Mount Vernon Township

Mount Vernon Township

T. 108, R. 9, was settled about the same time as the adjoining towns, more particularly Minneiska, in Wabaslia county, which bounds it on the west. Some of the earliest settlers were White, man, Deacon Smith, Brizius and Patrick Murray, in Trout valley, Williams and Smith on tlie ridge, who were quickly followed by others, and all the available land was soon taken up. Not a section of the township but what is more or less productive and under cultivation. The Trout valley intersects it, running almost north and south, while the eastern and western portions are considerably broken by valleys, containing considerable timber, while on the ridges is to be found good prairie land.

Organization

The first town meeting was held at the house of S. N. Burns, May 11, 1858, and the following officers were elected : G. A. Whiteman, Patrick Murray, H. C. Jones, supervisors ; G. A. Whiteman, chairman of supervisors ; Charles Smith, town clerk ; Samuel Bul. lard, assessor ; Lyman Lovel, collector ; M. Malmson, overseer of poor ; John Montgomery, justice.

Good roads are constructed on the ridges and in the valleys, and considerable money has been expended on the improvement. The first road laid out by the township was ordered July 5, 1858, four rods wide, commencing at Sec. 17 and running two miles through the Trout valley. '

There are four school districts with four good substantial schoolhouses; the first one built was at Oak Ridge. Previous to the erection of any schoolhouse, ©r opening of any public school, the wife of Deacon Smith, in Trout valley, was persuaded by a few of her neighbors to teach their children, which she willingly did, teaching gratuitously the few she could gather in the then almost unbroken wilderness. A few years have since rolled by, and now as good schools and as efficient teachers minister to the wants of the young as are to be found in the country.

The township contains two churches, both GermaTi, - Catholic and Methodist. The Methodist was the first one erected, a plain frame building, at Oak Ridge. Religious services are co-equal with the advent of the settlers, services being held by pastors from adjoining towns in private houses. The Methodists have a large and thriving congregation. On December 5, 1875, a meeting of Catholics was held at the house of John Speltz, for the purpose of organizing a congregation and the erection of a church, which resulted in the building of a handsome brick edifice at Oak Ridge, at a cost of $3,000, with a seating capacity of 400. The corner-stone was laid in May, 1876, and finished and consecrated in August of the same year. The parish is in charge of Father Lawrence. The erection and successful completion of the church is due, in a great measure, to the efforts of Peter and John Speltz, Casper Kriedemacher, A. Stever, M. Hitinger, Jacob Frisch, N. Reis, M. Sibenaler, N. Walch, N. Gidenger, P. Stever, N. Muller and others.

There are three burying-places in the township, two public and one Catholic. The first public one was ordered laid out May 27, 187o, near John Smith's, on the ridge. The Roman Catholics have theirs in connection with their church ; the first interment in which was October 16, 1876, the wife of Peter Speltz. The other public cemetery is near the Methodist church at Oak Ridge.

War Record

The township then containing very few men that could be spared and but sparsely settled and with but Kt^cent comers, did all that was possible .under the circumstances in defense of the country's flag. The town offered a bounty of $125 on February 12, 1864, to volunteers, and increased it at a special meeting called for that purpose August 20, 1864, to $250, and again at another meeting held January 23, 1865, agreed to pay $137 additional to volunteers in service credited to the town previous to February 1, 1864, and also to men drafted and credited to the town under last call, $300, and to those who might hereafter be drafted, $300.

suits and their accompanying bitterness are almost unknown, and justices and lawyers do not thrive off the residents of Mt. Vernon. The majority of the settlers are steady, frugal Luxemburgers, who are not prone to lawlessness of any description. The iirst accident tliat occurred was the drowning of a young man, Mi-. Dunston, a connection of J. H. Williams, who fell from a barge into the river. A man who was employed by John Smith (Christopher Schilsen) was kicked by a horse while hauling a thrashing machine up the ridge, and only survived a few days. In the spring of 1873 the community suffered a severe loss in the death of Patrick Murray, one of the pioneers, and very oldest settlers, who, while ploughing, was kicked by a fractious horse so severely that death very soon ensued. No other accident worthy of note has occurred.