This is the latest opened of our colonies, Bishop Ireland having only
secured control of the lands last April. It is situated in Murray County
(Southwestern Minnesota,) adjoining Nobles County on the north, and in
the whole 52,000 acres of land secured by the Bishop for the colony, we
very much doubt if one poor section (640 acres) could be found, nor do
we suppose that any of the land will remain unsold by the 1st of next
July.
While the beauty of the location and fertility of the soil, make Avoca
one of the most desirable locations in Minnesota, the easy terms on
which a farm can be secured, are additional and substantial advantages
for men of small means.
The centre of the colony--the village of Avoca, situated on a beautiful
lake--is just twenty miles from Heron Lake, a station on the St. Paul
and Sioux City Railroad, 160 miles southwest of St. Paul; but the
Southern Minnesota Railroad, which will give this portion of the State a
direct communication with the Milwaukee and Chicago markets, is now
completed to within forty-five miles of Avoca, and we expect to see it
running through our colony lands by next fall. This will give to the
settlers in Avoca Colony, a direct southern route to Chicago, and a
choice of markets for their produce: the latter an advantage which
farmers can well appreciate.
The price of lands in the colony are from $5 to $6.50 per acre, on the
following easy terms of payment. At the time of purchase, interest only,
one year in advance, seven per cent., is required; at the end of one
year, interest only for another year; at the end of two years, one-tenth
of the principal, and a year's interest on the balance; at the end of
three years, one-tenth of the principal, and interest on balance; at the
end of each year thereafter, twenty per cent. of the principal, and
interest on balance; until all is paid.
We subjoin a practical illustration of these terms:
We will say that January, 1879, a man contracts for 80 acres of land at
$5 per acre, this will come to $400, with 7 per cent. interest, which
sums he will have to pay as follows:
Jan. 1st, 1879, At time of purchase, one year's interest
in advance, at 7 per cent. $28 00
Jan. 1st, 1880, One year's interest in advance,
at 7 per cent. 28 00
Jan. 1st, 1881, Ten per cent. of principal. $40 00
One year's interest on balance $360,
at 7 per ct. 25 20
------ 65 20
Jan. 1st, 1882, Ten per cent. of principal. 40 00
One year's interest on balance $320,
at 7 per ct. 22 40
------ 62 40
Jan. 1st, 1883, Twenty per cent. of principal. 80 00
One year's interest on balance $240,
at 7 per ct. 16 80
------ 96 80
Jan. 1st, 1884, Twenty per cent. of principal. 80 00
One year's interest on balance $160,
at 7 per ct. 11 20
------ 91 20
Jan. 1st, 1885, Twenty per cent. of principal. 80 00
One year's interest on balance $80,
at 7 per ct. 5 60
------ 85 60
Jan. 1st, 1886, Twenty per cent. of principal. 80 00
------
Total. $537 20
The advantage of the terms is, that the principal payments are all
postponed until the farmer has had time to raise several crops from his
land. A quarter-section of land will support a family, pay for itself,
leave after seven years a balance in cash, and be worth more than twice
its original value.
We have already selected several 80 and 160 acre farms in Avoca for
persons not in a position to come on immediately to the land. Now let us
explain how this operates.
An intending immigrant writes to the Bureau to have 80 acres of land in
Avoca at $5 per acre, selected for him, (as a general rule a man should
take a quarter-section, 160 acres, by doing so he will be likely to have
both meadow and tillage land on his farm.) For those 80 acres, he pays
down, before getting his contract from the railroad company, one year's
interest, $28. He writes on then, next spring, to the Bureau, to have 30
acres of his land broken and ready for a crop the following
spring--1880. His breaking will cost at $2.50 per acre, $75. He will
have paid the first year $103, and have his land ready for the seed; he
comes on then the second spring, 1880, pays $28, another year's
interest, to the railroad company, puts in his crop and has it saved and
ready for market in August. Up to this time--not calculating the
expenses chargeable to the crop, which we have estimated already in
another place--he has paid out $131, and has his farm opened and in a
fair way to pay for itself.
In soil and location the Colony of Avoca is not surpassed in the
Northwest. Nine miles from the village of Avoca there is a large body of
timber. Settlers can also get coal from Iowa.
The Rev. Chas. Koeberl is pastor of the colony, address, Avoca, Murray
County, Minnesota. He writes to us under date of December 20th, 1878:
"In regard to this colony it promises, thank God, to be a great success.
Since June, when the land sales commenced, we have sold 9,850 acres, and
forty-five Catholic families are preparing to move into the colony next
spring. Immigrants will have in our village of Avoca, a building where
they can leave their families until they have put up their houses, also
a boarding house and store.
"In speaking of our climate you can boast honestly of its health. Among
200 families belonging to my missionary district, I have not known of
one case of internal disease, during my seven months' stay here. It
would be well to particularly mention in your forthcoming pamphlet, that
this is a prairie, not a timber county. I receive so many letters asking
about the cost of clearings, &c., &c.
"I expect quite a rush for land in Avoca, next spring, and will be glad
if our people come on early, in time to plant potatoes, corn, &c."
* * * * *
In bringing this brief review of our Catholic colonies to a close, we
again thank the Catholic press of this country, for its honest advocacy
of Catholic immigration to the land. The favorable notices its editors
have given to our humble labors in our own field of duty, and the
service rendered to our work thereby, can never be forgotten by us.
Our friend, P. Hickey, Esq., editor of the _Catholic Review_, came
specially from New York, last summer to visit our colonies, to judge for
himself; and what he saw, the favorable impressions he carried away with
him, together with sound argument in favor of Catholic colonization,
have appeared, from time to time, since his return, in able and lucid
articles from his pen.
* * * * *
God has blessed our labors beyond our expectations. We see our colonies
fast merging into settled communities, where honest labor goes hand in
hand with religion, and where men work not for a mere pittance from a
master's hand, to support them for a day or a week, but with the hope,
the prospect, of an inheritance for their children, in the future.