Becker County, Minnesota - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 1 of those read), 1907 (part 8 of 16)

The burial of the dead in the new cemetery began immediately after it was surveyed, but as it was not enclosed for several years the stakes at the corners of the lots were knocked down, or had rotted away so that by 1880 but few of the lots could be located, and in the fall of 1882 a new survey was made by C. G. Sturtevant, by which all blocks, lots, streets and alleys were located on the right angled plan, which was much easier and more quickly done than laying out so many curves and circles.

On the 2d of September, 1873, A. J. Clark shot Harry Byron, a saloon keeper, in the head, while engaged in a quarrel in John McLelland's office, inflicting a painful but not dangerous wound.

Byron was around again in the course of a week, and Clark was arrested and tried for assault with a dangerous weapon, but escaped conviction. This shooting occurred in the building now belonging to M. V. B. Davis, and used by him as a shoe store.

First Village Election In Detroit

The first election in the Village of Detroit was held March 3, 1881, and the officers elected were A. Brooks, president; George H. Johnston, E. G. Holmes, and James Hickey, trustees; Robert B. Carson, recorder; W. J. Wood, treasurer; C. P. Wilcox, assessor; C. K. Day and W. W. Rossman, justice of the peace and Carlton Curry, constable. The village at that time included the whole township.

A petition of the majority of the legal voters of the township of Detroit having been filed with the board of county commissioners asking that a special election for said township be called for the purpose of voting upon the question of detaching all of said township except Sections 27 and 34 from the village of Detroit, the said board called said election accordingly, setting the same for Feb, 15th, 1902. The election was held on said day, and it was voted to detach said territory. This left the 34 sections unorganized territory and they were organized in the usual manner by the board of county commissioners, and April 5th, 1902, designated for the holding of the first township election. At that election J. W. Coughlin was elected chairman of supervisors, and Byron Wheeler and Fred Riebhofif, supervisors ; James Casey, town clerk ; E. Swick, treasurer; John Isaacson, assessor; A. M. Hoghaug and Carl Weiss, justices of the peace ; John Brink and C. Kraft, constables.

The murder of John Convay, village marshal of Detroit, occurred as a result of a feud existing between one John W. Kelliher. alias Big Red or Reddy, and one Howard, alias Bulmer, both gamblers and fancy men for house of ill-fame. After repeated quarrels and knock-downs these men met again on the evening of June 22, 1886, at a saloon in the Masonic Block and resumed hostilities, and finally about one o'clock in the morning of Wednesday, June 23, the two men, Howard being backed by a gambler named Frank Bennett, alias Burns, alias McCormick, met in front of the Masonic Block and resumed their ((uarrel; the village marshal. Convay. hearing the disturbance came up and attempted to quiet them; the testimony of the few who were present goes to show that the three were very abusive and seemingly anxious for a light; finally Bennett made a move toward Reddy, whereupon Reddy fired; at the shot Bennett jumped quickly to one side and fell flat on the ground, no doubt with the intention of misleading Big Red into the belief that he was hit, in order to prevent another shot being fired. The marshal seeing Bennett drop, made a rush at Big Red, probably with the intention of placing him under arrest, when the big ruffian stepped back a pace or two and taking deliberate aim at the officer sent a bullet crashing through his heart. Without a word poor "Jack" staggered and fell into the arms of Bennett. Reddy did not wait to learn the result of his shots, but hurried away. The fatal missile had done its work most effectually, having entered the breast slightly to the left, passing through the heart and causing instant death. The town was aroused and instant search for the murderer begun. Two men, John Boutell and George Foster were stationed near the house occupied by Big Red's mistress; near daybreak they heard a noise in the underbrush near the house and on investigation found the murderer lying on the ground, his coat thrown over his head; he had evidently been sleeping where he lay, doubtless overcome in part at least from the effects of liquor. He was at once placed under arrest and turned over to Sheriff J. H. Phinney, and was placed in the county jail, where he remained through the day.

But little business was done in Detroit that day. Men were to be seen in small groups in every part of the town, upon the streets, in the stores, saloons and alley-ways earnestly discussing the tragedy, and the many threatening countenances were ample indications that further' developments might be expected, while many appeared anxious, apprehensive and excited, as though waiting for and fearing some terriblei event. At precisely ten o'clock in the evening, several taps were made upon the fire bell in quick succession, and the fierce yell which immediately followed, breaking harshly upon the oppressive stillness, was ample evidence that this was the understood signal for an execution by Judge Lynch. Farmers for many miles around had been coming into town all day, and many men arrived by the evening train from points both east and west; the town was thronged with men and at the ringing of the bell a mass of humanity surged toward the court house; a sledge hammer was brought into use; the sheriff and jailer were overpowered and the keys to the jail taken from them, and Kelliher was quickly brought face to face with his unlawful but determined executioners; a rope was thrown over his head and the cry "go ahead" was given; with probably fifteen men having hold of the rope, and pulling with frenzied zeal the mob left the jail and ran wildly down the street leading west, to the house that had been occupied by Big Red as a bagnio, and in a twinkling the rope had been thrown over the limb of an oak tree, and the body of Big Red was swinging in the air; the victim was doubtless dead long before the tree was reached, or if not dead certainly unconscious. The scene was one of wildest confusion, but all had been done so quickly and so effectually that the terrible afifair could scarcely be realized, but the deed over, the excited crowds melted away and in a short time the village streets were practically deserted.

The Rev. H. C. Hamilton Dudley was born February i8th, 182 1, at Vershire, Orange County, Vermont. In the spring of 1873 he came to Detroit as a missionary of the Protestant Episcopal church for the northwestern part of the state. He was sent by Bishop Whipple and was sustained by the American Church Missionary Society. Mr. Dudley had formerly been a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Johnstown, New York.

Mr. Dudley moved to Detroit, May 2nd, 1873, and held his first service May 25th, in the Baptist Church. Soon after this he leased the property known as the Tyler's Hotel intending to hold services in one of the large rooms until a church could be built. A room was fitted up for a mission chapel. He afterwards held services in Peake Hall, and occasionally in the Baptist and Congregational churches. Much of his work was outside of Detroit, preaching at various towns along the line of the Northern Pacific almost daily. His last sermon was preached at Wadena while suffering from a severe cold resulting in pneumonia from which he died at Detroit, May 5th, 1875.

The burial service was conducted by the Rev. Frank R. Millspaugh, then rector at Brainerd, and the Rev. James Gurley, on the 8th of May, when there was a terrific rain storm.

For some time previous to his death, public speaking had been a painful task. He writes, "My lungs are bleeding every day. Like my old valise, I am simply a wreck."

He was buried at Detroit, but his remains were afterwards taken East bv his wife. One who knew him in the mission work at ]\Ioorhead writes, "His death was a great blow to us all. He was a broad-minded, whole-souled Christian gentleman."

I was born, May 31st, 1820, at Fowler, St. Lawrence County, N. Y. When I was about four years old my parents moved to Canada, so that from the time I was four until I was twenty years old I was an inhabitant of Canada. In 1839, I came to New York State and in 1840 I began my preparation for the ministry, and entered Union College in 1843, and graduated in 1846. I was married to Miss Mary Chaney, September, 15th, 1846. She was the daughter of the Rev. John and Margarette Chaney and was born October 9th, 182 1, and died September 23rd, 1890. I studied theology at East Windsor Hill now Hartford Theological Seminary, and graduated in July, 1850, and entered the Home Missionary work immediately going to the Yankee Settlement, Iowa, now Edgewood, where I labored four years.

In giving an account of the organization of the church of Detroit, I hardly know where to begin my narrative as it would be of but little public interest. Suffice it to say that my commission from the society was dated January ist, 1872, with instructions to continue with the road till it should reach Puget Sound. Having conferred with Colonel Johnston, who was then in Boston, we determined to pitch our tent at Detroit City, then in embryo. We made our way to our destination and arrived at Detroit February nth, 1872. Our landing was literally on a snow bank, the train stopping opposite Mr. Tyler's hotel to which Colonel Johnston had kindly directed us. Mr. Tyler kindly took us in for the night, but on inquiry if we could be boarded for two or three weeks, Mr. Tyler said it would be impossible for him to keep us beyond that night as his house was full already. On inquiry, Mr. Tyler could not think of any place where we could be boarded, but after diligent inquiry we discovered that a ]\Irs. Day would take us for a few days. So in the afternoon of Saturday we took up our abode for a few days at Mr. Day's. The next day being Sabbath, and not having an appointment and few knowing of our arrival, we rested at Mr.

Day's- During the week following' I looked over the field and made arrangements for regular preaching on each alternate Sabbath, the first meeting being held in the unfinished hotel kept by- Mr. Roberts. With occasional interruptions, I held services at Detroit every alternate Sabbath, Brother Wood of the Baptist church, alternating with me. On the Monday following our second Sabbath, having failed to find any place to board in Detroit, we started on the back track for Brainerd, hoping to secure accommodation there, but having spent a whole day, assisted by the town agent we could not find any place where we could lay our heads, so we continued our way eastwards ; and arrived at Duluth on Wednesday morning. The search there for a boarding place resulted the same as at Brainerd, except that we found accommodations at the Bay View Hotel, at the moderate rate of $18 a week. So I made the hotel the base of my operations, preaching at Brainerd and Detroit on alternate Sabbaths.

About the first of April, having had a little cabin erected in the woods, on a claim which I had made, we returned to Detroit and for about four months the cabin in the woods was our headquarters.

Having proved up on my claim and the traveling into the woods having become very bad, we boarded at Mr. Day's while I built a house in the village, preaching as heretofore at Detroit and Brainerd, and occasionally visiting and preaching at all the points of prospective importance along the road, as at Wadena, Perham, Hobart, Oak Lake, Audubon, etc.

Reuben Reynolds was born at Covington, Genesee County, New York, on the 25th day of April, 1820, where he remained with his father's family on a farm until his sixteenth year, when they moved to the state of Michigan. At the age of nineteen he purchased of his father his time and commenced to work on a farm for small wages to earn sufficient money to pay his father and go to the district country school, and within the short period of four years had by his tireless industry and indefatigable labor paid his indebtedness to his father and received education sufficient to enter the ministry of the Methodist Church, where he almost at once acquired a great reputation as an evangelist. His intense earnest-

In 1855 he came to Minnesota with his family in a covered wagon, and settled at Rochester in Olmstead County, where he remained until the spring of 1870, when he moved to northern Minnesota, first settling" at Alexandria, from which place in 1871, he moved to Otter Tail City, and a little later, wdien the new land district was created, moved to Oak Lake, and a few months later to Detroit. During his residence at Oak Lake and Detroit he held the position of receiver in the United States Land Office. Judge Reynolds did not commence the study of law until after he was forty years of age, but aided by his studious habits and vast amount of general information he soon became a fine law- }er. and in the field of advocacy he had few equals. Governor Hubbard appointed him judge of the district court, wdiich position he held at the time of his last illness, which terminated his life, March 8th, 1889.

Dexter J. Maltby, M. D., the pioneer physician of Detroit, was the son of Calvin and Minerva (Woodward) Maltby, a native of Watertown, Jefferson Count}-, N. Y. He was born April 25th, 1843. I'he Maltbys early settled in Rhode Lsland, and the great grandfather of Dr. Maltby was in the Revolutionary army. His father went into the second war with the mother country at the age of seventeen, and was in the battle of Sackett's Harbor, lie was educated in the graded schools of \A'atertown, and had begun the study of medicine when the Civil War broke out. In the fall of 1861 he enlisted as a private in the 94th New York Infantry, serving a part of the first two and a half years as a hospital steward. He was in eight pitched battles, and received only one or two very slight wounds. At the battle of Gettysburg he was taken prisoner, paroled, and released at the end of three days. In April, 1864, Mr. Maltby went before General Casey's military examining board and was commissioned lieutenant, but before the papers reached him he was taken prisoner at the battle of Weldon R. R.. Petersburgh, Mrginia, and was six months in Libby prison and at Salisbury, X. C. On March ist. 1865, he

^vas sent directly to the camp parole hospital near Annapolis, Md., where he had typhoid fever, and where he remained until after Lee's surrender. On leaving the service Lieut. Maltby returned to Watertown, resumed his medical studies, continuing them until early in 1871. At that time he received a certificate from a medical examining board and came directly to Detroit, reaching there on April 19th, 1871. At that time there were four tents, a frame store and log hotel in the place, and but four settlers in the vicinity. His practice that season was largely among railroad men at Oak Lake.

He married Lizzie H. Hays of Watertown, New York, February 2nd, 1866. They had three children, Jay H., Mabel and Anna. Dr. Maltby died at Detroit on the 8th day of June, 1880.

Frank A. Johnson, the first station agent at Detroit, came West with the Northern Pacific Railroad and took a homestead on Section 34, and on the completion of the road to this point was appointed telegrapher and ticket agent of the company. He was considered one of the best agents in the company's service. He took a leading part in public matters and was master of the Masonic Lodge at Detroit for many years. He was a man of strong convictions and of honor and integrity. Mr. Johnson died at Detroit on the 26th of December, 1882.

John Harding Phinney was born December 28th, 1S21, at Champlain, Clinton County, N. Y. He was married to Martha Brockway, September 4th, 1867, at Rockford, Illinois, by the Rev. Henry N. Goodwin, to whom v/ere born five children - -May. Lizzie B., Eva L., Nelly L. and John H.

John H. Phinney was very promin.ent in all social and public affairs. He was at first engaged in business with E. G. Holmes, opening the first store in the village of Detroit. He was engaged in various branches of trade, until his election as sherifif in the fall of 1879, which office he held for seven years. He took an active part in all matters of public interest and in the improvement of the city he was one of the foremost. In the early days the people endured some of the hardships of the frontier, living in real log houses, plastered with mud, with holes and cracks in the floors wide enough to see all that was going on down below. Our first telegraph station was a mere rough shanty. The depot was soon built and immediately afterwards Bishop Whipple held his first service in one part of it, confirming Mrs. W. F. Ball and Mrs. George Wilson. Mr. Phinney died on the first day of May, 1890. Mrs. West.

Colonel George Henry Johnston, the founder of the town of Detroit, was born at Boston, Mass., May 5th, 1832, the son of William and Susanna Caines Johnston. His grandfather George Johnston came from Scotland about 1810 and settled in Boston. His maternal grandfather Thomas Caines came from England and introduced the manufacture of flint glass in this country, starting the enterprise in South Boston when that part of the city was largely devoted to cow pastures. He was educated in the common schools of Boston. In 1850 he began to learn from his father the trade of a glass manufacturer. He worked at the business until he became of age, and was clerk for a few years in the Boston post office. He started the Sufifolk glass works in 1855 ^^^ sold out to his father-in-law, Joshua Jenkins, who still carries on the business, the only works of that kind now in operation in the city (1879). ^^ May, 1861, Mr. Johnston entered the army as ist Lieutenant of Company "E," ist Massachusetts Infantry and was promoted to adjutant after the first battle of Bull Run. In 1862 by appointment of the President, he was promoted to captain and adjutant general, and a little later was promoted to lieutenant colonel and adjutant general for gallantry at Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, Glendale and Malvern Hill. He was in thirty-two engagements and received only two very slight wounds. He was honorably mentioned four times by the commanding officer for bravery and skillful maneuvering on different occasions, and was breveted colonel at the close of the war. He resigned a short time before Lee's surrender on a surgeon's certificate of disability. After recovering, Colonel Johnston was in trade for a short time at Norfolk, Va., then returned to Boston and engaged in the building and real estate business. In 1871, he came to Minnesota to select lands for the New England Colony and after extensive examinations selected 10,000 acres in Becker County, buying all the odd numbered sections in Detroit Township. In 1874 Colonel Johnston built a flour mill on Pelican River, one mile from town and was in the mercantile business in Detroit for about one year, selling out in the fall of 1877. He was in the city council of Boston for several years, but in Minnesota he kept out of political office. For two years he was department commander of the G. A. R., at Detroit, resigning in 1877. He was a trustee of the Baptist Church, Detroit. He married Amanda M., daughter of Joshua Jenkins, Feb. i8th, 1859. G. H. Johnston was connected with Suffolk glass works and ran for mayor of Boston on the Prohibition ticket. He was a policeman in South Boston for some time, and went to the front with the ist Massachusetts Regiment and made $25,000 in trading with the rebels. The foregoing was given to me by Henry S. Jenkins, of Boston. December loth, 1892. Mrs. Jessie C. West.

Died In His Chair, In Minneapolis

Saturday, April 27. 1889. Col. George H. Johnston, who has for some time been affected by heart trouble, died suddenly at 7:15 last evening at his residence, 2023 Stevens avenue. He was sitting at the supper table, when he fell back and died instantly.

Col. Johnston was a man of literary tastes, an excellent parliamentarian, and well known as an extemporaneous speaker. He was prominently connected with the Republican party of this state, having been a member of the state central committee and chairman of the memorable convention of the fifth district which nominated Kindred for congress. - Minneapolis Tribune.

George Wilson was identified with the history of Detroit, building and opening the Wilson House in 1872 and retained possession until his death.

lie was an active and honored member of Alt. Tabor Lodge, joining in 1873, and there are but one resident and two non-resident members who have l)een so long in fellowship with this order. He served during the Civil War for four years in the 28th New York and 43d Indiana Infantry, and at the close of the war for three years in the regular army. He was an honored member of F. C. Choate Post, G. A. R., at the time of his death. Few men were so well known in the countr}- as ^Ir. Wilson who by his Cjuiet, unassuming manner, integrity and steady industrious life, made countless friends. - Detroit Record.

Mr. W ilson was a native of Canada, and died on the 6th dav of December, 1895, in the 53d year of his age. Mrs. Wilson and a son, Frank Wilson, still survive.

Mrs. Wilson is a full blood native American woman, and enjoys a distinction of which any person might well be proud ; of being a niece of both Hole-in-the-day and ^^'hite Cloud, two celebrated chiefs of the Chippewa nation.

Capt. I. AI. Thomas was born in the county of Cardigan, Wales, on Christmas Day in the year 1823. and came to America in the year i86r. He was for several years in the cop]:)er region on the south shore of Lake Superittr. He came to Becker County in the spring of 1871 and his family came to Detroit on the 5th of June, the same year. He will be remembered as the man who ran the water tank and pumped the water for the Xorthern Pacific Railroad Company for more than twent}' }-ears. He died on the 1 2th of February, 1896.

Charles W'oodman Dix was a native of Boston, Mass., where he was born July 26th, 185 1. He lived with his parents in Boston until 22 years of age, wdien on account of poor health he came to Detroit and resided here until his death ; he was engaged in mercantile trade here for manv \ears ; was postmaster for about ten years : has held various public positions of trust and responsibility, and in 1896 was elected for the third term as village recorder. ( )n June 17th, 1877, he was united in marriage to Lillie E. \\ood, (laughter of the Rev. J. E. Wood, the pioneer minister of the gospel of this entire section of country. He was a member of the Unitarian Society of this village and has been one of the active members of that society for years. He was one of the pioneer members of Alt. Tabor Lodge. A. F. & A. M.. in which he always took great interest, and of which he was past master. Socially Air. Dix has always enjoyed great popularitv, being personally known to nearly every resident of the countv. Air. Dix died on the 27th day of August. 1896.

Air. Furber was one of the pioneers of Detroit, and no man was more highly esteemed than he, in this community. A native of AVolfborough, N. H., where he was born Alay 13. 1840, he was among the great army who cast their fortunes in the West soon after t'lie war, and in 1868 he settled in the then small town of Alinneapolis, afterwards going to Chicago, where he remained about two years; later to Afilwaukee, from which city he came to Detroit'where, in partnership with Geo. N. Seaman, he engaged in the mercantile business in 1875, estabhshing the business in wdiich he has ever since been engaged, though several changes have taken place in the personnel of the firm, which, at the time of his death consisted of Joseph E. and his brother James C. Furber. He was a conservative business man, Init invariably honorable, and during the nearly quarter of a century in which he was engaged in trade here we doubt if a question can be raised as to the fairness of the treatment which any patron has received at his hands. Joe Furber, as he was familiarly known, was one of those men who leave many friends, no enemies, and none to say aught but that which is in his praise. He was a single man, and for years made his home with his aged mother and his two sisters, the Alisses Bessie and Eva Furber.

Samuel N. Horneck was a native of Ireland, born in Old Ross, County of Wexford, November 13th, 1826, the son of John and Sarah' (Boyce) Horneck. He came to America in 1848 and went to Buffalo, N. Y., where he engaged in mercantile business, remaining there nineteen years. He went to Franklin, Pennsylvania and from there came to Detroit, Minnesota, in 1873. He was appointed postmaster by Cleveland in 1885. He married Anna E. Mooney, daughter of G. V. and Eliza (Shaw) Mooney of Buffalo, N. Y., December 12th, 1854. He had one son Philip, who died in 1892. Mr. Horneck died April 6, 1900. - Detroit Record.

Mrs. Jessie C. West was born on the 9th day of January, 1849. Her life began amid those best associations which have hallowed so many a New England home, and there her early years were spent, surrounded by the beauty of Berkshire hill and vale of which she was never tired of speaking.

At Pontoosuc, a suburb of Pittsfield. Mass., she first saw the light of God's world, the fourth daughter of George and Matilda Campbell ; and only a few years passed ere she became a member of the Congregational Church of Pittsfield under the pastoral care of the Rev. Dr. John Todd, a pastor whose memory she lovingly cherished through all the years of her life.

Mrs. West was a woman of refinement of mind and heart, possessing considerable will-power in facing and overcoming obstacles and difficulties, and a buoyancy of spirit which brightened thought and act and made an atmosphere of light around her. She loved her home and all about her.

Externally an attractive and comfortal^le looking house, standing in its well ke])t grounds, you no sooner entered the Oakenwald residence, and looked into the eyes of its mistress, saw her cheery smile and heard the ringing of her voice, than you were conscious that the true home spirit dwelt there.

When she came to Detroit there was much mission work to be done, and she at once entered into it heart and soul. During her first year there she helped to organize seven Sunday schools, one of which became a flourishing church. She was in full sympathy with the work of the Salvation Army and was a frequent contributor of funds for their support.

This work and her missionary labors required much journeying in the neighborhood, and in this she found recreation. She loved the country-side ; hill and vale, lake and forest each had its charms for her. Skillful in handling a team, with a companion of her travels she was often on the road, and was ever welcome when they drew into some farmer's yard or stopped at some humble dwelling, either among the white settlers or among the Indians on the White Earth Reservation. - Memorial Booklet

Mrs. West took a deep interest in the settlement of Becker County and in the growth of Detroit City. With the help of Mrs. J. H. Sutherland, she was the organizer and the historian of the Pioneer Settlers' Union of Becker County, and during her last years was the life and soul of that organization. She had long been engaged in collecting and arranging material for a history of Becker County, and it is doubtful if such a history would have been published for years to come had it not been for the zeal and energy of Mrs. West in giving it a beginning. The material collected by her was the nucleus around which the present work has grown to completion.

William C. Roberts was a native of Boston, Mass., where he was born May 12, 1835, ^''^'^l received his education in that city, where he attended school until he was 16 years of age. After completing his education he engaged in the commission and fruit business in Boston, until the outbreak of the war. In 1862 he enlisted in the 44th Massachusetts Infantry, and after serving nine months as a private he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant for bravery at the battle of Rawles Mills, N. C. He was assigned to the 55th Massachusetts Colored Infantry and remained in that regiment from 1863 until September, 1865. He was promoted to first lieutenant in June, 1864, and later to the rank of captain, and at the close of the war was presented with a brevet commission by the President. He participated in many battles and skirmishes. The 55th was the first regiment to enter Charleston, at the evacuation. In front of Charleston, on Folly Island, he received a sunstroke and contracted malarial fever. He was detached from his regiment and sent to Branchville, S. C, with his company in June, 1865, where he had charge of the contracts between the planters and the negroes. He was mustered out with his regiment in September, 1865, at Charleston, when he returned to Boston and engaged in business. He remained in that city until 1871, and during that time he was a member of the Boston city council. He was connected with different military organizations of the city, and was one of the committee on building the army and navy monument on Boston Common.

In 1 87 1 Capt. Roberts removed with a Boston colony to Minnesota and settled in Detroit. He erected the first hotel in this village, known as the "New England House." which for many years figured prominently in the affairs of the town. The house, rebuilt, still stands and is known as the Waldorf. Mr. Roberts assisted in laying out the original plat of the town.

Capt. Roberts was married on May 7, 1866. to ]\Iiss Mary F. Bowker, and to them were born sixteen children fourteen of whom are living. Last fall, Mr. Roberts entered the soldiers' home where he thought to spend his last years in ease and quiet, but the end came much quicker than he expected, and he died in the home in which he so richly deserved a place on Dec. 25, 1904. - Detroit Record.

George W. Taylor was born in \'ermont on the loth day of July, 1833. In 185 1 he married Miss Sarah A. Ashley who died at Detroit on the 15th of August, 1905.

Mr. Taylor came to Detroit with his family in 1876, which village he made his home during the rest of his life. He was for several years connected with the Minnesota Agricultural Society, and was for a long time a justice of the peace in Detroit.

Mr. Taylor died at Detroit on the 8th day of October, 1905, survived by two daughters, Mrs. George Dimond and Mrs. Everett Davis, both of Detroit. - Detroit Record.

]\Ir. Curr}- came to I\Iinnc^^ota in 1856, settling;- in ( )lnistea(l Count}'. In 1864 he enlisted in Company C, 9th Minn. Inf. in which he served until the close of the war and he was honorably discharged June 2d, 1865.

Mr. Curry came to Detroit May 26ih, 1873, and he has lived here continuously for thirty-two years. For many years he was engaged in the liver}' business, in which he was the pioneer in this section. He was, until \ery recent years, a man of robust constitution, and he was a prominent figure in the early history of the town. For many }'ears, and in the strenuous pioner days of the village, he was the peace officer of the town in the capacity of marshal, for which he was exceptionally well cjualified. He died in the Swedish hospital, in Minneapolis, on Saturday, March 25th, 1905. - Detroit Record.

John E. A\"ood w^as a native of Gloucester. Rhode Island, where he was born April 14th, 1825. His youth and young manhood were spent in the vicinity of his birthplace. In 1850, at Mystic, Conn., he married Miss Annie E. Burrows, wdio with two sons and a daughter survive him. They are W. J. Wood and Mrs. L. E. Dix, of this city, and F. E. Wood, of Bucklin, Kans. Another daughter, Mrs. May Johnston, died in California several years ago.

At the age of twenty-five years Mr. Wood entered the ministry, and in this calling" he successfully directed his energies for nearly half a century. He held a number of pastorates in his native state, and in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Early in his career his attention was turned in the direction of politics, he being elected a member of the Massachusetts legislature in 1855 ; but after serving one term he returned to the pulpit and was thereafter called to the pastorates of Xew Bedford. Providence and Groton.

Early in the year 1862, when it became apparent that the civil war was to be more than a passing unpleasantness, and the president called for 300,000 more men to defend the Union, John E. Wood took such action as has been characteristic of his whole life. He had been stationed at Groton, Conn., for several years, and we quote from a local newspaper of that time the following which shows his capacity, in his young and vigorous manhood, as a man of action and a leader of those with whom he was associated. The article referred to recites the prompt action on the part of the

Rev. J. E. Wood

The war commiUee called on Rev. John E. Wood, a popular Baptist minister of the town, whose patriotism and proverbial energy were well known, to open a recruiting office to insure men of the right stamp. Parson Wood, after sleeping over the proposition one night, concluded the call of his country was the call of God; he left his flock, flung out the stars and stripes at Mystic, and the last we heard of him he had 100 men, the best blood of Groton, if physical bearing and the highest social, moral and religious standing have any weight. Rev. Mr. Wood, when his company was full, was unanimously chosen captain and enters the 21st regiment with the benediction of a multitude of admiring friends, and we believe they will not disappoint their expectations.

Mr. Wood went to the front with his regiment, the 21st Connecticut, and the following year he was dicharged for disability, by order of Major General Sumner, near Falmouth, Va., and thereafter he resumed his pastoral work in New England, in which he continued until 1871.

With the building of the Northern Pacific Railroad a new empire was to be opened. This frontier work appealed to Mr. Wood and his exceptional qualifications for effective service being recognized he was appointed missionary for the Baptist society, his field covering the entire line of the Northern Pacific Railroad. He came with his family to Duluth in 1871, and ever since that time he has been identified with the growth and development of the Northwest. As Northern Pacific missionary, which position he held for three years, until 1874, he established churches at many of the towns as they sprung up along the line of the railroad, among these being Brainerd and Detroit. On July 2d, 1872, he removed to Detroit with his family and established his church there, at that time the frontier of civilization and progress in the new Northwest.

In 1874 he was appointed general missionary for the Baptist church in Minnesota, continuing in that capacity until 1878. In the years following his work was varied. He was called to the pastorate of the Detroit church, and later to that of St. Cloud, and in whatever field his lot was cast he was an earnest laborer and a tower of strength in the cause of his Master.

He performed the first marriage ceremony ever solemnized in Becker County, in October, 187 1, and he has probably joined in wedlock more people than any other minister in this state.

William W. Rossmas. Wm. W. Rossman was born in Clinton County, New York, Aug. 27th, 1829. His mother was a sister of Bishop Hedding of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His youth and young man- hood were spent in his native state where he was employed in his father's woolen mill, and later took up the trade of millwright. In 1853 he came West, locating in Wisconsin, where he remained three years, then removing to Glencoe, Minnesota. On the outbreak of the Indian war he took part in that conflict, afterwards serving as a private in Company E, 153rd Indiana Infantry for seven months, and was discharged on account of poor health. On the 29th of May, 1870, he came to Becker County and located in Lake Eunice Township and came to Detroit three or four months afterwards and took a government homestead on the east half of the northwest quarter of Section 34 of that township, on what now comprises a large part of the residence portion of the city. During his long residence in Detroit Mr. Rossman held various county, village and city ofifices, and took a prominent part in the progress of the town during its pioneer period. He was most congenial by nature, and made friends of all with wdiom he came in contact.

The family lived here over thirty years, and removed to Spokane two years ago. His son Frank Rossman has for the last twenty years been an esteemed citizen of Park Rapids, Hubbard County.

Myla Seamans Converse was born in Schroon, Essex County. New York, March 19th, 1843. Mr. Converse was a descendant of Deacon Edward Converse the minister in charge of the congregation that was brought to this country by Gov. John Winthrop. in 1620 as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and is of Norman French descent. Pie moved with his father, in March, i860, to Webster, Mass.. where he was employed in S. S. Slater and Son's woolen mill till 21st of May, 1861. He enlisted for three years or during the war in Company I, 15th ^Massachusetts

Volunteers, and served throughout the war. The first engagement in which he participated was the battle of Ball's Bluff, V^a., in October, 1861. In that battle his brother William Franklin Converse was captured, and afterward died in Libby Prison, Richmond, Va. In March, 1862, the regiment in which Myla S. Converse was enlisted went to Harper's Ferry, Va., crossed the

M. S. Converse

Potomac at Harper's Ferry and went to Winchester, Va., with General Shields. After General Stonewall Jackson was driven out of Winchester, his division. Gen. John Sedgewick in command, returned to Washington ; took steamers at Washington, going down the Potomac to Fortress Monroe, Va. From Virginia they went to Yorktown where the division was assigned to the Second Army corps then commanded by Gen. E. V. Sum- ner. After the evacuation of Yorktown they went to West Point, Va., on the York River, by steamers, where they disembarked and had an engagement with the enemy. From there they took the boat again and went to White House Landing where they disembarked, crossed the peninsula to the Chickahominy where they took part, together with the First Minnesota, in building the great Grape Vine Bridge on which General Sumner moved his corps across to the opposite side of the river to reinforce the left wing of the General Casey's army on the 31st of May, 1862, during the battle of Fair Oaks. In this engagement about four o'clock in the afternoon, the 15th Massachusetts arrived on the field and immediately became engaged. At about half past four Converse was severely wounded in his right thigh, the thigh bone being broken, and just as he was to be carried from the field he received another wound through the right hand. He was sent back with others of the wounded to White House Landing where he took a steamer for Philadelphia. He was in a hospital on Wood Street near 226. Street from about the 6th or 7th day of Jime, 1862, until the latter part of July when he received a furlough and went home for thirty days.

He reported again to his company for duty at Sharpsburg, Va., on the morning after the battle of Antietam. From there he went with the Army of the Potomac to Falmouth, Va., where his regiment participated in the battle of Frederick City, Va., fought by General Burnside. After this engagement the wound in the leg gave Mr. Converse some trouble in regard to marching, and he enlisted in the First L'nited States Cavalry, under an order from the AA'ar Department, for the term of three years. He was assigned to Company E. He accompanied the company to the front where the first Cavalry was assigned to what is known as the Reserved Brigade of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac, then commanded by General Stoneman. Their first engagement was at Kellysford, Va., on the 17th day of March, 1863. This was at the beginning of General Stoneman's raid. Their other engagements were at Beverly's Ford, June loth, 1863 ; Goose Creek, June 19th; Upperville, June 21st; Gettysburg, July 3rd; Williamsport, Md., July 6th: Boonesville, July 8th: Falling Water. July 15th; Manassas Gap, Md., July 21st; Brandy Station. August ist, and August 3rd: at Mine Run, Va., Dec. 5th: on General Custer's raid, Feb. 28th and 29th, 1864: at Spottsylvania, May 7th; in the

Wilderness, Ya.., Alay 8th ; on General Sheridan's raid, MaY 9th to 14th; at Beaver Dam, ATay loth ; Yellow Tavern, Mav nth: Chickahominv River, May 12th, (here again he received another slight wound on his right arm just below the shoulder, which, however, did not lay him up from service); Horseshoe Shop May 28th; at Cold Harbor, May 30th and 31st; at Brevilian Station, June 1 2th ; at Deep Bottom, July 2Sth ; at Newton, Aug. 12th Sheperdstown, Aug. 29th; at Winchester, Sept. 19th ; at Willford, Sept. 23rd ; at Waynesboro. Sept. 28th ; at Edinburgh. Oct. 8th and 9th ; at Cedar Creek, Oct. 19th ; on the Gordonsville raid, Dec. 20th to 28th; on the Loudon \'alle}' raid, Jan. 5th to 8th, 1865 ; at Waynesburgh, Mar. 21st ; Dinwiddie Court-House March 30th; at Five Forks, \^a., April ist, April 2d and April 3(1, i8f)5; at Evergreen Station, April 8th ; at the surrender of General Lee's army of Appomattox, April 9th, 1865.

These engagements are copied frc^m the back of his discharge, which discharge he received from Company E. first United States Cavalry, approved l)y A. G. l^rackett. Colonel commanding first United States Cavalry, also attested and approved by Major General Philip S. Sheridan, commanding Department of the Gulf.

He was detailed in the spring of 1865, just before the surrender of Lee's army, to report to General Sheridan's headquarters, then being a sergeant of Company E, to take command of orderlies : went from A\'ashington to New Orleans with General Sheridan when he went down to take command of the Department of the Gulf. He was mustered out at New Orleans on the 17th day of December, 1865.

His first wife to whom he was married on December 26, i860, was Mary Emerson of Thompson, Connecticut, who died in Lake Eunice, February 27th. 1881.

He held the office of military storekeeper during the administration of Governors Nelson and Clough when he was displaced by Gov. Lind on the first of January, 1899.

The last few years of his life were spent in the village of Detroit where he died on the 9th of November. 1905. He leaves surviving him his wife and two sons. Philip S. Converse, present

James T. Bestick was born October i6th, 1840, at Henderson, Granville county, North Carolina. He moved to Massachusetts when about five years old, settling in South Braintree. He received his education in the common schools of that town, nuitting school at the age of fifteen and went to work in a boot manufacturing shop. Was a member of the Braintree Light Infantry, Company C, 4th regiment AI. V. M. At the breaking out of the rebellion he went with his regiment to Fortress Monroe. Leaving home April i6th, 1861, he arrived at Fortress Monroe and went on guard April 20th. Went from Fortress Monroe to New Port News and after serving three months returned home and remained at home about a year. August 6th, 1862, he re-enlisted in Company E, 14th Massachusetts, afterwards the ist Mass. H. A. He took part in all the campaigns of his regiment until June 22nd, 1864, when before Petersburg he was captured and about two hundred of his regiment were taken by way of Pjelle Isle, Libby Prison, Lynchburg and Danville, to Andersonville, arriving there July 12th, 1864, and was removed from Andersonville to Florence, S. C, in September, 1864. He remained a prisoner until February 26lh, 1865, when he was paroled at Wilmington, N. C. He v/as sent home and discharged at Boston, March 30, 1865. During his incarceration he was reduced in weight from ^53 to 98 poiuids, was nearly blind and afflicted with scurvv. Before enlisting the second time he was married to Miss Hannah W. Raymond, leaving his wife at home with his parents. After partly recovering his health he went to work at his old trade. In the spring of 1872 he removed with his family to Detroit, Minnesota, arriving here April 9, 1872. He built a small house and moved into it early in June and claimed to be the first man to move into a dwelling house on the original townsite of Detroit. He took up the business of shoemaking which he followed for a number of years. After coming to Detroit he has followed various avocations, shoe making, carpenter, cooper, was in the grain warehouse with J. H. Phinney and was his deputy sheriff

I for three years. He held various offices of trust : supervisor, constable, assessor, v^'as a member of the board of education for elevij en years, deputy clerk of court under L. C. McKinstry, deputy j judge of probate of the county, re-elected in 1894 without opposition. He was superintendent of the Oak Grove cemetery from its organization in 1883 until his health failed. He was a member of the Lakeside band from its organization until 1890. He was a charter member of Lakeside Lodge 105, L O. O. F. He became a member of the G. A. R. in 1867 and retained his membership ever since until his death which occurred the 22nd of August, 1906.

The first settlers in Aiululjon Township, were Christen Anderson, John F. Beaver and Fred. Johnson. Beaver and Anderson were both married men and their wives came with them, and they were tlie first white women to settle in what is now Audubon Township. There was also an infant girl in the Anderson family when they came. Her name is Annie.

Neither the township or section lines had been run in this part of the county, so none of these settlers had any means of knowing what section they were living on for a whole year.

Christ. Anderson took what is now the west half of the west half of Section 6; John Beaver the east half of the southwest quarter and the west half of the southeast quarter of Section 6; Fred Johnson located on the southeast quarter of Section 7.

Soon after this time a man by the name of Talmage, a single man of eccentric character squatted on what is now Section 20, and after living there less than a year in a dugout, left the country.

( )n the 6th of September. 1869, Buckley B. Anderson came into the township with his wife and a family of eight children, five of whom were fully grown, and settled on what are now Sections 17 and 20. The oldest daughter of the Andersons, who is the wife of Jackson Burdick came with her husband and three children in the same party with the Andersons. Burdick took his land also on Sections 17 and 20.

B. B. Anderson opened u]) a store about the first of November, 1870. at his residence, which was the first store in what is now Audubon Township. Harvey Jones who came with the xA^nderson's located on the southeast quarter of Section 18. Jones soon afterwards sold his improvements to David Beverage who came sometime in the fall of 1869. and took another claim on Section 34, in Lake Park Township, about a year afterwards.

M. L. Devereaux was in this township during the winter of 1869 and 1870 but took a homestead on Section 10 of Lake Park the next year. His land is now a part of the celebrated Canfield farm.

Elling Carlson, who was one of the first to come into the township in the snmmer of 1870, selected his claim and returned to his former home, leaving his brother, Gunder Carlson in charge of both claims and remained away until the spring of 1871 when he returned to Section 6 of this township with his family.

Christen Anderson one of the first three settlers of this township was born in Norway, February 19th, 1835, came to xA.merica in 1865, and died about the 20th of November, 1906.

John Beaver was about the same age of Chris. Anderson, but came to America several years sooner and was a soldier in our Civil War. He was a member of the first board of county commissioners of Becker County, and was the first clerk of the district court elected by the people.

The first marriage in the township was that of John Mason to Annie L. Larson, who were married at Oak Lake Cut on the 30th day of January, 1872, by James G. McGrew, justice of the peace. Mason was a saloon keeper and afterwards lived for several years at Lake Park.

The first school in the township was taught by Nancy M. Comstock in the fall of 1871 in a log building on the land of Henry Way on Section 20.

On the 30th of September, 1871, the board of county commissioners declared all of Township 139. Range 42, or w'hat is now Audubon Township, established or created into one school district, to be known as School District No. i. The legal voters of the district proceeded to organize by electing a board of school officers and hired a school teacher who began a term of school

It was afterwards discovered that the creation of the school district was illegal, as there had been no petition presented to the board, and the creation of the district was annulled, and Detroit Township made District Xo. i.

The township was organized on the 19th day of August. 1871. and the first tow^nship election was held at the house of John F. Beaver at that date.

Walter R. Gregory was chosen moderator, and John Cook and B. B. Anderson judges of election. They were sworn in by David Pyle, a Notary Public.

A\\ R. Gregory, chairman of board of supervisor;^ : David Pyle, John Cook, supervisors ; Henry J. Larson, town clerk ; Buckley B. Anderson, assessor; Guy H. Goodrich, treasurer; Jacob Anderson, F. K. Small, constables ; James G. McGrew, Henry Way, justices of the peace.

The township was organized under the name of Windom ; in January, 1872, changed to Colfax; in September, 1872, changed to Oak Lake and on January 2d, 1881, changed to Audubon.

The Northern Pacific Railroad Company surveyed its line through the township in the fall of 1870 and towards the close of the year a camp and supply station were established at Oak Lake Cut, the former by Mr. Brackett the contractor and the latter by Fletcher and Bly, who had the contract to suppl}' the grading crews. Hubbard and Raymond also put in a stock of goods in the spring of 1871. A hotel built of logs was also erected that same winter. During 1871 and also to some extent in 1872 while the railroad was being built, considerable business w'as transacted by different establishments in the different lines of trade, many of them being sheltered in tents.

Mr. And Mrs. John Gii.Bertson Mr. And Mrs. Henry I. Larson

The townsite of Audubon was surveyed out in the summer of 1872, at which time a railroad station was established and placed in charge of a man by the name of Rothplatz. Henry Larson built a hotel the same summer, the first in the village. The Northern Pacific Railroad Company opened up an office for the sale of their lands in this vicinity late in the year 1872 and placed it in charge of L. S. Cravath.

B. B. Anderson erected a building and laid in a small stock of goods early in the fall of 1872, it being the first store in the village. He was followed later in the fall by E. Newman and O. J. Johnson, who bought his stock of goods and added to it; he in turn sold it to Thomas W. Dunlap and Michael Gillespie and also added to the store building.

The Rev. Mr. Watleson conducted divine service in the house of John Beaver on November 6, 1870. This being the first divine service ever held in the township, preliminary steps were taken to organize a Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church at the time. Rev. B. Hagboe, who came in the suiumer of 1872 was the first resident preacher, but no church was l^uilt until the summer of 1874.

of Section 10 of what is now Audubon Township on the 30th of November, 1870, and sold to the Townsite Company. The survey of the townsite of Audubon was commenced in the first days of May, 1872, and a small house or box office was made ready for a telegraph office about the same time. The present passenger depot was made read}^ about the 20th of September of that same year.

About the middle of August, 1871, Mr. Thomas H. Canfield came through on a tour of inspection, and with him was quite a party of aristocratic looking people, and they camped where the Audubon depot now stands. The prairies were then covered with flowers and lilies, and there were several ladies in the party who were filled with admiration at the beauty of the surrounding country, and I remember that one lady asked Mr. Canfield if a railroad station could ever be established there that it be called Audubon. Another man took out a memorandum book and noted down this request.

The village grew up simultaneously with the progress of the work of excavating the long deep cut on the Northern Pacific Railway at that place ; it being several hundred feet in length and twenty feet or more in depth, and was the heaviest job of excavating on the Northern Pacific Railway between Duluth and the Missouri River.

Work was begun in this cut about the beginning of the winter of 1870; the exact date I am unable to give. I was there on the 2ist of January, 1871, and George M. C. Bracket, the contractor, was there at work with about forty men, engaged in excavating the frozen ground at the east end of the cut. I was there again on the loth of February and work was in progress at

I was there again on the 20th of April, and the ckister of tents was assuming- the appearance of a thriving village. Fletcher and Bly were running a big store, and were the general supply agents of the Xorthwestern Construction Conipanv. and were doing a rushing business. This is the same "I'ncle Loren" Fletcher who has represented the city of .Minneapolis in the United States congress for se\'eral years past. In this store at that time were Guy Goodrich and Tim Chilton, who were working in the capacity of clerks, dealing out groceries, calico and tobacco to Indians, scjuaws, graders and tenderfeet alike.

In May, 1871, N. K. llul:)bard and J. H. Raymond opened up another store, which did a flourishing business for the next two years, and soon afterwards R. li. Abraham opened up still another, which he moved to Lake Park later on.

P>v the first of August the south side of the cut had become a lively village of tents, and it was said there were 400 peojile living there at that date. The structures, however, were not altogether tents, as there had been some logs and considerable lumber used in their construction. There were now two hotels in operation ; one owned and operated by James !M. Crummy and L. D. Burger and the other by S. M. Thompkins, and that same summer a boot and shoe store was started by a man b}- the name of Marshall, wdio afterwards moved his store to Bismarck, and towards the close of the year S. B. Pinney moved his store over from Sherman's, 1)\- the lake, which made four general stores running in the little \illage about the time the rails were laid to the cut.

There was a'so the usual accomi)animent of saloons, gamblers, sports, toughs, confidence men and fast women, such as are usually found congregated together on the outskirts of civilization, wherever there is an}- unusuallv large gathering of men without families. ( )ne large tent was used for a dance hall, and various other "doings" of a n-iysterious character were said to be carried on in that tent, as a consecjuence of which it was shunned by all timid people.

Conspicuous among the gang of outlaws that infested the town were two superfine cut-throats of the first water. The name of one was Fhang, a polished expert of the light fingered craft, who claimed to be a native of Dublin. Ireland, and the name of the other was Shumway. After the Northern Pacific Railway was completed to Aloorhead in the fall of 1871 this pair of land pirates changed their quarters to that village much to the relief of the people of Oak Lake. On the 25th of April, 1872, Shang" shot and mortally wounded Shumway, who after he was wounded attempted to shoot Shang, but instead shot and killed an innocent b}'stander, a barkeeper by the name of 'I'hompson. Clay County had only just been organized and no county officers had yet been appointed. The newly appointed county commissioners met immediately and appointed James Blanchard sheriff of Clay County and his first official act was to arrest the murderer Sliang. At a preliminary hearing after Shum way's death, Shang was released on a nominal bond and was never prosecuted, it being the general opinion that he had rendered Moorhead a good service in ridding it of Shumway, although Shang was if possible the worst villain of the two.

The first political meeting in Becker County was held about the 25th of C^ctober, 1871. Governor Austin made a speech at a Republican meeting" at Oak Lake Cut, and during the progress of the meeting, a Norwegian by the name of L T. Knudson, who lived on Section 16, Audubon, was badly injured for life by a blow on the head with a revolver in the hands of an Oak Lake gambler called Blink}^ Jack. Jack's dog had a fight with a dog belonging to Jacob Anderson and the owners of the dogs had a row over the dogs but were separated. Jack was not satisfied and afterwards started to hunt up Anderson and have it out. He came across Knudson and taking him for Anderson struck him on the head several times with his revolver. He was knocked senseless and thought to be dead for awhile, but was finally restored and is suffering from the hurt until this day.

Jack was tried at the November term of court and sentenced to pay $400 fine or a year in jail. As there was no jail in the countv, the sheriff', Charles E. Churchill, could do no better than to take him home with him, but after boarding with him for a couple of weeks Jack skipped out.

In the month of October, 1871, the work in the big cut w^as finished, and the small army of graders moved on to the West, but the little village continued to thrive. The place was easy

The oflficials of the Northern Pacific Railway Company from the start had anticipated the securing of a townsite at this place, and with it the construction of a permanent railway station. A part of this same plan was to locate the Detroit station on the shore of Detroit Lake, near where Mr. West's ice house now stands, and in accordance with the same plan there would be no station between Oak Lake and Lake Park.

In the summer of 1871 the officials of the Northern Pacific Company commenced negotiating with L. D. Burger, who had now become the sole proprietor of the land where the depot grounds were wanted, for the purpose of purchasing the whole or at least a half interest in the proposed townsite ; but believing that the company would eventually be obliged to establish a permanent station at that point, Burger became exceedingly independent, and placed an extravagent price on his land. I have heard him say more than once that he had got the railroad company where the hair was short ; that they had got to come to his terms, and they had got to pay for it besides.

In the fall of 1871 a temporary station and telegraph office was established at the west end of the Oak Lake Cut, and another at Detroit, down in Tjdertown, near the Pelican River, and as the Northern Pacific officials were anxious to establish a permanent station at Detroit as early as possible, and as they were somewhat discouraged in their efforts to secure a satisfactory location at Oak Lake, they decided to locate the Detroit depot one block w*est of where the depot buildings now stand after the original townsite was laid out by Col. Johnston in the winter of 1871 and ''J2.

The people at Oak Lake, however, did not lose heart, but still believed that with its favorable location and its present flourishing condition, the village was destined to remain the metropolis of the Park Region.

The railroad officials still kept up negotiations with Burger during the whole of the year 1872, notwithstanding they had located a permanent station at Detroit, less than five miles away, but Burger was as stubborn and exacting: as ever. "You have

In the month of July the United States Land Office was opened up at Oak Lake, and the merchants, hotel keepers and saloon keepers still continued to do a thriving business, and these prosperous conditions served to make Burger the more exhorbitant in his bargaining with the railroad company and also tended to keep up the courage of the people generally who were doing business in the village.

W. J. Morrow

Finally the railroad officials became tired of dallying any longer with a scheme that promised no satisfactory outcome, and in the spring of 1873 moved the temporary station from Oak Lake to Audubon, where a townsite had just been laid out by the Lake Superior and Puget Sound Townsite Company. This proved the final undoing of Oak Lake. Everybody moved away but Burger and his family; the land office was moved to Detroit that same year, and for many long years afterwards all that remained of the once prosperous village was the old log hotel and barn, and a big

W. J. Morrow, the present popular cashier of the Alerchants National Bank of Detroit, came to Oak Lake Cut early in the spring of 1871, and after remaining there a year or two stayed in Audubon for awhile, and in 1876 took a homestead on Section 28, in Hamden Township, where he resided until he was elected clerk of court in 1879. when he removed to Detroit, where he has resided ever since.

Frazee City. Minnesota. Dear Sir: - The Mr. S. B. Pinney that you refer to is unquestionably the Pinney that died here in Minot. He was an early settler down at Oak Lake, as I believe they called it in the early days when Tompkins kept his keg saloon. He certainly resided along the Northern Pacific Railroad between Oak Lake and Fargo, and then after a while, he moved up to Fargo and resided there until about five years ago. when he came up here to Minot. He had two sons and one daughter, - I believe that is all of the family. To all appearances, he never accumulated any property. He was not the owner of any real estate here, whatever, and very little household effects. He might have property somewhere else that I don't know of. He was a tall man - quite tall and slim. He died about the first of December, 1905.

In October, 1870, I was surveying the town of Hamden for the United States government, hi the early part of the evening of the 21 St day of that month, while camped in a grove on Section 17, we noticed a fire a few miles south of us. AA'e were a little surprised as it had snowed the night before and the grass was still wet, so we knew it could not be a prairie fire, but we did not know the cause of it until several days afterwards. A Norwegian by the name of Gunder Carlson and one of his boys, were living a little south of the line between Hamden and Audubon. He had already erected a log house and stable, and had about thirty or forty tons of hay stacked near his stable. About dark while sitting in his house, he saw a light outside, and after going out into the doorvard, and while standing by an oak tree near his door with one hand over his eyes to shade them from the glare of the fire, he discovered that his own hay stacks were on fire ; and just about that time he was shot by someone hid behind the wood-pile. He, however, had a glimpse of his would-be murderer, and could have recognized him afterwards. As the stable was in great danger of being destroyed, he sent his boy to the rear of the stable and had him crawl through a hole into the stable and turn out the oxen and the cows. He thought the Indian was still guarding the front door of the stable, but he succeeded in getting the cattle out without difficulty. The stable did not burn.

The old man was badly hurt. The gun was loaded with buckshot, and the whole charge took effect in his side and arm. He and the boy succeeded in making their way down to Christen Anderson's, who lived two miles southeast of there. As soon as they were gone, Bachinana, for that was the Indian's name, commenced to sack the house. He took some cofifee and sugar and clothing, a gun and a little money.

Things were pretty badly torn up in the house, and he even smashed the glass out of the windows and splintered up the sash with his hatchet. Mr. Carlson's arm was rendered helpless as long as he lived. He had several buckshot taken out of his side and back, but some of them penetrated too far ever to be reached, and they finally caused his death about two years afterwards.

On the 17th of October, 1872, Dennis Stack came near killing Billy Lamb at Oak Lake. I never heard all the details of the quarrel but during the aft'ray Stack gave Lamb an ugly cut across the abdomen with a knife, so that some of his bowels protruded. Lamb made his exit from the building where it occurred and made his way to a haystack where he was found some time afterwards in a serious condition. The cut was sewed up and he lived for twenty years afterwards. He showed me the scar the next February and it was an ugly one. Billy was an inofi'ensive son of Erin, and a veteran of the Civil War. Stack was also an Irishman, but a bad, quarrelsome man.

Nothing in the history of Becker County, I venture to affirm, has touched more deeply and through a wider circle the chords of human sympathy and sorrow than the tragic fate, nearly twenty-one years ago, of the family whose name appears in the heading of this article. The tributes, especially to the memory of the father and mother, gleaned from the local weekly of Detroit, and the Minneapolis and Saint Paul dailies, at the time of the murder, are many, and attest the high appreciation of their worth by those wdio knew them best. These papers furnish also the details with much minuteness which make up the story of the eager pursuit, arrest, and formal trial, resulting in the conviction of one of the murderers. The subseciuent capture by soldiers at Leech Lake of an Indian reputed by his band to be the chief actor in the bloody drama, has never been made public. A recital here of the facts and incidents connected with this capture forms a needed supplement to the general narrative.

On the seventh day of May, 1871, John Cook, closing a long and honorable service of the government, the last year of which as agent in charge of the new AAdiite Earth Indian Reservation, lying partly in Becker County, removed with his wife, three children and household goods to the township now known as Audubon. The names of the children were Freddie W., Mary E., and John W., aged respectively and in the order named, seven and a half years, six years, and ten months. He was accompanied 1)y Ca])t. F. K. Small, an eastern seafaring man and his faiuily, consisting of a wife, and two sons, one of seven and one of three years, the wife being a sister of Mrs. Cook. The location and acreage of the respective tracts of land upon which they settled and established claims imder the homestead law are determined with precision by the formula in use at the United States Land Office ; that of Cook being the west half of the southwest quarter; and lots 7, 8 and 9 of Section 22, Township i3(; Xorth, Range 42 A\>st, aggregating i84-)4 acres. Tlie lots, I ma}' here remark, indicate a meandered lake upon which they border. Small's claim adjoining that of his friend, was partly in Section 22 and partly in Section 21. Upon these claims convenient farm buildings had been erected. They were of the type common to pioneer settlements on the prairies of the West. Rough or partially hewn oak logs from the nearest grove formed the foundation and walls of these small structures, the chinks being filled with adhesive mud. Materials for the roofs, doors, windows and inside finish were bought from a distant manufactory. There was nothing about the exterior of these buildings to attract the eye of a passing observer. A glance, however, at the interior of the dwellings would have disclosed evidence of thrift and culture on the part of their occupants. There were Brussels carpets upon the floors, neatly curtained windows and beds; silver tableware and jewelry of various kinds; costly apparel, books, periodicals, etc., as shown in a properly attested inventory.

John Cook was born in the little town of Campton, N. H., in 1832. His wife, Diantha J., whose maiden name was Washburn, was a native of Welchville, Oxford County, ]\Iaine, her birth being eight years subsequent to that of her husband. The two were joined in marriage at Boston in January, 1863. In response to the call of the government he entered the navy in September, 1864, as assistant steam-engineer on the United States steamer. Little Ada, one of the Potomac squadron. Admiral Porter in command. After several months acceptable service here, the war having closed meantime, he removed to Rochester, in this state, and took up a claim. This was soon relinquished for a position offered him at Leech Lake as engineer in charge of the government mill and steamboat for the benefit of the Indians at that place. During five successive years he rendered faithful and efficient service at this post and was then transferred to White Earth. It was at this place he was presented to the reader at a specific date, in the two-fold act of resigning an important public trust and, with his friend Small, entering upon a plan for the accomplishment of a long cherished object. That object, I need hardly say, was the founding of a home for those who were dear to him by kindred ties.

In pursuance of this, he and Capt. Small had been attracted to a locality then far-famed as the park region of the Red River of the North. It comprises a part of the counties of Otter Tail and Becker, and may be described as a tract of land fifteen to twenty miles wide, lying immediately west of the great timber belt of northern Minnesota and constituting a portion of the watershed of the river named, on its eastern side. The visitor here sees a broad expanse of rolling prairie rising at intervals to summits of commanding view. The entire landscape appears studded with lakes and lakelets of crystal water, abounding with many varieties of fish, while groves of maple and oak alternated at that time with virgin fields ready for the plowshare of the pioneer settler. For long periods this region had been a favorite haunt of the buffalo (bison) and elk. Its grassy slopes had furnished luxuriant feed for countless numbers of these animals, to be, in turn, enriched by the droppings of their living forms and the flesh and bones of their dead. In more recent times it had been a borderland between the Chippewa of the forest belt on the east and his hereditary enemy, the wily Sioux of the vast prairie on the west. Here in the common pursuit of a noble game they had met in many a fierce encounter. But these scenes, typical of a nomadic life and age, had suddenly vanished - in a day almost - to give place to those of peaceful, rural industry. A\'ith the first shriek of the iron horse in its approach from the east, the buffalo and elk had fled in terror, and a pioneer corps of hardy settlers had become a barrier between these warring tribes of Indians.

This delightful park region in question, with a soil of surpassing fertility, was soon to be traversed by the Northern Pacific Railroad, in its extension westward. Located near the center of it. and within convenient distance of a prospective depot, my friends. - for thus I may call them - began their new home-life under the most auspicious conditions. Bouyant with health and hope and lacking no material comforts, a prosperous, happy future seemed, to a superficial observer at least, assured to them. But how narrow the scope of our finite minds. In the chain of cause and eft'ect. stretching into the infinite depths of that future, an Eternal Power has linked events which cannot be foreseen by us.

Nearly a year had now elapsed since Cook and Small had entered npon their new occupations as tillers of the soil. The last week in April had come with its sunshine and rain, covering with verdure and flowers the brown, dry prairie sod of winter. On Friday morning, the 27th of that month, Airs. Small sent her little boy to the home of her sister for a dish of milk. He speedily returned saying the house was burned "and nobody could be found." With anxious foreboding, Mrs. Small, in the absence of her husband at Detroit, hastened to the spot to find only two heaps of smoldering embers where had stood the dwelling and workshop. Peering into a hole half filled with partially charred debris, which indicated the place of the cellar, she beheld with a thrill of horror the blackened remains of human bodies. Doubt, which up to this moment had afforded a faint gleam of hope in her mind that somehow the lives of her sister and family had been preserved, now deepened into the certainty that all of them had here met an untimely death. Was it by the accidental burning of the house, or had some fiend in human form perpetrated a deed of atrocious cruelty? A few neighbors who had meantime been attracted to the smoldering ruins, began an investigation which resulted in finding clues which speedily led to the solution of this question ; a fresh imprint of a moccasin in the plastic soil near the ruins; an Indian knife near the workshop ; the failure after careful search to find any silverware or jewelry in the debris, or any trace of featherbeds, woolen blankets, clothing, and a large bundle of green furs known to have been in the building at this time; the fact, moreover, that two small parties of Indians, hunting and trapping, had been encamped in the near vicinity, this fact being made especially significant by their sudden disappearance on the morning after the murder. It was ascertained further that two gallons of whisky had been sold to these Indians by some villainous white traders the day preceding that occurrence. On the other hand, suspicion had much reason for pointing to that swarm of vicious "roughs" which at that time accompanied the construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad, keeping pace with its daily extension westward, as the agents in the commission of this diabolical crime. Any doubt, however, which may have lingered in the minds of some as to the authors thereof, was (|uickly to be dispelled.

Hardly a week had elapsed when a young' Indian was seen at Sandy Lake on the Mississippi having in his possession several articles of women's clothing and jewelry. This being reported to United States Marshal Brackett, at Saint Paul, he at once engaged the services of James Whitehead, long a resident among, and thoroughly acquainted with, the Indians of the Upper Mississippi. Accompanied by Messrs. Preston and Holland of Brainerd, Whitehead, on the eleventh of May, proceeded to that lake and, by a little strategy, effected the arrest of the suspected party. During the journey to Aitken by canoe, he nearly escaped from his captors by diving into the water and swimming like an otter beneath the surface. His Indian name, Kah-kah-ba-she, is interpreted Bobolink. He was taken to St. Paul, and confined in the jail. A confession made by him charged one Mais-kah-\vah-l)e-tung by name, as the chief actor in the bloody drama, while admitting his own guilt iri a subordinate part. Many subsequent confessions were published in the papers at the time, but the sequel renders it prol)able that the first only is essentially correct.

In January following the trial of Bobolink began at Detroit. The Wilson house served as a jail for the prisoner, and a hotel for the judge, counsel, witnesses and others. The court convened in a long, narrow hall, over a billiard saloon, south of the Northern Pacific Railroad track. Judge McKelvy of Saint Cloud presided, the counsel for the state being F. R. E. Cornell of Minneapolis, attorney general, while the counsel for the prisoner was Judge Reynolds of Detroit and Hon. D. O. Preston of Brainerd. The jurors selected from a panel of twenty-four were Joseph Simmons, E. Rummery, Frank Bullard, D. C. Norris, C. H. Sturtevant, Chas. E. Herbert, L. D. Philips, Kimball Hayden, C. M. Tyler, Miles Hannah, Edward Bullard and Frank M. Peaseley. Among the large number of witnesses who testified for the prosecution were Capt. and Mrs. Small. Doctors Pyle and Calkins, James Whitehead, Franklin Cook, city engineer of Minneapolis, and a brother of the murdered man, and several Indians. For the defense was the testimony of Doctors Sully and Maltby. With elaborate arguments by counsel, and a brief, impartial charge by the judge, the jury retired and after two hours' deliberation rendered a verdict of "Guilty of murder in the first degree," with the death penalty added. The courtroom was crowded and no outward sign of approval or disapproval was manifested. By our statute the governor of the state was empowered to fix the date for the execution of this penalty. \\'hile awaiting in the St. Paul jail this act on the part of the governor. Bobolink died of some cause unknown.

Meantime, as a consequence of this murder and that of the Johnson family, in Clay County, a few months previous, by Indians, a feeling of alarm had become general among the settlers of the Red River Valley. At several places stockaded buildings had been erected by them for refuge and defense. Governor Austin had issued a proclamation, warning the Indians to keep themselves closely within the lines of their reservations, if they would avoid arrest by the military. He had also ofifered a reward of one thousand dollars for the person or persons proven to be guilty of the crimes in question. In order to ascertain the exact state of affairs that he might take all needful means for the protection of the alarmed settlers and thus allay their excitement, he sent Doctor Day of St. Paul, an expert in knowledge of Indian character, to investigate and report thereon. So well did the doctor perform this duty that all apprehension was speedily removed.

This trial of Bobolink is noteworthy in several of its aspects. Held in what was then a frontier village, the judge and counsel ranked among the ablest of the state. The witnesses were chiefly intelligent and prominent in their respective circles, some of them having been summoned from distant localities. The jury proved their fitness by a verdict amply justified by tl:e evidence. Thus constituted, the court was a fit symbol of our highest civilization and in its procedure an exemplary illustration of the best known methods of determining justice to persons charged with crime. As the ordeal of intelligent reascjn taking the place of that of savage ini]ndse and superstition, it furnished a needed and impressive object lesson in a frontier region, far-reaching in its influence. In striking contrast was the spectacle at Brainerd a few months before of two Indians accused of the murder of a girl of mixed blood, hanging from the limb of a tree on the principal street, while a lawless mob rent the air with shouts of exultation. Against one of these victims there was nothing that could be called proof of guilt, - only mere suspicion, which subsequent developments showed was groundless. Such brutal acts are a blot upon our boasted civilization and they will cease only when respect and the higher sentiment of reverence of law shall have found a place in the hearts of men everywhere.

Soon after the trial at Detroit, vague hints and rumors of an Indian hiding himself closely near the Leech Lake Agency reached the ears of the government employes at that post. So significant a fact - for fact it proved to be - in connection with many circumstances known to them, warranted the conviction on their part that this Indian was an accomplice in the murder near Oak Lake. Thereupon the head chief of the Pillager bands in that locality was sought and a reward of one hundred dollars was paid him by Agent E. P. Smith for disclosing the name and hiding place of the suspected criminal. With a file of soldiers then at hand to aid him, the writer of this account proceeded to make his arrest. The wigwam in which he was concealed was one of a dozen located on a tongue of land projecting far into the lake. To insure success, it was necessary to make the approach thereto covertly. So cautiously advancing, the underbrush serving as a screen, w^e entered upon the base of the tongue. Then with a rapid sweep down the narrowing tract we prevented any message or cry of alarm reaching the party sought by his numerous friends on the watch. At the extremity called Pine Point, we surprised and captured the hiding Indian, though he was provided with ample means for defense or escape. He proved to be as we expected, the Mais-kah-wah-be-tung implicated by the confession of Bobolink in the murder near Oak Lake.

The authorities of Becker County were at once notified by Agent Smith of this arrest. They were also assured by him that sufiicient proof would be furnished at a trial which they alone were empowered to give the arrested party, to insure his conviction. For some reason unknown to the writer, these authorities neglected or deemed it unwise to bring the Indian into court. Meantime he was confined at Fort Ripley and at the end of a year was set free, since the military could not legally hold him longer.

and the interred remains of the victims of a savage deed inspired by the desire of plunder only, has ben set apart for a sacred and noble purpose.

A claim upon the government preferred by the heirs of Cook, for property destroyed by the Indian murderers, has been approved in the court of claims, and now awaits only an act of congress for payment.

The whole country is familiar with the horrible massacre of the Cook family - consisting of the father, mother and three children^which took place on Friday night, April 26th, at their home near Oak Lake in this state. As soon as the terrible event became known. Major Brackett, the successful detective, commenced work on the case, and his efiforts have been rewarded by the capture of the principal murderer, who with three others are now known to have committed the terrible crime, and as the three alluded to are well known, there is very little doubt but that they, too, will soon be brought to the halter.

THE CAPTURE OF KA-KA-BA-SHE. The Indian brought to St. Paul by Major Brackett on Saturday night goes by the name of Ka-ka-ba-she, or Bobolink, and he was first suspected as one of the murderers by John Lynde, a well known and respectable half-breed, who saw Bobolink at Sandy Lake, and who came from Oak Lake about the time of the murder, decked out in ladies' costume and flourishing a gold chain and other articles. When Lynde got to Aitken station, he notified the telegraph operator, who at once sent the facts to Brainerd, where the despatch reached Major Brackett on Tuesday of last week. The Major immediately secured the service of James Whitehead, an old trader among the Pillager Indians, to make the arrest, who with two trusty assistants repaired to Aitkin, where they were joined by Lynde, and all four proceeded to Sandy Lake where the Indians were camped. As soon as they reached Sandy Lake Whitehead alone went among the Indians and picked out Bobolink. He remarked as he took hold of him, "Come along - I want you!" Bobolink demurred, and for a time meditated resistance, but Whitehead was stern and inexorable; and amidst the shouts, execrations and hostile demonstrations of a hundred squaws, who attempted to rally the tribe to the rescue of Bobolink, Whitehead succeeded in getting away with his prisoner, who. fortunately, had in his possession at the moment of his capture, Mrs. Cook's cloak, gold chain and other articles, which were safely brought back to testify in immistakable language against the bloody and barbarous demon, and which will serve in a short time to hang him on a civilized gallows.

Great Credit Is Due

to John Lynde, the half-breed, and James Whitehead, for their action in bringing Bobohnk into Major Brackett's clutches. It is believed that no other man but Whitehead could have succeeded in the audacious enterprise of visiting the Indian tribe, and boldly dragging out one of their number and successfully getting away with him. He seems to have commanded both the respect and the fear of the whole tribe, and it seems almost amazing that he should have succeeded in getting out alive with his prisoner. But his promptness and extraordinary celerity of movement saved him, for had he dallied a moment or two longer, by which time the Indians, recovered from their surprise, would have overwhelmed him, and Bobolink and the principal circumstantial evidences which he carried with him would have been hidden away. Major Brackett, likewise, has reason to be proud of the part he has played in the interesting transaction. After reaching Sandy Lake, he took to the water, and

Dived For His Life

DIVED FOR HIS LIFE by plunging into the lake and attempting to escape. Whitehead pursued his prisoner in the water, who dived every time his pursuer attempted to seize him, and he was only brought to time by Whitehead's striking him a telling blow on the head with an oar; then dragging him into the canoe, he got him safely to Aitkin, twenty miles away, when he took the train for Oak Lake, where the villain was examined before a justice of the peace and committed for trial".

A Painful Scene

]\Irs. Small the sister of the murdered Mrs. Cook was shown the articles in possession of the captured murderer, all of which she recognized in an instant. For a moment she was overcome with anguish at the recollection of the sad fate of her sister. Then amidst her agonizing paroxysms of grief, she happened to cast her eyes on the red demon, who was present, and whom she would certainly have slain on the spot if she had been in possession of a weapon. She was finally led away from the presence of the cause of her misery, and this melancholy scene closed.

She testified she resided within three-fourths of a mile of her sister, Mrs. Cook; their claims joined; last saw Mr. John Cook and family on the Sunday night before they were massacred; they were killed on Friday night, April 26th, 1872; Mrs. Cook's oldest boy, Freddie, on that evening brought milk to our house; he also brought me a note from his mother; it was sisterly in tone, and contained words of cheer and contentment.

The First News

THE FIRST NEWS. About half past ten on Saturday morning, I sent my boy over to my sister's for milk; he got nearly there, and returned to tell me the house was burned; I sent him to tell my sister and her family to come over to my house; he soon came back, saying nothing could be found of anybody; I then went myself to search for them.

The Remains

THE REMAINS. I looked into the cellar and saw the remains of human bodies; could not go into the cellar on account of fire which smouldered there; I sent my son after Mr. Larson; my husband was in Detroit, I telegraphed for him to come home immediately. Mr. Larson came, and with a pole removed some of the remains. I saw Mr. Cook's remains; all his ribs attached to the backbone were there; saw a skull near the body and a heart, not burned, lay near the ribs. My husband came home in the afternoon and we telegraphed to Mr. Franklin Cook at Minneapolis.

The Confession

Bobolink commenced by remarking that he had bad luck hunting, and was anxious to go by White Earth home- Arrived first at Little Sioux camp, southwest of Anderson's store. He took the direction prescribed by Boanece, and proceeded to Little Lake, where he changed his mind, and concluded to go by Anderson's store and Oak Lake. Just before reaching the store he met an old Indian by the name of Mais-kah-wahbe-tung, who after a few minutes' talk concluded to go with him and murder the Cook family. He refused at first, and he asked Mais-kah-wahbe-tung why he wanted to murder the Cook family. Mais-kah-wah-be-tung said plunder, that he had assisted to murder a Swede family, thereby getting many valuable things.