Freeborn County, Minnesota - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 34 of those read), 1882 (part 1 of 2)

Centennial History

The centenial history of the county is printed entire on account of the intrinsic value of the material it contains and because it is in itself a historical document. Without doubt there are some recapitulations of events in the part of the work recently compiled, and it is possible there may be discrepancy, as there always is between eye witnesses of any event, even when under oath in a court of justice. In the lists of county officers, they all are extended to the present time, to prevent repetition, otherwise the article is intact.

At Ths Celebration In Albert Lea, July 4

Mr. Prexident and Fellow Citkena of Fret-born County: - A recommendation having been adopted by Congress, that the people make this Cen - tenial Anniversary one of historic interest, the committee to whom was referred the general management of your local celebration, have extended to me the very flattering compliment of entrusting to my hands the delicate duty of compiling a brief record of Freeborn county. While appreciating the courtesy, and feeling grateful for the confidence thus reposed, I enter upon the work with hesitancy, fully conscious of the responsibility which it entails, and not unmindful of the criticism which the historian is likely to provoke.

The task is the more embarrassing from the fact that all history is dry, and he who looks for flower of romance or the poetry of song in the musty volumes of public records, has read history to no purpose.

Nevertheless, it is fitting and proper that the 100th anniversary of our National Independence should be invested with marks of special recognition, to the end that the people may retrospect the past; post their growth and doings to the present, and so, like a reckoning upon the broad sea of life, take from this a new departure.

Early Explorations

Until the year 1835, the region now embracing Freeborn county, was comparatively unknown. In the summer of that year, the Government fitted out an exploring party, consisting of 164 men, under the command of Lieut. Albert Miller Lea, with instructions to make a triangular march, from Fort Des Moines, northwest to Lake Pepin, thence southwesterly to the Des Moines river, thence following the stream southward to the place of departure. On the 31st of July, of that year, Lieut. Lea crossed the Turtle River, at Mos-

On this maroli he encamped for the night in Hayward, rested bis command the next afternoon on the east bank of what is known as White's Lake, and made copious notes of the conntry along the entire route.

The solitude of this untrodden waste, impressed itself upon him. Sparkling liikes encircled by gently sloping woodlands, suggested the romance of nature. Smooth prairies, interspersed with shady groves, rich with the melody of feathered songsters, was a charm to his poetic spirit. Ever has he referred to this lo.'ality, as one of the most beautiful he has ever witnessed. Afterwards one Nicollet mapped out this section of country, using Lt. Lea's notes freely, and in the acknowledgement of the favor, gave the name of that brilliant officer to one of these Elysian gems.

We can learn of no other white man visiting these parts, until 18-tl, when Henry j\l. Rice, conconducting a party of trappers, encamped upon the shores of these enchanting waters, spending here a pjrt of four consecutive years, in a life of daring bravery, startling adventures, and rude associations. That this was then, as now, Ihe paradise of the sportsman, is attested by Mr. K., who affirms that in the summer of 1842 he saw over 300 elk in one day, while making his peregrinations around these lakes, and that in 1843 he killed two of these Heet-footed animals, one morning before breakfast.

This tract of country was embraced within a neutral strip of territory, lying between two hostile bands of Indians, and was frequently made the scalping ground of both; nor were they particular as to whose hair was lifted, provided they could exhibit some trophy of their savage propensity. Mr. Rice speaks of many a liair-breadth escape on the part of himself and company, during his hazardous adventures in this wild and unfrequented region.

Terbitorial Action

By an act of the Territorial Legislature approved February 2()th, 1855, the county limits were designated by boundary lines, and the name chosen. It covers a territory of 30 miles from east to west, and 24 from north to south, embracing 20 townships, 13 lakes, more or less important, and a tillable area of about 40(i,0()0 acres. A reasonably temperate climate, and an unsurpassed richness of soil, combine to make it one of the most productive regions on the inhabitable globe.

By a subsequent act of the same year, the county was attached to Dodge and Goodhue for Legislative purposes, which constituted the Fourth Council District.

According to the Land Office abstracts, the first entry of land was made in January 1855, by Nelson Everest, and thirty-four of the first conveyances, by deed, were recorded in Dodge county, between April '56 and March '57, thoi'gh I find nothing in the general laws to indicate by what authority this was done. In February of 1859, however, these records were transcribed and brought home to their own county.

Political Histoby

Although the county limits were defined at so early a date; it had no political organization until March, 1857, when the Territorial Legislature made provision for its independent government, authorizing (tov. (Jorman to carry the act into ellect, which he did by appointing E. C. Stacy, S. N. Erisbie, and Wm. Andrews, as temporary Commissioners.

It may be here stated that the county was organized into one general election precinct, by authority of the State Department, in the fall previous, and forty-four votes polled in the election of that year; the same being held at the house o Wm. Andrews, in Shell Rock.

These appointments took effect on the 20th of the same month, except that of Fitzsimmons, who received his authority afterwards. In April following, Wm Morin was appointed Register of Deeds in place of Mr. Thompson, who declined to qualify. The Coroner's office also went begging, and was tendered in succession to Geo. Watson and C.

At tbe April session, the Commissioners authorized the clerk to procure all necessary books and the Surveyor's field notes of the'public surveys; but as there were no taxes assessed, or other public revenue to draw upon, we have yet to learn which one of these generous officers donated the money. It is fair to presume that neither of them were in a hurry to lay his purse upon the public altar, for we find that the minutes of the Board were long kept upon sheets of foolscap, stitched together, and that field notes were not obtained until years afterward. It may also be presumed that the Commissioners felt the weight of their great responsibility, for it appears that no less than seven sessions were held between March, 1857, and November of the same year.

I do not refer to this sluringly. Everything was in a chaotic state, out of which they were expected to bring regularity and order. There were assessments to be made, districts to organize, towns to officer, precincts to form, roads to survey^in short, everything to be done, and the obligation resting upon themselves. Between the various meetings of the Board, during the spring and summer of 1857, there were eleven voting precincts organized and the judges duly appointed.

1857, at which 646 votes were polled in the county, and the following officers chosen: Register of Deeds, Wm. Morin; Treasurer, Henry King; Sheriff, J. W. Heath; Probate Judge, A. W. White; Clerk of Court, E. P. Skinner; Surveyor, H. D. Brown; Coroner, A. M. Burnham; Commissioners, S. N. Frisbie, Joseph Rickard, Peter Clauson..

The Legislature of 1857-58 changed the County Governments, and provided for what is known as the Supervisor system, by which each organized town was represented on the County Board, through its chairman. Several of the towns in this county being either unorganized or attached to others for township purposes, necessarily limited the representation, so that the first Board under the Supervisor system, which met in June,

The Supervisor system continued tmtil the winter of 1860, when its complicated and expensive character induced a return to the Commissioner plan, and in June following, the Board elected under this law, consisting of Wm. N. Goslee, G. W. Skinner, and Asa Walker, met and organized with the latter as Chairman.

From that time until 1860 the office was not known to the law, it having lioen abolished by the adoption of the State Constitution, and a District Prosecuting Attorney substituted, which office was held by Mr. Perkins, of Faribault .

In 1860, the office having again been provided for, J. U. Perry held, by appointment, from March until December of that year. D. (t. Parker, from December, 1860 to December, 1862 ; A. Armstrong, from 1862 to 1865 ; H. B. Collins, from 1865 to 1869 ; J. A. Lovely, from 1869 to 1873; A. G. Wedge, from 1873 to the election of John A. Lovely, who is the present incnmbent.

Court Commissioner. - A. W. White held this in connection with the Probate office, from August, 1858 to 1861; J. M. Drake, from 1861 to 1862; Samuel Eaton, from 1862 to 1874; B. H. Carter, from 1874 to 1876; R. B. Spicer, from January, 1876 to 1878; then .John Anderson, and now Herman Blaekmer.

CoKONEK. - C. S. Tarbell, from April, 1857 to 1858. At the general election of 1857, Dr. A. M. Buruham was chosen to this office, but he did not qualify, and it stood vacant for a ])eriod of ten years. Geo. S. Ruble was elected in 1861, but did not serve; Samuel Eaton, from 1868 to 1872; W. W. Cargill, from 1872 to 1874; N. H. Ellickson, from 1874 to 1876; Dr. John Froshaug, from 1876 to the present time.

School Superintendent. - Up to July, 1865, no well defined management of schools existed. In speculating upon the best system, the Legislature created first a town Superintendcy, then an Examiner for each Commissioner district, and lastly the present plan of one general Superintendent for each county. Under this, S. Baichelder was appointed July, 1865, and served until 1869. E. C. Stacy, from 1869 to 1870; H. Thurston, from 1870 to the election of Charles W. Levens, the present official.

Colby was elected to this office in the fall of 1859, and for the two subsequent terms, holding until 1865. From this time nobody seems to have aspired to the place until the fall of 1867, when Levi Pierce was invested with that honor and held until 1872. W. G. Kellar, from 1872 to 1874; H. C. Lacy, from 1874 to 1876; W. G. Kellar, from 1876 to to the present time.

Passing from our county politics, I will next refer to our legislative representation and the various changes of district boundary. Your attention has already been called to the connection of our county under the Territorial Government, and it is unnecessary to refer to it again.

In the early part of 1857, Congress passed an act authorizing the people to form a State Constitution, and in .July a convention was held at Mautorville, to nominate delegates to the district and to agree upon a division of them among the three counties. From some cause, Freeborn was not repre.sented in that convention, and the other two magnanimously awarded to her one out of the six delegates to be elected; but ever true to her local interest, she threw off on Dodge, defeating Isaac Turtlott, of that county, thereby securing two representiitives in the constitutional convention, viz : Geo. Watson and E. C. Stacy.

By the provision of the Constitution that year adopted, our representative boundary was changed, an<l we became attached to Faribault county, the two being known as the Fourteenth Senatorial District, entitled to one Senator and three Representatives, and of these Freeborn elected the Senator, Dr. Watson, and one Representative, A. H. Bartlett, as the first delegation under this apportionment.

In 1860, another change was made, connecting the county with Steele and Waseca, entitled the Sixteenth Senatorial District, which was awarded one Senator and two Representatives. Under this apportionment, Geo. Watson was sent to the Senate while J. E. Child, of Waseca, and W. F. Pettit, of Steele, were honored with seats in the House, as the first Representatives.

In 1871, the representation of the State was enlarged, Freeborn county made an independent district numbered Five, and awarded one Senator and two Representatives, which still continues to be the status of the county.

Senators. - Dr. Geo. Watson, from 1858 to 1862; A. B. Webber, from 1862 to 1863; M. A. Daley, of Steele, from 1863 to 1864. This latter filling the vacancy occasioned by Mr. Wabber's enlistment in the army, as a commissary officer. F. J. Stevens, of Steele, from 1864 to 1865; B. A. Lowell, of Waseca, from 1865 to 1867; Aug. Armstrong, from 1867 to 1869; J. B. Crocker, of Steele, from 1869 to 1871; W. C. Young, of Waseca, from 1871 to 1872; H. D. Brown, from 1872 to 1873; T. G. Jonsrud, from 1873 to 1875; T. H. Armstrong, from 1875 to the pre.sent time. It will be noticed that a number of these served only one year, which is accounted for by entries into the Government service during the war, or by vacancies occasioned through a change of district. I give the names of the Senators of the counties with which we have been connected, because we had an equal interest in their representation, and therefore the record would not be complete without them.

Repre.sentatives. - A. H. Bartlett, from 1858 to 1859; T. H. Purdie, from 1859 to 1860; A. B. Webber, from 1860 to 1861. It may be remarked that Mr. Webber's election was a bestowment of cheap honor, <ts there was no session of the Legislature during his term. J. E. Child, of Waseca, and F. W. Pettit, of Steele, from 1861 to 1862; H. C. Magoon, of Steele, and P. 0. Bailey, of Waseca, from 1862 to 1863; Asa Walker, from 1863 to 1864; J. L. Gibbs, from 1864 to 1866; Aug. Armstrong, from 1866 to 1867; J. E. Smith, from 1867 to 1869; Aug. Armstrong, from 1869 to 1870; A. C. Wedge, from 1870 to 1872; E. D. Rogers and Wm. Wilson, from 1872 to 1873; J. W. Devereaux and E. D. Rogers; from 1873 to 1874; Even Morgan and Warren Buel, from 1874 to 1875; H. Tuuell and R. Fitzgerald, from 1875 to 1876; H. Tunell and J. L. Gibbs ,from 1876 to the present time. This covers substantially our political history. We might revive the memory of some stormy conventions, but that won Id be productive of no good, and the animosities there engendered may well be allowed to die with tbe issues which inspired them.

Five Million Loan

We would not be doing justice to our people, did we not refer to their noble act in unitedly opposing what was known as the Five Million Loan

Bill, under which the State, in 1858, unwisely pledged its credit to the railroad companies, and entailed a debt which, just or unjust, threatens a burdensome taxation, or the stigma of repudiation. To the credit of Freeborn county, be it said that she saw the danger, and opposed the measure by a negative vote of 455 to 18.

We have yet to learn what became of those eiyldven. If, iudeed, they .still survive, there are none among them who now refer with any degree of pride to that ill conceived ballot, and long before this would gladly have obliterated the record.

Oodnty Seat Contests

The act of March, 1857, organizing the county, authorized the commissioners appointed by the Governor, to select a temporary county seat until the (juestion should be determined by a vote of the people. Under this autliority, the Board, on the second day of its session, March 4th, 1857, called up the question, and Mr. Frisbie moved to make Bancroft the seat of honor. Mr. Stacy proposed an amendment striking out Bancroft and inserting St. Nicholas ; lost. He then moved to insert Geneva, which was also defeated. Mr. Andrews then moved to insert Albert Lea in place of Bancroft, and this carried unanimously. In this, we are free to say that we think the Commissioners acted wisely and well; but it will always remain a mystery, what inspiring light concentrated them so suddenly upon a point which seems to have escaped their notice in the first instance.

On the 19th of May following, a special session of the Legislature passed an act incorporating Bancroft, and a proviso was sandwiched into the bill making that town the county seat. The bill passed in this shape, apparently without being understood by a majority of those who voted for it; for it appears that the members having leen apprised of what they had done, recalled their their votes and expunged the objectionable proviso on the same day.

At the general election in October of that year the question was submitted to the people. Four towns entered the contest, viz: Shell Rock, Bancroft, St. Nicholas, and Albert Lea, which resulted in favor of tbe later, by a majority of 165 over all, on a total vote of 642.

County Board, asking for another vote. A. S. Everest a})peareil for tlie petitioners, and Aug. Armstrong opposed tlieir prayer. The decision was postponed until the 22(1 of October, at which meeting the petition was granted, and a vote of the people followed. Itasca alone entered the arena with .\lbert Lea, resulting again in favor of the latter, by 198 majority, on a total vote of 770.

Judicial Record

Under the Territoj-ial Crovernniout,, Freeborn county, with fifteen others, constituted the Third Judicial District, and Judge Flandreau, after appointing Aug. Armstrong clerk, which he did in the summer of 1857, advertised to hold court at Albert Lea in October following; but as there was no business at that time, the announcement was only formal, and no court was in fact called.

By the constitution of 1857, the di.><trict was changed in form and size, so that Freeborn, with eight other counties, became the Fifth Judicial District, and Hon. N. M. Donaldson, of Owatonna, was elected in the fall of that year, presiding Judge. In the fall of 1871, the Hon. Samuel Lord, of Mantorville, was elected Judge in place of Donaldson, but his association with our people was of short duration, for in 1872 the Legislature created a new district called the Tenth, composed of Freeborn and all the counties in the southern tier, east of it. Over this District, Hon. Sherman Page, of Austin, was called to preside, and then J. Q. Farmer, who still holds that position.

Among the important cases disposed of, was that of Henry Kregler, who was charged with the murder of Nelson Boughton, near the State line, in September, 1859, and tried in Steele county, under change of venue, in January, 1801. He was convicted, brought back to this county and executed at Albert Lea, in March following, being about one and a ludf years after the otfense was committed.

No county in the State, if indeed in the country, has displayed a greater loyalty, or a truer patriotism. In the first year of its organization, when settlement was in disorder, weakness, and poverty, the people, though few in number, did not forget the noble example of their ancestry, and on the first return of this Anniversary of their Nati.)nal holiday, the 4th of July, 1857. they assembled entmisse, at Shell Bock, to celebrate this time-honored event. At that celebration, Samuel Batchelder delivered the address, being tlie first oration ever made in the county. From that year to the present, nearly every return of the day has been marked by some appropriate honor.

At the first call for troops when war broke out, men left thenr farms, their shops, their stores, and their offices, to engage in the defense of their common country, leaving scarcely any but old men and boys to care for and defend their homes against the Indian outbreak, which threatened the entire State.

Two companies, made up almost entirely from this county, constituted some of the best fighting stock of the -ith and 5th Regiments of Infantry, while the third, in their zeal to get into service, accepted the first opening and joined a Wisconsin brigade.

Other detachments of men connected themselves with commands in this, or in other States, as duty dictated or fancy led them. Although this scattering of individuals or squads renders it difficult to determine the number exactly, a reasonably correct approximation will fix it aluiut 400 persons, which, as an act of patriotism, to fully appreciate, it is necessary to bear in mind our sparse settlement and limited population.

To place the matter in a still clearer light, it is only necessary to state that the quota assigned to the ecuinty at the last call for troops by the -Adjutant General in 1864, was 273, and that we had already furnished -and received credit for 292, being an excess over all demands upon us, of 19 men, besides an estimate of 100 who are known to have gone into commands of other States, for which the enlistment officers gave us no credit. I submit that a fairer or more creditable record cannot -be produced by any county, sharing the fortunes of the late war. Nor were the ladies less true to the interests of their country. On every occasion which presented itself, they encouraged enlistments, and cheered their brothers on to the conflict. The silken banner carried by company F, of the 4th Eegiment throughnut tlieir hmg and faitliful services, upon which is inscribed the memorable name of manv a bloody battle field, was presented by these noble women, as the a])- propriate offering of anxious and sympathizing mothers, wives, and sisters, and will ever be sacredly preserved and treasured as a lasting memorial of their patriotic devotion.

Schools And Ch0Rohbs

This county has shared its full benefit of the liberal public provision made for fostering the common school system. Nor have the people been less enterprising in their etforts to encourage public education. In fact, the greater part of our taxation has been for the erection of new schoolhouses, and the employment of qualified teachers. In 1858 there were but two schoolhouses of any character in the county. There are now 100 districts, 74 of which can boast of fine frame or brick houses, whOe in nearly all, the buildings are good and substantial. In Albert Lea there is a graded school which ranks among the best in the State, while a seminary of learning at this place and at Alden are also mantained a part of the time by private contributions. In addition to this, there is a charter which was early granted by the Legislature, creating a College Board at Albert Lea, and which will doubtless be revived in due time. The first enumeration was made in January, 1858, and showed a total of 222 scholars. The last, taken in the fall of 1875, gives 5,136, being an increase, in 17 years, of 4,914, or at the rate of about eight per cent, per annum.

The churches are well represented and liberally sustained, nearly every town in the county having one or more organizations for public worship. These societies do a creditable mission work, and sustain 23 Sabbath Schools through the summer months, while about half of them are continued the year through.

Secret Societies

A Masonic Lodge, nearly as old as the county, is established at Albert Lea, which enjoys a membership in good standing of 74 persons. Growing out of this is a Royal Arch Chapter of 15 members.

The history of our newspaper interest is a checkered one, and has ofteu been referred to. Of the five that have had an existence, two, the first and tlie last, remain, apparently well supported, and otfer their weekly budgets to an appreciative public.

Taxation

The third was composed of Hayward, Shell Rock, Freeman, Pickerel Lake, Nunda, Alden, Mansfield, and Albert Lea, with Walter Scott, as assessor.

In July following these officers completed and returned their rolls, the aggregate of which footed up, $212,088. Spon this was levied a tax for school, county, and Territorial purposes of $4,449, or 20^ mills on each dollar valuation.

A year or two after that, each organized town became a district, and has steadily shown an increase of wealth. The last assessment reported, that of 1875, aggregated a valuation, of .f .3,183,822, with a tax for all purposes of $65,602, showing an increase of property at the rate of about 16 per cent, per annum, and a marked decrease in the rate of taxation, when we consider that railroads, bridges, and other matters, have increased the objects for which we are taxed.

In 1859, the Southern Minnesota railroad was built through the county, in a westerly direction, touching the towns of Moscow, Oakland, Hayward, Albert Lea, Pickerel Lake, Alden, and Carlston, and establishing, theu and subsequently, four stations, viz; Oakland, Hayward, Albert Lea, and Alden. This enterprise has had a marked influence upon the property and growth of the county, and while its management has been generally satisfactory to our people, that of the present period is so in the highest degree.

is designed to connect Minneapolis with St. Louis, and when bniJt will touch Shell Rook. Albert Lea, Manchester, and Hartland. Still a third company, under the auspices of the Central Railroad of Minnesota, acting in connection with the Burlington & Cedar Rapids Line, have already graded from Albert Lea to a point near the State line, and it is only a question of time, when the iron will be laid thereon.

Commerce

The first three years of settlement, say from 18.57 to ISGO, was an era of importation of food, and marked the most trying times. From 1860 to the close of the war, little, if anything was raised beyond home needs ; so that really the last ten years cover the period of prosperity. How rapidly that has been, is seen in the reports of last year, which show that, in addition to feeding our population, we exported 1,099,986 bushels of wheat, besides a fair pioportion of other products. The freight reports of our station agents show that these exportations are increasing at the rate of about 20 per cent, per annum.

The richness of this, as a grazing county, was early recognized and is now duly appreciated. The area and luxuriance of our nutritious grasses have encouraged our people to deversify their industry, and to make stock growing not only one of the leading, but a very profitable branch. A number of buyers make this a purchasing point, and thousands of cattle are driven to the Chicago and other markets spring and fall. Nor do our people show less sagacity in the improvement of of quality, many of the growers already dealing in none but the finest strains of blood,

Wool is becoming a highly important article of export, while in the matter of dairying, some estimate may be formed of its value from the fact that one shipper, at Albert Lea, alone sends off about 200,000 pounds of butter per annum.

Population

A census of the county taken in November, 1857, showed the population to be 2,486. That of 1875, the last whcih has been taken, aggregates our population at 13,171, showing a gain of about 47 per cent, in every five years.

We have spent too much time in reviewing matters pertaining to the county at large, to justify a critical examination of township organization and early settlement. The record, however, incomplete at best, could not be satisfactorily closed, without presenting a few of the prominent facts connected with their history.

At the .Tanuary session of the County Board, in 1858, London, Moscow, Newry, Carlston, Riceland, Bath, and Manchester, were organized, though most of them under other names. Whether any official action was ever taken in regard to Albert Lea, Nunda, Shell Rock, and Geneva, is not clear, but it seems that their political status as towns was recognized even previous to this, and their representatives occupied prominent places in the councils of the County Board. Various changes were made, and towns organized from this time until January, 1866, when the last one, Mansfield, assumed an independent government.

London was onganized under the name of Asher, thus conferring an honor upon one of her citizens of that name, now deceased. In June, 1858, the town was attached to Shell Rock for township piirposes. In October following, it again assumed an independent organizBtion, and changed its name to London, The first election was held at the house of H. B. Riggs.

Shell Rock occupies a high post of honor in many of the events of our early settlement. One of the first Commissioners, Wm. Andrews, was appointed from this town, and he became the first chairman of the County Board. It was here that the first schoolhouse was erected, June, 1857, in the district now known as 49. The building was a frame, also the first of the kind put up. Although the records do not support it, it is nevertheless believed that the first title to land was acquired in this town, by Clark Andrews, which occurred November 3, 1855. We have already mentioned the fact that here the first patriotic demonstration was made, as early as 1857, and we may add, that here also, the first suit was tried, being a case of one Boulton against C. T. Knapp, before justice Andrews, in the spring of 1857, in which A. H. Bartlett appeared as attorney for both parties, and, as he admits, was beaten at last.

of the first election, November 4tli, 1850, when the whole county constituted b\it one precinct, and 44 votes indicated nearly the total strength of our adult male population. George Gardner, William and Madison Eice, and Gardner Cottrell, were the first settlers and date their entry on the 9th of June, 1855.

Fre3m:in, after its organization, was divided; the east half being attached to Shell Rock, and the west half to Nuuda, for townshij) purposes. It was named in honor of the Freeman family, who were the first to move into the central portion of the town. In December, 1860, it was granted a separate organization, and the name changed to Green, but it nevertheless continued to be called by its first title and has ever been known as Freeman. This town is supposed to have received the first settler of the county, in the person of Ole Olenhouse, as early as the summer of 1854, who, also, is claimed to have erected the first house, in the same season.

Nunda was first known as Bear Lake, but was afterwards changed at the suggestion of Patrick Fitzsimmons, who was anxious to honor a favorite town in McHenry county, 111. This town is watered by three important lakes. Tlie first settler was Anthony Bright, who made his claim in the spring of 1856.

Twin Lake village, in the northern part, is a thriving town, having a mill, store, Post-office, hotel, etc. It was surveyed iuto lots as early as 1857. The long legal controversy between Wm. Banning and a Mr. Forbes, growing out of claims of each upon the millsite, will long be remembered by some of the old settlers.

Mansfield was early attached to Nunda for township purposes, and was the last in the county to ask for a separate organization. Its name was suggested by Geo. S. Kuble, now of Chattanooga, Tenn. John and Henry Tuuell entered upon their claims in June, 1856, and were the first settlers.

Oakland was divided in Jan., 1858, and the north half attached to Moscow, while the south half was assigned to Loudon for township purposes. In June following, when London became attached to Shell Rock, the County Board ordered that the whole of Oakland be attached to Moscow, then known as Guildford. In September, 1858, the town was granted an independent orgauiza-

Hayward, so called in compliment to one of her citizens of that name, was, in January, 1858, divided into three parts. Tlie northeast quarter of the town being assigned to Riceland, then known as Beardsley; the northwest to Albert Lea, and tlie south half to Shell Rock. In September following, the town was granted a separate organization. At a subsequent session of the County Board, the name was changed to Douglass, in honor of the distinguished Illinois Senator, of that period. At the same meeting the southern tier of sections was set off to Shell Rock for township purpo.ses.

In September, 1859, these sections were set back to the control of the town, and the name again changed from Douglass to Hayward. The first settler was Wm. Andrews, who located in the suminer of 1855, but afterwards moved across the line into Shell Rock.

Albert Lea is the shire and central town. It is located between two picturesque lakes, and was named in honor of the distinguished explorer previousl-y mentioned. It was first settled in July, 1855, by Lorenzo Merry, who took the first claim, did the first breaking, erected the first house, and opened the first hotel. St. Nicholas, in the southern part of the town, was at one time a village of considerable importance, and aspired to the county teat. Nothing now remains of the village, and the land has been converted into a stock farm.

The report of the Southern Minnesota Railroad Company for 1875, shows that the revenue of this station, as well as the amount of freight received and forwarded, is largely in excess of any other town upon the entire line of the road.

Pickerel Lake was attached to Albert Lea for township purposes, in 1858. In the following year, it was voted a separate organization. In October, 1860, it was attached to Manchester for election purposes, but afterwards became a part of Albert Lea, and remained so until September, 1865, when the citizens petitioned for an independent government, which was granted. The name of the fine lake within its borders, first suggested that of the town. Charles and William iWilder and A. D. Pinkerton located in the summer of 1855, and were the first settlers.

ship purposes, in Jan. 1858, but in October, 1860, it was detached, and miide a part of Oarlston. In September following a singular entry appears upon the record, showing that the Board granted a petition to detach Alden from Albert Lea, and attach it to Oarlston. How it became separated from Oarlston, after its connection of the previous year, or how it became part of Albert Lea, with Pickerel Lake intervening, the record is silent. In the ab.sence of furtlier light, we presume it to be an error. In March, 1866, the town was granted a separate organization.

The village of Alden is located upon the Southern Minnesota Railroad, ten miles west of Albert Lea, and is second in size in the county. The station reports show, also, that it is second in importance in the receipt and shipment of freights.

Moscow is one of the towns of distinguished prominence in the settlement, organization, and early political history of the county. S. N. Frisbie was one of the three first Oommissioners. Dr. Watson, also a citizen of this town, was not only one of the delegates to the Oonstitutioual Convention in 1857, but enjoyed the honor of a seat in the State Senate for the first three terms. The Rev. S. G. Lowry, also of this town, may be regarded as the pioneer clergyman, and for years answered calls, picking his trackless way to all parts of the county.

A heavy body of timber, on section seventeen, was long previous known as the Moscow woods, and this suggested to the early settlers the name of the town, which so continued until its organization, when it took the name of Guildford, but in June, 1858, it was again changed to its original title. A colony, consisting of Thomas R. Morgan, Nathan Hunt, Robt. Spear, and Thos. Ellis, made the first settlement, on the 30th of May, 1855.

Biceland was organized under the name of Beardsley, in honor of Sam. Beardsley, one of the first settlers; but in October, 185?, it was changed to its present name, at the suggestion of Isaac Baker, who was then on the Oounty Board. Shortly after settlement, a small tract was surveyed into town lots, under the name of Fairfield, but it never acquired the dignity of a village. Ole 0. Oleson and Ole Hanson located in August, 1856, and were the first settlers. <

W. N. Oliver was agent. Afterwards, by general consent, the name was apjilied to the whole township. To far as we can learn, this town has the honor of having erected the second schoolhouse in the county, which was done in the fall of 1857, by the'district now known as No. 20.

The village of Bancroft was a sharp rival for the county seat in 1857, and at that time a place of considerable importance, having a newspaper, store, saw-mill, and other evidences of busy life, all of which has since disappeared.

Manchester was first known by the name of Oldbnrg, but was christened Buckeye at its organization. In May, 1858, it was changed to Liberty. Finally, in October fallowing, at the suggestion of Mathias Anderson, it was changed to Manchester, in honor of a place of the same name in Illinois, where Mr. A. had previously lived. S. S. Skilf entered this town in June, 1856 as the first settler.

Oarlston was organized in .Tanuary, 1858, under the name of Stanton, out of respect to Elias Stanton, who had already suffered amputation on account of frost-bitten feet, and who died of the same in the spring following. After its organization it was attached to Freeborn for township purposes. In June, 1858, the name was changed to Springfield, and in October following to Groton. In September, 1859, the citizens asked for aseperate organization, which was granted, and the name changed to Oarlston. This name was finally agreed upon, in respect to the memory of a distinguished Swede of that name, who settled in that town in an early day, and who was drowned in Freeborn lake. Robert H. Miller was the first settler, and located in August, 1855.

Newry was first named Seward, as a mark of respect to the distinguished Senator from New York, and at the same time, January, 1858, was attached to Geneva for township purposes. In October following, the name was changed to Union, and the town granted a soparat"? organization. In the early part of 1859, the name was again changed to Dover, but from some cause this proved to be unsatisfactory to the State Auditor, and upon his recommendation another change took place, which resulted in adopting the present name.

first County Commissioners, and by tliem was appointed tbe first Probate Judge. He was also elected a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, to which we have already referred. It was also upon his suggestion that the town was named Geneva, in remembrance of Geneva, N. Y., for which pleasant recollections were entertained. The village of Geneva, situated upon the bank of a beautiful lake of that name, is a town of considerable prominence. Milton Morey was the first settler, locating in the fall of 1855.

Bath was first organized under the name of Porter, in honor of E. D. Porter, who settled near Clark's Grove. The east half of the town was attached to Geneva, and the the west half to Hartland for township purposes, but in September, 1858, assumed an independent organization, and the name changed to Bath, at the instance of F. W. Calkins, who was desirous of perpetuating the memory of the town in which he was born. Mr. Calliins was the first settler of Bath, and made his entry in the spring or early summer of 1857.

While the town of Hartland is one of the best agricultural districts in the county, it yields but few facts concerning early history. It is understood to have been named after a town in Windsor county, Vermont, and was first settled by two brothers by the name of Boardman, in the fall of 1856. One of these, B. J. Boardman, erected the first house, and at one time represented the town on the County Board.

Freeborn was among the early towns organized, and the first election held in May, 1858. The township and village, as well as the lake upon the bank of which the village is located, all seem to have followed, in name, that of the county. T. K. Page and Wm. Montgomery were the first settlers, and entered upon their claims in July, 1856. The village of Freeborn is handsomely located and is a town of considerable importance. It is in this town that the first entry of land appears on record, by Nelson Everet, as previously mentioned, though the correctness of this is doubted.

A word will also be in place regarding the origin of names as applied to lakes, rivers, etc. Bear Lake should be properly known as Pickerel Lake. The story is this: Buffalo being found in this section as late as 1853, a party consisting of Joseph Hewitt, Joshua Jackson, and Joseph Kelley, visited the region of Ntinda, in quest of that game, in the summer of that year. Their hunt was rewarded by one or two buffalo calves, and some fine pickerel taken from that lake, which suggested the name, as mentioned.

On the other hand Pickerel Lake should be known as Bear Lake. Some years previous to settlement, the Indians killed a large bear near that body of water, and ever afterwards called it Bear Lake. In 1854, one Austin Nichols, who had jjreviously obtained from the three buffalo hunters glowing accounts of their beautiful Pinkerel Lake, made a tour through from the Cedar to the Blue Earth River, and struck Bear Lake in his route, of which he knew nothing. Supposing it to be the Pickerel Lake of which he had been told of, he so called it, and his acquaintances settling in soon after, accepted his impression without further inquiry. A year later, the pioneers who settled Nunda, knowing that their northern neighbors had got the Pickerel, supposed of course that the Bair belonged to them, and so the accidental change became a fixed fact.

Lake Albert Lea was originally known as Fox Lake. In 1835, when the exploring command of Lieut. Lea approached this body of water a white fox ran past the head of the column, and thus unconsciously had his memory perpetuated.

White Lake was first known as Lake Chapeau. From the bank of this, where Lieut. Lea rested his command a few hours, the lake presents the shape of a French military hat, and this suggested the name. When this section of country was afterwards mapped out, Chapeau was dropped and Albert Lea appliecl. The early settlers knew but little about these lakes, and took it for granted that the large one bore the name of the distinguished explorer, and thus the For was finally allowed to escape. In the meantime, Capt. A. W. White settled upon the bank of the original Chapeau, and by common consent his name has become associated with that lake.

Turtle Creek is said to have been so named in 1854. A party crossing the same was stepping from one stone to another, when one of the number suddenly lost his footing - the stone as he supposed gracefully sliding from under him. It proved to be a huge turtle, with which the river then abounded, and the stream was ever afterwards called Turtle River. It is noted in Lieut. Lea's minutes as Iowa River.

Mule Lakp was discovered by the Boardmiiu brothers, who, as we have already said, first settled in Hartland. Their entry into that town was with a nrnk' team, driven across the country from Geneva. On their return they related their observations, and the mules were at bnce dignified in the naminp; of the lake.

Some years j)revious to settlement, the heavy body of timber which covered section seventeen, in Moscow, was set on fire in a dry season, creating such a couHagration as to suggest scenes in Russia under the great Napoleon. From thiit time it was known as the Moscow timber, and thus the name of the town had its origin.

I have now passed in review the salient points in the history of our county, and although that review has been necessarily brief, it shows a record and a growth of which any people may feel justly proud, and calculated to inspire high hopes for future prosperity. Few agricultural regions have ever witnessed a more rapid advancement in jjopulition, growth of products, educational endowments, and general material wealth ; and I may add, that seldom has it fallen to the lot of man to have his destiny fixed in such an Eden of natural beauty.

Looking back over the period of the last twenty years, we have little to regret. From a trackless and uninhabited region, we have sprung into a community of 15,000 souls, teaming with a busy life. Vineyards and groves rise up everywhere to please the eye and gratify the taste, while thousands of laughing grain fields wave their golden treasures to triumph to make glad the hearts of the husbandmen. Log cabins yield to the advancing progress of wealth and civilization, and in their places rise up the homes of greater raatei'ial comfort, and domestic enjoyment; the rail pens have given away to substantial granaries, and straw stables are fast making room for spacious and costly bams.

Schoolhouses alVord educational facilities at convenient intervals, while the green foliage, beneath which they are embowered, offer their inviting shade to thousands of promising children.

Railroads and grain stations remind us that we have already passed the period of pioneer life, and that we are entering upon an area full of inspiring liope for the future.

Looking upon our material prosijerity for the twenty years past, we may well encpiire what will be the condition of Freeborn county one hundred years hence. I will not undertake the speculation. None of us will be living, but remember that the present is always the parent of the future. As the twig is bent, so it will grow. Our influence does not end with our lives. The uncounted generations to come, hold us largely responsible for their mtellectual, moral, and religions character ; for, be it known, that whether we will it or not, the broad or restricted philanthrojjhy of our own lives will impress itself upon all the distant future.

Ch.Vpter Xlviii

As a continuation of the early history of the county, quite a full account of the meetings of the Old Settlei-s' Association is given here, with very full reports of some of the speeches or addresses, which are rich in reminiscences and so well presented that a rewriting could not improve them. Coming in this form, it slightly interferes with the continuity of the plan of the work, but this is fully comijensateil for by a disruption of the monotony which might otherwise become tedious in the perusal.

The old settlers of Freeborn county who weie desirous of perpetuating the memory of the hardships, the trials, troubles, and privations on the one hand, and the pleasures and triumphs on the other, of pioneer times and frontier life, joined in a call to all those who came previous to 1,S()(), to meet on the 12th of 1875, for the purpose of organizing an Old Settlers' Association.

In response to this call a meeting was held at the Court House on the day mentioned, at two o'clock. The assembly was called to order by 1). G. Parker, who read the call that had been issued. On motion of John L. Melder, Mr. Parker was made temporary chairman. On motion of F. McCall, FI. T>. Brown was appointed secretary. On motion of Isaac Botsford, the following committee oa resolutions was appointed : Henry Thurston, F. McCall, and H. G. Emmons; on nominations, Isaac Botsford, John L. Melder, and Jason Goward. While waiting for the reports of committees Mr. Melder, who was the original mover in the matter, was called upon for a speech, and responded in a facetious vein, relating amusing anecdotes. Remarks were made by Father Lowrj and others.

The committee appointed for the purpose reported a constitution which, after discussion and amendment, was adopted. Its provisions were that any old settler could join by paying a nominal sum, who was here previous to January 1st,

The officers elected under this constitution were: President, D. G. Parker; vice-Presidents, J. L. Melder, H. Biekford, and O. C. Goodnature; Secretary, Henry Thurston; Treasurer, H. D. Brown; Chaplain, Rev. S. H. Lowry; Financial Committee, Ole Peterson. J. W. Ayers, and the President, Secretary, and Treasurer, es-officios. The constitution was then signed by thirty-nine persons; the President delivered an address which was requested for publication. Previous to adjournment, a cordial invitation was extended to all the ladies and gentlemen of the county who were old settlers to become members.

The second meeting was hehl on Tuesday, the 2d of June, 1876, at the Court House in Albert Lea. The opportunity was given for joining the society, and sixty-five persons signed the constitution, who had come here previous to January,

The officers elected for the year were: President, D. G. Parker; vice-Presidents, William N. Goslee, of Loudon; D. R. Young, Shell Rock; N. I. Lowthian, Freeman; H. G. Emmons, Nunda; Henry Tunell, Mansfield; C. E. Butler, Oakland; Ender Gulbrandson, Hay ward; I. Botsford, Albert Lea; J. H. Pace, Moscow; Lewis Bill, Riceland; William H. Long, Bancroft; E. D. Hopkins. Manchester; Asa Walker, Carlston; C. E. Johnson, Newry; J. T. Jones, Geneva; Richard Fitzpatrick, Bath; A. S. Purdie, Hartland; and Jason Goward, Freeborn; Secretary, H. Thurston; Treasurer, H. D. Brown; Chaplain, S. G. Lowry; Finance Committee, Ole Peterson, J. W. Ayers, the President, Secretary, and Treasurer. E. C. Stacy was appointed on the obituaries for the ensuing year.

Judge Cooley, of Minneapolis, delivered the annual address, which was entertaining, instructive, and satisfactory. Judge Stacy read the obituary notices of those who had moved on to an unknown frontier during the year, and also mentioned some of the old settlers who had gone before the association was organized, and depicted the valuable services they had rendered while here. H. D. Brown read a j^oem prepared in another part of the State, but revised to suit the the conditions here presented.

The question as to the earliest resident arose, and George Gardner and H. Biekford claimed the honor of being the oldest continuous settlers. Various reminiscences were brought out as to early political affairs; how majorities were rolled up; how men got elected delegates to conventions, and became candidates after they got there, with other points of interest. The siipper was at the Hall House, and the fare was in striking contrast with the fare in the fifties.

The third meeting was on the 13th of June, 1877. A procession was formed and marched to the picnic ground in Albert Lea. Prayer was offered by Rev. Walter Scott, one of the pioneers of the county. A letter was read from A. P. Swineford regretting his inability to meet his old friends this year. Twenty-seven joined the association.

The officers chosen this year were; President, E. C. Stacy ; Treasurer, H. D. Brown ; Secretary, Henry Thurston; and a Vice President from each town in the county. The finance committee with the ex-officios were J. L. Melder and J. W. Ayers.

A paper was read from Col. Albert M. Lea, giving an account of his early explorations and relating the incidents which gave his name to one of the lakes in the coijnty and subsequently to the county seat. A large portrait of the Colonel was also shown and he was unanimously elected an honorary member. Walter Scott gave an account of some transactions in his neighborhood in 1856 and '57. Other stories were told, and the basket dinner was eaten with enjoyment by all. Isaac Botsford was appointed to look after the honored dead of next year. I). G. Parker then read the history of the county prepared for this centennial year.

groand. President Stacy presided, and the exercises commenced by singing the long Doxology, "Praise (rod from whom all blessingH How," and a song by the Purdie family. Alfred P. Swinefonl was then introduced, the oldest printer in the county, who was guccessful in his attempt to satisfy the high expectations of those who remember the meteor-like scintillations of the "Southern Minnesota Star" during the first county election. It is presented in full:

"If I have any apology to offer for having once failed to keep my engagement with you, and finally having come so far only, I fear, to dissapoint those who may have Ijeen led to expect an address worthy of the name and of the occasion, it is that in the first instance unexpected business complications imperatively demanded my personal attention at the time I had fondly hoped to be with you; and I hope and trust that the lingering desire that I have long felt to revisit the "scenes of my youth," will be accepted as a suiBoient apology for my presence now. For, though grown to man's estate when, a little more than twenty-one years ago, I came to the then almost absolutely vacant site of your beautiful, thriving young city of Albert Lea, I was, in fact, a mere boy in years as well as in experience of the world and its business affairs. Coming here, as I now have, in a palatial railway coach, borne along in ease and comfort, at the rate of twenty-five or thirty miles an hour, annihilating the distance between here and the Mississippi in less time than used to be required to work up sufficient courage to attempt the trip, I could not avoid, as I came along, a mental contrast between the present coming, and that of twenty-one years agone. Never, while life lasts, shall I forget that first trip!

I had been a journeyman printer out of an uncompleted apprenticeship with the last governor of the Territory of Minnesota, and for a brief period before coming here, was foreman on a St. Paul weekly paper. The Railroad, Real Estate, and Financial Advertiser, was at least a part of its title, of which Charles H. Parker, a banker, was publisher, and Joe Wheelock the editor. Whatever time may have accomplished for him, Joe was then a dyspeptic, peevish, irascible individual, though a most vigorous, caustic writer. The paper invariably came out late on the day of publication or the day after, for the reason that Wheelock always had something of the utmost importance, at the very last moment, which must go in or there would be a row, and there generally was one. Joe laid the blame for the late ajjpearance of the paper on the foreman, and the forernan reciprocated his gentle insinuations in that regard by imputing the whole of it to the editor. Parker thought somebody lied; Wheelock felt sure of it, and the foreman, though an orphan of tender years, was certain of it, and that it wasn't him, and that anybody who said it was, was a horsethief and a liar, and hadn't truth enough in him to make an ordinary gas meter. Wheelock, in his virtuous wrath, produced an old pepper-box revolver, and with the most horrid oaths, threatened to fill your humble orator on this occasion, as full of holes as the useful article of table ware from which his implement of war took its name; but he didn't, for which forbearence on his part I have mentally thanked him innumerable times, and here and now. in this public manner I most cheerfully and magnanimously forgive him, for if he had shot and hadn't told a whopper about it, he would have saved me all these after years of editorial drudgery, and you this infliction. If I were to meet him now, I really believe I should shake hands with him, and thank him most cordially for the wrong he did me in not shooting, though I doubt much if the pistol was loaded, or if he could have hit the gable end of the capitol at arm's length, it it had been double-shotted. However, we continued together a few weeks longer, eyeing each other askance, instituting and preserving an armed truce, as it were, your humble servant all the time anxious to get away from the near vicinity of that pepper-box revolver, which he knew would shoot in all directions if it went off at all, and I have no doubt Joe was equally anxious to have him do so, when one morninj; an advertisement appeared in one of the daily papers calling for a priater to go into the south part of the Territory to establish a newspaper in a new town of great promise, and directed applicants to call at a certain room in the then leading hotel of St. Paul. Here was the coveted opportunity. I thirsted more for literary and editorial fame than for a personal encounter with Wheelock and his treacherous pepper-box, which I was assured by those who ought to know, scattered fearfully. I had, by dint of great perseverance and the practice of the most rigid economy, managed to save a whole week's salary, and was ready to venture in search of other fields, "and pastures new." I did not stand on the order of my calling at the avertiser's room, but called at once, and there I met for the first time, the founder of Albert Lea, rotund, jovial, large-hearted George S. Ruble, who had lately succeeded in having the place where he knew there ought to be a town, designated as the county seat of the newly organized county of Freeborn. I had heard the name of the place before. The weekly paper to which I have referred kept standing on its fourth page a large map of the territory, an electrotype plate, into which I would drill a hole large enough to permit the insertion of a small letter o to designate the sight, and close to it chisel through a space large enough to hold the name of any new town the proprietor of which was willing to pay for its insertion. I had only the week before put Albert Lea on the map, and I remember that the lake was not large enough to hold the bold faced letters, for the insertion of which I presume Ruble paid liberally. I think I can claim the honor of having placed Albert Lea on the first map upon which it ever appeared.

I found some difficulty in convincing Ruble that the mole under my right optic was legitimate and not the result of any discretion on my part; but that matter finally settled to his satisfaction, the negotiations were easily concluded. George agreed to endorse notes with which to purchase an outfit, and also advanced funds with which to pay necessary expenses to Chicago. He also agreed to and did, deed to myself and N. T, Gray, who was desirous of embarking with me in the enterprise, a sufficient number of lots in the new town to have made me a richer man than I am to-day, had I remained here an 1 waited patiently for the coming of that era of prosperity which has since dawned upon you. And here let me remark (in a parenthesis, as it were,) that thoiigh I came here and went away again as poor as Job's turkey gobbler, I have, through strict integrity, untiring toil and perseverance, and the practice of close economy, managed to hold my own ever since. However, to return to my ower-true narrative, Ruble stipulated as a sort of side agreement, having an eye, I presume, to the more rapid growth of his new town, that I should get married, which stipulation I readily accepted, although I was not certain that " the girl I left behind me" would ratify the arrangement, but she did, came here with me to live, and regrets that she cannot be here with you to-day; the best she could do, under the circumstances, was to send her card in the shape of her daughter, who was born in Minnesota, shortly after we left Freeborn county. But I'm afraid I'm getting the story mixed up. I went to Chicago, traversing the Mississippi most of the way on the ice, from St. Paul to Prairie du Chein, thence by stage to Boscobel, then the western termmus of the Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad; thence by rail to Janesville, then again by stage to a connection with what is now the Madison division of the Chicago k Northwestern Railway,and of which a former Albert Lea boy is Superintendent. That was in February, 1857. Having purchased a hand press, type enough for a six column paper, and some job type, I then went up to Oshkosh to carry out the stipulation referred to, and early in March, accompanied by my wife, started on the return trip to Minnesota. Portage City was then the terminas of the old La Crosse <fc Milwaukee Railroad, and from that point we had to travel the entire distance by stage, over the devious route, through Sparta, Black River Falls, Eau Claire,-River Falls, to Prescott and Hastings, in doing which a whole week's time was consumed. At Hastings I was joined by my partner, Gray, and leaving Mrs. Swineford with some relatives, we set out by stage for Albert Lea. The route was through Northfield, Faribault, Owatonna, to Austin, where the stage route, so far as it benefitted us was at an end. Stopping here over night, we were fortumste enough to fall in with Dorr Stacy, then a half grown lad, who was there after the Geneva mail, which was carried semi -occasionally by Foot & Walker's line, Dorr being horses, driver, and all hands. Taking the mail upon his back, he piloted us through to his father's, that being recommended to us as the best route, the road to Albert Lea not being open. An all day's walk brought us to the residence of your honorable President, Judge Stacy, and I am postively certain that never before or since have I watched with such an absorbing interest a woman engaged in the arduous task of baking griddle cakes, as I did the Judge's estimable wife that evening.

The next morning, bright and early, we set out for Albert Lea, whose "tall spires and turrets crowned " were vividly pictured in our imaginations. Picture to yourself two lone sailors adrift in an open boat on the trackless sea, compass or rudder, and you have a true representation of Gray and your humble servant, as they plodded their weary way over the trackless prairies and through the leafless tress of the oak openings in search of their final harbor of refuge. It was about the middle of March. The snow still lay on the ground to the depth of a foot or more, though the weather was mild and the snow was melting, and under it there appeared to be an equal depth of water, which the frost prevented the ground from absoibiug. We had started on the road jjointed out to us, but it had grown fainter and fainter, and we had not traveled an hour before it entirely disajipeared. Gray was a dogged determiuud sort of a fellow, and didn't have any new wife to grieve over bis loss in the wilderness, while she set her cap for another fellow, and I was determined, too , that mine should not ha^e a chance to laugh at me, as I knew she would do if we turned back, so we struck out in the direction we thought Albert Lea ought to lie. You who live here now in the enjoyment of all the ease and comfort of civilized life in your cozy and elegant homes, embellished with all the treasures of art, if you came at a later period, can have little appreciation of the feelings, of the hopes and fears, I might almost say, of the sighs and tears, of those two forlorn weary pilgrims, as they plodded their slow way along in search of the spot where now stands the beautiful, prosperous capital of your equally beautiful aud prosperous country. Over the hillocks, through the sloughs, which toward nightfall became, to us, veritable "sloughs of despond," the feet sinking at every step through the snow into the water underneath, leg-weary and sore, it was little wonder that when we reached Ruble's the following day, we were not only lame aud halt, but blind as well. All day we traveled without meeting a single person or seeing a human habitation of any kind. All was a dreary, barren waste: we were literally afloat on the wide and seemingly boundless prairie, without compass and "nary" a guide-board to direct us to a haven of rest. Just at dusk we came upon the bank, or low marshy shore, rather, of a lake; and were hesitating whether to go around or attempt to cross it, when we heard the welcome report of a gun, apparently not over a dozen rods ofi' and on the other side of a low ridge or hillock. Talk about the music of the bells, or of the horn about dinner time! If that gun had been aimed directly at us by an unseen foe or assassin, its report' would have been sweeter music by far, to our ears, than that of the laughter of the bubbling brook, or of a wind instrument under the gentle manipulation of a forty lung power operator of the teutonic persuasion. We were about used up, despaired indeed of ever being able to reach a human habitation, and King Richard the three times, never wanted somebody to bind iip his wounds and l)ritig a horse, half as bad as we did. Gray prayed accordingly, and I"m afraid I profaned, and used cuss-words all that memorable afternoon. Gray prayed for guidance to Albert Lea, and I swore I did not believe there was any such place, except on the map, tliat it was a myth, an irjniix futniis luring us on to a worse fate than that of the babes in the woods; only in this case it was babes on the inhospitable prairie, for I was morally certain we had traveled far enough to find a dozen Albert Leas, had they been as big as St. Paul or New York. The fact was we were only about six miles on a straiglit line from Geneva. With difficulty we dragged our weary limbs along in the direction from whence the report of the gun liad come, and shortly encountered a solitary indian who was lying low for wild geese, and by signs and facial gestures made him understand that we were lost, and didn't feel very well ourselves, when, instead of taking our scalps, as he might easily have done, and thus forever extinguished the brilliancy of that luminary, the Southern Minnesota Star, ere yet it had begun to illuminate the darkened earth, led us to a house in ii clump of trees not half a mile o if, owned and occupied, I believe, by a pioneer named Beardsley. It was a primitive residence in the primeval forest, as it were, to which that primitive child of nature, Lo! the poor Indian, conducted us, but never since, even in the palatial hotels of Chicago or any of the great cities, have I feasted more sumptuously than I did that night in that little log cabin by the lake, on a bill of fare which consisted wholly of bread, salt pork, starch gravy, and a decoction of rye, not the rye that comes from the still, but still it was rye, coffee; nor do I think I ever slumbered more sweetly or peacefully on the costliest spring bed or hair mattress, with snowy sheets and embroidered counterpoint, than I did that night on a straw tick, spread upon the rough floor of that rude log hut. The nest day we made our grand entree into Albert Lea, just in time to break bread with its founder at his m«ridianal meal, and sop it with him in the starch gravy, in the preparation of which, good, kindhearted, eccentric Mrs. Riible was a real artist.

You who liave come here in later years should have se«u Albert Lea then; it was a county seat without buildings, and literally without iuliabitants. One solitary little log building, occupied by Clark as a store and bachelor's hall, together with Ruble's log house on the isthmus, and Capt. Thome's frame shanty on his addition to a town that had no existence save on paper, constituted the whole of the wealth, and contained all of the inhabitants of your now handsome full-fledged city of 2,.500 people. Coming from Austin by the shortest route, you passed a single frame house on the way, and in the whole county, six months later, there were not voters enough to elect my respected friend and fellow pioneer, Judge Stacy, and your humble servant to the first State Legislature. It wasn't our fault, however; simply a lack of votes, that was all - for even at this late day I am conscious of the fact that we were both willing, if not anxious, to serve the State in the capacity of law makers; that we were abundantly qualified to do so with credit to ourselves and profit to the then budding young commonwealth, nobody seemed to have a doubt - with the trifling exeption of the people who cast a majority of the ballots. Judge Stacy had been a member of the double barreled Constitutional Convention, in which he had acquitted himself well and ably. I was an editor, and - I was aliout to say, a lawyer - but that wouldn't be true; I was a member of the bar, but no lawyer - and what I didn't think I knew about the aifairs of State, most certainly has never since been learned by any one. And right here I want to thank any and all old settlers who may be here present, who conti'ibvited to the result of that first general election, and especially my old friend and successful competitor for legislative honors, for laying me out on that occasion colder than a wrought iron wedge in January. Had they endorsed my pretensions, I now know that it would have been the worse for me, and most probably for them - for that legislature did the five million loan business, which certainly has not redounded to the credit of the State, and it is quite probable that had I been a member I should have voted for it, or, who knows"? I might have gone on from bad to worse until I lauded in Congress or the penitentiary, it wouldn't have made much difference which - for, while there may not be any persons in our penitentiaries who ought to be in Congress, it is morally certain that a great many members of Congress are badly lied about, or else they ought to be in the penitentiary. The bare possibility of what might have followed in the wake of a different result in the first general election in Freeborn county, is, even at this distant day, fearful to contemplate. For, I have held not a few offices of trust and responsibility since that time, and have learned to rate the honor which an election or an appointment to official position is supposed to confer, at its real value. I have come to believe that in these degenerate days, with the ballot in the hands of the ignorant, the sordid, and the vicious elements of the country, who are either boiTght or driven to the polls, when legislators are bought and sold like sheep in the shambles, and ofiices of the highest trust and importance are made objects of barter and of sale to the highest bidders, when corruption rankles in every vein and has become a festering sore in the body politic, I have come to believe that at such a time and in such a generation the post of highest honor is, indeed, the private station. But were it otherwise, the holding of official position ought to be the highest ambition of the true American citizen. The man who has sufficient ability to discharge with promptness and efficiency, the duties of any office to which he may aspire, ought to be, and in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred is, able to make more money and live more comfortably, in the pursuit of some legitimate business, and if he isn't able to do so, he isn't fit to hold office. The man who seeks an office is, most generally, the one above all others who shouldn't have it; and there is no honor attached to the incumbency of an office which does not come to the holder as the free, unsought offering of an intelligent people. It's a funny thing though, this running for office, almost always. Two years ago I stumped the Congressional district in which I live in behalf of my party candidate for Congress. He was a good, honest fellow, not much of a talker himself, but unfortunately had a nasal protuberance of unusual size and lustre, from the end of which a wart had been amputated by a rebel bullet, giviog it the appearance of having been through several dog fights and as many Indian wars. At every meeting I w;i8 compelled to explain, first of all, that this black eye of mine was perfectly legitimate, and not the logical result of having called the wrong man a liar, and that my friend, the candidate's olfactory organ hadn't really been mutilated in a dog or barrow fight, but that it had been shorn of a part of its original majesty by a minnie ball while he was leading the advance of a well conducted retreat, in tlie cause of his country, during the rebellion; and though I pledged my sacred honor, and my inaleinable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, for the truth of both statements, those Michiganders gently waved their massive auriculars, smiled a sweet smile of incredulity, and then went to the polls and elected the other candidate. Those of you who know my politics, however, and sympathise with them will appreciate the remark when I say that Michigan has a jiainful habit of always electing the wrong man. Now, my party want me to stand for Congress, but I won't even "lay" for it; I haven't one-twentieth part the desire to go to Congress, as I once had to represent your county in the State legislature; and I have no more desire to meet and shoot off epithets at those Confederate brigadiers now, than I was anxious to go down and shoot bullets at them in 1863^.

But I'm afraid I'm getting this story badly mixed up. I wanted to tell you something about the early history of Albert Lea and Freeborn county, Init I've wandered so far from the subject and the early history was made so long ago, that it's hard to get back to it. I believe I was telling you what constituted the wealth and population of Albert Lea in March, 1857. It was Yankee Doodle who couldn't see a traditional town because there were so many houses; but that wasn't the case with the founders of your first local newspaper; there wasn't any houses when they came to your town, to obstruct the vision, or mar the great natural beauty of the site ujxm which it has since been built, and if there had been, it would have made no material difference, for they hadn't been an hour at Ruble's before they were both as blind as herrings - herrings that are red - and didn't take any pleasure in viewing the landscape o'er, at least to not any considerable extent, until after a period of four or five days had elapsed. It was what is known as a snow blindness, and just as effectual for the time being as though the eye had been put out by an explosion of nitro-glycerine. Kuble was then busy completing his mill, but when it was about finished, the spring rains united with the melting snow in raising a Hood which carried away part of the dam. and he found himself in possession of "a mill by a dam site, but no dam by the mill site," and we all turned out and helped make the necessary repairs. When he finally got the mill started, the first cut of lumber was used for the erection of the printing olKce, which was, if my memory is not at fault, the first firame building on the original townsite. In the meantime I had gone back to Hastings after my wife, and returning, again commenced the erection of the second frame building, designed for a dwelling. It was a princely mansion, made of rough boards set up on end, and upon which, although I was no carpenter, I did the most of the work. In it my wife and I commenced housekeeping as soon as it was enclosed and roofed over with slabs instead of shingles; well do I remember the primitive cupboard with which we commenced hfe; it was made out of a large dry goods box set on end, while the graceful festoons in which my wife arranged the quilts and coverlets which were made to do duty as doors and windows, will never be forgotten. At that time, I verily believe that there wasn't such a thing as a carpet in the settlement, nor any but the rudest home made furniture. And right here I desire to relieve the tedious narrative with the relation of an incident which occured about that time. When I went back to Hastings after my wife, Ruble armed me with a well executed plat of the embryo city, and a power of attorney constituting me an agent for the sale of lots. While at Hastings I fell in with a Boston capitalist named Stowell, to whom I sold two or three lots, which, judging from the plat and site designated for the printing office, were quite eligibly located. Stowell was a rather convivial sort of a fellow, and had plenty of money which he was investing in wild lands and town lots in what he considered the best localities. The town plat of Albert Lea had been surveyed in the winter, and in order to preserve the symmetry of form which would be most 2:)leasing to the eye when it was placed on paper, a corner of the lake was taken in. I was not aware of the fact at the time, and the lots I sold to Stowell, happened to be that particular part of the plat. I had been back from Hastings only a few days when Stowell put in an appearance. I had said so much praise of the new town, pictured in glowing colors the great natural beauty of the location, that after buying the lots, he couldn't resist the temptation to come and see for himself. It was a very wet season; the river and lakes had over-tlown their banks, every slough was a lake in itself, and how the fellow got here when he did was a mystery. He said he swam most of the way, and I was inclined to believe him, for I remembered that shortly afterwards I went on horse-back to Geneva after a cow I had purchased 'rom Mr. Robson or John Heath, I don't remember which, and I had a terrible time of it. The horse was a blooded animal; I don't remember exactly whether he was sired by old Duroc, Hambletonian, or Lucifer, but I do think he must have been, as Mark Twain would say, damned by every - bjly who ever rode him. I started ti drive the cow home, and whenever I came to a slough, I would drive her in and crack the whip at her till she got across, and then I would get off the horse start him in, and hang on to his tail so as to be ready to pull him out in case he got mired. Sometimes before I could get across, the cow would start back again, higher up or lower down, and then the horse and I would have to follow suit. When I finally got that cow home, she was blind of one eye, and couldn't see out of the other, had lost a horn, and had but a part of a tail to tell the story of her own muley-ishness, and man's inhumanity. But here again I've got two stories mixed. Before I got on the last tangent I was about to say that after Stowell had been here a day or two, he came to me and wanted to know if I had a boat or canoe, I told him my partner had a cauoe, and if he wanted to go duck shooting, I would get it and go with him. "Duck shooting be - blessed!" said he, "I want to go out and look at those d-ashed lots you sold me, that's all!" I went with him to Mr. Ruble, who very readily and willingly consented to make a fair exchange with him, gave him the same number of lots on terra firma, and he went away satisfied. I did not see him again till the latter part of summer, and from what then occurred I was led to believe that I was not the only person from whom he had bought water lots. I then met him at the Merchant's Hotel, St. Paul, not exactly in a beastlystate of sobriety, but a trifle the worse for liquor. Being obliged to remain over Sunday, myself and a friend or two conchided to attend divine service, just as we were leaving the hotel, Stowell accosted us with an inquiry as to where we were going. He had been imbibing rather freely during the previous night, and had more liquor aboard than one man ought to try to carry - unless he has a jug in which to put at least a part of it. Being told that we were going to church, ne said, "thash all right (hie) boys, guesh I'll go too," and it was impossible to get away from him, though we walked fast and left him following some distance behind. Reaching the church we entered and were shown a seat well up in front by the usher; just as we were sitting down Stowell stepped inside the door, and the minister began lining out that old familiar hymn : when he was interrupted and the congregation horrified by the emphatic exclamation from Stowell - "Yes, thash's another Minnesota story, sell wile lan's and water lots!" It is needless to remark that our friend Stowell didn't remain to hear the sermon, but was unceremoniously ushered out, and I have never heard of him from that day to this. The story went the rounds of the papers at the time, and perhajis some of you may remember having read it.

I will not dwell upon the condition of afTairs in Albert Lea and Freeborn county at the time I left them, after a two years' residence. The town was a mere hamlet, with no piiblic buildings, churches or schools, and not even a wagon road worthy of the name. I had established a newspaper according to agreement with Mr. Ruble, and did all I could, considering my youth and inexperience, to advertise abroad the great natural advantages and attractions of the town and county; but looking back through the vista of years, I must say that I'm afraid that the Southern Minnesota Star illumined with rather a pale, flickering light, the regions round about; certain it was that its little light was soon extinguished, and for a time Freeborn county was plunged into the depths of a literary darkness. A second paper - The Freeborn County Eagle - was started after the lapse of a few months, and soared for a time among the literary clouds, passing into the hands of Mr. Bots- ford, when I gave it up and left the county; the StanJanl, I am infornicil, is the legitimate ofTspring of the papers I founded upon the sands of the desert, as it were - two dollars a year strictly in advance. I could relate many incidents that occurred during my residence here; among th® laughable lawsuits, the fight for the county seat witli Bancroft, a mythical town which cotild ihen only be found with the aid nf a mariner's compass, though it had a larger local paper than Albert Laa - The Bancroft Pionaer - published by D. Blakely, afterwards Secretary of State; of the political s(juat)bles; the coi;gratulations extended to me as the father of the first child born on the original town site; of tiie first funeral; but I will not weary your patience further than to relate one anecdote which had its beginning when I was an apprentice boy with old Cxovernor Sam. Medary in Columbus, Ohio, and its ending after he came to St Paul as chief executive of the territory. As a boy I was generally credited with being able to concoct and execute more mischief in an hour than I would be able to atone for in a lifetime. As an apprentice with the governor; the order of business consisted principally in being discharged one day and hired over again the next. I owed my frequent dismissals to the pranks I played on the Colonel, as he was then called, and my reinstatement, to the kind interposition of his good wife, with whom, notwithstanding my mischievous propensities, I was something of a favorite. I slejjt in a room at the office, and took my meals at the Colonel's house, doing the little chores morning and evening, and sometimes hoeing up early corn, cabbages, and potatoes in the garden. I had played many tricks on the Colonel, who was at times, terribly profane, but the one I am about to relate broke the camel's back, and resulted in my coming west. An unruly cow was in the habit of breakfasting on the Colonel's tender young cabbages, and that, coupled with the fact that she could never get out the same way she got in, but had to have the gate opened for her, made him terribly angry. In a room in the printing office building was stored a lot of old tiint-lock muskets which belonged to a defunct militia company, and which myself and another apprentice used to fire off, one after another, from the top of the building at an early hour in the morning to the annoyance of the whole town. One fine summer morning, when the cow was taking her regular matutinal meal, the Colonel ordered me to go to the office, load the musket with powder, and carry it to the house, so that, as he remarked, he could "pepper her cabbage for her." I went, not in the best of humor possible, and did as I was ordered. I put into that musket powder enongh to load a siege gun, put some dry paper on top of the powder, and rammed upon that some more paper which was not so dry, then put in a handful] of old type from the printers' "hell box" and some more paper on top of that. Going back to the house, I found the Colonel waiting impatiently with a handful of pe])per- berries, which I put into the musket with some more jiaper on top, in the meantime suggesting that the gun kicked, and he had better let me do the shooting, though I wouldn't have been behind that musket when it went off for the best dollar of the daddies that, ever came from the mint. He was indignant, and proposed to do his own cow killing - and he did. That cow for the first time went out of the garden the same way she got in - over the fence - with a long drawn out bellow, that would have gone to the heart of a less wicked boy than I now know myself to have been - and she didn't come back again either - but just went out on the commons and died. When the roar of the musket had died away, and the cloud of smoke began to soar heavenward, the Colonel was seen trying to pick himself up from between two rows of potatoes, livid with rage, and - but it is sufficient to say he paid for the cow, and I took Greeley's advice, and came west, after a few years bringing up at Albert Lea. In the fall of 1857, Judge Stacy and myself were delegates to the first Democratic State Convention, and I lost no time after reaching St. Paul to call on the Colonel, who was then governor. I had grown from a boy to man's estate, and was, of course, considerably changed. Without telling my name, I said to him that I was running a little paper in the south part of the territory, a delegate to the convention, and had called to see if he couldn't give me an appointment to help me along, if it was nothing more than that of notary public. He eyed me keenly for a moment and then remarked, 'It seems to me I ought to know you; your face is familiar, and yet I can't exactly place you.' I ventured to say that I thought he ought to remember me, 'don't you remember Colonel ' - 'Hold on. not another word!' said he, 'I know you now! You're the infernal rascal who loaded that musket! Notary public! Why God bless me Alfred, I'd make you president if I could.' And he grasped my hand and shook it as cordially and heartily as he could have done had his arm never been partially paralyzed by the rebound of a musked loaded with a cannon charge.

Up to the time I left here, not a dollar's worth of farm produce had been exported from the county, and but few if any of the farmers had grown more grain than would suffice for planting the following year. All the breadstuffs consumed by the population at that time were imported. There was no flouring mill, and I do not think there was a single reaper in the county, though there may have been one or two. Salt pork and starch gravy was the regular bill of fare. I remember the first summer I was here I had occasion to go to Chatfield, and returning on foot, a short distance this side of that place I saw some pie-plant growing in a farmer's garden, a package of which I purchased at a fabulous price, and carried all the way home as a rare and not easily obtained luxury. And I so far remember those old pioneer days that sometimes when my wife suggests that there is little variety in our table bill of fare, and she would like a change, I go down town, carry up a piece of salt pork and say to her, 'there my dear; a little salt pork, with starch gravy, n la Albert Lea, if yoii please;' and we enjoy it as much and even more than we would have relished the luxuries which were not attainable in those piiineer days.

Now I am told that Freeborn county, instead of importing its breadstuffs, exports annually wheat to the extent of over a million and a quarter of bushels, and other farm products in proportion. Most heartily do I congratulate you. people of Freeborn county, and the old settlers particularly, upon what you have accomplished. Where twenty years ago was a dreary waste I see now a most beautiful city, with costly buildings, elegant residences, fine hotels, churches, and schools, thriving villages, and on every hand fields of waving grain, lowing herds, and unmistakable evidences of material prosperity and wealth. Your patient perseverance has conquered a signal success, of which you are in every way worthy and deserving. May you continue to prosper, and that Heaven's choicest blessings may continue to fall upon you and yours, is the earnest prayer of one who has oftimes regretted that he did not remain to share the trials and hardships through which you have passed to a final jiarticipation in the grand triumph you have achieved. It is a beautiful custom you have inaugurated - this reunion of old settlers every year, when you meet like old soldiers, fight your battles over again, lay aside the cares of business, and forgetful of party strife and personal bickerings, cement anew thebonds of friendship, and that unity of sentiment and endeavor which has enabled you to conquer all obstacles and make yours the garden county of the garden State of the Union.