Waseca County, Minnesota - Chapter 49, 1905

Chapter 49

PARTY TOMAHAWK BURIED - ROUND HOUSE AND MACHINE SHOPS OF C. & N. W. RY. CO. - GREAT CONTEST BETWEEN WARD AND DUNNELL FOR CONGRESS - A RED HOT CONVENTION-ELECTION RESULTS - TERRIBLE SNOW STORM OCT. 15 - SOME STOCK PERISHED - ANN HAYDEN KILLED BY A DRUNKEN MAN - DEATH OF H. F. BIERMANN - WOLVES KILLED.

In 1880 Waseca was still a village, but rapidly approaching the stature of a city. The village election in 1880 fell on ]\Iay 4. Evidently the political touialiawlv had been buried and the combatants had smoked the pipe of peace ; for at this election only 239 ballots were cast, of which R. L. jMcCormick received 209 votes, B. S. Lewis 204 and Wni. ]McIntosh Li2 - JMcCormick and Ijewis being declared duly elected. The new board met and organized j\Iay 21, 1880. R. L. ]\lcl'oriiiick was elected president, j\I. D. L. Collester clerk, F. .V. Xewell treasurer, Wm. Blowers marshal, AVm. Coultliart street commissioner. The new board started out by instructing the marshal to notify all saloon keepers that the laws and ordinances regarding the traffic would be strictly enforced. The boanl went so far as to have the ordinance printed and posted in the saloons. The number of pei'sous to whom saloon licenses were issued this year was seventeen.

Round House And Machine Shops

On July 12, 1880, a very important move was made to secure the location of the C & N. W. Ky. roundhouse and shops at "Waseca. A petition signed by nearly one hundred of tlie prominent men of Waseca asked the village board to appropriate $1,000 to purchase twenty acres of land of W. G. Ward to be deeded to the railroad company for a round house and repair shops. There was considerable excitement at the time, and the trustees, the same evening, passed the following resolution :

"Whereas, W. G. Ward has conveyed to the W. & St. P. (C. & N. "W.) R. R. Co. a strip of land 400 feet in width for the purpose of an engine house, etc., containing 24 and 50-100 acres of land, now, therefore,

"Resolved, that there be paid to said W. G. Ward, from any funds in the village treasury the sum of $1,225.00 upon the executing and delivering to the clerk of the village his personal bond to refund said amount to the village, less reasonable damage for the disturbing the surface, use and occupation of said land, in case said land shall revert to him by the conditions of said deed."

Thus was accomplished, in a very short time, an important undertaking which did much to increase the population and the business of our young city. It was also in evidence that in really veiy important matters our citizens are a unit. The pay roll of the C. & N. W. in Waseca, amounts to at least $10,000 a month, on an average. The new, or present, round house was erected in 1880-1, and constitutes an important factor in the business prosperity of Waseca.

An Exciting Congressional Contest

The year 1880 will long be remembered by the people of Waseca county on account of the very exciting congressional contest of that year, in which one of our citizens was a contestant. For years there had been a strong feeling against Congressman Bunnell on account of his ' ' salary grab ' ' record, and his general subserviency to corporations and combines. The district was then composed of the counties of Winona, Houston, Mower, Fillmore, Olmstead, Steele, Freeborn, Waseca, Blue Earth, Watonwan, Rock, Pipestone, Murray, Nobles, Martin, Jackson, Faribault, Dodge, and Cottonwood. Dunnell had created a machine which was strong throughout the district. But there' were many able and determined men who thought it could be smashed. The plan was to bring out favorite sons from a number of counties and in that way get control of the convention as against the salary grabber. And thus it was that Freeborn county instructed for John A. Lovely, Fillmore for H. S. Barrett, Houston for James O'Brien, Faribault for J. B. Wakefield, Blue Earth for E. P. Freeman, Waseca for Hon. W. G. Ward. The convention was to con- sist of one hundred and twenty-five delegates and was to meet at Ward's Opera House, July 7, 1880. Every county was represented and a number of counties had two sets of delegates. The tricks of the politician were visible throughout the district. Jackson and Mower counties both had double delegations. Free- Ijorn county, which was overwhelmingly for Judge Lovely, worked up a Dunuell delegation on cheek. It was admitted by non-partisan men of unbiased judgment that Bunnell was beaten on a fair vote by fifty-four to fifty-six delegates. Both factions held caucuses the night before the convention, and each faction declared it had a regular majority of the fairly elected delegates. Dimn ell's friends had the central committee, and when the hour arrived eveiy delegate was at his post. W. Holt, chairman of the district committee, mounted the platform and called the convention to order. He arbitrarily announced that Freeborn, jMower, and Jackson counties, having contested delegations, would not be allowed to vote until the committee on credentials had been appointed and reported. He also stated that the district committee had instructed him to call Earl S. Youmans to the chair as temporary presiding officer. Holt had scarcely commenced to make this announcement before S. P. Child, of Blue Earth, was standing on the floor in front of him shouting, "^Ir. Chairman," at the top of his voice. "Sim," when in good condition, can be heard a mile away, under ordinary conditions. But Holt was wilfully both deaf and blind on this occasion, and went right along as though Child were not in existence. But Child was not to be silenced. When Holt refused to hear, he mounted a chair, nominated Hon. W. W. Braden temporary chairman, put the motion to vote, and above the yells of both factions declared Mr. Braden elected. Braden and Youmans both reached the platform at the same time. D. F. Morgan, of Albert Lea, anti-Diinnell, was chosen secretary and E. C. Hiintington, of AVindoni, was declared elected secretary by the Dunnellites. It is said that the anti-Dunnell men had the greater lung power and the excitement was intense. The Bunnell men ranged on one side of the hall (it was then a hall) and the anti-Bunnell men on the other. Braden and Morgan of the anti-Bunnellites captured the only table and chairs, the other officers being compelled to stand. The excitement was at fever heat, but the coolness and good na- ture of both Youmans and Braden probably prevented a disgraceful physical encounter, which several times seemed likely to occur. The shaking of fists and loud denunciation finally satisfied the more strenuous.

The Bunnell faction had everything "cut and dried," and Bunnell was put in nomination by General Miller, of Worthington, in a whooping speech. He received sixty-eight votes out of the seventy-one cast on informal ballot. The anti-Bunnell men at the same time were balloting. The candidates named were J. A. Lovely, H. S. Barrett, J. B. Wakefield, and W. G. Ward. It took six ballots for these delegates to agree upon a candidate. On the sixth and last ballot, Hon. W. G. Ward, of Waseca, received all the votes, seventy-five in number, and was declared the nominee amid cheers loud enough to awake the dead if the dead could hear. Bunnell's nomination was ratified on the street in front of the hotel, while a monster meeting at Ward's Opera House ratified the nomination of Mr. Ward. At first, everything looked favorable for the election of Senator Ward, but, soon after the nomination, the state and national central committees sided with Bunnell and the campaign closed disastrously for the Ward faction. Mr. Ward had been a prominent Greeley man, and the cry of "party" was effectually raised against him throughout the district. While he carried his own county by a plurality of 882 and a majority over both his opponents of 415, he received only 7,656 votes in the whole district. He was everywhere slaughtered except at home by the party men. But the seed had been sown, and at the next congressional election it was Hon. Milo White and not Bunnell who was nominated and elected.

It was in the campaign of 1880 that Mr. Ward became proprietor of the "Minnesota Radical," which he afterwards sold to C. B. Graham, then of Janesville.

The Fall Election

For president. Gen. Garfield received a majority over Gen. Hancock of 418. The following local candidates were elected: R. L. McCormiek, state senator; Christopher Wagner and B. J. Bodge, representatives; C. B. Crane, county auditor; F. A. Newell, court commissioner; A. J. Jordan and W. B. Armstrong, county commissioners - all Republicans, except Jordan,

Terrible Storm In October

The worst October storm known to the white people of ]\Iinnesota commenced 0ct. 15, 1880. A heavy rain from the Northwest set in about two o'clock p. m. An hour afterward it changed to a blinding snow storm, known in this section as a blizzard. Everyone was caught unprepared for such a storm, ilany cattle and especially sheep suffered severely in the western portion of the state. A farmer at Heron Lake, Jackson county, lost a large number of sheep in the lake. They were driven into it by the blinding storm of snoM' and wind and were drowned. Another man had about fifty head of cattle on the prairie that night with nothing but a few haystacks to protect them from the fierce blasts and no fence to keep them from straying away. He and his faithful dog watched the herd all night, some of the leading cattle being fastened to posts, and yet three head of young stock got away during the night and were found in a big grass marsh the next day after the storm subsided. The storm continued until about ten o'clock on the 16th, when the sky cleared. ]Many of the railroads had to suspend operations on account of the snow blockade. Within a week, however, the snow disappeared and the weather remained mild until Nov. 8, when winter came in dead earnest. Cold weather, with frequent snow storms continued throughout November and December.

Terrible Consequences Op Drink

John Meagher, a man about twenty years old, had been at work for several months for Ed. Hayden, of Alton township. On the 26th of October, 1880, he came to Waseca with a load of wheat for his employer, and while here he got drunk. When he started home towards night, he was unable to sit up on his wagon, and lay down with his face downwards. He had no box on the wagon, only some boards laid on the bed part of a common hay rack. As he drove out on Elm street, two of his boon companions were with him. They were pretty noisy, and attempted to get the team to run. It seems that these tM-o companions left him before going very far, and Meagher proceeded on his way alone.

Arriving at the residence of John Keeley, on section 7, of St. Mary, Mrs. Ann Hayden, aged about eighty years, mother of J. B. and Ed. Hayden, came out and got on to the rack to ride home with him, she having been visiting a sick girl at Mr. Keeley's. She stated that ^Meagher lay on his face and that he said he was sick, and that he would occasionally vomit. They had proceeded not more than a mile or so, when they came to a ravine over which a bridge was built. In attempting to cross the ravine, or gully, without crossing the bridge, the horses became entangled, and, turning aroimd too short, iipset the wagon. Meagher was pitched to the ground head foremost, his face striking in the mud. Mrs. Hayden stated that he made no groan or sign of distress, and the probability is that his neck was broken by the fall and that he died almost instantly. Mrs. Hayden was thrown to the ground, under the feet of the horses, and either by their trampling upon her or by the falling of the rack upon her, her left limb sustained a very serious compound fracture about midway between the knee and ankle, her right fore arm was broken, and she was otherwise more or less bruised. This occurred about seven o'clock in the evening, and the place was at a considerable distance from any house. There Mrs. Hayden lay, helpless and in extreme distress, for the space, probably, of nearly an hour, when John Keeley came along on his return from Janesville. Hearing her cries of distress, Mr. Keeley went to her aid. The team was cut loose from its entanglement, and the suffering woman conveyed to her son's, about a mile distant. Dr. Craig, of Janesville, and Dr. Cummings, of Waseca, were summoned, and attended to the wounds of the unfortunate woman as best they could. The coroner. Dr. Cummings, did not deem it necessary to hold an inquest on the body of the dead man, so he was laid out to await the orders of his relatives, who lived in Deerfield township, Steele county. Meagher was not known to be a man of drinking habits prior to this time. The unfortunate lady lingered until Oct. 30, when she died of her injuries.

Death Of H. F. Biermann

On Tuesday morning, Dec. 21, 1880, Mr. H. F. Biermann started for Waseca with a load of wheat. When he reached the top of the long hill north of Michael Sinske's, he stopped and locked his wheel, and at the foot of the hill stopped again to unlock it. It is supposed that while he was working at it, his feet slipped and he fell partly under the wagon, and that before he regained his footing the horses started and drew one wheel of the heavily loaded wagon directly across his breast, crushing him in a terrible manner. The unfortunate man was found soon after by Mr. McDougall and Michael Sinske, who took him home. A doetor was immediately sent for, who did all in his power to alleviate his sufferings, but all efforts were of no avail, and he lingered until Wednesday when death came to his relief. Mr. Biermann was one of the 1855 settlers of this county, as elsewhere detailed in this volume.

Wolves Killed

A large number of wolves killed in this county on which bounty had been paid during the years 1876-80 is as follows: For the year ending Nov. 15, 1877, eleven; 1878, thirty-six; 1879, thirty-three; 1880, thirty; total, 130. The county bounty, $2.00 each, and the state bounty, $3.00, making $5.00 bounty on each scalp, gave an aggregate sum of $650 paid for exterminating the wolves in Waseca countv during the time mentioned.