Rochester City (part 4 of 4)

The village now comprises about twenty-five houses, with o/ie store, kept by Nutting & Benson ; two blacksmith shops, an hotel, kept by Mr. Decker, and two churches - the Christian church, a brick building erected in 1862, and the Methodist Episcopal church, built a few years later.

Simpson. - The Winona & Southwestern Railroad Company in 1890 established a railroad station near the northwest comer of the township and named it after Thomas Simpson, of Winona, who was secretary of the company.

the highest points in the county made it and the village conspicuous from afar. The mill, after a useful existence of nine years, was torn down.

A depot, elevators and warehouses were built and a village grew up. It is the junction of the Great Western Railroad and its Winona branch, and has a store, hotel, two churches - Methodist and Christian, a successful creamery, conducted by Tyler & McCoy, and a few residences.

QUINCY TOWNSHIP (Township 107 North, Range 11 West). - In the spring of 1854 Mason and Irving Wetmore and D. D. Woodward built a saw mill on the Whitewater river in the northeast part of this township, and furnished the surrounding country with building material for several years. Truman T. Olds was the next settler, locating in the valley of the Whitewater. Jairus Richards and Norman Libby came in 1855 and Gideon Lewis, Samuel Tenney, Nicholas W. Murphy, T. L. Fay, George Hinton and John M. Weagant in 1856;

At an old settlers' reunion, held in Quincy in 1874, the following list was made of the earliest male settlers of the township, with the dates of their settlement: In 1855, Mason Hatfield, Harvey F. Bush, O. S. Ford, George P. Logan, Thomas Stevenson, N. M. Murphy, W. H. Hatfield, George W. Smith, Robert L. Stevenson, Alfred J. Olds; in 1856, Michael Kepner, Samuel B. Evans, George W. Kepner, John Bush, M. M. Kingsley, James Richards, Joseph Olds; in 1862, Thomas Wilson, Burr Deuel; in 1865, Thomas B. Vivyan.

The township was organized May 11, 1858. The first town officers elected were : Supennsors, T. T. Olds, J. L. Williams, H. Hatfield ; clerk, Jotham Holland ; assessor, Samuel Loy ; collector, J. S. Olds; overseer of poor, Robert Smith; justices, G. Lewis, D. B. Alvord ; constables, J. S. Olds, Harvey Wood.

A good grist mill was built on the middle branch of the Whitewater in 1857 by Charles and Frederick Johnson, from Jackson, Michigan, and a store was established by a man named Spalding, in 1859, and a blacksmith shop by Joseph Mixture. The settlement was known as the Quincy Mills. The mill was sold in 1862 to a Mr. Bams and his son, Byram. In 1863 they sold to V. Simpson, of Winona, and Burr Deuel, and the mill was improved. The store changed hands several times and was sold to Mr. Jackson, who moved it to Eyota in 1864. There was at one time a village of eight families, with the mill, store, postoffice, blacksmith and repair shop and school, and a good business was done there till 1876, when a cloudburst took out the dam, wrecked the mill and washed away the blacksmith shop, which was at that time owned by Mr. Westfall. The dam and mill were rebuilt on an improved plan and in 1880 Mr. Deuel's interest was bought by Edward J. Dowling. In January, 1899, the mill was burned down, and in 1901 Nicholas Feltes bought the property and has taken down the buildings, and there is now nothing there but the school, and what promised to be a thriving village is but a farm.

Quincy is a strictly agricultural township, there not being, now, any village within its limits. Postoffices were established in neighborhoods known as Six Oaks and Little Valley.

In October, 1865, Warren Youmans, from New York state, and Patrick Callaghan, a native of Ireland, were neighboring farmers in Quincy. There had been trouble between them about Callaghan's cattle trespassing on Youmans' fields. Both Youmans and Callaghan disappeared, but nothing was thought of it at first, but after a few days search was made for Youmans, and his dead body was found on Callaghan's farm, near where the latter had been mowing when last seen, and a bloody scythe was found. It was evident that Youmans' death had been caused by a cut across the thighs, which had severed the femoral artery in both legs. An inquest was held by Coroner S. B. Clark. There was no doubt that Youmans had been killed by Callaghan, and search was made for the latter, and the governor offered a reward of $500 for his apprehension. But he successfully evaded all pursuit. He was believed to have been secreted in the neighborhood for a few days, and afterward worked as a laborer in various cities, being at one time as far away as California. He at last, after five years of wandering, located in Chicago, living with a brother, who kept a saloon, and working as a laborer. He was a very reticent man, but became intimate in Chicago with a fellow laborer, to whom he confided the fact that he was a fugitive from justice. As the result of a quarrel between them, the ex-friend denounced Callaghan to the police, and in May, 1872, nearly seven years after the homicide, Callaghan was arrested while at work on a building, and brought to Rochester. He was tried, arraigned before Judge Waterman, and prosecuted by County Attorney Start, and defended by Thomas Wilson, of Winona, and John Van Annan, a distinguished lawyer of Chicago. In view of the deficiency of proof after so long a lapse of time, Callaghan was allow^ed to plead guilty to manslaughter in the second degree. In a statement to the court he claimed that on the fatal morning he was mowing and expecting to keep watch of his cattle, but a couple of them got on Youmans' land. He started to bring them back, when Youmans came toward him. driving them. A quarrel arose between the two, in which both were very abusive. Callaghan claimed that

Youmans approached him threateningly and struck him on the mouth, making it bleed, and Callaghan struck him across the legs with the scythe and went home. Callaghan was sentenced to four years* imprisonment in the state penitentiary.

It is stated in Volume I of the Final Report of State Geologist N. H. Winchell that "In the museum of the University is a magnetic boulder of silicious iron ore, known as lodestone, presented in 1875 by James Hinton, said to have been found in the neighborhood of Quincy, Olmsted county."

ROCHESTER TOWNSHIP (Tozvnship 106 North. Range 14 West). - Most of the northeast two sections of this township are included in the city of Rochester, and there is no village within its limits. The fair ground immediately south of the city is also in the township.

John Bamber was the original settler of the township, coming in December. 1854, from Ohio, and taking a claim on the Zumbro, near the city. His son, Archibald Bamber, was long the leading dentist of Rochester. He retired from business a few years ago. James Fitzpatrick also made a claim in 1854. Patrick Convey, Almon E. Hull, Michael Dee. Joel P. Dibble and Samuel P. Wheeler came in 1855. Hannah Williams, a widow, came in 1856. Her sons, William W. and Taliesen, are well-known residents of the city. George and Franz Joseph Stoppel settled on adjoining farms near the city in 1856. Their sons are now residents of the city. William C. Kent. William Dee, Laurence Fitzpatrick, Martin Purcell, William Rose and John Sheldon came the same season.

The first birth in the township was of Margaret V., daughter of Alexander J. Ferguson, in 1856. The first death was of William H., a nephew of John Bamber, in August, 1855.

The township was organized in May, 1858, at the court house in Rochester, and the following officers were elected: Supervisors, Peter F. Lawshe, chairman ; Ozro A. Hadley, Samuel Storm ; clerk, Thomas Brooks.

The county poor farm is in this township, on the claim preempted by Almon E. Hull. The poor house is one of the best and best kept in the state.

A curious geological incident occurred on the farm of Mr. Mountain in the summer of 1870. A bunch of five horses were huddled together in a pasture during a heavy July rain, and the next morning were found all at the bottom of a pit eighteen feet deep and twelve feet wide at the top, which had sunk under them. They were unhurt, though tumbled in a heap, and were lifted out.

ROCK DELL TOWNSHIP (ToTcmhip 105 North. Range 15 West). - The appropriate name of this township, Rock Dell, is taken from a rocky ravine, not far from its center, which winds a crooked and picturesque course for about a mile and a half, between banks that in places are ragged cliffs of limestone, and at its bottom a small stream, fed by a live spring of cold water. It is a little stretch of rare beauty, and quite a picnic resort for the surrounding country.

Several farmers of Norwegian birth or descent, living in Dane county, Wisconsin, looking for new homes, located with their families in the northwestern part of the township in 1854. Among them were Nels Nelson, Tollef Oleson, Ole Oleson, Ole Amundson, Guta Molson, I. Goldberg, Ole Tollef son and Tollef Goldberg. In 1855 Halvor Halvorson Stensond, Asle Erickson, Halver Oleson and Thomas Hennesy came, and in 1856 Amund Nelson Giere, Bottol Magneson and David S. Larson. Others followed, and most of the township was settled by Norwegians, whose descendants are today among the most substantial farmers of the county. There were but few of American descent among the earliest settlers.

In 1856 Rev. Leonard H. Humason, from Ohio, located, as a farmer, near the center of the township, with his son, John S. Humason, and family, and Mr. Fredenburg. Rev. Humason was at that time more than sixly years old, having been bom in Cincinnati in 1794 - an old man for a new country, but not lacking in energy. He preached the first sermons in High Forest and Rock Dell, married the first couple, baptized the first person and preached the first funeral sermon. On his eightieth birthday, in November, 1874, he preached from the same text as that of his first sermon, and was presented by his neighbors with a library chair and cane, and his wife with a photograph album. He was one of the first farmers of the county to make a specialty of dairying. He died in November, 1885, aged ninety-one years, and was buried at the same time as his wife, who had died three days previously. John S. Humason was a miller and a dealer in agricultural machinery a number of years at Rochester.

The first birth was of Ole T. Oleson, son of Tollef Oleson, in September, 1854; the first death, that of Guta Molson. The first couple married were Lyman Connor and Miss Sarah Gifford.

East St. Olaf'S Church. Destroyed

1855 by Rev. C. L. Clausen, who was succeeded in 1861 by Rev. L. Steen. Rev. J. A. Thorson became the pastor in 1869, and is still filling that position. A large and handsome stone edifice, with a seating capacity of 600, was commenced in 1867, and finished in 1875. It was destroyed by lightning in September, 1906. The construction of a more modern church, built better than the other, is finished and a cut of it is shown herein.

Antoine Johnson established a store near the church in 1876. It has been kept by Nels Magneson and Sander O. Sanderson, part of the time in partnership. Mr. Sanderson is the present proprietor.

A cheese factory in the same neighborhood was run successfully for a number of years, but suspended about five years ago, as a result of the greater convenience to farmers of dealing with creameries. Frank Graham, son of Joseph Graham, an early settler of Kalmar, and a graduate of the State Agricultural College, was the cheesemaker, and is now an inspector in the State Dairy and Food Department.

SALEM TOWNSHIP (Tozvnship 106 North, Range 15 West), - In June, 1854, Joseph B. Dearborn, from New Hampshire; J. W. Hurd and wife and Albert B. Hurd reached Mantorville, and in their explorations for homes they selected the northwest part of this township and made their claims. The Hurds stayed during the winter, in hay shanties, and Dearborn went east after his family, returning and building a log house the next spring. In July, 1854, Asa Hurd, father of J. W. and Albert, canle with his family and built a log house, and in 1855 there were eight families of the Hurds settled in the neighborhood. Frederick Enke, Ole C. Wegger, T. B. and Christopher Isaacson, brothers, Edward Alvord, E. A. Holton, George Hanson, and Aaron Anderson also settled in the township in 1854.

In 1855 Zabina Handerson, Cyrus and M. A. Holt and John Vosburg came from Illinois, Darius Wilkins from Vermont, and John Lutzi from Switzerland, and C. Hellickson. The immigration of

The first child born in the township was Julia, daughter of Edward A. Holton, born in 1854. The first death was of Ella, infant daughter of Darius Wilkins, in 1857. The first marriage was a double one, of Columbus Irish to Miss Frances Hurd and Hiram Fairbanks to Miss Emma Hurd, by Esquire Wilkins, in October, 1857. The brides were daughters of H. G. Hurd.

Zabina Handerson built the first frame house at Salem Comers, and Cyrus Holt opened a store there in 1856, but kept it only a short time, and the attempt to start a village failed, and it has since been simply a farming township. A store was established about six years ago by Smith Fuller, from Byron, which has been more successful. It has been sold recently to Henry Aaby.

The township was organized in 1858 and called Salem, having been previously known as Lexington. The following officers were elected : Supervisors, Zabina Handerson, chairman ; William Waite, Jr., Ole S. Sattre; clerk, Samuel H. Nichols; assessor, A. P. Everest; collector, Hubbard G. Hurd; overseer of poor, Luther L. McCoy; justices, Darius Wilkins, Cyrus Holt.

In 1868 a two-story town hall was built at Salem Comers, near the geographical center of the township, the lower story being used as a schoolroom. At the first town meeting held in the hall the floor of the second story gave way, letting the crowd into the room below, but nobody was hurt.

VIOLA TOWNSHIP {Toivnship 107 North, Range 12 lVe,st). - In an exploration in search of a claim, in the summer of 1853, George Whitman, from Iowa, discovered the large spring in this township that was afterward the locality of the Morse Creamery. He returned to Iowa and in the spring of 1854 came back, with Carl H. Bierbaum and Michael Mark, a blacksmith. Whitman and Bierbaum made claims beside the spring and Mark opened a blacksmith shop. Luke Oaks and Zenas Swan also settled in 1854. In the fall of 1855 Abram and Lewis Harkins, brothers, and Jacob Ostrander came, and Whitman sold his interests to them and moved away. Mrs. Harkins was the first woman to settle in the township. John Robertson and George F. Evans came the same season. In 1856

Bierbaum and Whitman raised thirty acres of oats and fifty acres of corn in 1855 and sold it the next winter, at the farm, for 75 cents a bushel for each kind of grain.

The first birth was of a daughter to Abram Harkins, in May, 1856. The first death was in the same family, in August, 1855. The first marriage was at the home of Jacob Ostrander, between Jeremiah Sweeney and Miss Ophelia Kitchell, a stepdaughter of Mr. Ostrander, in January, 1857.

The township was organized in May, 1858, at a meeting held at the home of Jacob Ostrander, and the officers elected were : Supervisors, Abram Harkins, chairman; Jacob Ostrander, Rufus M. Cordill; clerk, Robert F. Cunningham; assessor, Abner Whiton; collector and overseer of poor, Thomas S. Rutledge; justices, John J. Lovelace, Jeremiah Sweeney.

The first school in the township was taught in 1858 by Mrs. Doty, wife of E. A. Doty, at their home. She taught two seasons, when a public school house was built - a log school house, in the Morrow neighborhood.

Ludwig Friday was the first merchant, opening a small store in the southeast part of the township in i860. He was the first and last seller of liquor in the township.

In a blizzard about the middle of February, 1866, Robert Bray, a young school teacher, was frozen to death on the road, while going on foot from Viola to his home in Elgin. Such deaths, which were very few, have not occurred since the country has been well settled.

A commodious town hall was built near the center of the township in 1874. Since its erection the village of Viola has grown up less than two miles away, and efforts have been made to move the hall into the village, but they have been voted down.

The Gopher Count is an institution peculiar to Viola. The ravages of those pests led to the offering, about 1870, of prizes for the destruction, to boys of from twelve to sixteen years. The tails were gathered and counted once a year, and the occasion grew to be a great picnic celebration, which is still kept up, and held the third or fourth Saturday in June. The age limitation has been removed, and sports of various kinds are provided for, with prizes ranging from $10 to $1. The gophers are diminishing in numbers, but the holiday is losing none of its popularity.

The Viola Anti Horse Thief Society was organized in December, 1874, with twenty-four members and the following officers: President, Z. T. Newsham; secretary, Levi Ketchum; treasurer, C. A. Butterfield; chief » H. Stanchfield; riders, Robert Richardson, William Seamans, John Mulholland, William Woolley, Levi Ketchum and John Williams. It became a very efficient organization and its existence, comprising most of the best men of the township, pledged to pursue any thief, kept the town from such depredations for years, and it is still in existence and holds an annual supper in the early winter.

The North Viola postoffice was established in the northwest of the township in 1875, ^^^^ John F. Pratt postmaster. The name was changed in 1880 to Corra, and Orange T. Dickerman was postmaster. The office died with the birth of the rural free delivery system.

Mr. Dickerman was from Vermont, coming to Viola at the close of the War of the Rebellion, after service in a Vermont regiment. He was president of the Olmsted County Agricultural Society and vice president of the State Agricultural Society and commander of Custer Post, Grand Army of the Republic.

John Nevins, a farmer living on the west edge of the township, was killed by Frank Bulen, September 18, 1880. Nevins, when under the influence of liquor, was very abusive of his wife and her children by a former marriage. He came home from Rochester that afternoon and after putting his horses in the stable began cursing his wife, who was near by, and threatening to kick her. John Burk, a hired man, interfered for the woman's protection, and Nevins struck him in the face. The men grappled and had each other by the throat in a desperate struggle. One of the Coud girls, Nevins' stepdaughters, ran to the house and called to Bulen that Nevins was trying to kill Burk. Bulen ran out and told Nevins to let go of Burk or he would shoot him, but Nevins took no heed of the warning, which was repeated, and Bulen fired twice with a revolver, the first shot penetrating Nevins' right lung and killing him, the other going wild. He staggered, fell to the ground and in ten minutes was dead. Bulen ran away and was searched for that night, but not found. He spent the night in a stable on the adjoining farm of John English, across the line in Haverhill, and surrendered himself to Mr. English early the next morning.

Bulen was about twenty-two years old, of ordinary intelligence, and of an amiable disposition. He had worked for Nevins about two years and had been frequently abused by him. He was indicted for murder, pleaded guilty of murder in the second degree, and was sentenced by Judge Mitchell to four years' imprisonment in the penitentiary.

A more than centenarian, Mrs. Lydia Vine, died at the home of her son, Wilham Vine, in this township, March 29, 1908, at the remarkable age of one hundred and four years, six months and thirteen days. She was a widow and a native of the state of New York, bom in 1802. She came to Viola in 1864. She was the mother of Wandell and William Vine, farmers of Viola, and grandmother of Sheriff Elbert H. Vine.

Village of Viola. - When the railroad from Eyota to Plainview was built through Viola township, a station was established with a grain elevator and the village of Viola was platted in September, 1878. It is located in a beautiful valley surrounded by rich farms and is a thriving little village. The population of the village comprises about fifteen families.

Simeon Ford opened the first permanent store in 1878, and was postmaster. Plank & Watts were also early storekeepers. There are now two stores in the village, one a general store by George Toogood, built about 1888, and a hardware and drug store by M. L. Sawyer, which he has kept a number of years. Mr. Sawyer is a son of Caleb Sawyer, one of the pioneer settlers.

There are two churches in the village - the Methodist Episcopal, which was the first built, in 1866, and the United Brethren, built soon after, in 1867.