Fifty Years In The Northwest

COLUMBUS,

Township 32, range 22, was settled in 1855 by James Starkey, Isaac Conway, John Kleiner and Henry Batzle. Mr. Conway became a dealer in real estate, and removed to California where he died.

James Starkey figured prominently in the early history of the Territory and State, but may be mentioned here as the founder of the village of Columbus, in 1855 and 1856. He expended $60,000 in building a hotel and other improvements, not a vestige of which now remains.

FRIDLEY

This town, including fractional township 30, range 24, was organized as Manomin county in 1857, and held that organization, with A. M. Fridley as chairman of county commissioners, until 1870, when it was disorganized and attached to Anoka county, retaining Manomin as its town name until 1879, when it was changed to Fridley by legislative enactment. John Sullivan, G. W. Thurber and Thomas Casey were the first supervisors. The town contains about thirteen sections of land in the eastern part of township 30, range 24, pleasantly located on the east bank of the Mississippi. It is traversed by Rice creek.

John Banfil settled here in 1848 and was the first postmaster of the village of Manomin, of which he was proprietor. He represented the Twenty-fourth district as senator in the first state legislature. He removed to Bayfield, Wisconsin, and died there in 1886. It has been improved by the introduction of large manufacturing establishments. A flouring mill was built in 1871. In 1887 $100,000 was expended in manufactories, and real estate to the amount of $400,000 changed hands. It has one church building (Episcopal), erected in 1858.

GROW

Includes township 32, range 24. It is watered by Rum river and Coon creek. George Branch settled here in 1853, and about the same period, J. C. Frost, Joseph McKinney, Andrew J. Smith and Walter D. Gary. The town was organized in 1857 as Round Lake, but changed to Grow in 1860, in honor of Senator Grow of Pennsylvania. The first supervisors were Silas O. Lum, W. W. Hank and Wm. Staples. The town records were burned in 1856. In 1873 the Catholics erected a church building.

HAM LAKE,

Formerly a part of Grow, was set off and organized in 1871. It includes township 32, range 23. It was settled chiefly by Swedes and Norwegians, of whom Matts Gilbertson, of Norway, was first to locate here. There were many transient persons among the first comers, but the first permanent settler of any nationality was Josiah Hart, from Vermont, who came in 1857. He died in 1876. John Scully came in 1858. The first supervisors were John Rowe, A. B. Lingard and C. Olsen. The Swedes and Norwegians have each a house of worship.

LINWOOD

This town, consisting of township 33, and twelve sections of township 34, range 22, lies in the northeastern part of the county. It is well watered and traversed by a chain of lakes. The first settlement was by Joseph Sanson, a German, who located here in 1855. W. Dickens, an Englishman, came in 1857. Linwood was set off from Bethel and Columbus, and organized September, 1871. The first town officers were J. G. Green, F. McGregor and Michael Hurley. There is a post office in the village of Linwood. A Methodist church was built in 1873, and a saw and feed mill, by Shanton & Haskell, in 1875.

L. S. Arnold, a native of Montreal, Canada, born in 1820, came to Minnesota in 1847. He seems to have made his home at Linwood, which he left, but after living some years in Michigan and Missouri, he again returned in 1866.

Samuel Ridge came to Linwood in 1860.

J. G. Green, born in 1819, located here in 1863, and since 1867 has served as postmaster in Linwood village. He has served several years as county commissioner. The Green brothers are descendants of the Plymouth Pilgrims.

G. W. Haskell was an early settler. He originally came from Skowhegan, Maine. He died in 1885.

Michael M. Ryan was born in Ireland in 1845. He came to America in 1858 and settled in Linwood with his father's family. Two brothers enlisted as volunteers during the Civil War, and died in the service.

The Hurley Family come to Linwood some time in the '50s. The sons are prominent business men at North Branch, Pine City and Hinckley. The father moved to North Branch in 1887.

OAK GROVE

Includes township 33, range 24. It abounds in small lakes and the Rum river drains the western portion. The first settlers were David Rogers, Moses Seeley and James Nutter, in 1855. Dennis Mahoney, of Ireland, born in 1813, came to Oak Grove in 1856, held the office of supervisor fourteen years, and that of justice of the peace continuously to the present. The town was organized in 1857, with the following supervisors: A. W. Norris, Dennis E. Mahoney and Peter Brennan. Rose, daughter of William Smith, was the first child born.

RAMSEY,

Named in honor of the first territorial governor, occupies fractional township 32, range 25, in the western part of the county, on the Mississippi river. It was organized in 1857 as Watertown, which name was changed to Dover, and then to Ramsey, in 1885. In 1849 an Indian trading house was opened in section 19, by T. A. Holmes and Thomas Beatty. The first permanent settlement was made by a New England colony in 1850, amongst whom were P. Shumway and sons (John and Peter), Nathan and Benjamin Shumway, and Cornelius Pitman. In 1852 the town plat of Itasca was surveyed in sections 19 and 30. William Vincent, Thomas Miller and J. C. Bowers came to Ramsey in 1852. Mr. Bowers was postmaster for twenty-five years at Itasca, and died Oct. 4, 1879. The first supervisors were Jared Benson, Isaac Varney and Cornelius Pitman.

ST. FRANCIS

Includes the two southern tiers of sections of township 34, ranges 24 and 25. The first settlers were George Armsby and E. Fowler, in 1855. The town was organized in 1857, but the records have been lost. Dwight Woodbury, who has been prominent in the history of the county, located a water power flour and saw mill and built a hotel on Rum river where the village of St. Francis has since been built, and surveyed the village plat. The mills were destroyed by fire in 1869, but were immediately rebuilt. In 1880 a bridge across Rum river was built at an expense of $7,000. Mr. Woodbury's investments have been over $25,000. Mr. Streetly opened the first store and was first postmaster at St. Francis.

AN INDIAN RIOT

In the fall of 1847 a German baron, a single man, and Wm. Noot and wife settled on Big island, in the Mississippi, about two miles above the mouth of Rum river. They were traders. In March, 1848, in consequence of the revolution in Germany, the baron returned to his native land. Noot remained until June, when the Winnebago Indians were removed by Gen. Fletcher. Pending their removal the Winnebagoes made a raid on the trading post, confiscated the whisky and provisions and fastened Noot in a stable and his wife and child in a small cabin, where they were found by S. P. Folsom the same day, surrounded by drunken Indians and in imminent peril. Noot appealed to Folsom for aid. The Indians, however, were furious and threatened Folsom's life. The chief, "Whistling Thunder," used his influence in a novel way to quiet the turbulent, by placing before them all that remained of the barrel of whisky, which they eagerly drank. Folsom then released Noot. The wife, who had been previously released, ran with her child, frightened out of her wits, no one knew whither. After a long search the captain found her, and at great risk took her across a slough to the mainland in a canoe, which nearly sank before the shore was reached. Noot afterward went to St. Paul and purchased eighty acres of land, now in the heart of the city. He was a member of the house, Fourth and Fifth Minnesota legislatures. At present he resides at Big Lake, Sherburne county.

Jared Benson. – Mr. Benson was the son of Jared and Sallie Taft Benson, and was born in Blackstone. Massachusetts, Nov. 8, 1821. The farm on which he was born was purchased of the Indians by his great, great grandfather. His paternal grandfather, Benoni Benson, and his maternal grandfather, Ebenezer Taft, served in the Revolutionary War, the former as a lieutenant. Jared Benson, his father, served in the war of 1812.

Mr. Benson had a fair common school education and occupied himself in farming until 1844, when he joined the corps of engineers who were locating the Providence & Worcester railroad. He was afterward agent for the company and superintendent of transportation. In 1856 he came to Minnesota, locating at Anoka and engaging chiefly in farming and stock raising. He has served his townsmen as justice of the peace and county commissioner. For some years he has been a director of the St. Paul & Pacific railroad. He served as clerk of the house of representatives in 1859-60, and was afterward member and speaker of the house for three years, including the extra session of 1862. He was revenue collector for his district in 1870-72, and was again elected to the legislature in 1878. He was married to Martha Taft, of Mendon, Massachusetts, Feb. 5, 1857. They have five children.

James C. Frost was born in Rumford, Oxford county, Maine, in 1816. He was raised on a farm. On reaching his majority he came to Jefferson county, Wisconsin, where he lived fourteen years. In 1852 he came to St. Anthony and in 1853 to Anoka. He held the office of postmaster several years and was again reappointed in 1888; served fifteen years as sheriff and as a member of the legislature in 1857-58. He was in the employ of the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Company for nine years. He was married in 1840 and has a family of eight daughters.

A. J. McKenney, born in Lowell, Maine, Feb. 20, 1829, came to St. Anthony in 1850 and followed lumbering until 1854, when he came to Ramsey, Anoka county, and located in section 2 as a farmer. He has been a prominent citizen.

John Henry Batzle was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, in 1830; came to America in 1837; lived in New York until 1855, when he came to Minnesota and located in what is now the town of Columbus, Anoka county, where he engaged in farming. He has been a member of the Methodist church for twenty-five years. He is in every way much esteemed as a citizen. He was married in 1854, but has no children.

John R. Bean was born at Salmon Falls, New Hampshire, April 25, 1831; came to St. Anthony in 1849 and to Ramsey, Anoka county, in 1850, where he made a farm in section 33. He says this was the first farming done in Anoka county. From 1850 to 1859 he lived alternately at his home in St. Anthony and his farm in Ramsey. In 1870 he removed to Anoka city, where he is engaged in lumbering.

William Staples was born in 1815, in York county, Maine, where he was married in 1840. He came to St. Anthony in 1850. He has lived in the town of Grow, of which he was one of the founders, for many years. He is a farmer and brickmason.

Abraham McCormack Fridley was born May 21, 1818, at Corning, Steuben county, New York. His parents were Pennsylvanians, of German descent. He received a common school education. At the age of twenty-one years he was appointed deputy sheriff of Steuben county, and was afterward collector of canal tolls at Corning. In April, 1851, he was appointed by President Fillmore agent for the Winnebago Indians then at Long Prairie, Todd county. In that year he was also admitted to practice law. In 1853 he removed to St. Paul and was elected sheriff of Ramsey county. The next year he removed to St. Anthony Falls and was elected to the house of the territorial legislature. A little later he removed to Manomin, now Fridley. He was elected a representative in the legislatures of 1869-70-71 and 79. For many years he cultivated a large farm at Becker. For ten years he has been in the employ of the Manitoba railroad as land agent. He is a Democrat, and in 1860 was delegate to the conventions at Charleston and Baltimore. Mr. Fridley died March 26, 1888, leaving a widow and three sons, Henry C., Frank and David H.

Capt. James Starkey was born in England in 1818. He came to America in 1849 and located in St. Paul in 1850. He removed to the town of Columbus, Anoka county, in 1855, and was active in promoting its interests. His first enterprise, the building up of the village of Columbus, was not successful. In 1857, by order of Gov. Medary, he commanded a military expedition against the Chippewas at Sunrise Prairie, the object being to compel them to return to their reservation, an expedition attended with some tragical results, as elsewhere narrated. Capt. Starkey took part in the Civil War as captain of a cavalry company. He was the first to survey a road through the country lying between St. Paul and Lake Superior. He was a representative of the first state legislature. Since 1865 Capt. Starkey has resided at St. Paul, and is at present prominent as a citizen and as an official in West St. Paul.

SHERBURNE COUNTY

Prior to its organization, Sherburne was part of Benton county. It was named in honor of Judge Moses Sherburne, an appointee to the bench of the supreme court of Minnesota Territory. The county is bounded on the north by Benton, on the east by Anoka and Isanti counties, and on the south by the Mississippi river. It is somewhat irregularly timbered with pine and hardwood, interspersed with oak openings, rolling prairie lands and natural meadows. The surface is generally undulating. A prominent ridge of high land, from three to five miles wide, extends from Elk river in a northeasterly direction into Anoka county. The county is well watered by tributaries of the Mississippi, Elk and St. Louis rivers, and has besides many clear and sparkling lakes. The soil is mostly sandy loam with clay subsoil, and valuable granite quarries are found in the northern tier of towns.

David Faribault was the first settler or trader, he having established a post on the Elk river in 1846, where he made a garden and raised potatoes. In September, 1848, H. M. Rice and S. P. Folsom bought Faribault's improvements, and Folsom moved his family to the place and built a log cabin on what is now Auditor's addition to Elk River village. He was succeeded in the ownership by Pierre Bottineau.

The county was organized in 1856, under territorial law. The governor, Willis A. Gorman, appointed J. H. Stevenson, Ephriam Nickerson and Eli J. Cutter commissioners (Stevenson being chairman); Eli Houghton, treasurer; H. J. Putnam, register of deeds; Andrew Boyington, judge of probate; John G. Jamieson, county attorney; Orlando Bailey, sheriff. The first commissioners' meeting was held at the house of Joseph Brown, at the village of Humboldt, which was made the county seat and so remained until 1867, when it was removed to Elk River village. The county was attached to Benton for judicial purposes until 1862. Prior to this Mr. Brown's house was used for county commissioners' meetings and for courtrooms until burned down some years later, when the commissioners met at the house of John E. Putnam.

A court house was built at Elk River on lots donated by J. Q. A. Nickerson, the village donating $1,000 and the county the remainder necessary for the building.

Prior to the formation of the state government, the county was divided into election precincts. The first term of district court was held at Humboldt in December, 1862; Judge C. E. Vanderburgh, presiding; J. E. Putnam acting as clerk. The first commissioners who held their meeting at Elk River were H. Houlton, chairman; A. Boyington and O. Bailey. The first meetings were held at the house of J. Q. A. Nickerson.

In 1867 the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba railroad was completed through the county on a line parallel with the general course of the Mississippi river. The North Pacific railroad, since built, runs parallel on the same grade. The depots were built upon the same plan and placed on opposite sides of the two tracks. The stations are Elk River, Big Lake, Becker, Clear Lake, and East St. Cloud. The Manitoba has a branch line from Elk River to Princeton and Milacca, built in 1884.

The first deed recorded was transcribed from the Benton county records, transfers of property from James Beatty to Richard Chute and David Olmstead, and bears date of July 28, 1851.

TOWNS

The towns in Sherburne are: Baldwin, deriving its name from F. Eugene Baldwin, an old citizen; Big Lake, from the lake on which located; Becker, from Hon. G. L. Becker, of St. Paul; Blue Hill, from a high hill in the town; Clear Lake, from a lake of that name; Elk River, from the river on the shore of which it is located; Haven, from Hon. John Ormsby Haven, who represented his district in the state senate in 1872-73; Livonia, from the christian name of the wife of an old citizen; Orrock, from Reuben Orrock, a pioneer, originally from Scotland; and Palmer, from Dr. Palmer, of Sauk Centre.

Elk River was the first town organized, and included the whole county. The first election was held Sept. 30, 1858, at which the following board of officers was elected: Moderator, Alden B. Heath; supervisors, J. G. Jamieson, Alden B. Heath, J. Q. A. Nickerson; clerk, George H. Davis.

VILLAGES OF SHERBURNE COUNTY

Orono, a post office, was established at Orono in 1850. The office was merged into the Elk River post office in 1853. This post office, with the mills erected in 1851, became the nucleus of the Elk River settlement, which some years later became Elk River village, within the corporate limits of which Orono is now situated. Orono was surveyed and platted May, 1855; Ard Godfrey, proprietor.

ELK RIVER,

Located originally about a mile below Orono, was not platted as a village until 1865. J. Q. A. and Julia Nickerson were the proprietors. It is on the east bank of the Mississippi, at its junction with Elk river, above which it now extends a distance of two miles. It has a pleasant location. It was incorporated in 1881, with C. S. Wheaton, president; W. T. Struble, recorder; N. K. Whittemore, H. P. Burrell and L. Pollard, commissioners. Elk river affords a fine water power with ten feet head. Mills were erected here in 1851. A great fire in May, 1887, destroyed mill property valued at $50,000. Since the fire a flour mill with a capacity of 250 barrels a day has been completed at a cost of $25,000. A saw mill is also in process of construction. The village has an elevator with a capacity of 10,000 bushels, 2 town halls, 3 churches, Episcopal, Free Will Baptist and Congregational; a first class school building, with rooms for four departments; a school building at Orono, with two departments; and two railroad depots, built at a cost of $9,000.

In June, 1885, a private bank was incorporated as the Bank of Elk River.

EAST ST. CLOUD,

In the town of Haven, is a thriving village. It has one of the best granite quarries in the State. The State, in 1887, located here its reformatory school, receiving a donation of two hundred acres of land, covered with gray and variegated granite. The village was surveyed and platted in August, 1853; Geo. F. Brott & Co., proprietors.

CLEAR LAKE

Was surveyed and platted March 24, 1882; Alanson Potter and wife, proprietors.

BECKER

Was surveyed and platted Dec. 5, 1870; J. Freeman and H. C. Fridley, proprietors. Mr. Vadnais was the first settler, in 1855.

BIG LAKE,

Originally Humboldt village, is located on Elk river, ten miles above its junction with the Mississippi. Its first settler was Joseph Brown, a veteran pioneer, but not to be confounded with the invincible Joe R. Brown, elsewhere referred to. Mr. Brown came here in 1848, and made substantial improvements. He died in 1886. His family still reside here. James Ely and Newell Houghton also settled here in 1884. Mr. Houghton was killed at the New Ulm massacre in 1862.

John Quincy Adams Nickerson was born in New Salem, Franklin county, Maine, March 30, 1825. He received an academic education; taught school and followed farming in Maine. In 1849 he came to St. Anthony Falls, and in 1853 settled at Elk River, which then contained but one house, a hewed log structure, which he, in company with B. F. Hildreth, purchased for a hotel. The house has been enlarged from time to time, and has been continuously under the charge of Mr. Nickerson. He has besides employed much of his time in farming and lumbering, and has dealt in village lots. He was appointed postmaster at an early day. He has filled various responsible offices, among them that of county treasurer and town and county supervisor. He was married to Julia A. Farnham, of St. Anthony Falls, Oct. 2, 1852. They have five children.

Henry Bittner was born in Bavaria in 1799; came to America in his boyhood; enlisted in the United States Army in 1835; served in the Mexican War; was present at the battle of Buena Vista, and when the American forces were surrounded performed a daring feat, carrying a dispatch from Gen. Taylor through the Mexican lines to an American fort. He was a target for the bullets of the Mexican Army, but arrived at his destination severely wounded. He was discharged on account of his wounds. In 1855 he came to Clear Lake and made him a home. He offered himself as a volunteer during the late Civil War, but was not received on account of age and disability. He died at his home at Clear Lake in 1885.

Francis De Lille, of French descent, was born in Canada in 1782. He came with his family to St. Anthony in 1848, and in 1852 to Elk River, where he occupied the first house built in the lower town. He settled on a farm, where he lived the remainder of his life. He died April 18, 1874, under peculiar circumstances. He was a devout Catholic, and died suddenly in the church while kneeling during a part of the service. His widow and youngest son reside at the old homestead.

Mrs. De Lille, formerly Catharine Queenan, of Ireland, is one of the oldest settlers of Sherburne county. She has eight children living, Mary F., married and living in Dakota; Frank, Agnes; Elisabeth, married to Peter Trump of Taylor's Falls; Harriet, wife of Joseph Holt, of Taylor's Falls; Joseph F., Rosanna and Sarah, all married.

Howard M. Atkins was born in New Sharon, Franklin county, Maine, May 11, 1838. His father was stricken down by lightning, leaving him at the age of thirteen to assist in taking care of the family. Howard was near his father and was struck senseless by the same flash that deprived him of a father. Recovering, he set himself earnestly and seriously to the duties of life, performed his allotted tasks about the household, and succeeded in obtaining a good high school education. He came to Princeton, Mille Lacs county, in 1856, studied law and was admitted to practice in Mille Lacs county in 1863. Subsequently he practiced law five years in St. Cloud. He came to Elk River in 1876. He has held official positions in Mille Lacs, Stearns and Sherburne counties. Mr. Atkins has acquired an honorable position through his own exertions and richly deserves the respect of his fellow citizens. He was married in 1862 to Virginia Sinclair, of Illinois. They have two sons and four daughters.

B. F. Hildreth was born in Milford, Maine, March, 1822. He learned the trade of a blacksmith and came to St. Anthony in 1849, and the year following did part of the crew work of the first steamer launched on the Mississippi above the falls. Since then he has engaged chiefly in lumbering and farming. In 1850 he was married to M. E. Farnham, of St. Anthony. He removed to Elk River in 1873.

Samuel Hayden was born Oct. 12, 1806, at Madison, Maine. He came to Livonia, Sherburne county, in 1856. He has a family of four sons and three daughters, residents of Minnesota. His brother, the Hon. Wentworth Hayden, was a member of the constitutional convention of 1857.

The writer of these sketches had known Mr. Samuel Hayden in early life, and distinctly remembered seeing him the winter of 1827, driving an ox team in the pineries on Dead river, Maine. He was then a young man of twenty-one, and the writer was a boy of ten. Sixty years later they met in Sherburne county, and the writer recognized in the aged man of eighty-one years the young man of twenty-one, though for the moment unable to call his name. It is seldom that memory bridges so wide a chasm.