Walnut Street Bridge

The credit of the first settlement within the limits of this township is unanimously ascribed to Ira O. Seeley, now a prominent citizen of Appleton, this state. It is said that Mr. Seeley visited tlie locality in the fall of 1854, and being pleased with the valley where Mazeppa village now stands, decided to squat upon a claim there, and to that end erected a bark shant}' on the west side of the river, not far from the present site of the milldam. Keturning to "Wabasha for his familj^, he became convinced, on reflection, that the valley of Trout Brook afforded greater advantages for general farming purposes ; so when he came on with his family' next spring he located on section .5, where Daniel Mack now resides. Immediately after Mr. Seeley came Enoch Young, Joseph Fuller and G. C. Sleeper, all making claims on sections 4 and 5. In April of the same year came Joseph Ford and his son, Orville D., and George Maxwell ; the last two named are still residents of the village, where O. D. Ford located at that time. During the same season the following located within the township : Anson L. Carrier, Nelson B. Smith, Turner Preble, Francis A. Stowell, John E. Hyde, Elijah Lont, J. B. Miller, James H. Sandford, Lewis Blunt, George Duncan, Charles Fox, Isaac NichoUs, George Bailey, and possibly others.

Passage source: History of Wabasha County : Together with Biographical Matter, Statistics, Etc. : Gathered from Matter Furnished by Interviews with Old Settlers, County, Township, and Other Records, and Extracts from Files of Papers, Pamphlets, and Such Other Sources As Have Been Available : Also a History of Winona County, published 1884.

The advantages of the water-])ower and town site were at once perceived by the Fords, who made their claims thereon. All of the west half of section 6 lying east and north of the river was by them platted for a village. They offered the water-jjower to Mr. Nicholls if he would build a mill thereon. Tiie offer was at once accepted, and preparations were immediately made for the erection of a sawmill. This was set in operation during the winter, and timbers were at the same time prepared for a gristmill. William Amsbry became associated with Nichols in the construction of the gristmill, and subsequently bought out the latter. Amsbry & Barber completed it and began business in the fall of 1856. They were succeeded by Augustus Ambler, and the latter by the Forest Mills and Mazeppa Mill companies.

Passage source: History of Wabasha County : Together with Biographical Matter, Statistics, Etc. : Gathered from Matter Furnished by Interviews with Old Settlers, County, Township, and Other Records, and Extracts from Files of Papers, Pamphlets, and Such Other Sources As Have Been Available : Also a History of Winona County, published 1884.

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 Mazeppa City - 7,069 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.