Fifty Years In The Northwest
training. In his youth he was noted for his thoroughness in whatever
work he undertook, and his fondness for good books. At the age of
nineteen years he came to America to improve his fortunes, locating
first in Canada, where he spent three years, and learned the trade of
a millwright. Becoming involved in some political troubles just before
the outbreak of the Papineau Rebellion, he left Canada for the United
States, and spent a couple of years in Green Bay and Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, and at Chicago and Buffalo Grove, Illinois, going thence to
Iowa, and thence to Moline, Illinois, where he found employment in the
machine shops and foundries of Buford, Sears & Wheelock. In 1854 he
removed to Little Falls, and in company with C. A. Tuttle built a dam
across the Mississippi and platted the village. He subsequently owned
the site of Fergus Falls, now a thriving city, that has done well in
assuming his name. In 1862 he drove his own team from Little Falls to
Bannock, then in Idaho, now in Montana Territory. He became prominent
in territorial affairs; was influential in the organization of the new
county of Madison, and held many positions of trust and
responsibility. He was the commissioner appointed for Madison county,
served two terms in the Montana legislature, and was a member of the
constitutional convention of 1887. At one time he lived in Lewis and
Clark counties; he now resides in Meagher county, near Fort Maginnis,
where he is engaged in stock raising.
His main characteristics are an aptitude for mechanical enterprises, a
sturdy independence of thought, a strict integrity of purpose, and an
ardent love of study and good books. He is a typical pioneer, and in
the mellow light of his declining days has the respect and love of his
contemporaries to a remarkable degree. He is the first president of
the Montana Pioneer Association, a position which he worthily fills.
Mr. Fergus was married March 16, 1845, to Parnelia Dillin, of
Jefferson county, New York. Mrs. Fergus died Oct. 6, 1887. He has one
son and three daughters, the latter married and living in Montana.
NATHAN RICHARDSON was born in Wayne county, New York, in 1829. He was
raised on a farm, educated at Romeo, Michigan, and came to Little
Falls in 1855. He served as register of deeds for Morrison county
eight years, and was postmaster eleven years. He also served as county
surveyor and county attorney, having been admitted to the bar in 1877.
He was notary public twenty-five years. He was a representative in the
Minnesota legislatures of 1867, 1872 and 1878. During his first term
in the house he represented nineteen counties, nearly one-half the
territory of the State. He served as judge of probate two terms. Mr.
Richardson has prepared, by order of the board of county
commissioners, and published in the local papers, a complete and
valuable history of Morrison county, to which we are greatly indebted.
He was married to Mary A. Roof in 1857, and has a family of three sons
and two daughters.
MOSES LA FOND, a Canadian Frenchman, came to Morrison county in 1855,
and located at Little Falls, where he commenced as a teamster for the
Little Falls Manufacturing Company. He found more lucrative
employment, became a butcher, then a merchant, then a legislator,
having been elected a representative in the legislature of 1874.
O. A. CHURCHILL.--Orlando A. Churchill was born in Windsor county,
Vermont, in 1825. He came to Illinois in 1843, and to Little Falls in
1855, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. He was elected to the
legislature of 1858, but did not serve, as no session of the
legislature was held that year. He served several years as auditor of
Morrison county. He removed to St. Paul a few years ago, and later to
California, but is now again a resident of Little Falls.
JOHN M. KIDDER made a claim of government land on the east side of the
Mississippi, on the site of Little Falls. He died in 1855, before the
land was entered, and the claim was purchased by Wm. Sturgis, a
son-in-law of Mr. Kidder, and by him sold to the Little Falls Company.
Elliott J., a son of John M. Kidder, is still a resident of Little
Falls.
WARREN KOBE located at Royalton in 1880 and built an elevator, store
and first class hotel. Mr. Kobe is a public spirited citizen and has
expended much in improving the town.
OLA K. BLACK, of Norwegian birth, was one of the first settlers.
IRA W. BOUCH came from Buchanan county, Iowa, in 1880, and opened the
first store in Royalton.
ROBERT RUSSELL, living on a farm near the village, came from Scotland
to America in 1850 and settled here in 1853. Mr. Russell died in July,
1862; Mrs. Russell died in 1876. Three sons and five daughters survive
them.
PETER A. GREEN, a farmer, pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres in
1854, a part of which is surveyed into town lots. He built the second
building on the town site. Mr. Green was born in 1817, in Green
county, New York, where he married. He died January, 1884. His widow
and two sons survive him.
RODOLPHUS D. KINNEY was the first settler on the town site of
Royalton, in 1854, erected the first house and was the first
postmaster, in 1856. Mr. Kinney gave the name of Royalton to the post
office, the name being that of his birthplace, in the state of
Vermont. He was born in 1828; had good educational advantages in youth
and attended Fairmount Theological Seminary in Cincinnati; was an
associate of the early Presbyterian missions and was the first school
teacher in Morrison county, in 1851 and 1852, at Belle Prairie. He was
married in St. Paul in 1852. His eldest son, Jonathan, was born in
1853. One daughter lives in Alabama and his youngest son is a
physician at Royalton.
JOHN D. LOGAN came to Minnesota from Philadelphia in 1855 and located
in Hastings; served during the war in Company G. First Minnesota
Regular Volunteers. In 1879 he came to Royalton and devoted himself to
the development of the water power and the building up of the village.
He has a wife and three children.
CROW WING COUNTY.
The county of Crow Wing was organized in 1857. Prior to this period it
was included in Benton and other counties. It now includes eleven
whole and eight fractional townships in townships 43 to 47, ranges 28
to 31, inclusive. The Mississippi river bounds it on the west and
northwest, Aitkin county on the east and Morrison on the south. Its
soil ranges from a light sandy to a dark loam, with clay subsoil, and
the timber includes the pines and the hardwoods common to the
latitude. There are also fine meadows and burr oak openings. It is
watered by the tributaries of the Mississippi and its surface is
dotted with lakes. It is well adapted to stock raising and
agriculture.
C. H. Beaulieu appears to have been the first white man to locate
within its boundaries. He established a trading post as early as 1837,
near the mouth of Crow Wing river. His successors in trade were Allen
Morrison and Donald McDonald. Philip Beaupre was here in 1844. When
Fort Ripley was built S. B. Olmstead, with his family, built a house
and improved a farm opposite the fort on the east bank of the
Mississippi. Mr. Olmstead came from Prairie du Chien in 1849. While
residing here he served as a member of the second, fifth and sixth
territorial legislatures, and in 1854 was elected president of the
council. After living here several years, he removed to Texas, and
died there some years ago. Mr. Olmstead kept a hotel and managed to
secure most of the hay, beef and wood contracts for the fort. Henry M.
Rice had a trading post at one time at Crow Wing village, about eight
miles above the fort. John H. Fairbanks ran a ferry at the village.
Other settlers were Wallace Bean, Henry Whipple, F. M. Campbell, W. B.
Wakefield, Ed. Lyndes, Albert Fuller, Thomas Cathcart, Daniel S.
Mooers, S. C. Abbe, and members of the Beaulieu family. James A.
Parish was the first justice of the peace. John McGillis, who lived at
Crow Wing in 1853, was the second and served about fifteen years. In
1856 the first farm was opened on government land, not far from Crow
Wing village, by Wallace Bean. The second farm was taken by David
McArthur, a Canadian, originally from Scotland. George Van Valkenburg
opened a blacksmith shop at Crow Wing in 1856, lived there two years
and was then employed as government blacksmith by the Indian
department, and served as such for twelve years. Crow Wing county was
organized in 1857, with the following board of officers: County
auditor, C. H. Beaulieu; register of deeds, F. M. Campbell; county
treasurer, Robert Fairbanks; county commissioners, J. H. Fairbanks,
Allen Morrison, S. B. Olmstead; judge of probate court, Dennis Shaff.
The county organization took effect Jan. 1, 1858. The county was
attached for judicial purposes, first to Ramsey, and then to Morrison
county. F. W. Peake came to Crow Wing in 1858, and opened a trading
post, and was afterward one of the mercantile firm of Peake &
Wakefield. Rev. E. S. Peake, an Episcopal clergyman, came to Crow Wing
about the same time, built a church and remained as rector till the
breaking out of the war, when he accepted the chaplaincy of a
Wisconsin regiment. After the war he removed to California, and
carried on a mission a few years, but later returned to Minnesota and
is now stationed at Detroit. Rev. Francis Pierz, a Catholic priest,
officiated at Crow Wing and Belle Prairie until 1870, when he returned
to his home in Austria.
The first district court was held at Crow Wing in 1871, J. M. McKelvey
officiating as judge, Chas. Beaulieu as clerk of court, and Wm. Wood
as sheriff.
Soon after the county organization was abandoned, to be reresumed in
1870 by legislative enactment. The county officers at the organization
were: Commissioners, Wallace Bean, Henry Whipple and F. W. Peake;
treasurer, E. B. Snyder; auditor, J. W. Campbell; clerk of court,
Chas. H. Beaulieu; sheriff, Wm. Wood.
MURDERERS LYNCHED.
In 1871, Ellen, daughter of David McArthur, living near Crow Wing
village, was murdered by Indians. The murderers were arrested and
placed in jail at Brainerd, from which they were taken by a mob and
hanged.
BRAINERD
Is situated on the east bank of the Mississippi, and is a prosperous
city. The settlement commenced with the opening of the Northern
Pacific railroad. This road has a branch from Brainerd to St. Paul.
The railroad company have made Brainerd headquarters for repairing
shops; have expended large amounts in improvements, and employ in
their business here nearly 1,000 men. The first through train arrived
at Brainerd March 11, 1871.
In 1870 several claims were made for purposes of speculation, and
afterward sold to Mrs. Hester Gilman, of St. Cloud, and other parties,
but the greater part of the city site was purchased of the government
in 1870, by Hester Gilman and Thomas H. Campbell. The Lake Superior &
Puget Sound Company, organized under the laws of Maine, and duly
authorized by the laws of Minnesota, purchased Gilman's and Campbell's
claims and made the original survey and plat of the town on Sept 25,
1871. The name, Brainerd, was given to the new town in honor of Mrs.
Brainerd Swift, wife of the first president of the Northern Pacific
road. In 1883 a new survey was made by Heinze Brothers. The site was a
handsome plain, originally covered with prince pine trees, many of
which were left standing as ornamental trees.
Among the first settlers we find the names of Charles Darby, E. H.
Bly, L. P. White, W. P. Spalding, W. W. Hartley, Stuart Seely, F. W.
Peake, S. W. Taylor, E. B. Lynde, John Bishop, T. C. Barnes, and John
Martin. The first permanent dwelling, a log house, was built by
Charles Darby, the next was built by Stuart Seely, and the third by L.
P. White. E. H. Bly built the first store. The Headquarters Hotel,