Fifty Years In The Northwest Part 14

SAMUEL B. DRESSER.--Mr. Dresser was born in Buxton, Maine, in 1832.

During his youth he lived with his parents, chiefly at Bangor, where he received the rudiments of a good education in the common schools, and in Kent Seminary at Readfield. He came to Taylor's Falls in 1851, and followed lumbering and merchandising until 1862, when he settled on his farm homestead on Osceola prairie. Mr. Dresser was a member of the Twenty-third Wisconsin a.s.sembly. He was married to Charlotte M.

G.o.dfrey, June 23, 1859. They have one daughter, Helen A., and six sons, Elma T., William A., Lester B., Wyman H., Mark S., and Frank E.

FREDERIC A. DRESSER, brother of Samuel B., was born at Moscow, Maine, Nov. 2, 1841, came to Taylor's Falls, Minnesota, in 1858, and remained some years, when he removed to Osceola. He served three years during the Civil War in the Thirtieth Wisconsin Infantry, and left the service with the rank of quartermaster. After the war he was married to Mary E. Thoms, of Biddeford, Maine. During his subsequent residence in Osceola he engaged in mercantile pursuits, served as county treasurer four years and as register of deeds five years, which office he held at the time of his death which occurred Oct. 23, 1886.

OSCAR A. CLARK came to Taylor's Falls in 1881, settled on a farm in Osceola in 1852, and brought hither his parents from Vermont, both of whom have since died. Oscar was a surveyor. He engaged also in the lumbering and commercial business. He was of the firm of Clark Brothers. He enlisted in a Wisconsin regiment during the Rebellion, and served till mustered out, but never returned to his home, and as nothing has since been heard from him, his friends have concluded that he must have been murdered after his discharge, possibly on the way home. Cornelius, a brother, lives at the Clark homestead; George, a brother, married a daughter, of John S. G.o.dfrey. He died in 1873. The widow was subsequently married to Cornelius. Leman, a brother, settled on a farm in Osceola, and died in 1879, leaving a large family.

Andrew, another brother, of the firm of Clark Brothers, died in Osceola.

OSCAR F. KNAPP.--Capt. Knapp has been conspicuous as a steamboat maker, owner and captain for the last thirty years. He was born in Clinton county, New York, in 1831. At the age of fifteen years he came West and located in Delavan, Wisconsin. In 1852 he removed to Osceola, Wisconsin, where he engaged in lumbering for about four years. In 1856 he was married to Miss Angeline Hayes, of Osceola. In the same year he engaged in the business of steamboating, with which he has been since identified more or less. His first steamboat was the H. S. Allen, which, in company with E. B. Strong, he bought of H. S. Allen, of Chippewa Falls, in 1856, for $5,000. In 1862 he built the Enterprise, a small but serviceable boat of light draft and fair speed. In 1864 Capt. Knapp built the Viola, owned by a stock company. In 1866 he built the G. B. Knapp, in 1879 the Jennie Hayes, and ran these two boats fourteen years. In 1877 he entered the employment of the United States government, improving the navigation of the St. Croix river, in which work he is still engaged. His two sons, Ben and George, succeeded him in the steamboat business. Ben, the oldest son, was born in Osceola in 1857; George, the second son, in 1859. These two boys spent their childhood and youth on the river, and have grown up to be expert pilots and captains, and inherit their father's popularity as river men. Ben was married to Addie Talboys, June, 1880; George to Claribel Wilson, in 1883. Capt. Knapp has two other children, Viola, now Mrs. Arthur Johnson, and Guy, still a minor. Mrs. Angeline Knapp died at her home in Osceola, March 6, 1883, respected and lamented by all who knew her. Capt. Ben Knapp died Oct. 5, 1887, leaving a wife and two children.

MRS. ELISABETH B. HAYES.--Mrs. Hayes was born in 1811, in Dundee, Yates county, New York. In 1854 she removed with her husband to Missouri. After his death, in the fall of the same year, she came with her children to Osceola, where she built the Osceola House, which she kept a number of years. The daughters were Angeline B. (Mrs. O. F.

Knapp), Mrs. Hubbell and Mrs. Milroy, of New York, and Mrs. Truman Foster, widow, since the wife of Capt. C. G. Bradley. Her sons were George, Frank and David. Capt. George Hayes followed piloting and steamboating, excepting during the Rebellion, when he served as a soldier in the Fourth Wisconsin Volunteers. In the latter part of the war he served as a scout for Gen. Canby. At the present time he has the appointment of steamboat inspector, with office in St. Paul. David has been prominent as a steamboat captain. He now resides in Iowa.

CYRUS G. BRADLEY was born in Kaskaskia, Illinois, in 1825. In 1845 he came to the lead mines in Wisconsin and to Osceola in 1848. He was married in 1846 to the widow of Truman Foster, of Osceola. Mr. Bradley engaged in lumbering, became a river pilot, running rafts to St.

Louis, with stems and blades, called oars and sweeps, before steamboat towing was in vogue. When steamboats became useful in running rafts, he built two steamers especially for raft towing. He had much to do in introducing the steamboat towing business. Mr. Bradley moved to his farm near Osceola in 1874, where he still resides.

W. HALE.--Judge Hale's early life was spent on a farm. He commenced lumbering in 1822, and followed that business and piloting on the Ohio and Alleghany rivers until 1851, when he came to Osceola prairie and opened a farm. Mr. Hale was the first county judge of Polk county, and held the position eight years. He has also served as county superintendent of schools. He was born in Harmony, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, in 1802; was married to Nancy McKeene, of Orange county, New York, in 1826. They have four sons, John, Isaac, Silas F., and Reuben W., and three daughters, Esther (Mrs. Treadwell), Malvina (Mrs.

Merrick), and Achsah (Mrs. Thomas Kent).

EDGAR C. TREADWELL was born March 29, 1832, in Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania. He came with a team from Pennsylvania to Osceola in 1846, where he engaged in lumbering and piloting until 1863, when he enlisted in Company D, Second Wisconsin Cavalry. He was wounded at Yazoo river. He returned to Osceola in 1865 and was married to Esther Hale in 1866. Mr. Treadwell was the first sheriff of Polk county, and has filled other places of trust. Since the war he has resided on his farm.

ST. CROIX FALLS.

Extended mention has already been made of the village of St. Croix Falls in the general history of the first settlement of the county.

The town includes towns.h.i.+p 34, range 18, and two partial sections of range 19. It was organized in 1854, but unfortunately no records of its organization can be obtained. The surface is agreeably diversified by hill and plain, and is supplied with many species of timber, including maple, elm, and several varieties of oak. The St. Croix river forms its western boundary, and presents here some of its wildest and most beautiful scenery, including the trap rock ledges of the Dalles.

ST. CROIX FALLS VILLAGE.

The buildings of the Falls company formed the nucleus of a village which took the name of the Falls. Its history has been given somewhat at length in the history of the settlement, and in "Reminiscences." It is situated on the east bank of the river, between the upper and lower falls. It contains one first cla.s.s flouring mill, owned by James Thompson, one wagon and plow factory, owned by Comer Brothers, one agricultural warehouse, two livery stables (Harvey & Co., and Lillis & Co.), two excellent hotels (J. W. Mullen, and C. C. Fiske), one United States land office, one church building (Presbyterian), costing about $2,500, one graded school building, costing $6,000, one town hall and several commodious stores and dwellings. The village was platted in 1857, by Marion T. Chandler. The post office was established in 1844. Harvey Wilson was the first postmaster. The Minneapolis, Soo & Atlantic Railway Company have a branch road extending to this place from Dresser's station, a distance of three miles. The village was incorporated Feb. 21, 1888, with the following board of officers: President, J. H. McCourt; trustees, John Comer, Jacob Berger, George Thompson, Charles Amery, Barney O'Neal, Sidney Wall; clerk, Thomas Peck; treasurer, A. Hoagland; a.s.sessor, P. B.

Jewell; supervisor, S. W. Blanding; constable, Hoover Christopher; justice of the peace, W. B. Bull; police justice, Thomas Peck. St.

Croix village has suffered from fires. The heaviest losses were without insurance. The flouring mill was burned April 30, 1863; loss, $8,000. The company's hotel was burned May, 1880; loss, $3,000.

Fiske's hotel was burned Sept. 16, 1885; loss, $6,000.

WEST SWEDEN.

West Sweden embraces towns.h.i.+p 37, range 17. This is almost exclusively a hardwood timbered district, with some pine in the north. The soil is rich and well watered with Spirit creek and Upper Wood river. The surface is undulating. The north part has numerous lakes and meadows.

There is an upheaval of trap rock in section 2 and copper specimens abound. The princ.i.p.al settlers are Swedes. The town was organized Nov.

10, 1875. The first supervisors were N. C. Johnson, A. Larson and A.

Dolberg.

STERLING.

The town of Sterling is composed of towns.h.i.+p 36, ranges 19 and 20. The east part is heavy hardwood timber land, with rich soil suitable for wheat; the west portion is very sandy and covered with a few scattering oaks and black pines. The whole town is well supplied with hay meadows, which afford great advantages to the stock raiser. The first actual settlers were Samuel Deneen and William Trimmer, who came in the fall of 1855. The year following William Lowell, from Stillwater, entered three hundred and twenty acres in sections 14 and 15, range 19, and made extensive improvements. Daniel F. Smith took up the same amount of land in section 9, same town and range, and made improvements. The first white child born was the son of James Cragin, August, 1858. The first white couple married was John Berry and Emily Stout, in 1859. The first death was that of Mrs. Dunlap, sister of William Trimmer, in 1859.

The town was organized in 1855. The first town meeting was held at the residence of William Lowell, and Samuel Deneen was the first chairman of the town. The town was called Moscow, which name was changed one year after to that of Sterling. It was the largest town in the county then. It was organized into two school districts, but District No. 1 not being able to build a good school house, an old log shanty was fixed up for school purposes, and in this Miss f.a.n.n.y Trimmer taught the first school. The first saw and grist mill was built by Dr.

Deneen. Olaf Strandburg established the first blacksmith shop and with it a gun shop. In 1849 Charles F. Rowley built a "stopping place," so called in those days, on the banks of Wolf creek, at the old crossing, half a mile west of Deneen's, and cultivated a few acres of land. This house was burned one night by a lot of teamsters in a drunken orgie.

DR. SAMUEL DENEEN, the first white settler in Sterling, was born Dec.

27, 1801, in Youngstown, Ohio. He was married in 1825 to Margaret Conly. He studied medicine in Michigan, and came to Wisconsin in 1854, and to Sterling in 1855. Dr. Deneen practiced his profession, made him a farm, built a saw and grist mill on Wolf creek, established a post office and took an active part in the interests of the new settlement.

He and his wife still live on the homestead which they have held for the past thirty years. Mrs. Deneen was born in 1800.

WILLIAM W. TRIMMER came to Sterling in 1855 and made a home, building and occupying what was for many years known as "Trimmer's Hotel." Mr.

Trimmer died in St. Croix Falls in 1874.

ARNOLD DENSMORE was born in Nova Scotia, in 1822; was married to Matilda Wallace in 1845, and came to Sterling in 1867, where he died, Jan. 20, 1886, much respected as a neighbor, citizen and Christian.

CHAPTER VI.

ST. CROIX COUNTY.

Jan. 9, 1840, the Wisconsin legislature created a new county out of Crawford county, including territory west of the Chippewa river, extending northward to the British possessions, and named it St.

Croix. By the same act, a day was designated for an election, at which a county seat was to be chosen and county officers elected. "Mouth of St. Croix," now Prescott, and Caw-caw-baw-kang, now St. Croix Falls, were designated as voting places. Two places only were voted for, "Mouth of St. Croix," and Dakotah, Brown's claim, now Schulenberg's addition to Stillwater. Dakotah was chosen by a vote of forty-five to thirteen. The returns were made to Prairie du Chien, county seat of Crawford county, and certificates issued to the county officers elected by C. J. Leonard, clerk of Crawford county. The legislature had at the time of creating the new county made it a probate district, Philip Aldrich being appointed judge.

The history of the county until 1848 has been given elsewhere, as connected with the early history of Stillwater.

The admission of Wisconsin Territory as a state in 1848 divided the county, giving it the St. Croix river and state line as its western boundary. The Wisconsin portion of the old county was consequently left without a county seat, while the portion west of the St. Croix had a county seat, but was without state or territorial jurisdiction.

Congress, however, declared Wisconsin territorial laws to be still in force in the excluded territory, and they so remained until the organization of Minnesota Territory. Soon after the admission of Wisconsin, that part of St. Croix county within its limits was reorganized for county and judicial purposes, and a new county seat chosen, located in section 24, towns.h.i.+p 29, range 19, at the mouth of Willow river. This county seat was at first called Buena Vista. On Sept. 9, 1848, the county commissioners, under the law creating the county, held their first meeting at the county seat, in the house of Philip Aldrich. The commissioners present were Ammah Andrews, chairman; W. H. Morse, and W. R. Anderson, clerk. Philip Aldrich was appointed treasurer. Four voting precincts were established, Mouth of St. Croix, Willow River or Buena Vista, Osceola, and Falls of St.

Croix. These early commissioners performed duties of the most varied character incident to the government of a new county. There was as yet no county seal, and they were required to draw with the pen upon legal doc.u.ments a scroll representing a seal, and to use other forms, appliances and devices without legal precedent.

At the second meeting of the county commissioners Osceola was represented by Harmon Crandall, he having been absent at the first meeting of the board. Moses Perin was appointed collector. License for selling intoxicating liquors was fixed at twenty dollars per annum.

The rate of taxation was fixed at seven mills on the dollar. The first state election in the county was held at Buena Vista, Nov. 7, 1848.

One hundred and fifteen votes were the whole number cast in the county. The following officers were elected: Senator, James Fisher, of Crawford county; representative, Joseph Bowron, Buena Vista; county commissioners, Wm. H. Morse, Ammah Andrews, Harmon Crandall, Buena Vista; county clerk, W. Richardson, Buena Vista; register of deeds, W.

R. Anderson, Buena Vista; judge of probate court, Alvah D. Heaton, Osceola; county treasurer, Philip Aldrich, Buena Vista; coroner, Wm.

O. Mahony, Osceola; surveyor, Alex. S. Youle, St. Croix Falls.

At the commissioners' meeting, Feb. 28, 1849, the county was divided into the following towns: St. Croix Falls, Buena Vista, and Elisabeth.

At an election held Sept. 3, 1849, Hamlet H. Perkins received forty-nine votes for judge, and Joel Foster forty-one. Mr. Perkins was drowned at St. Croix Falls soon after, and the governor appointed Mr.

Foster to fill the vacancy. Judge Foster held his first court at Buena Vista. Daniel n.o.ble Johnson was appointed prosecuting attorney in 1849. James Hughes was appointed in 1850. The first district court was held in August, 1850.

At a special meeting of the commissioners in 1849, James Hughes and J.

M. Bailey were appointed a building committee to make estimates for the erection of a courthouse and jail. At the special meeting of the commissioners, Jan. 15, 1851, the town of Kinnikinic was organized.

They had also under consideration the erection of county buildings, and appointed Ammah Andrews to erect the same. Otis Hoyt, for non-attendance at this meeting of the board, was fined fifty dollars, but the fine was subsequently remitted. The legislature of 1851 changed the name of the town of Buena Vista to Willow River, also of the town of Elisabeth to Prescott. At a subsequent meeting the contract with Ammah Andrews to erect public buildings was rescinded, and Daniel Mears was made special agent to build a jail, and three hundred and fifty dollars was appropriated for that purpose. The town of Rush River was organized Nov. 13, 1851. At the request of pet.i.tioners, the town of Leroy (now Osceola) was organized Nov. 9, 1852. A day was fixed in 1852 to vote on the change of name, Willow River to Hudson. The name Hudson was adopted by a two-thirds majority.

The legislature of 1853 created from the territory of St. Croix county the counties of Polk, St. Croix and Pierce, Polk being located on the north, Pierce on the south, and St. Croix occupying the central portion of the original St. Croix county, and retaining the county seat.

St. Croix county, as at present const.i.tuted, lies on the east bank of the river and Lake St. Croix, forming, but for slight irregularities on the western line, a parallelogram. It includes towns.h.i.+ps 28 to 31, and ranges 15 to 19, with fractions of range 20 on the west. The surface varies from gently undulating to hilly. The bluffs along the lake are not precipitous, as on the Upper St. Croix, but are even and continuous, with gently rounded slopes. From the river, eastward, the country is broken and somewhat hilly; the central portions are rolling prairies on which are fine farms, and the eastern portions are level and originally heavily timbered. The eastern tier of towns.h.i.+ps is covered by a heavy growth of timber known as the Big Woods. The timber is composed of ba.s.swood, maple, b.u.t.ternut, several species of oak, and a sprinkling of white pine. The soil is a rich clayey loam and well adapted for gra.s.s, grain and root crops. Good building and limestone crop out in places. The county is well drained by the St. Croix and its tributaries, Apple, Willow and Kinnikinic on the west and Rush river on the east. Of these tributaries Apple river is the largest. It rises in Polk county, where it is supplied by numerous lakes, enters St. Croix county and pa.s.ses diagonally across the northwest corner and empties into the St. Croix river a few miles above Stillwater. Willow river rises in Cylon towns.h.i.+p and empties into St. Croix lake, just above Hudson. This river pa.s.ses through a deep gorge in the limestone rock, a few miles above its mouth, falling in its pa.s.sage over several ledges of rock, producing falls famed far and near for their wildness and grandeur. Kinnikinic river in the south part of the county is famed also for the beauty of its scenery and for its waterfalls. It pa.s.ses into Pierce county and then, uniting with its southern branch, flows into Lake St. Croix. Rush river rises in Eau Galle, and turns and flows thence to Lake Pepin. These streams have unfailing supplies from springs and small lakes. There is a remarkable formation in the Kinnikinic valley about seven miles above River Falls, called the Monument. It is a ledge of pure white sandstone rock, nearly circular, and rising to a height of sixty feet. It stands on a natural elevation far above the level of the valley and so forms a very conspicuous and curious object. The base is forty or fifty feet wide, and the summit is a turret-shaped ma.s.s of rock about fifteen feet wide and as many high. The part upon which the turret rests is dome-shaped, its sides worn by the rains into deep furrows. Years ago a tree grew upon the summit. The soft sandstone is being gradually worn away by the winds and rains.

HOW THE SCHOOL LANDS WERE SELECTED.

Philip Aldrich was appointed commissioner in 1848 to locate the state school lands in St. Croix county, at that time including Polk and Pierce counties. It is said that Dr. Aldrich would climb to the summits of the highest mounds, and, casting his eyes east, west, north or south, would proclaim such and such numbers or sections as school lands. Where all were so arable and fertile there was no use in discriminating. At the division of the county in 1853 the part designated as St. Croix county was subdivided into three towns, Buena Vista or Hudson, Willow River and Kinnikinic or Troy. As the population increased these towns were divided and subdivided until they numbered twenty-three. We append their names and dates of organization. Where more than one name is given the last is the present name: