Fifty Years In The Northwest
followed the business of lumbering. In 1850 he was married to Lucia
Darling. After a brief residence in Stillwater, he removed to
Beauford, Blue Earth county, where he remained until his death in
1882. His wife survived him but a few months. The bodies of both were
removed and buried in Fairview cemetery, Stillwater. Mr. Greely
applied himself closely to business, and was an honest, upright and
intelligent man. His education was derived chiefly from reading and
observation. He left two sons.
AQUILLA GREELY.--Aquilla, the youngest son of Col. Greely, was born in
Greely, Maine, June, 1831. During his youth he spent several years
with friends in Canada, where he learned the art of surveying. He came
to Minnesota in 1849, and followed surveying and lumbering. He died in
Stillwater, April 25, 1857.
ELIAS MCKEAN.--A thorough business man, an eccentric man, notably so,
an apt man, ready in reply, somewhat harsh, if irritated, but kind in
heart and forgiving in spirit, is Elias McKean. He was born in
Bradford county, Pennsylvania, June 30, 1817, and received a practical
education. His father was a man of some note, and for twenty-eight
years a circuit judge in Pennsylvania. Elias McKean came to St. Croix
Falls in 1841, and for a year was in the employ of the Falls Company,
but afterward engaged successfully in business for himself. He was one
of the original proprietors of the Stillwater mill, and one of the
founders of Stillwater. In 1850 he settled on a farm on the west side
of Lake St. Croix. In 1855 he was married to the widow of Calvin F.
Leach, and a family of six sons has grown up around them.
CALVIN F. LEACH.--We are not able to give date or place of birth. Mr.
Leach came to St. Croix Falls in 1842 and soon after came to the head
of Lake St. Croix, and became one of the original owners of the mill,
and a founder of the city of Stillwater. In 1850 he was married to
Miss ---- Smith, of St. Anthony. He died in St. Louis in 1853. He was
modest and retiring in his demeanor, correct in his deportment and
respected by all his acquaintances.
SOCRATES NELSON.--Mr. Nelson was born in Conway, Massachusetts, Jan.
11, 1814, received an academic education, was married to Mrs. Bertha
D. Bartlett in 1844, at Hennepin, Ill., and the same year came to
Stillwater, and engaged in selling goods. Previous to his removal to
Stillwater he engaged in merchandising in Illinois, in 1839, and in
St. Louis from 1840 to 1844, where he established a trading post on
the Mississippi nearly opposite Reed's Landing, at a place since known
as Nelson's Landing. Mr. Nelson was the first merchant in Stillwater.
His store stood on Main street. He built a substantial dwelling and
lived in it until his death, May 6, 1867. He filled many public
positions, was territorial auditor from 1853 to 1857, and was a
senator in the second state legislature. As a merchant he was very
successful, being fitted by nature for commercial pursuits. In 1853,
he, with others, built a saw mill in South Stillwater and engaged in
lumbering. He was of a free and generous disposition in all his
relations of life. He conveyed, as a donation to Washington county, a
half interest in the block of land on which the court house stands.
His liberality and public spirit did much for the prosperity of
Stillwater. His wife and one daughter, Mrs. Fayette Marsh, survived
him, but Mrs. Marsh died in 1880. She was a woman of great sweetness
of disposition, and beloved by all who knew her. His widow died in
1885.
MRS. SOCRATES NELSON.--Bertha D. was born at Conway, Franklin county,
Massachusetts, Sept. 6, 1813. She was married to Geo. A. Bartlett, of
Conway, in 1838, and removed with him to Knoxville, Illinois, where he
died. She returned to her parents in Massachusetts, and removed with
them to Hennepin, Illinois. In the fall of 1844 she was married to
Socrates Nelson, and came with him to Stillwater. She died Oct. 8,
1885. She was the last of her family, husband and daughter having
preceded her to the world of spirits. The large attendance of old
settlers from Washington county and elsewhere at her funeral, and the
beautiful floral tributes contributed by her friends, attested but
partially the respect and veneration in which she was held.
EDWARD BLAKE.--Of Mr. Blake's early history we have no data. He came
to the St. Croix valley in company with Elam Greely in 1840, engaged
in lumbering, and died in 1849.
WALTER R. VAIL.--Mr. Vail, the second merchant in Stillwater, came
West in 1844. He built a store, with dwelling attached, just south of
Socrates Nelson's store, which buildings are still standing and
occupied (1886). Mr. Vail was not successful in business and moved
away in 1848.
JOHN E. MOWER.--Mr. Mower was born in Bangor, Maine, Sept. 15, 1815.
He was married to Gratia Remick, in Keokuk, Iowa, in 1842, and removed
to St. Croix Falls, where he entered the employ of the Falls Lumbering
Company. Two years later he removed to Stillwater, where he built the
second frame dwelling, still standing. Mr. Mower was a millwright and
carpenter, but was engaged in lumbering most of his time. He purchased
an interest in the mill property at Arcola, in 1847, which place he
made his home until his death, which occurred June 11, 1879. He left a
widow and three daughters, Helen, wife of the late Louis Torinus;
Emily, wife of Henry Van Voorhees; and Mary, wife of ---- Richardson.
One son died after arriving at manhood. Mr. Mower was a pleasant,
reliable man, a kind husband and loving father. He was honored by his
fellow citizens with an election to the fifth and sixth territorial
councils, and to the seventeenth state legislature (house). The
territorial legislature affixed his name to a county.
MARTIN MOWER.--Martin, brother of John E. Mower, came to St. Croix
Falls in 1842, and worked in the employ of the Falls Company.
Afterward he engaged in lumbering and became one of the original
proprietors of the Arcola mill. He was also engaged in manufacturing
and merchandising in Stillwater. He built a fine block of buildings on
Chestnut street, recently burned down and rebuilt on a larger scale.
He has been one of the managing owners of the St. Croix Boom Company
from its origin. His business interests have been divided between
Stillwater and Arcola, but he has made the latter place his home since
1846. As a business man he is capable and shrewd, giving close
attention to his business; in his manner somewhat eccentric. He has
done in much to improve the farming and other interests of the
country.
WILLIAM WILLIM.--A firm, consistent, worthy citizen and true friend of
his adopted country is William Willim. He was born in the parish of
Woolhope, Herefordshire, England, June 26, 1821; came to America in
1838, and to Stillwater in 1844. He was married in 1847 to Clara G.
Haskell, and, after her death in 1850, to Joanna W. Hinman. Mr. Willim
is a stonemason, plasterer and contractor. He was a member of the
sixth Minnesota territorial legislature, and has filled many
responsible positions in Stillwater. Mr. Willim's was the first
naturalization that occurred in the limits of Minnesota. The oath of
allegiance, a somewhat unique and original document of its kind, bears
date of June 18, 1847, Stillwater, St. Croix county, Wisconsin
Territory, and is signed by Joseph R. Brown.
ALBERT HARRIS.--Mr. Harris was a native of Maine. He was born in 1815
and married to Miss Greenleaf in 1841, who died in 1853. He came to
Stillwater in 1845, where he died in 1856, leaving one daughter, wife
of the late Levi Thompson, attorney at law in Stillwater, and one son
in California. Mr. Harris was a house carpenter and much respected by
his neighbors.
CORNELIUS LYMAN.--Mr. Lyman is of the seventh generation of the Lyman
family that came over from England in 1631. He was born in Brookfield,
Vermont, Aug. 11, 1792. He was married in Brookfield to Betsey Cushman
and came to Illinois at an early date, whence he removed to Marine
Mills, in 1842, where he kept a boarding house until 1844, when he
removed to Stillwater, where he kept a boarding house until 1848. He
then removed to his farm three miles above Stillwater, where, by
industry and economy, aided by his faithful wife, he was able to build
a comfortable home, in which they continued to live until at a good
old age they were removed by death, which claimed them in the same
year, the husband dying January, 1864, and the wife in April. They
were members of the Presbyterian church from early life, and respected
as citizens, honored as Christians. Mrs. Lyman was one of the
excellent of the earth. Mr. Lyman had an inexhaustible fund of humor,
and was rather fond of practical joking. Many of his jokes were of the
rarest description. They left two sons, Cornelius Storrs and David
Pride.
DAVID B. LOOMIS.--Few men have been more active in business and public
life than David B. Loomis. He was born in Wilmington, Connecticut,
April 17, 1817. In 1830 he came with his parents to Alton, Illinois,
where, at the age of fifteen, he engaged as clerk in a store and
served in that capacity five years. Mr. Loomis was in the building in
Alton in which Lovejoy was shot and killed for the expression of
sentiments which the nation has since been compelled to adopt. In 1843
he came to the St. Croix valley and engaged in lumbering. In 1846 he
was one of the four original owners of the Arcola mill, but in 1849
sold his interest to Mr. Mower, and for four succeeding years was in
charge of the St. Croix boom. In 1847 he was surveyor general of logs
and lumber. In 1851 he was a member of the Minnesota territorial
council, and was re-elected in 1853, serving in all four years, during
one of which he was president of the council. In 1853 he was one of a
company that built a mill in South Stillwater. He sold out in 1859. In
1861 he entered the army as lieutenant, Company F, Second Minnesota
Volunteers, and was promoted to a captaincy. He served three and a
half years. Stillwater has been his home since the war. In 1873 he
represented Washington county in the legislature.
WILLIAM E. COVE.--The year of Mr. Cove's birth is not known. He came
to Stillwater in 1844. His marriage to Nancy Edwards, elsewhere noted,
was the second marriage in the village. He was by trade a house
carpenter. He removed to Minneapolis in 1864.
JOHN SMITH.--Of the eight first families, that of John Smith was one.
Of this particular "John Smith" little is known, except that he was
sober and industrious, and, in 1848, moved to parts unknown.
JOHN MORGAN.--We have no account of the early days of Mr. Morgan,
except that he was a native of Pennsylvania. He was living in
Stillwater in 1845, in the employ of Churchill & Nelson. In 1848 he
was elected sheriff of St. Croix county, Wisconsin. In the same year
he was married to Hannah Harnish. He settled on a farm and kept a
"half way house" on the road from Stillwater to St. Paul, when the
pioneer stages of Willoughby & Power were placed on this route. In
1848 he obtained a charter from the Wisconsin legislature for a ferry
across Lake St. Croix at Stillwater. This ferry changed ownership
repeatedly and was discontinued when the bridge was built.
ANSON NORTHRUP.--This gentleman, whose name was borne by the first
steamboat ever launched on the Red River of the North, and who brought
the first drove of cattle through from Illinois to St. Croix Falls,
deserves a conspicuous place in the annals of the Northwest. He was
born in Conewango, Cataraugus county, New York, Jan. 4, 1817. His
education was limited, but he was a man of more than ordinary native
ability and energy. He lived in Ohio some years, and came West in