Fifty Years In The Northwest Part 52

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

GEN. S. B. LOWRY was the son of the devoted and zealous missionary, Rev. David Lowry, who labored among the Winnebagoes in Northern Iowa in the '30s and '40s. He located first at Brockway, ten miles above St. Cloud, and established a trading post, but in 1853 removed to St.

Cloud, where he surveyed and platted the village of Acadia, afterward known as "Lowry's addition." He made St. Cloud his home until his death, which occurred in 1861.

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

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

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

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

AMBROSE FREEMAN.--We have no datum as to when Mr. Freeman came to St.

Cloud, but it was probably prior to 1860. He was a stonemason, and while working on a cellar wall heard the report of the Sioux uprising and ma.s.sacre (in 1862), and, dropping his tools, hurried off to satisfy himself as to the truth of the reports, called a meeting of citizens, and organized a company of twenty-five volunteers to a.s.sist in caring for the wounded and burying the dead. On his return he was commissioned captain of the Northern Rangers and marched with his command to the relief of Forest City and Fort Abercrombie. He was with Gen. Sibley's command in 1863, and while riding over the prairie was shot with an arrow by an Indian, and expired instantly.

NATHAN F. BARNES has lived a somewhat eventful life. He was born at Portland, Maine, June 26, 1817; received an academic education; served as a mids.h.i.+pman in the navy from 1834 to 1839, visiting many parts of the globe. In 1840 he commenced the study of law, was admitted to practice in 1843 and practiced awhile at Conway, New Hamps.h.i.+re, where in 1844 he was married. In 1850 he was appointed mail agent on the Isthmus route to California, served six years, and then located in California. Two years later, in 1858, he removed to Alexandria, Minnesota. During the Sioux ma.s.sacre he and Andreas Darling were the only persons remaining in the neighborhood who escaped being killed.

In 1865 he came to St. Cloud, where he has been an active and prominent citizen. He served many years as city clerk and city justice and was elected to the house of the state legislature in 1875.

He was influential in securing the location of the normal school in St. Cloud. One son, Percival S., died in the Saulsbury prison during the Civil War. He has one son and one daughter living.

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

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

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

CHARLES A. GILMAN was born in Gilmanton, New Hamps.h.i.+re, Feb. 9, 1833.

His youth was spent at home, where he received a common school and academic education, the latter at Gilmanton Academy. He taught school during the winters. In 1855 he came to Sauk Rapids, Benton county, where he engaged in farming and real estate business; he also filled the offices of auditor and register of deeds. In 1861 he removed to St. Cloud, having been appointed register of the United States land office for that place. He served seven years as register and receiver.

He studied law, and was admitted to practice in 1876. Mr. Gilman has lived a busy life, and besides his real estate, law, surveying and exploring business, he has taken a conspicuous position in the politics of his State, having served as state senator in the years 1868-69, and as representative from 1875 to 1879. In 1878-79 he served as speaker of the house. From 1881 to 1884 he was lieutenant governor of the State. He was elected to the legislature several times as a Republican, when the district was strongly Democratic, a high compliment to his ability and integrity. He was married to Hester Cronk, at Sauk Rapids, Jan. 1, 1857. They have six children living. He has lived at St. Cloud since 1861, where he has a delightful home.

Of St. Cloud citizens not elsewhere mentioned in this work, and who have been prominent in advancing its interests, are Charles Bridgman, Henry G. Mitch.e.l.l and son, C. F. McDonald, Lewis Clark, Alonzo F.

Cramb, C. F. Davis, Levi S. Geer, Josiah G. Hayward, David L. Kiehle, A. Montgomery, Overbeck brothers, John H. Owen, and John Cooper. St.

Cloud has furnished three able jurists for the supreme bench in this district, E. O. Hamlin, J. M. McKelvy and L. W. Collins.

ANOKA COUNTY.

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

The county is subdivided into the following towns.h.i.+ps: Anoka, Bethel, Blaine, Burns, Centreville, Columbus, Fridley, Grow, Ham Lake, Linwood, Oak Grove, Ramsey, and St. Francis. The Northern Pacific and St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba railroads traverse this county near its western boundary, following the course of the Mississippi river.

Outside of Anoka the first settlement in the county was within the bounds of the present town of Ramsey. Nathan Shumway, Cornelius Pitman and Daniel Hawthorne settled there in 1850.

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

ANOKA.

This town lies on the east sh.o.r.e of the Mississippi and includes part of fractional towns.h.i.+p 31, range 24. It is watered by Rum river, which traverses the northwestern part, and by c.o.o.n creek in the eastern part. The town originally was chiefly prairie. Its early history is included in that of Anoka county.

ANOKA CITY.

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

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

In 1851 Geo. W. Branch took up a claim on the west side, and built a house near what is now the corner of Main and Ferry streets. This was the first frame house in Anoka, which, from this time forward, grew almost imperceptibly into a village, till in 1855 the census showed nearly 300 inhabitants. In 1860 the population was 602, and in 1886, 5,000. Anoka was incorporated as a city in 1878, with the following board of officers: Mayor, G. W. Church; aldermen, D. C. Dunham, D. H.

Lane, L. G. Browning, A. Davis, H. N. Seelye, and J. H. Pierce; treasurer, H. E. Lepper; justices of the peace, W. W. Fitch and E. S.

Teller; constables, George Geddes and Norman McLean. At that time the city was divided into two wards, the First including the east side, and the Second the west side, of Rum river. In 1881 the west side was changed to the First ward, and the east side became the Second and Third wards.

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

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

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

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

The First National Bank of Anoka was organized as a private banking inst.i.tution in 1872. It became a state bank in 1882, with a capital stock of $25,000, and a national bank in 1883, with a paid up capital of $50,000. The officers are: President, H. L. Ticknor; cas.h.i.+er, B. F.

Pratt. The Anoka National Bank was organized in 1883, with a paid up capital of $100,000. The officers are: President, W. D. Washburn; vice president, C. C. Crane; cas.h.i.+er. C. S. Guderian.

BETHEL

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

BLAINE,

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

BURNS

Includes towns.h.i.+p 33, range 25, and is in the northwestern part of the county. The soil is clay loam, and in the western part are many lakes.

Of these Twin lakes are ninety feet in depth. The first settler was John Derigan, who was also one of the first settlers of Elk River towns.h.i.+p, in Sherburne county. The town was organized in 1869. The supervisors were John D. Keen, John A. Mussey and W. D. Le Clair. A German Lutheran church was built in 1878.

CENTREVILLE

Includes towns.h.i.+p 31, range 22. It is the oldest settlement in the county, Alphonse Jarvis having located here in 1840. Frank Lamott settled here in 1849. The first considerable settlement was made on Rice lake, in 1850, by F. W. Traverse and other German families. A French colony settled in the eastern part of the town in 1852.

Prominent among these colonists were Francis X. Levalle and brother, Oliver and Frank Dupre, Francis Lamott and Oliver Peltier. The town was organized in 1857, with the following commissioners: Oliver Peltier, chairman; Francis Lamott, treasurer, and Stephen Ward. The town was originally a timbered and meadow district. It has a good black loam soil, and is well watered by Rice lake and numerous small streams. It contains a number of ancient mounds. Its nearest railroad station is Centreville, on the St. Paul & Duluth road, an Was.h.i.+ngton county.

CENTREVILLE VILLAGE

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