Elba Township

Elba Township

Elba is situated in T. 107 N., R. 10 W. Its boundaries are, on the north Whitewater township, on the east Norton, on the south St. Charles, and on the west Olmsted county. The surface is very much broken, and is covered by three deep valle_ys, which in turn are traversed by three prominent streams. There are three branches of the Whitewater river, the north branch, the east branch and the middle branch. These unite at the village of Elba, on Sec. 10, and form one principal stream, which flows north and leaves the township on Sec. 2. Whitewater river is formed by numerous springs arising from the bluffs, and furnishes excellent water-power for a number of mills along its course. The streams abound in speckled trout, and the country is much visited all through the summer months by Ashing parties in quest of sport. The bluffs along the valley are from 350 to 400 feet in height, and form some of the most beautiful scenes in that section of the country.

Floods, caused by heavy rains in summer, are frequent on the Whitewater and its branches, causing much annoyance by the washing away of dams and the injury of mills.

Immigration into the township began as early as 1854. Robert Crooks was probably the first among the early pioneers. He came to that locality in the spring of 1854, and took u\) a claim on what is now part of Sec. 28. He was followed the same year by F, McCarty and a man named South wick. F. McC^arty settled on what is now Sec. 22, while Southwick made a claim on Sec. 3. The following came in 1855 : A. E. Todd, D. J. Todd, D. R. Holbrook, L. U. Todd, W. Telugan, Peter Kiefer, Andrew Burger, Wm. Hemmelberg, A. D. Nichols, Alvd Philbrick, H. D. Bailey and Jerry Philbrick. A. E. Todd took up land on Sees. 6 and 7, D. J. Todd on Sees. 8 and 9, D. R. Holbrook on Sec. 9, L. U. Todd on Sec. 8, W. Telugan on Sec. 11, Peter Kiefer on N.W. ^ Sec. 12, Andrew Burger on Sees. 11 and 12, Wm. Himmelberg on Sec. 11, ArD. Nichols on Sec. 10, Alva Philbrick, H. D. Bailey and .Terry Philbrick, all on Sec. 10.

The first school was held in a little log schoolhouse, built in 1855 by Alva Philbrick, on what is now Sec. 10. The first sawmill was built on the north branch of the Whitewater, on Sec. 8, by A. E. Todd, in the summer of 1856. It was washed out by a flood some time after, and was rebuilt on Sec. 7. The mill is now standing and does princi])all3^ a custom business for the farmers in the neighborhood.

"Fail-water Flouring Mill" was built on Sec. 7, on the north branch of the Whitewater, some time in 1866, by W. Parr and W. R. Ellis. It was two stories in height and had a dimension of 35 X 40 feet. E. C. Ellis is the present owner. The mill has two run of burrs and a capacity of thirty barrels per day. The first laid out road in the township was the road running from Winona west to the county line. This road ran directly through the center of Elba township, and was laid out in 1857.

There are two churches, the German Catholic at Elba village, and the United Brethren on Sec. 21. The latter was built in 1876. It is 30x40 feet, with a spire forty feet tall. They have a congregation of perhaps seventy-five members, composed mostly of Germans. The first minister was Rev. Reiswick, the present one is Rev. J. Gutensohn. Attached to the church is a cemetery and two acres of land.

The first meeting took place May 11, 1858, for the general organization. J. H. Dearborn was elected town clerk ; J. W. Ireland, J. Philbrick, N. V. Crow, supervisors ; John Bole, assessor ; E. B. Barnes, collector ; Thomas Barnes, G. E. Fisher, justices of the peace ; David Duryee, overseer of poor ; Hugh Barclay, Aaron Baker, constables. The following are the town clerks in succession : J. H. Dearborn, David Cook, A. D. Nichols, M. R. Lair, A. D. Nichols, R. Bullen, H. F. Denio, John Bullen, John Udell, Gregory Ritt, H. F. Denio, the clerk for 1882-3.

Elba Village

Elba village is situated on Sees. 9 and 10, at the iuncti(m of the three branches of the Whitewater. Although it has never been recorded as a village plat, there has been a settlement there since 1 856. The first house was put up by C. South wick. Among the early residents were D. R. Holbrook, Israel Messenger, Manoa Turner, D. J. W, Ireland, David Duryee, John Penson and A. D. Nichols. The first postoffice was established in 1857, with H. D. Bailey as postmaster. D. S. Loy kept the first store in 1862 ; John BoUen soon started another store. The first blacksmith shop was kept by Mr. Medcalf. The first school was a log house, built 1858.

Dr. J. W. Ireland practiced in the village and the surrounding country from 1860 to 1864. The flouring-mill in Elba was built in 1860, by John Rodgers. The water-power is furnished by the north and middle branches of Whitewater. The mill is 25 X 30 feet. In the first place they had two run of burrs and a much larger capacity than now. It passed through a number of hands and underwent considerable improvement. Another run of burrs have been added, besides a turban water-wheel, a stone wall and a new flume. The present owners are J. Hoffman and T. C. Udell. The capacity is seventy-five barrels per day. Elba contains, at present writing, two stores, two hotels, a blacksmith shop and a carpenter shop. The present school was built in 1866. It is a district school with an average attendance of fifty pupils. The German Catholic church was built in 1877, through the instrumentality of Ferdinand Kramer, Peter Geren and Nicholas Marnoch. It is a frame building, 40 X 60 feet, with a belfry fifteen feet high. The first minister was Father Plut, of Winona, who visited the congregation through a period of two or three years. The congregation consists of 200 members. Attached to the church is a cemetery and thirty-five acres of land.

The population of the village is now 100. It has a very healthy climate, and it is a noticeable fact that for thirty years it has never had a case of scarlet-fever or diphtheria.