Waseca County, Minnesota - Chapter 4: Organization, County Lines, and Coltnty Name, 1887

f attached to Rice for civil and judicial purposes. The territory it then embraced included all of the present county of Waseca together with the two western tier of townships in Steele. The eastern tiers of townships of Steele, as now formed, was then a part of Dodge County. The new county was named " Steele " in honor of Franklin Steele, of St. Anthony, a government contractor and a man of prominence in early days, who took an active interest in State politics, and made a large fortune early in the history of the State. - The settlement in the territory from which Steele was created was only fairly commenced at that time, as wiU be seen by reading other chapters in this volume. A few settlers had gathered about Medford, a few at Owatonna, and a scattering settler here and there throughout the balance of the county comprised its population at that time. During the early part of the year 1855, a great many additions were made to the various settlements. In the meantime the Abbotts - Ezra and John H. - had become interested here and in connection with A. B. Cornell and Wm. F. Pettit were laying the foundation for the future city of Owatonna. In the summer the plans for county organization were matured very quietly and in secret by the town proprietors of Owatonna, and parties went to St. Paul to see the territorial governor, Willis A. Gorman. A. B. Cornell was the prime mover in the matter. No petition was got up, nor were the settlers generally cognizant of the proposed attempt at organization, or they would undouljtedly have insisted upon having a hand in the matter, and having something to say as to who should be count}' officers. Cornell, together with a few others, got 'Squire Pierce to accompany them, and, when in the presence of the governor, Mr. Cornell asked that the county be organized, and presented a list of gentlemen for officers. The governor, a frank, whole-souled fellow, thought this was the desire of the citizens here and acceded. 'Squire Pierce until then had no knowledge of the scheme, but he said he could not go back upon Cornell at that time, so he kept quiet and the governor took him for one of the schemers. Afterward, some of the citizens here, meeting Gorman at Faribault, took him to task for his actions, and the governor was very wrathy, but it was too late - Steele was organized and he could not disorganize it. The result of this visit was the appointment of S. B. Smith, F. Intrram and F. W. Fisk as commissioners to organize Steele Countv. Several of the county offices were filled by appointment at the same time, although it has been impossible to find records which give a full list. The old settlers nearly all agree, however, that Charles Ellison was appointed register of deeds ; Simeon Case, prosecuting attorney; Smith Johnson, judge of probate ; J. H. Catlin, clerk of court, and Wm. F. Pettit, sheriff.

This all took place in the summer of 1855. The same fall, on the 9th of October, a general election was held for State officers, only one county officer being elected - WiUiam F. Pettit, sheriff. At this election everyone voted - whether they had been here one month or six - and there were about 117 votes polled in the county. It is impossible at this time to learn why only one county officer (sheriff) should have been elected, and some of the oldest and best-posted of the old settlers claim that it is a mistake ; others that it was merely a joke, yet as the records show it, this was the first election ever held in the county. The polling place at Owatouna was in the old log schoolhouse, or rather, a temporary structure of logs and brush, which stood near where the second ward school-building is now located. Dr. E. M. Morehouse was one of the clerks of this election, and D. B. Selleck one of the judges. At that time there was a good deal of rivalry between Owatonna and Medford, as each wanted to make as good a showing. as possible. At this election Smith Johnson, Dr. Finch and Isaac Sanborn came to Owatonna to watch the polls and prevent fraud, and they soon began challenging votes. At this, Cornell and Pettit got them aside and while they were arguing, the word went out to the boys to file in and vote. One party who attended claims that there were fiftythree illegal votes polled inside of thirty minutes. The difficulty between the two localities was not jiarticularly relating to the county-seat but more of a local jealousy or rivahy to get the start in a business sense.

It cited that when the Owatonna people were endeavoring to get a postoffice it was blocked by the Medford postmaster, Smith Johnson, Sr., refusing to sign the petition. The law in those daj's required that a petition for a postoffice must be signed by the nearest postmaster. Medford had secured the establishment of a postoffice first, and for a long time Mr. Johnson refused to sign the Owatonna petition.

Whether all of the county officers a])pointed by the governor in the summer of 1855 qualified or not, is impossible to say, yet it is known that many of them did. In July, 1856, the following is a list of the county officers who were serving, although how some of them came to hold the offices cannot be told. The list is taken from a copy of the Watchman and Register, dated July 29, 1856.

Justices of the peace : Addison Phelps and Seymour Howe for Owatonna precinct ; Sylvester McNitt for Franklin ; Smith Johnson, Sr., for Medford ; Simeon Smith for Swavesey ; and Curtis Hatch and J. A. Bassett for Empire.

Official matters moved along smoothly during this year, 1855-6. It appears that all deeds and official instruments were still being recorded in Rice County for some reason, and Steele County books were not opened for the reception of these instruments until in the autumn of 1856.

of officers, and a heated campaign followed, in which all hands throughout what is now Steele and Waseca Counties took an active part. The county-seat question was not the leading issue, as has been stated in several previously published histories, but it was more particularly over the question as to who should be leaders ; as one old settler puts it, it was " Cornell " or "anti-Cornell." Cornell was certainly quite an apt hand to stir up animosities and strife. He was active and energetic, unsparing to a foe, and was for " Cornell, first, last and all the time." This convention was called a " People's Convention," and was not particularly partisan, or in favor of any exclusive political party. In fact, creeds were hard to distinguish in those days. Cornell was nominated for the legislature, and was defeated at the polls by Kev. O. A. Thomas. James Connell was nominated for register of deeds, but Charles Ellison came out as an independent candidate and got Connell to withdi'aw. Park defeated Ellison a,t the polls. David Lindersmith was nominated for sheriff ; David Sanborn for treasurer; J. Bradish, of the present Waseca County, for attorney ; H. W. Peck, one of the proprietors of the town of Empire in what is now in Waseca County, for surveyor ; J. M. Bhvin, of Swavesey Township for coroner ; and Ezra Abbott for superintendent of schools. No convention was held to put an anti-Cornell ticket in the field, but the leading " anties " got togethei", and opposing candidates were announced for all of the offices, and in some cases half a dozen for each. G. W. Green led the opposition in what is now Steele County, while Lewis McCune and James E. Child, in what is now Waseca County, took an active part in opposing Cornell in the west end. Child was an able man, and directed his work chiefly against Cornell for representative and Ellison for register of deeds. The latter was something of a chameleon as to his political faith and a little inclined to chang-e with whomever he

The vote was badly spht up as will be seen by the official vote published in another chapter. A. B. Cornell and J. H. Abbott, in the meantime - in July, 1856, - had established a paper at Owatonna, under the name of the Watchman and Register and this took an active part in the campaign.

On the lith of October, 1856. the election came off. It was the first election of county officers. The offices were all fiUed as follows : Register of deeds, John W. Park ; sheriff, David Lindersmith ; treasurer, David Sanborn ; judge of probate, Bazil Meek ; district attorney, Geo. W. Green ; surveyor, H. W. Peck ; coroner, Thomas Kenyon ; auditor, Z. B. Moore ; superintendent of schools, Ezra Abbott ; for assessors Geo. O. Hankerson, P. Sanford, P. Healey, James E. Child, L. B. Town and John A. Ileadley all received vote§ ; county commissioners, David Smith, N. Winship and William Allen.

On the 1st of August, 1855, the board of commissioners met for the first time and the organization of Steel County was perfected, the county -seat being located at Owatonna. Since that time the official history of the county has been uneventful. The various offices have almost without a single exception always been filled by capable and honest men, and the thread of history runs smoothl}' and without interi-uption down to the present day. Elsewhere in this volume we trace all the prominent acts of the various gentlemen who have filled the offices, together with a full history of the Ijoard of count}' commissioners, witji their acts and a list of members in the various years since the county was organized.

Even before the organization of Steele Colinty it became apparent to the settlers at Owatonna that the boundaries of the county were arranged disadvantageous to the interests of the embryo city. The county, when first created, embraced twenty congressional townships - i. e., all of Waseca County and the eight western townships of the present county of Steele. This arrangement left Owatonna in the northeast corner of the county, three miles from the east and seven from the north line of the county. It Avas evident that this was not the point to be readily chosen as the county-seat, and it would be difficult, as years went by and settlement increased, to keep the county-seat at a point so far from the geographical center of tiie county. Even then there were other points springing up at various places, and were becoming active rivals for county-seat honors. "Wilton had a splendid location and John C. Ide was already ]iutting up a hotel and sawmill and attracting considei'able attention toward that point. A village called Meriden, in the present township of that name, was much nearer the geographical center of the county than Owatonna, and a number of capable men had located there and were actively advancing the interests of that location. Beside these a number of other points were springing up which constantly menaced the future of Owatonna's county-seat interests. After the county was organized, in August, 1855, and from that time through the following months the matter was occasionally discussed and finally a plan was matured which proved a success in settling the matter favorably to Owatonna's interests. It was to have one tier of townships set off from Dodge County and attached to Steele; and then to detach the western half of Steele County and organize that as Waseca County. This suited Mantonville, as they had been located too far east, and it gave Wilton a chance to become the countyseat of Waseca County. In February, 1856, an act was passed by the legislature making the desired change, and townships 105, 106, 107 and 108, range 19, became a part of Steele County. On the 27th of February, 1857, an act was passed by the legislature creating AVaseca County, and located the county-seat of the new county at Wilton. This arranged the lines as they remain at the present time, and ended all trouble as to county lines, settling a matter which up to that time had been an absorbing topic for the citizens in the territory affected.