Manannah Township

Manannah Township

^HE subdivision of the county known by the above name embi-aces all of Congressional township 121, north of range 31 west, and contains 25,393 acres ; only 31.31 are covered by water. There is more available land in the town than in any other, were it denuded of the heavy timber that covers a large portion of its territory. The beauty of its scenery attracted the attention of its earliest settlers, and it has not lost an}' of its attractiveness by the lapse of years. The rich farms and clearings among the primeval forests have a charm peculiarly their own, and are found in abundance. South of the river the land is chiefly pi'airie, interspersed with groves of timber.

Nathan C. Caswell. Zil)a Caswell, Alonzo M. Caswell, Edward I5rown, Silas Caswell and A. D. Pierce, who came here in 1S5G, as already detailed in the history of the early settlement of the county. Tliey put up their cabins, the first in the town, around the townsite of the village.

The same fall tiiere came to the little settlement John Tower, Carlos Caswell, Andrew Hamilton, J. W. Walker, Moody Bailey and Moody Caswell.

The financial crisis that convulsed our country in 1857 put a stop to all settlement here as elsewhere, and but a few are found to have located here in 1858. Among these, however, were Samuel Clyde, Michael O'Keefe and Rol^ert Carroll.

The present (1888) officers of the town are as follows : Supervisors : Jacob Hammus, chairman ; Menus O'Keefe, Jr., and James Fitzpatrick. Clerk: C. J. O'Brien. Treasurer : N. C. Caswell. Assessor : P. Enright, Jr. Justices of the peace : Richard O'Brien and O. H. Campbell. Constable: Henry Hukreide.

A name was wanted for the village which was laid out by J. W. Walker and Ziba Caswell, on part of section 30, in the spring of 1856, and search in an old Scottish history gave them the name of Manannah, so it was adopted. The partj' who made the survey and platted the village was a man by the name of ILalcott, and N. C. Caswell acted as chain bearer.

A postolfice was established in the new village in 1857, with Jonathan Kimball as postmaster ; this has been presided over, in turn, by Carlos Caswell, Ziba Caswell and James Lang. The latter is the jiresent incumbent of the office.

On the4:th of March, 1857, Ziba, Nathan C. and Alljert Caswell commenced the erection of a hewn log building lSx2t! feet in size,- one story and a half high, in which, the following ^Fay, Jonathan Kimball opened a hotel. This building was used as a stockade during the Indian outbreak, as detailed elsewhere, but is now a thing of the past.

In the same spring "Walker put in the dam and the following fall put up the saw-mill. This stood there until after 1862, when it burned down.

Of the old village, nothing remains, its glory having long since departed, and growing crops cover the site of the place that was hoped would be the principal place in the count}^

Manannah Village

The present village of Manannah was laid out in ISTl, by Ilines, Kimball & Beed\', and the ]ilat filed for record September 6, 1871. Cressy's addition was platted by E. D. C. Cressy, and filed for record November 16, 187-1. It occupies a small part of sections 30 and 31.

In 1869, Ziba Caswell put in a dam at this place, which partly went out the following spring. In 1871, Ziba Caswell erected a store building and opened a general stock of goods. He was succeeded in this stand by N. C. Hines, and he, in turn, by Hardy & Boone, Boone & Mitchell, O. B. Webb, Hines & Campbell, O. H. Campbell, Gray & Lang, Haines Bros., Con O'Brien, T. Kerry, Staples Bros., and by the present owner, C. A. Staples.

Another store Avas built in 1872, and run as a furniture depot l)y T. P. Murray until 1874, when James Lang purchased it and opened his present general merchandise business.

The hotel was run for a time in 1871 as a boarding house by N. C. Hines, but the next year it was opened as a hotel by S. H. Caswell. He was succeeded by James Lee, he b\' Jerome Haight, and then it passed into the hands of the present proprietor, James Lang.

The flouring-mill was erected in 1872, by Hines, Kimball & Beedy, and Avas operated by N, C. Ilines until 1874. He then formed a partnership with 0. H. Campbell, and it was run under the firm name of Hines & Campbell. The next proprietors were Campbell & Caswell, Avho were succeeded O. H. Campbell, the present owner and operator. He has largely addetl to it, changing it to the I'oller system, putting in eight sets of rolls, with all the other machinery, and a fine sixty-horse power engine, and it is now one of the finest mills in the county. The main structure is 50x40 feet in size, with an addition 12x40 feet, besides the engine room. Its daily capacity is 100 barrels.

The Catholic Church of Our Lady, at Manannah, was established by the late Rev. John McDermott, of Darwin, in the year 1876, under wliose direction was built a portion of the present edifice. The ground on which the church stands was donated by Anthony Kelly, of Minneapolis. It is situated on the bank of the Crow river, on a lofty eminence. The church building was finished during the administration of Father Kinney,the parish then being united to that of Litchfield. On the removal of the latter, the church was attended by the present pastor. Father McDevitt, who resided at Litchfield, for one year. Seeing the utility of Manannah having a resident priest, a parochial residence Avas erected in the fall of 1885, at a cost of about 82,000. The parish, Avhicli is a separate one, contains about ninety-five families, and is in a flourishing condition. The church edifice is not yet completed, as the toAA-er is to be finished and a bell put up. The first Catholic priest that visited this )>art of the country was Fatlier Anthony, from the Benedictine Abbe3% in the diocese of St. Cloud in 1865 The mission was visited occasional!}' by Father Burns, who also resided at St. John's Abbey, in St. Cloud. Father Arthur Hurley, of the diocese of St. Paul was appointed to look after the spiritual wants of the people, and visited tliem occasional!}', his residence being at Litchfield. This zealous priest had many missions to attend to and could visit each but seldom. After the removal of Father Hurley, Father Cahill served for some time with marked success. The late and much lamented priest of Darwin, Father John McDermott, came next and under his wise and able administration the parisii increased rapidly. Father Kinney next took charge of the united parishes of Litchfield and Manannah, till his appointment to the Chui-ch of St. Stephen's, Minneapolis, in 1S85. Tlie present pastor then came to Litchfield and later to Manannah, as stated. The churcii corporation owns property to the amount of al)out $6,000.

Eden Valley Village

The village of Eden Valley, located on the Minneapolis & Pacific Railroad, on the west half of the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section 2 and the east half of the northeast quarter of tiie northeast quarter of section 3, was laid out by Silas Cossairt, F. B. Smith and the railroad company, in the fall of 1886, P.M. Dalil being the civil engineer. The plat was filed for record May 11, 1887.

Previous to the location of the town-site. a store was opened there in May, 1SS6, by Parker «fe Cossairt. This was a small branch of their Litchfield store, but, when the railroad came liere, they put up a large building and increased the stock to a great extent.

In December, 1886, "William Hardy o])oned a store for the sale of general merchandise, and about the same time the two hotels, the Mansard and Pacific houses, were erected and opened for business.

Duringthe same month two elevators were put up, one by Hoskins & Reeves, and the other by the railroad company. The former is now operated by Andrew Johnson, for its present owners, Osborne & McMullen, of Minneapolis.

The first dwelling house was put up by Bartley McDonough, that fall, and the second by C. J. O'Brien. The next spring there was several other stores adtled to the place, among them a general stock of some $10,000, kept by Theisen & Schoen ; a hard ware store In' C. Schmidt (fe Co., and one by John Cooney ; one furniture establishment kept by William Thoms; and other smaller institutions. W. H. Greenleaf & Son have a lumber yard here also.

There are now, in addition to the houses mentioned above, the following business places: AVilliam Kersten, general merchandise;two more blacksmith shops; atemperance pool room. I'lin by E. H. Caswell, and a confectioneiy stand, by T. B. Mann.