Fair Haven Township

Fair Haven Township

Fair Haven is one of the southeastern towns of the county, and embodies a portion of townships 121 and 122, range 28, west. The surface of the town is somewhat undulating, and a large part of it, prior to its settlement, was covered with brush and small timber, which rapidly disappeared before the march of progress. Its soil is rich and fertile, capable of producing the best crops. There are several small lakes in the township, and on the southern boundary the Clearwater river flows through a series of lakes known as Clearwater, Augusta, Caroline, Maria, Sunday and Mary. The lakes abound in fish and game fowl. The area of the town is about 21,760 acres, of which about onehalf is under cultivation.

friends settled Fair Haven in 1856, This first settlement clustered around the present site of the village. Partridge, who was a Freewill Baptist preacher, had left Ohio in 1854, had settled on the present site of Minneapolis, and had opened a farm nine miles northwest of that city. In the spring of 1856, he came up the river to Clearwater and started on a tramp inland through the woods. In time he reached a tract of land so beautiful that he excladmed "This is a fair haven!" and this name was afterward adopted. After looking over the region, he returned to his farm, and was soon formed a party of prospective settlers consisting of Lovinus Abell, Sylvester Wolcutt, George W. Root, Henry Root, H. Hill, John G. Smith, and John L. Dean, all of Mecca, Ohio. The eight men came up the Mississippi river to Clearwater, and thence up the Clearwater river. On May 26, 1856, the party camped on the banks of that river, seven miles from the mouth. The next morning, Partridge, Root and Woolcutt started out on foot, came to Fair Haven prairie, and located a mill-site in the present village. The rest of the party joined them the same day. On the next day, May 28, each man took a claim. Partridge's claim included the present village site, and the others were in the same neighborhood. In July, 1856, Henry Root erected on his claim the first house in the vicinity. This house was the general stopping place of the pioneers while they were constructing their own habitations. In July, 1856, E. O. Haven surveyed the village and a plat was prepared with Thomas C. Partridge as proprietor.

Some of the men returned to the East for their families, and in October there was an influx of new settlers. Among them were: Aaron Scribner and wife; William H. Day and wife; Mrs. Lovinus Abell and children (Jane, Newton, Westley, John, Laurie and Milton) ; Alanson Smith, with his wife and children (Wallace and Mary) ; and E. G. Parsons. In November there arrived Mrs.. Thomas C. Partridge and children (Payson, Cecil, Florus and Valona). Other arrivals were: Mrs. Sylvester Woolcutt and two children; Joshua Kent and family; and Stephen C, Kent and wife. V. W. Olds arrived late in the fall of 1856. Mrs. Aaron Scribner

While these people were settling in the neighborhood of the village, Henry Block, a native of Hanover, Germany, settled on the banks of Beaver lake in the extreme northern part of the township. A small German colony developed in that neighborhood.

In the spring of 1857, a dam and sawmill were erected, part of the timbers having been hauled the previous winter. In April many new settlers arrived from Ohio. Among them were: J. W. Coats, A. J. Brockett, Miner Sperry, Newton Scoville, Charles Abell, Lucius Belden, Alfred Dean and wife, George W. Dean with wife and children; A. Montgomery and wife, and Mrs. Alanson Smith and three children (Wallace, Elvira and Mary). In May, John K. Noyes arrived with his wife and children (Josephine, Elizabeth, Mary, Bernice, George, Laura, Julia and Frank). During the summer some of the arrivals were: J. C. Winslow, D. A. Perkins, Josiah Noyes, A. J. Whitney, Joseph H. Lock with his wife and family, James Tucker with his wife and children (Sarah, Ambrose, Eliza, Georgianna and Nellie), Elijah Townsend with his wife and children (Perry, George W., Erwin, Jason, Leonard, Sarah Ann and Almira)..

The grasshoppers ravaged the crops of 1857, and the privations of the following winter were severe. Early in the spring Lucius Belden went to St. Paul with his ox team to procure assistance for the Fair Haven people from the state appropriation. He found, however, that the appropriation had been exhausted. The merchants of Minneapolis, with a generosity which even to this day is grate^ fully remembered, contributed a large amount of provisions and seeds, and much of the distress in Fair Haven was relieved.

In 1858 the pioneers continued to arrive. Among them may be mentioned: Stinson Lovejoy and wife, Frank Crane, John Metcaff, B. H. Winslow and wife and daughter (Ann S.), Michael Patten and family, Mrs. George R. Whitney and children (Mary A., Alberton, George R., Horace and F. H.), J. C. Boober and wife and children (Anna M., Druzilla, Lucy, Henry, Althea, George Roscoe, Charlotte, Harriet C. and Hannah W.), James Elmer, James Jenks and wife, O. D. Webb and wife and daughters (Alma, Ella and Emma.) It was in 1858 that the first Fourth of July celebration was held. A song written for this event by J. W. Coats and A. Montgomery is still remembered by the early settlers.

The first child born was Eugene Henry Day, son of William Day. The first death was that of Theron Dean, son of George W. Dean, in the spring of 1857.. One authority states that the first marriage was that of Henry Root and Aurilla Dean. Another declares that the first marriage was that of Joseph Strickland and Amelia Giles in the summer of 1857. The marriage of John L. Dean and Sarah Tucker was also an early event. On May 24, 1866, James B. Vandervort married Valona M. Partridge, and R. M. Vandervort married Alma Webb.

Many of Fair Haven's men saw service during the Civil war. Several enlisted in the early days of the conflict in the First Minnesota Infantry. They were Perry C. Townsend, George W. Townsend, R. M. Eastman, John Abell, D. A. Perkins, G. Sias, and Jerome Baldwin (died at David's Island, New York harbor, Aug. 11, 1864). Charles Robinson enlisted in the Second Minnesota Infantry and Ambrose W. Tucker in the Third. Those who enlisted in Co. D, Fourth Minnesota Infantry were Thomas E. Inman (captain), B. F. Butler, A. J. Whitney, W. C. Tufts, Milo M. Scoville (killed at Farmington, Miss., July 5, 1862), Thadeus I. Robinson (killed at Yicksburg, Miss., July 24, 1863), H. C. Boobar (killed at Clear Creek, Miss., Aug. 18, 1862), Reuben Wheeler, Benjamin Plummer and Newton A. Abell, S. C. Kemp, Albert Kemp, and Jerome Pratt enlisted in Hatch's Battalion. John B.. Inman enlisted in the First Minnesota Heavy Artillery. In 1863, A. Farnsworth, B. F. Butler, A. W. Tucker, James Robinson, L. H. Brown, Elder Norris and John L. Dean joined the state's scouts.

The township was organized by the county commissioners in 1859, and the first election held April 5, 1859 at the village.. The meeting was called to order by T. C. Partridge. Calvin J. Boobar was moderator, Albertis Montgomery, clerk, and Samuel Young, M. L. Patten and N. J. Robinson judges of election. Officers were elected as follows: Supervisors, Albertis Montgomery (chairman), T. C. Partridge and S. Young; clerk, James Jenks; assessor, J. H. Locke; collector, William Heywood, overseer of the poor, H. H. Mayo; constables, G. A. Bibber and Sumner Leavitt; justices of the peace, H. P. Bennett and C. J. Boobar; pound master, J. K. Noyes; highway overseers, J. P. Taylor and John K. Noyes. The public hall is situated in the village. It was built by the G. A. R. The building was erected about 1888 and used by the post for about eight years when the post removed to Annendale. At about the same time the Masonic lodge also went to Annendale. The products of the town are mostly cattle, hogs, potatoes and corn. Very little grain is raised for sale, most of it being fed to stock.

The first school was kept in a storehouse, in the winter of 1856-57, by Anna M. Boobar. A school house was built in 1866, which was replaced in 1880, by a large two-story building which v/as destroyed by fire in 1905 and was in turn replaced by a cement block building in 1906. This is modern in every respect. There are three other schools in the township, located in sections 30, 27 and 14. School is being held in all four. District 1, the first district in the township, was organized March 14, 1859, by electing C. J. Boobar, A. C. Smith and A. Montgomery trustees and James Jenks clerk.

Fair Haven Village

The early settlement of the township clustered about Fair Haven village, and much of the early history of the two is identical. Thomas C. Partridge settled on the present site of Fair Haven in May, 1856, and had the village platted by E. O. Haven in July of the same year. The dam and mill were constructed in the spring of 1857. In the summer of 1857 Charles Abell opened a general store. In the fall, Partridge & Hayward started a clothing store, and J. K. Noyes erected a substantial log building which he used as a tavern until his Octagon hotel was completed. The log tavern was also used as a fort during the Indian outbreak of 1862. The first postoffice was established in 1858 and John K. Noyes appointed postmaster. Orrin D. Webb erected a grist mill in 1859. James Tucker built a frame hotel which was destroyed by fire in 1882. A. Thayer built a two-story hotel which is still standing.

S. Leavitt opened a blacksmith shop in 1861. In 1866 the railroad came through, and Grinols & Cooper opened a general store. In the fall of 1866, the Octagon hotel owned by John K. Noyes was destroyed by fire. In 1867 the store of Grinols & Cooper was destroyed by fire. Later it was rebuilt. In the spring of that year a freshet carried the dam and fiouring mill down the river. Both were rebuilt by the owners, J. A. Linscott and William Vie.

Fair Haven village is located on the porth side of the Clearwater river in section 4 township 121, range 28. It is about eighty feet above the level of the river and lakes. The town site is almost absolutely flat and was formerly covered with brush and timber. The park which is in the center of the village still retains its virgin oaks. The cemetery lies in the most eastern part of the village and is most beautifully located.

Up to 1888 Fair Haven was one of the most prosperous villages in the county but the building of the "Soo" line only two miles away to the south and the starting of a new town known as South Haven naturally detracted from the old town to the new on the railroad. The village still has a general store which is doing a good business, conducted by C. Thorn. The grist mill still is running on the original site, and is owned and operated by Grant Graham. The water power is supposed to be one of the best west of the Twin Cities. The capacity is fifty barrels a day. There are two churches. Baptist and Lutheran, the Baptist being situated in the northern part of the village. It has been occupied the past three years by the Methodists. The German Lutheran church is in the southern part of the village, has a large membership and is very prosperous, having at least one hundred and fifty members. The school house is situated near the center of the village. It is a onestory building of cement blocks. It has

The dwelling houses are a little better than the average for a village of its size and as a whole are kept in fair repair. The Minnesota Central Traction Co. is building a line from Minneapolis to St. Cloud through Fair Haven, and it is expected that this line will restore to the village its importance and prosperity of former years.