CHAPTER XVII.
BENTON COUNTY.
At the organization of Minnesota Territory three counties were
created, of which Benton was one. Its eastern boundary followed the
course of Rum river from its mouth to its junction with the west
branch and thence a line due north to the Mississippi river. The
boundary line upon the west followed the windings of the Mississippi
down to its junction with Rum river, making a county large and
irregular in outline, extending from north to south about one hundred
miles, and about forty at its widest point from east to west. The
formation of new counties since that time has left it with less than
eleven townships lying east of the Mississippi river and bounded on
the north by Morrison, on the east by Mille Lacs, and on the south by
Sherburne counties. The soil is diversified. There is black sandy loam
in the plains and a black vegetable mould in the timber, with clay
subsoils. It is a fair agricultural district, having groves of pine
and hardwood in the east and natural meadows, prairies and oak
openings in the central and western portions. It is well watered by
the Mississippi and its tributaries, Elk, Little Rock and Platte
rivers. It has some fine lakes, of which Mayhew, Briggs and Little
Rock are the largest. A granite formation underlies most of this
county and crops out in many places, furnishing valuable quarries. The
granite is plain and variegated and is being worked and shipped
extensively. Near the village of Watab there is a rich upheaval. The
St. Paul custom house is made of the Watab granite.
The Northern Pacific railway passes through this county parallel with
the channel of the Mississippi river. The Manitoba, St. Cloud &
Hinckley branch passes through the southern tier of towns. The
organized towns are Alberta, Gilmanton, Glendorado, Granite Lodge,
Maywood, Minden, Sauk Rapids, St. George, and Watab. The villages are
East St. Cloud, Foley, Oak Grove, Rice's, and Watab.
The first settlers were Philip Beaupre, in 1844; David Gilman, in
1848; Jeremiah Russell, Wm. H. Wood, James Beatty, Ellis Kling, Wm.
Smith, and J. C. Mayhew, in 1849. Sauk Rapids was made the county
seat, then Watab, then Sauk Rapids.
The first board of officers, qualified Jan. 7, 1850, were:
Commissioners, Wm. A. Aitkin, chairman; Joseph Brown and James Beatty;
assessors, Truman A. Warren and Reuben M. Richardson; attorney, W. D.
Phillips. The voting precincts were at Sauk Rapids, Swan River and
Crow Wing. The judges of election were: For Sauk Rapids, J. Russell,
Wm. Sturgis and Curtis Bellows; for Swan River, Philip Beaupre, James
Green and Duncan Stewart; for Crow Wing, Allen Morrison, Wm. Morrison
and Sylvester Stateler. The first election was held at Pierre
Bottineau's house, now in Sherburne county. George Egbert and Thomas
Holmes were judges of election.
The first court in the county was held Nov. 11, 1850; Bradley B.
Meeker, presiding. David Gilman was the first sheriff, John C. Hawley
the second. The first deed recorded was from James Hitchins to Wm. F.
Coblett. It bore date of Oct. 21, 1850. Taylor Dudley was register of
deeds. The land conveyed was a tract lying at the foot of Sauk Rapids,
being a land claim of one hundred and sixty acres, purchased from
Calvin Potter.
SAUK RAPIDS.
The site of the village of Sauk Rapids was judiciously chosen. It
slopes gently to the river's east bank, giving a pleasant frontage to
the rapids. Philip Beaupre came here first in 1844. His son, William
P., was the first white child here, born May 24, 1852. Geo. O. Sweet
was the second, born Aug. 22, 1852. Several Indian traders located
here and at Watab. Following Mr. Beaupre came T. A. Holmes, James
Beatty, J. Russell, Calvin Potter, James Hitchins, Curtis Bellows, and
Charles Webb. The first plat of Sauk Rapids was made and recorded in
1854. The proprietors were J. Russell, G. M. Sweet and S. Van Nest.
The surveyor was C. B. Chapman.
The village was incorporated in 1881. The commissioners appointed
under the general act to effect the organization were Alphonso J.
Demenles, Erasmus Cross, B. K. Knowlton. A wagon bridge built across
the Mississippi at this point cost $25,000. It was greatly damaged by
a storm, and partially destroyed by the cyclone of 1886.
The dam across the Mississippi at Sauk Rapids was built in 1870 at a
cost of $140,000. The east wing is owned by the Commodore Davidson
estate; the west, by the Sauk Rapids Manufacturing Company.
The rapids are formed by the eruption of granite ledges across the
channel of the river. A flour mill built here with a capacity of three
hundred barrels per day was totally destroyed by the cyclone of April
16, 1886, which was one of the most destructive on record. The
estimated loss in Sauk Rapids was $300,000, of which $108,000 was made
up by voluntary contributions from St. Paul, Minneapolis and other
portions of the State.
The public buildings, including the court house, school buildings and
several churches, were destroyed, together with many fine stores and
dwellings.
Since the cyclone the village has been handsomely rebuilt. A new court
house has replaced the old one at a cost of $6,000, a new school house
has been built at a cost of $12,000--a model building with rooms for
five departments. There are five new church buildings, an Episcopal,
Congregational, Methodist and two Lutheran.
WATAB.
Watab appears to have been a noted Indian trading post from 1844 to
1855. Asa White, D. Gilman, C. W. Borup, N. Myrick, Gen. Lowry, and
others were located, or had stations here. Watab was for a short time
the county seat of Benton county. A bridge was once built across the
Mississippi here, but it has disappeared. The village site was
surveyed and platted, and a post office established in 1853. P. Lamb
was postmaster. A steam saw mill was erected here, but was afterward
removed. The first improved farm in Benton county was located in the
vicinity. David Gilman, Benjamin Bright and George Goodhue were early
settlers.
PHILIP BEAUPRE was born in Lower Canada, in 1823. As his name
indicates, he is of French descent. He received a French education. He
came West in 1841; entered the employ of the fur company in 1843, and
located at Sauk Rapids in 1844. When he arrived there were no white
inhabitants, save Indian traders, on the Mississippi north of St.
Anthony. Mr. Beaupre built a log house in 1851, and was continuously
engaged in trade until succeeded by his sons. He assisted in forming
the county, town and village organizations, filling many offices of
trust and honor. In 1880 he served as judge of the probate court, and
since as collector of customs at Pembina. In 1851 he was married to
Teresa de Noyes, of St. Louis, and has a family of seven sons and six
daughters, all residing in Benton county.
DAVID GILMAN.--Hon. David Gilman, of Watab, was born April 29, 1812,
at Saratoga, New York. He was left fatherless at the age of six
months, and his mother subsequently placed him in the family of a
neighbor to be brought up and cared for until the age of twenty-one.
As he grew older he was not pleased with this arrangement, and at the
age of fourteen left his home to adventure for himself. His
opportunities for securing an education were limited. In 1836 he came
to Michigan. In 1844 he married Nancy W. Lamb, of Woodstock, Vermont.
In 1848 he came to Watab, Minnesota, and made him a permanent home,
making himself a useful, influential and public spirited citizen,
filling many positions of trust in his town, county and state
governments. Amongst the offices filled by him were those of deputy
United States marshal, member of the second territorial legislature,
and of the constitutional convention. He was postmaster at Watab from
the establishment of the office in 1849 until 1885, when he died,
greatly lamented by his friends and honored by all who knew him. Mrs.
Gilman and four children survive him.
JAMES BEATTY was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, April 27, 1816. When
fourteen years of age he went to Cass county, Michigan. He farmed for
the Winnebago Indians near Fort Atkinson, Iowa, for several years, and
coming to Minnesota in 1848 located at Sauk Rapids, which he made his
permanent home. He has been engaged as Indian trader, hotel keeper,
merchant and farmer. He was a member of the Minnesota territorial
legislatures of 1851, 1853 and 1854. He was married to Eliza Foscet,
of New York, in 1854. They have three children living.
ELLIS KLING was born in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, Oct. 15, 1824.
He was brought up as a farmer, and has made farming his occupation
through life. He came to Sauk Rapids in 1851. In 1854 he was married
to Lucy Lewis, of Belle Prairie. They have five sons and one daughter.
GEORGE W. BENEDICT.--Mr. Benedict was born at Rochester, New York, in
1827. He served an apprenticeship to a printer in Canada for five
years. In 1851 he was married to Anna Cronk, a native of Prince Edward
county, Canada. For four years he published the Tecumseh (Mich.)
_Herald_ and in 1854, having removed to Sauk Rapids, established the
_Frontiersman_ for Jeremiah Russell. This paper he conducted for three
years. He then conducted the _New Era_ for one year. In 1868 he
established the Sauk Rapids _Sentinel_, which he conducted four years,
when he started the Alexandria _Post_ and also became a member of a
company that published the St. Cloud _Press_, with which he was
connected one year. In 1872 he re-established the Sauk Rapids
_Sentinel_, which he sold to W. L. Nieman, but repurchased after the
cyclone of 1886. Mr. Benedict was in the United States revenue service
ten years, and served as a member of the state senate one term.
J. Q. A. WOOD was born in Chichester, New Hampshire, in 1815. He
graduated at Union College, New York, in 1843; studied law with
President Franklin Pierce; was admitted to practice in 1846, and made
his home at Sauk Rapids in 1854, which has been his home ever since,
with the exception of some years spent in Kentucky as editor of the
_Southern Kentucky Shield_. This paper was suppressed in 1862.
Returning to Sauk Rapids in 1864, he engaged in the practice of law,
in which he has since continued. During this period he served eleven
years as county attorney, and also a term as probate judge. Mr. Wood
was seriously injured in the great cyclone, having been buried in the
debris of the court house, from which, with great difficulty, he
extricated himself. Mr. Wood is a poetical writer of some reputation,
many of his productions having been received with great favor. Among
them we may mention "Father is Growing Old, John," "Ode to New
Hampshire," and "The Wine of Cyprus." He has one son, a resident of
Dakota, and one daughter, the wife of D. C. Roberts of West Superior.
WILLIAM H. WOOD was born in London, New Hampshire, Feb. 2, 1817. When
he was fourteen years of age his father removed to Tecumseh, Michigan.
He graduated at Dartmouth College in 1839 and afterward took a course
in Union College, New York, graduating in 1843. He then returned to
Tecumseh, Michigan, where he studied law with Judge Stacy. In 1845 he
was admitted to the bar in Lenawee county, Michigan. During the
presidential campaign of the year following he edited a paper in
Kentucky, the _Rough and Ready_, advocating the claims of Gen. Taylor
for the presidency. In 1848 he located in Greensburg, Kentucky, and in
1849 was married to a lady of refinement, known to the literary world
under the _nom de plume_ of "Minnie Mary Lee." In 1849 he removed to
Sauk Rapids, Minnesota. He was there editor of the pioneer paper, the
_Frontiersman_. He afterward owned, and with his gifted wife edited,
the _New Era_, in which he was an ardent supporter of Mr. Lincoln for
the presidency in 1860. Meanwhile he practiced his profession and held
the office of county attorney for many years. When the land office was
established at Sauk Rapids he was appointed receiver and served a
number of years. He was a member of the first state legislature. In
1869 he was elected president of the New Athens College, Greensburg,
Kentucky, and served a short time, when he contracted the disease that
afterward terminated his earthly career. Mr. Wood was a man of more
than ordinary ability, an eloquent speaker, a fluent and gifted
writer, whose influence will long be felt. He left a widow and three
children.
MRS. W. H. WOOD has been a liberal contributor to magazines and the
author of several volumes, of which a list is here appended: "The
Heart of Myrrha Lake;" "Into the Light of Catholicity;" "Hubert's
Wife;" "The Brown House at Duffield;" "Strayed from the Fold;" "Three
Times Three; or, Basil, Beatrice, Ethel;" "Story of Annette;" "Hazel
Green's Rival."
A. DE LACY WOOD, son of Mrs. W. H. Wood, edits the Two Harbor _Iron
Post_, in Lake county.
P. H. WOOD, second son of Mrs. W. H. Wood, edits the Sauk Rapids _Free
Press_.
REV. SHERMAN HALL was born in Weathersfield, Vermont; was educated at
Exeter Academy, Dartmouth College and Andover Theological Seminary. He
was married to Betsey Parker in 1831, and ordained the same year as a
missionary to the Chippewa Indians at La Pointe. With them he remained
until 1854, when he transferred his residence to Sauk Rapids and
organized a Congregational church, of which he continued pastor until
his death, Sept. 1, 1859. Mr. Hall made a translation of parts of the
Bible into the Ojibway tongue. He was greatly beloved amongst his
people for his firm, christian demeanor and publicly recognized as a
man of integrity and sound judgment. He served the people of Benton
county as judge of probate court and county superintendent of schools.
JEREMIAH RUSSELL was born in Eaton, Madison county, New York, Feb. 2,
1809. He received a common school and academic education, and learned
to set type in the office of the Chautauqua _Gazette_. He subsequently
taught school and worked for awhile in printing offices. Removing to
Palmyra, he clerked in a store several years. In 1835 he came to
Michigan, and thence to the Lake Superior country, where he
superintended a copper mine for a couple of years, at Left Hand river,
near the head of the lake. In 1837 he came to Fort Snelling, and in
1839 accompanied Frank Steele and others to St. Croix Falls, and
engaged in building a saw mill. In 1840 he went to Pokegama mission as
government farmer and blacksmith. About 1842, at the closing up of the
Pokegama mission in consequence of Indian disturbances, he purchased
the old Connor trading post and farm. In 1843, with Elam Greely, he
went down the St. Croix and up the Mississippi and Rum rivers in a
birch canoe, exploring for pine timber. They found Rum river blockaded
at one place a distance of three-quarters of a mile, with drifts or
rafts of trees, consolidated and held together by the roots of grasses
and water willows, the accumulations apparently of ages. Around this
raft they made a portage, and ascended a tributary of Rum river to its
source, thence down the Kanabec or Snake river to Pokegama. In 1848
Mr. Russell came to Crow Wing, Minnesota, as agent for Borup & Oakes,
Indian traders and fur dealers. In the autumn of 1849 he established
himself at a point two miles above Sauk Rapids, and opened up a farm
of one hundred and thirty acres. At the end of four years he moved
down the river and made a land claim on the west side, including the
water power of Sauk Rapids. He owned an interest also in the water
power on the east side. In 1854 he was one of the company that
surveyed and platted the village of Sauk Rapids. He established the
pioneer newspaper, the Sauk Rapids _Frontiersman_.
Mr. Russell for several years held the office of county auditor and
treasurer, and in 1849 was elected to the territorial legislature. His
name appears in the list of members, but he was present only at the
opening sessions, and voted for but a single measure. He had told his
constituents before his election that he would not serve. At this time
he was Democratic in politics but in later life voted the Republican
ticket. Mr. Russell possessed a warm, generous nature, combined with
integrity of character, which gained for him the love and esteem of
his many friends. Ever ready to extend a willing hand to those in
need, and, as far as lay in his power, to assist those in distress, he
will ever be remembered with kindly feelings by all who knew him.
Though exposed to all the temptations and vicissitudes of an early
settler's life, coming in contact with all kinds of social conditions,
he never departed from the path of christian rectitude, and those with
whom he came in contact will ever remember him for his kind
heartedness and gentlemanly bearing.
Sept. 20, 1843, he was united in marriage to Miss Sophia Oakes
(daughter of the late Chas. H. Oakes), who survives him. Seven
children were born unto them, but only three are now alive. These are
Mrs. W. L. Nieman, Miss Julia A. and Mr. J. A. Russell. Mr. Russell
died at his home in Sauk Rapids in 1885.
EDWARD OSCAR HAMLIN was born at Bethany, Wayne county, Pennsylvania,
June 12, 1828. He received his preparatory education at his native
place; entered Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, in 1848, and
graduated in 1858, third in his class, and in three years received the
degree of A.M. He read law first at Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, with
Hon. Geo. W. Woodward (afterward one of the judges of the supreme
court of Pennsylvania); at Honesdale, Pennsylvania, later with Earl
Wheeler, Esq., and was admitted to the bar Sept. 7, 1852. After
practicing for two years at Honesdale, he decided to go West, and in
1855 settled in Sauk Rapids. He was admitted to practice in the
territorial courts, and in 1856 was admitted to practice by the
supreme court. Judge Hamlin was elected the first mayor of the city of
St. Cloud. He was nominated by the Democratic party for governor, and
subsequently for judge of the supreme court. He was also, in 1860,
appointed by Gov. Ramsey "a regent of the University of the State of
Minnesota," and was subsequently an efficient and zealous member of
the state board of normal instruction.
Soon after the outbreak of the Rebellion, in 1861, Gov. Ramsey
tendered him the commission of major of the Seventh Regiment,
Minnesota Volunteers, but his eyesight being defective, he was obliged
to decline it. In 1864 Judge Hamlin was chosen by the Democratic party
as one of the delegates to the Democratic national convention. He was
appointed as one of the committee on platform, and openly denounced,
with three others, the platform before it was adopted, because it
declared the war for the Union a failure. Judge Hamlin was a war
Democrat, and hung out the stars and stripes over his residence in
Sauk Rapids, the first one in that town to do so. In 1873, being an
only child and yielding to the solicitations of his parents, Judge
Hamlin returned to his native county and opened an office in
Honesdale. After a short residence there he removed to Bethany, which
has since been his home. He continued the practice of his profession
in Honesdale until June, 1885, when failing health compelled him to
retire.
Judge Hamlin has been twice married. His first wife was Mary A.,
daughter of Judge Eldred, who for a quarter of a century graced the
bench of Pennsylvania. She died at St. Cloud, Sept. 27, 1868. In
October, 1870, Judge Hamlin married Ella F., daughter of E. B. Strong,
Esq., for years clerk of the district court of Stearns county.
MORRISON COUNTY.
Morrison county is somewhat irregular in outline. It is bounded on the
north by Crow Wing and Cass, on the east by Mille Lacs, on the south
by Benton and Stearns, on the west by Stearns and Todd counties. The
portion east of the Mississippi originally belonged to Benton county,
and the portion on the west side to Todd county. It contains 1,139
square miles. The eastern part is well covered with pine and hardwood
forests. The west and central portions consist of oak openings and
brush prairies. The groves are interspersed with poplar. The surface
is generally level, but is well drained by the Mississippi and its
tributaries, mostly small streams. It has some fine lakes in the
northern and central parts. The soil is well adapted to farming. A
granite range, an extension of the range of Sauk Rapids and St. Cloud,
passes through the county.
William Nicholson was probably the first settler in this county. He
first came to Swan River in 1847, in company with ten other men. They
forded the Mississippi near the mouth of Swan river, made a raft and
floated down the river a few miles, where they abandoned it on account
of low water, and returned south, whence they came. The next summer
Nicholson returned with twenty-two men, crossed the river at the same
place, and cut a road through to the Winnebago agency at Long Prairie.
Returning the same year to the crossing, he found Wm. Aiken had made a
claim and was building a hotel and store on the east bank of the
river. Mr. Nicholson remained some years in the vicinity, but is now a
resident of Little Falls. Wm. Aiken permanently located at Swan River
in 1848, one year after Nicholson's arrival at that point. He died in
1851, aged about sixty-five years. He had two Indian wives. They
quarreled and fought savagely at the funeral as to which was entitled
to the position of chief mourner, wife number one coming off
victorious. James Green made a squatter's claim in 1848, and built a
saw mill on the east side of the Mississippi by the island at the
falls. Wm. Knowles located at the mouth of Rabbit river in 1849. John
Stillwell came to Swan River in 1849. He was a carpenter and worked at
his trade until 1866, when he went into the hotel business. He now
resides at Little Falls. He and Nicholson are the only old settlers of
Swan River remaining in the county.
At the organization of the county in 1856, Little Falls, located on
the Mississippi a short distance above Swan River, became the county
seat. The year before and the two years following were years of wild
speculation. The chief ambition of the speculators was to found a
city. During these years twenty-four village or town plats were
recorded in the office of the register of deeds in Morrison. Not all,
however, were located within the bounds of the county, some being
platted on unsurveyed government lands. Of these towns, the only one
remaining, or of note, is Fergus Falls, Otter Tail county, platted by
a company from Little Falls. Of the towns located in Morrison county,
every one vanished except Little Falls, though Swan River, Belle
Prairie and Granite City kept up an appearance of prosperity for a
time.
The early history of Morrison county is enlivened by many thrilling
incidents of Indian warfare, chiefly of contests between the Sioux and
Chippewas. The Sioux had claimed the territory from time immemorial,
but over a hundred years ago the Chippewas had driven them westward
across the Mississippi and were in possession of the soil. The tribal
hostility of the two races continued to manifest itself in predatory
and retaliatory raids, and from these the early settlers were often
sufferers.
Nathan Richardson, the historian of Morrison county, an authority to
whom we are greatly indebted, says that the country was acknowledged
to be Chippewa ground before and during the settlement by the whites,
but that the Sioux made frequent raids through the counties in parties
of from five to twenty-five, their principal object being to possess
themselves of Chippewa scalps. The Chippewas retaliated by pursuing
the Sioux into their own prescribed limits. Mr. Richardson avers that
the Chippewas were seldom known to treat the white settlers uncivilly,
while the Sioux would kill stock to supply their wants, for which the
settlers were left without compensation from Indians or government.
The Winnebagoes were for some years located within the bounds of Todd
and Morrison counties. In 1848 Gen. Fletcher removed them from Fort
Atkinson, Iowa, to Long Prairie, west side of the Mississippi; but
although the agency was located at Long Prairie, the Indians occupied
the Swan River valley within the present limits of Morrison and Todd
counties for a period of seven years, where they engaged partly in
hunting and partly in farming, having about two hundred acres under
cultivation, when they became dissatisfied and were removed to the
Blue Earth country.
When the Winnebago Indians were brought to Long Prairie and the Swan
River valley, in 1848, the government built Fort Ripley on the west
bank of the Mississippi, about twenty miles above the mouth of Swan
river. The government still owns the fort and reservation around it,
and keeps a garrison there. Fort Ripley, however, has other
associations than those connected with the Winnebagoes. It was
necessary to place a force here during the Indian outbreak in 1862,
the object being to overawe and hold in check the Chippewas, who were
more than suspected of an intention to make common cause with the
Sioux in their warfare against the whites. There the Seventh Regiment,
Minnesota Volunteers, had its headquarters for a time.
Morrison county was named in honor of Hon. Allen W. Morrison, who came
to Minnesota some time in the '20s, and was prominent in the early
history of the Territory. It was organized April 18, 1856, by the
election of the following county officers: Commissioners, Wm. Trask,
Elliott J. Kidder and W. W. Stebbins; register of deeds and clerk of
board of commissioners, Nathan Richardson; judge of probate, James
Fergus; sheriff, Jonathan Pugh; district attorney, W. B. Fairbanks;
assessors, W. B. Tuttle and John Fry.
The first term of court was held May 15, 1856; Judge Moses Sherburne,
presiding. The first deed recorded was dated June 19, 1854, conveying
from William Shelafoo to Louis Robair the northeast quarter of the
southwest quarter, and lots 3, 4 and 5 of section 30, township 40,
range 32.
Morrison county is subdivided into the following towns: Agram, Belle
Prairie, Buckman, Bellevue, Culdrum, Elmdale, Green Prairie, Little
Falls, Morrill, Motley, Parker, Pierz, Pike Creek, Ripley, Swan River,
and Two Rivers.
LITTLE FALLS VILLAGE,
The county seat of Morrison county, is located on the east bank of the
Mississippi river, in sections 7, 8, 18 and 19 of township 40, range
32. It derives its name from a rapid in the Mississippi river, formed
by the extension across the river of the slate stone ledges of the St.
Louis. The site is a prairie, sloping gently to the water's edge. The
first survey was made in 1855, by S. M. Putnam. The village grew
rapidly from the first, and in 1857 the best lots were selling for
$1,000 each. Previous to 1855 the only houses in the place were two
cabins, a frame building in which E. J. Kidder lived, and a school
house. Two hotels were built that year, one by Joseph Batters, the
other by W. B. Fairbanks and Nathan Richardson.
The first settlers were the Kidders, Fairbanks, Batters, Richardson,
James Green, William Sturgis, William Butler, and O. A. Churchill.
James Green came as early as 1848, and took a squatter's claim on the
east bank, including the water power, and built a saw mill, but soon
after died, and the property passed into the hands of H. M. Rice and
Capt. Todd, who in 1850 sold their right to Wm. Sturgis. In 1852 John
M. Kidder pre-empted the mill power, transferring it to the Little
Falls Company, consisting of Wm. Sturgis and Calvin Tuttle, organized
in 1854 for the improvement of the falls. This company purchased
about 1,000 acres of adjoining land from the government, and in 1855
merged into a stock company with a capital of $100,000, of which the
original company retained one-half, the remaining half being converted
into cash. The stock rose in value at one time two hundred and fifty
per cent.
The company built a new dam and mills, but the revenue did not keep
the property in good condition after the expenditures. These valuable
improvements, including the dam and mills, were all swept away by high
water in 1860; the firm became bankrupt, and the valuable power became
nearly worthless and entirely useless, until 1887, when a new company,
known as the Little Falls Water Power Company, was formed with a paid
up capital of $600,000, which is distributed among eastern and western
capitalists. The company is now constructing very extensive works, the
power of which will have a head, or fall, of twenty feet, thus making
it the largest water power, next to Minneapolis, to be found in the
whole Northwest. The dam, now about completed, has cost about
$200,000.
So thoroughly convinced are the people of Morrison county of the great
future before it, that, by a majority of over 2 to 1, they voted a
subscription of $100,000 in 5 per cent bonds as a bonus to be
delivered to the company upon the completion of the work. The village
of Little Falls also entered into a contract with the company,
agreeing to pay annually a sum of money equal to the taxes imposed
upon that corporation, and also to exempt from taxation any
manufactory using the water power for a period of five years. The
improvements under process of construction consist, first, of a dam
across the entire river, resting, however, against the head of Mill
island; second, a canal on the west side, starting from a point
opposite the head of Mill island, and extending 1,000 feet down
stream. This canal is 80 feet wide and 13 feet deep, is lined with a
retaining wall, and provided with head gates at the upper end and with
a waste way at the lower end; third, a wheel house, races, and, if
found desirable, a wire rope tower for transmitting power to Mill
island and to the east shore. Basing the rental of this power on that
of the water power at Lowell, Massachusetts, it would be worth
$150,000 per annum. The officers of the company are W. H. Breyfogle,
of Louisville, Kentucky, president; M. M. Williams, of Little Falls,
secretary and treasurer.
Little Falls was incorporated as a village in 1880, Louis Houde
president of the board. The improvement of the water power has given a
strong impulse to the prosperity of the village. It numbers now
amongst its public buildings a court house, school house having rooms
for six grades, two Catholic churches, one Congregational, one
Episcopal and one Methodist church. In Belle Prairie, four miles
distant, there is also a Catholic church, school and a nunnery.
A bridge, built at a cost of $24,000, crosses the Mississippi at this
point. The bridge is 400 feet in length. The Little Falls & Dakota
railroad, a branch of the Northern Pacific, is finished from Little
Falls to Morris in Stevens county, a distance of 85 miles. In addition
to the mills connected with the water power there is also a steam saw
mill.
ROYALTON VILLAGE
Is located in an oak grove on the Northern Pacific railroad, twenty
miles above Sauk Rapids, and ten below Little Falls near the south
line of Morrison county. It includes some lands in Benton county.
Platte river flows through the village and furnishes a water power of
8 feet head, improved by a dam, supplying a flour mill which has a
capacity of 250 barrels per day, and a saw mill with a capacity of
40,000 feet. There is 65 feet fall on the Platte within five miles of
Royalton below, and 45 feet above the village, yet unimproved. James
Hill, of Baldwin, St. Croix county, Wisconsin, with Putney and Nobles
erected the flour mill, John D. Logan, the proprietor, having donated
the water power and grounds for manufacturing purposes. Mr. Logan has
a steam saw mill with a capacity of 30,000 feet per day. The Platte is
spanned by an iron bridge. The village has, in addition to its mills,
a weekly newspaper, a large elevator, a good graded school with six
departments, and three churches, Episcopal, Presbyterian and
Methodist. It was surveyed and platted in 1879 by John D. Logan, and
incorporated in 1887. The first officers were: President, J. D. Logan;
recorder, John Holmes; trustees. J. C. Wakefield, J. C. Higgins, R.
Lambert; treasurer, G. E. Putney; justices, Robert Brown, Wm. Jones;
constables, Wm. Roller, C. O. Brannen.
PETER ROY, a mixed blood of French and Chippewa parentage, was born in
Rainy Lake, in 1829. He was educated at La Pointe, Wisconsin. At the
age of twenty-one he came to the agency at Long lake, where he served
as interpreter until 1853, when he was elected to the territorial
legislature. He opened a farm at Belle Prairie in 1855; became a
member of the state legislatures of 1860 and 1862. In 1866 he removed
to Little Falls, where he resided until his death, in 1883. He was a
man of large frame and of generous impulses, liberal and open-handed,
even to his own pecuniary disadvantage.
WM. STURGIS came to this county from Big Meadow, Sherburne county,
Minnesota, in 1850, and located at Little Falls, where he put a ferry
across the Mississippi. He also laid out a town and built a saw and
grist mill at the mouth of Little Elk river. He was a member of the
territorial council from Crow Wing and Sauk Rapids precincts in 1849
and 1851; of the territorial house in 1856, and of the constitutional
convention, Democratic wing, in 1857. Some years later he removed,
first to Montana, and then to Sturgis, Michigan.
JAMES FERGUS was born in the parish of Glassford, Lanarkshire,
Scotland, Oct. 8, 1813. His parents were well-to-do farmers, and gave
him a good education along with excellent moral and religious
training. In his youth he was noted for his thoroughness in whatever
work he undertook, and his fondness for good books. At the age of
nineteen years he came to America to improve his fortunes, locating
first in Canada, where he spent three years, and learned the trade of
a millwright. Becoming involved in some political troubles just before
the outbreak of the Papineau Rebellion, he left Canada for the United
States, and spent a couple of years in Green Bay and Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, and at Chicago and Buffalo Grove, Illinois, going thence to
Iowa, and thence to Moline, Illinois, where he found employment in the
machine shops and foundries of Buford, Sears & Wheelock. In 1854 he
removed to Little Falls, and in company with C. A. Tuttle built a dam
across the Mississippi and platted the village. He subsequently owned
the site of Fergus Falls, now a thriving city, that has done well in
assuming his name. In 1862 he drove his own team from Little Falls to
Bannock, then in Idaho, now in Montana Territory. He became prominent
in territorial affairs; was influential in the organization of the new
county of Madison, and held many positions of trust and
responsibility. He was the commissioner appointed for Madison county,
served two terms in the Montana legislature, and was a member of the
constitutional convention of 1887. At one time he lived in Lewis and
Clark counties; he now resides in Meagher county, near Fort Maginnis,
where he is engaged in stock raising.
His main characteristics are an aptitude for mechanical enterprises, a
sturdy independence of thought, a strict integrity of purpose, and an
ardent love of study and good books. He is a typical pioneer, and in
the mellow light of his declining days has the respect and love of his
contemporaries to a remarkable degree. He is the first president of
the Montana Pioneer Association, a position which he worthily fills.
Mr. Fergus was married March 16, 1845, to Parnelia Dillin, of
Jefferson county, New York. Mrs. Fergus died Oct. 6, 1887. He has one
son and three daughters, the latter married and living in Montana.
NATHAN RICHARDSON was born in Wayne county, New York, in 1829. He was
raised on a farm, educated at Romeo, Michigan, and came to Little
Falls in 1855. He served as register of deeds for Morrison county
eight years, and was postmaster eleven years. He also served as county
surveyor and county attorney, having been admitted to the bar in 1877.
He was notary public twenty-five years. He was a representative in the
Minnesota legislatures of 1867, 1872 and 1878. During his first term
in the house he represented nineteen counties, nearly one-half the
territory of the State. He served as judge of probate two terms. Mr.
Richardson has prepared, by order of the board of county
commissioners, and published in the local papers, a complete and
valuable history of Morrison county, to which we are greatly indebted.
He was married to Mary A. Roof in 1857, and has a family of three sons
and two daughters.
MOSES LA FOND, a Canadian Frenchman, came to Morrison county in 1855,
and located at Little Falls, where he commenced as a teamster for the
Little Falls Manufacturing Company. He found more lucrative
employment, became a butcher, then a merchant, then a legislator,
having been elected a representative in the legislature of 1874.
O. A. CHURCHILL.--Orlando A. Churchill was born in Windsor county,
Vermont, in 1825. He came to Illinois in 1843, and to Little Falls in
1855, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. He was elected to the
legislature of 1858, but did not serve, as no session of the
legislature was held that year. He served several years as auditor of
Morrison county. He removed to St. Paul a few years ago, and later to
California, but is now again a resident of Little Falls.
JOHN M. KIDDER made a claim of government land on the east side of the
Mississippi, on the site of Little Falls. He died in 1855, before the
land was entered, and the claim was purchased by Wm. Sturgis, a
son-in-law of Mr. Kidder, and by him sold to the Little Falls Company.
Elliott J., a son of John M. Kidder, is still a resident of Little
Falls.
WARREN KOBE located at Royalton in 1880 and built an elevator, store
and first class hotel. Mr. Kobe is a public spirited citizen and has
expended much in improving the town.
OLA K. BLACK, of Norwegian birth, was one of the first settlers.
IRA W. BOUCH came from Buchanan county, Iowa, in 1880, and opened the
first store in Royalton.
ROBERT RUSSELL, living on a farm near the village, came from Scotland
to America in 1850 and settled here in 1853. Mr. Russell died in July,
1862; Mrs. Russell died in 1876. Three sons and five daughters survive
them.
PETER A. GREEN, a farmer, pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres in
1854, a part of which is surveyed into town lots. He built the second
building on the town site. Mr. Green was born in 1817, in Green
county, New York, where he married. He died January, 1884. His widow
and two sons survive him.
RODOLPHUS D. KINNEY was the first settler on the town site of
Royalton, in 1854, erected the first house and was the first
postmaster, in 1856. Mr. Kinney gave the name of Royalton to the post
office, the name being that of his birthplace, in the state of
Vermont. He was born in 1828; had good educational advantages in youth
and attended Fairmount Theological Seminary in Cincinnati; was an
associate of the early Presbyterian missions and was the first school
teacher in Morrison county, in 1851 and 1852, at Belle Prairie. He was
married in St. Paul in 1852. His eldest son, Jonathan, was born in
1853. One daughter lives in Alabama and his youngest son is a
physician at Royalton.
JOHN D. LOGAN came to Minnesota from Philadelphia in 1855 and located
in Hastings; served during the war in Company G. First Minnesota
Regular Volunteers. In 1879 he came to Royalton and devoted himself to
the development of the water power and the building up of the village.
He has a wife and three children.
CROW WING COUNTY.
The county of Crow Wing was organized in 1857. Prior to this period it
was included in Benton and other counties. It now includes eleven
whole and eight fractional townships in townships 43 to 47, ranges 28
to 31, inclusive. The Mississippi river bounds it on the west and
northwest, Aitkin county on the east and Morrison on the south. Its
soil ranges from a light sandy to a dark loam, with clay subsoil, and
the timber includes the pines and the hardwoods common to the
latitude. There are also fine meadows and burr oak openings. It is
watered by the tributaries of the Mississippi and its surface is
dotted with lakes. It is well adapted to stock raising and
agriculture.
C. H. Beaulieu appears to have been the first white man to locate
within its boundaries. He established a trading post as early as 1837,
near the mouth of Crow Wing river. His successors in trade were Allen
Morrison and Donald McDonald. Philip Beaupre was here in 1844. When
Fort Ripley was built S. B. Olmstead, with his family, built a house
and improved a farm opposite the fort on the east bank of the
Mississippi. Mr. Olmstead came from Prairie du Chien in 1849. While
residing here he served as a member of the second, fifth and sixth
territorial legislatures, and in 1854 was elected president of the
council. After living here several years, he removed to Texas, and
died there some years ago. Mr. Olmstead kept a hotel and managed to
secure most of the hay, beef and wood contracts for the fort. Henry M.
Rice had a trading post at one time at Crow Wing village, about eight
miles above the fort. John H. Fairbanks ran a ferry at the village.
Other settlers were Wallace Bean, Henry Whipple, F. M. Campbell, W. B.
Wakefield, Ed. Lyndes, Albert Fuller, Thomas Cathcart, Daniel S.
Mooers, S. C. Abbe, and members of the Beaulieu family. James A.
Parish was the first justice of the peace. John McGillis, who lived at
Crow Wing in 1853, was the second and served about fifteen years. In
1856 the first farm was opened on government land, not far from Crow
Wing village, by Wallace Bean. The second farm was taken by David
McArthur, a Canadian, originally from Scotland. George Van Valkenburg
opened a blacksmith shop at Crow Wing in 1856, lived there two years
and was then employed as government blacksmith by the Indian
department, and served as such for twelve years. Crow Wing county was
organized in 1857, with the following board of officers: County
auditor, C. H. Beaulieu; register of deeds, F. M. Campbell; county
treasurer, Robert Fairbanks; county commissioners, J. H. Fairbanks,
Allen Morrison, S. B. Olmstead; judge of probate court, Dennis Shaff.
The county organization took effect Jan. 1, 1858. The county was
attached for judicial purposes, first to Ramsey, and then to Morrison
county. F. W. Peake came to Crow Wing in 1858, and opened a trading
post, and was afterward one of the mercantile firm of Peake &
Wakefield. Rev. E. S. Peake, an Episcopal clergyman, came to Crow Wing
about the same time, built a church and remained as rector till the
breaking out of the war, when he accepted the chaplaincy of a
Wisconsin regiment. After the war he removed to California, and
carried on a mission a few years, but later returned to Minnesota and
is now stationed at Detroit. Rev. Francis Pierz, a Catholic priest,
officiated at Crow Wing and Belle Prairie until 1870, when he returned
to his home in Austria.
The first district court was held at Crow Wing in 1871, J. M. McKelvey
officiating as judge, Chas. Beaulieu as clerk of court, and Wm. Wood
as sheriff.
Soon after the county organization was abandoned, to be reresumed in
1870 by legislative enactment. The county officers at the organization
were: Commissioners, Wallace Bean, Henry Whipple and F. W. Peake;
treasurer, E. B. Snyder; auditor, J. W. Campbell; clerk of court,
Chas. H. Beaulieu; sheriff, Wm. Wood.
MURDERERS LYNCHED.
In 1871, Ellen, daughter of David McArthur, living near Crow Wing
village, was murdered by Indians. The murderers were arrested and
placed in jail at Brainerd, from which they were taken by a mob and
hanged.
BRAINERD
Is situated on the east bank of the Mississippi, and is a prosperous
city. The settlement commenced with the opening of the Northern
Pacific railroad. This road has a branch from Brainerd to St. Paul.
The railroad company have made Brainerd headquarters for repairing
shops; have expended large amounts in improvements, and employ in
their business here nearly 1,000 men. The first through train arrived
at Brainerd March 11, 1871.
In 1870 several claims were made for purposes of speculation, and
afterward sold to Mrs. Hester Gilman, of St. Cloud, and other parties,
but the greater part of the city site was purchased of the government
in 1870, by Hester Gilman and Thomas H. Campbell. The Lake Superior &
Puget Sound Company, organized under the laws of Maine, and duly
authorized by the laws of Minnesota, purchased Gilman's and Campbell's
claims and made the original survey and plat of the town on Sept 25,
1871. The name, Brainerd, was given to the new town in honor of Mrs.
Brainerd Swift, wife of the first president of the Northern Pacific
road. In 1883 a new survey was made by Heinze Brothers. The site was a
handsome plain, originally covered with prince pine trees, many of
which were left standing as ornamental trees.
Among the first settlers we find the names of Charles Darby, E. H.
Bly, L. P. White, W. P. Spalding, W. W. Hartley, Stuart Seely, F. W.
Peake, S. W. Taylor, E. B. Lynde, John Bishop, T. C. Barnes, and John
Martin. The first permanent dwelling, a log house, was built by
Charles Darby, the next was built by Stuart Seely, and the third by L.
P. White. E. H. Bly built the first store. The Headquarters Hotel,
subsequently destroyed by fire, was built in 1871. Many of the
buildings of ancient Crow Wing were moved to Brainerd. The Leland
House was built in 1871-2; the Merchants in 1879. The post office was
established in 1871, with S. W. Thayer as postmaster. The county seat
was removed to this place in 1871, and a court house and jail built by
L. P. White, at an expense of $971.60. The first marriage, that of
Joseph Gronden and Miss Darby, occurred in 1870. A city charter was
obtained Jan. 11, 1873. The following were the first officers: Mayor,
Eber H. Bly; aldermen, L. P. White, M. Tuttle, W. S. Heathcote, Wm.
Murphy, T. X. Goulett; president of the council, L. P. White.
Brainerd has a court house, built at a cost of $45,000, and school
buildings worth $45,000. The Northern Pacific depot and shops were
built at a cost of $500,000, and the Northern Pacific sanitarium at a
cost of $35,000. The sanitarium is a hospital for the sick or disabled
employes of the entire line of road, and is supported by monthly
installments from the employes. Dr. Beger is superintendent. Brainerd
has one steam saw mill with a capacity of 12,000,000 feet per annum,
another with a capacity of 3,000,000 feet, and many fine business
blocks and tasteful residences. It has also electric lights, water
works, and street cars, and is making rapid progress as a city.
In 1886 a charter was obtained by Charles F. Kindred & Co. to build a
dam across the Mississippi. The dam has been completed at a cost of
$125,000. It has a head of 20 feet, with sufficient flow to secure
25,000 horse power, and a boomage overflowing 3,000 acres, forming a
reservoir 12 miles in length, with side lakes, the whole capable of
holding 1,000,000,000 feet of logs. The whole city machinery,
including electric lights, water works, street cars, and Northern
Pacific railroad shops, will be attached to this water power. Crow
Wing county contributed $50,000 in bonds to the building of this dam.
Brainerd has an opera house, and is well supplied with churches, the
Catholics, Presbyterians, Baptists, Congregationalists, Episcopalians,
Lutherans, and Methodists having organizations and buildings.
L. P. WHITE was born in Vermont in 1811. He was self educated. He was
married in Vermont, came to Chicago in 1858, and engaged in
railroading until arriving at Brainerd, in 1870, where he built the
first frame house. His wife was the first white woman resident of the
city. Since locating at Brainerd, Mr. White has been the acting agent
of the Lake Superior & Puget Sound Company, which has laid out all the
town sites from Northern Pacific Junction to Moorhead with the
exception of Detroit.
ALLEN MORRISON was one of a family of twelve, seven boys and five
girls. His father was born in Scotland, but emigrated to Canada, where
he died in 1812. Two of the boys were in the English Navy, and killed
at the battle of Trafalgar, in Egypt. William Morrison, a brother of
Allen, and several years his senior, was among the early explorers of
Northern Minnesota, having visited the Territory as early as 1800, and
was one of the party who discovered Lake Itasca, the source of the
Mississippi river. Allen's first visit to this region was in 1820,
when he came to Fond du Lac, as a trader in what was then known as the
"Northern Outfit." For several years he was associated with his
brother William in the Fond du Lac department, during which time he
was stationed at Sandy Lake, Leech Lake, Red Lake, Mille Lacs, and
Crow Wing, and when the Indians were removed to White Earth, went
there also, and remained until his death. In 1826 he was married to
Miss Charlotte Chaboullier, who died at Crow Wing in the fall of 1872.
She was a daughter of a member of the old Northwestern Fur Company,
who was a trader on the Saskatchewan, and died in Canada in 1812. Mr.
Morrison was the father of eleven children. Caroline, now in Brainerd,
was married to Chris. Grandelmyer in April, 1864. Rachel resides with
her sister, Mrs. Grandelmyer. John J. and Allen, at White Earth; Mary,
the eldest, now Mrs. J. R. Sloan, at St. Cloud; and Louisa, now Mrs.
John Bromley, at Northern Pacific Junction. Mr. Morrison died on the
twenty-eighth of November, 1878, and was buried at White Earth, in the
historic valley where he had passed so many eventful years. His name,
however, will not perish, nor his virtues be forgotten. In the first
territorial legislature he represented the district embracing the
voting precincts of Sauk Rapids and Crow Wing, and when the present
county of Morrison was set off, the legislature named it in honor of
this esteemed veteran pioneer.
CHARLES F. KINDRED, an active, enterprising citizen of Brainerd, is
doing for his adopted city all that one man can do. Mr. Kindred, for
many years after his arrival in Minnesota, was a trusted agent of the
Northern Pacific Railroad Company, and while in their employ acquired
a thorough knowledge of the resources of North Minnesota, which he
uses to the best interest of the section in which he has made his
home. He is at present superintending the building of the Kindred
dam.