Fifty Years In The Northwest Part 41

Croix falls, where they landed on the west side. From this point they made a portage and cordelled their boat, and with poles and lines ascended to Snake river. He engaged for some time in lumbering, and worked at the falls until 1841, when he settled on a beautiful farm, on a part of which Afton is now situated. Mr. Mackey was born in Kilkenny, Ireland, in 1804, and (in 1888) is still living. His wife died in 1873.

BAYTOWN

Comprises the north half of fractional towns.h.i.+p 28, range 20. The surface is somewhat uneven and broken, owing to the lake bluff formation, but there is much good farming land. Originally it was covered with oaks or oak openings. It derives its name from a bay indenting the western sh.o.r.e of Lake St. Croix. At South Stillwater village a considerable stream, known as Spring creek, flows from some large springs and forms a good water power in its descent to the lake.

Two flour mills are located on this stream. In 1842 Francis Bruce built a house on the present site of the office of the St. Croix Lumber Company. In the same year Norman Kittson built a trading post at what has been since known as Kittson's Point. Both of these parties left in 1844 and John Allen built a house and cultivated a field on the east side of Kittson's Point. Allen sold the place in 1846 and removed to California. He raised the first crops in the town. In 1847 Joseph Pero became a prominent settler and made him a good home on Spring creek. Other parties made claims and abandoned or sold them.

Fiske & Marty located here in 1848. In 1860 came Ambrose Secrest and some others. In 1852 Nelson, Loomis & Co. built a steam saw mill on the bay. In 1854 Secrest & Booth built a flour mill on Spring creek.

In 1858 Baytown was organized as a town. The first supervisors were Ambrose Secrest, John Parker and W. H. Crosby; John J. Hale, clerk.

BAYTOWN VILLAGE.

Socrates Nelson, D. B. Loomis, Levi Churchill, Daniel Mears, and James W. Hinton, in February, 1856, platted the village of Baytown. Harvey Wilson was the surveyor. The location was on the lake sh.o.r.e, lots 3 and 4, section 11, and lot 7, section 2. In 1872 a post office was established called South Stillwater; William Graves, postmaster.

BANGOR VILLAGE

Was platted May. 1857, by C. I. and J. E. Whitney, Albert and Edwin Caldwell, Wm. Hollinshead, Isaac Staples, and A. J. Short; J. J.

Carleton, surveyor. It was situated on the sh.o.r.e of the lake south of Baytown.

MIDDLETOWN VILLAGE

Was platted in July, 1857, in parts of sections 2 and 3, by William Holcomb; Myron B. Shepard, surveyor.

SOUTH STILLWATER

Was platted in January, 1873, by the St. Croix Railway Improvement Company; Peter Berkey, president; A. B. Stickney, secretary; J. S.

Sewall, surveyor. South Stillwater was made to include the platted villages of Baytown, Bangor and Middletown. It has prospered greatly as a manufacturing village. In 1854 Torinus, Staples & Co. built a steam saw mill, to which from time to time they added various manufacturing establishments. Subsequently the firm became the St.

Croix Lumber Company. In the spring of 1876 this company sustained a loss by fire on their mill and appurtenances to the value of $70,000, which was not insured: With indomitable energy they rebuilt, and prospered. The two leading business men in this firm were Louis Torinus and William Chalmers. Turnbull's steam saw mill, on the lake sh.o.r.e, has a capacity of 100,000 feet per day. The property is valued at $70,000. The South Stillwater Lumber Company has a mill with a capacity of 90,000 feet per day, with planer and other machinery attached, in which they have invested $70,000. The firm consists of D.

Tozer, A. T. Jenks, H. McGlinn, E. W. Durant, and R. Wheeler. The mills of the Herschey Lumber Company, valued at $70,000, have a capacity of 100,000 feet per day. The proprietor, ---- Herschey, lives in Muscatine, Iowa.

The Stillwater Dock Company was organized in 1877. The company consists of Durant, Wheeler & Co., St. Croix Lumber Company and Jonah Bachelder. They have built many fine steamers and barges. Their repairing docks are a great convenience to steamboat lumbermen. The South Stillwater Soap Factory, owned by McKenzie & Co., deserves honorable mention. The construction of the branch railroad from Stillwater in 1872, and the St. Paul & Milwaukee railroad, built in 1883, have greatly increased the prosperity of the village. Aside from mills and manufactories there are many private residences, one hotel, stores, shops, a Lutheran church, and a school house. There are three cemeteries in the village limits known as Hazlewood, St. Michael's, and the potter's field. The block for the former was contributed by Secrest & Pero, in 1858. St. Michael's was established by the Catholics in 1873. The potter's field was established by the city of Stillwater in 1873. The first death in the limits of South Stillwater was that of Sylvester, son of Joseph Pero. South Stillwater was organized in 1881. First board of officers were: President, B. E.

Meigs; clerk, Edward Ivison; councilmen, Richard Burns, C. M.

Anderson, Charles Kregor; justice of the peace, Ambrose Secrest. South Stillwater has a graded school with four departments.

COTTAGE GROVE

Includes towns.h.i.+p 27 and a fractional part of towns.h.i.+p 26, range 21.

It was organized as a town in October, 1858; James S. Norris, moderator; William Watson, clerk; John Atkinson, Jacob Mos.h.i.+er, Joel Munger, judges of election; William Watson, John Atkinson, B. Winant; supervisors. Wm. Ferguson, Lewis Hill, James S. Davis, Jonathan Brown, and Jacob Mos.h.i.+er were the first settlers, locating here in 1844. The first marriage was that of Henry W. Crosby to Hannah Waterman, in 1854. The first child born was Nathan, son of John Atkinson, in 1846; the first death was that of Mehitable, wife of P. P. Furber, in 1851.

A post office was established at Cottage Grove village in 1850; J. W.

Furber was postmaster. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad was completed through the town in 1871. With its fine natural advantages of soil, and its convenient access to markets, Cottage Grove is well settled and prosperous.

COTTAGE GROVE VILLAGE

Is situated in section 12. It is a pleasant inland village, well supplied with stores, shops and dwellings. It has one hotel, one school house and three churches, Congregational, Evangelical German Lutheran and Methodist. The Congregational society was organized in 1858, Rev. B. Hall, pastor; the Evangelical in 1874; the Methodist some years later. The Universalists also have an organization. The village was platted in April, 1871, by John P. and S. W. Furber, James A. McClusky, Margaret M. Ellwell and Clarence Smith, in the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section 12; J. W. Furber, surveyor.

LANGDON VILLAGE

Was platted in December, 1871, in the southwest quarter of section 21, on the line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad. It contains an elevator, hotel, three stores, a school house, Catholic church and other buildings. The Catholic church was erected in 1873. Father Huxley is the officiating clergyman. The village was platted by Joseph J. Dodge; C. B. Lowell, surveyor.

JOSEPH W. FURBER was born in New Hamps.h.i.+re in 1813. His ancestors came to this country with the early colonists of New England. His father was a soldier in the war of 1812. During his minority he worked at farming, obtaining, meanwhile, an education in the common schools and at Foxcroft Academy, Maine. He emigrated to the valley of the Mississippi in 1838, locating at Alton, Illinois, where he remained for two years. In 1840 he came to St. Croix Falls and engaged in lumbering until 1844, when he located in Cottage Grove. In 1846 Mr.

Furber represented Crawford county in the Wisconsin legislature as representative. He traveled on foot as far as Prairie du Chien on his way to the capital of the Territory. He represented the First district in the first Minnesota territorial legislature and was elected speaker of the house; was again a representative in the eighth territorial legislature in 1857; was a member of the tenth and seventeenth state legislatures. In 1857 he was commissioned major general of Minnesota militia. He was also appointed United States marshal of Minnesota by President Fillmore. He died at his residence in Cottage Grove in 1883.

He was a man of strong intellect, sound judgment and high moral character. His widow, Sarah Wimples, to whom he was married in 1843, one son, William W., and two daughters survive him.

SAMUEL W. FURBER was born in Stafford county, New Hamps.h.i.+re, in 1819.

He removed with his parents to Milo, Maine, and came to Cottage Grove in 1860.

THEODORE FURBER was born in 1817, in Farmington, New Hamps.h.i.+re; came West in 1845 and located at St. Croix Falls. In the following year he moved to Cottage Grove. Mr. Furber was married to Sarah J. Hale in 1843, in Skowhegan, Maine. Mr. and Mrs. Furber visited California in 1867. In 1885 they removed to California.

JAMES S. NORRIS.--James S. Norris was born in Monmouth, Kennebec county, Maine, in 1810. He was married at Newport in 1845 to Miss Haskell. Mr. Norris came to St. Croix Falls in 1839, removed to Was.h.i.+ngton county in 1842, where he settled on a farm at Cottage Grove, and lived continuously till his death, March 5, 1874. He raised the first crops in Cottage Grove, and though he made farming his chief business, his abilities were such that his fellow citizens intrusted him with many official positions, in all of which he acquitted himself with honor. He acted as county commissioner, was a member of the first territorial council, member of the sixth and seventh territorial house of representatives, and speaker of the sixth, a member of the Democratic wing of the const.i.tutional convention, and of the twelfth state legislature (house).

LEWIS HILL was born at Hollis, Maine, in 1822. In 1843 he came to the valley of the St. Croix and located at St. Croix Falls. In 1844 he came to Cottage Grove and engaged in farming, and, excepting a few years spent in Dakota county, has resided there since. He was married to Abbie Welch in 1854. Their living children are Emma C., Jessie L.

and Frederick E. G.

JACOB MOs.h.i.+ER was born in Nova Scotia in 1820. He removed with his parents in 1829 to Canada West. In 1839 he removed to Illinois, in 1843 to St. Croix Falls, and in 1845 to Cottage Grove, where he still resides. He is a house carpenter, and has also been engaged in farming. He was married in 1854 to Maria Shatto. Their children are Annie F., Mahala, William, Addie, Grant, Laura, and George.

WILLIAM FERGUSON came to Cottage Grove in 1844, and made a claim in section 26.

JOHN ATKINSON was born in Lewiston, Maine, April 4, 1805. He remained in his native town until 1833, resided in Pittsfield until 1844, when he came West and located in Cottage Grove. He pre-empted eighty acres of land, purchased additions to it from time to time, and made for himself a very attractive home, where he resided thirty years. Mr.

Atkinson was twice married, first to Hannah Moore, at Lewiston, Maine, who died in 1874, then to Mrs. A. B. Fiske, of Baytown, at which place he now resides, an aged, much respected citizen. His first wife left four sons and two daughters.

DENMARK.

This town is located on the point of land between the Mississippi river and Lake St. Croix, and includes the territory lying south of Afton, and between Cottage Grove and Lake St. Croix, fractional towns.h.i.+ps 26 and 27, range 20. The surface is elevated, somewhat rolling, without lakes or streams, and the soil rich and well adapted to agricultural purposes. The early history of the town is substantially that of its earliest settlement, Point Douglas. It was organized in 1858. Supervisors, John Shearer, Thomas Wright and David Hone.

POINT DOUGLAS.

Levi Hertzell and Oscar Burris, young men, located in 1839 on the extreme point of the delta between the Mississippi and St. Croix lake, where they cut wood and sold it to the steamboats. They built a log cabin and store, under one roof, and traded with Indians, discharged soldiers and French settlers. They were diligent and industrious, and prospered. In 1846 they built a frame store building. Their trade increased and they grew wealthy. Messrs. Levi Hertzell, Oscar Burris and David Hone, in 1849, platted the village of Point Douglas, Harvey Wilson acting as surveyor. It was named in honor of Stephen A.

Douglas.

The following settlers came to Point Douglas prior to 1850: Wm. B.

Dibble, the Truaxes, Harley D. White, David Barber, E. H. Whittaker, James Shearer, Martin Leavitt, Simon s.h.i.+ngledecker, H. A. Carter, Thomas Hetherington, Geo. W. Campbell, John Allibone, Mark Wright, John H. Craig, John O. Henry, and George Harris. The first post office north of Prairie du Chien was established in 1840, on the site of Prescott, at that time known as "Mouth of St. Croix." This office was removed to the opposite side of the lake in 1841, and Levi Hertzell was appointed postmaster. The first school was taught in 1850, by John Craig. Rev. Joseph Hurlbut, a Methodist minister, preached here in 1848. In 1656 Rev. T. Wilc.o.xson, Episcopalian, established "St.

Paul's Parish." Mr. Woodruff erected a saw mill in 1851. The enterprise was not successful. A. J. Short built a saw mill in 1858, which eventually pa.s.sed into the hands of John Dudley. The first road to Point Douglas was the Stillwater county road, located in 1847. The Point Douglas and Lake Superior military road was built in 1849. A ferry was established in 1851 from Point Douglas to Prescott, which was chartered in 1856, and controlled by W. B. Dibble, who also established a ferry from Point Douglas to Hastings in 1857. The first marriage was that of Oscar Burris to Amanda M. Henry, Nov. 14, 1847.

The first birth was that of Emmet M. Hone, born in 1845, son of David and Mary G. Hone.

LEVI HERTZELL came to Point Douglas in 1839, and was quite successful in business. In 1846 he was married to Rhoda C. Pond, an adopted daughter of Cornelius Lyman, of Stillwater. In 1849, in company with Burris and Hone, he platted the village of Point Douglas. In the spring of 1856, while in New York, whither he had gone to purchase goods, he mysteriously disappeared, and nothing has since been heard from him. Mrs. Hertzell and her three children were left in a dependent condition, she being able to realize but little from the property held in Point Douglas. She soon after married again. Of her subsequent history nothing is known.

OSCAR BURRIS, a.s.sociated with Levi Hertzell as one of the first settlers of Point Douglas and pioneer merchants and traders, left in 1849 for California.

DAVID HONE.--The following statement was given me, on request, by Mr.

Hone himself: "I was born in Cherry Valley, Otsego county, New York, April 5, 1808, and was married to Mary Henry in 1835. We came by stage over the mountains of Pennsylvania to Pittsburgh and by steamboat from there to Cairo, Illinois, and stopped at the Marine settlement until Sept. 10, 1838. At that time I embarked on the steamboat Ariel, at St.

Louis, and in twenty-five days reached the head of Lake St. Croix, from which point I proceeded on a flatboat, propelled by poles, to St.