Fifty Years In The Northwest
buildings were not erected until 1869. They are built of stone and
cost $60,000. In 1863 a frame schoolhouse took the place of the old
log structure, and in 1874 a commodious brick building was erected, at
a cost of $5,000.
The Methodists, Lutherans and Catholics have church buildings. There
is one newspaper, the _Pierce County Herald_, edited by E. F. Case and
E. S. Doolittle. The Barnes saw mill built in 1867, burned down and
rebuilt, has a capacity of about 5,000 feet per day. A branch
railroad, built from Hudson to River Falls, was extended to Ellsworth
in 1885. The depot is one mile from the village. The Pierce County
Central fair grounds, containing seventeen acres, are located near the
village. The grounds are inclosed and are covered with a fine maple
grove, in the midst of which is a large flowing spring. D. W.
Woodworth was first president of the fair association. Ellsworth has
two handsome cemeteries, Maplewood and the Catholic.
The village itself is beautifully situated on an elevated plateau
originally covered with hardwood timber. The streets are tastefully
adorned with maple trees.
ANTHONY HUDDLESTON.--Mr. Huddleston is of Irish descent. He was born
in West Virginia in 1804; had but limited educational privileges;
lived for a part of his life in Ohio and Indiana, and settled in
Ellsworth in 1855, being the first settler in the town. He was a house
carpenter for over sixty years. He was a member of the Dunkard church
sixty-two years. He was married in 1826, in Ripley, Indiana, to
Susannah Whetstone. They have three sons and six daughters living.
PERRY D. PIERCE was born in Harpersfield, Delaware county, New York.
He traces his lineage to ancestors who came across in the Mayflower
and landed at Plymouth Rock. He received an academic education,
studied law with A. Reckor, Oswego, New York, and was admitted to
practice at Cooperstown in 1843, practiced in Albany three years, and
in 1854 came to the St. Croix valley, locating first at Prescott,
where he served as district attorney for four years, and county judge
eight years. He was married in 1860, to Lua E. Searsdall. He is now a
resident of Ellsworth.
HANS B. WARNER, of Ellsworth, Pierce county, was born at
Gulbrandsdalen, Norway, July 12, 1844; received a common school
education; is by occupation a farmer; emigrated and settled in Dodge
county, Wisconsin, in 1853, and thence removed to Pierce county in
1855, where he has since resided. He enlisted in March, 1864, as a
private, in Company G, Thirty-seventh Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer
Infantry; was wounded and captured in front of Petersburg, Virginia,
July 30, 1864, and was held a prisoner of war in Danville and Libby
prisons until paroled, September, 1864; was discharged from service on
account of wounds received in battle July 18, 1865. He has held
various local offices, and the position of county clerk of Pierce
county from January, 1869, to Dec. 21, 1877, when he resigned, to
assume the duties of secretary of state, to which office he was
elected in 1877, and was re-elected in 1879, serving in all four
years. He was elected to the state senate in 1882 and served until
1886. His home business is farming and real estate. He was married in
1866, to Julia E. Hudson.
GILMAN.
The town of Gilman includes township 27, range 16. The postal villages
are Gilman, section 10, and Olivet, section 36. Gilman was organized
as the town of Deerfield, in 1868, but in 1869 the name was changed to
Gilman. The first supervisors were Oliver Purdy, Caleb Coon, Bardon
Jensen. The first school was taught in 1870, by M. L. Maxgood. A
Norwegian Lutheran church was built in 1883, at a cost of $1,500.
There are six school houses with an aggregate cost of $2,000. The
first marriage was that of Caleb Coon and Cenith Preston, in 1867. The
first birth was a child of this married couple. The first death was
that of Mrs. Rufus Preston. The first post office was at Gilman, U. F.
Hals, postmaster. The first settlers were B. F. Gilman, in 1859, still
a resident; N. B. Lawrence, soon after, now removed; Rufus Preston and
family; Joseph and Caleb Coon and families, in 1865, still resident.
J. R. Maxgood, B. Jensen and son, E. B. Jensen, the Matthieson
brothers, Z. Sigursen, H. Bredahl, S. J. Goodell, Nels Gulikson, M. O.
Grinde, Albert Martin, P. Vanosse, and T. B. Forgenbakke are among the
oldest citizens.
HARTLAND.
Hartland occupies township 25, range 17. It has one post village,
Esdaile. It has one saw mill and a factory for the manufacture of hubs
and bent wood work, operated by Charles Betcher, of Red Wing,
Minnesota, which gives employment to seventy-five men and ten teams
the year round. The village of Esdaile has also two general
merchandise stores and a hotel. Hartland was organized in 1859. The
first supervisors were A. Harris, chairman; Joseph Sleeper and R. M.
Sproul. Amongst the first settlers were Augustus E. Hodgman, section
24, 1854; James Buckingham, section 28, 1854; Lewis Buckmaster,
section 1, 1853. The first school was taught in 1858, by Mary Ann
Stonio. The first post office was at Esdaile, Hiram Patch, postmaster.
There are three church organizations, Presbyterian, Methodist and
Lutheran (Norwegian), with buildings valued at from $700 to $1,000.
There are nine school houses, ranging in cost from $500 to $1,400. The
Good Templars have an organization.
ISABELLE.
Isabelle consists of the two upper tiers of section 7, township 24,
range 17, the lower tier being much broken in outline by Lake Pepin on
the south. It contains also fractions of sections in the third tier.
Bay City, on the shore of the lake, is the postal town. It was
organized in 1855. In 1869 it was annexed to Hartland, but in 1871 it
was re-established. The first chairman of supervisors was John
Buckingham. The election was held at the house of Abner Brown. Charles
R. Tyler and Lorenzo D. Philips settled here in 1854, and built a saw
mill where now stands the thriving village of Bay City. Saratoga plat
was laid out upon this ground in 1856, by A. C. Morton. A. J. Dexter
was the original claimant of the land. Mr. Morton purchased the land
which covered a part of Bay City from the government. A surveyor named
Markle was employed by Morton to run the lines, which Mr. Dexter
considered an intrusion upon his rights, and he shot Markle. Dexter
was tried before Judge S. S. N. Fuller, in 1855, was convicted, and
sentenced to prison for life. After a few years he was pardoned by
Gov. Barstow.
MAIDEN ROCK.
Maiden Rock occupies the four upper tiers of sections of township 24,
ranges 15 and 16, except such portions on the southwestern corner as
are cut off by Lake Pepin. It contains about forty sections. The town
was organized under the name of Spring Valley, in 1857. Its postal
villages are Maiden Rock, on the lake shore, section 15, range 15, and
Warren, also on the lake shore, section 7, range 15. The site of
Maiden Rock village was purchased from the government in 1853, by
Albert Harris and J. D. Trumbull. In 1855 they erected the first
house, and in 1856 built a saw and shingle mill. J. D. Trumbull
platted the village in 1857, and christened it Maiden Rock, from the
celebrated rock of that name a few miles further down the lake. Among
the first settlers in the village were J. H. Steel, J. D. Brown, John
Foster, and Joseph B. Hull.
The first hotel was run by G. R. Barton, in a house built by J. D.
Trumbull. This hotel has since been enlarged and is now the Lake View
House. The first marriage was that of A. J. Smith and Corinda
Eatinger, in 1857; the first birth was that of Ida Trumbull, in 1858,
and the first death that of William Trumbull, in 1858. The first
school was taught by Lottie Isabel, of Batavia, Illinois. The first
sermon was preached by Rev. James Gurley, a Methodist preacher from
North Pepin.
A post office was established in 1856, of which J. D. Trumbull was
postmaster. The receipts the first year were eleven dollars, the
expenses, fifty dollars, paid by the postmaster. The town of Maiden
Rock has six school houses, one saw and one grist mill.
CHRISTOPHER L. TAYLOR was born in Oneida county, New York, in 1829;
came to Chicago at an early day, and to Maiden Rock in 1868, where he
engaged in manufacturing. He served as county supervisor for eight
years, and as member of the Wisconsin legislature in 1876. He removed
to St. Paul in 1880, where he still resides. He is a dealer in real
estate.
MARTELL.
Martell occupies township 27, range 17. Joseph Martell, John Dee,
Louis Lepau and Xerxes Jock, Frenchmen, were the first settlers. They
located here in 1847, and remained till 1860, when they moved further
west, allured by the attractions of frontier life. Martell was
organized in 1854, with the following supervisors: Amos Bonesteel,
chairman; M. Statten and R.J. Thompson. The first school was taught in
1857, by W. Bewel. Martell is the postal village. The first postmaster
was O. Rasmunson. There are two evangelical Lutheran churches in the
town, built at a cost of $3,500 and $5,000. There is also a good town
hall, valued at $600. The Martell Mutual Insurance Company is in
successful operation.
OAK GROVE.
Oak Grove includes township 26, range 19 (with the exception of
section 31 and parts of 30 and 32), and six sections of range 20, in
all about forty sections. It is drained by Big river. It was set off
from Clifton in 1856. Hart Broughton was the first chairman of
supervisors. It contains a flouring mill on Big river; Catholic,
Lutheran, and Methodist church buildings; that of the Catholic cost
$4,000, and has a school attached. There are seven school houses. Big
River is the postal village. John Berry was first postmaster. The
first settlers were (1848) the Thing brothers, the Harnsberger
brothers, the Cornelius brothers, Rice, Schaser, McMurphy, Rissue, and
the Miner brothers.
LEWIS M. HARNSBERGER was born in Kentucky, April 18, 1822, and moved
with his parents to Illinois, where he lived nine years. He came to
Prescott in 1846, and pre-empted a farm in Oak Grove, where he has
since continuously resided. He has filled many public positions
creditably. He was married to Annie Jeffreys, of Illinois, in 1860.
Their sons are Ephraim, Lewis and John.
PRESCOTT CITY
Is beautifully located at the junction of the St. Croix and
Mississippi rivers. The business portion of the city is on a terrace
at the base of the bluff, and between it and the river and lake. The
public buildings, churches, school house and residences are chiefly on
the upper terrace, or bluff, and command an extensive view of the
valley of the two rivers, the whole forming a landscape of unrivaled
beauty. The advantages of the position are by no means limited to its
picturesque surroundings. Prescott, from its position at the junction
of the two rivers, was early recognized as an important point for the
reshipping of freight and re-embarkation of passengers. The St.
Croix, which comes in from the north, rises within a few miles of Lake
Superior, and after running a course of two hundred miles, empties its
waters into Lake St. Croix, twenty-four miles above its outlet. The
lake is navigable at all times to Stillwater and to Taylor's Falls at
the Dalles. The Mississippi comes in from the northwest, and is
navigable to St. Paul, a distance of thirty miles. The two channels at
the junction are each about 1,000 feet wide, with an average depth of
fifteen feet, and the banks slope to the water's edge, or stand in
some places in vertical ledges, thus forming a natural quay along the
entire front of the city. The quay, or landing, is semicircular in
shape, the upper terrace, or bench, about one hundred feet in height,