Waseca County, Minnesota - Chapter 40, 1905

Chapter 40

THE NEW YEAR - COUNTY AND STATE LEGISLATION - DONNELLY'S TRIBUTE TO AUSTIN - RAILROADS AND SALOONS VICTORIOUS - COURT HOUSE FIRE - WESTERN HOUSE BURNED - "GREELEY WAVE" IN WASECA - THOROUGHBRED CATTLE - HANGING OP BASTON - STORM OF AUGUST 6 - THE "DOLLY VARDEN" - DRAINING CLEAR LAKE - THE "EPIZOOT" - DECEMBER COLD.

"Git out your brand new cutter, And git your gal's consent, Hitch up Dobbin or some other kritter, And let the animal went." The wheat market opened favorably the first of the year, the price ranging from $1 to $1.05.

County Commissioners

The county board for this year was made up as follows : 0. Powell of Woodville, H. G. Mosher of Otisco, Wm. Byron of St. Mary, Wm. Lee of Iosco, and S. K. Odell of Vivian. Mr Powell was reelected chairman.

The board fixed the bond of the incoming county treasurer at $20,000. Saloon license was fixed at $100 per year, the applicant to pay pro rata for the number of months the license should run. Dr. R. 0. Craig, of Janesville, resigned the office of county superintendent of schools, and the board appointed in his place Wr. H. G. Mosher, of Otiseo, to serve out the remainder of the term. Dr. M. S. Gove was chosen by the board to be superintendent for the term commencing the first Tuesday in April. Nothing further of especial interest was done by the board at its January session.

The Fourteenth Legislature

The legislature opened its session on Tuesday, Jan. 2, and closed IMarch 1. Waseca county was represented in the senate by James E. Child, and in the hoiise by John Thompson, of New Kichland, and Kelsey Curtis, of Alma City. The governor of the state was Horace Austin. By the way, he was one of the best governors the state has ever had. Hon. I. Donnelly once said of him:

"I do not desire to employ the language of adulation, but I feel justified in saying that he has proved himself a great man - great In the language Tennyson applied to the Duke of Wellington:

"'Great in saving common sense;' great in honesty; great in fidelity; great in persistent devotion to the public welfare; great in that firm faculty of the mind which is able to look beyond the pressure of individuals and combinations and all personal hopes and aspirations, and see in the far background only the great people who have placed their destinies in his hands. * * * xhis is an age of vast, almost universal corruption. Gray-headed men tell us, with sad faces, that they doubt the perpetuity of our free and noble institutions. It sometimes looks as if one universal sea of corruption would swallow up all we hold dear in government.

"When, therefore, in the midst of such a state of things, the people find one honest, truthful, earnest, incorruptible man, who, at his own political peril, does his whole duty, they should stand by him to the last extremity."

And yet, within a few short years, the people forgot their friend, and corporate greed destroyed him politically and injured him financially.

The legislative session was a laborious one, although but little of general importance was accomplished. The lobby, as usual, was filled with the "picked, paid and skilled retainers" of the corporations who are "summoned by the iness(>ngers of electricity and appear upon tlie wings of steam," and all proposed measures looking to the control of railroad rates and the prohibition of discrimination in such ratios were defeated.

One commendable act was that providing for the disposal of the 500,000 acres of internal improvement lands granted to the state by congress. It provided that the lands should be appraised and sold the same as the school lands, with a proviso that the funds to be derived therefrom should not be expended by any act of the legislature until said act should be ratified by the voters of the state.

Personal

"As you enter tlie senate chamber, the first gentleman on the left is Mr. Child, of Waseca, the author of the temperance bill that did not pass. He is an ordinary sized man, somewhat pale, and has spoken on more subjects and oftener, probably, than any other member of the senate, unless it be Mr. Haven. He has a strong individuality, is a ready debater, fearless in presenting his views and, though somewhat eccentric, is a useful and valuable senator. His brief speech on the preservation of game for 'eastern sportsmen' was the finest specimen of irony delivered in the senate this session."

"Senator Child, father of the defeated temperance bill, was heard on almost every question. In many things he seemed to stand alone. He is a straightforward, upright man; despises the 'Heathen Chinee,' and all his tricks; speaks fluently and forcibly; has nothing to do with cliques or rings; votes an honest, loud 'no' whenever the case is not according to his convictions; knows nothing of the doctrine of expediency. He would make a martyr for the truth. He was perhaps the hardest worker in the senate - always ready with amendments to hinder or check unwise legislation; he voted oftener than any other senator."

By act of this legislature, the 200,000 acres of land secured to the state by act of congress, through the efforts of Congressman Donnelly, to aid in making slack-water navigation on the Cannon River, was transferred to the Cannon River railroad to promote its construction. The road is now owned and operated as a branch of the Great Western, and furnishes transportation for farmers along the northern portion of this county tributary to Morristown, Waterville and Elysian.

Court House On Fire

COURT HOUSE ON FIRE. On Sunday morning, ]\Iarch 10, Auditor Cronkhite discovered that the floor of the court room was on tire. He aroused the people and the fire was soon extinguished. The court room had been occupied the Saturday before and the fire originated from the stove. The damage amounted to about fifty dollars.

Western House Burned

WESTERN HOUSE BURNED. This hotel, belonging to ]Mr. Thomas Barden, of Waseca, was discovered to be afire about 5.30 o 'clock a. m., April 12, and in a very short time the hotel and the barn belonging to it were entirely consumed. As at that time AYaseca had no water supply and no fire company, it was almost a miracle that the dwelling house of ;^[r. G. \Y. AVatkins and the store and barn of Dr. Brubaker, near by, were saved from destruction, by the efforts of citizens. The wind was lilowing a heavy gale at the time and had it not been for the drenching rain of the previous evening, no doubt the fire would have destroyed a large amount of property. The burned property was insured for .ii2.'2un.

The Greeley Campaign

THE GREELEY CAMPAIGN. This was the year of the noted Greeley campaign - one of the most unique in the history of the world. President (irant was a great military gcniiis, biit he was neither a great statesman nor a politician. He had ways of his own and a strong will, and during his first administration he oft'euded many of the ablest men in his party - more especially on aeeount of his appointments to office, but also on account of his allowing the gold combine to influence the financial policy of the administration, thus bringing on a financial depression which caused suffering and wide-spread dissatisfaction. But the rugged old hero stood liy his friends, whether good or bad, and hence the organization known as "Liberal Eepublican" - although it was the most illiberal, politically, that was ever known in this country. The men who led the movement in this state were, most of them, able men - men of brains, some of them men of wealth. The more prominent were Judg(> Aaron Goodrich, Samuel Alayall, John X. Davidson and Theodore Hcilscher, of St. Paul; Judge Thomas Wilson of Winona Dr. W. W. Alayo of Rochester, lion. Wm. G. Ward of Waseca, Hon. C. D. Sherwood of Fillmore eountv, ex-

Tlie whole atVair was so politieall\- i^rotesipie and Indierons, net to say fareieal, that the I'artoonists and the people at larue outside the Liberal Ivepidilicans themselves, eii.joyed the eaniliaig'n more than any other politienl struggle in the history of the uation.

It is the opiuiou of the writer that it was not his del'e.at at the polls Avhieh unhalaneeil his great uuud, but the treachery and uieanness of AVhitelaw KcMd. ^Ir. Greeley was so great a man tliat his defe.'it for the presidency was ol' small eonsequenee. Iiut he was the foiuuler, and for more than a gcMuu'ation, th<> editor of the ""Xew York Tribune. "" the greatest uiMvsp.-iper of its day iu the world. His paper Avas the politieal bible of huudreds of thousands of people. His name was a household word throughout the land. Mr. (ireeley had been for a life-tinu^ the king of .iournalisni, the great ad\'oeafe ami fearless defender of temperauee reform and demoeratie-repnbliean institiitions. He was an Anuu'ieau id' Anu^rie.ins, believing iu the Fatherhood of one (^od, aud tlu'" true Brotherhood of .VII ^iankind. AYhile sometimes mistaken in judgment, he was, nevertheless, one of the greatest and grandest men of this or of any other age or nation. He eould have survived his defeat with resignation, but the Xew Yoik Tribune was his idol, his heart aud soul, his ver\' life-blood, and when it eame to his knowledge that Whitelaw Keid had seetu'ed finaueial control of his paper, aiul eoidd ab- solutely exclude Mr. Greeley's editorials and was doing so, his great heart broke, his magnificent mind gave way, and he died a maniac. It was a foul, cruel, moral murder of a great and good man. Friend and foe alike mourned his pitiful death, bowed their heads in the most profound sorrow, and forgave and forgot what many thought the mistake of his life - his candidacy for the presidency in opposition to the great party of which he was one of the founders and builders.

Thoroughbred Cattle

THOROUGHBRED CATTLE. The gentlemen who first ijave the matter of thoroughbred cattle much attention in this county were Charles A. De Graff of Alton, near Janesville, and Hon. W. G. Ward, of Waseca, ^li-. "Ward's farm is situated just west of Waseea, a part of it in and a part in St. jMai'y. The De Graf? farm was wholly in Alton. Their farms were both opened as early as 1S70. In April, 1S72, ;\Ir. Ed. Bennett, of AVaseea, visited Racine, Wisconsin, in the interest of these gentlemen, as M'ell as himself, and brought back six grade Shorthorn cows for ilr. Ward, and ten grade cows and three calves for ^Iv. De Graff. For himself, he brought back a full-blood. Shorthorn bull, eleven months old, Aveight 1,000 lbs. At that time Jlr. De Graff had a thoroughbred Shorthorn bull, two and a half years old, and five thoroughbred Shorthorn and Alderney eows, in addition to those brought on by ]\Ir. Bennett. ]Mr. AVai'd had a thoroughhi'ed Alderney bull and a tlioroughl)i'ed heifer of the same breed, l)esides the Shorthorns, These gentlemen did mneh in those days to help improve the cattle of this county.

The Hanging Op Easton

THE HANGING OP EASTON. A good deal of excitement was raised in and about Alma City the last week in June on aeeount of a hanging alVray which came off at the farm of John Itotrer, situated nc:\r Bulls Run, in Freedom. John Iloffer missed $L'() in money and accused one Kaston, known as the "Old Ditcher," of stealing it. Easton, an old man, about seventy years of age, stoutly denied the accusation. Hoffer and wife and two hired men, named Brooks and Singer, seized the old man and threalened to hang him. The evidence on the examination showed that they put a rope around his neck and hanged him to a tree for a few seconds, and then let him

(Iijwii, \ii: still protoKtiiiji- his innocence. As soon an he could Hway, ho (Jisappcurod entirely; very soon tlici'oafl.or it was (liscovcreil ihat ii nephew of lloffer had stolen the iijoney. An itiVfstij;atior] was instituted by the neighbors, but the old man, fdtlioni^li ti-a<'cd into Iowa, as two witnesses testified, was nevi-r fiMind. The Jloffers admitted that they tried to seare the old man, but did not intend to hang him. Mrs. lloffer, a youni<- and vij^oi'ons woman, also admitted thiit slut whipped liim with "a little wliip no bii^-^er than her finder." Many of the j^ood eitizeiis of the western [)ai-t of the county considered the aKsa,ult upon J'lasf.on and the i-esnlt of the examination an outrage upon justice and 11i(; public welfare.

The Storm Of August 6Th, 1872

( )n "J'hursday evening, August (itii, a, vei-y heavy rain stoi'iri visitcMJ all Soutlicrn Miniu'sota. In the southern part of Was(M'a. county, the wind blew a gale, (jlrain shocks were blown apai-t, and scattei'cd in cvei-y direction. F('nc(%s were blown down and a, nundier of buildings unroofed. Several substantial buildings wer(^ moved from their foundations. The German Evangelical I'liui-eli building, at, Wilton, was moved from its foundation, arid Sam I'l'cchel's blacksmith shop at the same place was unroofed.

"II, commenced to rain aljout 9 o'cIocl< |). ni., with a strong wind from the north, when, suddenly, the wind shifted to the west and the storm ciiiiie with terrific violence. Houses, heretofore waterproof, afforded but lilllo iirolccllon to their occupants or contents. It took the strength of two inen to close a door or hold a window If unfastened. The roof and a portion of Mr. Helwick's house were carried away and badly torn to iii(^c(\s. The roof of Mr. Strauli's residence was taken off, and (he roof and iipiicr part of an unoccupied log house on the farm of Wm. B. in^uth wore carried about six rods and completely demolished. A chamlx^r window in the frame house occupied by Mr. Heath and his family was blown in and the house inside deluged with water, Mr. ll(v'U,h and family having taken refuge in the basement. The next morning was gloomy enough - cloudy, with a drizzling rain at Intervals, all the loriiiioon. Look in any direction you might, and fallen trees, unroofed buildings, dilapidated hay stacks, great gaps in I'ences, battered and almost lea Hess cornfields, one or all would mar the landscuiie. But I lie worst feature was the total demolition of the grain shoclfs and the uncut grain. The latter was flattened to the earth, involving a great amount of extra labor in cutting and a loss of at least twenty per cent of the grain."

The Election

The contest for local offices in this county attained fever heat. Hon. W. G. "Ward, "Liberal Republican," became the candidate of the democrats and railroad interests for state senator. On the ticket with him were Patrick Kenehan, of Wilton, and J. 0. Chandler, of Janesville, for representatives, and Edgar Cronkhite for auditor. The republicans nominated A. AY. Jennison, of Janesville, for state senator, John Thompson, of New Richland, and J. L. Saufferer, of Blooming Grove, for representatives, and T. D. j\t. Orcutt, of Freedom, for auditor. The contest resulted in the election of AV. G. Ward by a vote of 802 for Ward to 77S for Jennison, and 835 for Cronkhite to 748 for Orcutt.

Notes Miscellaneous For The Year

A number of deaths occurred this year. ilr. David L. AYhipple, an early settler and sheriff of the county from 1860 to 1866. died on the 4th of February of lung fever. He was well known throughout the county and highly respected by all conditions of men. His remains lie buried in the Wilton cemetery. His wife survived him, but he left no children.

P. Brink Enos, a young lawyer of much native ability, but with ah unfortunate appetite for strong drink, was one of the early settlers in Wilton. He removed to North Platte in 1865, where he died of convulsions April 7tli.

Augusta A. Fratzke, daughter of Mr. John Fratzke, of Freedom, aged nine years, was instantly killed in her father's house on April 21st by the accidental discharge of a gim. Her head was blown off by the discharge and the walls of the room were literally covered with her brain and pieces of her skull. It appears that on the day previous her father had been out himting and was unable to discharge one barrel of the gun. When he came home in the evening he put the gun into an open closet, behind a lounge. At the time of the accident, Augusta, a brother a little older and a girl named Bade, together with a cat and a dog, were at play, when suddenly the gun was thrown over against the lounge and discharged with the terrible result noted.

Mr. E. J. Hurd, of Janesville, while at work in his sawmill June 28th, was caught by one of the belts and thrown against a post with such violence as to cause almost instant death.

Draining Clear Lake

It was during the month of October, 1872, that certain persons in Rice county that owned mills along Straight river commenced ditching with the avowed intention of draining the lakes of Woodville into Crane Creek, hoping thus to supply water for their mills. This movement aroused a strong feeling of indignation and opposition in Waseca, and an injunction was issued to prevent the work. During the legislative session of the ensuing winter an act was passed prohibiting the draining of the lakesmore especially Clear lake.

Other Matters

The first snowstorm in the fall was very severe. The Waseca News then remarked that the "oldest inhabitant" never before saw such a day, so early in the season. "Old Winter" howled and screamed and spit snow and made people uncomfortable gen< erally. About five inches of snow fell. The roads and railroads were blockaded, and business was almost suspended.

Frank McKune, son of Capt. Lewis McKune, who was shot and killed at the first battle of Bull Run, died at the residence of his sister, in Lake City, Dec. 16, at the age of twenty years, of hemorrhage of the lungs.

The prices of wheat during the months of November and December ranged from 80 to 98 cents. Sales of wheat at the elevator in Waseca during the last six weeks of the year ranged from 4,500 to 12,000 bushels. The crop was a good one throughout the county, although in some places there was considerable loss ou account of the August storm.

This peculiar horse disease made its appearance in this section in the month of November and soon became epidemic. The illness commenced with a half-suppressed cough, which soon became more violent. A fever set in with intense heat of the mouth and a discharge from the nose of offensive mucus, in large quantities. The horses attacked refused all food, would not lie down, and, in a few days, became very weak. Many died. The best veterinary surgeons described the disease as acute catarrh and influenza. The distemper, or disease, originated in eastern Canada where thousands of horses died. It next appeared in the p]astern States and thence came West. The large cities seemed to suffer the most. In some cities the horses would all be taken in one day, as it were, and all business would be brought to a standstill. That was before the introduction of electric cars, and when horse cars were being used in all large cities. During the latter part of December nearly all business was brought to a stand-still in this county by the "epizooty." During the week ending December 28, only 358 bushels and 40 pounds of wheat were marketed in "Waseca, while during the first week in that month 11,580 1-2 bushels were received by the same elevator. Not very many horses died in this section, but nearly all were affected by the disease more or less.

This December was one of the very coldest in the history of the county. In many places, the day before Christmas, the thermometers registered as low as "2'i and 30 degrees. Fortunately, during the coldest days, there was no wind and the atmosphere was dry and crisp. In Chicago the thermometer said 20 degrees below, and at Fort Scott, Kansas, IS degrees below.