MAJ. T. M. NEWSON, THE OLDEST EDITOR IN THE STATE.MAJ. T. M. NEWSON, THE OLDEST EDITOR IN THE STATE.
CAPT. HENRY A. CASTLE, ONE OF MINNESOTA'S PIONEER EDITORS.CAPT. HENRY A. CASTLE, ONE OF MINNESOTA'S PIONEER EDITORS.
Col. Alvaren Allenwas born in New York in 1822; came to Wisconsin in 1837, and to St. Anthony Falls in 1857, where he engaged in the livery, staging and express business. In 1859 he followed railroading; in 1873 he bought Col. Shaw's interest in the Merchants Hotel of St. Paul, for $40,000, and Col. Potter's interest for $275,000, property now held at $500,000. In 1887 he rented the property to Mr. Welz. Col. Allen is a genial man, and has friends all over the continent. He was the second mayor of St. Anthony Falls, and has held various public positions in St. Paul.
H. P. HALL.H. P. HALL.
Harlan P. Hall.—The writer has been unable to obtain any sketch of the history of Mr. Hall. We have to say that he has been an enterprising journalist in St. Paul. He was the founder of theDailyandWeeklySt. PaulDispatch; also of the St. PaulDailyandWeekly Globe. He is a fluent, versatile writer, and a genial associate.
Stephen Miller, a native of Perry county, Pennsylvania, was born Jan. 7, 1816. Being in straitened circumstances he early commenced a life of toil, supported himself and to a great extent educated himself. In 1858 he removed to St. Cloud, Minnesota, and engaged in mercantile pursuits. In 1860 he served as delegate to the Republican convention at Chicago that nominated Lincoln for the presidency. In 1861 he enlisted as a private soldier, but rose rapidly from the ranks, being commissionedas a lieutenant colonel of the First Minnesota Infantry, then as colonel of the Seventh Minnesota Infantry. He was in command of this regiment at the execution of the thirty-eight condemned Indian murderers at Mankato. In 1863 he was commissioned as brigadier general but resigned to accept the position of governor of Minnesota. In 1871 he removed from St. Paul to Windom. In 1873 he was in the Minnesota house of representatives. In 1876 he was presidential elector. In 1839 he was married to Margaret Funk, of Dauphin county, Pennsylvania. They have had three sons. One son was killed at the battle of Gettysburg. Gov. Miller died in 1878, at Windom, Minnesota.
This county, a rich farming district, lies on the west bank of the Mississippi between Ramsey and Goodhue counties. It was originally well diversified with timber and prairie lands, and is well watered by the tributaries of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers. Vermillion river, which flows through this county, has near its junction with the Mississippi a picturesque waterfall, now somewhat marred by the erection of mills and manufactories.
Lying near the mouth of the Vermillion river, is a wide-awake, thriving city, beautifully located on the banks of the Mississippi. It has a fine court house, good hotels, manufactories and business blocks. The Hastings & Dakota railroad has its eastern terminus here. The St. Paul & Milwaukee, Burlington & Northern railroads pass through the city. The river is bridged at this place.
Near the centre of the county, on the Chicago, St. Paul & Minneapolis railroad, is a thriving business village. West St. Paul has encroached largely upon the north part of the county.
Ignatius Donnelly.—The parents of Ignatius Donnelly came from the Green Isle in 1817, settling in Philadelphia, where Ignatius was born, Nov. 3, 1831. He was educated in the graded and high schools of his native city, graduating at the latter in 1849, and taking his degree of master of arts three years later.He read law with Benjamin Harris Brewster, and was admitted to the bar in Philadelphia in 1852, and practiced there until 1856, when he came to Minnesota and located at Ninninger, and purchasing from time to time nearly 1,000 acres of land, devoted himself to farming, not so busily, however, as to prevent him from taking a prominent part in public affairs. A captivating and fluent speaker, and besides a man of far more than ordinary native ability and acquirements, he was not suffered to remain on his Dakota farm. In 1859 he was elected lieutenant governor of the newly admitted state, and was re-elected in 1861, serving four years. He served his district in the thirty-seventh, thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth congresses. During his congressional term he advocated many important measures, taking an advanced position in regard to popular education, and the cultivation and preservation of timber on the public lands. For his advocacy of the last named measure he was much ridiculed at the time, but has lived to see his views generally understood, and his measures to a great extent adopted in many of the Western States. He advocated amending the law relating to railroad land grants, so as to require their sale, within a reasonable period, at low prices.
When he entered Congress, he gave up his law practice, and since his last term he has devoted himself chiefly to farming, journalism and general literature. In July, 1874, he became editor and proprietor of theAnti-Monopolist, which he conducted several years. Within the last decade he has published several works that have given him both national and transatlantic fame. His works on the fabled "Atlantis" and "Ragnarok" prove him to be not only a thinker and scientist, but a writer, the charms of whose style are equal to the profundity of his thought. His last work on the authorship of the Shakespearean plays has attracted universal attention, not only for the boldness of his speculations, but for the consummate ingenuity he has shown in detecting the alleged cipher by which he assumes to prove Lord Bacon to be the author of the plays in question. The book has excited much controversy, and, as was to be expected, much adverse criticism. Mr. Donnelly was married in Philadelphia, Sept. 10, 1855, to Miss Catherine McCaffrey of that city. They have three children living.
Francis M. Crosby.—The ancestors of Mr. Crosby were of Revolutionary fame. He was born in Wilmington, Windhamcounty, Vermont, Nov. 13, 1830. He received a common and high school education and spent one year at Mount Cæsar Seminary, at Swansea, New Hampshire. He studied law and was admitted to practice at Bennington, Vermont, in 1855. He served in the Vermont house of representatives in 1855-56. He continued the practice of law until 1858, when he came to Hastings and engaged in the practice of law. He served as judge of probate court in 1860-61, acted as school commissioner several years in Dakota county, and was elected, in 1871, judge of the First Judicial district comprising the counties of Goodhue, Dakota, Washington, Chisago, Pine, and Kanabec. He held the first courts in Pine and Kanabec counties. Judge Crosby is held in high esteem, not only by the bar, but by the people at large. He is gentlemanly in his manners, yet prompt and decisive in action.
He was married to Helen A. Sprague, in New York, May 13, 1866. Mrs. Crosby died in 1869. He married a second wife, Helen M. Bates, in New York, in 1872. They have two sons and three daughters.
Hon. G. W. Le Ducwas born at Wilkesville, Gallia county, Ohio, March 29, 1823. His father, Henry Savary Duc, was the son of Henri Duc, an officer of the French Army, who came over with D'Estaing to assist the colonies in the Revolutionary struggle. The grandfather, after some stirring adventures in Guadaloupe, where he came near being murdered in a negro insurrection, escaped and came to Middletown, Connecticut, in 1796, where he was married to Lucy, daughter of Col. John Sumner, of Duryea's Brigade, Continental Troops, and a member of the Sumner family which came to Massachusetts in 1637. The father was married to Mary Stewell, of Braintree, New York, in 1803. The family name, originally written Duc, was changed to Le Duc in 1845. The grandfather removed to Ohio and founded the town of Wilkesville. G. W. Le Duc, the grandson, spent his early life at this place, but was educated at Lancaster Academy, a school that numbered amongst its scholars Gen. W. T. and Senator John Sherman, the Ewing brothers, and others prominent in the history of the country. He entered Kenyon College in 1844, graduated in 1848, and was employed for awhile by the firms of H. W. Derby & Co., of Cincinnati, and A. S. Barnes & Co., of New York. Meanwhile he studied law, and in 1850 wasadmitted to practice in the supreme court of Ohio. July 5, 1850, he came to St. Paul and engaged in selling books, supplying the legislature and the government officers at the Fort, but gradually turned his attention to practice in land office courts. At the breaking out of the Rebellion he enlisted, and was assigned to duty as captain A. Z. in the Army of the Potomac. During his term of service he was promoted to the grades of lieutenant colonel, colonel and brigadier general by brevet. Since the war his most important official position has been that of commissioner of agriculture through the administration of President Hayes. In 1856 he removed to Hastings, and has ever since been identified with the progress and prosperity of that city, and is the owner of large property interests there.
HON. G. W. LE DUC.HON. G. W. LE DUC.
This county lies on the west bank of the Mississippi river, between the counties of Dakota and Wabasha. It derived its name from James M. Goodhue, pioneer editor and publisher in St. Paul. It is a rich and populous county. The county seat is Red Wing, a thriving city of 7,000 inhabitants, located on the banks of the Mississippi a short distance below the mouth of Cannon river, and at the outlet of several valleys forming a larger valley, well adapted to become the site of a city. The hills surrounding the city are high, bold and many of them precipitous. Mount La Grange, commonly known as Barn Bluff, a large isolated bluff, a half mile in length and three hundred and twenty feet in height, stands between the lower part of the city and the river. Part of the county lies upon the shore of Lake Pepin, and includes the famous Point no Point, a bold promontory extending far out into the lake, with a curve so gradual that the eye of the person ascending or descending the lake is unable to define the Point, which appears to recede before him as he approaches, till at last it disappears, when looking backward he sees it in the part of the lake already traversed. Cannon river, a considerable stream, passes through the county from west to east.
Cannon Falls, on this river, once a picturesque and wild waterfall, is now surrounded by the mills, manufactories and dwellings of a flourishing village, named after the falls. Goodhue county was organized under territorial law. In 1845 the principal point was Red Wing. There we found a Swiss missionary named Galvin, an Indian farmer name Bush and the noted Jack Frazer, a half-breed trader, all living in log buildings. Mr. Galvin had a school of Indian children. Near by was an Indian cemetery—burying ground it could not be called, as the bodies of the dead were elevated upon the branches of trees and upon stakes to be out of reach of animals. The bodies were wrapped in blankets and exposed until the flesh had decayed, when thebones were taken and buried. Red Wing's band of Sioux Indians had their encampment here. It is said that Red Wing, the chief for whom the village and city was afterward named, chose for his burial place the summit of Barn Bluff, and that when he died he was buried there, seated upon his horse, with his face turned to the Happy Hunting Ground, the Indians heaping the earth around him till a huge mound was formed. The legend may need confirmation, but a mound is there to this day, on the highest part of the bluff, and the high spirited chief could certainly have wished no nobler grave.
Red Wing city bears few traces of its humble origin. It is a fine, compactly built city, with handsome public and private buildings. It was for some years the seat of Hamline University, now removed to St. Paul.
Hans Mattson.—Col. Mattson is a native of Onestad, Sweden. He was born Dec. 23, 1832. His parents were Matts and Ilgena (Larson) Mattson, both now residents of Vasa, Minnesota. The son was educated at a high classical school in Christianstad, and in his seventeenth year entered the military service as a cadet and served one year. Disliking its monotony, and having an adventurous spirit he embarked for America, where he found himself abjectly poor, and worked as a cabin boy on a coasting vessel, as a farm hand, and afterward with a shovel on an Illinois railroad until 1853, when he secured a position as an emigrant agent, whose business it was to select homes for Swedish colonists. He, with others, came to Vasa, Goodhue county, Minnesota, where he dealt in real estate, studying law meanwhile with Warren Bristol. He was admitted to the bar in 1858. He was elected county auditor the same year and served till 1860, when he entered the army as captain of Company D, Third Minnesota Infantry. At the end of four years he left the service with the rank of colonel. After his return from the war he formed a law partnership with C. C. Webster, and a year later he accepted the position of editor of a Swedish newspaper in Chicago. In 1867 Gov. Marshall appointed him secretary of the state board of immigration, which position he held several years, doing the State excellent service. In 1869 he was elected secretary of state, but before his term of office expired resigned to accept the appointment of land agent of railway corporations, which enabled him to spend four years abroad.
L. F. Hubbard
Col. Mattson was for some time editor of theStaats Tidning, a Swedish paper in Minneapolis, and a large owner and general manager of theSwedish Tribunepublished in Chicago. He was a presidential elector in 1876. He was again elected secretary of state for 1887-88. He is a versatile writer and a fluent speaker, a frank, outspoken and honorable man. He was married Nov. 23, 1855, to Cherstin Peterson, a native of Bullingslof, Sweden. They have five children living.
Lucius Frederick Hubbardwas born Jan. 26, 1836, at Troy, New York. He was the oldest son of Charles F. and Margaret (Van Valkenburg) Hubbard, his father being a descendant of the Hubbard family that emigrated from the mother country and settled in New England in 1595; his mother coming from the Holland Dutch stock that has occupied the valley of the Hudson river since its earliest history.
The father dying early, the son found a home with an aunt at Chester, Vermont, until he was twelve years old, when he was sent for three years to the academy at Granville, New York. At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to a tinner at Poultney, Vermont, and completed his trade at Salem, New York, in 1854, when he removed to Chicago for three years. He then removed to Red Wing, Minnesota, and started the Red WingRepublican. In 1858 he was elected register of deeds of Goodhue county. In 1861 he sold out his interest in theRepublicanand ran for the state senate, but was defeated by the small majority of seven votes. In December, 1861, he enlisted in Company A, Fifth Minnesota Volunteers, and was elected captain. In March, 1862, he became lieutenant colonel; in August, colonel; and for conspicuous gallantry at the battle of Nashville was promoted to the position of brigadier general. He participated in the battles of Farmington; of Corinth, where he was severely wounded; of Iuka, the second battle of Corinth; of Jackson and Mississippi Springs; in the siege of Vicksburg; in the battle of Richmond, Louisiana; of Greenfield, Louisiana; of Nashville, where he was wounded and had two horses killed under him, and at the siege of Spanish Fort. He was mustered out in October, 1865, at Mobile, Alabama. He was engaged in twenty-fourbattles and minor engagements and won an enviable record for his intrepidity and coolness. He returned to Red Wing with broken health, the result of fatigue and exposure.
In 1866 he engaged in the grain business at Red Wing, and soon thereafter in milling operations on a large scale in Wabasha county. In 1872 he purchased an interest in the Forest mill, at Zumbrota, Goodhue county, and in 1875, with others, bought the mills and water power at Mazeppa, in Wabasha county, the mills soon after being rebuilt and enlarged.
In 1868 he raised, through his personal influence, the money necessary for the completion of the Midland railway, a line extending from Wabasha to Zumbrota.
He subsequently projected and organized the Minnesota Central railway (Cannon Valley), to run from Red Wing to Mankato. As president of the company he secured the building of the road from Red Wing to Waterville, about sixty-six miles.
In 1878 Gen. Hubbard was nominated for Congress in the Second district of Minnesota, but declined. In 1872 he was elected to the state senate, and again in 1874, declining a re-election in 1876. In the senate he was regarded as one of the best informed, painstaking and influential members. He was on the committee to investigate the state treasurer's and state auditor's offices, and was largely instrumental in recommending and shaping legislation that brought about the substantial and much needed reform in the management of those offices. He was also one of the three arbitrators selected to settle the difficulties between the State and the prison contractors at Stillwater. He was appointed commissioner, with John Nichols and Gen. Tourtelotte, in 1866, to investigate the status of the state railroad bond, levied in 1858, and finally settled in 1881.
On Sept. 28, 1881, Gen. Hubbard was nominated for governor of Minnesota, and was elected by a majority of 27,857, the largest majority ever received by any governor elected in the State. In 1883 he was renominated and re-elected by a very large majority.
Gov. Hubbard is an affable, genial, courteous gentleman, whose integrity has never been questioned; a man of the people, and in sympathy with them and the best interests and general prosperity of the State.
Gov. Hubbard was married in May, 1868, at Red Wing, toAmelia, daughter of Charles Thomas, a merchant of that place. He has three children, two boys, aged seventeen and eleven respectively, and a girl.
William Colvilleis of Scotch descent on his father's side. The ancient homestead of the family at Ochiltree is mentioned by Sir Walter Scott in his novel, "The Antiquary." On his mother's side he is of Irish descent. His ancestors participated in the American Revolution. He was born in Chautauqua county, New York, April 5, 1830; was educated at the Fredonia Academy, taught school one winter, read law in the office of Millard Fillmore and Solomon L. Haven, of Buffalo, and was admitted to the bar in 1851. He practiced law at Forestville three years, and then removed to Red Wing, Minnesota. His first winter he spent in St. Paul as enrolling clerk of the territorial council, and the winter following was secretary of the council. In the spring of 1855 he established the Red WingSentinel, a Democratic paper, and conducted it until the Civil War broke out. In 1861 he entered the service as captain of Company F, First Minnesota Infantry, and served with that regiment three years, conducting himself with such gallantry as to win promotion. He was wounded at the first battle of Bull Run, at Nelson's Farm and at Gettysburg, the last wounds received maiming him for life, and necessitating a close of his military career. At the end of three years he left the service with the rank of colonel, and edited theSentineluntil January, 1865, when he took his seat as representative in the legislature. At its adjournment he was appointed colonel of the First Minnesota Heavy Artillery which was stationed at Chattanooga till the close of the war. Col. Colville was mustered out of the service with the brevet rank of brigadier general. In the autumn of 1865 he was elected attorney general of the State on the Union ticket and served two years. In 1866 he ran for Congress in opposition to the Republican nominee. In 1877 he was elected as a Democrat to the lower house of the state legislature in the strongest Republican county in the State. The same year he was appointed by President Cleveland register of the land office at Duluth, to which place he has removed his residence. He was married to Miss Jane E. Morgan, of Oneida, New York, in 1867, a descendant of Elder Brewster, who came over in the Mayflower.
Martin S. Chandler, for twenty-two years sheriff of Goodhuecounty, Minnesota, was born in Jamestown, New York, Feb. 14, 1827. He came to Goodhue county in 1856 and engaged for awhile farming at Pine Island. He was elected county commissioner in 1856, and served until 1858, removing meanwhile to Red Wing, which has since been his home. In 1859 he was elected sheriff of Goodhue county, and held the office for eleven consecutive terms, until 1882, when he was elected to the state senate. He was presidential elector in 1872. He was appointed surveyor general in 1883, which office he held until 1887. He was married to Fannie F. Caldwell, of Jamestown, New York, in 1848. His only daughter, Florence C., is the wife of Ira S. Kellogg, of Red Wing, one of the oldest druggists in the State.
Charles McClurewas born in Virginia in 1810; was graduated at Lewisburg, Virginia, in 1827; studied law and was admitted to practice in 1829. He came to Minnesota and located at Red Wing in 1856, where he opened a law office. In 1857 he was a member of the constitutional convention, presidential elector in 1861, state senator in 1862-63 and in 1864, judge of the First district, filling the vacancy caused by the retirement of Judge McMillan. At the fall election of the same year he was elected judge of the First district and served seven years. This district embraced Washington, Chisago, Goodhue and Dakota counties. Judge McClure is a man of unquestionable ability and integrity.
Horace B. Wilsonwas born in Bingham; Somerset county, Maine, March 30, 1821. His grandfather settled in Maine twenty years prior to the Revolution. He had a fair common school education until sixteen years old, when he attended the Maine Wesleyan Seminary, graduating four years later. He devoted himself chiefly to teaching, and studied law meanwhile, but never practiced. He taught in Cincinnati, Ohio, Lawrenceburg and New Albany, Indiana, until 1850, when he was elected city civil engineer, which position he filled six years. In 1858 he removed to Red Wing, Minnesota, and taught, as professor of mathematics, natural science and civil engineering in Hamline University four years. In 1862 he enlisted in Company F, Sixth Minnesota Infantry, was elected captain, and mustered out at the close of the war. His military service was quite arduous, including campaigning against the Sioux until 1864, when the regiment was ordered South and attached to the Sixteenth Army Corps.
In 1866 he was appointed superintendent of schools for Goodhue county. In 1870 he was appointed state superintendent of schools, which position he held five years. He was elected representative in the state legislature in 1877, and subsequently he served four terms as senator, and was presidentpro tem.of that body during the trial of E. St. Julien Cox, and in the absence of the lieutenant governor presided during the trial. For the past few years he has devoted himself to civil engineering, and has had charge of the public improvements of Red Wing. In 1844 he was married to Mary J. Chandler, who died in 1887.
Among the prominent early settlers of Red Wing not mentioned in our biographical notices were William Freeborn, for whom Freeborn county was named, and who was a senator in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth legislatures. Judges Welch and Wilder, W. C. Williston and Warren Bristol, lawyers, both state senators from Goodhue, and the latter a judge in Arizona. Rev. Chauncey Hobart, D.D., a Methodist pioneer preacher, and author of a history of Methodism in Minnesota and an autobiography; Rev. Peter Akers, D.D., an eminent educator; Rev. M. Sorin, D.D., an eloquent preacher, and Rev. Samuel Spates and J. W. Hancock, prominent as missionaries, the latter the first pastor located in the village. Andrew S. Durant, first hotel keeper; Calvin F. Potter, first merchant. W. W. Phelps and Christopher Graham were appointed to the land office in 1855.
This county, named in honor of a Sioux chief, lies on the west shore of the Mississippi river and Lake Pepin, between Goodhue and Winona counties. It has a majestic frontage of bold bluffs on the lake and river. From the summit of these bluffs stretch away broad undulating prairie lands, with occasional depressions, or valleys, caused by the streams tributary to the river.
Wabasha village is the county seat. The county is traversed by the St. Paul & Milwaukee railway, and the Zumbrota Valley Narrow Gauge railroad has its eastern terminus at Wabasha village. A railroad from Minneiska to Eyota, in Olmsted county, through Plainview, also passes through this county. Lake City is a thriving village on the lake shore, beautifully situated. The Grand Encampment, located about two miles below Wabasha village, was once a point of great interest. It was from timeimmemorial a camping ground for Indians. It has an abundance of ancient mounds. The only people in the county in 1845, when the author first visited this section, were the Campbell, Cratt, Bessian, and a few other French families. Bailey and sons, Dr. Francis H. Milligan, B. S. Hurd, Samuel S. Campbell, a prominent lawyer, and Wm. L. Lincoln came later to Wabasha. Reed's Landing, at the foot of Lake Pepin, was early settled by Messrs. Reed, Fordyce, Richards, and others. This point controls an immense trade for the Chippewa river, which empties its waters into the Mississippi just opposite.
Nathaniel Stacy Tefftis a native of Hamilton, Madison county, New York, where he was born July 16, 1830. He was educated in the common schools and academy; in 1848 commenced studying medicine and received his diploma the same year at Cincinnati, after attending lectures at the medical college in that city. In 1856 he came to Minnesota and located in Minneiska, where he practiced medicine, served as postmaster, justice of the peace, and member of the legislature. In 1861 he removed to Plainview, where he has taken rank as a leading surgeon and physician in that part of the State. He has also served as member of the state senate (in 1871-72). The writer had the pleasure of meeting him in the legislature of 1858 and found him a strong opponent of the $5,000,000 bill. Dr. Tefft was married to Hattie S. Gibbs, of Plainview, Nov. 10, 1866.
James Wells.—In 1845 the writer found Mr. Wells living in a stone trading house on the west shore of Lake Pepin, on the first high ground on the shore above Lake City. Mr. Wells had a half-breed family and was very reticent in his manner. He was a member of the first territorial house of representatives. When the country became more thickly settled he went West and was killed by the Sioux Indians in the massacre of 1862.
Was named after the daughter of the Indian chief who, according to the well known legend, precipitated herself from the famous rock on the eastern shore of Lake Pepin, which has ever since been known as "Maiden's Rock." The county lies on the west shore of the Mississippi, below Wabasha county. The frontage of the bluffs on the river is unsurpassed for grandeur and beauty, the bluffs here attaining an altitude of six hundred feet abovethe river. The natural castles and turrets crowning these bluffs remind the traveler of the towns on the Rhine and Danube, and it is difficult to realize that they are the handiwork of Nature and not of man. The most striking of these bluffs occupies a position in the rear of the beautiful city of Winona, overlooking the city and the valley, and affording from its summit possibly the finest view on the river. The city of Winona lies on a spacious plateau between the bluffs and the river. In 1845 a solitary log cabin, the resting place of the mail carrier, marked the site, and a large Indian village, belonging to the band of Chief Wapashaw, occupied a portion of the present site of the city. All traces of this village have long since disappeared, and given place to one of the fairest and most flourishing cities on the river. The First State Normal School is located here. The St. Paul & Milwaukee railroad passes through, and the Winona & St. Peter railroad has its eastern terminus in this city. It is also the western terminus of the Green Bay & Mississippi. The Chicago, Burlington & Northern crosses the river here, and has a depot in the city.
Daniel S. Norton, at the time of his death United States senator from Minnesota, was born in Mount Vernon, Ohio, in April, 1829. He was educated at Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio; enlisted in the Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry in 1846 for service in the Mexican War; had his health seriously impaired in the service; spent two years in California, Mexico and Central America; returned to Ohio and read law with his father-in-law, Judge R. C. Hurd, practiced in Mount Vernon, Ohio, with Hon. William Windom and came with him to Minnesota in 1855, locating at Winona. Mr. Norton served as senator in the first state legislature, where the writer served with him on several committees, among them the committee on the $5,000,000 bond bill, a bill which Mr. Norton strongly and earnestly opposed, predicting clearly its disastrous results. He also served as senator in the legislatures of 1861-64 and 65, when he was elected to the United States senate, which position he held at the time of his death, in 1870. He was twice married, first in 1856, to Miss Lizzie Sherman, of Mount Vernon, Ohio, who died in 1862. The second time to Miss Laura Cantlan, of Baltimore, in 1868.
William Windom, a native of Ohio, came to Winona in 1855. He had been admitted to practice in 1853, and formed apartnership with D. S. Norton in Mount Vernon, Ohio, who came with him to Winona, where they continued their law partnership. Mr. Windom has been quite prominent in the politics of the State and county, having served in the United States senate two terms, from 1871 to 1883. He was also a representative in Congress from 1859 to 1869. He served as secretary of the treasury to fill a vacancy. During his congressional career he was an ardent supporter of the Union, and won the respect of the nation for his unswerving firmness in upholding his principles. He is a man of great executive ability, and has used his talents and his wealth, of which he has accumulated a considerable share, in the interests of the public. He has been heavily interested in the building of the Northern Pacific and other railroads, and in real estate. His opportunities have been great, he has wisely employed them, and richly deserves the success he has achieved.
Charles H. Berry, the first attorney general of the state of Minnesota, was born at Westerly, Rhode Island, Sept. 12, 1823. He received an excellent school and academic education, graduating at Canandaigua Academy in 1846. He afterward read law and was admitted to practice at Rochester in 1848. He practiced his profession at Corning, New York, until 1855, when he removed to Winona and opened the first law office in that city. He was associated until 1871 with C. N. Waterman. When Minnesota became a state, in 1858, he was elected attorney general and served two years. He was state senator in 1874-75 and has been United States commissioner since 1873. He takes great interest in local and state affairs, especially in educational matters. He has been for many years connected with the city school board and for eight years its president. He was also largely instrumental in locating the State Normal School at Winona. Mr. Berry is a Democrat in politics, is prominent in Masonic circles and a leading member of the Episcopal church. He was married to Frances E. Hubbell, of Corning, New York, Nov. 14, 1850. They have one daughter, Kate Louise, married to Prof. C. A. Morey, principal of the State Normal School.
Thomas Wilsonwas born in Tyrone county, Ireland, May 16, 1827. He received his education in this country, graduating at Meadville College, Pennsylvania, in 1852. He studied law,was admitted to the bar in 1855, and in the same year came to Winona and entered the law firm of Sargent & Wilson, known a few years later as Sargent, Wilson & Windom. He was a member of the Republican wing of the constitutional convention in 1857. He was elected district judge of the Fourth district, taking his seat in 1858, and serving six years. In 1864 Gov. Miller appointed him to a vacancy on the supreme bench, caused by the resignation of Judge Flandrau, and in the fall of the same year he was elected chief justice for a term of seven years. In 1869 he resigned this position to resume his law practice. In 1881 he was elected as a representative, and from 1883 to 1886, inclusive, as a senator in the state legislature. He was elected as a representative to Congress in 1887.
Thomas Simpsonis of Scotch parentage, but was born in Yorkshire, England, May 31, 1836. He came to America with his parents when a child, to Dubuque county, Iowa. His educational advantages were good, and he learned, when not in school, to assist his father, who was a miner, smelter and farmer. He studied engineering and surveying with E. S. Norris, of Dubuque, and was engaged in government surveys from 1853 to 1856, when he settled in Winona, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1858, when he formed a law partnership with Judge Abner Lewis and Geo. P. Wilson. In addition to his law business he has been a heavy dealer in real estate and money loaning. There are few public enterprises in Winona which he has not actively promoted. He was a delegate to the national convention that nominated Lincoln for the presidency in 1864, also to the convention that nominated Grant in 1868. He served as state senator in 1866-67. He has been an influential member of the Methodist church. He was married Oct. 30, 1860, to Maggie Holstein, of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. They have three sons.
Wm. H. Yalewas born Nov. 12, 1831, at New Hartford, Connecticut; was educated at Sheffield Institute; came to Winona in 1857, and practiced law. He was state senator in 1867-68, 1876-77, and lieutenant governor from 1870 to 1874.
Other prominent citizens of Winona are: Dr. James Monroe Cole, the oldest physician in the city; Royal Day Cone, one of the first merchants; Judge Wm. Mitchell; —— Norton, a lumberman and county treasurer several years; W. W. Phelps, first president of the State Normal School; —— Hough, builder of the first large hotel; Hodgins, Yeomans & Laird, lumbermen.
Pierre Bottineauwas born in the Red River settlement, now Dakota, in 1817. His early life was passed amongst the Ojibways in the employ of various fur companies. He has lived an eventful life and endured many hardships as a hunter, trapper and guide. He was early noted as a pilot to and from the Selkirk settlement. In 1843 he removed his family from Selkirk to St. Paul. In 1845 he removed to St. Anthony Falls, east side, where he laid out an addition to the new village. He was also, in 1851, the first settler at Maple Grove, or "Bottineau's Prairie," in Hennepin county. When he came to Fort Snelling he was employed by Gen. Sibley as a guide. In 1856 he assisted in selecting locations for forts. In 1858, after the establishment of Fort Abercrombie, he located the village of Breckenridge, now in Wilkin county, Minnesota. In 1859 he accompanied Geologist Skinner in his exploring expedition, having for its object the survey and location of salt mines, and was guide to Col. W. H. Noble's wagon road expedition to Frazer river. In 1860 he accompanied a military expedition with Gov. Ramsey to conclude treaties with the Northern Minnesota Chippewas. In 1862 he accompanied Capt. Fisk's Idaho expedition, and, in 1863, Gen. Sibley's expedition to the Missouri. Mr. Bottineau now resides at Red Lake Falls, Polk county, Minnesota.
Andrew G. Chatfield, a member of the Minnesota district bench at the time of his death, was born in the town of Butternuts, Otsego county, New York, Jan. 27, 1810. In 1838 he was a member of the New York assembly; in 1848 he removed to Racine, Wisconsin, where he was elected county judge. In 1853he was appointed associate justice of the supreme court of Minnesota Territory, and he made his home on a beautiful prairie in Scott county, on which he laid out the town of Belle Plaine. He acted as judge four years and then resumed the practice of law. In January, 1871, he was elected judge of the Eighth Judicial district, which he held until his death, which occurred Oct. 3, 1875. Judge Chatfield was married in 1836. His widow and an only daughter, Mrs. Cecilia Irwin, reside at Belle Plaine.
Hazen Mooers.—Biographical details of Mr. Mooers are scant and unreliable. He was probably born about the year 1796. It is said that he was in the battle of Plattsburgh, September, 1814, when he was a youth of eighteen years of age, and that he acted as a guard in protecting government and private property. We find by the Minnesota historical collections that he came to Gray Cloud island in 1835 and remained till 1843. It is probable that he remained there till 1848. He was commissioner of St. Croix county, Wisconsin, in 1840-41 and 1842. When he came to Gray Cloud island he was accompanied by a Mr. Robinson, and located in section 23. While at Gray Cloud he was married to a daughter of Dickson, the trader, and sister of Mrs. Joseph R. Brown. We have been unable to find mention of him later than 1848.
John McDonough Berrywas born at Pittsfield, New Hampshire, Sept. 18, 1827. Mr. Berry received an excellent education at the Pittsfield Academy, Phillips Academy and at Yale College, from which he graduated in 1847. He was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. He was in the law office of Ira Paley, later chief justice of New Hampshire. In 1850 he was admitted to the bar at Concord, New Hampshire. He commenced practice at Alton Corners, Belknap county, New Hampshire. Three years later he came West and located at Janesville, Wisconsin. In 1855 he moved to Faribault, this State, and at once came into prominence. In 1856 he was a member of the territorial house of representatives and chairman of the judiciary committee. In 1862 he was sent to the state senate from Rice county, and in 1864 he was elected associate justice of the state supreme court, a position he has filled with honor to himself and the bar. He removed to Minneapolis in 1879 and died there, greatly lamented, Nov. 15, 1887. An obituary notice from the daily press gives a fair estimate of his character:
"He was not a man that mingled much in society or put himself forward on any occasion, yet he had a very social, genial disposition, and every one that knew him valued the acquaintance highly. As a judge he was universally esteemed. His decisions were always marked by a peculiarly vigorous grasp of bottom facts. His mind was a naturally judicial one. His own ideas were fresh and original, and his way of expressing them unusually vigorous. He devoted himself wholly to his judicial duties and to his family. He was a great reader and student and a great home man. His affections were wholly centred in his wife and children. His distaste for ostentation and publicity is evidenced in his expressed wish for a private funeral."
He was married May 26, 1853, to Alice A. Parker, of Roscoe, Illinois, who survives him.
Mark H. Dunnellis of Scotch descent. He was born July 2, 1823, at Buxton, Maine. He was raised on a farm, but graduated at Waterville College, Maine, in 1849, and for three years following was engaged in teaching. In 1852 he was elected to the Maine house of representatives, and afterward served five years as state superintendent of schools. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1856, and in 1860 practiced his profession in Portland. In 1861 he was appointed United States consul to Vera Cruz, Mexico. Before going to Mexico he was appointed colonel of the Fifth Maine Volunteers, and participated in the first battle of Bull Run. He resigned his consulship in 1862, and returned to Maine, where he aided the governor in recruiting and organizing regiments for the military service. In 1865 he came to Winona, Minnesota, was a member of the Minnesota house of representatives in 1867, and afterward served three years as state superintendent of instruction. He resigned this office to take a seat in Congress, and represented his district a period of ten years. He was married Nov. 20, 1850, to Sarah A. Parrington, of Goshen, Maine. They have three children living.
James Heaton Baker, son of Rev. Henry Baker, a Methodist preacher, and Hannah (Heaton) Baker, was born in Monroe, Ohio, May 6, 1829. He graduated at Ohio Wesleyan University in 1852. In 1853 he purchased the SciotaGazette, at Chillicothe, Ohio. In 1855 he was elected secretary of state on the ticket headed by Salmon P. Chase as governor. In 1857 heremoved to Minnesota, where, for two successive terms he was elected to the same office. At the outbreak of the Civil War he resigned, and accepted a colonel's commission in the Tenth Minnesota Volunteers. In 1863 his command was ordered to the South, and he was detached and made provost marshal of St. Louis, and subsequently of the department of Missouri, in which position he served until the close of the war, he being meanwhile promoted to a brevet brigadier generalship.
At the close of the war he was appointed register of the land office at Booneville, Missouri, but in two years resigned and returned to his farm in Blue Earth county, Minnesota.
In 1871 President Grant appointed him commissioner of pensions, a position for which he was singularly well fitted. He resigned in 1875, and was appointed by President Grant surveyor general of Minnesota. Gen. Baker has been prominent in Masonic circles, and has contributed much to the newspaper and periodical press. He was married Sept. 25, 1852, to Rose R., daughter of Reuben H. Thurston, then of Delaware, Ohio, now of Mankato, Minnesota. This estimable lady died at Washington City, March 21, 1873, leaving two sons, Arthur and Harry E. Gen. Baker, since his appointment as surveyor general, has resided at Mankato. He served in 1885 and 1886 as railroad commissioner for the State.
Horace Burton Straitis of Virginia Revolutionary stock. He was born in Potter county, Pennsylvania, Jan. 26, 1835. His educational advantages were such only as the common schools afforded, and he is largely self cultured. He came to Minnesota in 1855, and engaged in farming near Shakopee, but in 1860 moved to the county seat, and engaged in mercantile business. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company I, Ninth Minnesota Volunteers, commanded by Col. Alexander Wilkin; was commissioned as captain, and in 1864 as major; was mustered out at the close of the war, since which time he has been engaged in milling, banking and farming. He was president of the First National Bank of Shakopee. He served as mayor of Shakopee in 1870-71-72, when he was elected to Congress, and served by continuous re-elections until 1888, when J. L. MaDonald became his successor. He was emphatically a working member. He has been twice married. His first wife died in 1872, leaving one child.
Judson Wade Bishopwas born at Evansville, New York, June 24, 1831. He received an academic education at Fredonia Academy, and at Union Academy, Belleville, New York. Leaving school at the age of sixteen, he was employed for several years as clerk and book-keeper and in teaching. Having a taste for civil engineering he fitted himself for usefulness in that department at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute of Troy, New York, and in 1853 secured a position as draughtsman on the Canadian Grand Trunk railway. At the completion of the road, in 1857, he obtained employment in railroad surveying, making his residence at Chatfield until 1861, where he purchased a newspaper, the ChatfieldDemocrat. At the first call for troops in 1861 he sold his office, volunteered as a soldier, and was mustered in as captain of a company in the Second Regiment, June 26, 1861. He was mustered out at the close of the war with the brevet rank of brigadier general, and resumed railroad work, in which he has since been active and conspicuous. For some years he was manager of the St. Paul & Sioux City. His connection with railroad enterprises necessitated his removal in 1864 to Le Sueur, in 1868 to Mankato and in 1873 to St. Paul, which has since been his home. He has also been a heavy dealer in real estate. He was married Jan. 11, 1866, to Nellie S. Husted, of Galena, Illinois, who died Sept. 19, 1878, leaving three sons, Charles Husted, Edwin Judson and Robert Haven.
John Louis McDonald.—The paternal ancestors of our subject were Highlanders, of the clan "McDonald of the Isle." John Louis was born in Glasgow, Scotland, Feb. 22, 1836; came with his parents to America in 1842, lived a few years in Nova Scotia, then removed to Pittsburgh where he received an academic education. He removed to Belle Plaine, Scott county, Minnesota, in 1855, read law with Judge Chatfield, and was admitted to practice at Shakopee in 1858, removing thither three years later, and continuing in practice, serving as probate judge from 1859 to 1864 and publishing and editing the Belle PlaineEnquirer, and later, the ShakopeeArgus, serving two years as prosecuting attorney, four years as superintendent of schools, two years as state representative (1869-70) and three years as state senator (1874-75 and 1876). In 1877 he was elected district judge, and served seven years. In 1888 he took his seat as representative in Congress. As a judge he is thoroughly well informed, clear-sighted and impartial.
Thomas H. Armstrongwas born in Milan, Ohio, Feb. 6, 1829. He graduated from Western Reserve College in 1854, commenced the practice of law at La Crosse, Wisconsin, in 1856, practiced at High Forest, Minnesota, until 1870, when he discontinued practice. Three years later he moved to Albert Lea, Minnesota, and established the Freeborn County Bank.
Mr. Armstrong has acted a prominent part in the legislation of the State, having been a representative in the legislatures of 1864 and 1865, and, as lieutenant governor, president of the senate for the four succeeding terms. He was elected speaker of the house in the legislature of 1865. As a presiding officer he was courteous, dignified, and fair in his rulings, and an excellent parliamentarian. April 1, 1868, he was married to Mrs. Elisabeth M. Butman, daughter of John Burgess, of Cleveland, Ohio.
Augustas Armstrong, a younger brother of the foregoing, and a prominent citizen of Albert Lea, died in 1873.
Moses K. Armstrong, another brother, has represented Dakota in Congress.
James B. Wakefieldwas born at Winstead, Litchfield county, Connecticut, March 21, 1828. He graduated at Trinity College, Hartford, in 1846; studied law, and was admitted to practice in 1851; came to Shakopee, Minnesota; practiced law two years and removed to Blue Earth City. He has been called to fill various and responsible public positions. He was a member of the legislature several terms, serving as representative in 1858, 63 and 66, and as senator in 1867-68-69. He served as deputy Indian agent at the Lower Sioux agency from 1856 to the Indian outbreak, and in 1869 was appointed receiver of the Winnebago land office, which position he held six years. From 1875 to 1879 he served as lieutenant governor of Minnesota, and from 1884 to 1886 as member of Congress. He served as a delegate to the Republican convention which nominated President Grant in 1868, and to the convention which nominated President Hayes in 1876. Mr. Wakefield was married in August, 1864, to Miss Nannette Reinhart, of Blue Earth City.
William Wallace Bradenwas born in Iberia, Ohio, Dec. 3, 1837. He was educated in the district schools and reared as a farmer. In November he came to Fillmore county with his father, and engaged in farming. He was a member of the legislaturein 1866-67, and has served three terms as county treasurer. During the Civil War he served three years with the rank of lieutenant, and then of captain in Company K, Sixth Minnesota Volunteers, and was for some time detached from his command as provost marshal of Southern Missouri, with headquarters at Springfield. Capt. Braden is prominent as a Mason, and as a Republican takes an active interest in the politics of the State and nation. He was elected state auditor in 1881, and re-elected in 1885. He was married March 7, 1866, to Addie Griswold, of Pennsylvania.
Reuben Butterswas born in Union, Lincoln county, Maine, May 26, 1816. He received such education as could be obtained at winter schools, and employed himself chiefly in clerking and mercantile pursuits until 1851, when he came to Minnesota and became the first permanent settler in the Minnesota valley above Shakopee. He made the first claim at Le Sueur, having, in connection with Messrs. Thompson and Lindsey, a station at that place, also at Kasota. He has been engaged chiefly in farming. He has also a stone quarry and store in Kasota, and does a fair amount of trading. Mr. Butters was a member of the first state legislature, and has served seven or eight sessions since. He was county commissioner many years. In politics he is a Democrat.
Mr. Butters has been twice married, first in November, 1847, to Elizabeth Hill, of Cleveland, Ohio, and second in May, 1861, to Mrs. Mary E. Rogers, of Maine. He died March 29, 1888.
Michael Doran, a most successful business man and prominent in political affairs, having served six terms in the state senate, was born in the county of Meath, Ireland, Nov. 1, 1829. He received but little education before coming to this country in 1850, when, although over twenty-one years of age, he obtained two years' schooling. He landed in New York City, remained in the State about a year and removed to Norwalk, Ohio, where he farmed and kept a grocery store. In 1856 he came westward and located at Le Sueur, where he engaged in farming. In 1860 he was elected county treasurer and served and held the office eight years. Since 1870 he has been engaged in banking, farming and real estate operations. He is also one of the owners of the elevator and flouring mill at Le Sueur.
In politics he is a Democrat and was an elector on the McClellan ticket. His senatorial terms were from 1872 to 1875 and1877 and 1879. He has been twice married. His first wife was Ellen Brady, of Norwalk, Ohio, married in May, 1855. His second wife was Catherine J. Grady, of Le Sueur, married Feb. 10, 1864.
Andrew McCreawas born in New Brunswick in 1830, received a common school education and learned the business of farming and lumbering. His father having died early, the support of a mother and crippled brother devolved upon him. He was married to Jane Murphy, in New Brunswick, when he was twenty-one years of age. Mrs. McCrea died in 1878. He married a second wife in 1880. His family consists of eight sons and one daughter. He came to Minnesota in 1854, removed to Stearns county in 1858, and to Otter Tail county in 1872, where he now resides in the town of Perham. He was a member of the legislature of 1876-77, and of the senate of 1878 to 1882, inclusive. In 1885 he was appointed one of the commissioners to locate the second state prison.
John W. Blakewas born in Foxcroft, Maine, in 1839. His parents moved to Wisconsin in 1840. He received a good education in the common schools, in Milton Academy, and Wisconsin State University, and became a civil engineer. He served as a soldier during the war of the Rebellion. In 1872 he came to Minnesota, located at Marshall, Lyon county, and the same year was elected a representative in the legislature. He was a member of the senate during the years 1875, 1876, 1882, and 1884.
Knute Nelson, born in Norway, came to America, studied law at Wisconsin University, and was admitted to the bar. He came to Alexandria in 1870, where he practiced law. He was a senator in the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth legislatures, and was elected representative to Congress from the Fifth Minnesota district in 1884 and 1886. Mr. Nelson is a man of unquestioned ability and force, a strong Republican, and an enthusiastic advocate of a modified tariff.
W. R. Dennywas born at Keene, New Hampshire, in 1839; received an academic education, and after spending eight years in Wisconsin, came to Carver, Minnesota, in 1867. He served in the state legislatures of 1874, 1876, 1879, and 1881. He was appointed United States marshal from 1882 to 1886. He was Grand Master of the Masonic fraternity in 1884-5. He was married in Wisconsin in 1863, and has a family of four children.