Winona County, Minnesota - Chapter 30: Reflections, 1883

Chapter 30: Reflections

Theke is no doubt but what Haddock and Murphy were conscientious in their acts when they located the colony at Rolling Stone. They reported to the association that their village site was on the Mississippi, and it was believed that such was tlie case. Mr. Haddock was the leading spirit of the organization, and apparently controlled it by a sort of mesmeric influence. For the first three months the colonists had almost unbounded confidence in their leader. He made a mistake when he assumed it to be a fact that Straight slough was a navigable channel ; and, firm in his belief, he impressed the same idea on the settlers, and it was a year or two before they were fully convinced to the contrary.

Mr. Haddock assumed that the reason why Minnesota City was not made a landing-place for the steamboats was because the management of the boats was in the hands of men interested in rival town sites. This was believed by the settlers, because repeated applications had been made to have the boats land passengers at the colony during the high water, but without success ; none would make the attempt.

When the flood in the river had subsided and the water was confined to its ordinary channels, and about the time that the report of the committee which had been sent to explore the back country was received, it was considered im])ortant that a landing should be established on Straight slough. The matter was freely discussed in the meetings of the association, and referred to a committee for investigation.

This committee, with other members equally interested in establishing the fact that navigation was practicable, made, as they siipposed, a thorough survey of Straight slough, from its head, above Minnesota City, to its mouth, a short distance above Johnson's landing. A chart was drawn showing soundings, etc. The committee reported that there were no serious obstacles in the way, and that the slough was navigable for the largest boats running on the upper Mississippi.

At the time of this survey the slough next to the bluff, which empties into Straight slough nearly opposite Minnesota City, was given the name of Haddock slough, the name by which it is now known. Mr. Haddock had selected the shore next to the bluffs, above where Mr. Burley now lives, as a proper landing-place for immediate purposes. A landing-place on the slough below was selected for future improvement.

The committee were instructed to present the matter before the proprietors of the steamboat lines at Galena, by whom it was referred to Capt. Smith. Notwithstanding their chart demonstrated the feasibility of a free passage through Straight slough, Capt. Smith considered the route impracticable ; and, as it was charged against him that his opposition to it was because of his holding an interest on Wabasha prairie, he consented to allow his own boat, the Nominee, to make a trial trip under the pilotage of the committee.

The success of the committee thus far was duly reported to the to the Association. So confident were the colonists of the arrival of the steamboat that many of them went down to the landing at Wabasha prairie to meet the boat, while the whole settlement prepared to give it a joyful welcome. For this trip the Nominee was given in charge of the first clerk, with instructions to go through the slough, if possible, without delay. The boat, with Mr. Brook as captain, arrived at Johnson's about noon on Sunday. As the trip was a holiday excursion the settlers on the prairie were invited to make a social visit to the colony.

The Nominee started up Straight slough under the guidance of the committee. After ascending for a mile or so the boat Struck a bar and came to a sudden stop. By some oversight this obstruction had not been noted on the chart. After repeated attempts to pass this barrier without success, the ofllcers of the boat decided that Straight slough was not navigable by the Nominee at that stage of water.

This failuiv was a great disappointment to the settlers, both at Minnesota City and at Wabasha prairie. Tlie boat swung around and steamed back to Wabasha prairie, and, after discharging the excursionists, started up the river under the guidance of lier own pilot.

The failure of the Nominee to go through Straight slough was a serious blow to the colony. The ideal maritime port of Mr. Haddock was unfortunately at least six miles from any practicable steamboat landing. Still the colonists were not wholly disheartened. Many of them believed that the slough might be made practicably navigable by opening a passage over the bar, the only obstruction that was supposed to exist. During the following winter the colonists built a large log building on the bank of the slough opposite Minnesota City, which they designed for a warehouse and landing-place. A road was surveyed across the bottom, but never improved. No passengers or freight were ever landed there. No attempt was ever made to improve the navigation of Straight slough.

The extreme high water was followed by an extreme low stage of water in the river. The summer of 1852 was hot and dry, and the miasma eliminated from the sloughs and large marshes in the immediate vicinity of Minnesota City rendered that locality particularly unhealthy. Serious bilious diseases afflicted the settlers in the colony. They were mostly from the Eastern States, unacclimated, unprotected by suitable dwellings, and a large majority of them incompetent and unsuited for pioneer life. A few deaths occuri'ed early in the season, and exaggerated accounts of the sickness and mortality at Minnesota City were put in circulation and prevented many from locating there. The most common disease was intermittent and remittent fevers.

There were no regular medical practitioners belonging to the association or living on the west side of the river ; domestic treatment and patent medicines were generally depended on. Quinine was quite extensively relied upon in these malarious diseases. One of the colonists was attacked with intermittent fever, for which a neighbor recommended quinine. He sent for a pound or two of quinine by a friend who had business at St. Paul. From insuth- -cient funds only four ounces were procured. When the bill of $20 was presented the exorbitant charges of the St. Paul druggist was strongly condemned. The neighbor who had prescribed the article was called in to dose out the medicine, and lie explained that it was a dram or two he had recommended him to send for instead of a pound or two. "The Squire" said, in relating the incident, "I knew nothing about the stuff - anv way , it was no serious mistake, because it was needed in the settlement, and the neighbors took it off my hands without any pecuniary loss. "

It was said that not a settler in the colony escaped an attack of fever and ague. Robert Pike, Jr., in a letter published in 1854, says, "Although most were prostrated by sickness, only fourteen deaths occurred (^V^ 185'2') and a majority of these were young children. The wonder is that the mortality was not greater."

Among the deaths which occurred was that of Mrs. Haddock, the wife of the president of the association. Mr. Haddock went down to New York city and brought her here to make her a home in the colony he had labored so hard to build up. She arrived on the 13th of July and died on the 24th of August.

After the death of his wife Mr. Haddock became disheartened and completely discouraged. Many of the settlers were compelled to leave because they could find nothing to do by which to earn a living. The most of them were mechanics from the city of New York, and they went down the river to find employment. Although the association maintained its organization, it was no longer attractive to Mr. Haddock. It had apparently accomplished all that could be expected from it. With a large party of his friends Mr. Haddock, left the colony on the lltli of September and went down the river. He stopped for awhile at Dubuque, and moved from there to Anamosa, Jones county, Iowa, where he engaged in publishing a newspaper, using the press and material designed for a printing-office in Minnesota City.

Although the organization was kept up in the colony during the next year, but comparatively few members of the association remained to become citizens of this county.

Quite a number of the members of the association lived on their village lots in Minnesota City until after the survey of public lands in this part of the territory. Several of them then made claims of the locality they were occupying according to the divisions made by the government surveyors, without regard to the previous divisions made by Mr. Haddock.

sorbed by claims which were pre-empted as homesteads by their resident claimants. Tlie plot of the original village of Minnesota City was thus wiped out - swept entirely away. The name has been preserved for the locality, and a more .diminutive and modern village has grown up under it, on what was originally the claim of Israel M. Noracong.

The original village plot was pre-empted by T. K. Allen, A. A. Gilbert, H. B. Waterman, Kobert Pike, Jr., James Wright, O. M. Lord, Hiram Campbell, S. E. Cotton and D, Q. Burley, all members of the association. Each of them had held claims in other localities, which were abandoned to enable them to share in the spoils of the dead metropolis of the colony. ^

H. B. Waterman and family have continuously occupied the same locality he settled upon in 1852, when he first came into the colony. When Mr. Waterman came to Minnesota City he built a very comfortable house, a part of it of logs and a part of frame and boards. This he inhabited for several years. After the government survey was made he selected this locality as a homestead, and claimed a quarter-section of land in the vicinity, which he preempted after the land-office was opened at Winona.

With the exception of a large and comfortable dwelling-house and a good barn, which stand in a beautifiil grove on a sightly elevation, with a small field of cultivation, but little improvement was made on this claim until within a few years past. The table on which it lies was covered with groves of oak. As this timber is cut away and the clearing enlarged a fine farm is becoming developed.

Mr. Waterman was a lawyer by profession when he joined the colony, but he never practiced his profession in Minnesota. He had but little taste for agricultural pursuits, and but little inclination to make it an occupation. He made the farm his home without making: the cultivation of the soil his business.

In November, 1852, Mr. Waterman was appointed by Gov. Ramsey one of the justices of the peace for Wabasha county. He was subsequently elected to the same office, and held the official position of justice of the peace over twent}^ years for Winona county, in the town of Rolling Stone, where he resided. He was also elected judge of probate at the election in the fall of 1853.

grew out of the claim difficulty already mentioned. These members of the association went on to Denman's claim, destroyed his fences and burned his rails, with the intent to drive him off the claim. Denman refused to leave, and sued them for damages to his property. The matter had been commenced before Squire Allen, but when Squire Waterman received his commission the case was discontinued and again brought on before the new justice of the peace, where it was settled by the members of the association paying the costs of prosecution and the damages assessed.

Kobert Pike, Jr., made a claim among the village lots of the colony on the same table on which the school-building now stands. He here used his pre-emption right and made a farm of part of the original village. A part of this claim is still in possession of Mrs. Pike, his widow.

Mr. Pike came to Rolling Stone early in May, 1852, and at once became prominently active in the enterprises of the association to develop the resources of the country and build up the colony. His eccentric genius and zealous efforts made him popular in the settlement. Soon after his arrival he was appointed surveyor for the colony, explored a road to the Minnesota river. He was chosen as a proper person to be appointed postmaster. He was elected justice of the peace, served as county commissioner and as county surveyor. During his whole life he was active in all of his public duties.

Robert Pike, Jr., died about the middle of April, 1874. At the time of his death he was interested in an effort to start a colony in the vicinity of Lake Kampeska, Dakota Territory. His widow is yet a resident of Minnesota City. One of the two children who came here with her in 1852 died many years ago. The other is the wife of Frank D. Stewart, living in the town of Rolling Stone.

Mr. Pike was in many respects a very remarkable man. Naturally ingenious, he made mechanical improvements a study. On most of the questions of the day, religious and political, he espoused the radical side. Among his many friends, his special peculiarities were overshadowed by the open-handed generosity of the man toward his fellow-man.

As a specimen of his eccentricity, his business card has been copied from 'the "Winona Republican," as regularly advertised in 1856, as follows :

"Robert Pike, who writes this ditty, Lives at Minnesota City ; Is Postmaster, Mapistrato, Buys and sells Peal Estate, Conveyancer and County Surveyor, (The City's small and needs no Mayor). Sectarian rules he dares resist, And thinks Christ was a Socialist. Loving mankind and needing dimes, He waits to serve them at all times."

When disaffected members of the association decided to abandon the colony, O. M. Lord purchased tlieir interest in such of the village lots as were in the vicinity of where he resided ; and after the government survey, when the village plot was comparatively abandoned, he made a claim of the quarter-section on which he was living and pre-empted it. The village lots surveyed by Mr. Haddock fpr the association, that were included in this claim, are a part of the homestead on which the Hon. O. M. Lord now resides.

The first claim selected by Mr. Lord was before he joined the association, while on the first exploration made into the country back from the Mississippi. This he. abandoned for another about three miles above Minnesota City, in what is now known as Deering's Valley, where he then proposed to establish a stock-farm. On account of its isolated situation he did not move his family there, but located them in the settlement or village. Like many others, he also made other selections of good claims which were marked with his name.

From the time Mr. Lord came here in the spring of 1852 to the present time he has been prominently before the public, in very many instances intimately connected with events that make up the history of Winona county. Owing to his habitual modest reserve, no record of these instances has ever been compiled for reference. It is indeed questionable whether a connected biographical sketch of this pioneer settler has ever been given to the public. Advantage of a long-time acquaintance and personal friendship has been the source of the following memoranda of events in history with which he has been connected.

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Hon. O. M. Lord was a native of the State of New York ; born in Wyoming county in 1826. In 1837 he moved with his father's family to Michigan. He attended school winters until he was about sixteen, after which he attended a select school for about three months. His education has since that been acquired by private study in active life. His younger days were spent on a farm and in sometimes assisting his father in his blacksmith shop.

Mr. Lord was married in 1848, and settled on a farm. He was elected town clerk, and was ex-officio school inspector for two years. In the spring of 1852 he sold his farm in Lapeer county, Michigan, and came to Minnesota, where he arrived May 2. He brought on his family, a wife and two children, on July 16. He brought with him all of his household goods, a span of horses and farming tools, intending to make farming his exclusive business. His horses were the first brought into the colony.

Instead of settling on a claim, as he had at first designed, Mr. Lord located himself in the village of the colony at Minnesota City. He bought several village lots and built a house. Having acquired some knowledge of blacksmithing when young, he bought the tools of a blacksmith and carried on the business for a year or two, his shop being the only blacksmith shop in the county during that time. In 1852 he shod the first span of horses ever brought into this county by a settler, and the first horses ever shod here. The shoes were brought from La Crosse. They belonged to Hon. William H. Stevens. In the spring of 1853 he shod fourteen horses for Wm. Ashley Jones, government surveyor.

July 2, 1853, Mr. Lord was appointed coroner for Fillmore county. This appointment, unsolicited, was conferred by Gov. Gorman, who had recently assumed his official position.

At the election held in the fall of 1853 Mr. Lord was elected as representative to the territorial legislature from this district. The session was held from January 4 to March 4, 1854.

charter for the Transit raih-oad, tlie division of Fillmore county and creating of Winona county, and the establishment of the county seat at what is now the city of Winona. The present boundaries of Winona county were defined by Mr. Lord, and submitted to Mr. Huff and other citizens of the village of Winona for their approval. He also secured the passage of a memorial for a post-route from Minnesota City to Traverse des Sioux.

In 1854: Mr. Lord built the first saw-mill in the county at Minnesota city. In 1855 he was awarded a contract for carrying the mail from Minnesota city to Traverse des Sioux, and carried the mails for about two years - a part of the time semimonthly. This was the first post-route across the country.

In 1857 or 1858 Mr. Lord was appointed by Gov. Medavy commissioner for selecting land for the Transit Eailroad Company. He was also appointed by Gov. Medavy, October 12, 1857, as a notary public. These appointments were unsolicited by Mr. Lord. In 1859 he was a candidate for the legislature, but was defeated by Judge Orlando Stevens.

When questioned as to his war record, he replied, '*I fought, bled and died for my country by able-bodied substitute during the war - price $600."

Mr. Lord moved back to Michigan, and lived near Kalamazoo from 1861 to 1864, when he returned to Minnesota, and again took up his residence at Minnesota City.^ He was a candidate for the legislature in 1871, and was defeated by seven votes by H. A. Covey. In 1873 he was elected to the legislature, and served at the next session.

On September 28, 1875, Mr. Lord was appointed county superintendent of schools, to fill tlie vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Rev. David Burt, who had been appointed state superintendent of public instruction. He has been elected continuously to the position of coimty su])erintendent of schools since that time, and is yet serving the people in that capacity. He was president of the last annual meeting of county superintendents, held at St. Paul about rlanuary 1, 1883.

Mr. Lord has always taken an active interest in popular education, and in addition to his other official positions has been almost continuously one of the school committee in Minnesota City since the first school was started there in 1852. He is at present director of the district. He has been a member of the town board of the town of Rollin,^ Stone for the past twelve years, and is now cliairman of board of supervisors. Mr. Lord was made a Mason in 1862. He never united with any other organization. If circumstances permitted, he would take more pride and pleasure in stock-raising and cultivation of small fruit than in any other pursuit.

Hiram Campbell settled on his village lot and built a house, which he occupied with his family for several years. With this as his place of residence, he made a claim and pre-empted a homestead which included a portion of the village lots of the colony. This claim is now known as the ' ' Campbell Farm. " It joins the farms of O. M. Lord and James Kennedy. The present farm house is of brick. Hiram Campbell has been dead many years. His widow, with his family, owned and occupied the farm until about two years ago, when she sold out and moved west. Wiith other branches of farming Mr. and Mrs. Campbell took a great deal of interest in the cultivation of fruit, particularly of different varieties of apples, which they were very successful in growing.

When David Densmore and John Shaw came to Rolling Stone they brought with them a large supply of apple-seeds which they procured from the State of Maine. These seeds were planted on their village lots. The lot of Mr. Densmore was on the land now owned by O. C. Tucker. The lot of Mr. Shaw was on the Campbell farm. Both Mr. Densmore and Mr. Shaw died early in the summer of 18.52, and their lots passed into other hands. Mr. Densmore left his nursery for the general benefit of the colonists.

Mr. Campbell assumed charge of the lot of Mr. Shaw and started a nursery of fruit-trees from the seed sown on it. From this little nursery, started by Mr. Campbell on his own claim, sprang some of the finest varieties of apples that have ever been known in Minnesota.

John Nicklin, with his family, settled on his lot selected by number in New York. His location was on the table above where Troust's mill recently stood. He built a log house, lived here two or three years and made a claim of forty acres among the village lots. He also had a farm claim in the valley about two miles above the village. To hold them both he pre-empte& the farm claim, and his son pre-empted a part of the village property. He lived on his farm for a number of years, when he sold out and moved back to New York, where he died a few years ago. None of his family are now living in this county. A son resides in Dakota Territory.

George Foster pre-empted a forty of village lots ; sold out and moved to Winona. He left there and moved south. None of his family are now living in this county.

Other members of the association besides Mr. Denman and "W. PI. Coryell made claims below Minnesota City. Nearly the whole upper prairie was at one time claimed by the colonists, although unimproved.

P. D. Follett made a claim adjoining the farm now occupied by Mr. Charles Vila. He built a log house and occupied it for two or three years, when he sold out and left the county.

William T. Luark made a claim along the bluffs below Mr. Den man's, where Mr. Colman now lives. He improved this by building a log-house and making some cultivation, and held it for several years. He moved to Winona, where he opened the first wagon-shop started in the county. The first wagon was made by , Mr. Luark in the spring of 1855. About ten years ago he moved to Milwaukee, where he died after a residence there of a year or two.

John lams also made a claim along the bluffs, the next below that made by Mr. Luark. He Built a log-house and occupied this locality two or three years, and then moved to Winona, and after a few years' residence there left the county and went into the western part of the state to reside. Mr. lams was the first sheriff appointed or elected to serve in that ofiice in this part of the territory. He was the first sheriff in Fillmore county in 1853.

John C. Laird came to Wabasha prairie about the last of August, 1852, to attend upon Abner S. Goddard during his last sickness. After the death of Mr, Goddard, which occurred on the 11th of September, he decided to remain and make it his future home.

Mr. Laird was a citizen of La Crosse at the time he came up to help his sister in the care of her sick husband. It was on her account that he changed his place of residence and came to Minnesota, where he has ever since resided. He was deputy register of deeds for La Crosse county. The register elected was a resident of a distant part of the county, and, not wishing to change his location, Mr. Laird was deputized to act for him and receive the emoluments of the position.

In the winter and spring previous Mr. Laird had visited Wabasha prairie, but never /Selected any special location as a claim. After he had decided to settle here he explored the country until in October, when, observing that the east "eighty" of the original Stevens claim was unoccupied, and without im^Drovements of any kind, he was induced to take possession of it as an abandoned claim. Mr. Laird quietly procured the necessary material, and before the settlers were aware of his intention, they were surprised to see a snug and comfortable-looking shanty on "that lower eighty of Stevens's." This shanty stood about where Laird Norton & Go's stables now stand, - on the west side of Chestnut street, between Second and Third streets.

As soon as the circumstance became known, H. C. Gere made application to the members of the claim club for aid to remove the trespasser on the land relinquished to him by Silas Stevens. Some of the members of the club came together and called on Mr. Laird to learn why he had built the shanty and to ascertain if he really intended to jump Gere's claim.

Mr. Laird informed them that he had taken possession of "that eighty " because there was no one occupying it -^ - nothing to indicate that any one had possession of it, and informed them that his shanty was the only improvement on the claim. This self-constituted claim committee decided to let Mr. Gere take care of his own affairs if he had got into trouble from his own mismana'^ement. He was then holding other claims.

Mr, Laird completed his shanty on Saturday evening, and, supposing that he had possession safe enough, stayed contentedly at Mrs. Goddard's, because it was Sunday and a day of rest generally observed by the settlers. It chanced to be the day on which Elder Hamilton had made an appointment to preach at Mrs. Goddard's shanty, and there the settlers assembled to listen to one of his best sermons.

Taking a great interest in the subject of the discourse, Mr. Laird for the time forgot about his recently acquired earthly possession, and gave his undivided attention to the sermon of the elder. After the service was over and the audience begah to disperse, he cast his eyes toward his new shanty, not fifty rods away, and discovered Henry C. Gere on its roof. Accompanied by Wm. H. Stevens, and followed more deliberately by Elder Hamilton and his whole congregation, he rushed toward his unprotected claim improvement and found that Gere had jumped the shanty, if not the claim.

On reaching the locality Mr. Laird found the shanty occupied ; a table with a few dishes and a chair or two were on one side of the room, and on the other a cook-stove, on which was a tea-kettle, a pot of potatoes, and a frying-pan with a slice of ham ready for cooking. Mrs. Gere was comfortably seated in a rocking-chair in front of the stove, waiting to touch a match to the kindling-wood as soon as the stove-pipe was put in place, and Mr. Gere was on the roof cutting a hole for it to ]^ass through.

Mr. Laird called to Gere to come down, but he refused, rej^lying, "You are too late, for I now hold possession." Laird and Stevens then tore off the boards from the roof, and notwithstanding Gere's resistance, caught him by the legs and dragged him to the ground. They then proceeded to carry the stove and other furniture outside, except the rocking-chair, which Mrs. Gere occupied, and very composedly maintained possession of the roofless shanty.

Elder Hamilton sedately seated himself on one of the chairs ejected from the cabin and calmly watched the proceedings. Occasionally *a quiet smile would illumine his dignified expression as he observed the demonstrative movements of the noisy and excited settlers, who but a very few minutes before had been model representatives of a moral, intellectual and order-loving community. Feelings of partisanship were exhibited b}" loud expressions of opinion in emphatic language rather than by active participation. Men and women espoused the cause of one side or the other. Some threats were ])assed, but no serious collisions occurred.

Mrs. Goddard took a firm and determined stand in support of the rights of her brother to the claim. While Laird and Stevens were tearing or knocking the boards Irom the roof on which Gere stood, she observed a second load ol Gere's furniture approaching from the east ; they had gone down the prairie and come up along the river. Rushing toward the team and brandishing a cudgel, which she caught up on the first alarm, Mrs. Goddard ordered the driver to stop, and, taking the horses by the bridles, led them back across the line of the claim and told the driver to leave as soon as possible. Without a show of resistance the teamster drove ofi. The team belonged to John Evans. In speaking of the occurrence afterward, Frank Curtiss, the driver, said it was not the first time he had been

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It was charged that Elder Hamilton had a foreknowledge of Gere's design, and had selected one of his most interesting and lengthy sermons to give him ample opportunity to accomplish his purpose unmolested. "Aunt Catharine" says "that was not so. Elder Hamilton and John C. were always warm friends, but Elder Ely knew all about it, for he kept going out every few minutes as if to see if a steamboat was coming. I know Elder Hamilton was on John's side that day, because he beckoned to me, and when I went over to where he was sitting on one of the chairs he said, 'The boys had better tear the shanty down now they are at it' I told the boys and they tore the whole thing down without disturbing Mrs. Gere, and left her sitting in her rocking-chair on the bare prairie. " As soon as the shanty was demolished the excitement subsided and all started for their homes, leaving Laird and Gere to watch each other and hold the claim. Mrs. Gere went to her own shanty and sent her liusband his supper, while Mrs. Goddard bountifully iurnished rations for JohnC., who stood guard over his promiscuous pile of lumber.

The night was a cold, disagreeable one ; a chilly west wind swept over the bleak prairie and compelled the lonely, unsocial watchmen to keep in motion to preserve proper circulation. Although each had a blanket in which they wrapped themselves, Mr. Laird formed a windbreak -of boards. Mr. Gere solicited the loan of a few boards for a like protection, but Laird objected to his lumber being used for such purposes.

Finding it impossible to get any rest while so uncomfortable, Gere called to Laird about midnight and said - "I have a proposition to make to you which I think will be of advantage to both of us. I have no more confidence in your honesty than I have in men generally, but I believe you will keep your word when you make a promise. Now, suppose we agree to let this claim matter remain just where it is, without either of us doing anything until tomorrow ; we can then go home and get some sleep. " Mr. Laird was amused at the proposition, but did not object to it. The two men solemnly pledged themselves to leave the claim undisturbed until the next morning, and bidding each other " good night " in more social tones than they had previously observed, they left the locality.

Both parties made their appearance at sunrise, and hostilities were resumed. Mr. Laird rebuilt his shanty, but moved to another location nearer the river and a little below, on what is now block 5 in Laird's addition. Gere tried fo^ two or three months to obtain possession, but without effect, the cold weather interfering with any active measures. On the night of January 24, 1853, while Mr. Laird was tem])orarily absent from the prairie, his shanty was torn down and the lumber destroyed - chopped in pieces. Mr. Laird built another cabin on the same ground. It is said that this destruction of the claim-shanty was effected by a young man employed by Gere for that purpose, who received a hundred pounds of flour for his services.

Satisfied that it would not be possible for him to get possession and hold it against the opposition he had to contend with, Mr. Gere appealed to Justice Burns for aid to remove the trespasser, feeling confident that a select jury would award him his rights.

There were at this time two justices in this vicinity, George M. Gere, on Wabaslia prairie, and John Burns, at the mouth of Burns valley. Jabez McDermott, of Wabasha prairie, was constable. In February, IL C. Gere sued John C. Laird before John Burns, Esq., for trespass, etc..^ to get possession of the claim. The trial by jury came off in Marcli. This was the first jury trial ever held in this part of the territory - the first jury ever called in what is now Winona county. The court was held in the upper part of the " Yiets House" (the old Winona House), which" was then unfinished, Squire Burns having adjourned the court from liis office at his house to this place to accommodate all parties interested. The trial was considered an important event by the settlers.

Mr. Gere engaged the professional services of Mr. Flint, a lawyer living in La Crosse, and of Andrew Cole, of Wabasha prairie. Mr. Cole was then the only practicing attorney living on the west side of the river. Mr. Laird had for counsel and management of his defense, a lawyer from La Crosse by the name of French. The jury im])aneled to try the case was George W. Clark, Scott Clark, O. S. Holbrook, William Hewitt, W. IL Coryell and Hiram Campbell.

This being the first important case brought before Squire Bums, his inexperience in his official position made it necessary for him to seek advice as to his own duties. He selected as his confidential adviser the "home attorney." He was personally acquainted with

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Mr. Cole, and had great confidence in his opinions of law. This peculiarity in the case excited some comment from outsiders, - Mr. Cole being attorney lor the plaintiff, but no charges were ever made that any improper or unjust proceedings were entertained by the court. Notwithstanding the very marked eccentricities exhibited by the squire, his court and official position was duly respected. His comical expressions and blundering style of doing business afforded considerable amusement during the trial, and were subjects for many a hearty laugh for a long time afterward.

About two days were spent in the examinations of witnesses and speech-making by the attorneys before the case was submitted to the jury. After due deliberation it was ascertained that there was no probability of the jury agreeing, and they were discharged. The court adjourned until the next Monday, March 14, at which time another jury was im]3aneled and the trial of the case again repeated.

In the first trial the jury stood five for the defendant and one for the plaintiff. The one who stood out against his fellow jurors was Hiram Campbell. The jury on the second trial was John lams, S. A. Houck, H. B. Waterman, Wm. L. Luark, S. D. Putnam, and EHjali Silsbee, all residents of Minnesota City except the last. After about the^ same amount of time consumed as with the first trial the case was given to the jury, and at about 11 o'clock at night, March 16, the jury decided unanimously in favor of the plaintiff, Hemy C. Gere.

The next morning Mr. Laird and "Wm. H. Stevens started for La Crosse, and took the lawyers home. The condition of the ice in the river would not permit of delay - even then traveling on the river was unsafe. The ice in the river appeared as if it might break up in a few days. It did leave the river in front of the prairie on the 20th of March.

Mr. Laird left the claim in charge of Mrs. Goddard to hold until his return, not supposing that any movement would be made before that time. Mrs. Goddard, with a young lady. Miss Salina Kellogg, of La Crosse, who was up on a visit, accordingly took possession of the shanty, with a firm determination to hold the fort.

The suit had been decided in Gere's favor, and he became anxious to get the claim into his possession before Mr. Laird should have an opportunity to appeal to a higher court, as he had given notice that he should do on his return. Under the management of

Mr. Cole, liis attorney, judgnieiit was entered up against Mr. Laird on the justice's docket, and an attacliment issued to take possession of his property for the payment of the costs in the suit. A writ of restitution was also issued, under which it was supposed possession would be acquired and the claim held.

The constable, McDermott, was friendly and in full sympathy with ]\rr. Laird, and was also a boarder with Mrs. Goddard. Before the papers were placed in his hands, he notilied Mrs. Goddard of the proceedings, and arranged with her a plan of defense. He aided them to procure material and barricade the building, so as to resist an assault if Gere and his friends attempted to take forcible possession of the shanty. It was supposed that they were provided with firearms. Being forewarned, they had the courage to believe that they w^ould be able to resist the officer of the law, with his consent, and hold Gere and his friends at bay until the return of Mr. Laird from La Crosse.

Learning from Mcl^ermott that the yoke of oxen would be attached when they came across the river from their work, Mrs. Goddard sent for the cattle and had them brought over and chained to a post by the side of the shanty, while the constable had business elsewhere.

When the writ was placed in McDermott's hands he went down to the claim. As he advanced, Mrs. Goddard warned him that if anyone attempted to come near the shanty it would be at their own peril. The constable withdrew to a safe distance and apparently waited for a more favorable opportunity to perform his official duties. Neither Mr. Gere or any of his friends ventured within short range of the cabin where Mrs. Goddard and Miss Kellogg stood guard, and, to the surprise of the settlers, successfully resisted the execution of the law and boldly defied any one who should dare molest them.

These two women held the claim and retained possession of the oxen until Mr. Laird returned from La Crosse with the money to defray the expenses of the suit, which had been the principal object of his tri]). He at once paid the cost and ap]iealed the case to the Uuited States district court. The writ of restitution was never enforced.

Of the proceedings in the district court, nothing official can be learned. It is said that, from some cause, judgment in the justice's court was suspended and the case dismissed. Mr. Laird was never

Although Mr. Gere never made any actual attempts to obtain possession of the claim, he several times threatened suits tor its recovery. Mr. Laird soon found that a little money would stop all proceedings - less than the fee of a lawyer to defend the case. Gere consulted about every lawyer that located here lor the next two or three years. He was among the first clients of Hon. Judge "Wilson, when he came here in 1855. Mr. Wilson, then a young lawyer, became interested in the story of Gere, and, considering it an important case, at once commenced suit against Mr. Laird. He was greatly surprised a day or two after to learn from his client that, on account of a satisfactory arrangement with Mr. Laird, he wished to stop all proceedings against him. The lawyers never shared in these periodical settlements. When Gere again ran short of funds, he again called on his attorney to bring suit against Laird, but Mr. Wilson indignantly refused to have anything further to do with the case.

Mr. Laird became a permanent settler on Wabasha prairie, where he was prominently identified with public and private enterprises which tended to the development of the resources of the county. Although for many years Mr. Laird gave his attention to the cultivation of a large farm in the eastern part of Olmsted county, and lived there with his famil}'^ a portion of each year, he has maintained an interest in Winona county and occupied his residence in the city of Winona.

John C. Laird now lives on the same claim he "jumped" from Henry C. Gere, on Wabasha' prairie, in the fall of 1852. His present residence is within two blocks of where his claim-shanties stood while contesting possession with Mr. Gere. This is the only instance where any one of the original claimholders of land on Wabasha prairie, now the city of Winona, is living on the claim he held in 1852, and with one exception Mr. Laird is the only one in the city living on land which they held prior to the sale of public lands in 1855. A part of the original claim of Captain Smith, claim No. 1, was pre-empted by John Keyes. His widow and family are yet residents of that locality.

In the spring of 1853 Mr. Laird built quite a stylish and comfortable one-story house, with two wings, on his claim, and made it his headquarters. He brought up a breaking-team of three yoke of large oxen and two large breaking-plows. His reason for having two plows to one team was, that he found it economical to send his plows to Galena bj steamboat for repairs - to keep his team at work an extra plow was necessary. This team he kept busy breaking for the settlers by the acre during the season, under the management of A. B. Smith.

Mr. Laird started the first livery stable in the county of Winona. The heavy hors6s and wagons he furnished for hire in 1853 would hardly represent the business if compared with the dashing turnouts now furnished from the " liveries " in the city of Winona.

Although not strictly the first man to deal in lumber, Mr. Laird was the first to commence the business and estabish a lumber-yard for the retail of lumber as a regular business occupation. He commenced the lumber business a little above where the sawmill of Laird, Norton & Co. now stands. His little retail yard was the nucleus from which the vast lumber establishments and immense business of Laird, Norton & Co. has been developed. John C. Laird was once a member of this firm, but withdrew from it many years ago. It was through him and his influence that many of our best citizens came into tliis county.

In the summer of 1852 Enos P. Williams, who made the claim next east of that held by Beecher Cere, traded it to B. B. Healy for three or four village lots in La Crosse. Mr. Williams had made no improvement except a pretense of a garden. He was then living in La Crosse, where he remained for three or four years, after which he came up the river and settled in this county, in what is now the town of Utica, where he yet resides.

Mr. Healy built quite a comfortable house on the Williams claim and placed a man on it to hold possession. The claimkeeper neglected his charge and it was jumped by Rufus Emerson, who was employed by Andrew Cole. Mr. Healy contested the matter, and after a suit or two at law recovered possession of the claim and then disposed of it to Rev. H. S. Hamilton, who bought it for some of his relatives, John I. and Harvey Hubbard. It was then called the John I. Hubbard claim, and is now known as Hubbard's Addition to the plat of Winona.

James Campbell, a Scotchman, settled in Cedar creek valley three or four miles from its mouth. William and Robert Campbell came not long after. Mr. Campbell now holds a large amount of land in that vicinity, where he yet resides.

Leonard Johnson lived with W. B. Bimnell for a year or two, and then with Frank Wilson started a wood-yard at Johnson's Point, below the present village of Homer. Mr. Johnson is yet a resident of the county, living in the town of Pleasant Hill, on a farm selected by him in an early day.

Harry Herrick, for many years a man of all work for Bunnell, made a claim in Burns valley, about two miles above its mouth, where the road crosses the stream. He built a small log cabin, which is yet standing and is a part of the old building on the upper side of the road, east of the bridge.

Mr. Herrick held this claim for a year or two, when he sold it and went back to live with Bunnell, where he died two or three years after. The claim was purchased by Rev. Edward Ely, and was long known as the ' ' Ely claim. " It is now a part of the farm of Mr. Henry Bitner.

William Hewett came into the county in the latter part of this season and made a claim in Burns valley, next above Herrick. He built a frame house near the big spring next to the road and settled there with his family'. This house was burned down several years after. A log house now occupies the same site. Mr. Hewett occupied the locality for two or three years and then sold out and left this part of the country.

Joseph S. Wilson selected his claim in Burns valley, next above Hewett's, where Charles Miller now has a stock-farm. He built lijs claim shanty about where the present farm buildings stand, near the spring. His first shanty was only designed to show that the claim was ' ' occupied by a settler. " He left his claim in the care of Roderick Kellogg until the next spring, when he returned with his family, built a comfortable house and opened up a farm, which he cultivated for three or four years. He then sold his farm and moved into Winona, where he carried on the business of harnessmaking until about 1880, when he went west and located in the territory of Dakota. Mr. Wilson was a well-known citizen of the

The same season that Mr. Wilson brought his family to live in Burns valley, a German by the name of Schabe, or Selia])e, made a claim above Wilson's. He built a log house near the spring by the side of the road and lived there until his death, ten or twelve years ago. This house was the last one in that direction until the spring of 1854.

The log house built by Mr. Schape was standing until within the past year. On Christmas day, 1882, the writer passed the locality and found the present owner of the property tearing down the old house. The timber of which it was composed was apparently sound; the oak logs were hard and dry ; the oak shingles, or more properly shakes, were sound on the under side, but nnich worn on the outer side.

Al man by the name of Blodgett made a claim in West Bums valley, where P. B. ' Palmer now lives. He brought with him a small herd of cows and lived on this claim during the summer. AV^hile here he lost two children from sickness. He sold out his stock and abandoned the claim in the tall and went back down the river.

In the fall of this year A. B. Smith came to Wabasha prairie, and for awhile had the west half of the McDermott claim - the eighty next west of the claim owned by Dr. Childs. It was said that he was holding this for Mr. Ilealey, by whom he was employed. It was difficult to tell who was the real owner of the claim ; it was jumped several times by different individuals. It was sold by Mc- Dermott to David Olmsted. M^r. Smith did not reside on any claim, although he held several. Prior to his coming here he had been engaged in lumbering business, cutting and rafting, and as a pilot in running lumber down the Ohio and on the Mississippi rivers. He spent the winter as a regular boarder with Mrs. Goddard, and married the widow the following season.

A. B. Smith was well known to all of the early settlers as a hotel keeper, - as the landlord of the old '^ Minnesota House," built by him in 1853, on.the corner of Center and Second streets, where S. C. White's store now stands. Pie was also the proprietor of the "Wabasha Prairie House," which stood on the corner of Front and Franklin streets, built by him in the summer of 1855. While living here he suddenly left home in the night, without the family or any one connected with the house being aware of his intentions to do so. Nothing of a certainty was ever learned relative to any circumstances connected with his mysterious disappearance. It was known that at about that time lie was accustomed to carry a considerable sum of money about his person. lie sometimes indulged freely in intoxicating drinks. It was generally supposed that he had been foully dealt with - probably murdered for his money and his body thrown into the river. Suspicion rested on some with whom he familiarly associated at about that time, but no evidence was ever secured that appeared to justify making any arrests. There was no proof of his death.

During the latter part of this season Roderick Kellogg came up from La Crosse to do some mason-work for the settlers on Wabasha prairie. He was a competent mechanic in his line of business, and a man of more than usual abilities and general information, but his intemperate habits had isolated him from his family. He was readily induced to come here and work at his trade, although there was but little to do, because, as he expressed himself, he "would by so doing, get away from the temptation of the hell-holes where intoxicating drinks could at all times be procured." Mr. Kellogg was, for a year or so, benefited b}'^ the change, but when the hell-holes opened in Winona he found them, although they were small ones.

The first regular mason-work done in this county was by Roderick Kellogg. His first job of work was on Wabasha prairie, where he plastered two rooms for Rev. Edward Ely, on the corner of Center and Second streets. This was the first plastered house in the county. His next job of plastering was the lower rooms in the " Viets House," afterward known as the Winona House - it stood on Front street, on the levee. The first brick chimney built in the county was by Mr. Kellogg, in the Yiets House. His third job of plastering and chimney-building was in a small one-story house of two rooms built by Johnson for Andrew Cole, on lot 4, block 10. Johnson's original claim shanty, on claim No. 4, was torn down and used in the construction of this building. These' three buildings were the only houses in the county with plastered rooms until the season of 1853.

Nearly all of the mason-work required by the settlers of this vicinity was done by Mr. Kellogg. He worked at his trade here for three or four years, and then went back to La Crosse., He owned tlie lot on the corner of Franklin and Second streets, where Rolivveder''s meat-market now stands. In the spring of 1853 he built a small one-story house on the corner, about 12x20, plastered inside and outside. This he occu])ied as his residence - his family living in La Crosse. He also built the house which stands on the same lot next to the alley. It was at one time used as a hotel.

Roderick Kellogg was an industrious man, seldom idle if there was anything to do, except when intoxicated ; then he was inclined to be quarrelsome. He was a handy man of all work, and when not engaged at his trade he was always ready to undertake any small jobs for the settlers, such as rough carpenter work, gardening, etc.

Mr. Kellogg always found a sym])atliizing friend in Rev. Mr. Ely, who had, from his lirst acquaintance with him, taken an interest in trying to bring about a reform in his life, but without success: the series of efforts were balanced by a like series of failures. After Mr. Ely engaged in mercantile business, in 1854, he sometimes found Mr. Kellogg's services about the store a convenience, and at times employed him. On one occasion Kellogg made his appearance when partially intoxicated. He was told that his services were not needed while in that condition. He attempted by argument to show that he was not drunk - that he knew what he was about, although he had taken a drink. His remarks became insulting, and Mr. Ely told him to leave the store - to go away and not come back again, for he would have nothing more to do with him.

Kellogg went outside and became noisy and abusive - attracting the attention of the idlers about (of whom the writer was one). Becoming excited in his harangue, he fairly jumped up und down, until suddenly he stopped, as if strongly impressed with a new idea of retaliation for the fancied wrong done him, and exclaimed, "D - you, Elder Ely ! I'll get even with you yet - I'll go and jump your claim for this." He at once turned and marched off down the street as if his determination was a fixed one. He did not attempt to carry out his threat, for when sober he respected the elder. The idea was a popular one, that the greatest wrong that could be inflicted on a settler was to jump his claim.

During the latter part of the season John and Ruftis Emerson, brothers, came into this county and settled on Wabasha prairie. John Emerson had a wife and two or three children. After looking about for awhile he selected a location south of the Evans claim, toward the upper end of the lake. He built a shanty on it and made it his home, with his iamily, for about two years, wlien he sold it to Edwin Foster. Taylor's Addition is a part of the Emerson claim. Mr. Emerson moved to the western part of the county, where he located himself on a farm.

Rufus Emerson was a single man. Without permanently locating himself, he speculated in claims by taking possession oi some unoccupied land (jumping claims) and selling out his interest to other settlers. He was identified with several difficulties where claimjumping was charged, either for his own individual benefit or as an employe of others. He pre-empted a claim on the bottom-land west of Gilmore's. Rufus Emerson built a house on the Stevens claim in the spring of 1854. This house is yet standing. It is on Second Street, between Market and Franklin streets, on lot 2, block 143. This building was constructed from lumber found floating down the river and picked up at different times. Emerson sold it before it was completed. It was afterward clapboarded and finished by W. H. Stevens, into whose hands it fell.

Chapter

During the season of 1852 there were two postoffices created in this county by the postoffice department, although there was but one in regular operation until about the beginning of the following year. The first was at Minnesota City, with Robert Pike, Jr., as postmaster. The other at Wabasha prairie, with George G. Barber as postmaster.

The office at Minnesota City was established with the proviso that the mails should be transported, free of charge to the depart ment, to and from the nearest postQffice on the Mississippi. The mails were made up and received in regular form at this office, but no regular carrier employed. The special mail-bag provided, was usually carried by some of the colonists who chanced to go to La Crosse, the nearest postoffice on the river, or it was taken to Wabasha prairie and sent down by the boats. On certain days, about every week, the mail-bag was brought up from La Crosse by the boats and left at Wabasha prairie, wliere some one from the colony awaited its arrival. Prior to this all mail matter belonging to the members of the association was usually carried and looked after by the settlers of the colony.

It was usual for the postmaster at La Crosse to deliver to some well known settler all of the mail matter of the settlement to which he belonged. Where parties were well known, their letters were sometimes sent to them by the clerks of the boats, to be left at their nearest landing-place. In this way Nathan Brown received letters at his landing. Bunnell took charge of all mail matter for Bunnell's landing, and in the early part of the season all letters for settlers on Wabasha prairie were left in the care of Johnson.

During the summer and early ])art of the winter the Rev. Edward Ely made frequent visits between Wabasha prairie and La Crosse. A portion of the time his family was. living at the latter place. When he brought his family to Johnson's landing, he for awhile occupied Johnson's claim shanty on claim No. 4. His frequent trips between the two places were made the means by which the settlers on Wabasha prairie received and sent away their letters.

Mr. Ely always made it a duty to bring up all mail matter belonging to this locality, and was accustomed to carry it about with him until distributed to the settlers, who usually flocked around him as soon as his arrival was known. This was readily ascertained, for it was the usual custom for everybody to visit the landing on the arrival of a steamboat from below. All letters sent by the boats were then left in his care for delivery. It was from this matter of accommodation, and from his custom of carrying all letters about his person, the traditional story originated, that "in the early days of the settlement of this county the postofSce was in Elder Ely's hat."

The second postofhce in the county was on Wabasha ]irairie. It was called Montezuma ; the postmaster was George G. Barber. The first movement toward making application for this office originated with the Wabasha Protection Club. Mention has already been made that a majority of the members of this organization were residents of La Crosse, who held claims on this side of the river, many of them never residents of the territory. The laws of the club allowed its members to hold claims for six months without making a residence on them, and with but nominal improvements. The members were pledged to aid each other in retaining possession during that time. This law conflicted with the United States and

At one of the meetings of the club the necessity of a postoffice was discussed and action taken in favor of making application to the postofRce department. A blank jpetition was signed, but the drawing up of the necessary papers and forwarding the same was referred to Andrew Cole, a lawyer in La Crosse and a member of the club. It was then supposed, and generally understood, that the secretary, Abner S. Goddard, would be recommended in the petition for postmaster, and that the name of the postoffice would be Wabasha prairie.

When the papers were drawn up, the attorney, with the approval of some of the members of the club, inserted Montezuma as the name of the postoffice, and recommended George G. Barber as postmaster. Mr. Barber was a resident of La Crosse. He had made a claim in Gilmore valley early in the spring, but never improved it. The blank petition filled out at' La Crosse was forwarded to the postoffice department and the appointment duly made. Mr. Barber received his commission about the middle of June, gave the required bonds and took the oath of office. He came up to make his arrangements for supplying the settlers of Wabasha prairie with their mail and offered the position of deputy-postmaster to Mr. Goddard, who indignantly refused to accept the position. Mr. Barber returned to La Crosse without being able to secure a deputy. The settlers on Wabasha prairie declined the honor, - the only instance in the history of this county where official position has been generally declined.

No improvements were made in postal facilities; "the elder" continued to carry the "mail in his hat." About the 20th of July "Byron Yiets mewed up from La Crosse and accepted the position of deputy-postmaster from Mr. Barber.

Mr. Yiets did not open the office regularly. The mails were made up and distributed as before, at La Crosse. The only additional advantage afforded was that the mail was carried by the boats in a canvas bag without a lock. By request of Mr. Yiets, the .elder distributed the contents of the bag left in his charge as he had previously done.

The settlers were dissatisfied with the a])pointment of a nonresident as postmaster, who lived thirty miles away. The name of Montezuma was equally objectionable, although Johnson had

A public meeting was called to consider the matter and the question freely discussed. All united in a petition to the postoffice department ior the appointment of Abner S. Goddard as postmaster in place of George G. Barber, a resident of another state. Nearly all petitioned to have the name of the office changed from Montezuma to Winona. In discussing tliis change several names were proposed, Winona, Wabasha, Wabasha City, Prairie and Ozelle. The name of Winona was adopted by a majority of one when the vote was taken.

It is now uncertain who first suggested the name of Winona. It has been said that it was proposed by Captain Smith. Some are equally positive that it was suggested by Dr. Balcombe. Others say it was Dr. Childs. Dr. Childs was noted for his peculiarity of giving names to localities, and to all animals in liis possession. Gilmore valley was called by him "Winona valley," about the time the name of Winona was selected as the name of the postoffice.

Letters in the hands of Mrs. Calista Balcombe, the widow of Dr. John L. Balcombe, show that Dr. Balcombe, Mr. Howard and Ed. Hamilton, then the proprietors of No. 5, the Hamilton claim urged upon Ca]3tain Smith the propriety of c;alling the new town plot Wabasha. This Captain Smith consented to do, provided he could induce Alexis Bailey to have the name of the })ostoffice at Wabasha changed, but Bailey would not consent. The}' then proposed to call it Wabasha City, and adopted the name themselves for use in their correspondence. Dr. Balcombe was always anxious to have a Dakota name given to the town. Neither Captain Smith nor the proprietors of claim No. 5 were present when the name of Winona was ado])ted. The postoffice department promptly changed the name of the postoffice to Winona and appointed Mr. Goddard postmaster. AVhen his commission arrived he was lying on his bed of sickness, from which he never recovered. He died before he was able to qualify for the position. The postoffice was without a legal postmaster. The boats, however, carried the mails between La Crosse and the prairie, where they were taken care of by the volunteer postmaster. Elder Ely obtained possession of the keys and acted in that capacity without taking the oath 'of office required from those who handle the United States mail. No mails were made up or officially received at this office. This duty was performed at La Crosse. The elder was simply acting in the same capacity of messenger that he had been previously doing, except instead of carrying the letters "in his hat " he was accommodated with a mail bag. The faithfulness shown by Mr. Ely in his attention to this self-imposed duty was satisfactory to the settlers. Among the traditional anecdotes of the early days is one showing the zeal of the elder in the performance of his duties. He received the mail bag from the boat and also delivered it with the letters to be posted at La Crosse. It was his custom to preach here on Sundays when not engaged at La Crosse, where he had regular appointments, alternating with Elder Hamilton - one preaching on one Sunday and the other on the next. While holding forth eloquently to an attentive congregation, in his own shanty, on one of his days to speak to the people, the settlers were suddenly and unexpectedly startled by the whistle of a steamboat approaching the landing. The elder brought his sermon to a close very abruptly, with the remark, "There's a boat from below," and hastened to the levee to receive the expected mail. The elder denies having any recollection of this occurrence. Those who are familiar with his eccentricities believe it. George W. Clark says it is true, for he was one of his audience - that the elder stopped short in one of the best sermons he ever heard him attempt to deliver, and left his astonished congregation to ponder on the finale of the discourse if completed, or to follow him to the levee and see if there was any one on the boat that they knew, and inquire for long expected letters when the elder had secured the United States mail bag. To remedy all difficulties arising from the irregularities of mail facilities, a meeting of the settlers was called to take the matter under consideration and recommend a candidate to fill the vacancy of postmaster. The Kev. Edward Ely was selected for the position by an unanimous vote, and a petition, signed by all on the prairie, forwarded to the department in Washington.

At this meeting an effort was made to again change the name of the postoffice - to call it Wabasha City - but the matter was settled by a vote, and one majority for Winona. The elder says that his vote retained the name of Winona.

Elder Ely duly received his commission and became the lawful postmaster at Winona, on Wabasha prairie, where he had had the distribution of letters that came by mail about nine months unofficially. The first regular mail made up by him after receiving his! appointment was on the Sth day of January, 1853. The office was in his residence on the corner of Center and Second streets, where now the ''Ely block " stands. Mr. Ely held this position until early in the spring of 1855, when he was superseded by J. W. Downer, and the postofiice removed to the "Downer building," which stood about midway between Market and Walnut streets, on the north side of Front street.

Tliis change was a political movement. When the United States land-ortice was established at Winona and the little settlement at Johnson's landing began to assume some importance it was considered advisable that the postmaster should be one in sympathy with the party in power. The administration was democratic, and as the elder was of different political faith the services of the pioneer postmaster were no longer required.

Tlie first marriage on Wabasha prairie, now the city of Winona, and the first marriage within the present boundaries of this county, was that of S. K. Thompson and Mrs. Sutherland, on the 9th of November, 1852. The marriage ceremony was performed by the Rev. Edward Ely at his own house, where the parties were stopping temporarily while waiting for a down boat to take them to LaCrosse.

S. K. Thompson was among the first arrivals here in the spring. Without locating himself on a claim he had remained on Wabasha prairie during the season and made his home witii John Evans. He was about forty-five years old, a man of good general intelligence and of dignified personal appearance. Mrs. Sutherland was a widow about forty years of age. She came here with her brother, O. S. Holbrook, and kept house for him until her marriage, after which Thou)pson and Holbrook lived together for awhile on Ilolbrook's claim, which he had discovered lying south of and adjoining the McDermott claim, until Thompson made a claim back of the lake and moved on it.

The claim, back of the lake, made by George Wallace early in the spring of 1852, liad laid during this season with but little, if anything, to show that it was claimed. Its exposed situation was a temptation for some one without a claim to watch. The Rev. Mr. Ely had not, as yet, taken a claim. On the 2d of December, 1852, he, with his axe on his shoulder, crossed the lake on the ice and jumped Wallace's claim*. He took possession by chopping down some trees and blazing others, on which he conspicuously displayed his name.

Mr. "Wallace was a nephew of Thompson's wife, the late "Widow Sutherland. Considering the "Wallace claim to be a family possession which should be guarded, Thompson jumped it from Mr. Ely on January 15, 1853, while the elder was at La Crosse holding a series of revival meetings for which he had been employed. The elder was too much engaged in his professional labors to devote his time and attention to the protection of his rights, and Thompson established himself on the claim by building a cabin on it, which he occupied with his wife. Mr. Thompson afterward bought the claim of George Wallace and built a comfortable frame house, a story and a half building, in which he lived for ten or twelve years, or while he remained in this part of the country. The house is yet standing, and forms part of the present farmhouse of Mr. John Zenk.

S. K. Thompson was a gentlemanly appearing man in dress and manners, and always seemed to have control of funds to engage in business. He held official positions, - was county commissioner, and for several years was justice of the peace. In his younger days he had been a merchant in Ohio. For about ten years before settling in this county he had been engaged in speculative investments along the upper Mississippi. He was for awhile in business as a merchant at Winona.

It has been already related that when Elijah Silsbee sold his claim in 1854, he, with Charles S. Hamilton, started a store on the corner of Front and Center streets. About January 1, 1855, they dissolved partnership, Mr. Silsbee retaining the stock of goods. Soon after this S. K. Thompson bought the goods and carried on the business for about one year. In the fall of 1855 he purchased quite a large stock of general merchandise, groceries, etc. During the winter he sold out to Burr Deuel and Luke Blair. The incidents of this sale are noted to show something of the manner of doing business at that date. When Mr. Thompson sold out to Deuel & Blair he gave possession at once, and was to receive the first payment as soon as the inventory was taken, and the balance in notes of the firm. The inventory was taken by Thompson and Ilolbrook. Before the inventory was completed enough was realized from sales to make the first payment. The notes for the balance at six and twelve months were paid before due, the firm buying their own paper through an agent, A. P. Foster, at a liberal discount of 3 per cent per month. A portion of the Silsbee stock had been damaged by the sinking of the barge in which it was brought up the river in

1854. To get rid of all of tlie unsalable goods, auction sales were held, at which "Uncle Luke" was himself the auctioneer and a popular salesman. It was a current report that D. & B. made about $3,000 clear in this transaction before the opening of navigation in the spring, when they renewed their stock.

Two or three years before Mr. Thompson left this part of the country the community was somewhat startled to learn that he had two wives, a married daughter and a very affectionate adopted daughter living with him in his house across the lake back of Winona. Some inquisitive ones, whose sensibilities were shocked by the revelations, attempted to have the affair investigated by the grand jury, to whom complaint was made, but the harmony of the happy family prevented a full expose of the scandal. After remaining here about a year the wife with the married daughter moved to N^ebraska. Thompson followed in a year or two after with wife No. 2 and the adopted daughter. It is rumored that Thompson and wife No. 2 died from the effects of i)oisonin Nebraska.

The stores started by Mr. Kobertson at Minnesota City, and Mr. Den man at Wabasha prairie, were closed out early in the fall. To procure their supplies for the winter, the settlers sent orders to Galena by the boats; some combined and bought their groceries and provisions at wholesale prices through Mr. Den man as agent. Mr. Johnson went down to Galena and purchased goods for the settlers on the prairie. These supplies were brought up by the Nominee on her last trip and left at La Crosse on November 15. Captain Smith was afraid to venture farther up the river against the ice that had began to form in the river. A severe snowstorm occurred on November 11, followed by intense cold, the thermometer indicating several degrees below zero.

Mr, Burley says that he went down to La Crosse with Mr. Denman, and was there when the Nominee turned back down the river. They came up with Johnson the next day on foot, on the west side of the river; the snow was about six inches deep. They stayed all night at Brown's. The news that their supplies were stopped at La Crosse was not very cheering to the settlers, for the most of them had but a limited amount on hand, and the prospect was that they would be unable to procure more until the ice formed sufficient to enable them to travel on the river. The weather moderated, the enow melted away and the river cleared of ice. It was then expected

On December 9 a party of five men from the Rolling Stone, with half-a-dozen from Wabasha prairie, went down to La Crosse for the supplies left by the Nominee, expecting to bring them up on one of the Black River boats. Among this party were D. Q. Burley,^ S. E. Cotton, Wm. T. Luark, J. S. Denman and Charles Bannan, of Minnesota City; from the prairie were E. H. Johnson, A. B. Smith, John C. Laird, George W. Clark, Wm. H. Stevens and Peter Gorr. The weather became intensely cold and ice formed in the river, making the trip a laborious one. They reached Brown's the first day from La Crosse, and stopped all night. The following day they landed their freight on the lower end of the prairie late in the evening. The boat was at once unloaded and started back to La Crosse under the pilotage of A. B. Smith and an assistant. Elder Ely also took passage down. They landed at Brown's and stayed until daylight, when they safely reached La Crosse without accident, although the channel was filled with floating ice.

The settlers who remained in the colony and made their homes in Minnesota City during the winter of 1852-3 had comfortable cabins, in which they passed the winter. Some of these cabins were of logs, others were of boards. No cases of suffering from insufficient food or clothing were known in the settlement. Their . principal employment was providing firewood for present use and laying in a supply for the ensuing year.

After the sloughs were frozen over they engaged in chopping on the islands, cutting and banking steamboat-wood, getting out logs, timber, posts and rails for use in claim improvements. Their social enjoyments were quiet visits exchanged with each other and occasional meetings of the association.

Among the incidents of the winter was the loss of the horses of S. M. Burns. On Christmas day he with his wife left their home on the bank of the river at what was afterward called Mt. Yernon, for the purpose of visiting the settlement at Minnesota City. He started down on the ice with his horses and sleigh. While on Haddock slough his horses broke through the ice and were drowned. Burns and his wife narrowly escaped the same fate. This team was the one Burns brought with him when he came to Minnesota. There was but one other team of horses in the north part of the county, that belonging to O. M. Lord, of Minnesota City.

Mr. Burns and his wife spent the day witli their friends in the colony. In tlie evening Mr. Lord took tliem up to their home with his horses and sleigh, over the trail along the blufts. He came near losing his own team while on this neighborly trip. In crossing tiie ruh in the mouth of Deering's valley he missed the trail and drove below, where the banks were higher and drifted with snow. The horses attempted to jump across, but fell head first into the little stream and were unable to rise. The long sleigh-tongue, which projected two or three feet in front of the horses, was driven into the bank and held them fast. Their bodies formed a dam and the water was soon pouring over their backs. Mr. Lord never traveled without his ax ; he was a natural pioneer and prompt to act in cases of emergency. Although it was dark he comprehended the difficultv, and with two or three blows with his ax severed the sleightongue in the rear of the horses and set them at liberty, but not until they were nearlj^ drowned. The tongue was soon repaired with cord brought along in the sleigh, and Mr. Lord made the trip without other accident. His team occupied Burns' stable until the next morning.

The following is a list of members of the Farm and Village Association who settled in the colony at Rolling Stone in 1852 with their families, and who in 1883 are yet residents of that locality: O. M. Lord and wife, James Wright and wife, Egbert Chapman and wife, Mrs. H. B. Waterman, Mrs. Pike (widow of Robert Pike, Jr.,) and her daughter p]mma, now Mrs. Frank D. Stewart, Robert Thorp and wife, E. B. Drew, S. E. Cotton and wife, Lawrence Dil worth and wife, Charles Bannon, S. D. Putnam and wife, William Sweet, D. Q, Burley and .H. Jones. II. B. Waterman resides in the State of New York. Rufus Waterman is living in the city of Winona.

The settlers on Wabasha prairie, like others along the river, in the winter of 1852-3 engaged in cutting steamboat-wood, logs, timber, etc., on the island o})posite. Among their social enjoyments was a general gathering and Christmas dinner held at the Viets House, then occupied by Edwin Hamilton. At the Christmas gathering held on the ])rairie twelve months before, Ed. Hamilton was the chief cook and general manager of the bachelor dinner. At this second affair he was general manager, but Mrs. Goddard had charge of the cooking department, although it is stated that Ed. Hamilton provided a roast coon of his own preparation for the table.

This dinner was got up bj a general contribution of material from those interested. Each family provided a part ; even the furniture and dishes were furnished for the occasion. It is said by one who enjoyed it that the dinner was a good one. About half of the settlers on the prairie attended this gathering. Charles Bannon and S. E. Cotton with their wives were present from Eolling Stone.

The following is a list of the settlers living on Wabasha prairie at that date : Kev. H. S. Hamilton, wife and two sons, Charles S. and Eugene ; Eev. Edward Ely, wife and two children, "Charhe" and "Nellie"; Dr. George F. Childs and wife ; Mrs. Goddard and son Charles ; George M. Gere, wife and a large family ; Wm. B. Gere, Edwin Gere, Mary Gere, Henry C. Gere, wife and a large family ; Angelia Gere, Helen Gere, John Evans and wife, Abigal Evans, Royal B. Evans, John Emerson, wife and children ; S. K. Thompson and wife, E. H. Johnson, Ed. Hamilton, George W. Clark, Scott Clark, John C. Laird, Wm. H. Stevens, O. S. Holbrook, Frank Curtiss, Rufus Emerson, A. B. Smith, Allen Gilmore, Caleb Nash, Jabez McDermott, Roberts and Elijah Silsbee.

Of the settlers living on Wabasha prairie at the close of the year 1852 the following are yet living in the county of Winona in 1883 : Mrs. Goddard, now known as Mrs. Catharine Smith, Elder Ely and wife, Wm, H. Stevens, John C. Laird, Royal B. Evans and George W. Clark.

Without the aid of an official census, it was estimated by M. Wheeler Sargent "that the population within the present boundaries of Winona county on the 1st day of January, 1853, was about 350, of whom a majority were or had been members of the Western Farm and Village Association."