Fifty Years In The Northwest
NATHANIEL N. POWELL, the second son, born May 11, 1827, in St.
Lawrence county, New York, came to River Falls in 1849, and pre-empted
the northeast quarter of section 1, now a part of the site of River
Falls city. He was married to Martha Ann Hart, Sept. 28, 1842, at
Hudson. He died at River Falls, Sept. 28, 1862, leaving one son and
one daughter.
OLIVER S. POWELL, the youngest son, was born June 19, 1831, and came
to Hancock county, Illinois, in 1843, where he lived eight years. He
had no great opportunities for gaining an education. He came to
Stillwater in 1849, bringing with him the first threshing machine
north of Prairie du Chien. He threshed the first grain threshed in the
county in the fall of that year, for Fiske, on a farm three miles
below Stillwater. In November, 1849, he located in River Falls,
pre-empting the south half of the southeast quarter of section 36,
town 28, range 19, lands lying just north of those claimed by his
brother, and which afterward became a part of River Falls. Mr. Powell
was a representative in the state assembly in 1870-71-72, and was a
county commissioner many years. He was married in 1860 to Elmira
Nichols. They have three sons, Harvey C., Newell N. and Lyman T., and
four daughters, Lucy M., Sarah H., Amy E., and Miriam.
NILS P. HAUGEN was born in Norway in 1849; came to America in 1853 and
to River Falls in 1854. He graduated in the law department of Michigan
State University in 1874. Mr. Haugen was phonographic reporter of the
Eighth and Eleventh Judicial circuits for several years, and a member
of the assembly from Pierce county in 1879 and 80. He was elected
railroad commissioner for Wisconsin in 1881, and re-elected in 1884.
In 1886 he was elected representative to Congress.
H. L. WADSWORTH was born July 10, 1821, in Erie county, New York. He
learned the trade of a shoemaker, came West in 1846, and settled at
River Falls some time in the '50s, and engaged in farming. He has
filled many positions of trust in the St. Croix valley, and in 1867
represented St. Croix county in the assembly. In 1841 he was married
to Miss A. R. Baldwin. Eight children have been born to them.
ROCK ELM
Includes township 26, range 15. It was organized as a town Nov. 16,
1866. The first town meeting was held at the house of J. Prickett. The
first commissioner was Sylvester Fox, chairman. The post offices are
at Rock Elm, on the western line of the town, section 19, and Rock Elm
Centre, sections 16 and 17. At the latter place is located Rock Elm
Institute, a school of high grade, founded in 1880. Harrison Lowater
is the principal. The town is well supplied with schools, there being
as many as nine within its limits. Among its first settlers were
Loomis Kellogg, Charles A. Hawn and Sylvester Fox.
SALEM.
Salem occupies township 25, range 16. It is drained by Rush river. It
was organized as a town Jan. 13, 1862. First board of supervisors, C.
C. Carpenter, Eben White and J. H. Shults. The first school was taught
in 1857, by Thompson McCleary. The first marriage was that of Harvey
Seeley and Kate McKinstry. The first child born was Sarah Fuller. The
first death was that of John McCleary, Sept. 2, 1863. The first post
office was established at Rush River, May 1860, Joseph Seeley,
postmaster. The first settlers were Jeremiah Fuller, from Ohio, and W.
Wells, 1846; Harvey Seeley, 1848; Thomas Boyle and James White, 1854;
John F. Davis from Ireland, 1856 (town clerk twenty years); John H.
Brasington, from Pennsylvania (town treasurer fifteen years); Eben
White, James Walsingham, John Strong, H. M. Hicks, from Pennsylvania,
1858; John Foley and brothers, from Ireland, 1856; James H. Shults,
Joseph Seeley, H. C. Brown, John McClure, from Ireland; C. C. and Ira
W. Carpenter, from Connecticut, 1858.
Mrs. Fuller, the wife of the pioneer, was here over six months, during
which time she did not see a white woman.
SPRING LAKE
Is the extreme northeastern town of the county, occupying township 27,
range 15. The post offices are Oak Ridge and Spring Valley. The town
was organized Nov. 10, 1868. The first town meeting was held at the
house of A. M. Wilcox. The first supervisors were: W. D. Akers,
chairman; Jonas Nebb; Levi Hess, clerk. The first school was taught in
1866, by Agnes Harriman. The Methodist and Baptist churches have
organizations, and the Methodists have a building worth five hundred
dollars. The first marriage was that of H. M. Wilcox to Mrs. Kate
Rice, of Lake City, by W. D. Akers, justice of the peace. The first
child born was a daughter of Ole P. Gardner. The first death was that
of Leota Wilcox, in 1864. The first postmaster was B. H. Preston,
1871. The first settlers in the order of their coming were James
Gilmore, O. P. Gardner, George Wilcox, John Francisco and W. D. Akers.
TRENTON.
Trenton contains about twenty-eight sections, those on the Mississippi
having very irregular boundaries. Twenty-four whole sections lie in
township 25, range 18, and the remainder in township 24, range 18.
Trenton, in section 33, township 25, is its post village. Trenton was
organized in 1857; James Akers, chairman of supervisors. Wilson
Thing, the pioneer settler, came in 1848.
TRIMBELLE.
Trimbelle includes township 26, range 18. Its post villages are
Trimbelle and Beldenville. It was organized March 2, 1855. Its
supervisors were F. Otis, chairman, and Aaron Cornelison. Among its
earliest settlers were the Cornelisons, F. Otis and M. B. Williams. It
has four saw mills and one flouring mill, five school houses and one
church (Methodist).
MARTIN B. WILLIAMS was born in New York in 1812. He received a common
school education, and at the age of sixteen years was thrown upon his
own resources. He learned the trade of blacksmith. He was married in
New York, and has four sons, Clark M., Frank T., G. Glen and A. Judd.
Mr. Williams is one of the pioneer settlers of Trimbelle, and has held
many public town and county positions. He served as treasurer of
Pierce county four years. He has been a local preacher in the
Methodist Episcopal church for over thirty years.
UNION.
Union consists of township 25, range 15. It is drained by Plum creek.
It has two post offices, Plum Creek, in section 24, and Ono, section
6. It was organized Aug. 15, 1863. Among its first settlers were
Eleazer Holt, Hiram N. Wood, and Capt. Horst, who made their homes
here in the early '50s.
FOOTNOTES:
[B] In 1849 the town of Elisabeth was organized by St. Croix county,
and included what is now Pierce county. The first board of supervisors
were William Thing, chairman; Aaron Cornelius, and L. M. Harnsberger;
clerk, Hilton Doe; treasurer, Geo. W. McMurphy. In 1851, by
legislative enactment, the name Elisabeth was changed to Prescott.
[C] A member of the well known Faribault family, after whom the town
of Faribault has been named.
[D] NOTE.--When I touched at Prescott in 1845, it was generally known
as the "Mouth of St. Croix," though by some called "Prescott's
Landing." The residents were Hilton Doe, a farmer; Geo. Schaser,
boarding house keeper; W. S. Lockwood, merchant; Joseph Mosier, an
Indian trader or storekeeper. The principal trade was with Indians.
CHAPTER VIII.
BURNETT, WASHBURN, SAWYER AND BARRON COUNTIES.
BURNETT COUNTY.
Burnett county was named in honor of a genial, kind hearted and
eccentric lawyer, Thomas Pendleton Burnett, of Prairie du Chien. It is
somewhat irregular in outline, and is bounded on the north by Douglas,
on the east by Barron, on the south by Polk and Barron counties, and
on the west by the St. Croix river. It includes townships 37 to 42,
range 14; from 38 to 42, range 15; from 38 to 41, ranges 16 and 17;
from 37 to 40, ranges 18 and 19; from 37 to 38, range 20. Seven of
these townships bordering on the St. Croix are fractional. Much of the
soil of the county is a sandy loam admirably suited to cereals and
vegetables. Some townships in the southeast are first class wheat
lands. The timber is mostly a thicket-like growth of small pines,
constituting what is called pine barrens. The southeast portion of the
county is timbered with hardwoods. It is drained by the St. Croix,
Trade, Wood, Clam, Yellow, and Namakagon rivers, with their
tributaries, and with the Wood lakes (Big and Little), Mud Hen, Trade,
Yellow, Spirit, and numerous other lakes. There are besides many
thousand acres of marsh land. These marsh lands are by no means
valueless, as they have given rise to a very important industry--the
growing of cranberries. There are fine deposits of iron. Large tracts
of bog ore are found in townships 38 to 41, ranges 16 to 19. There is
an abundance of wild meadow land, easily drained and profitable to
stock growers.
The settlers of this county are, for the greater part, Swedish and
Norwegian emigrants, an intelligent, moral and religious class of
people who, while they cherish the traditions, manners, customs and
language of their native country, still readily adapt themselves to
American institutions, taking kindly to our common school system and
to other distinctive features of their adopted country. A liberal
spirit has characterized these people in building roads, bridges,
school houses, churches, and making other public improvements. They
have succeeded well also in their private enterprises, the cultivation
of farms and the building of homes.
ORGANIZATION.
The county, originally a part of Polk, was set off March 1, 1856, and
included also at that time, and till the year 1877, the present county
of Washburn. It was organized in 1865. The first county officers,
appointed by the governor, were: Judge, Nimrod H. Hickerson; clerk of
court, Canute Anderson; register of deeds, Peter Anderson; treasurer,
S. Thompson; sheriff, Martin B. Johnson; district attorney, Jacob
Larson. Grantsburg was selected as the county seat. The first county
supervisors, consisting of Michael Jenson, chairman, Thore Ingebritson
and Peter Anderson, met Jan. 24, 1865. The first election was held at
the house of Nimrod H. Hickerson, Nov. 7, 1865. The first frame house
in the county was built at Grantsburg in 1865, by W. H. Peck. The
first crops were raised in township 39, range 18, by Charles Ayer. The
finances of the county have been managed discreetly. The state
drainage fund was judiciously expended. The first deed recorded in
Burnett county was a tax deed from Polk county to Simon Estonson, of
the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section 35, township
38, range 19. It bears date Jan. 20, 1866.
THE PINE BARRENS.
So prominent a feature in Burnett and other counties in Northwest
Wisconsin, consist of sandy stretches of undulating, though sometimes
of level lands, sparsely covered with a growth of young pines,
generally of the Black Prince variety. In some places, where the trees
are crowded thickly together, they are not unlike immense cane-brakes.
The trees, from their proximity, have grown very tall and slender. The
lateral branches, crowded together and deprived of sunshine, have
perished early and the growth of the young trees is chiefly vertical.
The lower dead limbs remaining attached to the trunks give the young
forest a peculiarly ragged and tangled appearance. There is abundant
evidence to prove the existence of ancient pine forests where these
pine barrens are now the only growth. In fact some of the larger trees
are still standing, and the charred trunks and decaying remnants of
others. The gradations from the younger to the older growth may be
very plainly seen. Fire is undoubtedly the efficient cause of the
stunted and irregular growth of the pine barrens. The matured forests
are destroyed by fire, and are succeeded by the young pines which are
further reduced and injured by annual fires. It is a mistake to