Hayward Township

Hayward City

This township, which has also borne the name of Douglass, is the southeast of the six interior towns of the county, and the towns in contact with it are : Riceland on the north, Oakland on the east, Shell Rock on the south, and Albert Lea on the west. It is six miles square, like all the other towns in the county. An arm of Lake Albert Lea, three miles long and a third of a mile wide, lies near the yestern boundary, in a north and south direc¬ tion. A stream called Peter Lunde creek enters the lake in sec¬ tion 7, made up of two branches arising back in the town. The land may be described as prairie, with oak openings and meadow land interspersed, the prairie predominating. The soil as a rule is a black loam, productive of all crops in this latitude. The sub¬ soil is clay and gravel. The town has one village, also known as Hayward.

Early Settlement. Oliver Andrews, who came to Shell Rock in 1855, located his claim in Hayward township. His friends, however, were in Shell Rock, and many efforts were made to have his farm remain a part of that township, instead of being included in Hayward. Peter Lunde and Endre Oulbrandson came here in 1856. Peter Lunde had located in Mitchell county, Iowa, in the early fifties. To his home, early in the spring of 1856, came Endre Gulbrandson, a native of Norway, but a resident of Wis¬ consin. Gulbrandson had left his Wisconsin home and brought his family as far as Houston county, Minnesota, where he left them for a time, while he pushed on to Mitchell, where his relative, Peter Lunde, resided. Together these men came to Hayward township and selected claims, later going after their families, who arrived during the middle of the summer. In 1856 William Newlin settled in section 7, William Eddy in section 18, A. T. and Philo Butts in section 20, S. H. Ludlow in section 8, and Freeman Briggs in section 20. The same year came David Hayward, from whom the town is named. He settled on section 6 and remained about two years. Lysander R. Luce came in 1857.

Among the prominent Hayward citizens of the early days were : Andrew Sanderson, Peter Hanson, Engebrit H. Knatvold, L. W. Fay, A. N. Teslow, Nels Peterson, Christopher Nelson, Lars Lunde, Joseph Fern, J. AY. Devereaux, Luther Phelps, Robert Campbell, Sr., Robert Campbell, Jr., Ole Ofsthage, Joseph Post, Moses Johnson, Ole Anderson, H. D. Brown, John Murphy, R. 0. Braaten, LI. C. Nelson, W. S. AYaters, Andrew Frydenlund, John Frydenlund, George and Orson Buckley, John Dammen. John

Organization. The first town meeting in response to a legal notice was held on the first Tuesday in April, 1859, at the house of S. H. Ludlow. According to the records there were two mod¬ erators, S. H. Ludlow and I. W. Devereux. The officers of the election were H. M. Luce and Charles Bush. On motion the meet¬ ing adjourned to meet at the house of Charles Bush, where the following officers were elected: Supervisors, J. AY. Devereux, chairman, Peter Lunde and H. L. Dow ; clerk, Charles Bush ; treas¬ urer, Peter Lunde; assessor, A. T. Butts; justice of the peace, Charles Bush ; constable, H. L. Dow. The whole number of votes cast at this election was nine.

Cemeteries. There are two cemeteries in Hayward township, the Norwegian Lutheran cemetery, in section 9, south of the vil¬ lage, and the Bohemian cemetery, in the northwest corner of sec¬ tion 25. The Norwegian Lutheran cemetery association was organized in June, 1874, the chief mover being Endre Gulbrandson. The first burial in the cemetery was that of Arne Overby, who died in the winter of 1874. The plat of the cemetery was filed for record with the register of deeds, December 18, 1880, and the trustees at that time were : A. N. Teslow, Andrew Frydenlund and Mathias Christopherson.

Early Mills. A wind feed mill was erected in section 8 by M. M. Luce in 1877. It was two stories in height and when there was sufficient wind it could grind 200 bushels a day.