Somerset Township

Somerset Township

Somerset, lying directly south of Owatcnna, was first settled in the year 1856, on the 27th of May, by three brothers, Levi, E.'W. and Albert Bailey, from Penn*ylva- aia, and a Mr. Savins, who located near the center of the town, on the west side of the Owatonna or Straight river, built their shanties and commenced breaking up the soil preparatory to putting in seed for a crop. They sowed buckwheat and planted potatoes that year, as the season was too far advanced to sow wheat and oats, before they could get their breaking done. The brothers Bailey broke up a considerable tract and fenced it, ready to put into wheat the following season. Within a few days after the Baileys made their claim. Dr. Thomas Kinyon, T. J. Clark, and Orlando A. Barnes came and located in the same neighborhood. Dexter Smith, Ebenezer Lagro, David Barcfes, 0, "Fisher, Henry Catlin, John Catlin, Charles Ellison, Charles E. Knowlton, Warren Fisher, James E. Hughes, and sev- -eral others made claims the same summer. Nearly oil the of that year in Somerset were natives of New York and Pennsylvania, and as all were from that section of country where science and culture had full sway, the jneighborhood was made up of a more choice society than *where the population is gathered from many different States and foreign countries.

Nearly one half of the surface of the town is covered with timber or oak openings, furnishing a full supply for fuel and fencing. The town is considered well watered, with the Straight river running in a north-west*direction through it, and a large number of springs in various parts sending forth small streams which meander through the prairies, affording water to nearly all the farms in the -township.

The first death in the town was that of a Mr, Manna Oase, in July, 1856. The first birth was in the family of T, J. Clark, to whom was bom a daughter in the summer of 1856, who was duly christened Ellen. The first marriage was that of Miss Rachel Bill to Mr. Alexander Hisisam in July, 1858.

The northern part of the town is settled mostly by Bohemians and Germans, who are making good farms and cultivating the land, but not doing as much towards the educational progress of the town as in the central and southern portion. The low lands have a soil of black loam and sand, while the higher portion is a loam with clay subsoil. The low lands are not as subject to injury by drouth or even wet weather as the uplands, where the subsoil is of clay.

The number of school houses now is three in which schools are now taught through the usual school terms of each year, though there are seven organized districts. The first school was taught in the summer of 1856, in the attic of the residence of Dr. Thomas Kinyon, and by virtue of the elevated position of the room was denominated the "high school," Miss Phebe Kinyon officiated a^ preceptress. The walls and roof made classic by association are now used as a stable for horses, and a neat and commodious school house built at an expense of about $1,400, invites the young searcher after knowledge to mount the first rungs of the ladder of science.

The first church service was had in the autumn of 1857, at the residence of Deacon Sibley, the name of the officiating clergyman was -Harney.

The township of Somerset, according to government survey, is 106 north of range 20 west, and bounded on the north by the township of Owatonna, east by Aurora, south by Summit, and west by Lemond. The surface is slightly undulatiDg, and about one third covered with timber and openings ; the other two-thirds is an open prairie. The soil in the timber and oak openings is of a rich clay loam, which is considered by the farmers to be the best quality for raising wheat and other cereals. The prairie land is mostly composed of a deep, rich, dark loam, of almost in- exhaustible fertility, while a narrow belt of land along the banks of the Straight river is -composed of sand loara. In many places the river is bordered by natural meadows of considerable extent, making it an easy matter to secure any desirable quantity of hay for wintering stock.

The principal stream in this town is th& Straight river, which flows in a northerly course, affording in several places a fair water power, none of which are improved. Two small tributaries flow into it from the east, called Turtle Creek and Willow Run, with Wasecca Run from the west.

The town was organized on the 11th of May, 1858, and T. C. Minthorn elected Chairman of Supervisors, and W. H, Sherman, Town Clerk. The names of those who have subsequently held the office of Chairman of Supervisors are as follows : Thomas Thompson, W, H. Sherman, J. W. Doolittle, Seth Hotchkiss, Thomas Kinyon, H. M. Bill, F. B. Doolittle, Augustus Theile, and Dexter Smith. While the office of Town Clerk has been filled as follows : W. H. Sherman, Phelps Case, Manley Curtis, Charles Ellison, and John Anderson.

We are indebted for many of the items in relation to this town, to Dexter Smith, Esq., who says; "The prevailing characteristics of the inhabitants are industry, honesty and independence in thought and deed. The medical profession was at one time represented by Drs. Thomas Kinyon and W. H. Twiford, but owing to the 'alarming healthfullness' of this locality their 'pill bags' were years ago consigned to the cabinet of antedeluvian curiosities, and they have taken to farming as a more lucrative business. The legal profession has no representative, the people have too much sense to spend their substance in litigation for the benefit of that fraternity.

Opening up of a new country. For several years our wardrobes and larders seldom contained anything but the absolute necessaries of life; and I might cite you to more than one case where to 'keep the wolf from the door,' we subsisted ourselves and our little ones on forage only suited to the cattle on the hills ; but in hope and faith, and trust in the promises, and the vigorous strokes of our good right arms, we struggled on, and the seasons as they came and went never wholly failed to leave some token for the encouragement of renewed effort."

There are no special business points in Somerset. The business of the inhabitants is entirely agricultural, and a host of finely cultivated farms are the surest signs of prosperity and the best evidence that the people will not have to subsist themselves upon husks, but from their overflowing granaries and well filled cellars, will hereafter live upon the fat of the land.