Fillmore County, Minnesota - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 35 of those read), 1882

Ambeb Cane

Fillmore oonntj is supplied with railroad facilities by three liiies. The Southern Minnesota railroad enters the county near the northeastern corner, and passing westward crosses the west line a little north of the center; the Caledonia, Mississippi & Western railroad crosses the eastern line near the southeast comer, and has its terminus at Preston, in the center of the county. Both are controlled by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Company; and the Plain view & Chatfield road, controlled by the Chicago & Northwestern Company, has its southern terminus at Chatfield.

a division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway company's system of roads, which is said to have the largest number of miles of any road in America under one management.

It has its eastern terminus at La Crosse, and entering this county at Rushford, follows the Root River as far as Lanesboro. Here it extends toward the west with a southern deilection, and leaves the county near the center of the western boundary. It has stations at convenient distances along the route. The early history of this enterprise is one crowded with vicissitudes.

Soon after Brownsville, in Houston county, was settled, a charter was obtained with the Uiouthfilling title of "Mississippi and Missouri Railroad Company." That road was to start up the Wild Cat valley, and it proved to be a wild cat scheme, coming into the world in a still-bom condition.

The Root River Valley Railroad Company was organized under territorial auspices. Clark W. Thompson, of Hokah; T. B. Twiford, of Chatfield; and T. B. Stoddard, of La Croese, and their associates, whoever they were, kept the breath of life in this corporation for several years.

On the 3d of November, 1856, it having got to be the "Root River k Southern Minnesota Company," the officers met at their usual headquarters at Chatfield, and the places of directors whose terms of ofQce had expired were filled; the board then stood as follows: Clark W. Thompson, President; C. A. Stevens, Vice-President; H. L. Edwards, Secretary; T. B. Twiford, Treasurer; H. W. HoUey, Chief Engineer. The Executive Committee were T. B. Twiford, Edward Thompson, T. B. Stoddard, William B. Gere, and T. J. Saflbrd.

On the 8th of December, 1856, a public meeting of those favorable to the construction of the road was held in Chatfield. The meeting was called to order by William B. Gere, who stated the objects of the meeting, and gave a brief history of the ejiterprise, stating that it was chartered in 1854, and thut $50,000 had been subscribed to the st/^ck. G. W. Willis was appointed chairman of the meeting, and Edward Dexter was selected for Secretary. Earnest speeches were made by several gentlemen. A committee was appointed to solicit subscriptions to defray the expenses of an agent to Washington, to secure, if possible, congressional aid in the form of a land grant. It was understood that this committee succeeded in raising about $1,300 in Chatfield, and James M. Cavanaugh, afterwards Member of Congress, was appointed to proceed to Washington and look after a land grant. The thanks of the meeting were voted to Col. Thomas B. Stoddard, of La Crosse, for his untiring energy in the service of the enterprise.

It will thus be seen what service was done by Chatfield during the struggling infancy and weakness of this corporation, and how remorselessly it was passed by when the company had secured strength and power. Ingratitude is the most despicable sin that exists.

The land grant passed Congress, and became a law on the last day of President Pierce's admiDistration, on the 4th of March, 1857, and was among the last bills signed by the New Hampshire President.

As there were other similar land grants, for roads in various parts of the territory, an extra session of the Legislature was called by Governor Gorman, to meet on the 10th of May, 1857, to pass the appropriate acts on the subject.

On the 3d of April the railroad company had a meeting at La Crescent, and a survey by the Chief Engineer, Mr. Holley, was ordered to be made at once, to begin at or near St. Peter, and to run thence east to La Crosse. The party aooordingly started to make this survey, from Chatfield to St Peter, on the 6th of April, 1857. At the meeting of the Legislature, it granted to the Southern Minnesota Railroad Company the lands pertaining to the line from La Crescent to Rochester, and also from St. Paul up the Minnesota valley to the Iowa state line.

The survey from St. Peter to La Crescent was completed early in June, but in the meantime a transfer of the stock of the company had been made by the directors to a Wisconsin company, the Milwaukee k La Crosse, which continued the survey but did nothing whatever in the way of grading. And thus it remained, until in 1858 the five million loan bill became a law, and then the company graciously graded twenty miles from La Crescent to Houston, and there it stopped.

In 1859, there was a kind of a supplementary coUapse, and various roads went into bankruptcy, this among the others. About this time there was an attempt to float some railroad currency, but it was not a brilliant success.

W. HoUey, Dr. L. Miller, Hiram Walker, and their associates reorganized the company and obtained from the Legislature of the State the franchises and lands of the old company, upon the condition that ten miles should be completed in one year. But the time elapsed and the ten miles did not materialize, and the next year the Legislature kindly gave the company another year, and this time it succeeded in making the trip, and having the requisite ten miles in running condition by the 25th of December, 1866. During the previous winter an effort had been made to secure an additional grant of land from Houston to the western boundary of the State, which was successful, and this aid was secured on the 4th of July, 1866. From this time the progress of the road was rapid. As above stated, the road to Houston was opened and running in 1866; to Bushfori and Lanesboro in 1868; from Ramsey to Wells in 1869, and from Lanesboro the road was pushed on to Ramsey in 1870; the total distance being 167 miles. Tt will thus be seen that the road was finally constructed and put in operation by practically the same men who conceived the project in territorial days, and obtained, through their efforts, the donations that mad 3 its success possible, and without which it might never have been built. As to the personnel of the early and the later management, Col. T. B. Stoddard, of La Crosse; C. W. Thompson, of Hokah, and his brother Edward Thompson, of the same place; and Hon. H. W. Holley, the Chief Engineer, of Fillmore county, who were on the board of directors in 1856, stuck to its varying fortunes and destinies through good and evil report till in 1870, the first division from LaCrosse to Winnebago City was completed.

As to the last land grMit from Congress in 1866, without which the road could not, or would not have been extended west of Houston, perhaps the most credit should be given to Charles D. Sherwood, Dr. Luke Miller, C. G. Wykoff, and D. B. Sprague, who joined their fortunes with the enterprise at the reorganization in 1865.

In relation * to the route of the road west of Lanesboro, where it leaves the Boot River valley, the inside history would be remarkably rich reading, if faithfully portrayed. Chatfield, being on the main stream, had no shadow of doubt as to its going there; Preston, the county seat, confidently expected the road. Either way would have avoided the terrible grade west of Lanesboro which will forever require a "pusher" to overcome. But in view of "other hearts that would bleed" the story perhaps better be left untold in this volume.

It is not unlikely at some time not very distant, when this road shall become a part of the "Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul International line to the Pacific," that the bed of the road may be changed to follow one of the branches of the Boot Biver from Lanesboro.

In 1870, the Southern Minnesota railroad undertook to build a branch from Fountain to Chatfield, and the town of Chatfield voted bonds to the amount of $65,000, provided it was completed to that point by the 4th of July, 1871. Work was commenced and some of the deeper cuts excavated, and it is reported that 870,000 was expended before the project was abandoned, which was done, as is alleged, on account of the great expense.

The Caledonia, Mississippi And Western Bailboad

The initial proceedings that finally gave the county of Fillmore this road were had at Caledonia, Houston county, early in November, 1873. Tbomas Abbotts was President of the company then formed; A. D. Sprague, Vice-President; Nicholas Koob, Treasurer; N. E. Dorival, Secretary. It was a local enterprise, and was partially graded between the Mississippi and Caledonia in 1874. Then, the hard times continuing, the road remained, with occasional struggles to have it ironed and equipped, until early in the spring of 1879, when a plan was devised and carried into effect for its completion to Caledonia. The arrangement was with the Chicago, Clinton, Dubuque and Minnesota Bailroad Company, to complete the road, iron and equip it, in consideration of the citizens of Caledonia voting a bonus of $20,000, which was done.

On the 25th of September the road was completed and the first train entered the village of Caledonia amid the rejoicings of the people. Immediate steps were made to push on the enterprise to Preston, and such was the energy displayed, that on Christmas day, the same year, the locomotive reached that point. Several towns in its course voted aid, the particulars of which are given elsewhere. The road has since been absorbed by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Company.

From the several station agents at the following named places in Fillmore county, we have been enabled to gather the statements made below, of the business done in 1880, on the narrow guage road :

The thirty -six inch guage road, from the Mississippi to Preston, is said to be one of the best paying feeders to the trunk lines that is owned by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul company. The only fault found with the managemnnt is the w;!nt of close connection at the junction. That

Bonds were voted by the town of Ohatfield in 1878, to secure the branch to this place; the work was soon commenced and in the fall of 1878, the trains were running. It has a neat depot put up at the foot of Twiford street. The branch is twelve miles long and extends into Fillmore county about two blocks; a side track extends to the flouring mill of Mr. Dickson. The citizens are very well accommodated as there are four trains a day.

The Newspapeb Press

The newspaper press of this county early occupied a high position among the papers of the State. Some of the first papers, which must have started under very discouraging circumstances, were edited and printed in a very creditable manner.

As is well known there is a great mortality among young newspapers, the death rate exceeding even that of the human rat5e, in fact as many newspapers relatively die before five months of age as children before five years.

As to the whole list of papers in the county, it is not hoped even to give the names of all that have been started. It is astonishing what an ephemeral thing is a periodical, and remembering how valuable a file of newspapers becomes with age, it is a matter of surprise that so few preserve them. To those which have been fortunately preserved this work is largely indebted for many items of interest.

About the earliest printing business mentioned in the county was when Ezra R. Trask, on the 22d of October, 1855, sold a press, type and material to H. C. Butler. This must have been in Carimona, the county seat then.

Chatfibld Demoobat. - This is the oldest paper now in existence in Fillmore county, and in fact may claim to be one of the oldest papers in this part of Minnesota. Started with the purpose in view of being a oivilizer, and a benefit to its own and surrounding coimties, it has prospered from the first. Never, during its existence of over a quarter of a century, has it post-

The first issue of this paper wjis upon the 11th of September, 1857, in Chatfield, by 0. 0. Hemphill, who started it upon the principles of democracy. It was a sis column quarto sheet, all home print, and was hailed by the pioneers as an indisputable evidence of their increasing prosperity, being considered a landmark by them in history and memory.

In 1860, O. C. Hemphill sold the paper to J. W. Bishop, who was editor and manager of the Democrat for about two years, when it again changed hands, and the Messrs. Mcl^enny took the helm, and have since been managers and proprietors.

One remarkable incident connected with the Democrat is deserving of mention. It is the advertisement of S. 0. White, a merchant of Winona. The ad. has occupied the same place, same space, and the same column in the Democrat for upwards of twenty y3ar8. Not only as a matter of interest to those who shall hereafter peruse the history of Fillmore county, but as au article which deserves to be chronicled in history, the advertisement, as it is, is here givon :

Green Fruits

The Ohatpibld Republican. - The first number of this paper was published on Saturday the 25th of October, 1856, at Chatfield. T. B. Twiford & Co., were the publishers, and H. W. Holley, editor. It was a six column folio, furnished for $2.00 a year, if paid in advance, and $3.00 if paid later. The imprint declared it to be **a Weekly Family Newspaper, devoted to Literature, Science, Art, Education, Mechanism, Agriculture, Horticulture, Politics, and General Intelligence."

Although Minnesota had not obtained her majority and become a State, and consequently had no vote in the presidential election, yet the names of "Fremont and Dayton'' were run up to the mast head of the new paper, and moral, if no more substantial support, given to the cause. On the 13th of June, 1857, the names of O. Brown and H. W. Holley were announced as publishers.

With number one, volume two, the paper was enlarged to seven columns and correspondingly lengthened. As this was before the "patent insides** epidemic, the whole paper was set up in the office, and it was a weU edited and well printed journal.

In 1859, the editor of the Republican was sued by the editor of the Democrat for a libel, and a jury returned a verdict placing the damages at $100.

Mr. H. W. Holley, who is now an honored citizen of Winnebago City, kindly sent us his first four volumes, ending the 6th of November, 1860, from which many items of interest were obtained. At the latter date the paper was transferred to Preston and became the "Preston Republican."

The Western Progress. - This was a paper which was started in Brownsville, Houston county, in May, 1869, by Mrs. BeUa French and Richard O. Thomas,

In May, 1870, Mr. Thomas having withdrawn, and some of the enterprising citizens of Spring Valley desiring to have a local paper, offered in dueements to Mrs. French to remove the paper there, which was accordingly done, and it was published for two years, when she left it and engaged in literary work elsewhere.

A. M. Hutchinson was for a time the publisher and was succeeded by J. J. Sargent and M. T. Jones. On the 2d of February the firm was dissolved, Mr. Jones continuing the publication. The paper meantime was changed to "The Yidette." In 1879, Mr. Jones was thrown from a buggy, and expired almost instantly. The paper then fell into the hands of Col. Van Leuven, and for a few months he had a partner who finally retired, leaving the Colonel solitary and alone at his outpost.

Preston RepubijIGAN. - This paper was started in November, 1860, under this name, but it was really the Chatfield Republican removed to a new locality, and Elder Burbank was the editor, who afterwards sold to F. W.

Hotcbkiss, who managed it until turned over to bis brother. With the number commencing on the 6th of February, 1867, W. A. Hotchkiss took charge as editor and proprietor. This was in the sixth volume.

The paper was a seven column folio, all set up in the olBoe, and was a fearless republican sheet. In December, 1873, Major Hotchkiss procured a New Haven power press.

On the 17th of September, 1875, the puper, with the material and presses, was removed to Austin, and the name changed to "Mower and Fillmore County Republican," and so with number fortyseven, volume fourteen, its career in Preston was closed.

To follow it, however, in its perigrinations, it was published iu Austin until 1879, when it became the organ of the National party and the name was changed to '^National Republican." In September, 1880, it went to Minneapolis, and was printed there until August, 1881, when it was brought back by Maj. Hotchkiss to Preston. It is now in the twenty-first volume, and is published by Hotchkiss and Son, and is a seven column folio devoted to the interests of the National party, the whole paper being set up in the office.

After Major Hotchkiss had removed his paper out of the county, there was no journal in Preston for a little over a year, when on the 28th of October, 1876, another

As its name indicates, it is republican in its political faith and teachings. The paper is well located on the east side of Court House square, in a brick building erected for its special use, with a store on the ground floor. From this, as well as from the other newspaper files in the county, much valuable information has been obtained by the compilers of the local part of this work. The newspaper press of the county is well up to the modern standard of current literary excellence, and in its history has not had an unusual share of vicissitudes.

The PBESTon Journaij. - In 1856, a firm under the name of Getzel & Co. issued a prospectus for the Preston Journal, and having issued a single number, as it is stated, and secured some assistance in the undertaking, failed to go on with the enterprise.

on the 1st of January, 1867, by S. J. Brown, who afterwards sold one-half interest to S. S. Stebbins. After awhile the "Temperance Fountain" was started in connection with it. Charles D. Sherwood became proprietor. This publication was discontinued, and the "Southern Minnesotian^^ was started. This was a pa|3er of character, and had considerable influence on the times.

Brown & Sherwood were proprietors until September, 1868, when A. E. Ball & Co. bought the concern and managed it until the following April, when it was sold to S. J. Brown, who soon discontinued the publication.

In May, 1869, Frank H. Stout came from Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and run a paper until 1870, when he went to Kansas. This was called "The Rushford Era.''

Labor Reform. - This journal was thrown out upon the tender mercies of this struggling world in April, 1872, and its life was prolonged by heroic sacrifices on the part of its editor and publisher, Mr. A. E. Ball, up to the month of July, 1373, when it gracefully subsided to. give elbow room for

The Rushford Star, which was ushered into being m April, 1873, by T. H. Everts ife F. W. Drake. On the 8th of August, 1876, Charles R. McKenney bought out Frank W. Drake, and issued his first paper on Friday, the 11th. It was volume IV, No. 14, and was a four column quarto. At the end of the volume it was made a folio, and part of the time it has been a large quarto, but is now a good sized folio, and continues to thrive as a republican paper, meeting the wants of the northeastern part of the county.

Spring VauijEy Mercury. - The first number of this paper was struck off on the 18th of March, 1880, at Grand Meadow, Mower county. The proprietors were Langworthy & Son. On the first of August, 1880, it was removed to Austin, in the same county, and continued until April, 1881, when G. E. Langorthy became editor and proproprietor. On the fifteenth of April, 1882, the paper was removed to Spring Valley where it is now published by Langworthy & Sons. It is a nine-column folio of the Republican persuasion.

paper is the result of a oousolidation with the **We8tern Progress," a paper which was moved early in the seveutiee from Brownsville, Houston county, published by Mrs. Bella French, and the "Spring Valley Oitizi-n," published by J. J. Sargent and afterwards by Col.M. T. Jones.

On the 18th of August, 1879, Col. Jones was accidentially killed, and Col. Van Leuven then came and took charge of the paper and still manages it.

The Lanesboro Journal. - This papar first saw the light on the 13th of June, 1874,' at Lanesboro. It was published by the Wall Brothers, the personnel being O. G. Wall and S. W. Wall. It was a six-column folio at $2.00 p. r year. It claimed to be rather an independent Republican paper, and started out with a business look. It was well printed and well edited, and was all printed in the office. In 1880, the paper passt'd into the hands of Mr. Fellows, and was enlarged to an eightcolumn folio, with patent insides. It seems to meet the requirements of the community as Mr. Fellows is a practical printer, a newspajjer man, and a student as well as a scholar.

The Radical.- -This is a pai)er, the character of which is indicated by thb name, which was at first published in Fountain in 1880, and after being issued a year or so went to Rochester and remained a few months when nostalgia brought it back again to its old stamping ground. The editor and proprietor was C. S. Powers. It is now published monthly by his son, and is a spicy shef>t.

The Lan^boro Herald. - This pa[)er was first issued at the place indicated by its name, in September, 1868, by Lute Christie, and was for a time conducted witb ability but one of tbe diseases incident to newspaper infancy carried it off.

The Wykoff News. - This candidate for public favor was ushered into existence in April, 1882, and is a modest four column folio, published every Saturday by A. B. BurkdoU, and looks crisp and business-like.

Wykoff Dollar Weekly was projected into the light in 1878, by F. C. SU)we. It was a good sized eight column paper, but was discontinued in the spring of 1880.

Weekly Record. - Kruger Brothers started this paper in Wykoff late in the seventies, but soon moved it to Rochester. Then came the Wykoff News."

At an early day there were few conventionalities or forms to be observed in handling cases in court, and the pleadings were usually of a motley variety, a mixture of logic, of traditional law nomenclature, usually with considerable common sense interlarded with more or less frontier slang. The justices court in particular was often the scene of drolleries and comical incidents of the most mirth provoking character. The line as to who should or should not practice in these ct)urts, was not well defined. But about the year 1860, a Bar Association was formed, at the Court House, with Reuben Wells as President. The scale of prices which were adopted is here reproduced, with the names of the county bar at that time. It will be seen that some of these men now occui^y leading positions.

The above fees are exclusive of disbursements. We hereby assent to the foregoing fee bill, and agree to abide thereby. Dated, November 13th, 1860. Simeon Smith,

Dryden Smith. The following named lawyers represent and constitute the bar of Fillmore county, and will compare favorably as to ability with other counties in the State: J. D. Farmer, Burdett Thayer, Asa B. Burleson, Dryden Smith, Norman True, George E. Hibner, Spring Valley; Peter Mc- Oracken, Cherry Grove; E. 0. Boyd, Wykoff; John B. Jones, N. Kingsley, Chatfield; O. Wheaton, Mabel; O. N. Enos, O. S. Berg, Bushford; B. A. Man, E. N. Donaldson, H. G. Day, Lanesboro; Beuben Wells, H. S. Bassett, N. P. Colbum, H. B. Wells, Enos Thompson, A. D. Gates, Preston.

This list is taken from the court calendar, and it is possible that there may be one or two recently admitted whose names were not on the list.

Bedmon, M. D., in Preston, and about ten members constituted the society at that time. The objects were for mutual benefit, particularly to increase the medical knowledge and skill of the members.

The first officers of the society were: President, B. W. Twitchell; Vice-President, H. Wilson; Treasurer, A. H. Trow; Corresponding Secretary, G. M. Willis; Secretary, T. E. Loop. The other members were Lafayette Bedmon, Luke Miller, J. M. Wheat, M. Downelly, C. H. Bobbins, B. L. Moore, A. Plummer, A. F. Whitman, H. Pickett, J. A. Graves, H. C. Grover, R W. Hoyt, and M. A. Trow.

For several years the society was in an active condition. There was a regular fee bill, and other accessories to such a society, and it had a vigorous growth and life, but the interest finally declined, and in 1879, it passed into a moribund condition, from all outward symptoms. However, it may be a case of catalepsy or suspended animation, and the expectant treatment it is receiving may yet restore it to consciousness and activity, notwithstanding the axiom that physicians when sick are totally incapable of treating themselves.

The last officers of the society, who hold over until their successors are appointed, were: President, B. L. Moore; Vice-President, H. C. Grover; Treasurer, L. Bedmon; Secretary, A. F. Whitman. These men are supposed to be regular M. D.^s, although to avoid the monotony, the letters after each name are omitted.

Fillmore Eclectic Medical Assooiation

The first officers of the society were: O. A. Case, President; John A. Boss, George A. Lone, J. J. Morrey. The organization kept up until 1876, when it was dissolved.

The organization of the present society was in 1871, and, with the exception of three years, when the fairs* were at Lanesboro, they have been at the Fair grounds in Preston, which are well adapted to the purpose, having, with the improvements, cost about $1,500.

Board of Managers, T. J. Meighen, Peter Mc- Craoken, M. T. Grattan, R. L. Flemming, N. A. Graves, T. H. Day, W. A. Pease, H. Pickett, H. Milne, P. Hutton, and W. A. Miller.

Methodist Episcopal Church. - This denomination was early in the field as the country began to be settled up. The Minnesota Conference was organized in 1845, and the first annual conference was held at Red Wing, Gk)odhue county, on the 7th of August, 1856, Bishop Simpson presiding. There were twenty-nine members of the conference, and sixteen probationers. In 1881, there were 115 eifective preachers, twenty-one probationers, eighteen supernumerary and twenty-three superannuated members.

Fillmore county has, from the first, been in the Winona district, and in 1856, the following preachers were stationed in this district: John Hooper, D. Kidder, R. W. Keeler, M. Klepper, B. Crist. J. M. Rogers, John D. Rich, John L. Dyer, E. Fate, C. Kellogg, S. T. Sterrett, Thomas Day, Timothy Jewett, and D. O. Van Slyke. In this year there were preachers stationed in the county at Preston, Chatfield, and Spring Valley.

When the war broke out, in 1861, the following ministers were connected with effective work of the Winona Conference District: Thomas E. Gossard, presiding elder; Silas Bolles, Noah Lathrop, Charles Griswold, Charles J. Hayes, Nathan Tainter, James Cowden, W. H. Soule, Ira Ellin gwood, Boyd Phelps, Moses Mapes, David Tice, Oliver P. Light, John Quigley, James Dow, and Alfred Welch.

When the first Lay Conference was held in Mankato, on the 29th of September, 1871, the following delegates were present from Fillmore county: C. W. McMindu, Jordan; Paul Dayton, Granger; R. Wells, Preston.

Presbyterian Chhrch. - Fillmore county is connected with the Synod of Minnesota and the Presbytery of Winona, which embraces about forty churches in the southern part of the State.

In the county there are churches at Chatfield, Harmony, Lanesboro, and Preston, with an aggregate membership of about 200. According to the last report, the ministers connected with this Presbytery were as follows: J. J. Ward, A. H. Kerr, Silas Haslett, R. B. Abbott, James D. Todd, Samuel Wyckoff, E. N. Raymond, Augustus Buscli, William C. Beebe, S. (x. Lowry, George Ainslie, H. L. Craven, A. S. Kemper, S. D. Westfall, John M. Brack, H. A. Newell, F. P. Dalrymple, John W. F. Roth, Jr.

The Presbyterian Church of the United States consists of one General Assembly, thirty-eight Synods, 177 presbyteries, 5,086 ministers, 301 licentiates, 622 candidates, 5,598 churches, 581,- 401 members, and 633,564 Sunday School children.

KoMAN OATHoiiic. - Comparatively a small part of the people who settled in this county were of this faith, and consequently the pioneer work of the priests was severe and unpromising. Long distances had to be traversed to bestow tlie ministrations of their sacred office. As the villages, however, have filled up, there has been more encouragement, and the institutions that have been planted are worthy of the church which builds for all coming time.

LuTHEBAN Ghukohbs. - ^Nearly all of the natives of Norway who live in tliis country are adherents of the Evangelical faith, and most of them of some branch of the Lutheran denomination. There arc several branches with characteristic names and features more or less distinct, and often considered of great importance by those who understand their peculiarities. And in the accounts given of the several churches in the county, there may be a confounding of these various churches under the general term of Lutheran.

When these people first arrived here and had supplied their physical wants, their next desire was for their accustomed religious food, and they are certainly entitled to great credit for what they have done to supply this need.

The Baptist Church. - This church which, in the whole country is among the largest, has not a very extensive following in Fillmore county. There are two or more distinctive branches of this denomination, with sufficient difference in the tenets of t)elief, as supposed by the several adherents, to warrant separate organizations, and whatever has been accomplished in the county will be found recorded in the town histories.

Congregational form of belief. Although not formulated with fixity, is well known not to be unlike the Presbyterian, and this form of organized worship cannot be said to be deep rooted in Fillmore coimty, albeit there are several flourishing societies here. As to the so-called Liberal churches, which seem to flourish in New England, nothing of this kind has survived the transplanting to this western soil. Why this is so is not our province to discuss.

The special history of individual schools, appears in connection with the sketch of each township. There are, however, points of general interest in relation to the school system which require mention here.

The early comers never lost sight of the idea upon which the possibility of founding and supporting a popular government rests - the educa" tion of the children - and as fast as the children appeared and became of school age, the best possible provision, at the command of the people, was made for their schooling.

An account of the various expedients resorted to, that would meet the requirements of the circumstances, would, while sometimes laughable, reveal the struggling efforts of a determination to bestow knowledge upon the rising generation in spite of all difficulties. Schools were often kept in a log dwelling, where the school room would be partitioned off from that occupied by the family by an imaginary line. Sometimes an open shed as an annex to the house would serve the pinrpose in summer. The usual method was for the neighbors to get together and organize a district, and select a lot for a building. Of course each one would want it near, but not too near, and generally there was little trouble in establishing the location, which would be with a view of accommodating the greatest number. And then to build a school - house, a *^bee^' was the easiest way, and so plans and estimates were improvised, and each one would subscribe, one, two, three or more logs so many feet long, so many shingles, so many rafters, a door or a window, and at the appointed time the men would assemble with the material, bringing their dinner pails, and by night, if there had not been too much hilarity during the day, the building would be covered and practically completed. The benches would be benches indeed, often without backs, and sitting on one of them was about as comfortable as sitting in the stocks, that now unfashionable mode of punishment.

Schools were thus multiplied all over the county, until in the winter of 1859, the Legislature passed an act making each organized township a school district, to be subdivided according to local necessities. But this plan was soon repealed and the present method adopted. The districts were numl)ered consecutively, beginning at a certain p jiut, and new districts, as they have been created, have followed the older of time in numbering. At present there are 174 school districts in the county, and 190 schools. There are four independent districts, one special school, and five graded schools.

Schooij Houses. - There are remaining four log buildings, thirteen are of brick, with twelve of stone, and one hundred and forty-three frame buildings, making a total number of schoolhouses 181.

Number of Scholars. - The whole numl^er entitled to the apportionment from the school fund is 7,701. The amount received in 1882 was $2,541.

Oertifioatbs. - ^The ' number of certificates issued to teachers for the year ending on the Slst of August, 1881, of all grades, was, 277. So it will be perceived that there is plenty of school teaching material to supply the home demand.

Schooij Books. - In the regular district schools there is a State list of school books which are required to be used, and they are furnished by the county officers as follows :

S(3hooij Lands. - In 1879 the amount of school land sold in the county was forty acres, for which the sum of ^200 was received. The number of acres sold in 1880, was ninety, the amount of sale $450. The total number of acres of school lands sold in the. county has been 29,600. Appraised and unsold, 640 acres, the total value of which is |»3,- 830; average value per acre, $5.98. Total school land in the county, 30,240 acres. An eighteenth of the available agricultural land of the State is set aside for school purposes, and the above represents the portion in Fillmore county.

Statistics

This showing exhibits a regular increase up to the last enumeration, when there was an actual decrease of 117. Remembering the tide of emigration that is moving west from every State between Russia and Dakota, it becomes a matter of congratulation that the county has been able to so very nearly hold its own.

Pioneering is a trade that comparatively few can undertake and come out successfully at the first venture, and so with the experience gained in the first settlement many move on to pastures new where, it is not unlikely, prosperity awaits their second efforts. Those who have pushed on, have been for the most part young men, but some of the old *^tagers/^ those who materially helped to build up the county, have been among those who are now in Dakota, or beyond, organizing new communities, inaugurating new industries, and preparing new institutions for their declining years, to be inherited by coming generations. There is also one other reason why there has been a slight falling off in the population, which should be briefly related. When this country was first settled, attention was turned by the farmers almost exclusively to the raising of wheat, and a yield of twenty or thirty bushels to the acre was not uncommon. With this experience as a basis, many farmers bought machinery and made improvements, and thus incurred obligations at rates of interest which only the most certain crops would warrant. When year after year the wheat crop, for one and another reason, failed, coming down to eight or ten bushels an acre, the farm itself would have to go, to satisfy the inexorable demands. Some of the farmers, who found themselves BO unexpectedly involved, had the genius to change their crops over to com and hogs, and thus escaped the fate of their less fortunate neighbors. But for this successful transformation the hegira from the county would have been much greater. But, as the reliable direction for the efforts of the husbandman has been found, the exodus will in future be limited.

**More fine herds of cattle will graze on the pastures of Fillmore county the coming summer than ever before during a single season in its history.

Less than seven years ago the first car load of fat cattle passed towards eastern markets over the Southern Minnesota road. All our vast agricultural domain was taxed to the verge of impoverishment to produce wheat, wheat, wheat.

The laws of nature protested against this abuse of the soil, and a warning was sounded in the ears of all thoughtful and intelligent men; but the quick return for the labor expended, and the urgent need of money, forced so generally in conaequence of protracted hard times, seemed to justify an acknowledged abuse of our once famous wheat producing soil. The farmer was content to depend upon mother earth for a continuation of the rewards she had vouchsafed him in the way of bountiful harvests, while the most limited attention was given to stock raising, the butchers in the village markets taking the surplus product of cattle, while the hog product was only to be marketed after being slaughtered and dressed - a process entailing much labor and involving no slight risk, as many can attest who lost hundreds of dollars but a few winters ago by this method. What a transition from all wheat and little stock to all stock and little wheat ! But the change is upon us, rounded up to overflowing, and has come to stay, and brings no evil forebodings for the future, for while stock raising may experience the depressions attending all industries, we are building up our soil under this new industrial departure and preparing it and holding it in reserve for such demands as the future may make upon us.

As an agricultural people we are instinctively drifting into the true and winning policy of producing those articles involving the least tax upon our lands; those requiring the least cash expenditure to the producer; those guaranteeing the surest and the most evenly distributed income, and those which may be condensed into the least possible bulk for shipment. These secrets of success are making themselves more widely known each day, and the independence guaranteed by their acceptance is generally felt throughout the county.

When we condense the products of our soil into fat cattle, fat hogs, and butter and cheese, we are reducing the fruits of our labor to the most profitable degree of refinement; and it is a realization of this fact that is scattering vast herds of cattle over the agricultural districts of this county; and all honor to those who are leading in this good work by expending their means and labor in grading up our horses, cattle, sheep, and swine by the introduction of thoroughbred stock."

From the report of the Commissioner of Statistics, some valuable facts are presented, and as a means of comparison the total crop of the State in the cereals and other articles are given for 1879:

In southern Minnesota, which section suffered great injury by chinch bugs in 1879, the acreage in wheat for 1880 was considerably reduced, especially in Fillmore county. Last year we had 149,882 acres devoted to wheat, while the preceding year occupied 167,198. This year the amount of wheat sown was 107,287 acres, a falling off from last year of 42,595 acres.

In 1879, Fillmore county produced 1,297,965 bushels of oats, or more than any other coimty in the State. The area of this production for 1880 exceeds that of 1879 by 5,085 acres, and 1881 shows an increase over 1880 of 5,678 acres.

Com is also on the increase, and from the present flattering prospects of a large yield this year, its cultivation will undoubtedly increase from year to year. In 1878, only 24.420 acres were planted, while 1880 shows 27,394 acres to have been cultivated, and 1881 booms up to 40,056 acres.

The acreage in barley this year almost doubles that sown in 1880. Then we only had 10,474 acres, while the number of acres devoted to this cereal at the present season is given at 19,478.^'

Genebal Remarks

- Valuation. - By the last biennial report of the State Auditor it is learned that the total value of real property in the county, as equalized by the Stat« board, was $6,767,773. The average value of the land is placed at $12.52 per acre. Total value of taxable personal property, $2,151,- 382. Total taxes levied, $97,136.55.

Exempt Property. - Number of acres exempt, 484. Value of the church property stmctures, $105,500. School property structures, $134,435. Value of all other exempt property, $40,000.

Post-offices. - Alba, Amherst, Arendahl, Boomer, Bratsberg, Bristol, Canfield, Carimona, Chatfield, Cherry Grove, Clear Grit, Elliota, Etna, Fillmore, Forestville, Fountain, Granger, Greenleaf ton, Hamilton, Hurdal, Harmony, Highland, Isinours, Lanesboro, Lenora, Mabel, Newburg, Peterson, Pilot Mound, Preble, Preston, Prosper, Rushford, Scotland, Spring Valley, Washington, Whalan, Watson Creek, Wykoff, making thirtynine Post-offices for the twenty-four towns, so that the mail facilities must be equal to the requirements.

From the last report of the Commissioner of Statistics for the state of Minnesota, the following productions are reported for the county of Fillmore :

These statistics furnish a fair idea of the agricultural resources of the county, for although the county is well settled, but little more than one half is actually under cultivation.

Some Facts About the Cereai>s. - As showing the number of acres in wheat in the county as compared with former years it may be interesting to state that in 1879, 167,198 acres were sown in wheat, and in 1880, the number of acres was reduced to 149,885, or a falling ofif in a single year of 17,313. The yield was only 1,491,937 or 8.92 bushels to the acre, but notwithstanding this falling off in acreage and productiveness, Fillmore county was the second wheat producing county in the State, Goodhue county being the first. The other counties producing over a million bushels were Olmsted, Wabasha, Freeborn, Winona, and Dakota.

The counties in which the production of wheat has decreased are. Brown, Fillmore, Houston, Jacks(m, Nobles, Rock, Watonwan, and Winona. The production in the State, as a rule, is increasing from year to year, in 1868, the total yield was 15,382,022 and in 1875 this had got up to 30,079,- 300, the next year, however, was a bad one for this

Oats - Fillmore county is the largest oat-producing county in the State, putting up over one million bushels, the average yield l)eing over thirty-five bushels to the acre.

Corn. - This county is one of the nine principal corn producing counties of Minnesota. In 1879, the number of acres in com was 24,420, and the yield 909,729, or 37.29 per acre.

In the year 1869, the number of bushels raised in the State was 4,194,965. Ten years afterwards, in 1879, the yield was 12,939,901 which may lie characterized as a healthy increase.

Bakley. - Fillmore is one of the seven counties of the State that furnishes over 100,000 bushels a year, and in 1879, 6,180 acres were sown and 140,002 bushels, or 22.65 i)er acre raised. The whole crop in the State was 2,423,932 bushels.

Seed Time in Fillmore County. - There may be some curiosity to learn the seed time in the county, and from a memorandum kept by a careful farmer, we gather the following facts spread over a little more than ten years time.

1865. On the first of May the ground was white with snow, and the seed was put in after that. Frost appeared on the 15th of Septeml^er, but the corn crop was quite good.

1867. Sleighing disappeared in February, and during that month there was considerable thunder and lightning, good sleighing in March, snow on the ground on the 21st of April, no seeding was done until well into May. Com was planted ou the 24th. It was a cold and backward spring and a wet summer, but good crops.

Amber Sugar Cane

1871. Began seeding on the 5th of April, on the 2l8t it froze hard and snowed. The seeding: was finished about the 28th. Early in the season it was wet, later it was dry, and there was a light crop.

1874. CJommenced seeding on the 9fch of April, but it froze every night until the 18th, and there was snow on the 20th tind 27th. The seeding was not imished till the 5th of May.

1875. The month of March was cold, and on the Ist of April there was snow. Began to sow on th 19th, but the ground froze up and so remained for a week. On the 2d of May it again froze up hard. It can thus be seen that there is no fixity as to seed time or harvest here.

It is a thoroughly established fact that syrup and sugar can be successfully made in Minnesota from the early amber cane which grows to perfection in all parts of the State. It is reasonable to believe that this industry is in its earliest infancy, and that at no distant time, the great bulk of the sugar now imported in such enormous quantities will be made at home, and, although such arguments have little effect upon individual action, yet it may not be devoid of general interest to know that the amount of sugar unported requires an equivalent in gold of more than $100,000,000, or one-sixth of all the circulating medium in the country.

Without doubt, the cultivation of the early amt)er cane in the northern States can supply a large part of this demand, and Minnesota could supply the home demand and leave a surplus for exportation. Such a change would certainly lessen the liability for hard times, and if commercial panics must come, the intervals between their coming would be lengthened, ?is, with this great draft upon us, the difficulties of keeping the balance of trade on our side would be very materially decreased.

The great reason, however, why the farmers of Minnesota should make amber cane a part of every crop, is because it is in their pecuniary interest; if properly cultivated, and the business conducted with the skill usually displayed by the average farmer of the State, it will certainly be remunerative.

In Louisiana, and other sugar making communities, the old methods effectually excluded the small farmers from entering into the business at all, even in a small way, for every planter had to have his own sugar houses, with costly machinery, and expenses of engineer and of operating on a large scale. But even there this system is giving way to tlie modem idea of a subdivision of lal>or, and the result is that common mills are being established, with all the facilities for the manufacture of the juice of the cane for the whole neighborhood, so that the planter can cultivate his crop without the trouble and expense of procuring machinery and buildings, with skilled labor to work it up.

This is evidently the course for the farmers of Minnesota, and every neighborhood should have its sugar mill, with grinding facilities, and evaporating pans sufficient to do the work before the frost arrives.

History op thb Early Amber. - In 1859, when Minnesota, as a State, was only a year old, at the time when the cultivation of the Chinese sugar cane, Imphee, or Sorghum as it was called, was exciting attention throughout the country, Mr. E. Y. Teas, of Indiana, being in Paris, bought a few pounds of the seed, of a well known firm, merely asking for the best. This was taken home and planted in the county where he lived, on a fourth of an acre, and there was a single stalk, unlike the others, which ripened its seed by the time the rest were in bloom. The seed from this exceptional plant was carefully preserved, and the product the next year also ripened earlier than any other. The syrup was found to be far superior, and on account of the color, it being unlike the dark product of other known varieties, it was called Amber Cane.

fine lot of seed. There it was found to flourish, and was subsequently brought back to Wayce county, Indiana, and carefully grown by Mr. Conley, who widely disseminated the seed. It is not known whether this, stray seed was an accidental one from some known variety in the old world, or a new kind just springing into existence; but, at all events, its history, since Mr. Teas had the genius to preserve it^ is certainly a happy exemplification of the survival of the fittest.

Method of Cultivation. - Although many of our readers are well acquainted with the whole business of making syrup and sugar from the amber cane, from the seed to the moment of leaving the granulating process, yet, for the benefit of those who have not given the subject deserved attention^ a few observations will be made in this regard.

Minnesota soil, by its every appearance, is well adapted to the raising of any sugar plant. The only question, then, regards the climate, and that is overcome by the introduction of the early amber cane. This seed should be planted as early as possible, not allowing one day of needless delay. This will ripen the cane in the latter part of August, before danger of frost. However slightly frost touches the cane, it will be damaged, especially in its crystallizing properties.

When cut, the cane should be piled in sheds for protection which sheds should be built near the mill. The cane piles should not be more than six feet high, to insure against heating. Space around and between the piles should be left for a free circulation of the air. Small quantities of cane could be covered with straw, always removing the straw during the day. The planting of " cane is of no more expense than that of com, and only a small additional expense in cultivation may be taken into account.

An acre of land will readily produce eleven tons of cane, and a ton of cane will give from eightyfive to ninety -five gallons of juice, by the use of a six-horse power mill.

The juice contains 16 per cent solid matter, thirteen parts of which are crystallizable sugar, the remaining three parts being invert sugar and organic matter. An acre of cane will safely produce from 130 to 150 gallons of syrup of 80 per cent, density.

ten to eleven feet tall, and each etalk, stripped and headed, weighs from two to three pounds. A man can with ease cut two acres a day. Two boys, using each a common lath, can strip an acre per day. A team can haul it up at the same time.

The cane should be cut before any frost touches it, although a slight frost afiecting the leaveri^only will not injure the juice, provided the cane is then promptly cut.

The best way to harvest it is to place it in winrows. Let two men start in, taking two rows each; make a winrow in the middle of the four rows, by laying down each hill as it is cut, with the butts in front, and the tops pointing back, laying each hill like shingles on a roof. Keep right on in this way, and you will have the cane in a condition to withstand rain and an ordinary early frost The cane can be cut from the time of the immature to the ripe seed, but the riper it becomes the sweeter the juice.

When you are ready to haul to the mill, begin, at the butt end of the row, and cut off the seed heads, throwing two rows together, then drive between the empty rows and load up by taking out both end boards, laying a tier at both ends with the butts outside.

Without doubt, in the cultivation and handling of this crop there will be many improvements, and new machinery, which, of course, will succeed or be rejected on its merits.

The Manufaoture. - For a mill grinding two acres in twenty-four hours, will be required three men and a horse, besides two or three boilers.

From the mill the juice should pass into large settling vata, where impurities are taken from it. From here the juice passes into the large classification pans, where the necessary chemicals for purifying can be applied. When well heated and skimmed, the juice passes into the evaporating pan, from which, if it is desirable to make sugar, it is turned into wooden coolers for crystallization* When crystallized, the sugar can be separated from the syrup, either with a centrifugal machine,^ or by drainage.

The outfit for a six horse power mill, grinding about three acres per day, is two or three classification pans, about 12x4 feet, and eight inches deep, and one evaporator for finishing. Another filtering of the juice, as it passes from the classification pans to the finishing evaporator, is of great advantage. Skimmings can be made use of

Out of the 140 to 150 gallons of syrup per acre, there can be made, by using proper machinery, 1,000 pounds of sugar, and what is left, about sixty gallons, will be a fine article of molasses.

The manufacture is, however, recommended to be in the hands of experts, as it can be made at so much a gallon or pound with satisfactory results. As to the amount of syrup to the acre, some of the men who have developed this industry, claim that 160 gallons an acre can be readily secured The syrup weighs about twelve pounds to the gallon, and from this seven pounds of sugar ought to be made, and from these figures the value of the crop can be estimated, the worth of syrup and sugar being known. It should be remembered that after the sugar granulates, there are still several pounds of syrup to each gallon, whis is good molasses.

The early history of the successful oultivation of amber cane in Minnesota is most interesting. Soon after the war of 1861, Seth H. Kenny, of Morristown, and Charles F. Miller, of Dundas, Bice county, who were at the time strangers to each other, twenty miles apart, began experimenting and wrestling with the problem, as to whether molasses could be made from the Chinese sugar cane. Their efforts, although at first exciting the mournful pity of their neighbors, were at last crowned with success. One of them chanced upon the seed of the 'early amber, already mentioned, and sending some of it to a careful friend in Missouri, had a crop of seed raised from it there, and and from this beginning has resulted a new industry for the state of Minnesota.

The St. Paul Chamber of Commerce, in the spring of 1877, invited these gentlemen to exhibit their specimens to that body, and from that hour, the attention of the people of the Northwest having been called to the subject, the success of sugar making in this northern latitude was assured.

The analyses above given were made on the grounds, and under some unfavorable circumstances, but show to a dead certainty the enormous value of the cultivation of early am1)er sugar cane in Minnesota.

To show the most discouraging side of the amber cane question, an article from a Wisconsin paper is here printed, which, notwithstanding its facetiousness, contains valuable hints.

The Cadott, Chippewa county, Record, says: "The amber cane fever, which has been raging for some years further south, has at last reached this way- up north region. It is a fever that has its intermittent features, and may be profitable or not, according to circumstances. If the soil is just right it will grow and thrive, but if too cold, heavy, or wet, it will fail. If the seed is perfectly fresh and good, it will come up if planted a half inch deep, but if covered up an inch or more, the crop will be a hill here and a hill there, and the same will be the case if the weather is unfavorable. Then, when up four inches, it is the most discouraging crop known, for it won't grow an inch in four or six weeks - it is just getting ready to grow; but the weeds are not getting ready, or waiting, they are attending to business, and so must the farmer, or he is gone again. When it does get started growing, the celebrated beanstalk is nowhere, it * shoots'* for a fact. When it has attained its growth, the farmer waits with the greatest impatience for it to ripen, and puts oflf the cutting from day to day to give it all the chance he can, until some morning he finds the whole of it frozen, and gone to the shades. If he succeeds in getting it cut, and down to the mill, then if it does not sour, and the manufacturer gets just the right lK)il on it, accidentally, he will have good syrup - good enough for a congressman. If any one of all these conditions fail, then this crop is a dead loss. The light lands of this county are just the thing for the crop if quality is what is wanted.

But tbe growers l)etter try a half acre first, and after they have sucoeeded in growing that amount successfully it will be sensible to try more, but the man who tries ten acres or forty acres is beside himself. There are just about t«n chances in a hundred that the beginner in this section will grow a crop successfully. Try it, but go slow. No better syrup is made than from the amber cane, when well made from good cane."

This is one of the prominent counties that produces syrup, and the last statistical report gave 216 as the number of acres planted, and 25,757 gallons of sprup, an average of 119.24 per acre. In 1880, 473 acres were put in.