Waseca County, Minnesota - Chapter 14, 1905

And Abbott Op Owatonna, And John And D. J. Jenkins

TOWN SITE BOOMING - WILTON VILLAGE PLATTED BY CORNELL AND ABBOTT OP OWATONNA, AND JOHN AND D. J. JENKINS AND CHILD OP WASECA COUNTY - CLAIM-JUMPING - HOUSE BODY TORN DOWN - MANY SETTLERS ARRESTED AND TAKEN TO OWATONNA - LAND SUITS AT WINONA - WAR ON THE LB SUEUR - BUILDINGS TORN DOWN IN WILTON.

The first year's settlement did not pafss without a town-site boom in this county. Speculators were abroad then as now. In October, 1855, A. B. Cornell and John 11. Abbott, then of Owatonna, came to the settlement and prevailed upon D. J. and John Jenkins and the writer to join with them in platting a town site. Mr. Abbott was a surveyor and the parties proceeded to survey and plat the village of Wilton, the first-born city of the county. It soon became evident to John Jenkins and me that A. B. Cornell, the moving genius of the firm, intended to i^et persons to come on from various places and take possession of all the land in the vicinity, and that, too, without regard to the rights of others. D. J. Jenkins sided with Cornell and Abbott, and it was quite evident that they proposed to jump claims if they could not get what they wanted in any other way. John Jenkins and I withdrew shortly after the survey was made, and men from Owatonna took our places.

D. J. Jenkins built, that fall, the first house on the new town plat, or, rather, adjoining it, and it was expected then that, like Jonah's gourd, it would grow to almost a city in a day. But, unfortunately, the prime movers of the enterprise so managed their affairs that the settlers of the surrounding country, even up to the boundary line of the village plat, refused to countenance the building of the new city. As evidence of the feeling that existed at the time, a few facts will be given, which, though not very creditable, perhaps, will show the extent to which men will sometimes proceed when thrown together promiscuously bej'ond the controlling influences of courts and law. In the latter part of January, 1856, the Owatonna proprietors of the ^Yilton plat hired some fellows to jump the claims of four settlers - Robert and Hugh ]\IcDougall and George and Bill Robbins - who had settled along the river, just east of the village plat. The claim jumpers commenced the erection of houses on these lands, and set up counter claims to them on the ground, as they said, that those young men had claimed more than 160 acres each, that because they were foreign born and had not declared their intentions of becoming citizens prior to their settlement. The former of these charges was false, the latter true. The men had not declared their intentions to become citizens simply because there was no court nearer than Mankato, and also because they expected to do so as soon as they could get to the land office at AYinona. As soon as it was noised about that claim-jumping had commenced, an impromptu meeting of the boys was held and they concluded to visit the claim-jumpers and inform them that claimjumping would not l)e tolerated at all in the settlement. The agents of the "city speculators" were at the time putting up a log house on the claim since known as the (3'Brien land. It adjoined the village plat, on the east, and lay immediately on the road leading to Owatonna. Nearly every man in the settlement was present at the meeting. They all proceeded to the place where the claim-jum])ers were at work, and informed them what had been decided upon. The claim-jumpers were actinounder the legal advice of Jlr. Cornell and conducted themselves accordingly. They evinced none of that blunt, out-spoken honesty so common to western pioneers, but observed a studied purpose to overreach the boys in legal points and yet preserve themselves from physical harm, 'iliey showed no fight, but quietly stepped aside when told to do so, by the original claimants. The latter then proceeded to tear down the building forthwith. Corneirs gang quietly witlulivw from the premises after M'itnessing the tearing down process. As soon as possible thereafter M-an-ants were sued out before an Owatonna justice (this was then a part of Steele county) for the arrest of five of the men; to-wit: John Jenkins, Hugh and Robert IMcDougall, and George and William Robbins - all but Jenkins having an interest in the claims jumped. The charge was that of maliciously tearing down a building. Nearly all the other settlers on the upper Le Sueur were subpoenaed as witnesses. After a trial, Avhich lasted three or four days, three of the five were found guilty and the other two were discharged on motion of the prosecuting attorney. The whole trial was a good deal of a farce. If one of the party was guilty of a crime, all were guilty. We asked to be allowed to prove that the claim jumpers were committing willful and malicious trespass upon lands belonging to the arrested parties, and that only necessary force was used to expel the trespassers; the request was refused. Those found guilty appealed to the district court and were in due time discharged without costs on account of error in the proceedings before the justice.

Immediateh^ after the justice trials, Cornell, through his satellites, commenced suit before the land officers at Winona, and the contesting parties and their witnesses were compelled to make several trips to Winona. After about a year of expensive litigation, the matter was compromised and settled, the ISIcDougall brothers giving up one forty and taking another.

During the troubles that grew out of that affair there was actual danger of bloodshed. Some of the men went armed. Cornell became so alai-med that he did not show himself in the settlement for a long time. In early spring (1856) several house bodies were erected on the Wilton town-site, but on the night of the 19th of April, 1856, they were all torn down, literally razed to the ground. I remember the date, for that was the night of my wedding day, and some of the boys remarked that "They couldn't lay that deviltry onto Pat." As to who did the evil deed, probably no one knows, or ever knew, except those engaged in it. This occurrence and the general hostility of all the surrounding settlers to the Wilton speculators, prevented any further growth during the summer following.