Forest Mills, Minnesota

" It was the second day of September, in the afternoon, a weary and footsore footman came hobbling down the southern slope of the valley of the Zumbro. His eye caught but one shanty in all the valley ; that was the new board shanty of Dr. Ira Perry, on the north side of the river, and one half mile distant from it. That was his objective point. The river was concealed from view. As he rounded a moderate sized rise of land on the school section he espied a log shanty much nearer than the one above mentioned. It seemed rather uninviting, but he concluded to call at it and make certain inquiries that were crowding his mind. As he approached this shanty he saw a large middle-aged man amusing himself by pitching quoits. Upon coming nearer the spot where this solitary individual was amusing himself -our traveler recognized T. P. Kellett, whom he had met at the meetings of the old company in Lowell, Massachusetts. Any one who has known Mr. Kellett for the last third of a century need not be told that a cordial greeting and hearty welcome was extended to this limping wayfarer.

Passage source: Goodhue County, Minnesota, Past and Present, published 1893.

"The question of naming the new town was the cause of no little discussion. Zumbrota was finally decided upon. The original members of the company were not men of practical experience and broad views in the matter of town building. The trustees especially were very narrow and shortsighted. They placed an extravagant price upon their town lots, and were not liberal enough to donate any for much desired improvements. One of the most important needs of the new town was a hotel. Ezra Wilder came over from Orouoco to build one. The trustees gave him no attention and were unwilling to make any concessions to him. Doty finally sold him two lots at a moderate price, in an undesirable location. He proceeded to erect a building for hotel purposes late in the fall, which he was not able to make comfortable till midwinter, though it was actually occupied at the beginning of the winter. The frame of this building was put up and it was sided and the roof shingled by December 1. The weather was extremely cold, and a considerable depth of snow was on the ground. Perry had moved his shanty to a hillside, and made a basement for it in the ground. Into this he moved his wife and several children. Smith's cabin was full to overflowing. Another family besides Smith's occupied the lower story, while the attic was filled with lodgers. The writer had brought out from the east some bedding. He and J. A. Thacher had Wilder lay a loose floor in the second story over the cook stove, and hang up sheets around to keep the snow out. Upon this floor a bed, filled with prairie hay, was laid and these two men lodged there for some weeks, with the mercury outside at oO below zero, and but a trifle above that indoors where they slept, They took their meals below at Wilder's table. Wilder's family consisted of his wife and two interesting daughters. How these women endured the rigors of that terrible winter in the half finished building, has ever been a mystery. So cold was it, that within four feet of the cook stove where these women cooked the food for several persons, water would freeze on the beard while one was washing his face. A few families came on in the fall, but they suffered many hardships and deprivations, which can scarcely be realized at this day. There were many cases of sickness and much discouragement. Dr. Perry's wife was sick all winter and nearly insane. Others were similarly att'ected. One poor fellow was taken down with typhoid fever at Smith's. The house was full of boarders. He soon died from want of care. It could not be given him. All travel soon ceased. Occasionally some one would go to Red Wing for the mail and needed supplies. T. P. Kellett had opened a store with a small stock of goods. No post-oftice was established till the following spring. Locomotion on the prairies was made on snow shoes. Those remote from timber found it difticult to keep warm during the winter. Snow fell about November 20, and remained on the ground till May of the following spring. Notwithstanding the setting in of winter all parties were eagerly planning to advance the interests of the new town. It was determined to change the route of the St. Paul and Dubuque stage through Zumbrota, and to open a road from Wabasha, on the Mississippi river, to Faribault. With the latter end in view, the writer, in company with J. A. Thacher, proposed to examine the route to be selected from Zumbrota to Kenyon where it would connect with the existing road. They started in the latter part of November. The snow was eight inches deep, and twice that depth in the prairie grass. It took two or three days to reach Faribault. The next day after their arrival, a heavy snow storm came on which continued two or three days. The return to Zumbrota presented a most dismal aspect. The writer, not feeling able to undertake the return over the prairie on foot, with the increase of snow and a high wind prevailing, decided to take the stage for Hastings. This he did and rode some thirty-five miles in a severe snow storm, the wind blowing almost a gale. He kept from suffering by lying on the bottom of the open sleigh, and covering himself with buffalo robes. Late in the afternoon he left this conveyance and stopped at a lone shanty on the open prairie, waiting for the stage which would soon be due from St. Paul on its way to Dubuque. It was dark before the stage came along which he took and after riding some fifteen miles more arrived at Cannon Falls. The stage stopped at this place over night. The hotel accommodations were somewhat primitive. The hotel consisted of two log buildings united. After getting warm and partaking bountifully of the homely fare, the writer was shown up stairs or up the stepladder to bed. He slightly demurred at the outlook for the night's lodging, but on being told that no better accommodations could be had, he subsided and went to bed with most of his garments on. It soon became apparent that by morning he would be buried under the suow, as the wind was blowing and sifting it through every crevice. He arose and descended to the public room, where at least there was sufficient warmth from the overheated stove. Assuming an air of some dignity and giving the landlord to understand that he was one of the proprietors of the important new town of Zumbrota, he was again taken up the step-ladder and given a cozy little room with a good bed, which evidently was not allowed to ordinary guests.

Passage source: Goodhue County, Minnesota, Past and Present, published 1893.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Zumbrota Township.