New Ulm City

New Ulm City

New Ulm, the seat of justice of Brown county, on the right bank of the Minnesota river, was named by its founders after an important city and an old fort standing on the shore of the Danube in Wurtemberg - Ulm - which word is a combination of the initials of the old Roman legend, " Ultra limites militares," which, translated into our language signifies 6 i Beyond the military border/ ' as the Romans usually called the territory adjoining their possessions in distant countries. It will be understood by the reader from what has already been noted, this place in Brown county was first settled and has always been almost exclusively a German town, hence it was but natural that the founders named it from Ulm, in Wurtemberg, and added the prefix "New," making it New Ulm.

The object in laying out New Ulm was stated in a resolution passed by the company or colony that headed the enterprise in the following words: "The object of the German Land Company is to procure a home for every German laborer, popish priests and lawyers excepted, in some healthy and productive district, located on some navigable river." With the passing years, both priest and lawyer have here found a welcome and have been numerous, as well as truly law-abiding citizens of a sprightly city whose history reads not unlike a romance from the early fifties on down for more than a third of a century, which covered the awful baptism of blood during the 1862 massacre, as well as that never-to-be-forgotten summer in 1881, when the city was destroyed by a cyclone of fearful velocity.

"The German Land Association of Minnesota ,, was formed by act of the Legislature, March 4, 1857, by William Pfaender, president; Adolph Fischer, Fred Werner, C. Victor Bechmann, Julius Fischer, Adolph Forbeiger, Charles Stroebel, Albert Tafel, Henry Essmann, Charles Floto, Max Wocher and their associates. These parties made a second survey of the townsite and the land was entered by Judge A. G. Chatfield, at the land office at Winona.

At present the city is built up with many brick business houses and the residence districts are scarcely excelled in cities much larger than New Ulm. Excellent deposits of clay, stone and sand are found in and near the city. The railroad facilities are excellent in all directions and the wealth accumulated largely by the painstaking German and other foreign elements, has for years supported the numerous strong banking concerns, and the number of unfortunate poor in few in number.

The Beginnings

New Ulm was platted in 1856 and in 1858 it had a newspaper known as the New Ulm Pioneer, the files of which show the following to have been the make-up of the village at that date: Fifty-nine hundred building lots and four hundred and ninety-three outlots ; ninety buildings with six stores, a woolen mill, two blacksmiths shops, a saw- and grist-mill. Its population was then one thousand and thirty-four, with four hundred and forty voters, while the entire county only had six hundred and fifty-five voters.

The first store was started by Adolph Seiter, just to the west of the village in 1856. The first real store or business house in New Ulm was that of F. Roebecke, who purchased the store above mentioned.

The latest directory of the city gives these as the principal places of business: Four banks, one mortgage and loan company, five hotels, six grain elevators, a commercial club, an opera house, an armory, two extensive flouring mills, a feed-mill, a pipe-organ factory, three breweries, an overall factory, bottling works, a saw-mill, a woolen-mill, brick-kilns, two hospitals, a creamery, two stone-quarry companies, four weekly newspapers (two English and two German), a produce company, a steam laundry, two express companies (Adams and American), a greenhouse, an ice company and the usual number of retail stores and shops found in cities of this class.

The Brewing Industry

by Anton Friton, when he built the pioneer brewing establishment. In January, 1861, in the valley of the Cottonwood river, near the village of New Ulm, August Schell commenced his brewing plant and this was highly successful. In 1865, Betz & Hauenstein completed their brewery, A distillery was started by H. A. Subilia and was ready for business on April 6, 1861. It stood just under the bluff, a little to the north of the street leading from the city to the present college grounds, near the Hermann monument. The old brick smoke-stack is all that remains as a monument of that early still, where unadulterated spirits were produced and sold in the markets of the country.

The New Ulm Brewing and Malting Company was established in 1910, as the company is now formed. The incorporation officers are now : President, John Schneider ; vice-president, Herman Nogel ; secretary, Joseph F. Groebner ; treasurer, Otto Meyer. The authorized capital is fifty thousand dollars. Twelve men are employed, and large amounts of grain are annually used in the establishment. Minnesota and Iowa take a greater part of the output from this brewing concern. The capacity is ten thousand barrels per year, but on account of the recent temperance agitation and war upon the part of the "Drys" the limit is not quite reached of late.

This brewing plant is the direct successor to the first brewery in New Ulm - Anton Friton 's - established in 1858, near the Minneapolis & St. Louis depot, and thQ Park of today. Mr. Friton was succeeded by Joseph Schumaker and he was succeeded by the present owners.

Ulm in 1861, under its present name. August Schell was the proprietor. It is now operated under a stock companycapital, including the heirs of the late Anton Schell. The officers of the company are George Marti, president ; August A. Schneider, vice-president; E. A. Hagberg, secretary and treasurer. The plant's capacity is now eighteen thousand barrels annually ; the grain consumed is about twenty thousand bushels. The product is sold in Minnesota and Iowa, and the company enjoys an excellent mail order business. The capital is three hundred thousand dollars; number of men employed, thirty-two. The grounds surrounding the plant are indeed beautiful - a real park in which twelve deer are kept.

The Hauenstein Brewing Company, at New Ulm, was established in 1864 by John Hauenstein. The present officers of the corporation are : Charles Hauenstein, president; Mrs. Henrietta Hauenstein, treasurer; John Hauenstein, Jr.; Martin Hose, secretary. The capacity of the plant is twenty thousand barrels, and they consume about thirty-five thousand bushels of grain per annum. The product of this brewing company finds sale mostly in Minnesota, North and South Dakota and originally in Iowa. An extensive mail-order business is also transacted. Fortymen are constantly employed. The capital under which this concern is operated is one hundred thousand dollars.

Flouring Industry

Brown county has long since been noted for its flourmaking industry. The census in 1905 says this county made more flour than any county in Minnesota, outside of

Hennepin (Minneapolis). In 1908 the daily grind in the various mills amounted to thirteen thousand barrels at New Ulm, Sleepy Eye and Springfield. The capital then invested was one million, eight hundred and thirty-nine dollars.

The Eagle mills, at New Ulm, are successors to the old pioneer mill. This was rebuilt by Beinhorn & Rethfeld after the Indian massacre in 1862, when it was burned. In 1865 it was doing a flourishing business; its capacity was fifty barrels per day. It was a combined saw- and gristmill until 1874. In 1880 it was converted into a * 4 full roller process" mill, making two hundred barrels per day; in 1887 it was increased to a seven-hundred-barrel mill - then later to a thousand barrels daily. In 1898 it was enlarged into a two-thousand-five-hundred-barrel mill. In 1899 the company built two elevators and now employ three hundred people in the mills and elevators the company owns throughout the Dakotas and Minnesota. About one-half are employed in the mills, proper. In 1908 this mill was running under the capacity of five thousand barrels daily; had three immense grain elevators in New Ulm, with a capacity of four hundred thousand bushels of wheat. They also had fifty-one grain elevators scattered throughout Dakota and Minnesota. Their plant is connected with both the Minneapolis & St. Louis and Northwestern railway systems. i ' Gold Coin" is one of the brands of flour that has made these mills famous from coast to coast. They have offices in Chicago, Philadelphia and New York, also have representatives in London; also sell in Holland and other European countries. These mills grind approximately five million bushels of grain annually. Their expense is about

Charles Silverson, former president of the company owning these mills, had been a leading figure in the management and expansion of this great flour industry. He died in September, 1912, after several years illness.

The Cottonwood roller mills, near the city of New Ulm, are the property of J ohn Bentzin. These mills were established in 1878 and have a daily capacity of one hundred barrels. It is the last custom mill left in the county, from the numerous ones it once had. Here excellent flour, both wheat and rye, as well as corn meal and graham flour are produced for customers living in the surrounding country.

The Overall Factory

Johnson Company, of St. Peter, have a branch factory in New Ulm in which they make men's overalls extensively. They employ fifty-five persons, of whom fifty-three are women. The weekly output is two hundred and eighty dozen. This branch factory was established in New Ulm in 1910 and does an extensive business. The present manager is Charles Lindeman, Jr.

The Stone Industry

One of the paying industries of New Ulm of recent years has been that of getting out crushed stone, for paving, concrete work and general highway building. There are two incorporated concerns that operate extensive quarries near the city limits to the southeast. The quarries are both situated just across the Minnesota river, in Nicollet county, but the owners of both plants are local people for the most part, and have offices in New Ulm.

As early as 1888 the New Ulm Stone Company was incorporated and for many years quarried the granite for building purposes, but in 1905 they put in operation stone crushing mills, of which they now operate three, and have a capacity of about four carloads a day. Most of the output of this quarry goes to points in Iowa - Mason City, Sioux City, Storm Lake, etc., where it is used in street work largely. Thirty men are employed in the working season, and these are local men and the pay roll is appreciated by the retail dealers of the city. Years ago much of the product of these quarries was used in the Twin Cities. The capital stock is same as when incorporated - twentyfive thousand dollars. The first set of promoters - the incorporators, were: Jacob Pfenningier, W. Boersch, August Schell and George G. Benz. They own a quarter section of land which contains an inexhaustable supply of fine granite. The company also ships immense amounts of sand and gravel to distant points.

The other company engaged in a similar business is the Jasper Granite Company, who operates on forty acres of leased land, near the company's holdings just named above. This was originally worked by the Minnesota Flint Company and about 1908 put in crushers also. Local and Minneapolis capital is invested in this enterprise. Mr. Wycoff is the manager of this company and has offices in the Olsen block. The New Ulm Stone Company has for its president and manager, H. Held, who successfully cares for the large shipments of stone, sand and gravel.

The Ice Business

The only company engaged in handling ice at New Ulm is the New Ulm Ice Company, composed of Herman Held and E. H. Haeberle, who put up large amounts of ice from the Minnesota river. They have extensive ice warehouses and ship much ice to distant points, besides handling the local trade and that of the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad Company. They usually ship a hundred and fifty cars of ice in the season. They handle refrigerators and contract for building sand, gravel and crushed stone. Many of the men who work in the stone quarries also assist this company in the ice harvest.

Municipal History

New Ulm was incorporated in March, 1857, and William Pfaender was elected its first president. Later it was incorporated as a borough, with Charles Roos as mayor. A city charter was granted New Ulm on February 24, 1876, with Charles Roos as mayor and Jacob Nix as clerk. Since the place was incorporated into a city the records are all intact, but on account of the Indian depredations during the massacre in August, 1862, the early village records were all destroyed or lost. From 1862 on a record showing the chairman and mayors of the place is as follow: F. Gommell, chairman, 1862-63; R. Fischer, chairman, 1863-64; John Hauenstein, chairman, 1864-65; R. Forster, chairman, 1865-66; L. Naegele, chairman, 1866- 68 ; Dr. A. Mueller, chairman, 1868-69 and 1870. The place then became an incorporated borough with Charles Roos

The officers for 1916 are as follow: Mayor, Dr. L. A. Fritsche; city clerk, William Backer; treasurer, Gottlieb Oswald; city attorney, Alb Pfaender; city engineer, F. D. Minium; superintendent of water and lights, A. J. Mueller; city council, Fred Behnke, president; Fred Hamann, Wm. Eibner, Emil Mueller, L. B. Krook and Christ Filzen, Jr.

The water plant consists of three wells, the depth of which is - one is 186 feet; one 183 feet, and one 364 feet deep. Water is pumped from the lighting plant to the reservoir on Hermann's Heights, west of the city, and this basin holds, together with the lesser one at the foot of the hill by the pumping plant, a total of one million and ninety thousand gallons.

The electric light plant was formerly a private concern, but in April, 1901, was taken over by the city, and bonds were then voted to the amount of twenty thousand dollars. In all the plant has cost the city thirty thousand dollars.

The city has only five blocks of real paving which consists of an excellent quality of creosote block paving on Minnesota street, placed there in 1914.

The present police force is three men. A volunteer fire company of forty-five competent men keep safe the city from fire ravages. They are aided by the direct pressure from the water-works and an engine. The only building owned by the city is the one-story brick, situated at 109 North Broadway, in which the clerk holds his office, and there the city council meets, as does the fire company.

Commercial Club

The business interests of New Ulm have been greatly advanced of recent years by the re-organization of the old Commercial Club, This club maintains fine rooms on Minnesota avenue; have more than two hundred "live wire" members, who see that nothing is lost sight of in promoting the city's best interests. They work for Brown county, as well as for the city. They have already aided in bringing much new business to the place. The membership is composed of the best men in New Ulm.

Postoffice History

The new government postoffice building was erected on the corner of Center and Broadway streets in 1909-10, at a cost of forty-two thousand and sixty dollars. The office was made a city delivery station June 1, 1903, and had three carriers, same as today except there is now an auxiliary carrier.

The present office force is as follows: Postmaster, Frederick Pfaender; assistant postmaster, John H. Weddendorf; clerks, Matthew Prons, Edward L. Alwin, Fred W. Oswald, Joseph Karl, Herbert Baltrusch; substitute, Emil Hempel; city carriers, Andrew J. Tauer, John Hofmeister, Otto Schneider; auxiliary carrier, Henry A. Neuwirth; substitute, Joseph Schuster; rural carriers, Jacob Vetter, A. L. Haberberg, George J. Haag, William F. Richter, Robert A. Fimeyer, George Merkle, Louis P. Fimeyer. The custodian of the treasury department is Frederick

Churches And Lodges

There are churches here of these denominations: Catholic, Lutheran, Evangelical Association, Evangelical, Episcopal, Congregational and German Methodist.

The lodges of the city include the Masons, Knights of Pythias, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Woodmen, Ancient Order of United Workmen, Knights of Columbus, Foresters, German Catholic Aid Society, St. Joseph's Society, the Arbeiter Verein, and the Turners Verein, established here in 1856, now a strong institution. Their building is one of the best structures in the city.

The city of New Ulm is fortunate in having two modern hospitals - the Loretta, under the supervision of the Catholic Sisters and Union Hospital, controlled by the Protestants.

Loretta Hospital, the older institution, was originally known as St. Alexander's Hospital, and was founded in 1884 by Father Alexander Berghold, organizer of the Catholic church of this city. It is located in a beautiful spot in the northwestern part of New Ulm, with charming landscape scenery in all directions - an ideal place for an institution of this character. It commenced work in a modest way, but steadily grew with the advancement of the country round about. It is now a modern institution with every facility found in the best hospitals in any part of the country today. It is a three-story brick structure, with many wards, and attended by a dozen or more competent and well-trained nurses. It is under the supervision of the Sisters. It has operating rooms, a good chapel, and connected with it there is a Home for the Aged. The operations here performed are executed in a thorough manner by local surgeons, who are highly successful in their work, hence the home institutions care for many patients who otherwise would have to go to some other city for operations and treatments.

Surrounding this hospital is a farm run in connection and owned by the same organization. Here all fruits, vegetables, milk and eggs, used in the hospital are produced, thus giving fresh and healthful supplies along this line. With all of these advantages this institution has all it can well care for and many times there is a lack of rooms for all who apply for treatment.

The later hospital of the city is the Union Hospital, which was opened to the public in 1915. This is a wellconstructed brick building in the extreme southern portion of the city. It was established through the agency of the Protestant people of the community, and is a stock company corporation, with directors and officers, as provided by law. It has three stories and a basement ; is fire-proof and built on up-to-date plans and is attended by local surgeons and physicians.

The Hermann Monument

One of the magnificent and attractive structures in the city of New Ulm is the monument erected to the memory of that great German liberator, Hermann. It was unveiled on September 25, 1897, and cost about forty thousand dollars, including the ground and the bronze statue, which is of heroic size and may be seen for many miles from the city in either direction. This memorial is a large stone, brick and steel building standing on a high elevation overlooking the city from the west, and just opposite the college campus. It is a national monument, and many cities in the East wanted it but at the meeting of the national grand lodge of the Sons of Hermann in Philadelphia in 1885, the question was up and there it was determined that it was proper to erect such a monument in the city where the designer and architect resided and that person was Julius Berndt, of New Ulm, who had already bought a site in New Ulm for such a monument. Its first contract price was twenty-four thousand dollars. Within its walls is a museum hall where numerous pioneer relics are being stored and yearly added to. A spiral stairway runs to the top, beneath the bronze figure of Hermann, with his mighty sword in hand pointing heavenward. The grounds surrounding the memorial building or monument, so called, are indeed beautiful. Native trees are here ; swings, walks, pavilions and flowers are seen on every hand in their season. It is annually visited by hundreds of Germans and other lovers of liberty. The national grand lodge of the Order of the Sons of Hermann was held at New Ulm, September 21, 1897.