYLOR, elder brother of Joshua, was born in Sanbornton,
New Hampshire, in 1810; removed to Alton, Illinois, in 1832 and was
for several years in the employ of Godfrey, Gilman & Co., merchants of
Alton. Mr. Taylor came to St. Croix Falls in 1846. He was one of the
original pre-emptors of the site of Taylor's Falls. In 1852 he engaged
with Patrick Fox in the mercantile business. They carried on an
extensive trade in goods and logs until 1858. The firm of Taylor & Fox
erected a good store building on lot 16, block 15. He was a member of
the house in the fifth and seventh territorial legislatures, and
speaker of the fifth. In 1866 he was elected county treasurer of
Chisago county, and thereafter to the same office continuously for ten
years. Mr. Taylor never married. He died at Taylor's Falls, March 20,
1887.
THOMAS F. MORTON was born in South Carolina. He came to St. Croix
Falls in 1840. In 1850 he settled on a farm adjoining Taylor's Falls,
known as the Jerry Ross claim. He pre-empted the southwest quarter of
section 25. In 1852 he was married to Mrs. Margaret Boyce, his second
wife, mother of Silas Boyce, of Amador. He followed farming
successfully a few years, and in 1862 enlisted in his country's
service, as a private in Company C, Seventh Minnesota Volunteer
Infantry, and along with his friends Colby and Guard did noble
service, participating in several battles, in one of which, the battle
of Nashville, he was wounded by the bursting of a shell. He remained
with the regiment, however, until, disabled by his wound and by
sickness at the siege of Spanish Fort, he was compelled to return
home. He never recovered his health, but in 1867 peacefully passed
away. He was a good man, a brave soldier, and an exemplary Christian.
HENRY N. SETZER.--Mr. Setzer is a descendant of a North German family.
He was born in Montgomery county, Missouri, Oct. 6, 1825, and received
his education at home, which he left at the age of fourteen years,
and afterward at St. Charles College, Missouri. In 1843 Mr. Setzer
came to the St. Croix valley, where he engaged in lumbering for
himself and others, and devoted some time to public affairs. From 1843
to 1854 he resided alternately at Stillwater, Marine, Taylor's Falls
and Chengwatana. Mr. Setzer represented the Fourth district, including
Marine, Rush Lake, Rice River and Snake River precincts, in the house
of the first territorial legislature, and the First district,
including the counties of Washington, Itasca, Chisago, Superior and
Doty, in the council of the seventh and eighth territorial
legislatures. He was a member of the Democratic wing of the
constitutional convention in 1857. In 1857 he was appointed warden of
the state prison at Stillwater, which position he held until 1860,
when he was appointed register of the land office at Cambridge, Isanti
county. He held this position until April,1861. Having devoted his
leisure time to the study of law, and having been admitted to practice
in the supreme court of Minnesota, he concluded to devote himself
entirely to practice. He established a law office in Taylor's Falls
with L. K. Stannard. He removed to Superior City in 1869, to Duluth in
1874, and returned to Taylor's Falls in 1877. He has served as town
and county attorney in Chisago county for many years, and has an
extensive practice in the higher courts.
PATRICK FOX was born in Tipperary county, Ireland, in 1819; came with
his parents to America in 1823, and to Davenport, Iowa, in 1836. In
1841 he came to St. Croix Falls, where he lived three years, moving
thence to Stillwater, where he engaged in logging until 1851, when he
removed to Taylor's Falls and engaged in lumbering for a year, then
entered into a mercantile partnership with N. C. D. Taylor. The firm
closed business in 1858. Mr. Fox has been a public spirited citizen,
contributing freely of his means for the improvement of the village,
aiding in opening roads, building levees and bridges, and school
houses, before such enterprises could be paid for out of tax revenues.
Mr. Fox represented Chisago county in the second legislature, 1860.
Mr. Fox is a good neighbor, industrious and temperate. He was married
at Davenport, Iowa, to Elisabeth Riley. They have three sons and two
daughters. The eldest daughter is the wife of Clarence Peaslee; the
second daughter became the wife of Winfield P. Larcy, of Dakota, in
1886.
W. F. COLBY was born in Whitefield, Maine, June 12, 1818. In his early
life he was a sailor. He came to St. Croix Falls in 1843. He was
married to Salina De Attly in 1849, and removed to the west side of
the river, where he located on the Otis farm which he had previously
bought. He followed lumbering and farming and kept a lodging house for
travelers. He built a good house, and the first frame barn in Chisago
county. He sold his property, consisting of one hundred and sixty
acres and improvements, for $8,000. In 1862 Mr. Colby enlisted in
Company C, Seventh Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and served until the
close of the war as sergeant. Mr. Colby is a bluff, square, outspoken
man, hearty in his manner, and somewhat sailor-like in his expressions
though almost a lifetime has passed since he trod the deck of a
vessel.
OSCAR ROOS was born in West Gothland, Sweden, in 1827. He came to
America in 1850, and located in Taylor's Falls, where he has since
resided continuously, taking an active part in public affairs, and a
deep interest in everything pertaining to the growth of the village
and county. Mr. Roos was postmaster at Taylor's Falls 8 years,
register of deeds 8 years, register of the land office 5 years, and
county treasurer 8 years. He is engaged in exchange, loaning money,
etc., and has a branch office in Centre City. He was married to Hannah
Swanstrom in 1870.
SAMUEL THOMSON, a Pennsylvanian by birth, came to Taylor's Falls in
1851, and in company with Ansel Smith built the Chisago House, a
notable enterprise at that time, as neither the resources of the
village or surrounding country had been developed in such a way as to
give any assurance of success. Mr. Thomson removed in 1854 to Polk
county; and settled on a farm in Osceola, where he made himself an
attractive and pleasant home. His farm has long been celebrated for
its trout pond. Mr. Thomson has given much attention and been quite
successful in fish culture. The farm was sold in 1885, and Mr.
Thompson removed to Arkansas, where he died Nov. 5, 1886.
SUSAN THOMSON, sister of Samuel Thomson, taught the first school in
Taylor's Falls, in 1852. She had just come from Pennsylvania, and had
traveled on horseback from Stillwater, there being no carriage roads
above Marine. She was married to Daniel Mears, of Osceola, in 1852.
GEORGE DE ATTLY, a native of Virginia, came to St. Croix Falls with
his family in 1847, and removed to Taylor's Falls in 1851, locating in
section 25, and making a pre-emption. He was a carpenter. He raised a
large and respected family. One son is in the Black Hills, Dakota
Territory. His oldest daughter is the wife of Wm. F. Colby, of
Taylor's Falls. His second daughter was the widow of Jacob Markley.
His third daughter is the wife of Alvah Brown. One son, George,
resides in Taylor's Falls. Mr. De Attly died in Nebraska.
JACOB MARKLEY came from Virginia to the St. Croix valley in 1847,
settling first at St. Croix Falls, and in 1851 locating at Taylor's
Falls, where he pre-empted the northeast quarter of the northeast
quarter of section 24. He went to Montana in 1869, where he died a
tragic death. His widow and two children reside in the Black Hills,
Dakota.
JOHN DOBNEY was born in England in 1820; came to America when a child,
to Stillwater in 1845, and to Taylor's Falls in 1852. He followed
logging for many years, and made himself a permanent home on a farm in
Amador, on the banks of the St. Croix river, in 1858. He was married
to Eveline Page, in Michigan, in 1859.
WILLIAM DOBNEY, younger brother of John, came to Taylor's Falls from
Michigan in 1852, and engaged, with characteristic energy, in
lumbering and selling goods until his death, which was the result of
an accident, he having been thrown violently from a wagon which he was
driving, in the spring of 1871. He was married in 1855 to Fanny M.
Gray, who with two children survives him. The oldest, a son, is
married and resides in Minneapolis. The daughter is the wife of Dr.
Greely Murdock, of Taylor's Falls.
HENRY H. NEWBURY came to St. Croix Falls in 1849, and to Taylor's
Falls in 1852. Mr. Newbury is a practical surveyor and explorer. He
served as county surveyor and commissioner many years. He was married
first to Sarah Ayers, widow of E. R. St. Clair, who died in 1874. In
1880 he was married to Fanny M. Gray, widow of Wm. Dobney.
EMIL MUNCH was born in Prussia in 1831; came to America in 1849, and
to Taylor's Falls in 1852, where, until 1857, he worked at the
carpenter's trade, when he removed to Chengwatana, Pine county, and
engaged in lumbering and dealing in pine lands. He served as register
of deeds in Pine county, and represented Washington, Chisago, Pine and
Kanabec counties in the house of the third legislature in 1861. He
enlisted at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, Oct. 16, 1861, as a private in
the First Minnesota Battery, and was chosen captain on the following
month; was wounded at Shiloh, April 5, 1862; returned to his battery
in September of the same year, took part in the battle of Corinth,
October 4th and 5th, and in the after campaign was appointed chief of
artillery, in October, 1862, and from effects of exposure on the march
was forced to resign in the December following, but again entered the
service to fight the Sioux Indians on the Minnesota frontier in May,
June and July, 1863. He entered the Veteran Reserve Corps in August,
1863. At the close of the war, in 1865, he settled in St. Paul and
acted as deputy state treasurer. In 1868 he was elected state
treasurer and held the office until 1872. Mr. Munch lost most of his
property in a long litigation, in consequence of some unfortunate
ventures in buying pine lands. Subsequent to his term of office as
state treasurer he removed to Lakeland and engaged in the lumber
business. In 1875 he removed to Afton where he took charge of a
flouring mill. He was married in 1865 to Bertha Segar. He died Aug.
30, 1887.
ALVIN MASON WILMARTH.--Mr. Wilmarth came from Massachusetts to the
valley of the St. Croix in 1849, and to Taylor's Falls in 1852. He has
followed lumbering and farming. Mr. Wilmarth is a steady, temperate
man.
LUCIUS KINGSBURY STANNARD was born in Franklin county, Vermont, July
6, 1825. He had good educational advantages and improved them. He
completed his literary course at Barkersfield Academic Institute,
Vermont, afterward studied law at St. Albans, and was admitted to the
bar in 1850. In 1852 he came West and located at Taylor's Falls, where
for some years he had charge of the business of Taylor & Fox. In 1857
he was a member of the territorial legislature, representing in the
house the counties of Washington, Itasca, Chisago, Superior, and Doty.
He was a member of the Republican wing of the constitutional
convention of 1857. He represented Chisago, Pine and Isanti counties
in the state senate of 1859-60. He was a member of the house of the
thirteenth legislature, 1871, representing Washington, Chisago, Pine
and Kanabec counties. He held the position of receiver in the United
States land office at Taylor's Falls from 1861 to 1870. He was the
first lawyer admitted to practice in the courts of Chisago county. He
was associated in his law practice for several years with H. N.
Setzer. He has served as prosecuting attorney and probate judge. He
served several years as county surveyor. He has, in later years, been
engaged in the lumbering and mercantile business, in the firm of
Ellison & Stannard. In October, 1884, he was appointed register in the
land office, which position he now holds. Mr. Stannard has a very
pleasant home within the village limits, but some distance beyond the
settled portion. He is a man of sound judgment, of grave and almost
severe demeanor, outspoken and positive in his views, but withal a
reliable citizen and kind neighbor. He was married in 1858 to Harriet
Stevenson, in St. Louis. They have one son, Luke.
JAMES W. MULLEN was born in Nova Scotia in 1830. He came to Davenport,
Iowa, in 1843. He commenced life on a steamboat at the age of fourteen
years. He was employed on the steamer Boreas, plying between St. Louis
and Keokuk, and followed river life most of the time until 1878. In
1885 he built the Vincent House, St. Croix. Taylor's Falls has been
his home at different times since his marriage in 1854. He was married
to Margaret Riley, of Davenport, Iowa. Their children are William,
Edward and Elsa.
DAVID CANEDAY was born in Vermont in 1830, and settled in Taylor's
Falls in 1853. Mr. Caneday has devoted much of his time to prospecting
as a mineralogist. During the years 1861-62 he edited the _St. Croix
Monitor_, and from 1881-84 the _St. Croix Dalles_. In 1862 he enlisted
in Company C., Seventh Minnesota Infantry, and served till the close
of the war. His record as a soldier was good. After the battle of
Tupelo he volunteered to remain with the wounded, of whom there were
about sixty, in the hands of the enemy. Two of these wounded were
comrades and friends in Company C., Andrew J. Colby and John S.
Swenson. The former died. Mr. Caneday remained at great personal risk,
and saw the inside of several prisons before being exchanged. After
his return Mr. Caneday engaged in mining and prospecting, except such
time as he edited the _St. Croix Dalles_. He is now mining on Kettle
river, in Pine county, Minnesota, and in Burnett county, Wisconsin. He
was married in 1865 to Laura, daughter of Judge N. M. Humphrey.
GEORGE B. FOLSOM was born in St. Johns, New Brunswick, April 9, 1815.
He was married to Deborah Sawyer, October, 1842, and came to Taylor's
Falls in 1853, where he engaged in lumbering. In 1855 he removed to
Rush Seba, locating in section 14. He was the first settler in the
town and raised the first crops; built the first log and the first
frame house, and was prominent in advancing the educational and other
interests of the town. He was appointed postmaster in 1856, and held
the office fourteen years. He held the office of county commissioner
ten years. In 1875 he was appointed receiver of the land office at
Taylor's Falls, which office he held for ten years, since which time
he has resided in the village.
AARON M. CHASE was born in Machias, Maine, April 7, 1813. He received
a home and common school education. In the fall of 1848 he came to St.
Anthony and engaged in lumbering. He and Sumner Farnham ran the first
logs down the Mississippi from Rabbit river to Fort Ripley and St.
Anthony, in 1849. In the spring of 1849, in company with Pat Morin, he
built a tow boat, clearing for that purpose a tow path on the eastern
side of the river a distance of eighty miles. He carried freight for
the American Fur Company, but the introduction of steamboats put an
end to this enterprise. In the fall of 1849 he went to St. Louis and
remained there till August, 1850, when he returned North, locating at
the outlet of Balsam lake, Polk county, Wisconsin, where he built a
saw mill. He built a dam and mill, bringing the materials together
without other team than himself and five men. After completing the
mill he engaged for some years in lumbering. He located at Taylor's
Falls in 1853. In 1869 he supervised the building of a series of dams
on streams tributary to the Upper St. Croix, the water collected by
them to be used at low stages to float logs to the St. Croix and down
that stream to Stillwater. These dams are operated under a charter
from the state of Wisconsin, and have proved a great benefit to the
lumbermen. Mr. Chase is president of the company. He is a man of
strong, clear mind, deliberate in action, positive in his opinions and
pointed in his expressions, and withal a kind hearted, generous and
true man. Mr. Chase is unmarried.
PETER ABEAR was born in Canada East in 1830; came to Stillwater in
1850, but subsequently removed to Taylor's Falls where, in 1855, he
was married to Kitty Wickland, who died in 1860, leaving a son,
Franklin E., merchant at Anoka. Mr. Abear married again. His second
wife died in 1868, leaving a daughter, Mary. Mr. Abear married a third
wife, who died in 1874, leaving no children. Mr. Abear is a machinist
but has given much of his attention to farming.
LEVI W. FOLSOM was born in Tamworth, Carroll county, New Hampshire,
Sept. 25, 1821. He was fitted for college at Gilmanton, entered Penn
College at Gettsyburg, Pennsylvania, and graduated in 1848. Returning
to New England, he studied law at Cornish, Maine, with Caleb R. Ayer,
and was admitted to practice in the county of Carroll, New Hampshire.
He came to Taylor's Falls in 1854, and was admitted to practice in the
supreme court of Minnesota, and practiced law for a period of fifteen
years, when he engaged in real estate and other business. He is a
pleasant and agreeable speaker, stands high in the masonic fraternity,
is an ardent and uncompromising Democrat, a positive man with strong
home and social feelings. He has been vice president of the Taylor's
Falls branch of the St. Paul & Duluth railroad since its organization.
He was married in 1859 to Abbie Shaw, in St. Paul.
EDDINGTON KNOWLES was born in Kentucky in 1821; came to St. Croix
Falls in 1844, and followed lumbering. He was married to Ann Carroll
at Taylor's Falls in 1854, and made his residence at Taylor's Falls.
He enlisted for service during the Rebellion in the Third Minnesota
Volunteers, but was discharged for disability before the close of the
war. He died at Hayward, Wisconsin, in 1883, leaving a widow and three
children. His oldest daughter is the wife of Douglas Greely, of
Stillwater. His body was brought to the Taylor's Falls cemetery for
interment.
DR. LUCIUS B. SMITH.--Dr. Smith was the first regular physician in
Taylor's Falls, having located here in 1854. He was born in Berlin,
Erie county, Ohio, in the year 1824. He was married in 1849, and after
some years' practice of medicine in his native town he came West and
located in Taylor's Falls, where he resided until 1862, when he was
appointed surgeon of the Seventh Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, in
which regiment were many of his friends and associates. He performed
well his duties in that position, but was killed on the day preceding
the battle of Tupelo, the division to which he belonged having been
ambuscaded by Forrest's troops. His remains were carried to the field
of Tupelo and there buried, but have since been removed to Kahbakong
cemetery, at Taylor's Falls. Dr. Smith was a tall man, of fine
presence, with the air of an officer, for which reason, doubtless,
some sharpshooter singled him out for destruction. Dr. Smith left a
widow, one son, Charles, and one daughter, Mary, the wife of J. W.
Passmore. His widow was married to E. D. Whiting. Both are deceased.
WILLIAM COMER was born in Cheshire county, England, in 1812; was
married to Elisabeth Davis; came to America in 1846 and located in St.
Louis, where he remained until 1852, when he removed to Pike county,
Illinois. In 1854 he removed to St. Croix Falls and in 1855 to
Taylor's Falls, where he has since resided. He has been treasurer of
Chisago county two terms, and four years register of the United States
land office. For a number of years he has held the position of town
and bridge treasurer. He and his two sons, George and William, are
engaged in the mercantile business. His daughter, Eleanor, is the wife
of Benj. Thaxter, of Minneapolis.
DR. ERASTUS D. WHITING.--The Whiting family, consisting of three
brothers, Erastus D., Selah and Charles B., came to Taylor's Falls in
1855, and for many years were prominent merchants and business men in
the village. Erastus D. Whiting was born in Vernon Centre,
Massachusetts, in 1811. He was educated in the common schools and at
Westfield Academy. At the age of sixteen he commenced reading medicine
and graduated at the Ohio Medical College in 1832. He practiced three
years in Ashtabula, Ohio, and twenty years in Pike county, Illinois.
When he came to Taylor's Falls he retired from practice and engaged in
the mercantile and lumbering business until 1867. During this time he
served in two sessions of the Minnesota legislature as representative,
1860-61. In 1869 he visited Europe. He died in Taylor's Falls in 1880.
He was twice married; first in 1837, to Emily Bradley, who died in
1866; and second in ----, to Mrs. Smith (widow of Dr. L. B. Smith),
who died in 1872.
SELAH WHITING was born in Connecticut; came West to Pike county,
Illinois, in 1836, and to Taylor's Falls in 1855. He engaged in the
mercantile business. His wife died in 1867. He died in 1868.
CHARLES B. WHITING was born in Litchfield county, Connecticut; came to
Pike county, Illinois, in 1836, and to Taylor's Falls in 1855. He was
associated with his brothers in the mercantile business. He was
register of the land office four years and served as United States
marshal during the war. His first wife died in Taylor's Falls. He was
married to Flavilla Blanding in 18--. Mr. Whiting died in 1873.
FREDERIC TANG was born in Prussia in 1819. He learned the trade of
house carpenter and served in the Prussian Army one year. He was
married in Germany, in 1850; came to America in 1852 and to Taylor's
Falls in 1856. He served three years in Company C, Seventh Minnesota,
during the Rebellion. One son, Frederic, resides at Taylor's Falls,
engaged in lumbering. His oldest daughter, Pena, is the wife of Ernest
Leske, of Taylor's Falls. His second daughter, Bertha, is the wife of
David Bowsher, of Dakota. Mr. Tang died in November, 1887.
WARD W. FOLSOM was born in 1822, in Tamworth, New Hampshire; was
married to Matilda Stedman in 1844; came to Taylor's Falls in 1856,
where he kept a boarding house for several years. He died at his home,
Sept. 28, 1884. His eldest son, Charles W., was editor of the Taylor's
Falls _Reporter_ for several years. He was married to Luella Gray in
1865. He died in 1872. Edward H., his second son, for some years has
edited the Taylor's Falls _Journal_. He started and conducted for some
years the Stillwater _Lumberman_. He was married to Susie Way, in
September, 1868.
GEORGE W. SEYMOUR was born in Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, in
1828, and came to Taylor's Falls in 1857, where he has since resided,
following the occupation of druggist, but occasionally holding a town
office. Mr. Seymour held the positions of postmaster and justice of
the peace for several years, and has been secretary of the Taylor's
Falls & Lake Superior railroad since its organization. Mr. Seymour is
an active member of the masonic fraternity, an ardent Democrat and
thoroughly trustworthy and reliable as a man and friend. He is
unmarried.
JAMES A. WOOLLEY, a native of England, came to Taylor's Falls in 1857.
He was an engineer and in my employ as engineer and foreman in the
pinery for fourteen years, during which period our association was
quite intimate, and I learned to know him and esteem him as a true
friend, and faithful to all his obligations as a man. He was a true
Christian and died in full hope of immortality. He promised, when he
knew himself to be dying, to return to earth and revisit me if
possible, but so far has not returned. He died in 1874. His family
removed to Dakota. His oldest son, John Alley, was killed in
Washington Territory by a premature explosion of a blast in a mine, by
which nineteen others were killed at the same time. Alida married
William McKenzie and resides at Grand Forks, Dakota. Frank W. F., the
youngest son, also lives in Dakota.
PATRICK CARROLL, was of Irish birth. His wife is a sister of Patrick
Fox. He is about ninety years of age. They have had two sons, Joseph
and one drowned, and three daughters, one the wife of E. Knowles,
deceased, the other two becoming respectively the first and second
wife of John O'Brien. Mr. O'Brien has two daughters, Minnie and
Lizzie, and three sons, William, Joseph and Daniel.
JOSEPH CARROLL was born at Davenport, Iowa, in 1840; came to St. Croix
when a boy, early in the 50's, and worked for his uncle, Patrick Fox,
in the pinery; was married to Mary Cotter at Davenport, Iowa, in 1858.
He resided at Taylor's Falls until 1861, when he enlisted in a Kansas
regiment. He was severely wounded at Springfield, Missouri. He was
subsequently transferred to a heavy artillery company of colored
troops from Tennessee, and commissioned a lieutenant. He was at Fort
Pillow during the massacre, was taken prisoner and confined at
Andersonville eighteen months. After his dismissal he went to Memphis
and was employed in the police service until 1867, when he and his
wife died of yellow fever, leaving two daughters, one the wife of
Edward St. John, of Marine, the other of Geo. W. Booth, of Taylor's
Falls.
REV. E. E. EDWARDS was born in Delaware, Ohio, Jan. 26, 1831; was
educated at Indiana Asbury University, and has been employed most of
his life in educational work, serving as president of Whitewater
College, Indiana, professor of Latin in Hamline University, professor
of natural sciences at St. Charles and McKendre colleges, and
president of the Colorado State Agricultural College. Mr. Edwards came
to Taylor's Falls in the winter of 1860, and remained two years as
pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church, and teacher in the Chisago
Seminary. During the last year of the war he was chaplain of the
Seventh Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. In the winter of 1885 he again
became pastor of the Taylor's Falls Methodist Episcopal church. He was
married in 1854 to Alice L. Eddy, of Cincinnati, Ohio. His family
consists of four sons and one daughter.
STEPHEN J. MERRILL was born in Schoharie county, New York, in 1827;
came to the St. Croix valley in 1848, and to Taylor's Falls in 1861.
He was married to Caroline Nelson in 1861. They have six sons and one
daughter. He has a beautiful and well improved homestead within the
town limits, adjoining the cemetery.
[Illustration: REV. E. E. EDWARDS.]
NOAH MARCUS HUMPHREY was born in 1809, at Goshen, Smithfield
Connecticut. He removed to Ohio in 1833, served in the Ohio
legislature in 1852 and 1853, and was for six years judge of probate
court in Summit county. He was married twice, the second time to Mrs.
Young, in 1840. His first wife left two children, Mark, for some time
a resident of Taylor's Falls, now deceased, and Laura, wife of David
Caneday. Judge Humphrey has been justice of the peace in Taylor's
Falls for twenty years, and postmaster for as many more. He was judge
of probate court for ten years, and has recently been re-elected to
that position.
ROYAL C. GRAY was born in Bakersfield, Vermont, October, 1832. He
spent his early life in Vermont and Massachusetts. He came West in
1850, and located in Kanabec county, where he farmed and kept a public
house at Greely station, on Kanabec river, until 1860, when he
returned to Massachusetts. In 1864 he returned to the St. Croix valley
and located in Taylor's Falls, where he still resides. He has been
employed by the St. Paul & Duluth Railroad Company for ten years as
surveyor and explorer, and holds some valuable pine lands. In 1861 Mr.
Gray was married to Ann Eliza Johnson, in Massachusetts. They have one
son, Orin.
JOHN PHILIP OWENS.--William Owens, the father of John Philip, came to
America from North Wales, and served as a soldier in the war of 1812.
John Philip was born Jan. 6, 1818. His father died seven years later,
and the son was brought up on a farm by a stepfather. He received an
academic education at Cincinnati, Ohio. At the age of seventeen he
commenced learning the printer's trade, served as an apprentice four
years, and graduated on his twenty-first birthday. Having some means
inherited from his father, he commenced a newspaper enterprise at
Cincinnati, invested and lost all his money. For several years he was
engaged as a reporter and assistant editor on various papers in
Cincinnati, Louisville, Vicksburg and New Orleans. In 1849 he formed a
business partnership with Nat. McLean, of Cincinnati, to establish a
paper at St. Paul. He arrived at St. Paul May 27th of that year. The
first number of the _Minnesota Register_ was printed in Cincinnati and
brought to St. Paul for distribution in July. In October the paper was
united with the _Minnesota Chronicle_, and so published until July,
1850, when it was discontinued. In 1851 Mr. Owens and G. W. Moore
started the _Weekly Minnesotian_, adding in 1854 a daily and
tri-weekly edition. The _Minnesotian_ was ably edited, and was
Republican in politics. Owing to poor health, Mr. Owens sold his
interest in the _Minnesotian_. In 1862 he was appointed quartermaster
of the Ninth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. This regiment did service
in the State during the Sioux War, but in 1864 was ordered South and
attached to the Sixteenth Army Corps. Mr. Owens served as regimental
and brigade quartermaster until the close of the war. In April, 1868,
he was appointed register of the United States land office, which
position he held until his death, Sept. 11, 1884. He was first Grand
Master of the I. O. O. F. in Minnesota; He left at his death an
unpublished manuscript, "The Political History of the State of
Minnesota." His first wife was Helen McAllister, whom he married in
Ohio in 1848. She left an only daughter, Mary Helen. Mr. Owens' second
wife was Frances M. Hobbs, whom he married Oct. 26, 1853, in New York
City.
ANDREW CLENDENNING was born in 1798, in the north of Ireland. He was a
Protestant, united with the Methodist church when a young man and
proved ever after a consistent Christian, strong in his religious
convictions and a faithful worker. He crossed the ocean in 1835,
locating first at New Brunswick. In 1855 he came to Michigan, in 1859
to St. Croix Falls, in 1870 to Taylor's Falls, where he resided until
his death, in 1875. He left three sons in Taylor's Falls, Andrew,
James and George, and one son in Oregon. One son, Joseph, died in the
service of his adopted country, having enlisted in Company C, Seventh
Minnesota. One daughter, the wife of Thomas Thompson, of St. Croix
Falls, died in 1886.
SMITH ELLISON was born in Marine, Madison county, Illinois, March 15,
1823. He came to Marine Mills in 1844. For two years he was in the
employ of Judd, Walker & Co. The next three years he spent at Osceola,
Wisconsin. In 1849 he engaged in logging and continued in that
business for many years. In 1856 he settled on and improved a farm in
Sunrise. In 1868 he removed to Taylor's Falls and formed a partnership
with L. K. Stannard in the mercantile and lumbering business. Mr.
Ellison was a representative in the eighth legislature, and served as
county commissioner eight years. In late years he has been interested
in a saw, planing and flour mill at Stillwater. He is a stockholder
and director in the First National Bank at Stillwater and owns large
tracts of pine lands. He has applied himself closely to business, is
energetic, cautious and thoroughly reliable. Mr. Ellison is unmarried.
WYOMING
Includes township 33, range 21. The eastern half is well timbered, the
west has oak openings. Sunrise river flows in a northerly direction
through the township, and with its tributaries and numerous lakes
supplies it abundantly with water. There are some wild meadows and
tamarack swamps. Green lake, in the eastern part of the township, is a
picturesque sheet of water, five miles in length by one and a half
broad, with sloping timbered shores and cedar points projecting into
the lake, in one place forming a natural roadway nearly across, which
is connected with the mainland opposite by a bridge.
[Illustration: SMITH ELLISON.]
A colony from Eastern Pennsylvania settled the western part of the
township in 1855. The colony was composed of L. O. Tombler, Dr. John
W. Comfort, E. K. Benton, and some others, in all ten families. The
eastern part had been previously settled by Swedes. The township was
organized in 1858. The supervisors were J. W. Comfort, L. O. Tombler
and Fred Tepel. A post office was established at Wyoming with J. Engle
as postmaster. The Catholics and Methodists erected churches in 1864.
The St. Paul & Duluth railroad was completed in 1868, and in 1879 the
branch road to Taylor's Falls. The township was settled rapidly after
the completion of the railroad. At the junction of the two roads there
is a good depot, two stores and a fine hotel, the latter kept by L. O.
Tombler.
WYOMING VILLAGE
Was surveyed and platted by Ben. W. Brunson in 1869, in portions of
sections 17, 19 and 20, township 33, range 21; proprietors, Western
Land Association, L. Mendenhall, agent.
DEER GARDEN VILLAGE
Was surveyed and platted by Alex. Cairns, October, 1856, in sections 1
and 12, township 33, range 21; proprietor, Erastus S. Edgerton.
LUCIUS O. TOMBLER was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1823. His
ancestors were Moravians, who, driven from Germany in the eighteenth
century, came to America, and founded the colony of Bethlehem, a
colony famed for its thrift, advancement in educational matters, and
high morality. Mr. Tombler and his wife, Christiana Brown, to whom he
was married in 1845, were educated in the Moravian schools. They came
with the colony from Bethlehem to Wyoming in 1855, and built a two
story log hotel on the St. Paul and Lake Superior stage road, which
was long noted as a rest for the weary traveler and a home for the
invalid. Mr. Tombler was an energetic, worthy man, genial in his
manners, a good farmer, a good landlord, and an accomplished musician
besides. Mrs. Tombler possessed superior endowments as a landlady, and
the house soon gained widespread popularity with the traveling public.
The first hotel was burned in 1876, but the year following a more
commodious building was erected on the grounds, which, with its modern
improvements within, and its park-like surroundings, is more popular
with the traveling public than its predecessor. The Tombler family
consists of Charles A., the father of Lucius O., born in 1800, but
still hale and vigorous, in the possession of all his faculties, two
sons, Maurice and Milton, and one daughter, Laura. Charles A., the
grandfather, has received the thirty-third degree Scottish Masonic
rite.
DR. JOHN WOOLMAN COMFORT was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in
1804. He graduated at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, in
1836, and practiced medicine continuously, and, although an
accomplished graduate of an allopathic school, was a zealous advocate
and exponent of the Thompsonian system, in favor of which he published
several works. He was also for some years editor of the _Thompsonian
Medical Journal_. As a physician he was untiring, and impartial in the
performance of his duties, never refusing a medical call on account of
the poverty of the patient. He was especially kind to the poor. He
came to Wyoming with the colony in 1855, and died there Feb. 9, 1881,
leaving a widow, since deceased, one son in Philadelphia, and two
daughters, Mrs. Markley, of Wyoming, and Mrs. Carter, of Melbourne,
Australia.
ISAAC MARKLEY was born in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, April 2,
1822. In the spring of 1849 he came westward, and engaged in
steamboating. He commanded the Uncle Toby, and in October, 1850, ran
his steamboat from St. Louis to Taylor's Falls for the writer of this
work. He engaged in mercantile pursuits for some time in St. Paul, and
in 1871 came to Wyoming and located on a farm. He was married to
Frances, a daughter of Dr. Comfort. He died at his home, February,
1883.
JOEL WRIGHT was born in Pennsylvania in 1800, and came to Wyoming with
the Bethlehem colony in 1855. He is a blacksmith by trade, but has
also devoted himself to hunting and trapping. Mr. Wright has been
married three times, and has three children.
RANDALL WRIGHT, second son of the foregoing, was born in Pennsylvania
in 1828; was married to Anna Montgomery in 1850, and came to Wyoming
in 1855. He is a house carpenter by trade.
FREDERIC TEPEL was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1824; received a fair
education and learned the trade of blacksmithing. He came to America
in 1843, lived in New Orleans one year, in St. Louis ten years, in St.
Paul one year, and settled in Wyoming in 1855. In 1847 he was married
to Fredrica Wilmina, of St. Louis. They have seven children. Mr. Tepel
has held many town offices to the satisfaction of his townsmen. He has
been for forty years a member of the Methodist church. CHARLES HENRY
SAUER was born in Germany in 1824; served as a soldier in the German
Army three years, and in the twenty-fourth year of his age came to
America. The year following he returned to Europe and was married. In
1851 he took up his residence in Chicago, and in 1855 came to Wyoming,
and engaged in farming. He has three sons, Fred, Henry and Harvey, and
a daughter married to a Lutheran minister.