GOODHUE COUNTY - TOWN HISTORIES (Excerpts)
There is additional information available on each township. Please e-mail me if you wish further information. These histories are excerpts taken from the History of Goodhue County, Red Wing, MN, 1878.
GOODHUE COUNTY - TOWN
HISTORIES (Excerpts)
There is additional information
available on each township. Please e-mail me if you wish further
information. These histories are excerpts taken from the History
of Goodhue County, Red Wing, MN, 1878.
Ghost Towns of Goodhue County
Aspelund, Aurland, Ayr, Bakko, Barr,
Bellechester, Belvidere Mills, Black Oak, Bombay, Burley,
Burr Oak Springs, Cannon Junction, Cannon Valley, Cascade,
Central Point, Claybank, Crystal Springs, Eagle Mills, Eggleston,
Eidsvold, Elmira, Fagen, Fairpoint, Finney, Finseth
Station, Forest Mills, Hader, Harlis, Lena,
Miami, Nanse, Norway, Old Stanton, Old Wanamingo, Oxford Mills,
Poplar Grove, Rest Island, Centre, Ryan, Sevastopol,
Skyberg, Sogn, Spencer, Spring Creek, Sunapee, Thoten, Troy,
Wangs, Wastedo, White Rock, and White Willow (Rice).
Existing Towns of Goodhue County
BELLE CREEK
The first settlers in this township
were two Swedes, Charles Ross and a man named Kemper in the fall
of 1853. They located on section 5, built a cabin and put in the
winter there. In May of 1854, Walter Doyle and five sons, Henry,
Richard, Michael, Walter, Jr. and John settled on sections 2 and
4. Benon Hill and three sons, John, Henry and Thomas followed in
July of that year, locating on sections 5 and 8. The next year,
1855 the township settled up rapidly and farms and gardens and
substantial habitations began to round into form. Anna O'Neil, a
daughter of James O'Neil was the first white child born in the
township in March 1855. James Connel was the first man to die in
May of 1856. He started to cross a slough with an axe on his
shoulder, stumbled and fell in such a manner that the edge of the
tool came in contact with his head, fracturing his skull, from
the effects of which he died. Mrs. P. Chandler died on the 28th
of June following, the first death resulting from natural causes.
Lewis White and Miss Emeline Hill were the first couple joined in
wedlock. The event was celebrated in 1856, S.P. Chandler, a
justice of the peace performing the ceremony. Alvin Herbert
taught the first school in the winter of 1855-1856 in the
basement of a stone house owned by Mr. Kirkpatrick. No school
house was erected until 1859, although school was in progress
nearly every season up to that time, being held in the settlers'
houses. In 1856, James Allen laid out a village plat and
christened it Troy City, and soon after Jesse Johnson put up a
store and stocked it with goods. He had the entire trade in the
place, no no other building was erected on the village site. The
financial crash of 1857 came and all further attempts to do
business or build a city were abandoned. The township was watered
by Belle Creek, from which it derives its name. Belle Creek is
bounded on the east by Goodhue, west by Leon, north by Vasa and
south by Minneola. The township was not organized until 1858, and
the first election was held at the residence of Walter Doyle that
fall with thirty votes polled. History of Goodhue County, Red
Wing, MN, 1878
BELVIDERE
In the spring of 1855, N.B. Gaylord
and his brother George, located for a few weeks on Rock Creek, in
the northern portion of the township. Mr. Gaylord soon removed to
a new location on Wells Creek and in August, Joseph S. Thompson
with his family, settled near Mr. Gaylord's and began opening a
farm. Claus Holst and several other German families located near
the head waters of Wells Creek that fall. The next season a large
immigration poured into different parts of the township. Ida
Thompson was the first child born in the township on June 18,
1856. The first marriage was the union of Mr. George Steele and
Miss Junia Pingrey, a sister of Mrs.J.S. Thompson, at whose house
the ceremony was performed on August 14, 1856 by J.B. Smith.
Little Etta Gaylord was the first death - 1858 - two years of age.
Miss Delia Eggleston taught school in a room of her father's
house in 1857, being the first school in that section of the
county. The town was settled mainly by Americans from the Eastern
states and was organized as an independent election district in
1858. History of Goodhue County, Red Wing, MN 1878.
CANNON FALLS TOWNSHIP
Derived its name from the Cannon
River. The first settler was Edway Stoughton, Charles Parks soon
followed, settling in the village of Cannon Falls in July 1854.
The first birth was Ellen Hartry born October, 1855. The first
death was David McCune in August of 1855. Robert Fotherby and
Miss Sara Strange were the first couple married who were
residents of the township with Charles Parks officiating. History
of Goodhue County, Red Wing, MN 1878.
CANNON FALLS VILLAGE
Was incorporated March 10, 1857. The
first election was held the first Wednesday in May of 1857. The
first officers elected under the charter were Charles Parks,
president; William P. Tanner, recorder. Councilmen: J.E. Chapman,
Thomas Baker, George McKenzie. Where a portion of this village
now stands, James McGinnis pre-empted lots 1, 2, 5 and 6, section
18 in November 1854. March 1855, Warren Hunt took a claim, n.e.
quarter of section 18, adjoining McGinnis on the east. The same
spring, Richard Freeborn, Jr. pre-empted lots 3 and 4, section 18,
west of the McGinnis claim. In May of 1855, William Colvill pre-empted
lots 7, 8 and 9, Section 18, south the McGinnis claim. Benjamin
St. Clair took lots 7, 8 and 12, section 7 north of the McGinnis
claim, the same spring. June 1855, William P. Schofield pre-empted
lots 9, 10 and 11, section 7, norhtwest from the McGinnis claim.
The same month Hugh Montgomery took the s.e. quarter of section
18, east of the McGinnis claim. June 1855, Frank Clark entered
lots 10 and 11, section 18, south of the Colvill claim. William B.
Barton pre-empted the s.e. quarter of section 7, northeast of the
McGinnis claim in the fall of 1855. History of Goodhue County,
Red Wing, MN 1878.
CHERRY GROVE
The first permanent settler in this
township was Madison Brown, who located a claim on section 31, in
the spring of 1854, where he lived until the fall of 1855, when
he sold his claim to Merriman and went to Iowa, where all trace
of him is lost. In November of 1854, the Woodward brothers,
Reading and Benjamin came on and selected adjoining claims on
section 31, where Reading has since made it his home and is the
oldest resident settler in this township. Benjamin returned to
Waukon, Iowa in 1855, where he died in 1863. Among other early
settlers was a man named Hoyt, who settled in Hoyt's Grove.
Isaiah Churchill and some others who have since disappeared. T.B.
Haggard, who came in the fall of 1855 is still a resident near
Fair Point. Wilson Kelsey another living settler, who spent 71
days journeying from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin with an ox team in
the winter of 1855-56 also settled here. The first town meeting
was held May 11, 1858. The first marriage in the township was
between Elizabeth, daughter of T.B. Haggard and John Hart in
August of 1857. The first death was Eliza Jane, daughter of T.B.
Haggard, who died in December of 1857. In that same year, a log
school house was built at Cherry Grove, and the first school was
taught by E.G. Comstock in the winter of 1857-8. A Mr.Gates
preached the first sermon in this township. History of Goodhue
County, Red Wing, MN 1878
FEATHERSTONE
This township derives its name from
William Featherstone, who with a large family settled there in
1855. That year John Spencer, Phillip Starkel, Mr. Goldsmith and
Mr. Coleman settled in the township and of the two or three years
following came William Freyburger, George Featherstone, J.
Meacham and Reverend John J. Watson. It is claimed by some that
Robert Locke settled on section one as early as June 1853. The
first death was that of Mr. McMahon, who perished from exposure
as he was returning from Red Wing one cold night in January 1857.
James A. Jones and Miss Mary Libby were the first to embark on
the sea of matrimony in the summer of 1857. Ceremony by Rev.J.
Hancock. Miss Mary Cox taught the first school in the summer of
1856 in a claim shantry on the land since the property of Mr.
Freyburger. In 1856 the first church service was held at the
house of William Featherstone. In 1862 the Methodists built a
church. In 1866 Ezekiel Burleigh built and opened a hotel but did
not long continue it for the accommodation to the public. The
township was organized in 1858 and the first election held July 5,
1858. History of Goodhue County, Red Wing, MN 1878.
FLORENCE
This township was organized in 1858.
It was named in honor of Florence Graham, daughter of Judge
Christ Graham, now of Red Wing. The township is full of historic
interest. It stretches along the upper end of Lake Pepin, with
its jutting headlands and ragged northeastern border looking out
across the water. Here the early explorers disembarked and
planted their banners, more than 200 hundred years ago. It is
said Count Frontenac, a French voyageur landed where the little
village that bears the musical name of Florence, now stands as
early as the middle of the 17th century, and on the 17th of
Spetember 1696, La Perrie de Bouche, with his party, ascended the
Mississippi and landed on the shore of the lake at a point below
Frontenac, where a peninsula stretches an arm out into the water.
This was named the French Point du Sable and there they built a
port or stockade, almost two centuries ago. History of Goodhue
County, Red Wing, MN 1878.
FRONTENAC STATION.
William C. Herlinger was the first
settler to locate in this place. Soon after his arrival, the
village was platted. The population now numbers about 100. It is
a cozy, romantic spot on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul
railroad, with wooded bluffs, grass lands, gardens, and
cultivated fields around it and but a short distance away Lake
Pepin glistens in its primeval bed. The town numbers three
stores, one grain elevator, three blacksmith shops and
concomitants. History of Goodhue County, Red Wing, MN 1878.
GOODHUE
This township was first settled in
1854 by Francis Yergens and John Mann. In 1855 David Hickock,
John Ingerbretson, Harry Danielson, Oliver Knutson and Knut
Knutson came in and selected lands and made claims. David Hickock
and John Mann each built houses and opened them as hotels, and
though the population in their immediate vicinity was small,
travel was quite brisk and the hotels were considered a success,
so much so that when P. Easterly came the next year (1856) he
also built a hotel which he kept in operation for a number of
years. The first birth in Goodhue was in 1855, when a child was
born to Mrs. Frances Yergens, which was christened Henry. The
wife of David Hickock died in 1856, which was the first death in
the town. The funeral sermon preached on that occasion was the
first religious service, Reverend Jabez Brooks officiated. The
first school was taught by Miss Georgiette Easterly in the summer
of 1857. In 1858 H.H. Oleson opened a blacksmith shop, which was
the only one in the township until 1868, when a man named Mutz
built a shop near Easterly's hotel. Goodhue is one of the finest
agricultural towns in the county and all the farmers seem to
think they cannot do better than to stick to their farms, some of
whom have very large ones. History of Goodhue County, Red Wing,
MN 1878.
HAY CREEK
This township was organized in 1858.
The first settler was Mr. Eger, who located a claim on section 2,
near the line of Wacoota township in the spring of 1854. Ernest
Schubert, Mr. Wakefield, George Steel and Hennry Einnzih settled
in the township in 1854. In the fall of that year George
Frederick, father of Mr. Frederick. of the firm of Frederick
& Hack, Red Wing, came to the township, but removed to Belle
Creek immediately thereafter. The first school house was built of
logs in 1857 on esction 24, where the Wells Creek Mills now stand.
This school was taught by a young man named Graves. The first
marriage was solemnized between E. Schubert and Miss Rheinhart in
1859 by William Hayman, justice of the peace in the township.
History of Goodhue County, Red Wing, MN, 1878.
HOLDEN
The honor of turning the first furrow
in this township undoubtedly belongs to Hans Ovaldson - now a
resident of Belle Creek - who in the summer of 1854 broke about
four acres on section 24, and soon after Ole C. Oakland broke a
like amount on section 23, where they, the following year, raised
a crop of wheat; but neither of them built a house until the
following summer. In the fall of 1854 Jens Ottun made a claim and
built a sod hut on section 33, where he, in the month of May 1855,
commenced breaking and at the same time the building of a log
cabin; but on the 27th of the same month, A.K. Finseth, K.K.
Finseth, H.K. Finseth, and OleJ. Bakke arrived at the claim of Mr.
Ottun. The Finseths bought Mr. Ottun's claim and he returned to
Wanamingo township, where he had previously made a claim; thus
the Finseths became the first permanenet settlers of Holden
township. Mr. Bakke made a claim on section 33 and Mrs. Bakke was
undoubtedly the first white female settler in the township.
Females with red skins were plenty here at that time, and once
when Mrs. Bakke was gone for a pail of water, a squaw entered the
house and stole her babe out of the bed. Mrs. Bakke, however soon
missed the child and running out of the house, heard its cries
from the edge of the wood, where she soon arrived and whereupon
the squaw threw the child upon the ground and ran off. In the
month of June the same year, Ole O. Huset settled on section 23,
Halvor Ennerson Vraalstad on section 27, Thorbjorn Ennerson
Vraalstad on section 35 and in September Mrs. T. Ennerson
Vraalstad gave birth to the first native-born citizen in the
United States in Holden township. In the same year Ole O. Nesset
and Erik Anderson settled on section 9 and 15. Several log cabins
were soon erected, some with a roof, others without a roof had,
with the assistance of a covered wagon, to serve as places of
abode for the industrious immigrants, while they were preparing
for their first crop. During the summer of 1855, a large number
of claims were taken, a few of which were occupied in the fall,
but most of them were unsettled until the spring of 1856. The
first settlers in the township were Norwegians, but a few years
aferwards, a number of German families settled in the west part
of the township, many of which still reside there. The first
resident to commit matrimony was K.K. Finseth, who married Miss
Bergitte Halvorson at the residence of the bride's father,
performed by Reverend H.A. Stub on September 13, 1856. The
township was fist attached to Wanamingo and other towns for
political purposes, until July 5, 1858, when the present township
was organized and the name "Holden" given to it. There
is one church in this township called "Vang's Church"
in Valder's district, section four. It is part of the "Holden"
congregations and was finished and dedicated in 1868; it is a
beautiful building, capable of seating 500 people. The district
is in charge of Reverend B.J. Muus and his assistants and has
three parish schools. History of Goodhue County, Red Wing, MN,
1878.
KENYON
As nearly all those who first settled
in Kenyon township have disappeared, we have found it very
difficult to obtain correct data of early settlement, hence our
sketch must necessarily be brief. In the spring of 1855 as near
as we can learn, the following named persons became the first
settlers of this township -- L.A. Felt, Mr. Natice, Mr.
Hollenbeck, Chris Halvorson, Sever Halvorson and L.N. Bye, who
all made claims on sections 4, 5 and 7. In the next few years the
north and west portions of the township were rapidly settled, but
the southeast portion was sparsely settled until within the last
few years. The farming and part of the township is settled almost
exclusively by Norwegians, while the village of Kenyon is
occupied almost exclusively by Americans. On May 15, 1858, the
township was organized and the following officers were elected: A.
Hilton, S. Bullis and W.B. Burnham, supervisors; town clerk, S.A.
Barker; justices of the peace, J.H. Day and C.G. Averill;
Assessor, D.F. Harley; collector L.A. Felt; constables, D.F.
Harley and W.F. Clapp; overseer of the poor, F. Day. The first
birth was the family of W. B. Burnham in the spring of 1857, when
a son was born, named George. The first mariage was that of
Freeman Collamore and Mary A. Bullis, which took place in January
of 1858. The first school was taught in the winter of 1857-8 by W.S.
Bill; the first religious service was also held by the same
gentleman. History of Goodhue County, Red Wing, MN 1878.
KENYON VILLAGE
In May of 1856, James H. Day and
James M. LeDuc claimed land on which the village now stands.
Subsequently, two men, named Howe and Hilton became part owners
of the land, and by these four men the village was laid out and
platted. James H. Day built the first residence in June of 1856
and the same summer the village company erected a building which
was occupied by Crowley & Baker as a general store in the
fall of the same year. Stephen Bullis built the first hotel in
March of 1857 and the same year a saw mill was erected by the
"Town Company".
LEON
This town is bounded as follows:
Cannon Falls to the south, Belle Creek on the east, Wanamingo on
the south, and Warsaw on the west. The surface is mostly rolling
prairie. The first settler in this township was Haldro Johnson, a
Norwegian who came from Dane county, Wisconsin in the fall of
1854. He made a claim on section 20 and spent the winter there.
The following summer he went back to Wisconsin, married and
returned with his wife to their new home, where they have since
resided. During the spring and summer of 1855 the population was
increased by the addition of the following settlers and their
families, all Scandinavians: A.J.Malande, Andrew Larson, Guttorm
Pederson, Ole Pederson, John Johnson Wamberg, (now deceased),
John Bottolfson, M. Edstrom, C.A. Haggstrom, William Olson and
Regnold Johnson. they at once proceeded to make claims and
improve them. Nearly all are now living where they first located.
In the spring of 1856 a number of American families settled in
the central and southeastern parts of the township, but only a
few of them remained. the first birth was that of Frank Johnson,
son of John and Johanna Johnson, born May 8, 1856 and died
September 7, 1856 this was also the first death. During 1857 E.A.
Sargent built the first store erected in the township and stocked
it but after a few years discontinued it. In 1868 M.T. Opal built
a small store and fileld it with goods. Trade soon compelled him
to enlarge the building and he is now carrying on a thriving
business. July 5, 1858 the township organization was perfected,
an election being held in the store of E.A. Sargent. The township
is now inhabited almost exclusively by a steady and industrious
class of people, natives of Norway and Sweden, the former
residing principally in the southwestern part of the township;
the latter in the northeastern. They are all nearly naturalized
citizens and take a deep interest in the political and social
welfare of their country. From an agricultuiral standpoint, the
township is one fo the best in the county. The first school was
taught in 1857 by a man named Daniel Van Amburg, in a log school
house near where William Olson now lives. History of Goodhue
County, Red Wing, MN 1878.
MINNEOLA
The first claim in this township was
made in May of 1855 by Christian Peterson, who made his selection
on the section 26, upon which he erected a rude habitation,
consisting of brush, with which the land at that time was mostly
covered. This shelter was improved in the fall of the year by a
few boards, and such material as the unbroken wilderness afforded.
These hardships were shared by John Mabee and A.C. Ernsted. These
claims were made in June 1855, Mabee locating on his claim in sec.
35, where he lived until the spring of 1856, when he returned to
Norway. Ernsted made his claim on sec. 26, and in 1856 occupied
the deserted claim of Mabee, where he has since made it his home.
These are the living pioneers of this township. But while we
write of the living, let us turn to one, at least, who
particpated in the hardships and was called to a better place at
a time when he had just begun to reap the benefit of his toil.
That man was Daniel Eames, who made his claim in 1855. He was a
man of sterling worth and died in 1859, honored and beloved by
all who knew him. Julius Peck arrived in 1856 with the first team
of horses owned in the township. Same year, Messrs. Nichols and
Ford built a flouring mill on the north branch of the Zumbro in
the southeast portion of the town. There are four blacksmith
shops in Minneola. The first being built by Bant Thompson in 1859.
The population of Minneola is composed largely of Norwegians and
Germans. The first school was taught by Miss Mary Dickie. The
first birth of the township was Eddie Crowell in June of 1857.
The first marriage was between George Rees and Harriet Wightman
in June of 1858. The first death was that of Daniel Eames on
October 4, 1859. The growth and development of this township has
been rapid and permanent in mechanical, educational and all other
interests pertaining to the substantial prosperity of an
agricultural people. History of Goodhue County, Red Wing, MN 1878.
PINE ISLAND
The first settler in the township of
Pine Island was Josiah Haggard, a youth of 19 years or twenty
summers, who located his claim near the present residence of Dr.
Charles Hill, in the spring of 1854. this claim was jumped by a
man named Howard, who came in soon after, when Haggard crossed
the Zumbro and made the second claim, now occupied by the
dwellings and business houses of this growing populace. Here he
had partially established himself with a half-built log
habitation when Moses Jewell and son, Solomon, came in the fall
of 1855, and secured the claim by pre-emption. They are
therefore, the oldest living settlers in this area. Nelson
Denison was another pioneer who came in the spring of 1854 and
pre-empted east of the village. The first marriage in the
township was between A.B. Cron and Sarah O. Jewell on July 13,
1856, the ceremony taking place in the rude cabin of her father,
surrounded by a few of the hardy pioneers. John Salmon was the
first preacher in the town, services being held at the homes of
the settlers. He was followed by a man by the name of Rullerford,
who made monthly circuits through the adjoining townships. The
village was platted by William Rock in the winter of 1856-7 on
this land. The first house was built by Dr. Carver, a log
structure. The first store building was erected by Jacob Wiltse
and Mr. Worthing. The first school was taught by Thomas McMann in
the summer of 1857. The present school house is built on lots 5,
6, 7 and 8, block 26. History of Goodhue County, Red Wing, MN
1878.
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Histories Continued)