Waseca County, Minnesota - Chapter 56, 1905

Chapter 56

New Tear's day was ushered in clear and fair on the north end of an iceberg, the thermometer registering thirty-four degrees below zero, at day-break. In the afternoon, some twentysix gentlemen made the customary New Year calls. Messrs. E. A. Everett, B. U. Dye, W. A. Swift and Cieo. F. Tallon composed one party and were drawn about town hy Connelly's matched team of white ponies, hitched to a fur-covered sleigh - ])ampas grass plumes adorning the horses' heads. Messrs. H. W. Bird, Jos. Truax, and Arthur Jamison went together, riding about town on an inverted crockery crate, drawn by Charlie Clement's hybrid horses. W. J. Jennison, J. A. Stemen, F. V. Hubbard, H. H. Sudduth, A. D. Goodman and Ellsworth Goodspeed composed another party. Drs. Cnmmings and Davidson, E. A. White and C. C. (iriffin constituted a lively quartette. G. W. Eckenbeck, J. D. Walworth, and N. S. Gordon drank together. Oysters, fruits, cake, and coffee were generously served and disposed of with much zest.

County Legislation

The commissioners this year were Austin Vinton, Philip Purcell, Jonas O. Sunde, James Conway, Chas. Deyling and Oliver Peterson. The board organized b>- electing Mr. Purcell chairanan. The question of county pr-in1iiig came up as usual, a por- tion of the board desiring to let the whole of the work to the lowest bidder, while the majority, led by the chairman, decided to let only four items, to wit : proceedings of board of county commissioners, proceedings of board of equalization, delinquent tax list and financial statement. The Radical offered to print these items for one cent, and received the contract.

The county fathers were very liberal this year, making appropriations for roads and bridges. At their January meeting one hundred dollars was appropriated for corduroying slough on town line road between section 6, Alton, and section 31, Janesville, to be expended under the supervision of Messrs. Purcell and Conway. Thirty-five dollars was appropriated for work on road between sections 17 and 18, Iosco, to be expended under the supervision of Mr. Purcell.

At the IMarch meeting appropriations were made as follows : The sum of $200 was appropriated for the repair of roads and bridges in the first commissioner district, to be expended under supervision of J. O. Sunde. The sum of $220 was appropriated to be expended in the repair of roads and bridges, in the third commissioner district, under supervision of Philip Purcell. The sum of $250 was appropriated to be expended by Commissioner Peterson - $200 of the same to be expended outside the city of Waseca on roads, and not to exceed $50 inside the city limits. Three hundred and fifty dollars was appropriated tor roads and bridges to be expended under the supervision of James Conway in the fourth district; and $225 to be expended in the fifth, district under the supervision of Mr. Deyling.

The board received and accepted the report of the committee on the Krassin bridge, and appropriated $339 to pay for the work. The report of the committee on the Boot Creek bridge was made and accepted, and $53.50 appropriated to pay for the work.

At the May meeting, money was appropriated as follows : The sum of $400 was appropriated to build a new bridge at St. Mary in place of the old one, and Messrs. Purcell, Conway and Deyling were appointed to superintend the construction thereof. The sum of $400 was appropriated to build a new bridge across the LeSueur river on section 34, in Otisco, and Messrs. Peterson and Sunde were appointed to oversee the construction of it. $400 was appropriated to build two new bridges on the outlet of Lake Helena - one on section 36 in JanesvlUe, and one on section 19, in Iosco. The sum- of $120 was appropriated to build a bridge across the Little Cobb river, on section 33, town of Freedom. $125 was appropriated to build a bridge across the LeSueur river.

between sections 24 and 25, town of New Richland; and the sum of $100 was appropriated to each commissioner district for the repair of roads and bridges.

On July 25, 1887, the board appropriated $1,000 for building the Wilton bridge and making the approaches thereto; and an additional sum of $325 for completing the St. Mary bridge, purchasing the right of way for the same and grading the approaches thereto.

At the August session of the board the sum of $250 was appropriated for completing the unfinished work on new bridges and caring for material of old bridges in the several commissioner districts.

$nn,000 FIRE AT JANESVILLE. The worst conflagration -svliicli has ever visited Janesville villai^e, occurred on the night of April 12, 1887. The fire was first discovered burstint^- from the roof of the barn of the Northwestern hotel, standing east of that building. It originated in the hayloft, and was discovered about eight o'clock. The horses in the barn were taken out without difficulty. The flames spread rapidly to the ad.joining buildings, and each new blaze gave impetus to the devouring element. To add to the sad situation the big mill had been shut doMii for some time for repairs, and no water could be obtained from that source, and all other water supplies were soon exhausted. Everything was diy and the flames soon spread to the Northwestern hotel, ]McCabe 's hotel, and Kleeman's saloon. By this time, the fire was beyond control, spread rapidly each way, and soon crossed to the west side of the street. The Johnson house, barn and out-buildings, at the northern limit of the fire, were totally destroyed. ]\Ir. Church, the landlord, removed most of his furniture and goods. It was a hard blow to Janesville, but the plucky men of that energetic town soon rebuilt the waste places.

Weather Notes

"The boys on the railroad are having a hard struggle with snow. The road between Sleepy Eye and Lake Benton makes costly work for the Northwestern during the winter season. JIuch of the time a snow plow has to be run ahead of passenger trains, from station to station, telegraphing back that it is safe for the latter to go on another stage. With four or five such outfits between Huron and St. Peter the expense is great, the work hard, and the delays vexatious. One or two winters of such expense would almost rebuild the line."

The snow was deep all winter and remained upon the ground until the middle of March. The last snow storm of the season Aras recorded as follows : Let it be recorded that on the 22d day of April, A. D. 1887, a fierce snow storm from the regions oi the unsalted sea visited this section; that snow fell to the depth of two or three inches, that, on the morning of the 23d, iee had formed to the thickness of half an inch. The next day the snow disappeared."

Noted Deaths During The Year

Robert ilcDougall passed from life into the sleep of death, on the evening of Jan. 15, 1887, in the sixty-sixth year of his life. Robert was born in the highlands of Scotland, in 1821. His parents left their native hills and settled in Canada, near Guelph, where the.v opened a farm in the then wilderness when he was a small boy. Robert spent the years of his minority at home, and encoimtered all the hardships and hard work incident to a new, timbered country. Sometime about 1854, Robert and his brother Hugh came to the "States." They stayed in Iowa for some time, then came to Waseca county, in the fall of 1855. Each made a claim where the McDougall farm now is, and commenced keeping "batch." There were two other young men near them, from Canada, named Robbins - George and William. All of them had made claims in good faith, none of them knowing that it was necessary to declare their intentions to become citizens, supposing that they could do that at the time of proving up. During the winter of 1855-6, men from Owatonna, who had laid out and platted the village of Wilton, brought in several persons to .jump the claims of these men. This outrage aroused all the settlers in the neighborhood. A meeting was called and it was decided that the intruders must go. Robert was passionate and impetuous, Hugh was cool and determined. The claimjumpers were ordered to leave at once, and so strong was the feeling that they discreetly stood aside while the "boys," as they were then called, left not one log upon another. The claimjumpers then went to Owatonna and caused the arrest of every settler in the neighborhood except one or two, on a criminal warrant. Several of the settlers, including Robert, were found guilty of destroying property. The verdict was given by a packed jury; on appeal the judgments were set aside. Contests were also instituted in the land office, then at Winona, regarding the claims. Matters became so warm that the men from Owatonna dared not be seen on the LeSueur alone, and when the land cases came on at Winona, the "claim-jumpers" were so well convinced that their lives were not secure that they virtually withdrew their claims, with the understanding that they might peaceably take other claims near by. Notwithstanding this patchedup truce, the feeling did not die out, and on the night of the 19th of April, 1856, several house-bodies which had been put up on the village site were torn down and demolished. Wilton never recovered again until a year after, when the Owatonna proprietors, sold or pretended to sell their interests to other persons. The McDougall brothers, a year or so afterwards, proved up on their claims and perfected their titles. Not long after this, Hugh returned to the old homestead in Canada, where he now resides ; and Robert took his horses and wagon and started for the mining regions of the Western mountains. He spent one winter near the head waters of the Saskatchewan river; then crossed the mountains into Washington Territory, worked in different mines some time, and returned in 1860. After a short visit here, he returned to Canada, where he remained until he was married. Shortly after his marriage, in the year 1866, he settled on the farm where he' died. Had he lived imtil the following March he would have been sixty-six years of age. He left with his wife nine children - six girls and three boys. He o^vned two hundred acres of land and quite a stock of horses and cattle, at the time of his demise. Some eight or nine years prior to his death, he was badly injured by a horse, one of his arms being broken. A quack doctor pretended to reduce the fracture, but it was done so poorly that he suffered much from it. Mr. McDougall was an honest, conscientious man; and although high-tempered and sometimes very passionate, he was a kindhearted man and a true friend. His remains were deposited in the quiet Wilton cemetery, where he sleeps the last long sleep.

Died, at his home in Waseca, March 6, 1887, AVm. S. Baker, in the seventy-ninth year of his age. He was born in the state of Jlaine, April 28, 1808. He was a pioneer from early manhood, coming to the state of Ohio in early life. He was married to

Clarissa B. Mosher, at Marion, Ohio, Dec. 30, 1841. He became a member of the M. E. church in 1842, by conversion, and remained such during the remainder of his life. He moved with his family to Dodge county, Wisconsin, as early as 1844, and was among the first settlers of that locality. After out-living the pioneer days of Wisconsin, the family came to this county in 1856, and settled in Otisco. At an early day in this county, he took quite an active part in public affairs, being the first treasurer of Waseca county.

Died, Oct. 10, 1887, Minnie Smith, elder daughter of flon. Warren Smith, of this city, aged 28 years, of lingering consumption. She had been an invalid for some time, and everything that wealth and affection could do had been done to prolong her life; but the disease was incurable, and she finally passed from life unto death.

Capt. Kobert Earl, of Alton, one of the early settlers of Freedom, dropped suddenly dead while butchering hogs, at his farm, on Monday, Oct. 17, 1887, of apoplexy. Deceased was born in Jamestown, Pa., Aug. 10, 1832, and was a little over fifty-five years of age. (See biographical sketches.)

Died, Zabina Child, Nov. 5, 1887, at the residence of his son, S. P. Child, of Blue Earth City, Minn., of dropsy and inflammation of his stomach. He was a contractor and builder by trade, and was a life-long pioneer. He was born in Windsor county Vt., November 22, 1808. At the age of twenty he went to St. Lawrence county. New York, working at his trade in the village of Canton and vicinity. He made his home with his father, Daniel Child, in De Kalb, St. Lawrence county, until his marriage to Orrilla Rice, of Jefferson county, N. Y., Feb. 14, 1833. In 1834 he removed to Ohio by horse team and wagon, with his young wife and one child, and settled near Medina, then a pioneer settlement. He remained there until about 1837, when a failure of crops and the general hard times of that period induced him to return to his old home in the state of New York. There he settled on a small farm with his family, where he remained until 1843, when he again went to Ohio, remaining in Perry, Lake county, about a year. He then removed with his family to the territory of Wisconsin, stopping at Sheboygan a few weeks, and afterwards locating in Dodge county. Wis., near

Waupun. He afterwards lived in Herman, Dodge county, and later settled in Outagamie county, near Appleton. Afterwards he spent some time with relatives in Pierce county, Wis., lived a while with his brother Simeon in Washington county, Iowa, and in later years resided in Blue Earth City, spending a portion of his time in Jackson county, Minn. He sleeps in the Blue Earth cemetery.

Hon. il. D. L. Collester, then of ]\lankato, died of pleuro-pneumonia, Dec. 17, 1887. He was buried from the Episcopal church of that city under the auspices of the I. 0. 0. F., of which he was a member. He caught cold while taking testimony in the boiler inspection matter at Litchfield, about Nov. 22, and was confined to his bed one day while there. He returned to Mankato, Nov. 25, and on the Sunday following was taken sick with pleuro-pneumonia, of which, after a very painful illness of nearly three weeks, he died. Mr. Collester was born in i\Iarlboro, N. H., Jan. 26, 1840. He graduated with high rank at iliddlebury college in Vei'iiiont in 1865. He then read law at Newport, N. PI., and came AVest and commenced the practice of law at Minneapolis in 1867. Shortly afterward he accepted a professorship of Oreek and Latin languages in Shattuck school, at Faribault, and continued in this position until 1872, when he came to Waseca and again entered upon the practice of his profession. While at Waseca he was five years county attorney; one year mayor of Waseca, and one .year, 1885, respresented Waseca county in the state legislature, in which he was chairman of the judiciary committee of the House. In the spring of 1885 he moved to ]\rankato, where he lived at the time of his death. He left surviving him, a wife and one child, a son. Mv. Collester, for many years a resident of Waseca, had many warm friends. The writer certainly had opportunities equal to any to know the true character of the man. In his business affairs he was honorable, upright and prompt. In his intercourse with his fellowmen he was generous, and his gratitude for favors shown him had no end. Such a feeling as enmity or personal revenge was unknown to him. While his ambition led him at times to pander to the ignorant prejudices of class, he never failed to respect virtue and honest worth. Both on the i-ostrum and in the field of journalism we have met him in opposing argument, and yet his generous spirit never gave way to that vulvar enmity and personal animosity Avhich too often result from differences of opinion on public questions. He was a ripe scholar and an able advocate. He believed in the universal brotherhood of man, and his charity for the frailties and faults of others command a like feeling of generosi\v in his own behalf.