Stearns County, Minnesota - Incidents and Events, 1915

Destruction of the St. Cloud Visiter Printing Plant - Reminiscences of John Rengel - Reminiscences of George F. Brott - The Grasshopper Scourge - Decoration Day - The Boom of 1887 - Some Old Landmarks - Indian Wedding - A Young Recruit - Freshets - Letter of P. Lamb - Experiences of a Pastor's Wife - Meteorological Statistics - Creameries - Lime and Brick - Miscellaneous Notes.

Destruction of the St. Cloud Visiter's Printing Plant. - Within a few months after the arrival of Mrs. Jane G. Swisshelm in St. Cloud, in June, 1857, the Minnesota Advertiser, which had been started the first of the preceding January by George F. Brott and which had failed to receive proper support, was offered to her by the proprietor on the sole condition that she should continue its publication. Mr. Brott was an active townsite projector, having large interests in St. Cloud and other embryo metropolises in the northern part of the territory, and believed that a newspaper would aid materially in attracting new settlers. A published statement gave the receipts of the Advertiser from its start as having been $462.55, while the running expenses during the same time were $2,500, leaving a difference of $2,- 037.45 for Mr. Brott to pay personally as a contribution toward sustaining a newspaper in St. Cloud, this in addition to the $800 paid as the purchase price of the press and material. His proposition was accepted by Mrs. Swisshelm with the distinct understanding that she was to be at liberty to express such views editorially as she might see fit. It was well known that she was an out-and-out Abolitionist, while Mr. Brott was a Democrat, but by ro means extreme in his political views.

The first number of the St. Cloud Visiter, the name by which the paper was to be known under its new management, appeared December 10, 1857, with Mrs. Swisshelm as editor, and James Mowatt, a practical newspaper man who had . been in charge of the Advertiser, as publisher. The prospectus announced that it was hoped to publish the paper regularly each week, but as the number of patrons was limited, as the transportation of paper by wagon or sled was expensive, and as "a large proportion of the people must eat potatoes and cornmeal this winter for want of money to buy flour," it might not be possible to have a continuous weekly issue, but subscribers would be charged for only the numbers sent them. The political announcement included the declaration that "the Bible and the Constitution of the United States are anti-slavery, and human slavery is unconstitutional in any association professing to receive either as fundamental law.." The editorial columns were extremely radical in their opposition to slavery, the editor neither asking nor giving quarter, although freely throwing open the Visiter's columns to those who desired to present the opposite views.

The Democratic leader in Northern Minnesota and a man of strong personal influence was General Sylvanus B. Lowry, who had been connected with an Indian agency, had been a member of the territorial council and adjutant general of the territory. His voice was dominant in the party councils. A southerner by birth, he believed in slavery as being both right and constitutional. When approached to give pecuniary support to the Visiter, he declined to do so because of its abolition principles, but indicated that if the paper would support the administration of President Buchanan he would give it liberal assistance. Ostensibly accepting the proposition, Mrs. Swisshelm, in the Visiter of February 18, 1858, published an extended editorial article entitled, "A Change and the Reasons," in which while announcing preliminarily that the paper was to be an administration organ, supporting Mr. Buchanan's measures and advocating his reelection, made a most scathing attack, in the garb of ridicule, upon the president, his administration and his policies on the score of their affiliation with human slavery. Very soon afterwards, James C. Shepley, General Lowry's attorney, delivered a public lecture in which he assailed "women's rights' women," women who spoke in public, conducted newspapers or mingled in politics. In reviewing this lecture in the Visiter of March 18, 1858, Mrs. Swisshelm drew a pen picture of "coquettes," a class, she said, which had seemed to enjoy Mr. Shepley's especial favor and admiration.

On the mxorning of March 24, or past midnight of the twenty-third, the office of the Visiter (a small frame building on what is now First avenue south, near the foot of Tenth street) was broken into, the type thrown into the street and the Mississippi river and necessary parts of the press taken away and presumably also thrown into the river. On a table in the office was found a letter reading as follows:

"St. Cloud, March 24, 1858. - Editor of the Visiter: The citizens of St. Cloud have^ determined to abate the nuisance of which you have made the Visiter a striking specimen. They have decided that it is fit only for the inmates of brothels, and you seem to have had some experience of the tastes of such persons. You will never have the opportunity to repeat the offence in this town, without paying a more serious penalty than you do now. By order of the Commannder of Vigilance."

The people of the town, almost to a man and without regard to party, denounced this outrage against free speech and the liberty of the press. The following evening, March 25, a largely-attended meeting of citizens was held at the Stearns House, C. T. Stearns being chairman and N. N. Smith secretary. After an address by Mrs. Swisshelm, the chair appointed a committee on resolutions, consisting of T. H. Barrett, Leander Gorton, N. Mason, J. D. Hyke and Henry G. Kilbourn. In her address Mrs. Swisshelm made the direct charge that the destruction of the printing outfit had been the personal work of General S. B. Lowry. James C. Shepley and Dr. B. R. Palmer. The committee reported a strong series of resolutions in which the attempt to control the course of the Visiter was denounced; the fullest confidence was expressed in Mrs. Swisshelm, who was assured of support "in publishing whatever she pleases on all subjects and on all occasions, against all opposition, force or violence, from whatever source it may come," and the declaration made that "the St. Cloud Visiter shall be sustained and we will sustain it."

Another committee, consisting of Miles Brown. James Mowatt, N. N. Smith, J. E. West, Henry Swisshelm (a brother-in-law), H. J. Fowler and A. Scofield, was appointed to devise ways and means to ensure the speedy reestablishment of the Visiter.

While the citizen's meeting at the Stearns House was in progress a meeting called by Mr. Shepley at the Everett schoolhouse was addressed by him. In his speech he admitted that he had destroyed the Visiter office and said he was willing to abide the consequences, justifying his action by the claim that the article published in that paper reflected on his family.

In a letter dated March 29, to the St. Paul Pioneer and Democrat, James C. Shepley assumed the responsibility as "the principal actor" for the destruction of the printing office. He gave as justification for this that in reviewing his lecture on "Woman," Mrs. Swisshelm had "published an infamous attack" on his wife, although this review had mentioned no names and made no personal insinuations. She always maintained and publicly declared that the destruction of the office had been directly instigated by General Lowry for political reasons alone.

A number of the citizens formed a stock company and purchased a supply of new material, with which the paper made its reappearance May 13, 1858. At a somewhat later date a libel suit was brought by James C. Shepley against the stockholders of the paper, some twenty-five in number, in which damages to the amount of $10,000 was claimed by reason of the republication in the Visiter of the review of Mr. Shepley's lecture on "Woman," this being done by Mrs. Swisshelm to show that her "coquette" portrait had been that of a class and not of any one person, saying definitely in a separate editorial article that she had no thought of making any reflection on the character of Mrs. Shepley, whom she regarded as "a person of lady-like accomplishments and many good qualities, although not a model woman." A proposition having been made by Mr. Shepley's attorney to the members of the printing company to withdraw the suit provided a card of retraction should be published in the Visiter, "without comment and without repetition," and that there should be no further discussion of the destruction of the printing press and type in its columns, its acceptance was strongly urged by Mrs. Swisshelm. This was finally, although reluctantly, done by a majority of the persons comprising the company, although several refused to agree to the terms. The card was published in conformity with the proposition outlined and the suit was withdrawn. Mrs. Swisshelm immediately afterwards became the sole owner of the paper. She changed the name of the paper to the Democrat, the first number of which appeared August 5, with Jane G. Swisshelm's name at the head of the columns as editor and proprietor. It was ostensibly printed by "the two imps" of the office, whose "brethren of the Visiter had decamped," and contained an extended obituary of the St. Cloud Visiter, the demise of which was announced to have taken place July 29, 1858 - the date on which the proposed card of retraction had been published.

In the columns of the Democrat Mrs. Swisshelm resumed and continued the warfare on General Lowry and Mr. Shepley, along both political and personal lines. In later years, subsequent to treatment for a serious mental malady with which the former was afflicted, the controversy was permitted to die out and a comparatively friendly personal understanding with General Lowry followed.

The title of the action brought by Mr. Shepley in his libel suit for $10,000 damages was entitled: James C. Shepley and Mary F. B., his wife, against N. N. Smith, Stephen Miller and Henry Swisshelm, doing business as partners under the name of "Miller & Swisshelm," H. Z. Mitchell, James Mowatt, T. Jones, E. Child, A. J. Cutter, R. A. Smith, Geo. E. Kelly, J,. E. West, T. H. Barrett, C. T. Stearns, Frances Worcester, James F. Kennedy, Francis L. Smith, A. Scofleld, Henry Worcester, William R. Hughes, Francis Talcott, Miles Brown, H. J. Fowler, A. E. Hussey, J. W. Tuttle, John Emerson, John D. Hyke, Leander Gorton, W. Garcelon and J. N. Mason associated together as "a Mechanical Corporation," under the name, style and title of "The St. Cloud Printing Company."

The summons and complaint were dated at Sauk Rapids, June 8, 1858, and the complaint was sworn to by James C. Shepley before I. H. Day, justice of the peace; Edward O. Hamlin being the plaintiff's attorney.

Reminiscences of John Rengel. - I was born in Rhine, Prussia, August 15, 1830; arrived in America with my parents August 1, 1847. Lived on a farm in Illinois until 1855, coming to Minnesota April 6, 1855; leaving St. Paul for St. Cloud Easter morning, meeting J. P. Wilson at Big Lake. When I reached my destination there was but one house in the place. We made our claims, and my brother-in-law, John Schwartz, went to Chicago leaving me in charge of his claim. While he was gone some men with surveyors tried to jump the claim and burn his house. After considerable argument they left. While working at the Schwartz house I went to see my partner, Anton Ruehle. He was covering his shanty when one of the party of men with the surveyors came along and tried to make trouble for us. Then I went back to Schwartz's and found the surveyors on his land. I ordered them to leave, which they did when my cousin appeared with his gun. Previous to that time they had burned a house Mr. Schwartz had built and they would have burned this one had I not been there. We were not disturbed further for a month.

Father Pierz came at that time and established the parish of St. Cloud, saying his first mass in the log house belonging to Mr. Schwartz, which I had put a roof on while Mr. Schwartz was in Chicago, where he married my sister. The altar was prepared by cutting tamarack poles which were driven into the ground, there being no floor, and on these poles were placed boards which were covered with clean sheets. The first mass was said May 20, 1855, about twenty-five persons being present. Mr. Schwartz returned that afternoon with his wife, when we finished the house so that we could live in it. He

As it was necessary to have seed potatoes, I agreed to go to Long Prairie, sixty miles distant, with oxen and get some. After going twenty miles, I met Anton Edelbrock. who said he had bought all the potatoes that were there, but offered to pay me one dollar a bushel for hauling them down. I went, returning with twenty-eight bushels, of which I bought fifteen bushels, and Mr. Edelbrock sold the rest for $2.50 a bushel.

One day while I was cutting wood on my claim a team loaded with lumber, accompanied by eight men, drove up. I asked them what they wanted and they said they intended making a claim there. I told them they would have to kill me before they got me off the land. They began unloading the lumber, and as soon as a board struck the ground I split it with my axe. This was repeated, when a man with an axe threatened to strike me with it. Just then Mr. Schwartz with four other men appeared. C. Bridgman came up and told the party to take up the pieces that were split and they drove off.

John Becker sold his relinquishment to a man by the name of Stokes from Tennessee. John Tenvoorde took charge of Stokes's claim, as the latter was a nonresident. The law at that time required that a married man must live on his land and three young men from Sauk Rapids jumped the place. Then the people got the claim association together to move the three boys off. After much urging, Mr. Schwartz and I consented to go with them. Three team loads of men started for the place, leaving the teams at Mr. Keough's, about half a mile this side of the claim, walking the rest of the way. The boys were ordered to get out of the shanty, which they did. The crowd then tore down the shanty, took out the beds, piled all together and set fire to the heap. While the demolished shanty was burning, a number of the men, against the protest of myself and one or two others, took the three boys and switched them, afterwards tying their hands behind them and marching them to where the teams had been left. It was freezing cold weather and the young fellows suffered from their hands being tied. They were then taken to St.

Cloud to a newly-built warehouse, where they were again whipped by one of the crowd with a black-snake whip. Later another fellow proposed repeating the punishment and when I objected I was set upon by several of the crowd and beaten over the head with the black-snake whip and the butt of a pistol. I had great difficulty in getting out after my brother-inlaw came to my assistance Very soon a crowd came from Sauk Rapids and threatened to blow up the building unless the boys were released, which was done soon afterwards. We heard nothing more about them until the land was put on the market, Stokes having filed on the claim, as had also the boys. Before Stokes could secure the land he had to pay them five hundred dollars for the whippings they had received. (This case, while typical of much of the spirit of the claim-jumping, a claim association performance of those days was somewhat extreme, and was the occasion of great local excitement with much threatened litigation. - Editor.)

In 1856 Mr. Schwartz and I raised some wheat, but there was no mill near by where we could have it ground. It so happened that two old bachelors had a big coffee mill which two men could turn by hand, so we took some of the wheat and ground it into flour from which our bread was made, and it certainly tasted good when we came home tired and hungry. We made flour that way until about New Year's, when I took a load of wheat to Elk River, about thirty-flve miles from St. Cloud, where there was a grist mill, and had it ground. As we were returning home I tried to get water for my oxen. Some people told me where the water hole was and I found it after I had fallen in. Before I could climb to the bank of the river my clothes were frozen stiff and I could not walk. A couple of men helped me to the house and gave me some clothes which were about half as big as those I had been wearing. The next morning we started for home and when about five miles up the line at Clear Lake we got some water, the first the oxen had in twenty-four hours. Two other men were with me, Mr. Hartman and Mr. Spinneweber, and when we got within a mile of St. Cloud their oxen gave out, the snow being so deep, so they had to leave their

From the Autobiography of the Late George F. Brott. - In 1854 I met Governor Ramsey at Sauk Rapids returning from a trip to Pembina. He gave me a descrip- - tion of the beautiful Sauk river valley, its rolling prairies interspersed with timber and many clear water lakes stocked with fish. The Sauk river flows into the Mississippi opposite the town of Sauk Rapids, which then was but a trading post. I concluded that at or near the mouth of Sauk river would be a good site for a town, but at that time it was included in the Winnebago reservation, which soon after was ceded to the United States. The Winnebago Indians floated down the Mississippi in their "dugouts" and then paddled up the Minnesota to their new reservation.

Anton Edelbrock was the first to occupy the present site of St. Cloud above the ravine. I purchased from him an interest in his claim, also all that portion below the ravine extending to the ridge or boundary of the highlands. I also purchased another claim adjoining below which was covered with timber. I offered to share with my partner (Robert Cummings) in the purchase, but he declined. I then formed a partnership with Orin Curtis, afterward mayor of St. Anthony, to be known as Brott & Curtis. In the month of April, 1855, I left St. Anthony with a two-horse wagon loaded with a cooking stove and food supplies, together with spades, carpenter's tools, blankets, etc. When we reached Emmerson's log house on the east side we found that the ice still covered the river, but was not safe for the weight of our team, so we tied a rope to our cooking stove and hauled it across by hand, and in like manner we crossed all of our load. I had with me J. C. Shepley, Newton N. Smith and a Mr. Shepherd. We first built a shelter of logs to sleep in. Soon after I erected a two-story log house which was occupied by Sisson and Seymour as a residence and hotel. The next improvement was a sawmill, then a threestory hotel, known as the Stearns House, kept for years by the Hon. C. T. Stearns, for whom the county is named.

meeting in St. Anthony with his brother (J. P. Wilson) and me he named our town St. Cloud. During this time the title to the land was still in the government, as the lands were not yet surveyed. The upper portion or Wilson's claim was held under the townsite act and my portion under an act of congress granting to mail contractors west of the Mississippi in territories the right to preempt 640 acres at each of their stations twenty miles apart. I had been granted a special contract from the post office department to carry the mails from Minneapolis to St. Cloud on the west side of the river, and I made St. Cloud one of my stations and claimed my rights under this act. I afterwards got a special act from Congress to enter my claim where there was no prior preemption right.

About this time I became the managing owner of the steamboat H. M. Rice, which with the Governor Ramsey made regular trips from Minneapolis to St. Cloud. The owner of the Ramsey purchased the boat and made expensive repairs in order to run the boat in opposition to the steamer Rice. This resulted in cheap transportation and his financial ruin.

In order that the merits of the Sauk valley and St. Cloud in particular should be well advertised I at the time purchased a printing press and type of the Hon. Joe Brown, one of Minnesota's historical pioneers. The paper was christened the Minnesota Advertiser, one page of which was occupied by a map of the state, on which St. Cloud was very prominent with many imaginary railroads from all points of the compass centering there. Referring to the map, the St. Paul Pioneer stated that "Brott's gas town was like the signs of the zodiac or like the sun in the sidereal heavens, while St. Paul was no more than a fly speck." I edited the paper for about a year, but found that it took' too much of my time, besides I had no fighting man to attend to that branch of the business, and on two occasions came very near having my earthly career cut short. I was fortunate in securing the services of Henry W. Cowles, a graduate of Yale college, as editor, relieving me of that responsibility. Mrs. Jane G. Swisshelm, a very noted writer, visited our embryo city soon afterwards, and wanted to know on what terms

I would sell the Advertiser. I was looking for an opportunity to dispose of my elephant and suggested in reply that I would make her a present of the establishment if she would advertise by editorials, etc., our town and locality to induce immigration, and that she would be free to advocate women's rights or anybody else's rights. On these terms the Advocate was made over to Mrs. Swisshelm, whose advanced theories so wrought up James C. Shepley that he gave a lecture and had for his theme the class of women of which Mrs. Swisshelm was a type. In the next issue of the Advertiser she wiped the floor with Mr. Shepley, using him for a mop. This so angered him that he with others forced an entrance into the printing establishment at night and dumped the type and press into the Mississippi river. The citizens at once bought her a new press and type and she continued the publication of the paper until it was merged into the St. Cloud Journal, now one of the most influential papers in the state.

In 1856 our city of St. Cloud was growing rapidly. I gave quit-claim deeds to lots, as the land was still unsurveyed and title not acquired from the government. Among the settlers had come enterprising lawyers who concluded that my claim to the townsite could be successfully contested, as my mail contract was a special one instead of being obtained at a regular letting. Several of the parties who had purchased city lots filed claims to forty acres each on my station claim; also the Northern Pacific railroad contested for a fractional section, which, being an odd number, they would be entitled to under the land grant act had there been no prior right. The cases were decided in my favor at the local land office and afterwards appealed to the land office at Washington. This appeal to Washington caused me to go there to engage counsel and look after my land case. The property was in litigation eleven years before I succeeded in securing my title. The tract claimed by the Northern Pacific railroad continued in litigation and was appealed to the supreme court of the United States, and a decision was rendered in my favor after a lapse of thirty years.

sent men to occupy three points as townsites, one at the mouth of the Bois de Sioux river, one at Graham's Point, an^ one at the mouth of the Cheyenne river. A number of ox teams and wagons with canvas covers were purchased, each wagon having painted on the canvas in large letters, "The Red River Land Company," and were paraded through the streets of St. Paul as an advertisement. The machinery for a large sawmill was ordered from Woodruff & Beach, of Hartford, Conn., to cost $15,000. I was the only one of the company who had any property subject to execution and I became alarmed at so much indebtedness, as everything had been bought on credit. It resulted in my purchasing the interest of my partners and in forming a new company composed of, including myself, Henry T. Welles, John J. Knox, Richard Chute, Franklin Steele, Henry M,. Rice, H. H. Sibley and McKubbin & Edgerton. I called on the secretary of war, Mr. Floyd, with letters and documents and had Fort Abercrombie established at Graham's Point. Our location near the mouth of the Cheyenne was where the town of Moorhead, opposite the city of Fargo, is now located. We abandoned the lower settlements and concentrated at the junction of the Siouxwood and the Ottertail, which form the Red river. The townsite embraced about 3,000 acres, the title to which was secured with half-breed scrip. We named our city after Vice-President Breckenridge and the county after Senator Toombs (now Wilkin county). I afterwards met the vice-president at Kirkwood's in Washington and told him that if he did not change his political course he would ruin our town named after him. He replied that I would live to see his course approved by the country. Afterwards he became a general in the Confederate army, which was one of his mistakes.

In March, 1857, I fitted out seven teams loaded with supplies, farming implements, seeds, etc., to go to Breckenridge. I employed Pierre Botineau to guide the teams as the old Red river trail was then covered with more than a foot of snow. T. H. Barrett, afterwards a general in the Union army, went with the party to make the surveys for the new city. The estimated distance from St. Cloud to Breckenridge was 170 miles. The men that were with the expedition erected quarters for their domicile not unlike a lumber camp, about 40 feet long by 20 feet wide, and this camp house was the commencement of the town of Breckenridge, now the county seat of Wilkin county. The whole county around is one vast, treeless prairie. Owens in his geological report says that it is the most level spot on earth.

The sawmill machinery purchased at Hartford arrived at St. Paul on the last boat of that year. The boilers, engines, pulleys, etc., weighed 55 tons and the bill of freight amounted to $4,000. (Mr. Brott narrates at some length the difficulties he encountered in meeting this claim and securing possession of the machinery.) I was two years hauling this machinery with ox teams but finally got it in running order. I had a lumber camp in the Ottertail region where the logs could be floated down to Breckenridge. When I had sufficient lumber sawed I erected a four-story hotel with a cupola which could be seen 15 miles. During the Sioux war of 1862 this hotel and the sawmill were burned by the Indians, who at the same time had invested Fort Abercrombie and burned the outhouses.

Mr. Brott gives a history of the location of the townsite of Alexander in 1857. Alexander and William Kinkead, both well known during after years in St. Cloud, of which the latter became a resident, had built a cabin on the shores at White Bear lake (now Whipple lake, at Glenwood, Pope county) with a view of laying out a townsite there. Mr. Brott, being consulted in the matter, advised that they select a location on the line of the proposed state road from St. Cloud to Breckenridge. At the end of a day's journey they camped at the spot finally selected for their town and Mr. Brott christened the embryo city Alexandria in compliment to Alexander Kinkead. Mr. Brott adds, "Soon after my return to St. Cloud a commodious log house was constructed for a tavern and our townsite was surveyed into lots by a man named Ball. Peter L. Gregory occupied the house with his family and received as a bonus the house and a square of ground. He subsequently sold his interest to a man named Brown, from Indiana, who became landlord for a time and

The Grasshopper Scourge. - The grasshoppers, or Rocky Mountain locusts as they are sometimes called, made their first appearance in Minnesota in the years 1856 and 1857, when they played sad havoc with gardens and fields. Their ravages in this part of the state began at the Crow Wing agency, there being nothing west of that place for them to devour except the grass on the prairies and the leaves on the trees. They were of an unusually large size, and when they came to a field of grain the ground was quickly left bare. Some of the settlers who had gardens thought to save their vegetables by covering them with blankets, but this was in vain, as the grasshoppers ate their way through the blankets to the choice green growth beneath. David Oilman, one of the first settlers at Watab, had a fine field of about fifty acres of wheat ready for the cradle. Thinking that if it were cut and lying on the ground it would escape the ravages of the pests, Mr. Oilman with a large force of men worked all night by moonlight and cut the entire lot, but during the next forenoon a cloud of grasshoppers settled on the field and by night not a kernel of wheat was to be found. They traveled about ten to fifteen miles a day, and their whereabouts was known by the track of desolation they left behind. Great hardship was inflicted on the scattered settlers of those early days in Stearns county, whose fields were stripped and having no surplus from previous years to depend on, many were reduced to hard straits. But they were by no means discouraged, and as the grasshoppers did not deposit their eggs here there was no return to the scene of devastation the next year.

The results which followed their second appearance in 1873, were altogether different, as after devouring every green thing in the fields they deposited their eggs, which were hatched out the following spring. As the numbers of grasshoppers multiplied, the territory they occupied widened. They covered not only gardens and fields, shrubs and trees, but houses and barns, wagons and fences, and were so thick at times on the railway track that their crushed bodies prevented the wheels from taking hold and trains v/ere actually stopped. When they rose for a further migration the sound of their wings was little short of deafening, and their unnumbered millions formed clouds which partially obscured the light of the sun. Their fluttering bodies reaching up and up into the air and stretching for miles, shimmering in the light, presented a most remarkable spectacle, but not a welcome one until the time came when they took their final departure, which was not until 1877. For five consecutive years had they taken possession of the land, devouring the substance of the people, whose courage never failed them and who continued to plant and sow hoping to be able to gather and reap.

Every conceivable method of fighting the pests was employed by the farmers, among the most favored being the "hopperdozer," a simple piece of mechanism made of sheet iron with a trough filled with tar into which the insects were forced as the machine, drawn by horses, passed over the field. Deep trenches were dug in the pathway of their march, and they were gathered by the bushels, but without very encouraging results in most instances.

The scourge had become so serious by 1876 that in compliance with a request from Governor Pillsbury, of Minnesota, a convention of delegates from the different states and territories affected was held at Omaha to take concerted action for the extermination of the pests and to secure from congress a thorough investigation of the means to be employed for the general protection from future incursions. In his message to the legislature of 1877, Governor Pillsbury gave this subject a large space. Appropriations were made for the purchase of seed grain for farmers whose crops had been destroyed, and the governor gave the local conditions throughout the state his personal investigation. In response to the requests of the churches in the spring of that year he issued a proclamation appointing April 26 as a day of fasting and prayer for deliverance from this long-continued aflaiction. It is a coincidence worthy of record that at practically the time designated for these services the grasshoppers disappeared, and

Decoration Day. - The first observance of Decoration Day in St. Cloud was May 30, 1885, the exercises being under the direct charge of the newly-organized M. McKelvy Post of the G. A. R. A procession formed at 10 o'clock in the forenoon, headed by the St. Cloud Guards, whose ranks were parted to make room for the old soldiers, forty-two in all, including several members of the Sauk Rapids organization. In the procession were a hundred or more conveyances filled with citizens.

The first halt was at the Catholic cemetery, where the Decoration Committee, consisting of Commander Perkins, Harvey Raymond and C. T. Smith, placed flowers on the graves of the soldiers buried there: Anton Tremp, private, Company G, Fourth Minnesota Infantry; Joseph Tremp, private, Company G, Fourth Minnesota Infantry; Michael Lauermann, private. Company D, Minnesota Mounted Rangers; George Heinen, private. Company D, Minnesota Mounted Rangers; Gerhard Lieser, private. Company D, Minnesota Mounted Rangers. Proceeding to North Star Cemetery, a halt was made by the grave of Judge James M. McKelvy, for whom the post was named, and here the Decoration Day ceremonies of the order were held, led by Commander G. S. Spencer and Judge L. W. Collins, and the graves of the followingnamed comrades were strewn with flowers: James M,. McKelvy, captain. Company I, Seventh Minnesota Infantry; Caleb West, private. Company I, Seventh Minnesota Infantry; M. C. Tolman, surgeon. Second Minnesota Infantry; Ambrose Freeman, lieutenant, Company D, Minnesota Mounted Rangers; William Kinkead, lieutenant. Second Minnesota Battery; Fred Schilplin, lieutenant. Company I, Third Minnesota Infantry; Charles Leug, captain. Company G. Fourth Minnesota Infantry; Fred Wyman, private. Company A, Minnesota Mounted Rangers. An address was delivered by the Rev. J. K. Chandler, the exercises closing with the singing of America.

Decoration Day was also observed by the F. W. Johnston Post, G. A. R., at Fair Haven, where the graves of the departed veterans were decorated with flowers, and addresses were delivered by the Rev. R.

During each succeeding year at St. Cloud May 30 has been observed as Memorial Day. The exercises have included a procession, singing of patriotic songs, reading of Lincoln's Gettysburg address, invocation and prayer and usually a formal address. In the earlier days these exercises were at the North Star cemetery, but later were at Empire Park or the Davidson Opera house. The decoration of the graves has followed the general exercises.

The following is a list of the speakers who dlivered the address subsequent to 1885: 1886 - Lieutenant Governor G. A. Gilman, the Hon. D. B. Searle and D. W. Bruckart. 1887 - A procession was formed which marched first to the Catholic and then to the North Star cemetery. Here, following other brief exercises. Judge L. W. Collins read the order instituting and calling for the observance of Decoration Day, issued May 6, 1868, by General John and breadth of the country in 1886-88. The symptoms were rather mild in 1886, reaching their most serious aspect the year following, andp Tactically passing away by the close of 1888, A wild scramble was made for real property in the immediate vicinity, and even for several miles out. The most reckless prices were paid, and enough acreage was platted into city lots to provide homes for a population of fifty to a hundred thousand souls. Syndicates were frmed and farms that under ordinai-y circumstances would not have had a market value of over a hundred dollars an acre were scrambled for by eager buyers at from three hundred to a thousand dollars per acre. For one tract, when the 'boom" was at its crux, the owner was offered fifteen hundred dollars per acre, which he refused, and the syndicate of would-be purchasers afterwards regarded his refusal as the best streak of luck they had had during the entire season. Everybody was eager to buy lots, prices fairly doubled over night and real estate agents were knee-deep in clover.

The immediate cause of this speculative fever in St. Cloud was the improvement of the water power in the Mississippi river and the location of the Great Northern Shops at this place. But aside from these, the microbe was in the air, and our citizens were simply in a fit mental condition for it to get in its deadly work. As is almost invariably the case when prices of real estate are unduly inflated, the bottom dropped out of the boom, many were disappointed and not a few were financially seriously embarrassed. For a time the effect was to retard the natural development of the city, but the recovery, while gradual, was substantial and the growth which followed has been healthful, the demand for lots for improvement and occupancy reaching past the city proper out into the multitude of additions platted trom farm acres.

It may be worth while to note some of the syndicates formed during the boom days - practically all in 1887 - and the property purchased to be platted as additions:

Waite Park - Comprising the Carter, Becker and Hollenhorst farms, about 350 acres, $36,000; H. C. Waite, John Cooper and D. E. Myers of St. Cloud, H. P. Upham and Howard James, St. Paul. Collins Addition, 40 lots. $7,600; F. E. Searle, Baldwin. Tolman & Troutman, W. B. Mitchell,

C. W.. Kingsbury, C. S. Mitcliell. Water Power Co. land. East St. Cloud, 80 acres, $10,000; C. D. Kerr, T. P. Wilson, St. Paul. Prospect Park, 20 acres, $5,000; O. W. Baldwin, P. Tolman, L. T. Troutman. John Rengel, Sr., farm, 130 acres, $10,400; W. L. Rosenberger and H. C. Metzl. From this, 20 acres was sold to E. J. Myers, St. Paul, for $6,000 and 20 acres for $6,000 to C. F. Macdonald, M.. J. Nugent, F. Fandel, J. A. Donahue and Wm. Russell. J. W. Metzroth purchased of Jos. Hall for $10,- 000 ten acres of land a short distance west of Lake George, which afterwards became Metzroth's Addition. L. W. Collins bought of J. W. Tenvoorde, eight acres just west of the city liimts, comprising all of the Tenvoorde homestead, except two acres surrounding the house, for $600 per acre.. This was platted as Collins' Second Addition. A tract of 113 acres on the east side, belonging to Governor Alex. Ramsey, J. P. Wilson, N. P. Clarke and others was platted as St. Cloud Park. Another east side tract, south of the dam, owned by

The Everett School house. - This building, the first schoolhouse erected in Stearns county, has been torn down and removed, says the St. Cloud Journal-Press of October 27, 1887. It was built in 1856 by citizens of St. Cloud, the site being selected for its convenience, but there was no title to the lot save that of occupancy. It was not until the winter of 1857 that the building was lathed, plastered and made properly habitable. It was named for the Hon. Edward Everett, of Boston, the wellknown author and orator, who in 1858, in recognition of the compliment, sent to the school a carefully selected library of 130 volumes, which for years did good service to young and old, and the remains of which are now in the city library. The district in these early days, we are told by C. Bridgman, one of the first directors, extended to the township limits, and outside of "lower town" was a howling wilderness with hardly half a dozen families in it. It is about twenty years since the building has been used at all for school purposes. In the early days it was used for church meetings and party gatherings, and afterwards for all First ward caucuses and the polling place for that ward for all elections.

Some Old Landmarks. - The original Central House building has been torn down (says the St. Cloud Journal-Press of March 22, 1883,) and has passed into history. It was one of the first frame houses built in St. Cloud, having been commenced in July, 1855, and finished that season, Wolfgang Eich doing the work for Anton Edelbrock. The frame was made of tamarack poles, some of the sills being single pieces a foot square and over forty feet long and all perfectly sound. At the time it was built there were only two other frame buildings in town. John L. Wilson had a small dwelling built in 1854, on the property that is now in the city park, which was moved a year or so ago and is now occupied by R. A. Armstrong; and Joseph Edelbrock had a small dwelling on the lot opposite the Central, which was finished about the time the Central was begun. Besides these houses a few log cabins were all there then was of the present city of St. Cloud. That was twenty-eight years ago, and last week $150 a front foot was refused for a vacant lot in the same block. The first landlord of the Central was Anton Edelbrock, who used a half bushel measure as a cash box and put it under his bed for safe keeping. County Commissioner Pierz says that he has often seen that measure in early days nearly full of gold pieces. The second landlord was James Lusky, the Ihird Willis, the fourth Silsby, the fifth the present proprietor, J. E. Hayward, who on the twelfth of the month will have been host almost uninterruptedly for twenty years, and it is to be hoped that he may be host in his handsome new hotel for twice twenty years to come. The old building has been on fire on an average of once or twice a year since it was built, but it seemed impossible to burn it down. Peter Smith has purchased the old timbers and will rebuild the house in the same form on a lot in block 32, near the old Washington House, for rent as a tenement.

Almost the only landmark of St. Cloud's earliest days still left standing is a log building located at No.. 20 Sixth avenue south, at the rear of the business building of that number. It is a low, one-story structure of logs and with the exception of a porch at the south side is exactly as it was when originally built in 1855 by Joseph Niehaus. There is a small loft, entrance to which was gained by means of a ladder placed against the gable end. Low, old-fashioned windows of small panes of glass gave light to the interior. In 1857 the building was sold by its owner to B. Rosenberger, who in turn in May of the following year sold it to Bernard Overbeck, by whom for several years it was used as a hotel. Besides being used as a hotel and saloon, one corner was utilized as a courtroom and men were tried for offenses against the law within its log walls. Charles Ketcham was a justice in those days and stories are told of how he would fine a witness or an attorney "the drinks" for the crowd for some infractions of the rules of practise as laid down by the court. The loft was the general sleeping place and it was not an uncommon thing for twenty men to find lodging between the roof and the ceiling of the first floor. The building is still in a good state of preservation.

In making repairs on the Stearns House in 1869 for occupancy as a normal school the old log house which stood a few roda below it was torn down. It was built in 1855, and was said to be the first house in lower town and the third in St. Cloud. It was occupied first as a hotel, and sheltered beneath its roof many of those whose names are associated with the early days of the town - Brott, Stearns, Sisson, Curtis, Taylor and others. The first paper in St. Cloud, the Minnesota Advertiser, was printed in this log house in 1857. As the town grew this "old settler" degenerated into a shop, and finally into a lumber and storage room for the Stearns House. It is unfortunate that it could not have been preserved as a memento of the days of St. Cloud's beginnings, and a place on the Normal campus might have been provided.

The old Normal Home, formerly the Stearns House, is being torn down (May 17, 1895). In its day it was the largest and finest hotel building north of Minneapolis. It was built (in 1855-56) and run by C. T. Stearns, one of the first settlers of St. Cloud and the man for whom Stearns county was named. Many of the old settlers in Northern Minnesota stopped there in the early days and it has a historic place in St. Cloud's annals. It was beautifully located on the high bluffs of the Mississippi and when the old Burbank & Co.'s stages drawn by four big horses would each evening dash down the road with the horses on the gallop, the driver cracking his long whip and the warning toot of the horn was heard, every man, woman and child who could get there saw the grand entre and watched the passengers descend. In those days this house was the practical head of navigation, while later it was chosen as the location of the Third state Normal school and for years was used as the school building. Later it was made the first ladies' home in the state and now has been sold to A. G. Whitney for a few dollars, the material to be used in building farm houses.

An Indian Wedding. - The first Indian wedding ever performed in St. Cloud - and the last - was on November 16, 1862, when Elizah Tanner married Agnes McGillis, of Crow Wing, the ceremony being performed at the American House by L. A. Evans, justice of the peace. The father of the groom was a civilized Chippewa Indian, who for many years had been an interpreter and had lectured on Indian affairs in the eastern cities. At the outbreak of the Sioux war both father and son had joined the state troops, going with Captain Berger's command to the relief of Fort Abercrombie.

A Young Recruit. - St. Cloud had the distinction of furnishing one of the youngest, if not the youngest, soldiers who entered the Union army during the Civil War. This youth was Lawrence Garlington (a nephew of Judge J.. M. McKelvy) who enlisted as a drummer boy for Captain J. E. West's command, Company I of the Seventh Minnesota Volunteers, in November, 1862, when but a few weeks over thirteen years of age, and was discharged July 4, 1865, for disability. He lived some twenty years after the close of the war.

Freshets. - Fortunately the topography of Stearns county renders it immune from the floods which almost annually bring great losses - sometimes reaching the proportion of terrible disasters, involving not only destruction of property, but a terrible toll of human lives - in so many other parts of the country. The Mississippi river, which borders the county on the east and is the great drainage artery by which all surplus water is carried away, has high banks which are a sure protection against anything in the nature of a flood. The stage of water in some of its tributaries at times has been suflScient to sweep away bridges and dams, to overflow meadows and fields, but the damage has been in the aggregate comparatively slight and there have been few if any lives lost. In the following paragraphs an account is given of the freshets which have been most noteworthy.

A freshet on the night of September 2, 1865, swept out the dam at J. L. Wilson's sawmill at St. Augusta; the boom at Sims & Arnold's sawmill at the mouth of Sauk river was broken and the logs carried down the Mississippi, many lodging in Tobey's boom; and the bridge across Sauk river at Cold Spring was swept away.

The worst freshet known in the history of Stearns county, or of Minnesota, since 1850, occurred July 17 and 18, 1867. Heavy and continuous rains raised the Mississippi river and its tributaries far beyond their usual stage, with much resulting damage. In St. Cloud the sawmills were the chief sufferers. At Bridgman's mill 300,000 feet of logs were swept away and the entire machinery in the mill was under water. His loss amounted to about $5,000. Tobey & Co. lost 1,000,000 feet of logs, and their loss, including the damage to machinery, reached $16,000. The lower floor of J. H. Owen & Co.'s factory and planing mill was covered to the depth of three feet, but the machinery was not injured. The boiler in Dr. Hunter's shingle mill at the mouth of the ravine was carried away, but the frame of the mill was left standing. Wright's, Wilson's and Fowler's ferries all suffered, and for several days crossing of the Mississippi at this place was done in small boats.

The Union flouring mills owned by Gorton & Burbank, and located on Sauk river, about three miles from St. Cloud, was saved by the building of a dike, the water having risen twelve feet. At the Sauk City saw and grist mills, located about one mile farther down Sauk river and owned by Sims & Arnold, the water completely covered the dam and the lower part of the mills. A large quantity of logs and lumber were carried away, but the dam stood the strain. The loss was $1,000. The building In which C. W. Clark's carding mill, close to Sims & Arnold's mill, was wrecked by the flood, the machinery having been removed to a place of safety. A large quantity of wood was lost. The building was owned by F. Arnold.

At Sauk Centre the water in Sauk lake lose rapidly and notwithstanding the untiring efforts of the citizens swept away the dam built at the mouth of the lake where it empties into Sauk river, completely submerging the grist mill, which in less than five minutes afterwards was a total wreck. The terrific force of the water rapidly wore away the banks, and soon afterwards the miller's house, occupied by A. J.. Cannon, which stood ninety feet from the mill, was carried down the raging stream. During this time the water was rushing through and around the saw mill, which in the afternoon of Tkursday gave way and went down the stream. Fortunately this relieved the pressure against the opposite bank, saving the new mill. The cooper shop, owned by Moore & Mc-

Clure, shared the fate of the other buildings. With great difficulty the new brewery built by George Groover was saved. The residences of Dr. Palmer, Mr. Prendergast and others, located on the island, must inevitably have been swept away had not the waters from the lake worn a channel back of them into the river. The direct loss, amounting to $30,000, fell almost entirely on Moore & McClure, owners of the mills.

The solid character of the dam at Cold Spring saved that mill, and doubtless saved the Union and Sauk City mills from being swept away by the immense volume of water from Sauk Centre, which was held back, spreading into the lakes between Richmond and Cold Spring through which the Sauk river runs.

During these rains Webb's grist mill at Fair Haven was swept away, the large volume of water bursting through the dam. The mill was owned by Linscot, Vye and MayalL The saw mill was not injured.

The Clearwater mills dam on the Clearwater river, was carried out by high water on the night of May 25, 1868, together with the bridge below. The loss to the owners, Davis & Beal, was quite heavy, but they rebuilt the mill at once.

High water swept away the wagon bridge at the mouth of Sauk river on the night of April 10, 1873, and some of the earthwork near Arnold & Stanton's mill was carried away. The dam at J. E. Hayward's flouring mill, also on Sauk river, was partially destroyed, which decided Mr. Hayv^ard to build a much more substantial dam. The most serious damage was to the Sauk Rapids dam, two sections of two hundred feet each of the wing dam being carried away by the ice.

Letter of P. Lamb. - The following letter, hitherto unpublished, was written several years ago by the late P.. Lamb, of St. Cloud and Sauk Centre. It contains many interesting facts, given from personal knowledge, of the early days in Stearns county and other near-by parts of northern Minnesota.

to be the jumping off place in the West), and after a long and tedious journey arrived in St. Paul early in November. My destination being Watab, after a good deal of trouble I obtained transportation to that place. Watab at that time was an Indian trading post, being situated on the east side of the Mississippi river, just across from Winnebago Prairie, which was a subagency of the Winnebago Indians where there were about 500 of the tribe living in tepees. There were at Watab the trading houses of S. B. Lowry and Nathan Myrick and at Winnebago Prairie those of Manea & White and George Culver. At Watab there was a hotel, at that time called a stopping place, kept by a family named Lauterdale; a bakery owned by George Humphry and the dwelling house of David Gilman, who had made a claim there and moved with his family in 1848 or 1849 and had opened quite a farm. There was another small farm at Little Rock creek occupied by one Thomas Hardin. There was also another settlement on the bank of the river near what is now known as Rice station. John Depew kept a stopping place at the crossing of the Piatt river and had opened quite a farm. George Stone (I think in 1852) lived on what is now the town-site of Little Falls. There was also quite a settlement at Belle Prairie and Baldwin Olmstead had opened a farm across the river from Fort Ripley. These are, as I remember, all of the settlements as early as 1852.

"There were, as there always are, a good many hangers-on around the agency. In 1851 a treaty was made with Sioux for the land on the west side of the river. In 1852 I was in the employ of S. B. Lowry, and in the spring of 1853 he had one of the trading houses on Winnebago Prairie taken down and rafted; and Chris Highhouse, an old lumberman, H. G. Fillmore and myself ran the raft over Sauk Rapids to a point just below, and took it out and put it up again on the bank of the river on the squatter's claim made by S. B. Lowry. (Mr. Lamb's recollection is evidently at fault. The Lowry house was built of logs, as is testified to by a number of the old settlers still living here, and as is distinctly remembered by the editor of this history. The first frame house on the west side of the river above Minneapolis, was built at

St. Cloud by John L. Wilson in 1855, unless it be, as is claimed, that in 1852 a frame house was built at Otsego, Wright county, by John McDonald, of that place, and his son. - Note by Editor.) This was said at the time to be the first frame house on the vv'est side of the river above what is now the city of Minneapolis. Mr. Fillmore kept bachelor's hall here during the summer and broke up quite a large farm on the claim.

"About this time a Swede named Ole Burgson squatted on the claim adjoining Lowry on the south, upon whicla is now the city of St. Cloud, but getting into trouble with some one was obliged to leave the country and sold his right to John L. Wilson. There were several other claims made during the summer of 1853. This brings me up to the fall of 1853, when I left Minnesota and went to California, returning in 1857. I will not try to remember all the changes that have taken place since then, but will say, however, that on my return I found nearly all the land near St. Cloud claimed and occupied and on the old sub-agency ground at Winnebago Prairie were settled J. E. Hayward, Dr.. Tolman and others whom I cannot recall."

Experiences of a Pastor's Wife. - Those early years brought some experiences which are very amusing to look back at. although they were not so amusing at the time. The pastor at the beginning, found it necessary to teach school as well as preach, in order to live, as the salary paid by the Board of Home Missions was only $400. The first two years we received only $20 from the people. Ten of these dollars came in a rather amusing way. The pastor had preached the Thanksgiving sermon. A day or two after, Mr. L. C. met him on the street and told him that it was the best Republican sermon he ever heard and then gave him $5. Later the minister met Mr.. P. L., who told him that the same sermon was the best Democratic sermon he ever heard, and he gave the minister $5. There must have been some very shrewd straddling about that sermon.

When we came to St. Cloud, we found many things decidedly new and not all of them pleasant. At that time the railroad was built to Anoka only. The rest of the journey had to be made by stage. As there was not room on the stage for our trunks they were left at Anoka, where they remained for six weeks, and we had to get along with what we had in our grips. We took two rooms upstairs in a one and a half story house near the present Great Northern freight depot. People talk about high cost of living; that was a time when it certainly did cost more to live than it does now. We bought a No, 7 stove, without the necessary cooking utensils, and paid for it $47. A second-hand bedstead, with an old husk tick, but no springs, cost us $26. Three wooden-seat chairs and a kitchen table were the extent of our furniture. A bread tin was all we had to cook anything in, but as we lived mostly on bread and black-jack molasses, the cooking did not trouble us so very much. Coming from a country where truit was plentiful and finding here only dried apples, they seemed pretty dry, until we got used to them. The first can of peaches, such as are now called pie-peaches, cost 65 cents, and everything else on a like scale. Finding the work too hard upstairs, we moved into a small house near the present Great Northern freight office. Here we had only two small rooms and a shed at the rear. The floor was made of broad, unplaned boards, and these had shrunk so that the cracks were about a half inch wide. It was in this little house that we got our first missionary box, and this is the story of it. The Rev. Robert Sutton, pastor of the Central Presbyterian Church, St. Paul, sent us word that he would visit us and spend the Sabbath with us. It was good that he forewarned us. Then the question arose with terrible reality, "What shall we do with him?" We had no money to pay for him at the hotel, and we had but one bed. After considerable planning, we settled the matter by taking the boards that were laid down in the backyard for a walk and making a box, somewhat like a wagon box, then nailing bits of boards on the ends for feet. This we filled with hay which a kind neighbor furnished, and by letting the quilt hang over the ends and sides, it looked quite well. Then we had but one pair of pillows, which of course were given to him and we slept very well on the hay bed.

But the minister evidently had been closely observing things, for shortly after his return to St. Paul we received a rag carpet and a bureau, the drawers of which contained a pair of pillows and some clothing for the baby. When we put down the rag carpet we could do no less tnan kneel upon it and thank God for His mercies and ask His blessing upon the givers. Of all the good things we have since had, none has been more thoroughly appreciated than was that rag carpet. It was homely, the ends of the rags were knotted instead of being sewed, but it was a great comfort to us. Our next help was a real missionary box, which was sent to us from Philadelphia by express, with charges amounting to $22. We did not have the money, but by selling the best things we managed to raise the amount. What a help that box was! Missionary boxes are usually good things, but the senders should provide for the shipping expense. Without such help, the missionary could not stay on the poorer fields, where the people, however willing, could not give sufficient support to enable the missionary to live and carry on the work. - (By Mrs. E. V. Campbell.)

It may be noted in passing that while on December 26, the coldest day in the year 1914 in St. Cloud, the mercury registered 27 degrees below zero, it was 30 degrees below at Gloversville, 32 degrees at Ogdensburg and other points in New York; 32 degrees below at Pittsfield and various other places in Massachusetts; while Vermont registered 30 degrees below at Montpelier and 52 degrees below at Barre.

The following table gives the last killing frost in the spring and the first in the fall, with the length of the growing season: 1881, first April 12, last October 15, growing season 186 days. 1882, May 22, October

The heaviest rainfall during this period was in July, 1897, the total for the month being 12.81 inches, followed by 10.52 inches in the same month in 1903, 9.68 inches in May, 1912, and 9.49 inches in August, 1913.

Creameries. - In 1887 Stearns county had three creameries - Kemmel & Son and Woods & Buck at Sauk Centre, and J. Savercool at St. Cloud. There were three cheese factories at Sauk Centre, operated by S. Beidelman, W. R. James and Johnson & Stark. During the following seven years the progress in this direction was slow, there being in 1894 but four creameries in the county, located at Avon, Richmond, Melrose and Sauk Centre, with a total of 358 patrons. The next two years witnessed almost a revolution, the number of creameries having increased to 14 with 1,465 patrons.

The latest published statistics, those for 1913, give Stearns county 17 co-operative, 14 independent and 2 central creameries, 33 in all. The number of patrons is 2,824; number of cows, 28,516; pounds of cream received, 15,256.384; pounds of butter made, 5,330,536. The nearest competitor is Freeborn county, with 28 creameries, receiving 9.798,239 pounds of cream and making 4,351,001 pounds of butter. This excludes the two counties of Ramsey and Hennepin with the great centralizing , plants at St. Paul and Minneapolis.

It may not be known that Minnesota has nearly one-third (614) of the co-operative creameries in the United States. Their annual volume of business amounts to $21,- 675,252 - that much wealth coming directly to the farmers of the state, 42 per cent of whom are patrons of the co-operative creameries.

Lime and Brick. - St. Cloud was fortunate in having ready at hand the material both for lime and brick. A bed of marl was found in the low tract of land in the vicinity of Normal Park, where in the summer and fall of 1857 N. N. Smith began the manufacture of lime. It was made into the form of brick and burned. Among those who assisted in this were Wm. Holes, Andrew Holes, Carl Herberger and Wm. Cartledge. The manufacture of this lime was afterwards continued by J. E. West and H. J. Fowler. The product sold for from $1 to $1.75 per barrel. Lime from marl was made in 1865 by J. F. Noel and James Bowes.

Clay suitable for brick, although of an inferior quality, was discovered some distance south of the marl bed, and in the spring of 1857 J. Ladd burned a kiln of brick, which found a ready market at $6 per thousand. The business later passed into the hands of J. E. West. In 1864 brick w^ere made by H. J. Fowler, who continued the manufacture until 1868, although on a limited scale. They were red in color.

In the year 1858 a brick yard was opened a short distance north of Governor Gilman's present residence by George Dunton and Isaac Parks and brick of the prevailing red color were made for several years. Brick from these kilns were used in the Edelbrock building at the corner of St. Germain street and Fifth avenue, and of the Metzroth and Burbank buildings at the corner of St. Germain street and Sixth avenue. None of these deposits of clay were extensive and after a time were exhausted.

directory was issued in 1888 by E. F. Barrett. It was a book of 292 pages, and contained 2,800 names, with 217 from East St. Cloud. The second was published in 1892 by Chas. Pettibone & Co., who followed with biennial editions until 1903, which was the last by that firm. The field was taken in 1904 by John H. Ley, who has produced a very satisfactory directory from that date until the present time, the last having been Vol. VI in 1914, including the City of St. Cloud, Sauk Rapids, Waite Park and Sartell. In this edition St. Cloud has 5,199 names of persons above the age of eighteen years, and using the multiple of 21/^ this would indicate a population of 12,997; the same estimate giving Sauk Rapids a population of 1,938, Waite Park, 580, and Sartell, 288.

The first financial statement of Stearns county that was published covered the period from December 30, 1859, to September 3, 1860. The balance shown on the credit side was $6.19.

The government census for 1910 gave St. Cloud, with its population of 10,600, a total of 2,013 homes, being an average of about one home to each five of the inhabitants. Of these homes 849 were free, 279 were encumbered, and 827 were rented, the remainder being "unknown."

The completion of the new Catholic high school building in St. Cloud, costing approximately $70,000, was celebrated with appropriate exercises January 10-14, 1915.

The Tileston flouring mills, which had just been overhauled and put in excellent running order by its new owners, the Great Northern Flour Mills Company, was entirely destroyed by fire the evening of February 16, 1915. The loss was $135,000, with $71,000 insurance. The company proceeded at once to rebuild. At noon of the following day, February 17, a fire broke out in the storeroom of the Granite Tablet Company, located in the Carter block, causing $25,000 damage to the building and its occupants. The heaviest losers were the Tablet company, $12,500; the Freeman wholesale grocery company, John Carter (owner of the building), the Grinols com-

Mrs. Elizabeth "Watson, for 33 years a resident of Stearns county, died March 6 at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Rosena Morgan, at Holdingford. She was born in