Fifty Years In The Northwest
married to Margaret Burgo, a woman of fine mind. With her limited
educational privileges, very few of any age or race can be found her
equal. Mr. and Mrs. Folstrom were both consistent Christians, and
members of the Methodist church for many years. He lived a stirring,
adventurous life, and, during his service as mail carrier between
Prairie du Chien and Fort Snelling, he had many hairbreadth escapes
from hostile Indians. He died in July, 1859. His wife survived him
till Feb. 6, 1880.
ALEXANDER MCHATTIE.--At the age of sixteen Mr. McHattie left his home
and worked as a teamster and farmer for about five years; and in 1833
came from Scotland, his native country, to America. He lived a couple
of years in Vermont, a short time in New York, Ohio and Indiana. In
1839 he came to Galena, Illinois, and migrated thence in the same year
to St. Croix Falls. He also made a short stay at Gray Cloud island;
was in Prescott in 1840; in 1841 made a home in Afton, and in 1845 at
Woodbury. He married Margaret Middleton in 1848.
JOHN MCHATTIE.--John, the oldest brother of Alexander McHattie, came
from Scotland to this country in 1833, and settled in Woodbury in
1841. He was married in 1846 to Jane Middleton.
THE MIDDLETON FAMILY.--James Middleton, Sr., with his wife, three
sons, William, Samuel, and James, and five daughters, came to this
country from Ireland. William, the oldest, inspired by filial duty,
came first, it being his ambition to secure for his parents a home on
American soil. He was not of age when, in 1838, he left Ireland, full
of hope and enthusiasm for his project. He found his way to St. Louis
in 1842, and came thence with Hungerford & Livingston to St. Croix
Falls. He remained with them two years and then, removing further
south, made a claim on unsurveyed government land in what is now the
town of Woodbury. During the succeeding year, 1845, he and his brother
Samuel worked for John McKusick, and by diligence and self denial
succeeded in earning enough to pay the passage of his father and his
family to the United States, and to bring them to their claim on the
prairie. It was a joyful day when the parents arrived, and since then
the united family have their home at and near the selected homestead,
a model family in their unity of purpose and affectionate regard for
each other. William visited California. He died at his home in 1855.
Samuel enlisted and did gallant service in the Union Army during the
late Civil War as a member of Company E, Tenth Minnesota Volunteers,
and died in the hospital at Memphis, Feb. 29, 1865. James, a younger
brother, was born in 1833. He made a claim near that of his brother,
and is prominent in the community, in which he lives. He was
sergeant-at-arms in the legislature, a member of the house in 1876,
and served five years in Washington county as county commissioner. Mr.
Middleton removed to St. Paul in 1880, where he now resides. The
father died in 1854, the mother in 1876.
NEWINGTON GILBERT was born in Onondaga county, New York, Feb. 17,
1815. Mr. Gilbert settled in Woodbury in 1851. In company with Mr.
Buswell he built the North Star flouring mill in 1860. He operated
this mill eleven years. Mr. Gilbert was a member of the Democratic
wing of the constitutional convention in 1857. He was married to
Celestia Bangs in 1860. They have two children.
EBENEZER AYERS was born in Herkimer county, New York. His early life
was devoted to hard labor, still such was his zeal for study and the
acquisition of general knowledge, that he managed to acquire a very
respectable and thorough education. In 1856 he came with his parents
to Fort Wayne. He commenced teaching school soon after and taught
eight years. In 1844 he removed to Shelby county, Kentucky. He was
married in 1846 to Lucy Connelly, of Shelby county. He removed to
Buffalo, New York, in 1850, and sold goods until the spring of 1854,
when he located in Woodbury and engaged in farming. He was a man of
energy, and possessed of great will power. He took a deep interest in
town and county affairs, and served as town clerk in Woodbury eleven
years. He was a representative in the Minnesota state legislature in
1867 and 1872, and while in that capacity proved himself a ready
debater. He had natural ability as an organizer. He was an active
member of the Greenback party, and was rigidly opposed to monopolies.
He died in 1883.
CHAPTER XV.
WASHINGTON COUNTY--CONTINUED.
CITY OF STILLWATER.
The organization of the territory of Minnesota in 1849 naturally gave
a new impetus to settlement, and marked an era in the progress of the
settlements already made. None profited more by the new order of
things than did Stillwater. The future metropolis of the St. Croix
valley, though yet unorganized even as a village, and governed by town
and county law, in 1850 presented a scene of unwonted activity. Out of
nearly a hundred arrivals we find the names of John C, Gardiner,
Samuel M. Register, H. C. Van Voorhees, John N. Ahl, Ralph Wheeler,
Dr. E. G. Pugsley, Dr. Morey, dentist, and Theodore E. Parker, a
lawyer. This year was rendered notable by the establishment of a
livery stable, by Holcomb & Johnson, a new store by Burkelo & Mower, a
bakery by R. Hersey, by the building of the second saw mill by Sawyer
& Heaton, by the commencement of Remmick's brewery, by the advent of
Antonio Brothers' circus, and the occurrence of a remarkable freshet,
on which occasion the steamer Lamartine, taking advantage of the high
water, made a pleasure excursion up the river, and over the shallows
at the mouth of Apple river and a short distance up that stream.
Morton Wilkinson and Michael Ames were amongst the excursionists, and,
looking out from the steamboat upon the broad, deep expanse of the
swollen river, congratulated their fellow passengers upon the
discovery of a hitherto unknown navigable stream, tributary to the
majestic St. Croix. The Swiss Bell Ringers were on board, and added
greatly to the pleasure of the occasion by their weird and peculiar
music. The Lamartine, on returning to Stillwater, found the shores
and levees submerged, and passing over them landed her passengers
directly from the boat upon the floor of the Minnesota House, on the
southwest corner of Chestnut and Main. The water was four or five feet
deep in the street before the hotel. The streets in the lower part of
the city have since been raised several feet, so that a flood of the
same dimensions would not overflow them as it did then. There has,
however, in the memory of the oldest inhabitant, been no other flood
equal to that of 1850.
Allusion has been made in the history of Stillwater town to the
diversion of the waters of McKusick's lake by a new outlet to the
river. This device, so beneficial to the city of Stillwater in other
respects, came near resulting in disaster. The old outlet of the lake
had been obstructed by a dam, while the waters were conducted by a new
outlet down a deep ravine and confined to their channel by dikes
consisting of a mixture of clay, sand and gravel. This extended to
within six hundred feet of the mill on the lake shore. On May 14,
1852, during a terrible storm, the dam at the new outlet gave way and
a tremendous body of water, carrying with it the debris of dikes and
dams, rushed tumultuously down the ravine, covering the low shores of
the lake beneath, and depositing a new geological stratum of drift
over a surface of at least six acres to an average depth of about ten
feet. It was wittily said at the time that such an extraordinary
movement in real estate had never before been known; but, although a
downward movement, that seemed very much like ruin to all concerned,
especially to the mill, the machinery of which was completely buried,
it nevertheless heralded a rise in prices. Quagmires were filled,
unsightly obstructions buried or swept away and a fine plateau for
buildings was formed along the lake.
The dam was replaced and greatly strengthened, and the water was
conducted through pipes and hydrants to the city. Occasionally, for
years afterward, the diggers of cellars or cisterns in the buried
region would unearth interesting antediluvian relics. Three barrels of
pork were exhumed from the cellar of McKusick's store, and found in a
good state of preservation. Some years later remains of a far more
ancient character were also unearthed near the corner of Third and
Myrtle streets. The tusk of a mastodon was brought up from a depth of
thirty-six feet below the surface.
CITY GOVERNMENT.
Stillwater was incorporated as a city in 1854. The following officers
were elected on the first Monday in April of that year: Mayor, John
McKusiek; recorder, C. D. Gilfillan; treasurer, W. H. Mower;
Councilmen, J. C. York, J. N. Masterman, C. Carli. We append a list of
mayors from 1854 to the present time: John McKusick, 1854; John
Fisher, 1855; Wm. Willim, 1856-66-67; Albert Stinson, 1857; A. B.
Gorgas, 1858; T. M. Fullerton, 1859; Mahlon Black, 1860-61; F. R.
Delano, 1862; David Bronson, 1863-64; Wm. Grover, 1865; C. J. Butler,
1868; Wm. Holcombe, 1869-70; Wm. McKusick, 1871-72; A. K. Doe, 1873;
Wm. G. Bronson, 1874-75-76; E. W. Durant, 1877; John S. Proctor,
1878-79-80; Samuel Mathews, 1881-82-83-84; Hollis R. Murdock, 1885;
Isaac Staples, 1886; George M. Seymour, 1887-88.
CITY MARSHALS.
The following is a complete list of city marshals since 1854: Jonathan
E. McKusick, 1854; John Parker, 1855; John Cilly, 1856; Dennis
Sullivan, 1557; Robert Hasty, 1858; Thomas Sinclair, 1859; Duncan
Chisholm, 1860-61-62-63; John Shortall, 1864-65; John May, 1866, six
months; P. E. Keefe, 1867; John May, 1868, six months; John Shortall,
1869; H. McIntyre, 1870; Duncan Chisholm, 1871; John Lyons, 1872-3,
eighteen months; Mathew Shortall, 1873, and continuously to the
present time. Mr. Shortall's long term of office proves him an
effective and popular officer. F. L. McKusick is police court officer.
He is a veteran of the police force and has acquitted himself to the
satisfaction of the people of Stillwater.
THE POST OFFICE,
Established in 1845, was located first at the corner of Main and
Chestnut streets. The first postmaster was Elam Greely. His successors
were John McKusick, John S. Proctor, Harley D. Curtis, Mahlon Black,
Abraham Van Voorhes, H. D. Cutler, E. J. Butts, and ---- McCarthy.
During 1845 a citizens' mail was brought from Point Douglas. Its
regularity depended somewhat on the season. During the winter it was
brought some times as infrequently as once a month. In 1846 a
government line was established from Point Douglas, and the mail was
brought with greater regularity. In 1848 a mail coach line was
established between Stillwater and St. Paul. The year following a
weekly mail was established. The rapid increase of settlements on the
Upper Mississippi created a demand for more frequent mails;
consequently from 1850 to the completion of the railroad leading into
Stillwater, a daily mail was brought into Stillwater during the summer
by steamboats, and by the Wisconsin overland route during the winter.
RAPID GROWTH.
As an evidence of the growth of the city we append post office
statistics of salaries, expenses and income for the year 1885:
RECEIPTS.
Sales of postage stamps, envelopes,
newspaper wrappers, postal cards, etc. $12,693 34
Box rent received 2,166 25
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Total $14,859 59
EXPENSES.
Postmaster's salary $2,400 00
Expenses for rent, fuel, lights, clerk
hire, etc. 3,300 00 $5,700 00
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