CHAPTER XIX.
HENNEPIN COUNTY.
Hennepin county was organized March 6, 1852. Prior to the organization
of Minnesota Territory it was in Clayton county, Iowa. At the
organization of the Territory, in 1849, it was included in Dakota
county, and so remained until set off in 1852. Hon. Bradley B. Meeker
held the first court within the present limits of the county, at the
old government mill, in 1849. Taylor Dudley was clerk of court,
Franklin Steele, foreman of grand jury. The first board of
commissioners were Alex. Moore, chairman, John Jackins and Joseph
Dean. The first election was held Oct. 21, 1852, at the house of Col.
John H. Stevens, on the west side. The county is a rich agricultural
region, abounding with beautiful lakes, of which Minnetonka is the
largest and finest. The county is bounded on the north by the
Mississippi river and Wright county, on the east by the Mississippi
river and Ramsey county, on the south by the Minnesota river and
Carver county, on the west by Wright and Carver counties. It is
subdivided into the following towns: Bloomington, Brooklyn, Champlin,
Crystal Lake, Corcoran, Dayton, Eden Prairie, Excelsior, Greenwood,
Hasson, Independence, Maple Grove, Medina, Minneapolis, Minnetonka,
Minnetrista, Osseo, Plymouth, Richfield, and St. Anthony.
[Illustration: FORT SNELLING, ON LINE OF C., M. & ST. P. RY.]
FORT SNELLING.
Fort Snelling owes its origin to the encroachments of British traders
on our northern frontier. As early as 1805 Lieut. Zebulen Montgomery
Pike, United States Army, was sent with a detachment of troops to
explore the Upper Mississippi river to expel British traders who might
be found encroaching upon our territory, and to secure by treaty a
military reservation. Sept. 21, 1805, he encamped on Pike island, at
the junction of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers, and, being
pleased with the situation, forthwith made a treaty with chiefs of the
Sioux nation to include all that tract of land lying from below the
confluence of the two rivers, up the Mississippi, including the falls
of St. Anthony, nine miles in width on each side of the river. The
price paid was $2,000. The reserve thus purchased was not used for
military purposes until 1819, when a detachment of the Fifth United
States Infantry, commanded by Lieut. Col. Henry Leavenworth, was sent
to occupy the reservation and build a fort. The building of the fort,
with its various stone and wooden buildings, was the work of years.
The site of the fort was selected in 1820, by Col. Josiah Snelling,
who named it Fort St. Anthony, but at the suggestion of Gen. Winfield
Scott, in 1824 the name was changed to Fort Snelling as a worthy
compliment to its founder and builder. Notwithstanding the treaty made
by Col. Pike in 1805, the Indian claim to the reservation was not
extinguished until the treaty of 1837, ratified by the senate in 1838.
In 1836, before the extinction of the Indian title, many settlers
located on the reservation on the left bank of the Mississippi. These
were forcibly removed by the United States government in 1840, under
the act of March 3, 1807, an act to prevent settlements being made on
ceded lands until duly authorized by law. The reservation was reduced
from time to time, portions being sold. In 1857 Franklin Steele
purchased the entire reservation, with the exception of two small
tracts, including the fort itself, for the sum of $90,000, to be paid
in three yearly installments. The first payments were actually made,
the troops were withdrawn, and Mr. Steele assumed possession. Default
having been made in the two remaining payments, the government resumed
possession of a small portion of the reservation and fort in 1861. The
year following, by act of Congress, the reservation was reduced. In
1870 it was permanently reduced to 1,531.20 acres. A suit at law
between Mr. Steele and the United States government was compromised by
releasing him from further payments and granting him a large tract of
land lying along the right bank of the Mississippi, north of the fort,
with a portion of Pike's island.
Maj. Plympton and other officers of the fort, in company with Franklin
Steele, made the first land claim, by permit of the government, at
East St. Anthony, in 1838. They built a shanty and hired a Frenchman
to occupy it. Steele bought out the interests of the officers
associated with him and in 1848 secured a title from the United
States. The first saw mill built on this claim was commenced by Mr.
Steele, in conjunction with Boston parties in 1847, but was not
completed until the following year.
The next land claim on the river was made further up, by R. P. Russell
and S. J. Findley. This was sold to Bottineau and afterward passed to
other parties. The land claim adjoining Steele's, below, was
purchased of a Frenchman by C. A. Tuttle in 1848. This claim is now
partially occupied by the State University. W. Henry Cheever made a
claim south of Tuttle's, on which, in 1849, he built a hotel and a
huge wooden tower or observatory, nearly one hundred feet in height,
over the entrance to which was a rhyming couplet:
"Pay your dime
And climb."
Franklin Steele, before completing his mill and dam, became sole owner
of the water power on the east side of the river. During the periods
following the property has often changed owners, and sometimes the
change has resulted in unprofitable litigation. James J. Hill, in
later years, has become the owner of most of the water power of
Nicollet and Hennepin islands and of the east shore, and is making
valuable improvements.
ST. ANTHONY FALLS.
St. Anthony Falls was platted as a village in 1849, and was included
in Ramsey county until 1856. In 1861 the legislature established
satisfactory boundaries, annexing part of town 29, range 24, to
Hennepin county.
Among the first settlers of the Falls was Ard Godfrey. The first white
child born here was a son of C. A. Tuttle, millwright. The Luther
Patch family, consisting of four sons and two daughters, was the first
resident American family at the Falls. Mr. Patch's sons were Edward,
Wallace, Gibson, and Lewis; the daughters, Marion, who became the wife
of R. P. Russell, the first marriage at the Falls, Oct. 3, 1848, and
Cora, who became the wife of Joseph Marshall. An earlier marriage was
celebrated at Fort Snelling May 27, 1835, that of Lieut. Edmund A.
Ogden and Eliza Edna Loomis; Rev. Thos. S. Williamson officiating.
This was the first marriage north of Prairie du Chien. The first store
was opened by R. P. Russell in 1847, the second, in 1849, by Joseph
Marshall. We find Jacob Fisher, of Stillwater, here in 1847, building
the dam from Nicollet island to the east shore. Among the operators of
the mill who have been prominent citizens of St. Anthony Falls are
Sumner W. Farnham, John Rollins, Caleb W. Dorr, John McDonald, and
Robert W. Cummings. Some of these men brought their families here. The
building of the mill was somewhat delayed by the sinking in the Erie
canal of the boats containing the machinery, hardware, etc. Standing
pine to be used in the mill was purchased of Hole-in-the-Day, a
Chippewa chief, cut and floated down from Sauk Rapids to the Falls.
Some timber was also brought from Rum river, the first cut on that
stream, except for government use. At the land sale in 1848, Mr.
Steele secured all the land above Tuttle's to the north limits of the
city. Amongst the settlers in 1848 were the Getchells, Smiths, Rogers'
and Huse. In 1849, at the organization of the territory of Minnesota,
a number of others arrived, among them Judge B. B. Meeker, Dr. John H.
Murphy, John W. North, J. P. Wilson, and John G. Lennon. During this
year the west half of sec. 14, range 29, was surveyed and platted into
town lots by W. R. Marshall, B. W. Bronson and S. P. Folsom. Anson
Northrup commenced the erection of the first hotel, the St. Charles.
John Rollins was elected to the territorial council, W. R. Marshall
and Wm. Dugas to the house of representatives. The district was
comprised of St. Anthony Falls and Little Canada.
The first school was taught by Miss Electa Bachus, in the summer of
1849. A post office was established and Ard Godfrey was appointed
postmaster. There were occasional mails brought in John Rollins'
passenger wagon. In 1850 Willoughby & Powers ran a daily stage line
from St. Paul and the mail thenceforth was carried regularly. John W.
North built a dwelling on Nicollet island, which became a social
centre, and was made attractive by a piano. In 1850 a public library
was established, the first in Minnesota. Rev. E. D. Neill, the
historian of Minnesota, delivered the first public lecture and
preached the first sermon in 1849. The following year, the Baptists,
Methodists, Congregationalists and Presbyterians organized societies,
and in 1851 the Episcopalians and Universalists. Amongst the
accessions to the population were Judge Isaac Atwater, W. W. Wales, J.
B. Bassett, C. W. Christmas, and Joseph Dean. Col. Alvaren Allen
opened a livery stable. The St. Anthony _Express_, the first
newspaper, was established May 31, 1851; E. Tyler, proprietor, Judge
I. Atwater, editor. Measures were taken to locate the university in
St. Anthony Falls. Citizens contributed $3,000 aid to in the erection
of the building.
Facilities of communication with the surrounding country were none of
the best, yet communication was early established with the Red River
country, a dog train having arrived from Pembina, distant four hundred
miles, in sixteen days. On this train Kittson, Rolette and Gingras
came down to attend the territorial legislature at St. Paul as
representatives of Pembina county.
Franklin Steele, in 1847, established a ferry above the Falls. In 1854
the Minnesota Bridge Company was organized, consisting of Franklin
Steele, H. T. Wells, R. P. Russell, and others. A handsome suspension
bridge was finished in 1855. This bridge remained in the control of
the company fifteen years, when by an act of the legislature the value
was assessed and Hennepin county purchased the bridge, and it became a
free thoroughfare.
April 13, 1855, St. Anthony Falls was incorporated as a city with the
following officers: Mayor, H. T. Welles; clerk, W. F. Brawley;
aldermen, B. F. Spencer, John Orth, Daniel Stanchfield, Edward
Lippincott, Caleb W. Dorr, and Robert Cummings.
In 1872 St. Anthony Falls was annexed to Minneapolis, and placed under
the same government, a movement which has resulted in great benefit to
both cities.
ST. ANTHONY FALLS.
The earliest written descriptions of St. Anthony falls were by the
Roman Catholic missionaries, Hennepin and LaSalle. The former with
Accault and Du Gay ascended the river in a canoe until captured by a
band of Sioux Indians. These Indians left the river at a point now the
present site of St. Paul and took their prisoners to Mille Lacs. In
September, when the Indians set out on their annual hunt, the captives
were left to go where they pleased. Accault preferred remaining with
the Indians. Hennepin and Du Gay obtained a small canoe and commenced
the descent of the Rum and Mississippi rivers to the falls, then
called by the Indians Ka-ka-bi-ka Irara or "Severed Rock." They
reached the falls about the first of October, and named them after St.
Anthony of Padua. The description given by La Salle, a second hand
one, was probably derived from Hennepin, Accault or Du Gay, as La
Salle did not visit the falls, and these voyageurs were his
subordinates, and had been sent by him to explore the Upper
Mississippi.
He says: "In going up the Mississippi again, twenty leagues above the
St. Croix is found the falls, which those I sent named St. Anthony.
They are thirty or forty feet high, and the river is narrower here
than elsewhere. There is a small island in the midst of the chute, and
the two banks of the river are bordered by hills which gradually
diminish at this point, but the country on each side is covered by
thin woods, such as oaks and other hardwoods, scattered wide apart."
This description corresponds very well with the earliest pictures of
the falls, which with "the small island in the midst of the chute"
make them resemble slightly a Niagara considerably diminished in
height. The historic falls have almost entirely disappeared or so
changed as to become unrecognizable. Spirit island, if this be the
island referred to by La Salle as in the midst of the chute, is now so
far below the falls that it can scarcely be brought into the same
picture with them. The falls have undoubtedly receded, by a process
easily explained by a geologist, some distance up the river, and have
diminished somewhat in altitude. The movement of the falls up stream,
caused by the breaking off of limestone ledges, overlying sandstone,
easily washed from beneath by the falling water, threatened the total
obliteration of the cataract unless arrested by artificial means, as
the dip or inclination of the rock is such that the altitude of the
falls diminishes with the wearing away of these ledges: It has been
found necessary to strengthen the ledges and prevent further erosion
by means of aprons, till the present appearance of the falls is not
unsuggestive of a series of dams. The entire cost of these
improvements has amounted to more than $1,000,000. The shores of the
islands and mainlands have been covered with mills and manufactories,
while the scene is still further disfigured by a maze of railway and
other bridges, waterways and flumes. Scarce a vestige of the original
falls remain to recall their appearance as they were when the sandaled
and robed Franciscan, Hennepin, first gazed upon them. In the midst of
this solitude, and on the banks once covered by a sparse growth of
trees, one of the finest cities in the West has sprung up as if by
magic, and the scene is one of busy life. This marvelous change has
occurred within a space of fifty years.
MINNEAPOLIS.
From the establishment and occupation of Fort Snelling in 1819, to the
settlement of the county in 1840, numerous traders and adventurers,
generally of French or Canadian origin, and not infrequently
intermarried with Indians, and semi-Indian in their habits of life,
occupied transient homes on or near the military reservation; but
these have exercised so little influence upon the development of the
country that they merit no recognition or record from the historian.
As a general thing, they disappeared before the march of civilization.
A few, wiser, stronger, more far-seeing than the rest, adapted
themselves to the new order, made claims, engaged in the enterprises
of civilized life, and thus obtained an honorable position amongst the
pioneers of the country.
Of these, Joseph R. Brown, by far the most distinguished, by
permission of the military authorities, located in Hennepin county
near the falls of Minnehaha, in 1829. He is the first white settler.
Maj. Taliaferro, then in command of the Fort, in the same year made a
farm on the shores of Lake Calhoun, and placed Philander Prescott in
charge. In 1834 the Pond brothers, missionaries, located on Lake
Calhoun and erected the first dwelling worthy of the name within the
present limits of the county of Hennepin. In 1849 Philander Prescott
made a claim on what is now Minnehaha avenue. Frank Steele obtained
permission from the secretary of war to occupy this claim, whereupon
Mr. Prescott abandoned it, and made another on laud adjoining. This he
was allowed to retain. Charles Mosseaux, by permission of the military
authorities, made a claim on Lake Calhoun in 1856. This claim is now
occupied by the pavillion. Rev. E. G. Gear, chaplain at Fort Snelling,
by permission of the military authorities, made a claim near Lake
Calhoun and employed Edward Brissett to live upon it. Afterward a
contest arose as to the ownership. Chaplain Gear, by the aid of Judge
Black and H. M. Rice, secured a congressional enactment allowing him
to purchase the land from the government. David Gohram made a claim on
the Lake of the Isles, but subsequently sold out to R. P. Russell.
John Berry, the Blaisdells, Pierce Lowell and many others located in
the vicinity of Lakes Calhoun and Harriet, and in 1853 were followed
by settlers on nearly all the lands lying immediately west of the
Mississippi, in the vicinity of the falls. In 1854 there were twelve
farm houses scattered widely from the falls to the vicinity of the
lakes. It had been evident for some time that a city of considerable
pretensions must arise somewhere in the vicinity of the Fort and the
falls. The locality of the coming city was decided largely by
advantages of situation, and these were in favor of the locality
immediately adjoining the falls, the water power there afforded being
a powerful attraction. For the first recognition of these advantages
we must go back to a period several years anterior to the location of
these claims and there find a starting point in the history of
Minneapolis.
In 1820 the military authorities at Fort Snelling had erected a stone
mill for sawing their own lumber and grinding the grain shipped from
St. Louis. They also built a log house and cultivated a few acres of
adjacent ground. This mill, run by the water of the falls, was located
a short distance below. This was the first utilization of the water
power. The mill, which has long since disappeared, was located on the
present site of Sidle, Fletcher & Holmes' flouring mill. In 1854 one
saw mill, the first in Minneapolis aside from the old government mill,
was located just below the falls. It had a capacity of 1,500,000 feet
per annum and besides manufactured great quantities of shingles. It
was under the direction of C. King. A steam saw mill was built at the
mouth of Bassett's creek, above the falls, in 1856, and another the
following year, half a mile further up the river. Thus began the great
lumber business of Minneapolis, in 1857 there being three mills with
an aggregate capacity of 75,000,000 feet per annum.
The attitude of the government with regard to the lands reserved about
the Fort, the act of 1839, driving off those who had settled upon them
and destroying their property, and the uncertainty with regard to the
tenure of land claims, acted as an effectual bar to further
improvement until ten years later, when Hon. Robert Smith, member of
Congress from Alton district, Illinois, and Col. John H. Stevens, the
pioneer of Minneapolis, each obtained permits from the secretary of
war and the officers of the Fort to occupy one hundred and sixty acres
of the reservation. Smith's location included the stone mill, which he
agreed to use in grinding Fort Snelling grain. Mr. Smith engaged C. A.
Tuttle to operate the mill and hold the claim. Mr. Tuttle was to have
an interest for his labor. This interest he afterward sold to Smith,
who, when the government relinquished the reservation, transferred his
claim to Anson Northrup and others, who were organized into an
association for the entry of land. Soon as the entries were completed
the land passed into the hands of the Minneapolis Water Power Company,
which proceeded at once to improve the water power.
Col. J. H. Stevens meanwhile located in person on his permit, and in
1849 built the first frame house in Minneapolis, on the ground now
occupied by the union depot. J. B. Bassett purchased the fraction of
land on the river above Stevens, Col. Emanuel Case the fraction above
Bassett's, A. E. Ames the eighty where the court house stands, and
Edwin Hedderly the fraction below the water power. Mr. Stevens made
the first survey of village lots in the spring of 1854; Chas. W.
Christmas, surveyor.
The Smith claim was surveyed by W. R. Marshall in the fall of 1854. In
1856 Atwater's addition was surveyed. Other additions were added from
year to year as the growth of the city demanded. At the release of the
reservation in 1855, the entire present site of the city was covered
with claims.
The name Minneapolis, derived from an Indian word _minne_, meaning
_water_, and a Greek word _polis_, meaning _city_, had been early
applied to the new village, Chas. Hoag having first suggested the
name. In March, 1853, the commissioners of Hennepin county adopted the
name as that of a territorial precinct. A government land office had
been established in 1854, of which M. L. Olds was register and R. P.
Russell receiver. The first, newspaper, the Minneapolis _Democrat_,
was established in 1854. During the same year the Masons and Odd
Fellows organized lodges, the Presbyterians, Baptists and Methodists
organized societies, and public schools were established. In 1857 the
court house, at a cost of $12,000, a school house, and several
churches were erected.
The village of Minneapolis was organized in 1858. H. T. Welles was the
first president. In 1867 Minneapolis obtained a city charter.
Minneapolis and St. Anthony Falls were united under the same
government, by act of legislature, approved Feb. 28, 1872, under the
name of Minneapolis, St. Anthony Falls being recognized in the
directory as East Minneapolis. The united cities elect in common a
mayor and city council, but each is financially responsible as to
contracts existing previous to the union, and each maintains its own
schools.
We append a list of mayors of the two cities prior and subsequent to
the union:
MAYORS OF ST. ANTHONY FALLS.
1855. H. T. Welles.
1856. Alvaren Allen.
1857. Wm. W. Wales.
1858. Orrin Curtis.
1859. Orrin Curtis.
1860. R. B. Graves.
1861. O. C. Merriman.
1862. O. C. Merriman.
1863. Edwin S. Brown.
1864. O. C. Merriman.
1865. Wm. W. Wales.
1866. O. C. Merriman.
1867. O. C. Merriman.
1868. Winthrop Young.
1869. W. W. McNair.
1870. W. W. McNair.
1871. Edwin S. Brown.
MAYORS OF MINNEAPOLIS.
1867. Dorillius Morrison
1868. Hugh G. Harrison.
1869. Dorillius Morrison.
1870. Eli B. Ames.
1871. Eli B. Ames.
MAYORS OF MINNEAPOLIS SUBSEQUENT TO THE UNION WITH
ST. ANTHONY FALLS.
1872. Eugene M. Wilson.
1873. George A. Bracket.
1874. Eugene M. Wilson.
1875. O. C. Merriman.
1876. Albert A. Ames.
1877. John DeLittre.
1878. A. C. Rand.
1879. A. C. Rand.
1880. A. C. Rand.
1881. A. C. Rand.
1882. A. A. Ames.
1883. A. A. Ames.
1884. Geo. Pillsbury.
1885. Geo. Pillsbury.
1886. A. A. Ames.
1887. A. A. Ames.
1888. A. A. Ames.
WATER VERSUS STEAM.
Some wonder has been expressed that in the vicinity of one of the
finest water powers on this continent there should be found so many
saw mills run by steam. The question is partly an economical one, as
owing to the heavy expenses entailed upon mill owners to prevent the
retrogression of the falls, it may be cheaper for saw mill owners to
use steam, especially as they can feed their furnaces with but little
expense from the slabs and debris of their own lumber; but in this
case a weightier reason may be found in the fact that the west side
of the river has been occupied chiefly by flouring mills, and the saw
mills are moved to less eligible localities, and find it more
convenient and economical to use steam instead of water.
TERRIFIC EXPLOSION AT THE FLOUR MILLS.
One of the most remarkable mill disasters of modern times occurred May
2, 1878, in the Washington A mill. About 7 P. M. the sound of a
terrific explosion was heard and the city was shaken as by an
earthquake. The mill in which it occurred was utterly demolished, as
were also the Humboldt, the Zenith and the Palisade, while several
others were badly wrecked. There were fourteen lives lost and the
property destroyed amounted in value to over $1,000,000.
The cause of the explosion was at first not understood, but on
thorough investigation was finally attributed to a mixture of
exceedingly fine grain and flour dust with the air of the mills, in
such proportion as to form a combustible mixture, which was
accidentally ignited. The mills destroyed have since been replaced by
better ones. The great Pilsbury A mill, which is perhaps beyond
question the largest in the world, was begun in the following year. A
canal was cut to supply it with power, and it was equipped with two
Victor turbine water wheels of 1,450 horse power each and a 1,400
horse power engine; it was furnished with 400 pairs of rollers, 200
middlings purifiers, 20 run of stone, 200 bolting reels and other
devices in keeping.
SUBURBAN RESORTS--LAKE MINNETONKA.
This magnificent lake is 10 miles southwest of Minneapolis, and 20
miles from St. Paul. Its extreme length is about 18 miles, varying in
width from 1 to 5 miles. Its water area is about 15,000 acres, and its
shore line is estimated at nearly 300 miles. A glance at the map will
show what a variety of scenery it must have, being so broken and
irregular. Its banks and islands are covered with forest trees except
at a few points where villages have been located, or where some farmer
had, years ago, cleared himself a farm.
There are three villages on Minnetonka, viz.: Excelsior, Wayzata and
Mound City. Excelsior was settled in 1852, by a colony from New York
State, and named from the title adopted by the organization before
leaving home. It was incorporated about 1879. It is located on a range
of hills on the south shore of Lake Minnetonka, of which it has a
commanding view. Its present population is about 850. It has two
railways, the Minneapolis & St. Louis and the St. Paul, Minneapolis &
Manitoba, and a motor line. It is distant 18 miles from Minneapolis.
The oldest settlement on the lake is Wayzata, on the north shore of
Lake Minnetonka, 10 miles from Minneapolis, via the St. Paul,
Minneapolis & Manitoba railway, which passes through the village. The
name Wayzata is a corruption of the Indian word Wy-ze-a-ta, meaning
North Shore, or North Side. The village contains about 400
inhabitants, and commands considerable trade from the surrounding
country.
There are several fine hotels upon the lake, equal if not superior to
the famous hotels of eastern watering places. Prominent among these
are the Hotel Lafayette, built at a cost of $200,000, the Lake Park
Hotel and Excelsior House. Railways reach the lake at several points,
and steamers make regular trips for tourists.
Minnehaha Falls, rendered famous in Longfellow's poems of Hiawatha, is
located on Minnehaha creek, midway between Fort Snelling and St.
Anthony Falls. It is deservedly a favored resort.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN MINNEAPOLIS COSTING $100,000 AND UPWARD.
Court house (not completed) $2,000,000
Post office 500,000
Exposition Hall 350,000
Science Hall 125,000
Library building 190,000
Soldiers' Home, near Minnehaha Falls 100,000
State University 150,000
Chamber of Commerce 285,000
Temple Court 250,000
Masonic Temple 200,000
City Market House 225,000
Athenæum 250,000
Hennepin Avenue Theatre 140,000
Washburn Orphan Asylum 125,000
House of Good Shepherd 200,000
Loan and Trust Company 125,000
Guaranty Life and Trust 300,000
Lumber Exchange 150,000
Builders' Exchange 100,000
Knights of Labor Exchange 100,000
S. C. Hall Lumber Company 100,000
Bank of Commerce 200,000
Union elevator 375,000
Minneapolis & Pacific elevator 118,000
St. Anthony elevator 154,000
Boston block 100,000
Nicollet House block 100,000
Albert Johnson block 100,000
Globe block 200,000
Wright block 140,000
Mutual block 100,000
Glen block 200,000
Langdon block 120,000
Central block, terrace 150,000
Syndicate block 600,000
West Hotel 1,020,000
Gates' tenements 125,000
Lowry's residence 100,000
Eastman & Cook's saw mill 100,000
Soo & St Marie shops 145,000
North Minneapolis pumping station 214,000
Tubular car works 250,000
Buel tenement block 100,000
Pillsbury A flour mill 1,100,000
Washburn A flour mill 750,000
Washburn B flour mill 500,000
Morrison flour mill 100,000
Christian & Co.'s flour mill 100,000
High School building 100,000
Church of the Dominican Fathers 100,000
Aggregate value of school property 1,250,000
Aggregate value of church property 1,000,000
Aggregate value of parks and boulevards 1,000,000
POST OFFICE STATISTICS FOR 1886.
General business $409,225
Money orders 1,215,951
Income 225,178
Expense 79,436
HISTORY OF THE POST OFFICE AT MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.
Postmasters.
Established Jan. 7, 1854 Hezekiah Fletcher.
Dec. 22, 1854 Carlos Wilcoz.
April 7, 1856 Alfred E. Ames.
April 22, 1857 Samuel Hidden.
Aug. 30, 1858 William P. Ankeny.
April 4, 1861 David Morgan.
July 12, 1865 Daniel Bassett.
Nov. 17, 1866 William W. McNair.
March 11, 1867 Cyrus Aldrich.
April 15, 1871 Geo. H. Keith.
June 21, 1882 Orlo M. Laraway.
June 22, 1886 John J. Ankeny.
The bonded debt of the city is $3,319,000. The city can not create a
debt nor issue bonds to a greater amount than five per cent of the
assessed valuation of city property, and the charter prohibits a
floating debt.
The tax assessments for 1886 $99,591,762
Barrels of flour manufactured 6,163,000
Value of other manufactures $62,500,000
Feet of lumber manufactured 267,197,000
Elevator capacity (bushels) 11,820,000
Bushels of wheat received 34,904,260
Eight bridges span the river at Minneapolis as crossings for the
various railroads. The stone arch viaduct of the St. Paul, Minneapolis
& Manitoba cost $750,000. Municipal expenses, $2,542,714.
The following table gives the cut of lumber in Minneapolis for the
last sixteen years:
1870 118,233,100
1871 117,157,000
1872 167,918,820
1873 189,970,000
1874 191,305,680
1875 156,665,000
1876 200,371,250
1877 129,676,400
1878 130,274,400
1879 149,151,500
1880 195,452,200
3881 230,402,800
1882 312,239,800
1883 278,716,480
1884 300,724,373
1885 313,998,166
1886 267,196,519
WEST MINNEAPOLIS.
West Minneapolis is located about eight miles from the court house, in
sections 24 and 19 of township 27, range 24, and is not included
within Minneapolis' city limits. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Louis,
the Hastings & Dakota, and the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba
railroads have stations here. It was surveyed in 1886, and organized
shortly after. It has two threshing machine and other extensive
manufactories. The Hennepin county poor farm is located near by.
CALVIN A. TUTTLE.--Mr. Tuttle was born in Holland, Connecticut, in
1811. He received an academic education, and remained with his parents
until of age. He learned the trade of millwright with his father. In
1832 he went to Bangor, Maine, and worked at his trade until 1835,
when he removed to Alton, Illinois. He came to St. Croix in 1838, and
superintended the building of a mill. In 1841 he returned to Alton,
where he was married to Charlotte Winkler. He lived in Davenport,
Iowa, four years and one year at Chippewa Falls. In 1846 he removed to
St. Anthony Falls, where he helped build the first saw mill. Here he
worked eight years almost continuously at his trade. He purchased two
hundred acres of land here, including university lands, which he sold
for $3,500. He removed to West St. Anthony in 1852, to Robert Smith's
government permit, and then ran the old government flouring mill,
grinding only for the government. The grain, about 5,000 bushels
annually, was brought from St. Louis. For holding Smith's permit, and
grinding, he received one-eighth of the property. The government
grinding was done for the privilege of making a claim on the
government reservation. This claim, eighty acres in extent, located in
what was then called West St. Anthony, now in the heart of
Minneapolis, is worth millions of dollars. Mr. Tuttle sold his
interest for $5,000. The old mill was built of stone, 30 x 30 feet,
ground dimensions, two stories in height, with one run of stone. The
mill was built in 1822. There was a farm near the mill, cultivated by
soldiers. Mr. Tuttle returned to East St. Anthony in 1857, and removed
to Minnetonka in 1858, where he lived five years. Thence he removed to
Twin Rivers, Morrison county. He has a saw mill, farm and good home at
Twin Rivers. In 1887 he returned to Minneapolis to spend the remainder
of his days.
CYRUS ALDRICH.--The subject of this memoir was born June 18, 1808, in
Smithfield, Rhode Island. His father was Dexter Aldrich, and was
engaged in shipping and merchandising. His mother's maiden name was
Hannah White. She was a descendant of Peregrine White, the first male
child born after the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers. He received such
an education as could be obtained at the common schools until he was
eighteen years of age, when he left home to engage for a few years in
a seafaring life. This life not proving to his taste, he abandoned it
and engaged in other pursuits. At the age of twenty-nine he emigrated
to Illinois and located at Alton, where he took a contract on the
Michigan and Erie canal. In 1841, or about four years later, he
removed to Galena, Illinois, where he secured employment with the firm
of Galbraith & Porter, and engaged in staging and mail contracts. In
1845 he was elected to the Illinois legislature. The same year he was
married to Clara Heaton, of Indiana, who, with one son and one
daughter, survives him. In 1847 he was elected register of deeds of
Joe Daviess county; in 1849 was appointed receiver of the land office
at Dixon, Illinois; and in 1852 ran for Congress on the Whig ticket
against Long John Wentworth, but was defeated by a small majority. He
removed to Minnesota in 1855, locating at Minneapolis, then but a
small village. In 1857 he was elected a member of the Republican wing
of the constitutional convention, where his ability for leadership
soon brought him to the front. In 1858 he was nominated and elected
representative to Congress, Minnesota having meanwhile become a state.
In 1860 he was re-elected. This was a trying time, but Mr. Aldrich
acquitted himself well, and was especially commended for his devotion
to the interests of the soldiers. In 1862 he declined a re-election,
but allowed his name to be used (though unsuccessfully) as a candidate
for the senate. He did not, however, entirely withdraw from public
affairs, but accepted an appointment from President Lincoln as a
member of the indemnity committee to adjust claims of settlers who had
suffered during the Indian outbreak of 1862. He also devoted much of
his time and energy to the establishment of the Northern Pacific
railway.
In 1865 he was elected to the Minnesota legislature. In 1867 he was
appointed postmaster of Minneapolis, which position he held for four
years. His long and busy life has been spent chiefly in public
service. He had not quite reached the scriptural limit of human life,
but it was evident that his iron constitution had been overtasked and
that he needed rest. The retirement and rest came too late. His
health gradually failed until Oct. 5, 1871, when he closed his eyes
upon the scenes of earth. His funeral, conducted from the Universalist
church, of which he was a member, was one of the largest ever held in
the State. Citizens of all parties and classes, the masonic and other
social and civil bodies combined in paying the last tribute of respect
to one who for fifteen years had been the most active, best known and
most respected of their number.
ALFRED ELISHA AMES, M.D., was born at Colchester, Vermont, Dec. 13,
1814. He was the oldest son of Billy and Phebe (Baker) Ames, whose
ancestors were early colonists from England. Alfred E. commenced the
study of medicine in 1832. He occasionally taught school and worked at
his trade of brickmason. He also varied his labors by publishing an
arithmetic. He came West in 1838, locating first at Springfield,
Illinois; concluded his medical studies at Rush Medical College,
Chicago, in 1845. Before leaving Illinois he was elected to the state
senate. In 1851 he came to St. Anthony Falls, made a claim, and
entered into partnership with Dr. J. H. Murphy. In 1852 he served as
surgeon at Fort Snelling, and in 1853 was elected to the territorial
legislature as a member of the house. In 1854 he was elected probate
judge; in 1857 member of the Democratic wing of the constitutional
convention, and in 1860 became a member of the state normal board.
During the remainder of his life he devoted himself to the practice of
medicine, but also served the public in many positions of trust. He
died Dec. 24, 1874. His wife and five children survive him.
ALBERT ALONZO AMES, son of Dr. A. E. and Martha (Pratt) Ames, was born
at Garden Prairie, Illinois, Jan. 18, 1842. He received a high school
education at Minneapolis, studied medicine at Rush Medical College,
Chicago, and graduated February, 1862. In August, 1863, he enlisted in
the Ninth Minnesota Volunteers, but shortly after was commissioned
assistant surgeon of the Seventh Minnesota Volunteers. He served for
awhile in the Indian campaigns. In the fall of 1863 the regiment was
ordered South. In July, 1864, he was commissioned as surgeon of the
Seventh regiment in place of Dr. L. B. Smith, killed at Tupelo. He was
mustered out of service at the close of the war with an excellent
record as a physician and surgeon. After the war he devoted himself to
the practice of his profession and to public services in Minneapolis,
excepting a period of six years spent in editorial life in California,
first on the staff of the _Daily Times_, and later as managing editor
of the _Alta Californian_. At the death of his father, in 1874, he
returned to Minneapolis and resumed practice. He has filled the
following positions of trust: 1867, member of the Minnesota
legislature (house); 1875, member of the city council; 1876, mayor of
Minneapolis; 1877, Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor (not
elected); 1886, Democratic candidate for governor (not elected);
1886-87-88, again mayor of Minneapolis. Dr. Ames is a member of such
prominent fraternities as the Masonic, Odd Fellows, Druids, Knights of
Pythias, and Order of Elks.
Dr. Ames was married April 21, 1862, to Sarah, daughter of Capt.
Richard Strout, of Minneapolis.
JESSE AMES was born in Vinalhaven, Maine, Feb. 4, 1808. From the age
of fourteen till his retirement in 1861, Mr. Ames devoted himself to a
seafaring life. At the age of twenty-three he was captain of a
schooner, and afterward of different ships, brigs, barks or schooners,
all of them in the mercantile trade. He made between twenty and thirty
voyages to Europe, circumnavigated Cape Horn several times, and sailed
twice round the globe. Few men have seen more of the world. His last
voyage was from New Zealand to London, where he sold his ship, and,
coming to America, found him a beautiful home in the North Star State.
He is a resident of Northfield, and is, with his son John T., the
owner of the well known flouring mills at that place. He was married
Oct. 27, 1832, to Margaret Tolman, of Rockland, Maine. They have two
sons, one of whom, John T., is a resident of Northfield. The other
son, Adelbert A., won distinction during the Civil War, leaving the
service with the brevet rank of major general. Since the war he has
served as senator from Mississippi, and as governor of that state.
CADWALLADER C. WASHBURN.--Hon. C. C. Washburn was a man of rare
nobility of character and possessed of an acute and powerful mind. He
used his great talents for the good of the country. He was a man of
philanthropic impulses and great generosity, as the following
munificent gifts to the public will attest:
_First_--To the state of Wisconsin, in 1876, an astronomical
observatory, located on the university lands at Madison, in style of
architecture and apparatus to carry into execution the design of the
institution, equal, if not superior, to that of any like institution
in the world.
_Second_--The donation of his "Edgewood Home," near Madison,
Wisconsin, for educational purposes.
_Third_--The generously established school located on the shores of
Lake Harriet, near Minneapolis, "The Washburn Home for Orphans," for
the poor and unfortunate children of Minnesota.
Mr. Washburn was born in Livermore, Maine, April 22, 1818; lived at
home until 1838, and devoted some time to obtaining a classical
education. In 1838 and 1839 he taught school and clerked in Hallowell
and Wiscassett, Maine. In the spring of 1839 he came West to
Davenport, Iowa, and was employed a few months with David Dale Owen,
on geological work. In 1840 and 1841 he studied law at Rock Island.
Illinois. In 1842 he settled in Mineral Point, Wisconsin, and was
admitted to practice law at Lancaster, Grant county, in Judge Dunn's
court. He continued in practice at Mineral Point; also engaged in real
estate and dealing in land warrants, and in 1852 established the Bank
of Mineral Point. Mr. Washburn was elected representative to the
thirty-fourth, thirty-fifth, thirty-sixth, and fortieth congresses. In
February, 1861, the house appointed a special committee of
thirty-three members on the state of the Union. A majority of the
committee reported an amendment to the constitution of the United
States, making slavery perpetual. Mr. Washburn and others made a
minority report against making slavery perpetual. On this report we
subjoin his remarks: "If this Union must be dissolved, whether by
peaceable process or through fire and blood or civil war, we shall
have the consolation of knowing that when the conflict is over those
who survive will be what they never have been--inhabitants of a free
country." Mr. Washburn changed his residence to La Crosse in 1861. He
received a colonel's commission to recruit a cavalry regiment that
year, and subsequently was promoted to the rank of brigadier general.
He was elected governor of Wisconsin in 1872. In 1876 he erected a
large flour mill at Minneapolis, which burned in 1878. It was soon
after rebuilt. In this mill he introduced the first Hungarian patent
process for making flour used in America. Mr. Washburn died at Eureka
Springs, Arkansas, May 14, 1882. His body was brought to Wisconsin and
buried at La Crosse.
[Illustration: W. D. Washburn]
WILLIAM DREW WASHBURN, the youngest of the Washburn brothers, was born
at Livermore, Maine, Jan. 14, 1831. He worked upon his father's farm
until twenty years of age; prepared himself for college by his own
unaided efforts, entered Bowdoin College, and graduated in 1854. He
studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1857, and in the same year
came to Minneapolis as agent of the Minneapolis Mill Company, of which
he became a partner. In 1861 President Lincoln appointed him surveyor
general of Minnesota. During his term of office, which continued four
years, he lived in St. Paul. On his return to Minneapolis he built a
large saw mill and engaged extensively in the lumber trade. He was the
chief mover in the Minneapolis & St. Louis and Minneapolis & Pacific
railways. He has a large lumber and flour mill at Anoka, and with
others erected the Palisade flour mill at Minneapolis. In 1878 he was
elected representative to Congress from the Third district and
re-elected in 1880. He has also served in the state legislature. He
was a principal proprietor of the Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie &
Atlantic railway, and was elected president of the company in 1883.
Mr. Washburn has been successful in his business ventures, has
accumulated a handsome property, and been liberal in using his means
in the interests of Minneapolis and the State. He is eminently
practical in his business ideas and methods, and affable and
prepossessing in his manners. He married Lizzie Muzzy, of Bangor,
Maine, in 1850, and has two sons and two daughters living.
JOSEPH CLINTON WHITNEY was born in Springfield, Vermont, April 14,
1818. In 1829 he removed with his parents to Lower Canada, where he
remained till he was twenty years of age. He went to Oberlin, Ohio,
1840; graduated from the college in 1845, and from Union Theological
Seminary in 1849. The same year he removed to Stillwater, where he
organized the First Presbyterian church, of which he served as pastor
until 1853, when he was called to the pastorate of the First
Presbyterian church at Minneapolis, where he remained four years. He
removed to Forest City, Meeker county, but returned to Minneapolis in
1860. In 1862 he enlisted in Company D, Sixth Minnesota Volunteers,
and served three years. In 1865 President Lincoln appointed him
quartermaster with the rank of captain. In 1866 he returned to
Minneapolis and engaged in business. In 1867 he was elected state
senator from the Fifth district. Mr. Whitney has been greatly
interested in the cause of education. He was a principal mover in
establishing the public schools of Minneapolis, of Bennett Seminary
for Young Ladies, and of Macalester College. He is president of the
board of Bennett Seminary, and is one of the members of the state
normal board. He was married July 10, 1849, to Eliza Baird. They have
three sons and two daughters.
CHARLES HOAG was born in Sandwich, New Hampshire, in 1808. He received
a good education and taught school fifteen years. He came to
Minneapolis in 1852, and occupied various positions of trust, having
been a member of the first town council, the second treasurer of
Hennepin county, and the superintendent of schools four years,
commencing with 1870. Mr. Hoag suggested the name of Minneapolis for
the growing young city of his adoption. He was a man of marked ability
and refinement, and although a strong partisan his many admirable
personal qualities won the esteem of those who most radically differed
from him. He was twice married, his first wife dying in 1871. In 1873
he was married to Miss Susan F. Jewett who, with a daughter, Mrs. C.
H. Clark, and one son, Levi, survives him. Mr. Hoag died February,
1888.
FRANKLIN STEELE.--No other pioneer has been more prominent in the
early history of Minneapolis than Franklin Steele. A bold, sagacious,
enterprising man, he came in the very vanguard of civilization, and
promptly and fearlessly availed himself of the splendid opportunities
that this, then almost unknown, frontier afforded. We have not many
data of his early life, but his history since he set foot in Fort
Snelling is elsewhere given as a part of the early history of the
section in which he located, and need not be here repeated.
Franklin Steele was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. He came
West by the advice of President Andrew Jackson, and arrived at Fort
Snelling just after the conclusion of the treaty by which the Indians
ceded their St. Croix lands to the government; whereupon Mr. Steele
visited St. Croix Falls, made a claim and proceeded to make further
improvements, such as building mills, as elsewhere narrated.
When appointed sutler of the army at Fort Snelling, he sold his St.
Croix claims and identified himself thereafter with the interests of
St. Anthony Falls and the section adjacent thereto, where he made
claims and improvements. Among other enterprises illustrative of the
faith of Steele and others in the future greatness of the prospective
river cities, the fact may be mentioned that an organized company
built a wire suspension bridge over the river just above the falls, a
work projected while the adjacent lands were still in the hands of the
government, and completed in 1855, at a time when such a structure was
most needed and advantageous.
Mr. Steele was a man of far more than ordinary ability. Col. J. H.
Stevens says of him: "He has been a good friend to Hennepin county,
and as most of the citizens came here poor they never had to ask Mr.
Steele a second time for a favor. Fortune has favored him, and while
many a family has reason to feel thankful for his generosity and
kindness, he constantly made money." The county of Steele was named
after him. Mr. Steele was married to Miss Barney, a relative of the
distinguished naval officer of that name. He died in Minneapolis in
1880.
ROSWELL P. RUSSELL was born in Richland, Vermont, March 15, 1820. His
privileges for education were limited. He came to Michigan in 1836 and
to Fort Snelling in 1839. He came from Prairie du Chien to the Fort in
a mackinaw boat, part of the way on foot over the ice, and suffered
much for want of food, sleep and from exposure. Mr. Russell remained
at Fort Snelling until 1845, engaged for two years in the Indian
trade, made a claim at St. Anthony Falls in 1847, and opened the first
store, in a log building, at that place. In 1854 he was appointed
receiver of the land office at Minneapolis. He has since been actively
engaged in farming, merchandising and real estate transactions. He was
the first chairman of the St. Anthony Falls town board, and has served
one term as representative in the state legislature. He was a true and
steadfast friend to his adopted city. He was married at St. Anthony
Falls, Oct. 3, 1848, to Marion Patch. They have a family of seven sons
and three daughters: Lucy C., wife of W. C. Colbrath; Charles M.,
Roswell P., Mary Bell, wife of F. M. Prince, of Stillwater; Carrie E.,
wife of F. L. Lovejoy, of Fargo, Dakota; Frank and Fred, twin
brothers; Geo. B. Mc----, died in 1881; William and Edward E.
HORATIO PHILLIPS VAN CLEVE was born in Princeton, New Jersey, Nov. 22,
1809. He was educated at Princeton College and West Point, graduating
from the latter institution in 1831. He served five years in the army,
resigning in 1836. He followed farming and engineering in Michigan
until 1856, when he came to Morrison county, Minnesota. In 1861 he
enlisted as a volunteer in the Second Regiment, Minnesota Infantry, of
which regiment he was commissioned colonel. He served during the war
and left the service with a major general's commission, and has since
served as adjutant general of the state of Minnesota. He was the
postmaster of St. Anthony Falls prior to the union of that city with
Minneapolis. He was married to Charlotte O. Clarke, daughter of Maj.
Gen. Clarke of the United States Army. They have seven children.
CHARLOTTE OUISCONSIN VAN CLEVE, a daughter of Gen. Clarke of the
United States Army, was born at Fort Crawford, Prairie du Chien,
Wisconsin, in 1819. Soon after her birth her father came up the river
on a flatboat to the site of Fort Snelling. They were six weeks making
the voyage. Miss Charlotte grew up amidst military surroundings, and
on a remote frontier, and was married at Fort Winnebago, Wisconsin, to
Horatio P. Van Cleve, when she had barely attained the age of sixteen
years. Her husband resigned his position in the army about the time of
his marriage, and removed to Michigan, but since 1856 her home has
been in Minnesota. Of her children six sons are living in Hennepin
county. A daughter is the wife of H. V. Hall, a missionary to the
Sandwich Islands. Besides her own family she has reared five orphans.
She is intellectually active and vigorous, takes great interest in the
reforms of the day, and is a noble specimen of the pioneer women of
the State. She is the founder of the Bethany Home in Minneapolis. She
has specially interested herself in the poor, the downtrodden and the
outcast classes of human society, and has exercised in this direction
an untold influence for good.
ARD GODFREY was born at Orono, Maine, Jan. 18, 1813. He came to St.
Anthony Falls in 1847, and was among the first to make improvements in
utilizing the water power furnished by the falls. He built a dam and
mill, and subsequently engaged in lumbering. In 1852 he settled on a
claim near Minnehaha falls, where he built a saw and grist mill, some
years later destroyed by fire. He was married in Maine, January,
1838, and has a family of six children. He still lives at his old
homestead near Minnehaha falls.
RICHARD CHUTE was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Sept. 22, 1820. He first
visited St. Anthony Falls in 1844, and built a trading house. He was
one of the firm of W. G. Ewing & Co. In 1854 he located permanently at
the Falls where he has been engaged in real estate operations, milling
and other branches of business. He has been successful in his
undertakings, and is a man of excellent standing in the community.
LUCIUS N. PARKER was born in Chester, Vermont, Dec. 11, 1823. He came
to Illinois in his boyhood and remained there till eighteen years of
age, when he came to Marine, Minnesota, and engaged in lumbering. In
1846 he was one of the proprietors of the Osceola (Polk county,
Wisconsin) mills. In 1849 he sold out his interest, removed to St.
Anthony Falls and carried the mail between St. Paul and that city. He
removed to the west side of the river, known now as Minneapolis, and
has since resided there. He was married to Amanda Huse in 1849.
CAPT. JOHN ROLLINS was born in March, 1806, at New Sharon, Maine.
While in Maine he followed lumbering and hotel keeping. In 1848 he
came to the Falls and engaged in lumbering, steamboating, milling and
farming. He was a member of the first territorial council of
Minnesota, in 1849-50. He was married to Betsey Martin at Newport,
Maine, in 1832. They have seven children living. Capt. Rollins died in
1885.
JOHN G. LENNON was born in Bolton, England, July 6, 1815. He came to
America in 1841 as supercargo of a vessel bound to New Orleans. In
1843 he located at St. Croix Falls, removed to St. Paul in 1848, and
in 1850 to St. Anthony Falls, where he entered the service of the St.
Anthony Outfit. In 1856 he engaged in the lumbering and mercantile
business and in 1859 removed to a stock farm in Sibley county. During
the Civil War he served as assistant commissary, and through Gen.
Sibley's Indian campaign. At the suppression of the Indian revolt his
regiment was transferred South and attached to the Sixteenth Army
Corps, under Gen. A. J. Smith and Division Commander Gen. Joseph Mower
and he served as quartermaster until mustered out at the close of the
war, when he returned to civil life and commenced dealing in real
estate. In 1873 he returned to Minneapolis. He was married to Mary D.
McLain in 1851. He died in August, 1887, leaving a widow and two
children.
JOHN H. STEVENS.--Col. Stevens traces his ancestry to the Moors who,
during the wars of the Alhambra were carried captive to France, where
they became known as Huguenots. Driven by persecution from France to
England, they emigrated thence with the Puritans on the Mayflower to
America. Col. Stevens was born June 13, 1820, in Lower Canada, whither
his parents had emigrated from Vermont. His father gave him an
excellent education.
At an early day John H. came to the lead mines of South Wisconsin.
During the war with Mexico he served as a soldier, and after the war,
in 1849, came to the Northwest and located on the west bank of the
Mississippi, at St. Anthony Falls, where he built the first frame
house on the west side, on ground that afterward became the site of
the union depot. He was a member of the lower house of the legislature
of 1876, and has filled other public positions with honor to himself.
He has been influential in municipal affairs, and always a staunch
advocate of the interests of his city, county and State. He is the
author of a book of "Reminiscences of Pioneer Life." He was married at
Rockford, Illinois, in 1850, to Frances Helen Miller. They have one
son, Francis H. G., and three daughters, Orma, Sarah and Kittie D.,
wife of P. B. Winston.
CALEB D. DORR was born at East Great Works, Penobscot county, Maine.
He became a practical lumberman, and, coming to the Falls in 1847,
bought of Hole-in-the-Day, a Chippewa chief at Swan River, one hundred
trees at five dollars per tree, for St. Anthony Falls improvements,
the first timber floated down the Mississippi above the mouth of Rum
river.
Mr. Dorr was in the employ of the government for ten years, locating
state and school lands. He has followed the business of scaling logs,
and has also been boom master. He was married to Celestia A. Ricker,
of Maine, March 4, 1849.
REV. EDWARD DUFFIELD NEILL, the well known author of the "History of
Minnesota," was born in Philadelphia Aug. 9, 1823. He was educated at
the University of Pennsylvania and Amherst College, Massachusetts,
graduating from the latter in 1842. He studied theology at Andover
Theological Seminary, Massachusetts, and in 1847 preached as a
missionary amongst the miners in and around Galena, Illinois. He was
transferred to St. Paul in April, 1849, where he organized a society
and erected the first Protestant church building in Minnesota not on
mission grounds. It was situated on Third and Market streets. He also
built for himself, on the corner of Fourth and Washington streets, the
first brick house in the city. In 1855 he organized the House of Hope
society and acted as its pastor five years. He was also the prime
mover in establishing the Baldwin School. In 1855 he secured the
building of the St. Paul College, for some years conducted as a
classical school and afterward consolidated with the Baldwin School.
He was the first territorial superintendent of public instruction, in
1851-2, and served as state superintendent from 1858 to 1864. He was
called to fill many educational trusts.
April 29, 1861, he was appointed chaplain of the First Minnesota
Volunteers, and served as such over two years. He was with his
regiment at the battles of Bull Run, Fair Oaks and Malvern Hill.
President Lincoln appointed him hospital chaplain, he became one of
the president's private secretaries, and continued in that relation
during the presidency of Andrew Johnson. In 1869 President Grant
appointed him United States consul at Dublin, where he resided two
years. Returning to Minnesota in 1871, he removed to Minneapolis and
conducted the Baldwin School and St. Paul College, under the title of
Macalester College, and located his school in the old Winslow House,
Minneapolis. In January, 1874, Mr. Neill connected himself with the
Reformed Episcopal church.
Mr. Neill has been a busy worker in literary, chiefly historical,
fields. Editions of his "History of Minnesota" were published in 1858,
1873 and 1878. He has published many other valuable historical works.
He is a ready and versatile writer, and is an authority on the
subjects concerning which he treats. Mr. Neill was married to Nancy
Hill, at Snow Hill, Maryland. Their children are Samuel Henry, Edward
Duffield and John Selby Martin.
JOHN WENSIGNOR, a native of Switzerland, was born May 22, 1825; came
to America in 1833, to St. Anthony Falls in 1849, and engaged
successfully in mercantile pursuits. Mr. Wensignor has been a generous
man to the poor, and although public spirited, has persistently
declined office. Mr. Wensignor died in 1886.
ROBERT H. HASTY was born in York county, Maine, Dec. 12, 1823. He came
to Stillwater in 1849, and engaged in lumbering. He was surveyor
general of the First district two years. He enlisted in Company I,
Sixth Minnesota, at the organization of the regiment in 1862, was
commissioned second lieutenant, promoted to first lieutenant, and
resigned Jan. 15, 1865. In 1881 he removed to Crystal Lake, Minnesota.
STEPHEN PRATT, a native of Penobscot county, Maine, was born, in 1828;
came to St. Anthony Falls in October, 1849, where he followed
lumbering until 1858. He was a member of the First Minnesota Cavalry
during the Rebellion. In 1864 he removed to a farm. He died in 1887.
CAPT. JOHN TAPPER was born in Dorsetshire, England, March 25, 1820;
came to America in 1840, and to Prairie du Chien and Fort Snelling in
1844. He served as a soldier during the Mexican War. He was the first
toll collector on the St. Anthony Falls wire suspension bridge. He
finally located on Steele's farm near Minnehaha falls, and is now
living in Clayton county, Iowa.
R. W. CUMMINGS was born in Lycoming, Pennsylvania, June, 1825. He
settled at Cottage Grove, Minnesota, in 1845, and in 1848 made a claim
in St. Anthony, and improved it as a farm until the city required it
for lots, since which time he has been engaged in the real estate
business.
ELIAS H. CONNER was born in New Sharon, Maine, in 1824. In 1848 he
came to Lakeland, Minnesota, and in 1849 to St. Anthony Falls, where
he had charge of the work on the first suspension thrown across the
Mississippi at that point. He also built the first bridge that spanned
the St. Croix at Taylor's Falls. In 1855 he was married to Hannah
Rollins.
C. F. STIMSON was born in Maine, April 19, 1822. He came to Stillwater
in June, 1848, and thence to St. Anthony Falls, where he followed
lumbering. He was treasurer of Ramsey county for one year. In 1879 he
moved to his farm near Elk River. He has a wife and two children.
WILLIAM DUGAS was born in Three Rivers, Canada East, May 17, 1809. He
came to New York in 1831. He spent some time traveling, visiting
Africa, New Orleans, Indian Territory, Iowa, and Illinois, and other
places more or less remote. He came to Minnesota in 1844, and was a
representative in the first territorial legislature. Later he removed
to St. Anthony Falls. He afterward removed to Dayton, Minnesota. He
was married at Prairie du Chien in 1844.
DAVIS GORHAM was born in Quebec; came to Virginia, where he spent two
years, and thence to Maine, where he lived twelve years. In April,
1849, he came to St. Anthony Falls, and made valuable land claims near
Lake Calhoun. He followed lumbering for about twelve years. In 1864 he
started for California, but was driven back by the Sioux Indians. In
1867 he settled in Plymouth, where he has been supervisor for ten
years.
EDWIN HEDDERLY was born in Philadelphia in 1814. In 1849 he came to
St. Anthony Falls and in 1851 made a claim of one hundred and sixty
acres west of the river, within the present bounds of Minneapolis. He
served on various committees for selecting a name for the new city and
its streets, and until his death was ever active and influential in
all matters pertaining to the welfare of the city. He was married to
Mary J. Kennard, of Philadelphia. Eight children of this union survive
him and are residents of the city. Mr. Hedderly died in 1879.
LOUIS NEUDECK, born December, 1821, came to St. Anthony Falls in 1849.
He subsequently lived in Missouri, Illinois and at Stillwater, but in
1855 returned to the Falls. He died in 1864. He was supposed to have
been killed by Indians while absent in Montana, the only clue to his
sad fate being the recovery of his revolver having his name inscribed
on it, from an Indian. He left a widow and five children.
ANDREW J. FOSTER was born in Cooper, Maine, June, 1827, and came to
the Falls in 1849, where he engaged in the lumbering, grocery,
gardening, and real estate business. He married Mrs. Mary Averill, of
Stillwater. Their children are Ada, William, Owen and Elmer.
A. D. FOSTER, a Pennsylvanian, born in 1801, came to St. Anthony Falls
in 1848. He assisted in building the Gov. Ramsey, the first boat above
the falls. He has engaged in fruit culture and merchandising. He was
married in Pennsylvania and has three children; Josiah, resident in
Indianapolis; Lysander, a physician in Minneapolis; and a daughter,
married.
CHARLES E. VANDERBURGH, a native of Clifton, Parke county, New York,
born Dec. 2, 1829, graduated at Yale College an 1852, and served for
awhile as principal of Oxford Academy, New York. He studied law and
was admitted to practice in 1855. In 1856 he came to Minneapolis,
which has since been his home. In 1849 he was elected judge of the
district court, which at that time embraced all the territory west of
the Mississippi from Fort Snelling to the north boundary line. He has
been continuously re-elected, an evidence of the high estimation in
which he is regarded by his fellow citizens.
Judge Vanderburgh has been twice married. His first wife, Julia M.
Mygatt, wedded Sept. 2, 1857, died April 23, 1863, leaving two
children, William Henry and Julia M. His second wife was Anna Culbert,
married April 15, 1873. They have one child, Isabella McIntyre. His
daughter Julia was accidentally drowned Sept. 12, 1871.
DORILLIUS MORRISON was born at Livermore, Oxford county, Maine, Dec.
26, 1816. He received a common school and academic education. He
taught school awhile, and then engaged in the mercantile business, the
last eleven years at Bangor, when in the spring of 1853 he came to
Minneapolis, where he became prominent as a business man, following
lumbering, dealing in real estate, milling and railway building. He is
one of the projectors and proprietors of the Minneapolis Mill Company.
He is also sole owner and proprietor of a cotton mill costing
$100,000. He was deeply interested in the Northern Pacific railroad.
He was the first mayor of Minneapolis, in 1867, and served as senator
in the sixth legislature in May, 1840. He was married to Harriet
Putnam Whitmore, a descendant of Gen. Israel Putnam. They have three
children, Clinton and George Henry, residents of Minneapolis, and
Grace E., the wife of Dr. H. H. Kimball, of Minneapolis.
H. G. O. MORRISON, brother of Dorillius, was born in Livermore, Maine,
Jan. 24, 1817. He graduated at the Bangor high school. He worked at
printing in his youth, read law and was admitted to practice in 1838,
locating afterward at Sebre, Maine. He was a member of the Maine
senate in 1841. In 1855 he came to St. Anthony Falls. He moved to
Dakota county soon after, and represented that county in the state
legislatures of 1860-61. He resided in Dakota county for twelve years.
He was assessor of internal revenue from 1869 to 1873, during which
time he lived in St. Paul. In 1873 he removed to Minneapolis, where he
has since resided. He has been twice married. His second wife was
Rebecca Newell. They have three children, Daniel W., Samuel B. and
Stanford.
JUDGE F. R. E. CORNELL was born in 1821, in Chenango county, New
York; was educated at Union College, New York; studied law and was
admitted to practice in 1846. He came to Minneapolis in 1854. During
his residence in New York he was a member of the state senate. In
January, 1875, he took his seat as associate justice of the supreme
court of Minnesota, which office he held until his death, which
occurred in 1879.
GEN. A. B. NETTLETON came from Ohio, and became one of the editors of
the Minneapolis _Tribune_. He served during the Civil War,
participated in seventy-three battles, and was promoted through the
various grades from private to brigadier general.
JUDGE ISAAC ATWATER was born in Homer, Cortland county, New York. He
graduated at Yale College in 1844, practiced law in New York City
until 1850, when he came to St. Anthony Falls and practiced law with
G. W. North as partner. He was one of the first regents of the State
University; edited the St. Anthony _Express_ from 1851 to 1857; served
as district attorney from 1853 to 1857; was elected associate justice
of the supreme bench in 1857, resigned the position in 1864, and
removed to California, where he practiced law. After an absence of
three years he returned to Minneapolis, where he has been honored with
the offices of alderman, president of the Board of Education, etc. He
was married to Pamelia A. Sanborn in 1849. Their son John B. is
associated with his father in law practice.
REV. DAVID BROOKS, a venerable pioneer clergyman of the Methodist
Episcopal church, was born in England in 1802. He was educated there
and preached ten years in the Wesleyan connection. He came to America
in 1842, and joined the Methodist Episcopal church, which he has
served faithfully since as pastor and presiding elder in Northern
Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota. He was among the pioneer preachers
in the latter state. In 1853 he was presiding elder of a district that
included all of the present Minnesota conference. In 1854 he secured
the charter for Hamline University, and was instrumental in obtaining
a donation of $25,000 from Bishop Hamline for its endowment.
REV. JABEZ BROOKS, D.D., son of Rev. David Brooke, was born in
England, and came to America in 1842. He is a graduate of Middleton
Wesleyan University. For several years he was professor of Greek, and
later president, of Hamline University. He served also as professor
of Greek in Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin. He has for many
years been professor of Greek in the State University.
JOHN S. PILLSBURY was born in New Hampshire, July 29, 1828. He
received a New England common school education. He came to the Falls
in 1855, and by close application to business acquired a position of
wealth and influence. He has occupied many prominent positions in
Minneapolis and the State. He served five terms as state senator, from
the sixth to the tenth legislatures. In 1863 he was appointed a regent
of the State University. He was elected governor of the State in 1875,
and re-elected in 1877. He was married in November, 1856, to Mahala
Fisk, of Warner, New Hampshire. Their children are Ada, Susie, May,
Sadie Belle, and Alfred Fisk.
HENRY T. WELLES was born in Connecticut, April 3, 1821, graduated at
Trinity College, and came to St. Anthony Falls in 1853, where he
engaged successfully in the lumbering, banking and real estate
business. He is a liberal, public spirited citizen, contributing
freely to all enterprises looking to the growth and welfare of the
city as well as to charitable objects.
DAVID BLAKELY has been prominent in journalism, having been connected
at various times with papers in Minneapolis, St. Paul and Chicago: He
was one of the founders of the Minneapolis _Tribune_.
WILLIAM LOCHREN, a native of Tyrone, Ireland, was born April 3, 1832;
was brought to America when he was two years old; was educated in
Vermont; admitted to the bar, and came to the Falls in 1856, where he
has since practiced law, excepting a term of service in the army
during the Rebellion as first lieutenant of Company E, First Minnesota
Volunteers. Since the war he has served as city attorney, as state
senator in 1868 69, and as district judge from 1883 to the present
time. In 1871 he was married to Mrs. Martha Demmen, who died in 1879.
EUGENE M. WILSON was born in 1834, in Monongalia county, Virginia. His
ancestors were Scotch-Irish, who came to this country at an early
date. His grandfather served in the Revolutionary War. Mr. Wilson
graduated at Jefferson College, Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1852,
read law with his father, was admitted to practice in 1855, and came
to Minneapolis in 1857. He served as United States district attorney
during President Buchanan's administration. During the Rebellion he
was captain of Company A, First Minnesota Cavalry, serving on the
frontier until 1853, when the company was discharged by the completion
of term of enlistment.
[Illustration: J. S. Pillsbury]
Mr. Wilson was a member of the United States house of representatives
in 1871-72 and state senator in 1879. He served four years as mayor of
Minneapolis, from 1872 to 1876. Mr. Wilson was married Sept. 6, 1865,
to Mary E. Kimball, of Minneapolis. They have three children, Mary O.,
Helen K. and Eugenia.
R. B. LANGDON, born in Vermont in 1826, received an academic
education, and at twenty-two years of age commenced railroading on the
Rutland & Burlington road. He has since been continuously engaged in
superintending the construction of railroads in ten states of the
Union, and in 1858 supervised the grading of the St. Paul & Pacific,
the first railroad enterprise in Minnesota. He served as state senator
for seven terms, commencing in 1873 and closing in 1881 (excepting the
term of 1879). He has a wife and three children.
WM. M. BRACKET, the originator of the Minneapolis fire department, was
born in Maine in 1843. His father served six years as consul at
Halifax, Nova Scotia, during which time William resided at that place.
During the Rebellion he served two years as a musician in the Sixth
Maine Volunteers, and was then appointed paymaster's clerk at
Washington, District of Columbia. In 1865 he came to Minneapolis,
where he has since been continuously connected with the fire
department.
THOMAS B. AND PLATT B. WALKER are natives of Ohio. Thomas B. came to
Minneapolis in 1862, and engaged in surveying, railroad engineering
and examining lands. By close application and sound judgment he has
accumulated wealth, from which he dispenses liberally to worthy
enterprises. He has contributed largely to the building of the
athenæum. His wife is a prominent contributor to, and upholder of, the
charitable enterprises of the city.
PLATT B., a younger brother of Thomas, is a fluent speaker, a popular
lecturer and a kind hearted, genial man. He has been till lately
editor and publisher of the _Mississippi Valley Lumberman_, and has
taken an active part in the improvements of the waterways of the
West.
AUSTIN H. YOUNG, a native of Fredonia, New York, born Dec. 8, 1830,
received his education at Waukegan, Illinois; removed to Prescott,
Wisconsin, in 1854; commenced the practice of law in 1862 and served
as state senator in Wisconsin in 1863. He came to Minneapolis in 1866
and practiced law. He was elected judge of the Fourth Judicial
district in 1877.
HENRY G. HICKS was born in Wyoming, New York, in 1838. He learned the
trade of harness maker; was educated at Oberlin, Ohio; served as a
soldier during the war of the Rebellion, and was wounded at the battle
of Missionary Ridge. In 1865 he came to Minneapolis. He was admitted
to the bar in 1875; has served as sheriff, as city justice and as a
representative in the twentieth, twenty-first and twenty-second state
legislatures. He was elected district judge in 1886.
JOHN P. REA was born Oct. 13, 1840, in Chester county, Pennsylvania.
He received a common school education. In 1861 he enlisted in Company
B, Eleventh Ohio Volunteers, and was breveted major for meritorious
services. In 1867 he graduated at Ohio Wesleyan College; studied law
and was admitted to the bar in 1869. In 1875 he removed to
Minneapolis; edited the _Tribune_ one year; continued his law practice
in 1877; was elected probate judge, served four years, and in 1886 was
elected district judge without opposition.
He has been an active Grand Army man, a member of Geo. N. Morgan Post,
and has served as commander of Minnesota state department, also as
senior vice commander-in-chief of the national department. In 1887 he
was elected commander-in-chief of the national department of the Grand
Army. In 1869 he was married to Miss Emma Gould, of Ohio.
JOHN MARTIN was born in Caledonia county, Vermont, in 1820. His
educational advantages were limited to the common schools. He was
raised on a farm, but at eighteen years of age bought his time of his
father for sixty dollars. For twelve years he followed steamboating,
seven on the Connecticut river and five on the Neuce river in North
Carolina. In 1851 he went to California, but returned to Vermont the
following year, and for two years engaged in farming. He came to
Minneapolis in 1854, where he engaged in lumbering and dealing in pine
lands. In the past twelve years he has been interested in railroad
enterprises. He has been vice president of the Minneapolis & St.
Louis, and Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie & Atlantic Railway companies.
Mr. Martin is an enterprising and sagacious business man, and is
highly esteemed for his many excellent qualities. He was married in
Vermont in 1849, to Jane Gilfillan, and has one daughter.
JOHN DUDLEY was born in Penobscot county, Maine, in 1814. He came to
Minneapolis in 1852, where he engaged in business, dealing in logs and
lumber. He built mills in Prescott in 1861. The flour mill at Prescott
has a capacity of one hundred barrels per day, and the saw mill a
capacity of 3,000,000 feet per annum. He recently purchased the saw
mill at Point Douglas built by A. J. Short. This mill has a capacity
of 6,000,000 feet.
[Illustration: ST. ANTHONY FALLS IN 1886.
VIEW OF SUSPENSION BRIDGE ABOVE THE FALLS, AND ST. PAUL, MINNEAPOLIS &
MANITOBA RAILWAY BRIDGE BELOW THE FALLS.]