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.]
CHAPTER XX.
RAMSEY COUNTY.
Ramsey county, named in honor of Gov. Ramsey, includes an area of
about four whole towns lying between Anoka county on the north,
Washington on the east and the Mississippi river on the southwest. It
was organized by the first territorial legislature. Its surface is
undulating, and somewhat abruptly hilly along the Mississippi. It is
well watered and drained by the tributaries of the Mississippi, and
has besides many beautiful lakes. Its first officers were: Register of
deeds, David Day; sheriff, P. C. Lull; judge of probate, Henry A.
Lambert; treasurer, James W. Simpson; county attorney, W. D. Phillips;
county surveyor, S. P. Folsom; coroner, J. E. Fullerton; clerk of
court, J. K. Humphrey; auditor, Alexander Buchanan; court
commissioner, Oscar Malmros; district judge, E. C. Palmer; common
pleas judge, W. S. Hall; county commissioners, Ard Godfrey, Louis
Robert; senator, W. H. Forbes; representatives, B. W. Brunson, John L.
Dewey, Henry Jackson, Parsons K. Johnson.
Rev. Lucian Galtier, a Catholic priest who visited the Upper
Mississippi in the spring of 1840, has the honor of naming the then
unpromising city of St. Paul. Others had been on the site before him.
A few families had been banished from the vicinity of Fort Snelling
and had found homes a few miles further down the river. These were not
all reputable people, for amongst them was one Pierre Parrant, who, on
account of the appearance of one of his eyes, which was sightless, was
known as "Pig's Eye." Parrant sold whisky, and was, from all accounts,
an unscrupulous and worthless fellow. As a matter of course, his
establishment being to many the chief attraction of the place, it was
called by his nickname. The Indians would travel hundreds of miles to
_the place where they sell Minne waukan_ (whisky). The location was
near the once well known Fountain Cave. The name of "Pig's Eye" might
have been perpetually fastened upon the young city but for the timely
arrival of Father Galtier, who gave to it the name of St. Paul,
because, as he says in a letter to Bishop Grace, referring to the fact
that the name St. Peter (Mendota) had already been affixed to a place
some miles above, "As the name of St. Paul is generally associated
with that of St. Peter, and the Gentiles being well represented in the
new place in the persons of the Indians, I called it 'St. Paul.'"
It does not appear that Father Galtier was ever a resident of St.
Paul, as he only came at stated times to hold services and administer
the sacraments. The name Pig's Eye was subsequently transferred to a
place several miles below, where it is still retained. The best known
of the first settlers of St. Paul are B. Gervais, Vetal Guerin and
Pierre Bottineau. The two former gave to Father Galtier the ground
necessary for a church site and cemetery. "Accordingly," writes the
good father, "in the month of October logs were prepared and a church
erected so poor that it would well remind one of the stable at
Bethlehem. It was destined, however, to be the nucleus of a great
city. On the first day of November in the same year I blessed the new
_basilica_ and dedicated it to St. Paul, the apostle of nations. I
expressed a wish at the same time that the settlement would be known
by the same name, and my desire was obtained." During the fall of 1841
Father Augustin Ravoux arrived from below and became a resident of
Minnesota and later of St. Paul. In 1841 Rev. B. T. Kavanaugh
established a mission at Red Rock. Henry Jackson came from Galena the
same year, established a trading post and did well. He was afterward a
member of the first territorial legislature and of the first town
council. Jackson street perpetuates his name. Sergt. Mortimer and
Stanislaus Bilanski also came in 1842.
The accessions of 1843 were John R. Irvine. C. C. Blanchard, J. W.
Simpson, A. B. Coy, Wm. Hartshorn, A. L. Larpenteur, Scott Campbell,
Antoine Pepin, Alexander Mege, A. R. McLeod, Alexis Clautier, Joseph
Gobin, David T. Sloan, Joseph Desmarais, Louis Larrivier and Xavier
Delonais. These mostly engaged in trade. Messrs. Irvine, Blanchard,
Hartshorn and Coy, and later, Mege, were associated together. Some of
the last named accessions of 1843 were Canadian French, half-breeds,
or allied by marriage to the Indians. There were other settlers of
whom we can find only casual mention, probably transients or
adventurers.
The prominent accessions of 1844 were Capt. Louis Robert, Charles
Bazille, Wm. Dugas, Francis McCoy and Joseph Hall. Louis Robert was a
trader, Bazille was a carpenter and built this summer for Capt. Robert
the first frame house in St. Paul. This house was built of hewn
lumber, sawed lumber not being obtainable. It was on the lower levee,
and was used as a warehouse but was moved to East Fourth street,
where, as No. 58, it was still standing a few years ago. Dugas was a
millwright and built a saw and grist mill on Phalen's creek (spelled
in an old deed Faylin's creek). The mill was a failure. Dugas was a
man of some prominence and represented the New Canada precinct in the
first territorial legislature.
McCoy and Hall were carpenters. This year the governor of Wisconsin
Territory appointed Henry Jackson a justice of the peace. Jackson,
before his commission arrived, married an eager couple by bond, they
giving bond to reappear when he should receive his commission and be
legally united. Jackson was justice of the peace, postmaster, hotel
keeper, legislator, and clerk of court combined in one.
This fall Father Galtier was transferred to Keokuk and Father A.
Ravoux took charge of the churches at Mendota and St. Paul. Rev. J.
Hurlbut, a Methodist missionary, held the first Protestant service,
using the house of Henry Jackson for that purpose.
The first deed on record bears date of April 23, 1844, and transfers
from Henry Jackson, St. Croix county, Wisconsin Territory, to William
Hartshorn, of St. Louis, Missouri, for a consideration of $1,000, half
of the following tract of land in St. Croix county, Wisconsin
Territory, being the place where the said Jackson now lives, situate
immediately on the Mississippi river and known as the St. Paul
landing, containing three acres, with all buildings and improvements
thereon. The permanent accessions of 1845 were Francis Chenevert,
David Benoit, Leonard H. La Roche, Francis Robert, Augustus and David
B. Freeman, W. G. Carter and Charles Cavileer. La Roche was a
carpenter, but engaged in trade. He bought the land on which the
Merchants Hotel now stands for $165, and the year following built a
cabin of tamarack logs, which was known as the St. Paul House. This
property he sold to S. P. Folsom. La Roche died at Crow Wing in 1859.
W. G. Carter, better known as "Gib" Carter, was a member of the
Stillwater convention in 1848. He died in 1852. Francis Robert was a
younger brother of Louis Robert. He died in 1849, from an injury
received while running the St. Croix rapids in a birch canoe.
Chenevert clerked for Capt. Robert. He was unmarried, and died in
1865. Of Benoit little or nothing is known. The Freeman brothers were
engaged in trade in connection with Hartshorn and Randall. David died
in 1850, and was buried by the Odd Fellows, the first Odd Fellow
funeral in the Territory. Augustus Freeman died in New York. Cavileer
was a saddler, and was connected at first with the Red Rock mission.
He was territorial librarian for awhile, and is now a resident of
Pembina. Miss Matilda Ramsey opened a school (the first in St. Paul)
and taught a short time, when she was married to Alexander Mege, and
the school was abandoned.
Alexander R. McLeod, who came from Selkirk settlement in 1837 with
Pierre Bottineau, erected in 1845 and 1846 a log house between the
Catholic church and Jackson's store. This was the first house built in
St. Paul expressly for a hotel. It was afterward enlarged and called
the Central House, and was kept by Robert Kennedy and others. The
second deed on record bears date of May 1, 1845, and transfers, for a
consideration of $500, from William Douglass to H. H. Sibley, of
Clayton county, Iowa, lands situate on what is known as Faylin's
(Phalen's) creek, and more fully known as Faylin's falls, 100 acres,
where said Douglass now lives. This was a mortgage deed. A subsequent
deed conveys the same premises from Edward Faylin to Wm. Douglass, for
a consideration of $70. In February, 1846, a quitclaim deed conveys
the same tract to Alexander McLeod.
The settlers in 1846 were William H. and William Randall, Jr., father
and son, James McBoal, Thos. S. Odell, John Banfil, Harley D. White,
David Faribault, Louis Denoyer, Jo Monteur, and Charles Roleau.
Randall, Sr., engaged in trade and became immensely rich, but was
wrecked in the financial panic of 1857. He died in 1861. Randall, Jr.,
is best remembered as an artist and caricaturist of no mean ability.
He died in 1851. McBoal was also an artist, the first who pursued
that calling in St. Paul. He was a member of the territorial council
in 1849-50, and was adjutant general of the Territory during Gov.
Ramsey's administration. He died in Mendota in 1862.
Odell had been a soldier, but on being mustered out at Fort Snelling
came to St. Paul. He died in 1879. We have made mention of White in
biographical sketches. Crittenden went to Crow Wing and represented
the Twenty-first district in the first state legislature. Denoyer
married a sister of Louis Robert and in 1850 removed to Belle Plaine.
David Faribault was a son of Jean Baptiste Faribault. He now resides
in Dakota. Banfil removed to Manomin, and represented his district as
senator in the first state legislature.
The writer of these sketches visited St. Paul in 1846, and was
entertained at Jackson's hotel, which he well remembers as a log
building, one story high, with store and post office in the east end,
a dining room in the west end, with small, low sleeping rooms in the
rear. The hotel stood on a romantic elevation, a precipitious bluff,
and commanded a magnificent view of the river and valley. Louis
Robert's tamarack pole store was located east of Jackson's, under the
bluff, and directly on the bank of the river, a good steamboat landing
in front. West of Jackson's was J. W. Simpson's store, and still
further west the store of Faribault & Co., beyond which were two small
dwellings, all these buildings fronting the river. Still further west,
Alexander McLeod was building a handsome hewed log house. On the next
rise of ground stood the Catholic church. On the next plateau the
store of Wm. Hartshorn, and near a small creek the dwelling of John R.
Irvine. There were two residences on a plateau a short distance north
of Jackson's hotel. There were in all five stores, one tavern and a
few dwellings, mostly built of logs. A few United States soldiers and
Indians were lounging about the stores, some drunk, some sober. Such
was St. Paul in 1846. The settlers of 1847 were Jacob W. Bass, Harriet
E. Bishop, Benj. W. Brunson, Dr. J. J. Dewey, G. A. Fonrnier, Simeon
P. Folsom, W. H. Forbes, Aaron Foster, Daniel Hopkins, Parsons K.
Johnson, C. P. V. Lull, and W. C. Renfro. Bass and Johnson had been in
the lumber business at Chippewa Falls. On arriving at St. Paul Mr.
Bass leased a hotel on the corner of Third and Jackson streets, known
as the St. Paul House. He was appointed postmaster in 1849, and in
1852 opened a commission and forwarding warehouse on the levee. Mr.
Brunson was a surveyor, and, assisted by his brother, Ira B., laid off
the town plat of St. Paul, also a plat known as Brunson's addition, in
the fall of 1847. He was a member of the first and second territorial
legislatures, and justice of the peace for several years.
[Illustration]
Miss Bishop was one of the company of teachers sent West by Gov.
Slade. She organized the first permanent day school and the first
Sunday-school in St. Paul. The school house was a cabin on the corner
of Third and St. Peter streets. Miss Bishop, later Mrs. McConkey, was
the author of a valuable book of frontier sketches entitled "Floral
Homes." She died in 1884.
Of Mr. Forbes mention is made in biographical sketches. Aaron Foster
came from Stillwater. He was a carpenter by trade. He married Fanny
Mortimer, daughter of Sergt. Mortimer. He died in 1864. S. P. Folsom
is mentioned in biographical sketches. Dr. Dewey, the first practicing
physician in St. Paul, was a member of the first territorial
legislature, and established the first drug store in Minnesota.
Parsons Johnson, a descendant on his mother's side of Jonathan Carver,
engaged in tailoring, the first of his trade in St. Paul. He was a
member of the first territorial legislature.
Cornelius V. P. Lull was a carpenter. He served as sheriff in 1849,
and still lives in the city. Daniel Hopkins engaged in general
merchandising. He died in 1852. W. O. Renfro, a cousin of Henry
Jackson, had studied medicine, was a young man of ability but addicted
to drinking habits. The winter after his arrival he wandered forth,
suffering from _mania a potu_, and froze to death near the bend in
Phalen's creek.
This year was memorable for the organization of a regular steamboat
line from Galena to Mendota and Fort Snelling. The steamer Argo was
purchased for the trade. M. W. Lodwick was made commander and Russell
Blakely, clerk. The Argo was designed to make weekly trips, but sank
before the close of the season, and the Dr. Franklin was purchased to
take her place the ensuing year. St. Paul had not increased largely in
population this year. One hotel and two dwellings had been built. Some
progress had been made in farming and gardening, and there was much
lively talk on the subject of making claims. The prospective
separation of Minnesota into a territory, and the opening of the
country for settlement gave a new impetus to business. The Wisconsin
convention for the adoption of a state constitution was held Dec. 13,
1847. Its effects, however, were not greatly felt until toward the
middle of the ensuing year.
Among the prominent accessions in 1848 to the population were Henry M.
Rice, Henry C. Rhodes, David Olmsted, W. D. Phillips, E. A. C. Hatch,
Bushrood W. Lott, W. H. Nobles, Nathan Myrick, A. H. Cavender,
Benjamin F. Hoyt, William Freeborn, David Lambert, W. C. Morrison, Lot
Moffett, and W. D. Brown. Of these Rice, Noble, Hoyt and Myrick are
referred to in biographical sketches. Mr. Olmsted was a trader, and in
the summer of the year 1848 established a trading post at Long
Prairie, whither the Winnebagoes had removed. He was a member of the
first and second territorial councils, and the first mayor of St.
Paul, in 1854. He removed to Winona in 1855, and died in 1861. Olmsted
county, Minnesota, is named in his honor. W. D. Phillips, better known
as "Billy" Phillips, was a somewhat eccentric character who passed for
awhile as a lawyer in St. Paul, and in 1856 drifted off into a
clerkship at Washington, since which time nothing has been heard of
him. E. A. C. Hatch was appointed Indian agent to the Blackfeet
Indians by President Pierce in 1856. In 1863 he was commissioned as
major in the volunteer service, and acquitted himself creditably.
While stationed at Pembina, by strategy he captured the insurgent
Indians, Shakopee and Medicine Bottle, who were hanged at Fort
Snelling in 1865. He died in 1881. H. O. Rhodes was engaged in trade
with David Olmsted. He died in California some years ago. A. H.
Cavender was a blacksmith and wagonmaker on Robert street in 1849.
Wm. Freeborn was quite a prominent citizen and member of the town
council. He is better known as one of the founders of Red Wing, to
which place he removed in 1853. He represented his district in the
territorial councils of 1854, 1855, 1856 and 1857. He removed to
California in 1862. Freeborn county is named for him. David Lambert, a
prominent member of the Stillwater convention, was a young man of
promise, but addicted to drink. In 1849, while suffering from a
delirious paroxysm induced by drink, he jumped from the deck of a
steamer and was drowned. W. C. Morrison originally came from New
York, thence to Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, Galena, Dubuque, and
other places and lastly to St. Paul, where he is widely and favorably
known as a business man. Lot Moffett will be remembered as the builder
and proprietor of the picturesque heap of rocks known as "Moffett's
Castle," where he kept a temperance hotel for several years. He was a
man of patriarchal appearance, wearing a long, white beard. He was
known as an honest, kind hearted, benevolent man. He died in 1870. W.
B. Brown came from Wisconsin and purchased the corner on which the
Warner block now stands. He died some years ago. To enumerate the
accessions to the population in 1849 would require more space than we
are allowed. The fact that St. Paul was this year designated as the
territorial capital brought in a great number of official personages,
and an army of traders, boarding house keepers, builders and
adventurers. Heretofore Mendota had seemed to be the objective point
of steam navigation. It also aspired to be the capital of the new
territory. Senator Douglas, chairman of the committee on territories,
favored Mendota. Gen. Sibley, the territorial delegate, favored St.
Paul, and earnestly solicited the senator to yield, which, along with
the personal appeals of H. M. Rice, finally secured his acquiescence,
and the bill to form Minnesota Territory, with St. Paul as its
capital, finally passed March 3, 1849. The news, however, did not
reach the capital until April 9th, it having been brought up on the
Dr. Franklin, No. 2, the first boat of the season.
On May 27th the newly appointed governor, Alexander Ramsey, arrived
with his wife, but not being able to obtain accommodations in St. Paul
went for the time to Mendota, where they were entertained by Hon. H.
H. Sibley. Every succeeding boat was crowded with emigrants. A
newspaper was an immediate necessity. The first steps had been taken
the year before by Dr. A. Randall, of Owen's Geological Survey. Dr.
Randall was not immediately able to carry his project into effect, and
not till April 27, 1849, did the promised paper, the _Minnesota
Register_, appear. The first copy had, however, been printed at
Cincinnati two weeks earlier. Of this paper Maj. John P. Owens was
publisher.
The first number of the second paper in the city was issued April
28th. This was the St. Paul _Pioneer_, James M. Goodhue, publisher and
editor. These papers and others established later became faithful
chroniclers of the progress of the city, and invaluable as historical
documents.
The first number of Goodhue's paper, the St. Paul _Pioneer_, bearing
date of April 28, 1849, contains what we may designate as the earliest
news. We cull a few items that maybe of interest to antiquarians:
It announces Congressman Sibley's return from Washington, Rev. E. D.
Neill's removal to St. Paul, and that the latter would preach the
following Sabbath at the school house.
An editorial paragraph calls attention to the fact that the _Pioneer_
is printed in a building situated on Third street near Robert, and
that the building has five hundred apertures through which the
daylight is streaming.
The arrival of steamer Franklin, No. 2, bringing the tidings of the
passage of the bill organizing Minnesota Territory, is announced. The
steamer was greeted by a large crowd of eager and excited citizens,
whose shouts re-echoed amongst the adjacent hills.
Arrival of steamers Cora and Dr. Franklin, No. 1, is announced.
The following advertisements will show who were the most enterprising
of the early settlers:
H. Jackson, postmaster; D. Lambert, real estate dealer; W. H. Nobles,
wagonmaker; J. J. Dewey, M.D.; W. D. Phillips, lawyer; J. Monteur, D.
C. Taylor, blacksmiths; J. R. Irvine, plasterer; B. L. Sellers,
stonemason; Lot Moffett, Anson Northrup, hotel keepers; James Pomeroy,
Francis McCoy, house builders; McBoal & Gilbert, stock dealers; Henry
Jackson, W. H. Forbes, Daniel Hopkins, Freeman, Larpenteur & Co., J.
W. Simpson, Olmsted & Rhodes, Fuller & Brothers, R. P. Russell,
merchants.
A road notice completes the list.
Among the prominent citizens who arrived in 1849, David Day became the
first register of deeds in Ramsey county. He served in the territorial
house in 1852 and 1853, and was speaker during the last session. He
served as postmaster from 1874 to 1887. D. F. Brawley established the
first brickyard in the Territory, and made the brick for the first
brick building north of Prairie du Chien, which was built by Rev. E.
D. Neill. Willoughby & Powers introduced the first stage coaches, and
established the first livery stable. Nathaniel McLean came as a Sioux
Indian Agent and served four years. He died in 1871, aged eighty-four
years. Henry F. Masterman, a prominent lawyer, died in 1883. J. D.
Crittenden, who served in the late war and rose to the position of
colonel. Orlando Simmons, a useful citizen and sound jurist, still
lives in St. Paul. Wm. Hollinshead, a brother-in-law of Edmund and H.
M. Rice, died some time in the '50s. J. W. Bond was the author of the
first history of Minnesota. Chauncey Hobart was chaplain of the first
legislature. John B. Spencer, carpenter and contractor, built the
first breakwater and dock at Duluth.
Thomas Foster became editor of the _Minnesotian_, and subsequently
issued a paper at Duluth. He gave the name of "The Zenith City of the
Unsalted Sea" to Duluth. He was too much of a critic to be popular. He
died near Washington, District of Columbia, in 1884. The first
Masonic, Odd Fellows and Sons of Temperance lodges were organized this
year. The Bank of St. Croix, with headquarters at St. Paul, was
established this year. Its paper was the first issued in the form of
bank notes in the city and Territory. Nevertheless it was a fraud. Its
paper was quoted in New York at one per cent. The proprietors were
Young & Sawyer.
For a few terse comparisons and statistics with regard to the St. Paul
of the past and of the present we are indebted to a writer in the "Soo
Line edition" of the _St. Croix Standard_:
"Twenty-six years ago there were no railroads in St. Paul, now there
are 26 trunk lines entering the city, with over 3,000 miles of track
and more than 20,000 miles of mileage, 90,000 cars in use and 100,000
men employed. Beside this is the river trade, which employs two lines
of boats and affords a very considerable commerce to St. Paul. In the
manufacturing interests St. Paul has shown a great increase, and in
every department of trade manufactories are springing up in all
directions, and the business has already reached the large sum of
$45,000,000, with not less than 1,200 factories and 22,000 men
employed. Forty-six hotels accommodate the traveling public. The fire
department is one of the best in the West, consisting of 8 steam fire
engines, 7 chemical engines, hose carts, 159 men, 78 horses, etc., and
the value of all the property belonging to the fire department is
$316,367. The city is abundantly supplied with good, pure water,
obtained from several lakes. One year ago there were 1,800 miles of
mains and 1,000 new water connections, so it is safe to say that at
present there are 2,000 miles of mains and 1,200 connections. The
receipts of the department for the past year were $2,109,026.09. The
real estate sales in 1887 will reach as high as $32,000,000."
Beyond this year we shall not follow the history of the city, except
so far as a few tables of statistics and the biographies of a few of
its leading citizens may be concerned.
POPULATION OF ST. PAUL.
1849, April 200
1849, June 840
1855 4,716
1857 9,973
1860 10,279
1865 12,976
1870 20,030
1875 33,178
1880 41,498
1886 138,074
SCHOOLS IN 1886.
Number of school houses, 26; valuation, $816,650; number of teachers,
246; number of scholars, 9,600.
STATISTICS OF BUILDINGS COSTING $100,000 AND OVER.
Capitol $300,000
Custom house 500,000
Court house 1,000,000
Hotel Ryan 1,000,000
Merchants Hotel 500,000
Metropolitan Hotel 100,000
Globe building 500,000
Pioneer Press building 650,000
Chamber of Commerce 100,000
High School building 137,000
Hamline University 175,000
Macalester College 100,000
Baptist church 100,000
German Catholic church 100,000
Central Park Methodist Episcopal church 100,000
New York Life Insurance Company building 1,000,000
German Life Insurance Company building 250,000
Northern Pacific office building 250,000
Manitoba office building 200,000
Omaha office building 160,000
Union Depot 150,000
German American Bank 250,000
Germania Bank 200,000
First National Bank 100,000
Watson block 300,000
Hale block 150,000
McMurrin block 150,000
Willius block 150,000
Gilfillan block 125,000
Drake block 100,000
Drake block 100,000
Union block 100,000
Albion block 100,000
Gotzian block 100,000
Wilder block 100,000
Mayhall block 100,000
DeCoster & Clark block 100,000
Sherman block 100,000
Astoria block 100,000
Steele block 100,000
Shuter block 100,000
Dawson block 100,000
J.J. Hill's residence 350,000
Kittson's residence 150,000
Wilder's residence 150,000
Stickney's residence 125,000
Griggs' residence 125,000
Merriam's residence 125,000
Opera House 100,000
United States Army headquarters 100,000
Lindeke Flour mill 100,000
Elevator A 100,000
Elevator B 100,000
Bohn Manufacturing Company 120,000
MAYORS OF ST. PAUL.
1854. David Olmsted.
1855. Alex. Ramsey.
1856. George L. Becker.
1857. J. B. Brisbin.
1858. N. W. Kittson.
1859. D. A. Robertson.
1872. Dr. J. H. Stewart.
1873. Dr. J. H. Stewart.
1874. Dr. J. H. Stewart.
1875. J. T. Maxfield.
1876. J. T. Maxfield.
1877. J. T. Maxfield.
1860. John S. Prince.
1862. John S. Prince.
1863. J. E. Warren.
1864. Dr. J. H. Stewart.
1865. J. S. Prince.
1866. J. S. Prince.
1867. George L. Otis.
1868. Dr. J. H. Stewart.
1869. J. T. Maxfield.
1870. William Lee.
1871. William Lee.
1878. William Dawson.
1879. William Dawson.
1880. William Dawson.
1881. Edmund Rice.
1882. Edmund Rice.
1883. Edmund Rice.
1884. C. D. O'Brien.
1885. Edmund Rice.
1886. Edmund Rice.
1887. Robert A. Smith.
1888. Robert A. Smith.
MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS.
Number of churches 105
Value of school property $1,500,000
Value of stockyards, West St. Paul 1,000,000
Value of products manufactured 40,000,000
Amount of lumber sales 5,318,000
Capital of thirteen banks 8,498,000
Aggregate post office business 4,289,102
Bonded indebtedness 4,168,725
Annual valuation of city property 100,000,000
WEST ST. PAUL.
The flourishing suburb of West St. Paul is rapidly approaching
metropolitan dimensions. The original settlement took place almost
simultaneously with that of St. Paul, but its growth until late years
has not been rapid. It was originally within the limits of Dakota
county, but that portion included in its plat has been annexed to
Ramsey county, and West St. Paul has become a part of St. Paul and has
been placed under the municipal government of that city. The city is
connected with St. Paul by two free bridges for carriages and
pedestrians and by several railroad bridges.
TOWNS OF RAMSEY COUNTY.
After the state organization in 1858, Ramsey county was subdivided
into the following towns: Little Canada, McLean, Mounds View, Reserve,
Rose, St. Paul, and White Bear. From year to year the city of St. Paul
has made encroachments upon the towns adjacent--Little Canada, McLean,
Reserve, and Rose--until they have been in part or wholly absorbed. Of
the remaining towns we shall refer only to White Bear, which, owing
to the beauty of its lake scenery and its attractiveness as a place of
popular resort, deserves special mention.
WHITE BEAR.
White Bear, the northeastern township of Ramsey county, contains
thirty-six sections. Its surface is agreeably diversified with lakes.
About six sections in all are occupied by these lakes, of which there
are several large and beautiful ones, among which may be mentioned
White Bear, Bald Eagle, Pleasant, Lambert's, Vadnais, Birch, Goose,
Otter, etc. The surface is undulating, and in no place actually hilly,
while there is much level and very desirable land. Extensive meadows
border some of the lakes, and are found in most of the intervales
watered by running streams. These produce enormous crops of hay.
Portions of these marshy localities are thickly grown with tamaracks,
which were invaluable to the early settler, furnishing him with a
supply of logs and poles for his improvements. The timber consists
principally of red, white and black oak, sugar maple, tamarack,
poplar, elm, elder, and ash.
The township derives its name from White Bear lake. This lake was so
named, it is asserted, by the Dakota Indians, a tradition existing
amongst them that a grizzly bear once made its appearance on the
island, with which one of their bravest hunters engaged in mortal
conflict, each slaying the other. The Indians called this a grizzly,
polar or white bear, and named an adjacent locality "Mah-to-me-di" or
(M'de), _i. e._, Mahto, gray polar bear, and M'de, lake. It is not
probable, however, that a polar bear ever reached this spot, and a
visit from a grizzly is nearly as improbable. Indian legends are very
frequently made to order by those who succeed them as owners of the
soil.
Not much is known of White Bear prior to 1851. No human habitations,
save those of Indians, were to be seen. There were no roads to this
region, and none nearer than Little Canada. The lake itself seems to
have been little known to white men.
J. Fletcher Williams, in a sketch contributed to the _Pioneer_, and to
which we are indebted for many of our statements, says that Hugh I.
Vance, a typo employed in the _Pioneer_ office at that time, was
probably about the first settler of White Bear; that in the spring of
1851 he wended his way to this region in search of a claim, selected
a piece of land on Bald Eagle lake, erected a cabin, resided here with
his family several years, and was probably the first man to drive a
plowshare in this locality. Mr. Vance joined the Union Army in 1861,
and with his two sons was killed in Missouri the year following. In
the spring of 1851 V. B. Barnum selected a tract on the south shore of
White Bear lake, and hired Geo. O. Nichols to run out the lines. Mr.
Barnum entered one hundred and seventy-five acres. On this land he
built a cabin near the present Leip House, which burned down in 1857.
Jas. B. Clewett, one of the pioneers of St. Paul as early as 1840,
drove his stakes at White Bear in the spring of 1851. He afterward
built a house on the island, where he yet resides, a mile north of the
lake. Soon after Wm. Freeborn and B. F. Hoyt entered a tract of land
in sections 13 and 14. Isaac Banta built a cabin on it, near the point
by the island, resided there three or four years, and moved to Forest
Lake. This land was afterward bought by the Murray family. Thomas
Milner came in about the same time. Daniel Getty came and located on
the east side of the lake at a later day, becoming a resident of the
village proper, of which he is now postmaster, superintendent of the
Sunday-school, elder in the church, school trustee, etc.
Mr. Barnum opened a hotel, which he kept till 1856, and then sold out
to John M. Lamb. In 1855 James F. Murray, his three sons and O. R.
Stratton settled at White Bear. W. W. Webber, John Aubery, Joseph
Freeman, Ross Wilkinson, Frank Perfect, Fred Whittaker, George
Starbuck, Duncan Ross, Charlie A. Morgan, and others came here in
1857. The early settlers were much disturbed by roving bands of
Chippewa and Sioux Indians. White Bear being debatable ground, and
sometimes a battlefield between hostile parties. The Sioux claimed the
right, under the treaty of 1851, to hunt, fish and gather berries and
rice in that region. In the fall of 1855 a party of Sioux from Kaposia
went by the lake on a hunting expedition. Near Oneka lake, a few miles
above, they fell in with some Chippewas, one of whom they killed and
scalped, but had two of their own number mortally wounded. Returning,
they camped on Goose lake, just about where St. John's church was
first built, and had a scalp dance, lasting two days and nights. It
was from time immemorial a grand battle field for them. Hardly a foot
of the soil around the lake but what has been ensanguined with the
blood of the hereditary foes. Many are the tales told of their
encounters. "Spirit Island" seems to have been the hardest fought
spot, and to this day it is honeycombed with the remains of rifle
pits, redoubts and earth works made by the contending parties, while
innumerable bodies of the slain have enriched its soil. It is a
perfect Golgotha--an island cemetery. If but a fraction of these
savage combats and sieges were truly narrated, no romance could equal
it in thrilling interest. These fierce combats continued as late as
1855.
Miss Mary Stiles, daughter of William Stiles, was the first white
child born at White Bear. Miss Mary E. Barnum was married to Richard
McLagan--being the first wedding which occurred at White Bear. 'Squire
Jacob J. Noah, justice of the peace of St. Paul, tied the knot.
The first death was that of Clara Murray, aged four years, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Murray, in July, 1856. J. G. Riheldaffer preached
at the funeral service at Mr. Murray's house the first sermon in the
settlement.
A lay Methodist named Hoffman held services on the Sabbath several
times at Barnum's hotel.
A Baptist clergyman from Diamond Bluff, Wisconsin, named Messer, also
occasionally held services in the early days, at the school house, a
log house built in 1857.
The Episcopal church of St. John in the Wilderness was built in 1861
and consecrated in August of the same year. It was located at the
lower end of the lake, but in 1874 was moved to its present site on
Clarke avenue.
The Presbyterian church was organized May 28, 1864, with eight
members, two of whom were elected ruling elders, James F. Murray and
Daniel Getty. The corner stone of the present church edifice was laid
Nov. 8, 1871, and the foundation laid in the following spring. The
church was completed in 1872.
A Catholic church was built in 1879, on a block between First and
Second streets and Bald Eagle avenue, in which services are held every
two weeks.
The post office of White Bear was established in November, 1859, and
J. C. Murray appointed postmaster.
The township of White Bear was organized May 11, 1858, with the
following officers: Clerk, G. Schnabel; supervisor, J. F. Murray;
assessor, V. B. Barnum; justices of the peace, J. R. Clewett and Alex.
Pepin.
The village is easy of access, and abundantly supplied with railroad
facilities. The St. Paul & Duluth Railroad Company has built a double
track to St. Paul. This company built a road to Stillwater known as
the Stillwater & White Bear railroad. There is in addition to this
road an extension to Minneapolis known as the Minneapolis & White Bear
railroad. The Sault Ste. Marie passes through the north part of the
village.
WHITE BEAR LAKE
Is one of the most famous pleasure resorts in the vicinity of St.
Paul. Its clear waters, gently sloping wooded shores, and the entire
absence of marsh or swamp lands adjoining, render the situation at
once pleasant and salubrious. It has an extreme length of 6-1/2 miles,
and a width of 2-3/4. It has, according to survey meanders, a shore
line of over 20 miles, and its area is 3,940 acres, or 62 square
miles.
Beautiful parks surround the lake. Prominent among these are Wildwood
Park and Mahtomedi, the latter renowned as a camp ground, and later as
the site of a summer school, modeled after that at Chautauqua, and one
of a system of schools of which the Chautauqua school is the principal
and central institution. Spirit island, connected with the mainland by
a bridge, is also a charming resort.
The lake shore is crowded with hotels and cottages for the use of
summer visitors. Among these the Leip House is especially worthy of
mention, the proprietor having beautified the grounds and built around
the hotel a small village of cottages for excursionists. Other houses
are the Ramaley, the Williams, the Chateaugay, the Dellwood, etc.,
with pleasant surroundings. The appearance of this resort during the
summer months is one of great animation. Tourists and summer visitors
crowd the hotel, or gather in groups along the lake shore, while the
lake is dotted with their sailing vessels. A small steamer makes
regular trips to points of interest about the lake.
White Bear Lake village was incorporated by the legislature in 1881,
the following being chosen as the first officers under their charter:
Daniel Getty, chairman of council; James C. Murray, Luke H. Bacon,
Abel E. Leaman, and Fred W. Benson, councilmen; B. E. McGurk,
recorder; H. K. Getty, treasurer; Wm. Clark, village justice; Reuben
Clewett, marshal.
DANIEL GETTY was born in the north of Ireland in 1826. His ancestors
were Scotch-Irish. He came with his parents to Philadelphia in 1832;
was educated in the common schools, and learned the trade of a cabinet
maker. He came to White Bear in 1855, and opened the first store in
the place. He has four sons associated with him in business. He has
done much to promote the prosperity of White Bear, and by enterprise
and close attention to business, both as a merchant and a dealer in
real estate, he has been successful.
SOUTH ST. PAUL
Is located in the northeastern corner of Dakota county, four and a
half miles below St. Paul, the site of the Presbyterian and Methodist
missions of old Kaposia. It is situated on a plateau considerably
above high water mark, in the rear of which the grounds rise gradually
to a rich agricultural plain. It is connected with St. Paul by an
hourly motor line of cars. It has communication with St. Paul by the
Chicago, St. Paul & Kansas City railway, and also has communication by
water.
The famous St. Paul Union Stockyards are located here, and occupy two
hundred acres of land. This great enterprise was founded by A. B.
Stickney and Ansel Oppenheim, president of the company. W. M. Littell
is general superintendent; Arnold Kalman, secretary and treasurer. The
stockyards were located here in 1886, and now (1888) possess a capital
of $1,500,000 in grounds and necessary buildings pertaining to such an
enterprise. There are eight miles of railroad track upon the grounds.
The stock is brought from Montana, Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and
Iowa by railroad.
The city was organized in 1887, with the following board of officers;
Joseph H. Lawrence, mayor; George W. Wentworth, Philip Crowley, J. W.
McGrath, and Irwin Marshall, aldermen.
A post office was established in 1888, of which H. M. Littell is
postmaster.
The city embraces South Park, and there are five churches, English and
German Methodist, a Congregational and two Baptist churches.
An electric motor line is being established. The city of South St.
Paul has about 6,000 inhabitants. Its progress is upward.
NORTH ST. PAUL.
This rapidly growing suburb of St. Paul is situated on the shores of
Silver lake, a lovely sheet of water lying six miles northeast of the
court house. The grounds about the lake were converted into farms soon
after the settlement of St. Paul. In 1886 the Wisconsin Central
Railroad Company extended their St. Paul branch through the
neighborhood. Capt. H. A. Castle established suburban residences near
the lake. In March, 1887, the North St. Paul Land Company was formed
for the purpose of encouraging manufactures and furnishing homes and
facilities for business. Their plant was located on the farm of Capt.
Castle. The company consists of H. A. Castle, Lane K. Stone, Frederick
Driscoll, W. S. Morton, and George A. Sexias. The capital stock of the
company was fixed at $1,000,000. Under their enterprising management
twenty miles of street has been graded, a boulevard extended around
the lake, five miles of sidewalk completed and numerous cottages
erected. A railroad depot has been built at a cost of $8,000; two
hotels and fifteen manufacturing establishments have been erected.
There are (in May, 1888) 3,000 inhabitants, with eight church
organizations and six buildings, and a school house, built at a cost
of $11,000. The growth of this village since its commencement in 1887
has been remarkable.
New, populous and important suburbs of St. Paul are Merriam Park, St.
Anthony Park, and St. Paul Park in Washington county.
The following table gives the population of St. Paul from 1838 to May,
1888.
YEAR. POPULATION.
1838 3
1847 50
1849 400
1850 850
1855 4,400
1856 5,630
1857 9,973
1860 10,600
1865 13,100
1870 20,300
1871 24,200
1872 25,500
1873 27,023
1875 33,178
1880 41,498
1881 50,900
1882 75,835
1883 88,378
1884 99,322
1885 111,397
1886 123,395
1887 155,577
1888 (Estimated) 187,759
POST OFFICE.
The following figures will show the amount of business transacted at
the post office, St. Paul, Minnesota, for the year ending Dec. 31,
1887, as compared with the year 1886:
GENERAL BUSINESS.
1886. 1887.
From sale of stamps, envelopes, etc $204,565 90 $274,178 95
From sale of newspapers and periodical stamps 15,912 38 17,697 00
From sale of unpaid letter stamps 1,814 80 2,119 00
From box rent 1,866 50 1,772 25
From sale of waste paper, twine and packing boxes 95 98 176 93
From other offices (deposited) 87,721 65 106,858 42
Sent assistant treasurer United States, New York 177,412 59 268,770 70
Paid route agents, messengers, etc 93,246 16 83,130 49
Paid letter carriers 38,121 19 44,282 11
Paid letter carriers' expenses and horse hire 1,856 01 1,644 89
----------- -----------
Total postal funds $622,612 36 $713,620 74
MONEY ORDER BUSINESS.
No. Amount. No. Amount.
Domestic orders and postal
notes issued 29,420 $257,572 95 35,603 $305,339 94
Fees on same 2,250 62 2,537 94
Foreign orders issued 2,632 37,356 88 2,540 57,582 03
Fees on same 466 90 699 80
Domestic orders and postal notes paid 74,526 670,304 82 84,972 701,667 17
Foreign orders paid 1,250 30,701 91 1,508 36,132 44
Surplus money order funds received
from other offices 1,743,516 42 1,773,455 99
Surplus money order funds remitted
Chicago and New York 1,339,600 00 1,275,800 00
------------ ------------
Total money order funds $4,081,770 50 $4,153,215 11
Total postal funds 622,612 36 713,620 74
------------- ------------
Grand total financial transactions $4,704,382 86 $4,867,845 85
POST OFFICE HISTORY.
The names and date of the commission of the postmasters of St. Paul
are as follows: Henry Jackson, April 7, 1846; Jacob W. Bass, July 5,
1849; Wm. H. Forbes, March 18, 1853; Chas. S. Cave, March 11, 1856;
Wm. M. Corcoran, March 12, 1860; Chas. Nichols, April 2, 1861; Jacob
H. Stewart, March 14, 1865; Jos. A. Wheelock, March 4, 1870; David
Day, July 1, 1875.
Net yearly income, being balance on quarterly returns from its
establishment to the present time:
1846 $3 43
1847 20 33
1848 48 40
1849 369 25
1850 429 07
1851 1,192 72
1852 1,497 73
1853 1,806 04
1854 3,042 89
1855 3,814 07
1856 5,164 67
1857 9,171 87
1858 5,577 05
1859 6,135 66
1860 5,254 47
1861 5,136 71
1862 6,898 99
1863 9,509 53
1864 13,140 08
1865 12,082 32
1866 12,009 03
1867 15,033 19
1868 16,991 76
1869 20,848 03
1870 23,437 66
1871 32,250 61
1872 36,817 17
1873 43,305 05
1874 43,284 36
1875 42,767 82
1876 41,667 92
1877 38,998 42
1878 48,141 04
1879 64,670 59
1880 73,456 87
1881 96,197 77
1882 132,702 66
1883 141,704 78
1884 127,977 99
1885 134,501 13
1886 153,009 08
1887 189,017 20
Gross yearly income of the St. Paul post office from 1875 to 1887:
1875 $58,922 63
1876 57,092 85
1877 53,412 82
1878 63,922 49
1879 81,299 92
1880 102,450 22
1881 128,156 45
1882 173,131 31
1883 190,907 36
1884 186,571 22
1885 200,407 94
1886 226,972 28
1887 272,181 87
[Illustration: BRIG. GEN. HENRY H. SIBLEY.]
CHAPTER XXI.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
HENRY HASTINGS SIBLEY.--The father of Gen. Sibley, Judge Solomon
Sibley, of Massachusetts, was a well known pioneer of the Northwest.
He settled in Ohio in 1795, but two years later removed to Michigan,
which he represented as delegate to Congress in 1800. In 1799 he
served as member of the first legislature of the Northwest Territory.
He was judge of the supreme court from 1824 to 1836, and died in 1846,
universally lamented. The mother of Gen. Sibley was the daughter of
Col. Ebenezer Sproat, and a granddaughter of Commodore Whipple of the
American Navy. She was a cultured lady, of unusual personal beauty and
of rare accomplishments. She was married to Judge Sibley in 1802, and
died at Detroit Jan. 22, 1851. Henry H. Sibley was born in Detroit,
Michigan, Feb. 20, 1811. He received an academic education, and two
years' tuition in the classics. In 1828 he came to the Sault Ste.
Marie and secured employment as a clerk. In 1829 he entered the
service of the American Fur Company at Mackinaw. In 1834 he came to
the mouth of St. Peter's river, to the post afterward known as
Mendota, as the agent of the American Fur Company. He made the journey
from Prairie du Chien, a distance of nearly three hundred miles, on
horseback. At that time there was but a single civilized habitation on
the way. In 1836 he built a stone house at Mendota, the first in
Minnesota, in which he resided twenty-four years. This house is still
standing. He continued to act as agent for the American Fur Company
until called to act as delegate to Congress for Wisconsin Territory
west of the St. Croix, in 1848. Mr. Sibley, when elected, was a
citizen of Mendota, Clayton county, Iowa, but the question of
citizenship was not raised. He was recognized as the ablest and best
representative that could be chosen for the difficult task of securing
the organization of Minnesota Territory. In this he was successful.
In the fall of 1849 he was re-elected as a delegate from the new
territory he had been instrumental in forming, and served in that
capacity until March 4, 1853, rendering the Territory important
services. In 1855 he was elected a member of the Minnesota territorial
legislature from Dakota county, and in 1857 was a member and president
of the Democratic wing of the constitutional convention. On the
admission of Minnesota as a state he was elected governor, taking his
seat May 24, 1858. His term expired Jan. 1, 1860. Aug. 19, 1862, his
successor, Gov. Ramsey, appointed him commander of the forces sent to
quell the Sioux outbreak. He marched with his command in pursuit of
the Indians, defeating them in several skirmishes and battles,
releasing 250 captives held by them and capturing about 2,000
prisoners, over 400 of whom were tried by court martial and sentenced
to be hanged. Of this number thirty-eight were executed at Mankato,
Dec. 26, 1862, President Lincoln having pardoned the remainder. Col.
Sibley was commissioned brigadier general for his gallant services,
and retained in command of the frontier. In 1863 he led another
expedition into the Indian country, driving the hostiles across the
Missouri river, and returning to Fort Snelling in September. The years
1864 and 1865 were employed in securing the defense of the frontier.
Nov. 29, 1865, Gen. Sibley was commissioned major general for
efficient and meritorious services. He continued in the service until
August, 1866, when he was relieved of his command and detailed as a
member of the commission to negotiate treaties with the hostile Sioux
and other bands on the Upper Missouri river.
In 1871 Gen. Sibley was elected to represent the Fifth ward, St. Paul,
in the legislature. He became a resident of St. Paul in 1862, but, in
company with Louis Robert and A. L. Larpenteur, had entered land for
the town site there as early as 1854.
Gen. Sibley has been for several years president of the Gas Company,
director of the First National Bank, director of the Sioux City
railway, etc. He has at different times filled other responsible
positions; has been park commissioner, president of the Historical
Society, president of the Chamber of Commerce, and was once the
candidate of his party for Congress, but unsuccessful. He has
contributed many valuable papers to the State Historical Society and
has written much on topics relating to the welfare of the State, of
which, with the exception of his personal friend, W. T. Boutwell, he
is now the oldest resident.
[Illustration: Alex. Ramsey]
Gen. Sibley, for his integrity, persistent devotion to the welfare of
the State, for his indomitable persistence in upbuilding its
interests, has won a lasting place in the confidence and respect of
the people. His history is inseparably interwoven with the history of
the State, and he is justly regarded as one of its first and best
citizens. The town and county of Sibley bear his name.
He was married May 2, 1843, to Sarah J., sister of Frank Steele. Mrs.
Sibley died May 21, 1869, much respected for her many virtues and rare
accomplishments.