|
|
History of Goodhue County, Minnesota
It is with a feeling of considerable pride and pleasure that the publishers present this history for the approval of the people of Goodhue county. The undertaking has not been an easy one and the difficulties have been many, so many indeed that this work would not have been possible without the liberal assistance of the citizens of the county. The chief contributors have given freely of their time and talent; business men. church officials, fraternity and association officers, manufacturers, professional men and bankers, often at great personal sacrifice, have laid aside their regular duties to write of their communities and special interests; educators have written of the schools, and men and women of all walks of life have willingly given all the information at their command regarding themselves, their families, their interests and their localities. To all of these the readers of this work owe a lasting debt of gratitude and to each and every one the publishers extend their heartfelt thanks.
The principal contributors are mentioned on the title page. Of these. W.M. Sweney, M.D., Jens K. Grondahl, C.A. Rasmussen, Julius Boraas, M.L., George C. Wellner, M.D., and others, aside from contributing chapters have generously given assistance in the general construction of the book. Many others have offered suggestions and some contributions have been made by those to whom credit is not given either in the body of the book or on the title page. The writings left by Col. William Colvill, Col. Hans Mattson, S.J. Willard, Dr. W.W. Sweney, Judge E.T. Wilder and others, have been freely drawn upon.
In planning for this work the publishers hoped to prepare a narrative which should tell the story of this rich and prosperous county from the time when it first became a geologic reality, through the years when the first explorers pushed their way up the river and into the wilderness, down to the present time when cities and villages dot the landscape and comfortable homes and fertile farms are seen on nearly every quarter section.
In handling the vast amount of material gathered for this work it has been the aim of the entire staff to select such matter as is authentic, reliable and interesting. Doubtless facts have been included that many will deem of little moment, but these same facts to others may be of the deepest import. It may be, also, that some facts have been omitted that many of the readers would like to see included. To such readers we can only say that to publish every incident of the life of the county would be to issue a work of many volumes, and in choosing such material as would come within the limits of one volume, we believe that the matter selected is that which will prove of greatest interest to the greatest number of readers, and also that which is most worthy of being handed down to future generations, who in this volume, in far distant years may read of their large-souled, rugged-bodied ancestors and predecessors who gave up the settled peace of older communities to brave the rigors of pioneer endeavor.
A few omissions may be due to the dereliction of some of the people of this county themselves, as in some instances, fortunately few, repeated requests for information has met with no response. In such cases, information gathered from other sources, though authentic, may have lacked copious detail.
In spelling, it has been the endeavor of the publishers to follow the generally accepted forms, with the exception of the word "Wacoota," in which case the publishers have chosen to follow the English spelling rather than the French rendition of "Wacouta."
Before passing hasty judgment on apparent errors, one should consider carefully, not relying on tradition or memory. In many cases we have found that persons' memories are faulty and tradition erronious. when measured by the standard of official records, even in the case of comparatively recent events, while in many instances families are under the impression that their forebears arrived in the county long before it was possible for them to do so. In such cases, we have found it advisable to follow the records. Ah instance of faulty tradition is the some- what extensively accepted story that Barn Bluff is named from a man named Barnes when as a matter of fact Barn is merely the English form of La Grange, the cognomen applied to the bluff by the earliest French explorers on account of its fancied resemblance to the common type of small barn in the old country. The name Barn is used by Pike in 1806, long before any man named Barnes could have settled at its base.
The publishers are indebted to the files of the Red Wing "Republican," which have been carefully perused and liberally copied; to the county, village and city, records, and to the minutes of various corporations and societies. In this connection it is but just that thanks should be extended to those courteous gentlemen who have these records, files and books in charge and who have freely assisted the editors in their researches. Other books consulted and in many instances quoted are: The History of Goodhue County, published in 1879; J.W. Hancock's History of Goodhue County: W.H. Mitchell's Geographical and Statistical Sketch of the Past and Present of Goodhue County; History of St. Paul and Ramsay County by J. Fletcher Williams; the various publications of the Minnesota Historical Society; the Legislative Manual of the State of Minnesota; The History of Minnesota, by Edward W. Neill; Minnesota in Three Centuries, by L.F. Hubbard. William P. Murray, James H. Baker and Warren Upham; The History of Scandinavians in the United States, by O.N. Nelson; The Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota, by N.H. Winchell, assisted by Warren Upham; The Memoirs of Explorations in the Basin of the Mississippi, by J.V. Brower; The Norsemen in America, by Martin Ulvestad; also various other standard historical, reference and biographical works, as well as many original manuscripts.
The biographies have all been gathered with care from those most interested, and with a few exceptions have been revised and corrected by the subject of the biography or by a relative or friend. This, however, refers to the dates, and sequence of events, all personal estimates being the work of the editors and inserted in biographies only after consultation with other members of the staff.
That this history is faultless we do not presume; it is probably not within the power of man to arrange a work of this kind without mistakes of one sort or another; that it will meet with the unqualified approval of all, we dare not expect, but we trust that the merits of the history will overbalance any short- comings that may be discovered.
Our association with the people of Goodhue county has been a most pleasant one. We have conscientiously performed our task and in placing the history in the hands of those whom it most concerns our hope is that we have done our work well.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER I.
NATURAL PHENOMENA... 1
CHAPTER II.
GEOLOGIC AGES... 11
CHAPTER III.
EVIDENCE OF THE MOUNDS... 18
CHAPTER IV.
EARLY DAYS... 33
CHAPTER V.
FORTS AT FRONTENAC... 62
CHAPTER VI.
UNDER EUROPEAN KINGS... 71
CHAPTER VII.
INDIAN TREATIES... 74
CHAPTER VIII.
INDIAN TROUBLES... 90
CHAPTER IX.
BEGINNING OF THE COUNTY... 97
CHAPTER X.
TOWNSHIP SYSTEM... 110
CHAPTER XI.
DR. SWEXEY'S NARRATIVE... 120
CHAPTER XII.
TOWNSHIPS AND VILLAGES... 142
CHAPTER XIII.
CANNON FALLS... 159
CHAPTER XIV.
TOWNSHIPS AND VILLAGES... 169
CHAPTER XV.
TOWNSHIPS AND VILLAGES... 206
CHAPTER XVI.
ZUMBROTA... 234
CHAPTER XVII.
COUNTY SCHOOLS... 271
CHAPTER XVIII.
POSTAL HISTORY... 298
CHAPTER XIX.
THE PHYSICIAN... 315
CHAPTER XX.
SONS OF THE VIKINGS... 333
CHAPTER XXI.
SWEDISH SETTLEMENT... 340
CHAPTER XXII.
THE GERMANS... 365
CHAPTER XXIII.
LAND OFFICE RECORDS... 384
CHAPTER XXIV.
GOODHUE COUNTY CHURCHES... 404
CHAPTER XXV.
ANECDOTES AND ADVENTURES... 458
CHAPTER XXVI.
OFFICERS AND POPULATION... 478
CHAPTER XXVII.
CALAMITIES... 490
CHAPTER XXVIII.
MILITARY HISTORY... 507
CHAPTER XXIX.
REW WING AS A HAMLET... 529
CHAPTER XXX.
THROUGH FIFTY-TWO YEARS... 550
CHAPTER XXXI.
"THE DESIRABLE CITY"... 579
CHAPTER XXXII.
RED WING INDUSTRIES... 616
CHAPTER XXXIII.
MODERN RED WING... 645
CHAPTER XXXIV.
LIVES OF LEADING MEN... 666
Read the Book - Free
Download the Book - Free ( 86.0 MB PDF)
|