Fifty Years In The Northwest
with the exception of some years spent in Kentucky as editor of the
_Southern Kentucky Shield_. This paper was suppressed in 1862.
Returning to Sauk Rapids in 1864, he engaged in the practice of law,
in which he has since continued. During this period he served eleven
years as county attorney, and also a term as probate judge. Mr. Wood
was seriously injured in the great cyclone, having been buried in the
debris of the court house, from which, with great difficulty, he
extricated himself. Mr. Wood is a poetical writer of some reputation,
many of his productions having been received with great favor. Among
them we may mention "Father is Growing Old, John," "Ode to New
Hampshire," and "The Wine of Cyprus." He has one son, a resident of
Dakota, and one daughter, the wife of D. C. Roberts of West Superior.
WILLIAM H. WOOD was born in London, New Hampshire, Feb. 2, 1817. When
he was fourteen years of age his father removed to Tecumseh, Michigan.
He graduated at Dartmouth College in 1839 and afterward took a course
in Union College, New York, graduating in 1843. He then returned to
Tecumseh, Michigan, where he studied law with Judge Stacy. In 1845 he
was admitted to the bar in Lenawee county, Michigan. During the
presidential campaign of the year following he edited a paper in
Kentucky, the _Rough and Ready_, advocating the claims of Gen. Taylor
for the presidency. In 1848 he located in Greensburg, Kentucky, and in
1849 was married to a lady of refinement, known to the literary world
under the _nom de plume_ of "Minnie Mary Lee." In 1849 he removed to
Sauk Rapids, Minnesota. He was there editor of the pioneer paper, the
_Frontiersman_. He afterward owned, and with his gifted wife edited,
the _New Era_, in which he was an ardent supporter of Mr. Lincoln for
the presidency in 1860. Meanwhile he practiced his profession and held
the office of county attorney for many years. When the land office was
established at Sauk Rapids he was appointed receiver and served a
number of years. He was a member of the first state legislature. In
1869 he was elected president of the New Athens College, Greensburg,
Kentucky, and served a short time, when he contracted the disease that
afterward terminated his earthly career. Mr. Wood was a man of more
than ordinary ability, an eloquent speaker, a fluent and gifted
writer, whose influence will long be felt. He left a widow and three
children.
MRS. W. H. WOOD has been a liberal contributor to magazines and the
author of several volumes, of which a list is here appended: "The
Heart of Myrrha Lake;" "Into the Light of Catholicity;" "Hubert's
Wife;" "The Brown House at Duffield;" "Strayed from the Fold;" "Three
Times Three; or, Basil, Beatrice, Ethel;" "Story of Annette;" "Hazel
Green's Rival."
A. DE LACY WOOD, son of Mrs. W. H. Wood, edits the Two Harbor _Iron
Post_, in Lake county.
P. H. WOOD, second son of Mrs. W. H. Wood, edits the Sauk Rapids _Free
Press_.
REV. SHERMAN HALL was born in Weathersfield, Vermont; was educated at
Exeter Academy, Dartmouth College and Andover Theological Seminary. He
was married to Betsey Parker in 1831, and ordained the same year as a
missionary to the Chippewa Indians at La Pointe. With them he remained
until 1854, when he transferred his residence to Sauk Rapids and
organized a Congregational church, of which he continued pastor until
his death, Sept. 1, 1859. Mr. Hall made a translation of parts of the
Bible into the Ojibway tongue. He was greatly beloved amongst his
people for his firm, christian demeanor and publicly recognized as a
man of integrity and sound judgment. He served the people of Benton
county as judge of probate court and county superintendent of schools.
JEREMIAH RUSSELL was born in Eaton, Madison county, New York, Feb. 2,
1809. He received a common school and academic education, and learned
to set type in the office of the Chautauqua _Gazette_. He subsequently
taught school and worked for awhile in printing offices. Removing to
Palmyra, he clerked in a store several years. In 1835 he came to
Michigan, and thence to the Lake Superior country, where he
superintended a copper mine for a couple of years, at Left Hand river,
near the head of the lake. In 1837 he came to Fort Snelling, and in
1839 accompanied Frank Steele and others to St. Croix Falls, and
engaged in building a saw mill. In 1840 he went to Pokegama mission as
government farmer and blacksmith. About 1842, at the closing up of the
Pokegama mission in consequence of Indian disturbances, he purchased
the old Connor trading post and farm. In 1843, with Elam Greely, he
went down the St. Croix and up the Mississippi and Rum rivers in a
birch canoe, exploring for pine timber. They found Rum river blockaded
at one place a distance of three-quarters of a mile, with drifts or
rafts of trees, consolidated and held together by the roots of grasses
and water willows, the accumulations apparently of ages. Around this
raft they made a portage, and ascended a tributary of Rum river to its
source, thence down the Kanabec or Snake river to Pokegama. In 1848
Mr. Russell came to Crow Wing, Minnesota, as agent for Borup & Oakes,
Indian traders and fur dealers. In the autumn of 1849 he established
himself at a point two miles above Sauk Rapids, and opened up a farm
of one hundred and thirty acres. At the end of four years he moved
down the river and made a land claim on the west side, including the
water power of Sauk Rapids. He owned an interest also in the water
power on the east side. In 1854 he was one of the company that
surveyed and platted the village of Sauk Rapids. He established the
pioneer newspaper, the Sauk Rapids _Frontiersman_.
Mr. Russell for several years held the office of county auditor and
treasurer, and in 1849 was elected to the territorial legislature. His
name appears in the list of members, but he was present only at the
opening sessions, and voted for but a single measure. He had told his
constituents before his election that he would not serve. At this time
he was Democratic in politics but in later life voted the Republican
ticket. Mr. Russell possessed a warm, generous nature, combined with
integrity of character, which gained for him the love and esteem of
his many friends. Ever ready to extend a willing hand to those in
need, and, as far as lay in his power, to assist those in distress, he
will ever be remembered with kindly feelings by all who knew him.
Though exposed to all the temptations and vicissitudes of an early
settler's life, coming in contact with all kinds of social conditions,
he never departed from the path of christian rectitude, and those with
whom he came in contact will ever remember him for his kind
heartedness and gentlemanly bearing.
Sept. 20, 1843, he was united in marriage to Miss Sophia Oakes
(daughter of the late Chas. H. Oakes), who survives him. Seven
children were born unto them, but only three are now alive. These are
Mrs. W. L. Nieman, Miss Julia A. and Mr. J. A. Russell. Mr. Russell
died at his home in Sauk Rapids in 1885.
EDWARD OSCAR HAMLIN was born at Bethany, Wayne county, Pennsylvania,
June 12, 1828. He received his preparatory education at his native
place; entered Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, in 1848, and
graduated in 1858, third in his class, and in three years received the
degree of A.M. He read law first at Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, with
Hon. Geo. W. Woodward (afterward one of the judges of the supreme
court of Pennsylvania); at Honesdale, Pennsylvania, later with Earl
Wheeler, Esq., and was admitted to the bar Sept. 7, 1852. After
practicing for two years at Honesdale, he decided to go West, and in
1855 settled in Sauk Rapids. He was admitted to practice in the
territorial courts, and in 1856 was admitted to practice by the
supreme court. Judge Hamlin was elected the first mayor of the city of
St. Cloud. He was nominated by the Democratic party for governor, and
subsequently for judge of the supreme court. He was also, in 1860,
appointed by Gov. Ramsey "a regent of the University of the State of
Minnesota," and was subsequently an efficient and zealous member of
the state board of normal instruction.
Soon after the outbreak of the Rebellion, in 1861, Gov. Ramsey
tendered him the commission of major of the Seventh Regiment,
Minnesota Volunteers, but his eyesight being defective, he was obliged
to decline it. In 1864 Judge Hamlin was chosen by the Democratic party
as one of the delegates to the Democratic national convention. He was
appointed as one of the committee on platform, and openly denounced,
with three others, the platform before it was adopted, because it
declared the war for the Union a failure. Judge Hamlin was a war
Democrat, and hung out the stars and stripes over his residence in
Sauk Rapids, the first one in that town to do so. In 1873, being an
only child and yielding to the solicitations of his parents, Judge
Hamlin returned to his native county and opened an office in
Honesdale. After a short residence there he removed to Bethany, which
has since been his home. He continued the practice of his profession
in Honesdale until June, 1885, when failing health compelled him to
retire.
Judge Hamlin has been twice married. His first wife was Mary A.,
daughter of Judge Eldred, who for a quarter of a century graced the
bench of Pennsylvania. She died at St. Cloud, Sept. 27, 1868. In
October, 1870, Judge Hamlin married Ella F., daughter of E. B. Strong,
Esq., for years clerk of the district court of Stearns county.
MORRISON COUNTY.
Morrison county is somewhat irregular in outline. It is bounded on the
north by Crow Wing and Cass, on the east by Mille Lacs, on the south
by Benton and Stearns, on the west by Stearns and Todd counties. The
portion east of the Mississippi originally belonged to Benton county,
and the portion on the west side to Todd county. It contains 1,139
square miles. The eastern part is well covered with pine and hardwood
forests. The west and central portions consist of oak openings and
brush prairies. The groves are interspersed with poplar. The surface
is generally level, but is well drained by the Mississippi and its
tributaries, mostly small streams. It has some fine lakes in the
northern and central parts. The soil is well adapted to farming. A
granite range, an extension of the range of Sauk Rapids and St. Cloud,
passes through the county.
William Nicholson was probably the first settler in this county. He
first came to Swan River in 1847, in company with ten other men. They
forded the Mississippi near the mouth of Swan river, made a raft and
floated down the river a few miles, where they abandoned it on account
of low water, and returned south, whence they came. The next summer
Nicholson returned with twenty-two men, crossed the river at the same
place, and cut a road through to the Winnebago agency at Long Prairie.
Returning the same year to the crossing, he found Wm. Aiken had made a
claim and was building a hotel and store on the east bank of the
river. Mr. Nicholson remained some years in the vicinity, but is now a
resident of Little Falls. Wm. Aiken permanently located at Swan River
in 1848, one year after Nicholson's arrival at that point. He died in
1851, aged about sixty-five years. He had two Indian wives. They
quarreled and fought savagely at the funeral as to which was entitled
to the position of chief mourner, wife number one coming off
victorious. James Green made a squatter's claim in 1848, and built a
saw mill on the east side of the Mississippi by the island at the
falls. Wm. Knowles located at the mouth of Rabbit river in 1849. John
Stillwell came to Swan River in 1849. He was a carpenter and worked at
his trade until 1866, when he went into the hotel business. He now