Arba Cleaveland (Personal Recollections MN book)PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS
or
MINNESOTA AND ITS PEOPLE,
AND
EARLY HISTORY OF ANNEAPOLIS,
I BY
0. JOHN H. STEVENS.
WITH BIOGRAPHICAL MEMORANDA AND LETTERS
TO COL. JOHN H. STEVENS, SELECTED
BY MARSHALL ROBINSON.
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.
1890.
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COPYRIGHTED 1-90
BY
MARSFI.,LLL ROBI\�nN.
SFi1BUNE
JGB PIG CO
pµ1NTERg
BINDEA�+•
,Y/4NfI/O[!3
THE LIPIZARY
UNIVERSITY OF CALII.ORNU
SANTA BARBARA
w INTRODUCTORY.
I essay to write something of my personal recollections and
present knowledge of Minnesota and its people. Living alone,
as to white men, on the west bank of the Falls of St. Anthony,
I preempted a part of the present site of Minneapolis. I have
witnessed wonderful transformations. With such aid as I can
command, I commence the relation I have long contemplated,
as one of love and legacy to such patient and charitable readers
as I may have. A multitude of loved ones have ,,one before,
but many remain. In spirit they are equally present and in
view. Heroes of the past, brave men of the present, many of
them were, and are. Blessed is their memory, and their presence.
O.
200 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS
On the 9th of July, Judge A. G. Chatfield, the newly -
appointed judge, held a special term of court in the little
parlor of my house. The only business transacted was the
discharge of two soldiers from the army stationed at Fort
Snelling. They enlisted in the service before they were of
suitable age, at an eastern recruiting -office. They belonged
to families in the highest walk of life, and joined the army
under peculiar circumstances. Their names were H. 0.
Billings and Wyman Williams. Their parents followed them
out west and secured their discharge through the agency of
the United States court. While the commanding officer at
Fort Snelling, Colonel Francis Lee, was convinced that Judge
Chatfield's decision was correct according to law, he and the
other officers stationed there at that time were greatly dis-
turbed at the frequent discharge, by the court, of soldiers at
the Fort. Heretofore these discharges had occurred =r Ram-
sey county. These were the first that took place in H. -iPpill
county, and it was, too, tile first occasion of Judge C. _afield
appearing in a judicial capacity in the county.
The county of Hennepin, during the second week in July,
through the agency of the New York Excelsior colony, received
several permanent settlers of great merit. Among them were
Rev. Mr. Nutting, and his brother Gen. Levi Nutting, iio-%v
of Faribault, Rev. H. M. Nichols, Hon. Arba Cleveland, Geo.
M. Powers, H. M. Lyman, and Joshua Moore, all from Mas-
sachusetts ; and Burritt S. and AVm. S. Judd, from Ohio ;
and Rev. Chas. Galpin, and his brother Rev. Geo. Galpin,
natives of Connecticut; and Peter 11I. Gideon, who has since.
become so widely known as a polnologist, and several other
men of moment, who have occupied high positions in the
country's history. Mr. Bertram, the leader of the colony,
was a Native of Scotland, but for many years previous to his
coming to Minnesota, had been an enterprising business mall
in New York. He certainly accomplished a good work for
Minnesota by iutroducing so many good men into the territory.
The 11Tinuebagoes were particularly restless during this
early summer. They could not be confined to their reserva-
tion at Long Prairie. From their long association with the
whites in the lower country many of them could speak Ellg-
lish. They would complain of their hard lot to every settler
OF MINNESOTA AND ITS PEOPLE. 209
It
company, on the 24tb, the following gentlemen were appointed
officers for the ensuing year : Hon. John Rollins, president ;
S. 111. Tracy, Secretary and treasurer ; Charles King, J. W.
North, Shelton Hollister, Il. P. Russell, Francis Morrison and
S. K. Shultz, directors.
In consequence of the ;;rent influx of children into St.
Anthony during the suimner, when the fall and winter ochools
were opened it was found that there was not sufficient school-
room for them. A number of private schools were opened.
The Sisters made use of a large room in the upper town for
school purposes. Rev. Mr. Chamberlain and his wife, who
was a slaughter of Bishop Chase, opened a seminary for young
ladies, and Mrs. Z. E. B. Nash commenced a select -school,
which became very popular. With these select -schools in
addition to the preparatory department of the state university
and the two district-scl1Qols, the majority of the children were
accommodated. The services of Charles Hoag were secured
for the principal school building in St. Anthony, while those
of Mr. Clarke, an experienced teacher from Ohio, were secured
for the Minneapolis school. Mr. Clarke was the first male
teacher in the Minneapolis schools.
The Northampton fariners, so-called, belonging to the
Excelsior colony, were wonderfully pleased with the product-
iveness of the soil. Arba Cleveland planted two potatoes,
froin which he raised a bushel and a half of good merchant-
able potatoes. The members of the colony seemed thoroughly
impressed with the fertility of the section of country they had
selected for their homes. The average to the acre of spring
wheat was thirty bushels. These were.the days that farmers
made money ; more so than since that time ; probably inore
so than they will in the future.
A German colony- arrived from the old country and settled
on a lake some three miles west of Mr. Cleveland's place.
Sheriff Brown named the lake Bavaria. The colony was
headed by Joseph Kessler.
Ard Godfrey finished his mill at the mouth of Little Falls
creek, the building of which received his constant attention
for a year. He commenced sawing on the first of October.
He decided to build a flour -mill.
The citizens of :Minneapolis decided, early in October, to
Or MINNESOTA AND ITS PEOPIM 275
cello, was eiigaged with resident ministers at the Falls, in
delivering temperance addresses (luring August. Up to this
period, and for more than a year afterwards, there had been
no saloons in 'Kinneapolis, acid the pastors of the several
churches, backed by a large majority of the citizens, were
determined there should be none in the future. Mr. Creigh-
ton was a brother of Col. Win. Creighton who, with Prof. E.
11'. Merrill and others, were the founders of Monticello, and
were prominent in the territorial years.
Dr. Geo. H. Keith arrived in Miiiiieapolis during the late
summer and oracle it his permanent home. He became a
leading citizen of the place ; represented the county ill the
legislature ; occupied a high military position during the war,
and was post master of the city at the tine of his death.
At a joint meeting of the executive committee of the Terri-
torial and Hennepin county agricultural societies, held in
Minneapolis September Stli, it was determined that the two
societies should join for the purpose of liolding a fair on
Wednesday and Thursday, October 17th and 18th.
The first drug -store in Minneapolis, and a good one, was
opened on Helen street, in September, by Savory & Horton.
BEGINNING OF A REPUBLICAN RULE.
In politics for ibe first time the issue was between the
democrats and republicans. The Whigs diel not put a ticket
in the field. After the election there appeared to liave been
a Know -Nothing ticket, but it received only eighteen votes in
the county. A large majority of the whips voted the repub-
lican ticket. The republicans had a majority of about twenty
votes. The whole number of rotes polled in the county was
nineteen hundred and fifty-five. Two of the republican can-
didates for the House of representatives from Hennepin county,
.Jas. F. Bradley and Thomas Pierce, 'were elected, as was
Arba Cleveland of Carver county. J. B. Bassett was the
republican candidate for the council. He carried the county,
but his competitor, Hon. D. M. Hanson, received a sufficient
majority in Carver county, which belonged to the same legis-
lative district, to overco►iie lir. Bassett's majority in Henne-
pin. Alexander Gould was elected county cominissiouer.
Alen Harmon was elected treasurer by ten votes over J. S.
Johnson, democnit ; Lewis Harrington, county surveyor ; and
328 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS
May of this year, Orrin Curtis was elected president of the
board; C. Crawford, secretary; and Dr. S. F. Rankin, treas-
urer. Great progress was made in the education of the chil-
dren under this organization. Prof. Chase was elected a
member of the corps of teachers of the union schools in
Minneapolis this spring.
June 1st Wm. S. Chapman was appointed deputy U. S.
marshal for Hennepin county, in which capacity he was to
take the census of Hennepin county.
On the 10th of June the whole row of buildings from First
street to Second street was destroyed by fire. This was the
most extensive fire that had ever occurred in the state.. The
sufferers were Martin Ferrant, AV. R. Johnson, L. Ford, H.
D. Wheelock, D. Y. Jones & Co., J. Miller, John I. Black, C.
B. Sanborn, Amos Clarke, Dr. A. L. Bausman, C. S. Webster,
Isaac B. Edwards, Hopper & Gould, Curtis H. Pettit, John
Lee, L. H. Williams, J. H. Thompson, Samuel Hidden,
Vroomau & Crocker, Dr. Wm. H. Leonard & Co., B. F. Baker,
John E. Bell & Co., Wheeler & Nutting, Gale & Iiing, and
Thomas Hale Williams.
July 1st Geo. Galpin's new boat steamed from Excelsior to
Wayzata. This was the first steamboat navigation on Lake
Minnetonka.
On the 4th day of July an accident occurred at Lake Cal-
houn, which carried sorrow and mourning to almost the entire
community at the Falls. The pastor of the Congregational
church, Rev. H. M. Nichols, his wife, and son aged twelve .
years; his brother-in-law, Hon. Arba Cleveland, and his two
children aged eleven and thirteen years, were drowned in the
lake. Mr. Nichols was one of the niost pleasing speakers of
the day, and greatly respected by all classes.
On the 8th, Frank, only son of O. C. Merriman, died in St.
Anthony.
On the 22d of July Rev. Joseph R. Manton, of Quincy,
Illinois, occupied the pulpit of the First Baptist church.
Afterwards Mr. Manton became pastor of the church, and has
continually been a resident of Hennepin county since.
On the 24th, James Il. Lawrence, the district -attorney, ,",ho
resided in St. Anthony, moved to Chicago.
Political clubs of every description were on aiiiied iii Hen_