Daniel S. Piper House

The town of Medford is only three miles in extent from north to south and six from east to west, embracing only eighteen sections of land instead of thirty- six, about three fourths of which is covered with timber. Nearly all on the east side of the Straight river is covered witk a good growth of fine timber suitable for lumber or rails. The soil of the timber land is of a black sandy loam, very deep, with a clay subsoil, adapted to all kinds of cereals or vegetables. On the west side of the river the soil is of a lighter loam and produces the best quality of wheat, though not always of the largest yield. The town is well watered by the Straight river running through it from south to north, as well as several smail streams that flow into it. - There is one fine water power on the river as yet unimproved, and a steam saw mill in successful operation, owned by the Abbott Brothers.

Passage source: Geographical and Statistical History of Steele County from Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time. Embracing Leading Incidents of Pioneer Life, Names of Early Settlers ... &c, published 1868.

The first claims were made in the summer of 1853, by Smith and Orlando Johnson, A. L. "Wright, L. M. Howard Chauncey Lull, '?7ho staked ofi" their claims, and in September Mr. Howard turned over the first prairie sod in what is now Steele County. The Messrs. Johnson commenced breaking on their claims that fall, but did not build their houses or remove their families to this place till the following spring. Messrs Wright and Lull built a log house in which they spent the winter, which was probably the first abode for civilization within the limits of the county. In the winter or .early spring of 1854 John Sanborn brought his family with him and located in the southern part of the town, Mrs. Sanborn being the first white woman to find a home in that vicinity. Mrs, Wm. K. Colling was the next white woman to take up her residence in the infant colony, which she did in the following spring. Soon after her arrival she gave birth to a son which was the first birth of a white child in either town or county. The first marriage that was solemnized in Medford was that of A. L. Wright and Miss Pheboe Ann Hays, Rev. 0. A. Thomas sealing the contract with the authority and sanction of the church. Mr. "William Woolford w^s the first to embark on the voyage '

Passage source: Geographical and Statistical History of Steele County from Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time. Embracing Leading Incidents of Pioneer Life, Names of Early Settlers ... &c, published 1868.

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 Medford City - 2,588 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.