Jefferson Township

Jefferson Township

taken to help make up Crooked Creek Township, but the loss of these was compensated for by the additions of several sections on the east, extending to the Mississippi.

The eastern portion of the township presents the characteristic topographical features of the lands on the western bank of the Mississippi in this region. There are numerous sloughs extending for two or three miles inland, the intervening land being merely a mass of swampy alluvium, some of which has not yet been utilized. Back of this are ridges, bluffs, dunes, and conical shaped hills, with the intervening ravines. The greatest ravine in the township is that formed by the Winnebago River, which comes in from the west, entering by section 30, then flowing through 29 and 28, then tortuously in 27, turning south through 34, and finally emptying into a slough in the eastern part of section 35. This depression has severx^i branches both on the north and south sides, between which are table lands of greater or less width. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad skirts the inner sloughs up and down the river, which for about two miles opposite the town is nearly a mile wide, but in section 29 narrows to less than 80 rods. A number of good springs are found, occurring mostly on the points of the bluffs near the river. In section 28 near the Catholic church, is a particularly fine spring, which in early days was so large that it was thought to furnish enough power to run a factory.

The bluffs back of the sloughs rise several hundred feet, and on their summits are some small but good farms. Along the valley, which is comparatively narrow, the soil is a rich loam. Some of the bottom lands near the river, where not timbered, furnished perennial crops of wild meadow grass, utilized for hay. The varieties of soil throughout the township are not unlike that near the river. There is timber and prairie, ravine and ridge land, forming a picturesque landscape, devoid of monotony and pleasing to the eye.

When the state line between Iowa and Minnesota, west from the Mississippi, was surveyed, no suitable place could be found to plant the iron monument designed to mark the boundary, until reaching a spot about three miles from the river, when it was placed on the line in the center of section 35. This spot is the first high ground west of the river. This line post is an obelisk of cast iron, half an inch thick, and standing five feet eight inches above ground. It is twelve inches square at the base and tapers to seven at the top. The lettering and figures are cast upon the monument, the north side bearing in a vertical line, like the characters on each side, the word, "Minnesota;" on the south side, "Iowa," on the west, "Lat. 43 degrees 30 minutes," and on the east, "1849." It was not, however, until several years after the date thus inscribed that the post was brought up the Mississippi River by a surveying party, landed at the nearest point, and with great difficulty, hauled by oxen to the spot.

The men who started the ball of civilization rolling in Jefferson Township, and, incidentally, in the county, were John and Samuel Ross, two brothers, who arrived here on a steamboat from Galena in 1847, and disembarked at a point on the west bank of the river, whence they proceeded to select places of settlement. With the help of the Indians they erected cabins and began pioneer work, being engaged for the most part in lumbering. On the survey of the state line in 1849, Samuel, whose location was some distance to the south of John's, found that his cabin was in the state of Iowa. Several years later he sold out to John, and resided at Ross's Landing, the site of Jefferson Village, and continued logging, running his timber down to Galena. Soon after the Rosses came a man named Smith, located a claim in the vicinity, but a little later sold it to a Norwegian who arrived, accompanied by his wife. These latter settlers had not been there long, when some one calling at their cabin, found that the man had been dead for four days, and that his wife was too sick to get up from his side. The two Rosses gave the body decent burial under an oak tree near the spring, and one of them took the woman to Lansing, where she was lost sight of. Patrick Collins, who arrived in the township in May, 1854, became a permanent settler, establishing in section 30. John Cauley and family came the same year and it was about the same time that Thomas Brady, Patrick Donahue, Patrick McCue, D. Friney, and Daniel Kennedy arrived. Michael Crowley, who came from Louisville, Ky., died after living here a few years ; his wife survived him until 1880. The first death in the town was probably that of their son Patrick, who was drowned in September, 1854. While taking some oxen to water he was crowded by them over a high bluflf, and although soon taken from the water, all efforts to resuscitate him proved unavailing.

Robert Kenny, who was prominent among the early settlers of Jefferson Township, was born in Kilkenny County, Ireland, in 1835, and came to America with his parents when ten years old. He came to this township with his brother Thomas in the spring of 1854. In May, 1861, he married Mrs. Elizabeth Kirby, a widow, who had long been a resident of Dubuque County, Iowa. He resided in various places until 1872, when he moved to New Albin, where he built a house. For some years, while living in Houston County, he was quite prominent in local politics, but later gave his attention solely to business matters, and had a successful career. His wife died in April, 1879, and was buried in the Jefferson Catholic cemetery.

Another pioneer settler of Jefferson township was Peter McDonald, a native of Canada, who came to the township with his brother. Ensign, in October, 1865. For a number of years they had resided in New York, and in July, 1852, Peter had been married in Waterbury, this state, to Catherine McMullen. The day after arriving here he took a claim in section 7, his brother, who had been here the season before, taking one in section 28. After the arrival of Mr. McDonald's family in the following spring, he moved to section 34, where he established a permanent home. In May, 1864, he enlisted in Company C, Second Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war.

The first births in the township of which there are any record were those of Michael and Patrick Donahue, twin sons of Patrick Donahue. They were bom in July, 1856. As already seen, the early settlement of the township was not effected without an occasional sad event occurring. To one of these James Mahlon fell a victim. He resided with his sister, Mrs. Hughes, and in December, 1855, started to go to Brownsville to do some trading, but, taking the wrong track, became lost in a severe snowstorm. His remains were not recovered until the following spring. He was at first buried in town, but afterwards his remains were disinterred and transferred to a place in or near Brownsville. His sister died quite suddenly while on a visit to friends in Wisconsin, and her remains were brought here and buried in the Catholic cemetery. Her son, John, subsequently resided for many years on the old place in section 27.

In early days there were three markets generally used by the set- '^'p'-s on the township, the first one patronized being a placed called Victory, in Wisconsin, which was reached in the summer time by crossing the river in skiffs. The others were Brownsville and Lansing, each about 15 miles distant.

The organization of Jefferson township took place in 1858. At the first election, held at the residence of Patrick Donahue, Robert Kenny, John Ross and Patrick Donahue were chosen as supervisors, Mr. Kenny being chairman. As available men were scarce, it was found necessary to double some of the offices. Thus, Alex. Durkee was made both clerk and constable, John Ross was assistant clerk and treasurer, Patrick Donahue was road master as well as supervisor, and Robert Kenny and Michael Brady were elected justices of the peace. It is not recorded that any of the town fathers were overworked, and matters ran along quite smoothly for the first year. It was not long, however, before friction developed, even in that thinly settled community. In the following year, 1859, Robert Kenny was again elected chairman of the board, and on the last day allowed by law presented his bond, with John Ross for his surety. It seems that the clerk wished a relative of his to have the place, and persuaded the other supervisors to name him to fill what he alleged was a vacancy. Mr. Kenny, not being willing to surrender his rights, the matter was referred to the district court, then presided over by Judge Donaldson. Mr. Kenny engaged Hon. Daniel Norton, state senator, as counsel. The result of the affair was that the clerk was required to accept the bond as tendered, and Mr. Kenny was declared the lawfully constituted chairman of supervisors.

The village of Jefferson grew up on the site of Ross's Landing, named after John Ross, whose settlement here has been already recorded. For a number of years he was the only continuous resident in the locality. In the fall of 1868 Anton Eck arrived and started a hotel, or tavern, on a slough about three-quarters of a mile north of the state. He, too, was a resident here for many years. Soon after him came James Callihan, who also opened and kept a hotel. In the fall of the next year, 1869, Lewis Hayes located here and erected a large building, the lower story of which was arranged for a store and the upper one for a dwelling. Mr. Hayes was a native of Vermont, who had come west to Lansing, Iowa, in 1852. He had married Sophia Smith, who had been living in Baraboo, Wis., and whose father, Isaac D. Smith, a native of the state of New York, came to Jefferson township at the same time, in the fall of 1869.

The land on which the village was laid out was bought of William Robinson by William and R. P. Spencer, and was surveyed and recorded as a village plat. William Robinson built a warehouse for storing grain, and was for several years in that trade. In the same fall Mr. Hayes rented his store to John Robinson and Mr. Tartt, who opened it and continued in trade for several years. After that James took the store and ran it for about a year, when he closed out, which wound up merchandising here.

What the future of the village would have been but for an unfortunate dispute with the railroad company, is a matter for conjecture. The company had started to construct its line, when a dispute arose between it and the village on the subject of damages, to which some of the citizens thought themselves entitled. The case went to the supreme court, and in 1873 the company finally built their tract by the water's edge, but erected no station. Instead of doing so, they started the rival village of New Albin, which for a few years had a rapid growth, absorbing what little life had been infused into Jefferson, which fell into a moribund condition. The latter place was in time honored by a water tank, put up for the company's own convenience. In the early eighties it had but a few residents, who were engaged mostly in fishing, some cultivating small gardens at the base of the bluffs. The fishing industry assumed considerable proportions, immense seines being used, and sometimes 50,000 pounds being taken at one haul. Indeed, there is a story, still vouched for by the older residents, that about Christmas, 1879, a haul of nearly 100,000 pounds was secured. The principal varieties of fish thus landed were sheepshead, white bass, buffalo, pickerel, pike, and often enormous catfish, weighing 40 or 50 pounds each. As to New Albin, after some ups and downs, it is now a place of considerable importance, and is patronized as a market town by the farmers of the adjacent territory.

As a proof that literary ambition was not lacking among the early settlers of Jefferson, and that even the higher flights of poetical composition was sometimes attempted, even in regard in matters of a prosaic and practical kind, the following effusion, which was received by one of the early county auditors, E. W. Trask, is herewith reproduced from an earlier publication :

La Crescent is the most northeasterly township in Houston County^ and contains about 27 sections. It is bounded on the north by Winona County, on the east by the Mississippi River, on the south by Hokah township, and on the west by Mound Prairie township. Just across the river lies the flourishing city and busy railroad center of La Crosse. From the Mississippi the bottom lands extend well back into the township. Pine Creek flows diagonally through a characteristic valley from the northwest corner, and empties into Target Lake, a body of water in the southeast comer, about three-quarters of a mile long and half as wide. The stream is fed almost exclusively by springs from the hillsides. In the southwestern part of the township there is a high ridge extending from Pine Creek Valley to that of Root River, but with ravines penetrating it at various points. The best farming land is in the valleys, which are exceptionally healthful. The ridges were settled later by German immigrants who found the strong clay soil capable of producing good crops.

The civilization of the township began with the coming of Peter Cameron in 1851. He was a native of New York who had come west at an early age, and had become a fur trader, for a time making his headquarters at Chicago, and later operating on the Mississippi. In 1842 he settled at La Crosse, where he did some lumbering and improving. Crossing the river in the spring of 1851, he built a large double log house in section 10, also acquiring 240 acres of land, and 300 acres more along the river. He did what he could to promote the building of a village, and in the spring of 1854 he and D. Richardson started a store in the Cameron house, putting in several hundred dollars' worth of goods, Mr. Richardson attending to the customers. In 1855 Mr. Cameron returned to La Crosse, where he died July 30, 1855, while erecting a saw mill. Mr. Cameron was a man of restless energy and vast conceptions, but had so many different interests that some of them perforce were left uncompleted at the time of his death. Among other things, it was his ambition to establish a city on the western bank of the river that should rival La Crosse, and even pass it in the race for supremacy, and to that end he began the construction of a canal from the river to the land available for a site. This canal began at the river in the lower part of section 13 and terminated near the center of section 14^ at a point in Pine Creek where a fragmentary lake or slough makes well up to the first terrace. Though the lake is quite shoal in places, the bottom is soft, and it was thought that the passage of the steamers would deepen and preserve a channel. One steamer, 150 feet in length, was built in La Crosse, and launched, but owing to Mr. Cameron's death, the machinery was never put in, and the enterprise was abandoned.

In 1852, the year after Mr. Cameron's arrival, Thor Halverson, a Norwegian, made his appearance and settled in section 3. Though working away from home most of the time, at wood chopping and other occupations, he maintained his residence here until 1881, from time to time selling land, some of which was in the village.

as the Pine Greek Settlement, on Pine Creek, in the northwestern part of the township. Among them was Samuel Hooper, whose cabin was built on the county line, so that one-half of it was in Winona County. He stayed, however, but two years, and his place passed into other hands.

In October, 1852, William Meyers started to improve a claim in section 6, but in the next year moved farther north in the same section, where he established a farm on which he died in 1873. .

Another settler that year in the same section was F. Duren, who began improvements, but left in 1855 for Winona County. It is said that to escape the draft during the Civil War, he returned to his native Germany.

Henry Wetgen also came in the summer of 1852 and started a farm in section 6, on which he lived for nearly twenty years. In October, 1853, he and his wife, Margaret Anna, had a daughter bom to them, whom they named Christiana, and who afterwards became the wife of G. Baden, of Hokah. It is thought that this birth may have been the first in the township; it was, in any case, one of the earliest. Mr. Wetgen died in 1871, leaving his wife and two children, who kept up the property.

Section 6 received another in July, 1853, Johannes Tuininga, a native of Holland, locating in the southwestern comer. He proved a permanent settler and was still living there in the early eighties. At an early day, when physicians were scarce on the west side of the river, his wife was bitten by a rattlesnake. Having no money, he supposed it impossible to procure a physician, and so, in considerable agitation, he proceeded to apply the only domestic remedy of which he had heard. With a ton and a half of hay he had bought four fowls, and had raised twenty-four chickens. These he killed one after another, and lasdng them open, applied them in turn to the bitten part, but without any alleviation of the symptoms. While the family were in despair, a stranger was seen coming up the road. He was informed of the emergency and asked if he were not a physician, though Mr. Tuininga, honestly enough, told him beforehand that he had no money to pay one. The gentleman, who was H. M. Rice, of St. Paul, was not a physician, but he gave Mr. Tuininga $10 and told him to go for one at once. The doctor arrived and Mrs. Tuininga recovered. Mr. Tuininga never forgot this act of kindness, and when, years afterwards, he saw Mr. Rice's name on a ticket at the polls for Governor, he voted the straight ticket of that party for the only time in his life.

Martin Cody, an Irishman, staked a claim in section 8, in 1853, arriving in the township July 30, the day after Mr. Tuininga. After living there a few years, he removed to the village, where he remained, being still a resident some thirty years later, and then one of the oldest men in the township. After the arrival of these settlers, others came more rapidly, most of them remaining and establishing permanent homes.

The earliest death of which there is any record was that of Catharine, the two year old daughter of Detrich Day, in the fall of 1854. The hardships of pioneer life were felt particularly by the young children of the early settlers, and the severity of the seasons, frequent lack of sufficient or suitable food, and difficulty of obtaining medical aid, caused many to perish in their early years. Those who survived infancy, however, usually grew

On May 11, 1868, a meeting was called to perfect the organization of the township. On motion of A. J. Anderson, O. T. Gilman was called to the chair as temporary chairman, and A. H. Brayton moved that J. C. Pennington be the moderator, which prevailed. On motion of G. F. Potter, O. T. Gilman was appointed clerk. At 10 o'clock the polls were opened, and when they closed at 5 p. m. it was found that 140 votes had been cast and the following officers elected: Supervisors, D. Cameron (chairman), S. Day and P. S. Taft; clerk, M. W. Wilcox; assessor, William R. Mercer; collector, C. F. Adams; justices of the peace, George F. Potter and J. Stewart; constables, S. K. Clow and John Anderson ; overseer of the poor, Thomas Minshall ; road overseers, D. Cameron, Fred Welch and M. Van Sickle.

During the latter part of the Civil War the township, in common with other communities, voted bounties to volunteer soldiers, a meeting being held March 30, 1864, at which the following resolution was presented by G. F. Potter:

"Resolved : That the supervisors and the town clerk of La Crescent be, and they are hereby instructed and required to issue township orders to the amount of $200 for each volunteer who shall be duly accredited to the township of La Crescent, to and for a sufficient number of volunteers to fill the quota of said town, on the present and all future calls that may be made by the President of the United States for volunteers."

On the motion being put it was declared carried, with 59 in the affirmative and one in the negative. On the motion of George F. Potter, it was unanimously resolved that a special tax be levied to meet the obligations just incurred. Another special meeting of the board was called on Feb. 20, 1865, to confirm the action already taken, as a question had arisen as to whether the bounty would apply to subsequent calls. It was resolved to continue the bounty.

In 1863 an organization was effected called the "La Crescent Relief Club," to secure funds to pay enlisted men, that there might be no necessity for the dreaded draft. The sum of $4,800 was raised and paid out in bounties at the rate of $200 each to enlisted men. The amount, however, was returned by the township, so as to make an equitable burden upon the property holders.

A number of industrial enterprises secured an early start in various portions of the township. One of the earlier ones was a saw mill commenced in 1856 by Groff & Co. It was located on Pine Creek, in section 3, the power being secured by a dam thrown across the stream. The mill was 18 by 44 feet and two stories high, with a vertical saw propelled by a turbine wheel. It was completed and put into operation May 13, 1857, and developed a capacity of 1,000 feet of lumber a day. It was kept in more or less regular operation until about 1872, when it was sold to T. Casper. The building itself went to Hokah township, and the machinery beyond St. Cloud. The power was subsequently used by GrofF & Co. to drive their flouring mill.

The Linganore flouring mill was built in 1859 not far from the old saw mill. As originally constructed it was 30 by 40 feet in ground dimensions.

with an attic above the second story. It had at first a single run of stones turned by a reaction wheel made by the owners of the mill, Groff & Co.

The Burton sawmill was constructed in 1857 on the southwest quarter of section 6, by D. Burton, and was furnished with two sash saws and had plenty of water from Pine Creek. At times it had too much and was finally almost destroyed. An attempt was made to move it to a more favorable location eighty rods down the stream, but the reverses had so nearly broken up the proprietor that the project was abandoned.

About the time that the Burton mill was erected, another saw mill was put up by Samuel Michael on a branch of the creek in section 1. It had a single saw set in motion by an overshot wheel. This mill also was frequently damaged by freshets, and almost as frequently changed hands, each new proprietor hoping for better luck than his predecessor ; but in 1866 a greater flood than usual put it completely out of business.

The La Crescent flouring mill was built early in the seventies by D. J. Cameron on his farm in section 9, on Pine Creek. It was a two-story frame building, with four run of stones. A dam was constructed to secure a head of seven feet, but it was discovered that in order to maintain that amount the water was backed up to the race of the Toledo mill, and after a legal contest it was decided that the dam must be lowered two feet. The project was then abandoned.

The Toledo Woolen Mills started in 1865 when Thomas Fletcher and J. and N. Webster erected on Pine Creek, in the southeast quarter of section 6, a fine stone structure, three stories high, with a good basement, for the manufacture of yams, fiannels, blankets and kerseymeres. The machinery cost about $8,000, and included one set of cards 48 inches in width, six looms, a jack with 264 spindles, with shearing, fulling, and other appliances. In 1878 M. Webster bought out Mr. Fletcher and his brother and became sole proprietor. The local trade was supplied in a retail way, and three men with teams were kept on the road to dispose of the goods manufactured.

In 1860 C. J. Laugenbach put up a flouring mill, with two run of stone, near where the woolen mill was subsequently erected. It did good work until the fall of 1864, when it was destroyed by fire and the woolen mill occupied the power.

The village of La Crescent came into being largely as the result of the great natural advantages afforded by its site. Just north of its location the river bluffs sweep back in a wide curve, approaching the river again about a mile to the south, thus forming a crescent-shaped basin, on the front of which lies the river bottom. Behind this is a terrace or bench, a pretty stretch of table land, and back of this another bench, of which the bluffs form the western boundary.

With such advantages, it became the haunt of man. The Mound Builders here left the curious earthworks which proclaim their one-time presence.

Excavations have revealed the presence of ashes, bones, shells, broken pottery and other debris. The more modem Indians also found here a favorite camping place.

It was here that Peper Cameron, as already mentioned, built, in 1851, the double log house in which, in 1854, D. Richardson started a store.

Among the settlers who were attracted here who became conspicuous in the early history of the village were the members of the Gillett family. This family consisted of Mrs. Mary Gillett, a widow, her four sons, the two eldest of whom were named Harvey and William, and a daughter. They had come to La Crosse from Ohio, and having caught the small pox, and in some way lost their money, they found themselves in the pest house, entirely destitute. On arriving here they took the northeast quarter of section 10, the claim being entered in the mother's name, as the sons were unmarried. The two brothers took the first steps towards the platting of the village site, the first plat consisting of about forty acres on the southwest of the northeast of section 10. Having procured some oxen, during the following winter the Gilletts got out logs and cord wood, and afterwards broke up some land. The place was called Manton, and this part of the village still bears this name on the records. After the first plat had been made the sale of lots commenced, all the promoters being thoroughly imbued with the belief that their activities were the first steps in the founding of a great city.

In the fall of the same year, 1855, Col. William R. Mercer, of La Crosse, came over and built a hotel, the site chosen being that subsequently occupied by the La Crescent hotel, on the crest of the bench on Mississippi avenue. It was run by him for about two years. A general store was soon after started by John A. Anderson from Ohio, who erected a building, and in the same year Charles Sperry opened a blacksmith's shop. The Gilletts did a good business in selling lots until the spring of 1856, when, or soon after, they sold out, and retired in good circumstances to La Crosse, from there going to Hastings, where they made a permanent home.

The next promoters of the townsite of La Crescent were the members of the Kentucky Company. This company was organized in the spring of 1856 at Louisville, Ky., the principal original members being Jared Boyle, J. M. Bryant, Charles S. Waller, Thomas McRoberts and E. Randolph Smith.

The object of this company was to establish a city in the upper Mississippi valley. Making a thorough survey of the situation, they came to the conclusion that circumstances were favorable for the growth of a great city on the west bank of the Mississippi, near the southeast comer of what was then the Territory of Minnesota.

The- townsite of La Crescent appeared to them to be ideal. Therefore they purchased the Gillett interests and thus became the possessors of all the site except the lots already sold or reserved. The whole tract was then laid out into lots and placed on the market, the corner lots being reserved for future use.

Backed by prominent men, and widely heralded throughout the country at a time when prices were inflated and townsites a popular speculation, the lots found a ready sale, many prominent men, especially in Kentucky, becoming heavy holders. Such men as George D. Prentiss, of the Louisville Courier; Will Bross of the Chicago Tribune; Gen. John C. Breckenridge ; George B. McGoffin, afterward war governor of Kentucky; Henry Walter, of Chicago; John G. Allen, St. Louis; Col. A. G. Hodges, Louisville, Ky.;

In June of the year of organization, 1856, the principal stockholders visited the site of their new village. At a meeting held at the Tremont House, in La Crosse, these stockholders decided upon the present name.

In the days of Peter Cameron the place was known simply as Cameron's. The Gilletts had christened their village Manton. The Kentucky Company desired a name more characteristic and individual. In naming the village there was probably a combination of two ideas. One was the shape of the blulfs back of the village. The other was an association of thought with La Crosse across the river, the crescent of the Turks and the cross of crusaders having been rivals through the centuries. As a matter of fact, however, the name La Crosse has no connection whatever with the English word, cross, but was the French name of an Indian game, often played on the prairie now occupied by that city.

After this meeting, Thomas McRoberts remained in La Crescent as active agent and began selling lots on the spot. These lots brought from 1250 to $600 each. So intense was the spirit of speculation that an offer of $*1,100 owned by a non-resident was refused.

In 1857 a double and single store, and twelve dwelling houses were erected. Strangers were constantly arriving, there was talk of a great railroad of which La Crescent was to be the eastern terminus, and everything seemed favorable to the growth of a city.

But various causes were working to prevent the realization of these hopes. Except in high water, the village had not immediate steamboat landing. The company attempted to build a causeway from the bank of the river to the site of their village, but the work was damaged by the high water. A ferry was, however, put in, bringing to the village passengers who landed from the steamboat at La Crosse. Another cause which kept the village from growing was the policy of the promoters. As already stated, no comer lots were sold and the company retained all the most desirable locations for future use or sale. Few actual settlers could afford the price asked for the lots, the men of wealth living in various parts of the country who acquired the lots as a speculation did nothing to have the land occupied or improved.

However, it was some time before the hopes of the promoters were abandoned. The place recovered quickly from the panic of 1857, and the grading of the Southern Minnesota railroad bf ought men and traffic here. But the terminus of the road when the rails were laid was established some distance south of La Crescent, and the village languished.

When the railroad bridge to La Crosse was completed, advantage was taken of the new impetus to business thus promised, and many more lots were sold, one company platting an addition on the edge of the lake and marsh, which at seasons was under water, and another platting one on the hills and sides of the bluff.

In the early days two different private schools were started at La Crescent, but neither flourished long. The Carr Academy, a select school, was opened in 1857 by Elder Spencer Carr, a Baptist minister. A building was erected, and was so constructed as to be easily capable of enlargement should it become necessary. The higher branches were taught and some pupils from out of town were secured, which, with those in town, made up the total number of about eighteen. The school, however, was not a success, and the proprietor soon turned it into a drug store, and after a while moved to Wisconsin and later to Kansas. The La Crescent Female Seminary was an educational institution opened in 1861, Mrs. Rice and Mrs. Anderson being the teachers, assisted by Edwin Rice, a son of Mrs. Rice. A building erected by Charles Waller, of Chicago, was first occupied, and boarding accommodations for the twenty or thirty pupils were found in the old La Crescent Hotel. After the first year the entire establishment was moved to the hotel, the whole building being occupied, and additional pupils secured, there being thirty or forty boarders, with some day scholars from the village. At the end of two years they moved to Rochester and later the family went to California.

In the early eighties La Crescent village contained one general store kept by P. Ferguson, a small drug and confectionary store conducted by Thomas Minshall, the postmaster; a hotel, of which Mr. Sawyer was the proprietor; two blacksmith and wagon shops, and a shoe shop, a number of empty stores, and the railroad station, with its agent, express office and - telegraph.

Mound Prairie township is the second from the Mississippi River, on the northern line of Houston county. It has Winona county on the north, La Crescent on the east. Union on the south and Houston on the west. The town was named because of a remarkable rounded bluff in section 4.

The town is eight and one half miles from north to south and five miles wide, and includes a part of two government townships. The Root River bisects the town a little south of the center in an irregular course from the west, with a tendency toward the south. Several branches join it in this township, both from the north and from the south. Crystal Creek cuts across the southwestern comer, and Pine Creek, from Winona county, runs through section 4.

The general topography is in harmony with the other towns in the county, and along Root River there are valleys, bluffs, and ridges, the latter in quite an extensive plateau north of the center.

The railroad runs in the valley of the Root River, and there is a station, a store and a post office on section 28, which in the case of this town, is near the geographical center. There is little unproductive land, except the sharp sides of the bluffs, and if land was scarce even these could be utilized.

There are conflicting claims as to the date of the first settlement of Mound Prairie. There was a heavy growth of black walnut timber along the Root River, which could be cut and rafted down the Mississippi, and several parties availed themselves of this opening. They built temporary cabins, squatted on desirable claims, and then sold such rights as they