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HISTORY OF ANOKA COUNTY 

and the Towns of Champlin and Dayton

in Hennepin County Minnesota

By Albert M. Goodrich

Minneapolis

Hennepin Publishing Col. 1905

Transcribed by MaryAlice Schwanke

CHAPTER VI.

PROSPERITY IN "FIFTY-FIVE".

November 30th a special election was held in St. Anthony, Manomin (Fridley) and Anoka, on account of a tie vote at the general election between M. W. Getchell and A. M. Fridley, who were rival candidates for representative in the territorial legislature. At the special election twenty-six votes were cast in Anoka - twenty-one for Fridley and five for Getchell.

The flour mill was completed about Feb. 1st, 1855. It was located just north of the east end of the bridge. When it started to grind there was nothing like wheat enough in the territory to keep it running. Francis Peteler, John Hunter and John West hauled 6000 bushels of wheat from St. Paul to Anoka to supply the mill. The wheat came up by steamboat from southern Iowa and Wisconsin. February 24th, 1855, the mill was totally destroyed by fire, entailing a loss of about $12,000. This was the heaviest loss by fire which had ever occurred in Minnesota territory, and as there were as yet no insurance companies doing business in this region, the loss fell entirely upon the owners (Caleb and William H. Woodbury and A. P. Lane). Nevertheless, preparations were immediately made for rebuilding.

In March, 1855, E. P. Shaw sold his stock of goods and leased the store building to R. Ball, a merchant of St. Anthony, and the latter sent Samuel McCray to take charge of the Anoka store.

1855 was a very prosperous year in Minnesota. The crops gave early promise of an abundant harvest and immigration into the territory was large beyond all precedent.. During the spring months every steamboat from down the Mississippi brought all the passengers it could accommodate to St. Paul. Five hundred was not an uncommon number and some brought as high as eight hundred persons. Citizens of St. Paul used to wonder what would become of the crowds which swarmed up from the steamboat landing, and the problem of beds and provisions sometimes threatened to become serious. But the crowds melted away almost as rapidly as they came-hastening in every kind of conveyance and often on foot, up the Minnesota river or the Mississippi to the opening opportunities for work and investment. A gentleman traveling from Sauk Rapids to St. Paul in April counted seventy immigrant teams on the way. In April - Thurber started a tri-weekly stage between St. Anthony and Monticello. About the same time Joseph B. Holt opened a store at Elm creek, and Warren Sampson started another at Bottineau Prairie (Osseo). On the 8th of May Silas C. Robbins was sent by Mr. Ball to assist and ultimately to supersede Samuel McCray in the Anoka store. .

The old trading post gave temporary shelter to many of the early settlers. When Elder Twitchell moved out to take a claim just over the line of Grow, A. P. Lane moved into it, and when Lane’s house was up D. Y. Smith took possession, sharing it during the following winter with Daniel Robbins, and taking S. C. Robbins as a boarder. In 1855 came John S. McGlaufiin, who conducted a blacksmith shop in the town for many years.

All through the country the trees were covered with notices posted up by claimants who made little or no pretense of living on their claims. But rather than waste time in law suits the settlers pushed farther on. About 1854 Joseph Trott settled in Ramsey beside the brook to which his name was given, and a little later came A. J. McKinney and Samuel Littlefield. Francis

JOHN S. McGLAUFLIN.

Peteler and John Glynn settled in Grow, and the former persuaded Jacob Milliman, whose farm had been largely flooded when the dam was built, to locate near him. He also pointed out desirable locations to D. Y. Smith, John Mayall and S. C. Robbins in the same town, which they took. Robbins still managed the store, but contrived to stay on his claim enough to hold it. Nathaniel Small also settled in Grow in 1855. In May, 1855, Moses S. Seelye, Sr., with his son, H. E. Seelye; Jarvis Nutter and John McKenzie made claims in the northern part of what is now Oak Grove. In June David Rogers also settled in Oak Grove. Joseph Sausen took a claim in the southeast corner of Linwood in 1855, and J. H. Batzle made a claim near by in the northeast corner of Columbus the same year. The following year Yost Yost settled in Columbus.

The water in the rivers was low and logs for the St. Anthony mills were hung up in Rum river and at Coon rapids all summer. There were plenty of logs at Anoka, however, and the demand for lumber taxed the capacity of the saw mill to the utmost. In June a second up-and-down saw was placed in position, but still the demand for lumber exceeded the output. The steamer H. M. Rice lay tied up at Anoka all summer on account of low water, and the citizens turned it into a temporary church, holding religious services on board every Sunday. When the rains came late in September and the steamer went into active service, the new flour mill was utilized for a like purpose.

THE FIRST FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION.

“Fifty-fivers” relate with pleasure the events attending the first celebration of the Fourth of July in their new home. A picnic dinner was spread under the shade of a little grove on the bank of the Mississippi a block or more west of Ferry street. Dr. Giddings owned the only horse and buggy in town, and in this equipage he drove to the residence of Deacon J. F. Wheeler, and took Mrs. Wheeler to the grove, where she directed the arrangement of the tables. “Elder” Twitchell, as he was universally called, was the owner of a wagon, which served tolerably well for hauling hay and wood, but was hardly fitted for passenger service, and on this occasion it was not used. Thomas B. Richards, a recent arrival, had a yoke of oxen, and these he hitched to a sled, upon which kitchen chairs had been placed for seats, and by driving on the grass he brought to the scene of festivities a considerable party of the more favored ones in a style which doubtless aroused the envy of all beholders.

Settlers about Elm creek crossed the Mississippi in row boats and took an active part in the proceedings. Joseph B. Holt, the Elm creek merchant, read the Declaration of Independence, and Rev. Winthrop Hayden delivered the address. In the midst of his speech Mr. Hayden was interrupted by the firing of an anvil, which some enthusiastic patriot had set off.

“W e had hoped,” said the speaker when he could be heard again, “that we had gotten far enough west so that we could celebrate the Fourth of July without the aid of rum or gunpowder.”

His auditors laughed at this sally, and Mr. Hayden continued. his speech without further interruption, dwelling chiefiy upon temperance and slavery-the two topics which were then uppermost in the public mind.

The same week an unusually long Red river train made its appearance from the north. There were 300 carts in the train and twenty-six days had been consumed in making the trip.

About the first of August (1855) E. H. Davis started a hardware store in Anoka. A few weeks later Heman L. Ticknor opened a dry goods and grocery store. Up to this time all the merchants had located on the west side of Rum river, but having looked over the situation with some care, and noting the strong trend of settlement toward the lands afterward included in the town of Round Lake (Grow), Mr. Ticknor came to the conclusion

HEMAN L. TICKNOR.

that the east side would eventually be more favorable for trading purposes, and accordingly made over tures to the town site proprietors for the purchase of twenty-five feet on the corner of Main street and First avenue, now occupied by the grocery of McCauley Brothers The spot was still covered with its primitive growth of hazel brush. A high price was named, and Mr. Ticknor declined to pay the amount, securing an inner lot, upon which a building was erected. Some years later Mr. Ticknor bought the lot where the Goodrich & Jennings drug store stands, and put up another building, into which he moved his stock.

During the summer of 1855 the “Elm Creek and Anoka Ferry Company,” organized by J. B. Holt, James W. Groat and others, prepared to make use of the franchise which was granted to them by the county commissioners of Benton and Hennepin counties. Mr. Groat built the ferry boat and it made its first trip across the Mississippi Sept. 11, 1855.

In November the first school house was built. It stood on Third avenue just south of where the new Library building now stands at a point about opposite the front door of the court house. Besides being used for school purposes, this building was utilized as a place of worship by all denominations that held religious services.

November 22, 1855, a description of the town of Anoka appeared in the St. Anthony Republican, from which a very fair idea of the place as it then existed may be gathered. Doubtless some allowances should be made for the evident desire on the part of the writer to make a favorable showing, both as to the size of the town and the capacity of the various mills and factories. The essential parts of the article are as follows:

“The first blow was struck here in the summer of 1853; but in consequence of a break in the dam the work was not completed nor the saw mill running until August, 1854, from which time the town with propriety might date its growth. The proprietors, Messrs. Woodburys, Shaws and Farnham, have expended a large amount of money on the dam and mills.

“In the dam are four apertures for mills.

“On aperture No. I Messrs F. B. Dunn & Co. have in operation an upright saw cutting from 6,000 to 8,000 feet of lumber daily. A siding and flooring mill with all its equipments,‘ a lath mill, a shingle mill, and a well arranged rotary saw for fitting materials for lath mill and cutting the blocks for the shingle mill while all refuse timber is cut into stove wood.

“On aperture No. 2 the Messrs Woodburys have an upright saw, which manufactures from 6,000 to 8,000 feet of lumber per day, and a lath mill for working their slabs into laths.

“Aperture No. 3 is unoccupied and belongs to S. W. Farnham, who is one of the owners in No. I and the mills attached.

“On aperture NO. 4 Mr. J. P. VVoodbury has erected a saw mill frame which will be finished and put in running order as soon as possible and will aid in supplying the demand at this place for lumber, which during the low stage of water the past summer has been very great, from St. Anthony, Minneapolis, and the settlers in the northern part of Hennepin county, as well as those in and around Anoka.

“Aperture NO. 5 supplies a race twenty feet in width and several hundred feet long, which will ultimately be lined with the various kinds of machinery, which the accessibility of both pine and hardwood timber must induce.

“First on the race stands the shingle manufactory of O. A. Smith, who has a newly patented machine which to all appearances as good as the common shaved shingle. Next is the establishment of O. Smith & Co., with its turning lathe, bedstead machine, planing mill and manufactory of sash, doors and blinds.

“At the lower end of the race is located the new flouring mill of Woodburys and Lane, which in appear ance and the thoroughness of its construction and finish would do no discredit to any town in the Northwest. Less than nine months ago a flouring mill was burned to the ground, subjecting the owners to a loss of some $12,000, besides being no inconsiderable loss to the place and the surrounding country. On the ruins the present mill is erected ,and in all its appointments is full fifty percent better than its ill fated predecessor, whose short existence had enabled it to secure a reputation second to none in the territory. * * *

“On the west side of the river stands the Farnham House, a large and commodious hotel; also the post office, three stores-dry goods and groceries by J. Foster, groceries and provisions by E. P. Shaw, and dry goods and clothing by; a livery stable is kept by Mr. Shuler, which with one physician’s, two shoemakers’ and one tailor’s signs, greet the hungry, the naked, the weary and the sick. Here twenty-one buildings in a town of scarcely fifteen months’ age, enliven the western banks of Rum river. * * *

“On the east side of the river are located the mill, the Anoka House, kept by Mr. Lufkin-and formerly presided over by W. B. Fairbanks-the hardware store of E. H. Davis & Co., the dry goods and grocery of H. L. Ticknor & Co., which with dwellings, &c., swell the number of buildings to fifty and over in the town. * *

A comfortable school house is in process of erection, for which we are indebted to the public spirit of C. Woodbury.”

During the fall Dwight Woodbury began the erection of a dam and mill at “the new town,” which had been

A GROUP OF PIONEERS.

started but not yet surveyed or named, at “Rum river rapids.” After a time the name “Otona” was applied to it, but the place was more commonly referred to as “St. Jonathan.” It was several years later that St. Francis was finally fixed upon as the official name.

Notwithstanding the abundant crops, it began to be apparent early in the winter (1855-56) that there would be a scarcity of provisions in the territory. After navigation closed in the fall no further supplies could be obtained from without, and the population had so largely increased that what to the dealers in those days seemed large stocks melted away with astonishing rapidity. Corn at Anoka brought $1 to $1.50 per bushel and salt pork $25 to $30 a barrel. At Ball’s store Dwight Woodbury bought from S. C. Robbins seven bushels of beans at $7 per bushel, for the use of his men who were at work on the new mill at “St. Jonathan,” and was nclined to be angry because he could not buy all there was in the store at that price, until Mr. Robbins explained to him that he had promised to keep some beans for his customers.

A PERIOD OF SPECUl.A'l'ION.

The large profits which had accrued to those who had put in crops in 1855, arising from the unusual combination of bountiful harvests and very high prices, presaged a great increase in farming operations for 1856. Many farmers hastened to put their last season’s profits into horses and machinery, and the new comers bid eagerly for chances to get at the land. Prices of farm lands rose by leaps and bounds, and the high prices which had been demanded for town lots were marked up another notch. For example, George W. Branch held the five lots on Branch street between Park and Main streets, where John S. McGlauflin afterward built his home, at $500 each.

The country generally had been enjoying a decade of prosperous times. Railroad building had been very extensive, and it frequently happened that more money was made by those who bought the land along a proposed route and held it for sale until the railroad brought population and consequently purchasers of the land, than by those operating the road after it was built. This fact had a tendency to induce the building of railroads for the purpose of increasing land values, with little reference to the actual demands of trade. Heavy mortgages must usually be given both on the lands and on the railroads, and the prompt payment of interest in such cases depended on an immediate influx of population. Sometimes immigrants were capricious and chose to go elsewhere. In such cases adroit financiering must be resorted to in order to ward off bankruptcy until population could be attracted.

Speculation in farming lands went on with increasing intensity as population advanced. An old device which consisted in hiring men to take up land and then buying their rights was extensively practiced. After 1854, when the laying out of town sites was seen to be a profitable speculation, towns with and without inhabitants multiplied with surprising rapidity.

In 1855 Captain James Starkey of St. Paul under took the task of building up the village of Columbus. It was situated in the southern part of the present town of that name. A saw mill was built, and also a commodious hotel. In 1857 the place was large enough to poll 69 votes. Twenty years later only a few decaying logs in the brush and a cellar full of rubbish served to mark the spot.

Much less of a reality was the town of “Glencarey,” “Glen Carie" or “Glen Garey,” as it was variously written, which was located in the southern part of what is now Ham Lake on land now owned by Berger Titterud. A few houses were erected, and elegantly engraved lithographs proclaiming the names of streets and numbers of blocks circulated in the cities; and titles to lots and mortgages on lots were offered for sale, and no doubt

FIRST WHITE CHILDREN BORN IN ANOKA COUNTY.
Fernando Shumway, born March 22, 1851; Georgia Taylor
(Mrs. ]udson Davis), born July 24, 1851; Samuel C. Milliman,
born March 19, 1854; Abigail Frost (Mrs. C. L. Norton), born
Oct. 1, 1854; Angus W. Varney, born Nov. 19, 1854: Hannibal
Groat, born Jan. 3, 1855.

found purchasers. A bill to remove the county seat to Glencarie was introduced in the legislature, but was killed by the timely opposition of a delegation of citizens of Anoka.

“Lexington,” “Manchester,” and “Riverside,” were some of the paper towns which were laid out on Rum river above St. Francis, and “Sterling” was platted on the southeast shore of Mille Lacs.

This is but a sample of tendencies which were at work throughout the West. Mortgages based on inflated values, and often on practically no values at all, drifted eastward into the hands of trust companies and private investors, and across the ocean. For a time interest charges might be met by making bigger mortgages, but there could be but one ending to such a state of affairs - a financial panic.

During 1857 grasshoppers spread over the greater part of the state and Anoka county settlers were among the worst sufferers. The insects flew over in such numbers as to hide the sun from view. In a single day they would strip a wheat field bare of kernels, and while a few billions, more or less, lingered to cut up and lunch on the straw, the rest invaded the farmer’s garden and door yard in search of dessert. Corn fields were left with bare straight stalks standing. Pumpkin, squash, melon and potato vines disappeared like magic, and cabbages were devoured down to the stem. Where the farmer’s wife threw out dish water they crawled over each other two inches deep to get a taste. Matched lumber being an unknown luxury, the walls of many cabins had been covered with old newspapers, pasted on to cover the cracks. The grasshoppers ate the cracks out clean again to get the paste. and thus let in their brother pests, the mosquitoes. The grasshoppers even attacked articles of wood in some cases, and boards were often found with edges rounded off. In 1858 they disappeared as suddenly as they came, reappearing to some extent in states farther south.