St. Cloud City

St. Cloud City

St. Cloud township lies on the east side of the county, being bounded on the east by the Mississippi river. It has an area of about 19,000 acres. The soil is a rich dark loam, and very productive. The northwest portion of the town is watered by Sauk river, which flows in a northeasterly direction, and crossing the extreme southeast corner of Le Sauk empties into the Mississippi.

In the earlier days the affairs of the township and the townsite v/ere so closely allied that it is at this date difficult to separate them. There was for a time not much outside the townsite to chronicle, yet it was in the township of St. Cloud that the first white child in Stearns county was born and that the first furrow was turned. John Becker came to St. Cloud, or to what afterwards came to be known as St. Cloud, October 7, 1851, to open up a farm for his cousin, Geo. L. Becker, of St. Paul, who afterwards was president of the first railroad built to St. Cloud. He broke about two hundred acres of land, selling to the Indians everything that was raised on the farm except what was consumed on the place. He occupied the Lowry house, to which he built an addition. In company with a man named Douglas he lived there, the two doing the housekeeping, until the spring of the following year, when Mr. Becker went to Ann Arbor, Mich., his former home, and June 1, 1852, married Merriam F. Barr, starting the same day for St. Cloud. It was while they lived on the Lowry place that their daughter, Ora Ella Becker, was born, February 24, 1854, the first white child in Stearns county. Charles Fillmore was the second. As there was no other means of crossing the Mississippi river, Mr. Becker brought a number of the settlers who followed in later years from the east to the west side in a wagon drawn by a yoke of oxen, afterwards running a ferry for two years. He took a claim where Waite Park is now located, and when he sold this in 1876 moved to the city. In 1879 his eldest daughter - there were two other children, Frank H. and Mary E. - was married to Geo. M. McLane, of Brown's Valley, and went there to live, that place being still her home. On account of Mrs. Becker's ill health Mr. and Mrs. Becker moved to Brown's Valley, where all their children were and where the mother died April 5, 1910. Mr. Becker is making his home there.

While St. Cloud precinct, as it was then called, was one of the three original subdivisions of Stearns county when the county was organized in March, 1855, the first available records begin with May 27, 1858, giving the results of the town election, at which time a total of 123 votes were cast. The result was the choice of the following persons, although for every office save that of collector, there were opposing candidates: J. L. Wilson, chairman; L. Gorton, R. S. Fillmore, supervisors; Henry Swisshelm, town clerk; L. Robbers, assessor; B. Overbeck, collector; C. T. Stearns, overseer of poor; H. G. Kilbourne and Hannon, constables; J.

The supervisors met July 28 and divided the town into two road districts, the ravine between upper and lower town being the line of division. At a subsequent meeting August 19, S. A. Clifford, J. H. Seymour, H. J. Fowler, B. Rosenberger, Philip Eeaupre, Joseph Paran, Nathan Lamb and Dr. W. R. Hunter were appointed overseers of roads for the eight districts designated; district No. 3 consisting of lower St. Cloud and No. 4 of upper St. Cloud, the other districts comprising in the main an entire township. A tax of one mill was levied for current expenses.

The next election, held April 5, 1859, put most of the "ins" out and "outs" in. A total of 245 votes were cast, showing either a largely increased population over the year before or a greater interest. The successful candidates were: Rev. David Lowry, chairman; B. Rosenberger, Philip Beaupre, supervisors; C. Grandelmeyer, clerk; Jos. Broker, assessor; B. Overbeck, collector; N. Lamb, overseer of poor; C. Lueg, F. Hamilton, constables; Chas. Taylor, Chas. Ketcham, justices. The polling place for this election as well as for that which preceded it was at the Everett schoolhouse.

In 1860 there was no opposition and as a result the election (which was held in Proctor & Clarke's storeroom, vacant at the time) was tame, only 100 votes being cast. The officers elected were: Rev. David Lowry, chairman; John Rengel, F. Monti, supervisors; C. Grandelmyer, clerk; S. Marlatt, treasurer; Chas. Taylor, assessor; Chas. Ketcham, H. J. Fowler, Lewis Clark, justices; Jos. Howard and Chas. Lueg, constables; B. Overbeck, collector; Dr. B. R. Palmer, superintendent of schools.

were 208 votes cast, and while the election had been called for Andrew Smith's building, it was found necessary to adjourn to Wilson's Hall. The winning candidates were: Lewis Clark, chairman; P. Brady, J. W. Tenvoorde, supervisors; J. H. Place, clerk; S. Marlatt, treasurer; T. H. Barrett, assessor; W. V. B. Moore and J. F. Noel, justices; Chas. Lueg, overseer of highways.

Passing to the later period of the Civil War, when the duty of meeting the call for soldiers for the Union army fell on the town officials, the officers elected in the spring of 1864 were: Henry Killian, chairman; J. L. Streitz, Jacob N. Lahr, supervisors; J. J. Hess, clerk; Michael Scheuer, treasurer; Edward Kuhn, assessor; M. G. Weyrens, justice; Philip Hartman, constable.

At a meeting of the board of supervisors held August 30, 1864, a list of twenty-seven volunteers who had been secured to fill the quota of the town was reported, all but one having been mustered into the service of the United Stales, during the month of August, for one year, the exception having been for two years. The bounty paid in all cases but two was $250 and to these two $200 each was paid, the total being $6,650.

At a meeting held March 28, 1865, an additional list of the volunteers who had been secured since August and credited to the town was repoi'ted. This list included the names of forty-seven men, to ten of whom (reenlistments) a bounty of $100 each had been paid, to one $150, to one $250, to one $375, to two $400 each, while the others received $300 each; total, $13,- 255.

The first entries at the United States land office, then at Sauk Rapids, were in 1857. September 7, the earliest date, Leland Cram entered 80 acres in section 14, now a part of the city. Other entries on that day were by I. B. Talcott, 160 acres in section 23, and A. Vandyke, 160 acres in section 6. The following day seven entries were made - Nicholas Juenemann taking 80 acres in section 14, B. Davenport taking 80 acres and T. G. Davenport 120. acres in section 18; N. Juenemann, 40 acres in section 22; John Firschweiler, 160 acres in section 2; John Rengel, Jr., 160 acres in section 15; E. S. Garlington, 160 acres in section 17. Following these on later dates

A grange of the Patrons of Husbandry was organized in 1874 at the schoolhouse in District No. 2, the number of charter members instituted being thirty, the maximum allowed. The oflScers elected were: J. B. Getchell, master; C. W. Clark, overseer; Michael Lahr, treasurer; L. O. Boardman, secretary; John W. Schaefer, lecturer; Wm. Louden, chaplain; John W. Schwartz, gatekeeper; Peter Gardner, steward; S. L Shepard, assistant steward; Mrs. Shook, lady assistant steward; Mrs. Clements, Ceres; Mrs. Clark, Pomona; Mrs. Getchell, Flora.

The manufacture of brick has almost from its organization to the present day been an important industry in the township. In 1861 Weber & Volz started a brickyard, two miles from the town, in section 22. In 1865 the property was purchased by Peter Greven, which afterwards became Greven & Lommel. The output was about 500,000 bricks per year, red color and of fair quality, selling at $8 to $10 per thousand delivered in St. Cloud. The manufacture of brick at this yard closed in 1888, and was not afterward renewed.

In 1865 John Zenner began the manufacture of brick, which were cream-colored. The yard was bought in 1868 by Wm. Krugel, whose product in 1881 was 400,000, the brick selling for $7.00 to $8.00 at the kiln. It was purchased in 1882 by Hess & Bandle, in 1886 the firm was Hess & Moog, and since 1905 the business has been carried on by Henry Hess alone. His product is 2,000,000 brick annually, selling at the yard at an average of $6.50 per thousand. This yard is in sections 25 and 36.

On the west side of the road, in section 26, Frederick Kuehn began brickmaking in 1881, continuing about five years, when the clay bed gave out. In 1886, going furthe south into section 35, the firm of Kuehn & Weyrauch opened a yard, which they ran for about ten years, being compelled then to suspend operations for the same reason as before - the exhaustion of the clay bed.

In 1903 Ernest Beutler secured a tract of land in the northeast quarter of section 35 containing a fine bed of clay, and began the manufacture of brick, continuing until the present. His output in 1914 was 1,500,- 000, and he expects to increase that number this year. These brick are also cream and sell at $7..00 per thousand kiln-run. Both these yards, now the only ones operating in this vicinity, are about three miles south of the city.

Waite Park Village

The village of Waite Park is located in section 17, St. Cloud township, between the main line and the Willmar branch of the Great Northern railway. The railroad shops constitute the principal industry, and employ not only ninety-six per cent of the adult male population of the village but also men from St. Cloud, Sauk Rapids and the adjoining townships. Another important industry is the quarrying of granite which is found in this neighborhood in great profusion.

The village is well laid out, there is an excellent water supply, the homes are substantially built and for the most part occupied by their owners, and the workmen are happy and contented. The people enjoy all the pleasures of rural life, and a short line on the electric line takes them to St. Cloud, where they have the social, commercial and educational advantages of a small city.

The park itself is a natural gem of beauty, now owned by the village. It consists of a block and a half of timber land, situated at an elevation of about forty feet above the Sauk river. The massive oaks shelter ideal picnic grounds, and the place is thronged with visitors throughout the picnic season. A dancing pavilion with an excellent floor has been erected by the grocerymen of St. Cloud, and a bandstand has been put up by the village. From this stand an excellent band of twenty pieces termed the Waite Park Military Band, and led by Jos. Wegler, furnishes a weekly concert during the summer season. The spring which gushes from this park furnishes pure sparkling water, and in order that it may be available to travelers the citizens have provided a drinking place for man and beast beside the Rockville road.

The first settler in what is now Waite Park was John Becker, who located here in 1851, and erected his homestead in what is now the Park proper. His daughter, Ora Ella, whose natal day was February 24, 1854, was the first white child born in Stearns county.

The second settler was Albert Smith. Later Wesley Carter came. The Becker homestead has been moved and repaired and is now occupied by William Carver. The Carter house has been remodeled and is now occupied by William C. Scheil. The Smith house was torn down. Another who settled in the same neighborhood was McCarthy.

The settlers underwent the usual vicissitudes of pioneer life, living in cabins, and preparing the land for cultivation. Favorite gathering places for the settlers of this vicinity were the brewery, at the Stenger homestead two miles from the present village on the Rockville road, and the brickyard, located about a quarter of a mile south of the present village.

The shops of the Great Northern Railway- Company were erected in 1890-1891 and opened June 1, 1891. The first store in Waite Park was built by John Dubois and opened by Gunnis & Opity in 1892. The store venture was not successful as the field was thoroughly covered by the merchants of St. Cloud.

For a time the growth of the village was somewhat slow. Lots forty by one hundred and twenty-five feet were sold at $125 and there were many who were unable to buy. But John N. Benson, to whom the village is indebted, purchased the interests of the Waite Park Association, and placed the lots on the market at $25 and $35. This created a building "boom," and also enabled the people to purchase larger tracts. The village is now growing at a healthful rate. In 1912, there were twelve new residences erected. In 1913 the number of new houses built was sixteen. The citizens take great pride in the appearance of their property, and vie with each other in the matter of beautiful lawns, well-kept grounds and handsome shade trees.

has no churches. The people attend divine service at St. Cloud and elsewhere. There is, however, an excellent Sunday school. Fifty-nine pupils are registered, with an average attendance of forty-two. Mrs. T. M. Savage is the superintendent and Fred Stelzig is the assistant.

Thomas Jefferson Wiley was for a long time an ardent worker in this Sunday school. One Sunday morning in 1896, as he was entering the school, he dropped dead, and this ended his life among those who valued him so highly.

A sad event in the history of the village was the death on October 3, 1903. of two boys, Matthew and Aloysius Mattes, aged respectively eleven and six years. The boys were herding cattle on the railroad grounds, and as the day was stormy they are supposed to have taken refuge under the cars. When the cars were backed the boys met with a horrible death, their bodies being frightfully mangled.

Waite Park was incorporated March 20, 1893, and the first election was held April 17 of the same year. The first officers were: President, Henry Buschman; trustees, B. J. Franklin, James H. Johnson and J. M. Smith; recorder, William Opitz; treasurer, Frank Houde.

When the village was incorporated March 20, 1893, it was not entirely separated from the township of St. Cloud. This caused considerable discontent between the people of the township and village. Votes on national, state and county affairs had to be cast at the township polling place which was sometimes two miles from the village. Village elections had to be held on the same day as the township elections, and the polls were open only from 9 a. m. to 1 p. m. Many warm contests were waged, the villagers sometimes winning and the farmers sometimes being victorious. The climax came in March, 1897, when the farmers voted to take the polling place from Waite Park to a point in the township. As a result a special election was held in the village, March 31, 1897, and the township and village were completely separated.

The liquor question has been the subject of considerable agitation in Waite Park. At the first election held April 17, 1893, a large majority of the voters favored the granting of a license. Plans were made to open a saloon, but a number of citizens presented a petiton to the county board, and the place was not allowed to open. The license question came up a number of times after that, but the agitation did not become serious until 1908. In 1909 a petition was circulated to have the matter come to a vote. The required number of signatures were secured but later a number withdrew their names and the matter was not voted upon. In 1912 another petition was circulated, the required number of signatures secured, and the matter voted upon. The opening of a saloon was defeated by fifteen votes, though the license people elected their president and one trustee. In 1913 the question again came up, there being a "wet" and a "dry" ticket in the field. One hundred and seven votes were cast, and the "drys" elected all their ticket by a majority of 15 votes. Great Northern Shops. - Ground was broken for the Great Northern Shops at Waite Park July 1, 1890, and the machinery was started June 1, 1891. The plant is made up as follows: Car repair shop, 145 by 300 feet; wood-working shop, 69 by 257 feet; blacksmith and machine shop, 49 by 250 feet; paint shop, 97 by 300 feet; storehouse and office, 49 by 182 feet. The proposed additions are: To the present car repair shop, 145 by 300 feet; to the present blacksmith and machine shop, 75 by 250 feet; to the present wood-working shop, 69 by 200 feet; new rolling mill, 375 by 150 feet; dry kiln, 75 by 75 feet.

The first superintendent of shops was W. V. S. Thorne, from May 1, 1891, to October 1, 1892. Others have been: E. A. Wescott, from October 1, 1892, to July 13».

- The first paper published in St. Cloud was the Minnesota Advertiser, the initial number being dated January 1, 1857. It was a seven-column sheet, motto: "Neutral - but Independent," with Democratic leanings. Geo,. F. Brott, proprietor, ot Lower St. Cloud, was owner of the paper; Caleb West was publisher, and for the first two or three months H. W. Coles was editor. He was succeeded by James C. Shepley, an attorney. In running off the first numbers the printer was forced to use buckskin balls, in place of rollers for inking the type. During the fall of that year the Advertiser ceased to exist. On December 10, 1857, with the old material of the Advertiser, was issued the first number of the St. Cloud Visitor, Mrs. Jane G. Swisshelm, editor; James Mowatt, publisher. Its size was reduced to six columns to the page. In politics it was strongly antislavery. Before daylight on the morning of March 24, 1858, (after the outside of No. 9 of the Visitor had been printed) the office was broken into by parties who were displeased with Mrs. Swisshelm's policy, the press was taken to pieces and the more necessary parts of it, together with a large portion of the type, were thrown into the Mississippi river or scattered along the street. A threatening letter signed by a "Committee of Vigilance" was found on the editorial table. A meeting of the citizens was promptly held, and the perpetrators of the outrage denounced and measures taken for procuring a new press and type. On May 13, 1858, No. 9 of the paper, printed from the new material, appeared as a six-column sheet - Mrs. Jane G. Swisshelm, editor; Mr. Mowatt, publisher. Mr. Mowatt's relations as publisher ceased after this issue, and the mechanical part of the paper was placed in the hands of a journeyman printer.

The material was owned by a joint stock company, the editorial control only being under charge of Mrs. Swisshelm. A libel suit of $10,000 having been instituted against the company by James C. Shepley, on account of a certain article in the paper alleged to be personal, the publication of tlie Visitor was suspended on July 29, 1858. The office, type, press, etc., were at that time transferred to Mrs. Swisshelm for the nominal sum of one dollar. On the fifth of August, 1858, appeared the first number of the St. Cloud Democrat (same size as the Visitor), with Mrs. Swisshelm as editor and proprietor. On June 11, 1863, the establishment was purchased by W. B. Mitchell; and on November 26 of the same year the paper was enlarged to a sevencolumn sheet and various improvements were made in its make-up. On September 13, 1866, a new power press having been put in the office, the paper was enlarged to nine columns to the page and the name changed to the St. Cloud Journal.

In 1872 a stock company composed of several of the then prominent citizens started the St. Cloud Press, and this was continued for four years, under the management of various editors, Charles McKinuey serving for the longest time. In 1876 It was purchased by Mr. Mitchell, and consolidated with the Journal under the name of the Journal-Press, which title it still retains. Mr. Mitchell sold the paper and plant in September, 1892, to the Journal- Press company, have been continuously connected with the Journal-Press and its predecessors for thirty-five years, being the sole owner and editor for nearly thirty years.

The Journal-Press company on the date of its purchase of the plant, September 3, 1893, established the Daily Journal-Press, and it has since been continuously under the editorship of Alvah Eastman. It has in these years been equipped with linotype machines, perfecting press, and besides the eight-paged daily, issued a twicea-week paper, eight pages each, and was the first paper in central Minnesota to get its general news by wire.

One noteworthy experience of this paper is the many men who have won success, who were for a time connected with the Journal-Press company, either as city editors or in a business capacity. C. S. Mitchell, the brilliant chief editorial writer of the Duluth News-Tribune, was its city editor for ten years. He was succeeded by Harvey W. Grimmer, now president of the Fritz-Cross Printing Company, and for several years Governor Johnson's executive clerk. Other men who have held this position are Arthur Gorman, private secretary to Congressman Lindbergh; Dr.

Philip E. Stangl, St. Cloud; W. C. Hammerel, of St. Paul; Harold Knutsen, St. Cloud; Wm. McGregor, attorney, St. Paul; and Fritz Stangl, who is attending the Chicago University - all city editors. Those graduating from the business and mechanical departments of the paper are James R. Jerrard, secretary and manager of the Security Blank Book and Publishing Company, St. Cloud; Earl D. Cross, manager of the Fritz-Cross Printing Company; Andrew E. Fritz, public examiner of Minnesota, St. Paul; Peter E. Honer, editor of the Cold Spring Record, and Calvert S. Eastman, assistant of the W. F. Hall Printing Company, of Chicago.

Three of those who have answered the final call were Maurice W. Eastman, who was successively newsboy, printer, city editor and vice-president of the company, and who during these years graduated with honors from Dartmouth College; John W. Eastman, editor and proprietor of the Thief River Falls News, and H. C. Henderson, editor and proprietor of the Verndale Sun.

The present business manager is J. F. Gaspard, who has successfully held this position for eleven years, and is secretary of the company; Henry Z. Mitchell is city editor, and Edward Hedlund, superintendent of subscriptions.

Daily and Weekly St. Cloud Times. - The St. Cloud Times is an outgrowth of the St. Cloud Union, which was established on July 7, 1861, by Gen. S. B. Lowry with material formerly used by W. H. Wood in the publication of the New Era at Sauk Rapids; Gen. C. C. Andrews was the editor. In 1862 the oflJice reverted to Mr. Wood, by whom the Union continued to be published until 1863, when it was sold to Spafford & Simonton. In 1864 R. Chaning Moore assumed the editorial management and changed the name to the St. Cloud Times, the publishers being Spafford & Simonton. The Times has been owned by Simonton Bros., Simonton & Barnes, A. J. Reed, L. A. Evans & J. J. Green, L. A. Evans, R. W. Delano, Lamb & Rhodes, William H. Lamb, and finally C. F. Macdonald, the present editor and principal owner, into whose hands it passed on January 13, 1875. During the first fourteen years of its existence the Times had fourteen editors or publishers. In the last forty years, Mr. Macdonald has been the sole editor of the paper. In November, 1872, the office together with all the material, presses, files, etc., were destroyed by fire; but in a short time new material was ser cured and the publication was continued. On September 27, 1887, C. F. Macdonald established the Daily Times, being the first daily published in St. Cloud. January 1, 1903, Fred Schilplin bought an interest iu the Times and became business manager. The concern was incorporated under the general laws of the state June 1, 1907, under the name of "The Times Publishing Company," with a capital of $30,000. June 1. 1914, the capital was increased to $38,- 500, because of the purchase of a building and lot valued at $10,000. During all its history the Times has been Democratic in politics and has advocated the principles of the party and the election of its candidates. Der Nordstern. - At the time Der Nordstern was started there was a real demand for a local German Newspaper to be published in the city of St. Cloud. In the month of December, 1872, Peter Brick and P. E. Kaiser issued two sample copies, two weeks apart, of Der Nordstern and sent the sample copies to all addresses they were able to obtain from the tax lists in Stearns county, with the request to the recipients to subscribe for the new German newspaper. On January 1, 1873, Der Nordstern had over 800 bona fide subscribers, and this number has been growing ever since until now the paper has over 7,000 subscribers. The paper was published under the firm name of Brick & Kaiser. In politics Der Nordstern has at all times been a Democratic newspaper. Mr. Brick edited the paper the first year; after that he sold his interest to his brother Leo Brick, an accomplished printer. Mr. Kaiser took charge of the editorial department of the paper until he sold his interest in 1875 to Joseph L. Meyer. The firm name of the publishers was changed to Brick & Meyer. Mr. Meyer was editor of the paper until 1876, when he sold his interest to P. E. Kaiser, the former owner. The firm name was again changed to Brick & Kaiser. In 1882 John Rentz, William L. Rosenberger and Joseph L. Meyer bought out Brick & Kaiser, the firm name being now Meyer, Rosenberger & Rentz; the same year Joseph L. Meyer sold his interest to Wm. L. Rosenberger and John Rentz. In 1887 J. P. Hammerel bought a third interest from Rosenberger & Rentz, Mr. Rentz later selling his interest to Wm. L. Rosenberger. The following named gentlemen were at different times editor of the paper: R. Rueppling, Gerhard May, Theodore Bruener, H. J. Hengstebeck, Nic Bohnen and J. L. Stagemann. On December 1, 1892, Rosenberger & Hammerel sold Der Nordstern to the Nordstern Publishing Company, a corporation. The first officers of the company were: Rev. James Weysters, president; P. E. Kaiser, secretary; Frank Zins, treasurer and manager. The first board of directors were: Rev. J. P. Bauer, Rev. B. Richter and Peter Brick. The present oflScers of the company are: Frank Zins, president; J. B. Himsl, vice-president; G. L. Rosenberger, secretary and manager. Gerhard May has uninterruptedly been the efficient editor of Der Nordstern from 1884 to this day. For the last eighteen years Carl Thiele has been the outside manager of the publishing company's business.