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GRAY CLOUD CITY

Was platted in June, 1856, by J. R. Brown and Truman W. Smith, and surveyed by J. Donald McCullom.

NEWPORT VILLAGE

Was platted May 2, 1857, by Joseph H. Huganin, R. C. Knox, Wm. and James Fowler, and surveyed by B. Densmore.

John Holton came to Red Rock in 1831, with the Methodist missionaries; served some years as Indian farmer under Maj. Taliaferro, Indian agent, and afterward settled on a farm just above the mission ground. He donated ten acres of this farm to the Methodists for camp meeting grounds. Mr. Holton died in 1884, leaving two children, Mrs. Ford and Mrs. Winters.

John A. Ford was born in Utica, New York, in 1811. He learned the trade of edge tool and rifle making, and in 1834 came West with his father, locating a land claim where Chicago now stands. In 1841 the son came to Red Rock and erected a store building in which he sold goods for twelve years. Subsequently he engaged in farming. With the exception of the traders Mr. Ford was the first merchant in Washington county. Mr. Ford was a representative in the second territorial legislature. He was married to May Holton in 1843. Their children are Franklin and Willis. Franklin, the eldest son, was married to Addie Witherspoon in 1870, and resides in Newport.

Daniel Hopkins, a native of New Hampshire, came West at an early age. He was a gunsmith by trade. He located in Green Bay in 1836, and removed to Prairie du Chien in 1838, where he built a stone shop with a large double window over his workbench and overlooking a spot where he kept his money buried. A large mullein growing over it sufficiently indicated that his treasure was still undisturbed. Growing somewhat doubtful of the security of his hoard, he removed and placed a thousand dollars in a stone quarry as a safer place of deposit. Unexpectedly to him, the quarry was reopened and a well placed blast scattered the old gentleman's treasure to the four winds. He recovered but a portion of it. In 1844 he left Prairie du Chien and came to Red Rock. He was three years associated with John A. Ford in selling goods, after which, in 1848, he removed to St. Paul, where he opened a store. He died in 1852, aged sixty-five years.

William R. Brown was born in Urbana, Ohio, in 1816. He spent his boyhood at home on a farm and served as an apprentice to a carpenter in Mt. Carmel, Illinois. In April, 1848, he came to Red Rock mission in company with Rev. B. T. Kavanaugh, Charles Cavalier and Julia Bosnell. He lived upon a farm until 1854, when he sold out and removed to St. Paul, where he dealt in real estate. During the Rebellion he served three years in Company C, Sixth Minnesota Volunteers. He was married in 1841 to Martha Neuman. He died Nov. 25, 1874.

William Fowler settled in Newport in 1852 and has become a prominent farmer and successful stockman. His farm, which originally cost him $2,500, he sold in 1887 for $80,000. He was for two years president of the Minnesota Agricultural Society, and five years of the Dairymen's Association. He was a member of the house of representatives in 1872. During the war he served as lieutenant in the Eighth Minnesota Volunteers.

OAKDALE

Oakdale includes township 29, range 21. Originally it was covered with white, black and burr oak timber; the surface is rolling, and the soil well adapted to the cultivation of wheat. It is well watered and has numerous lakes, among which Lake Elmo is favorably known as a summer resort.

Oakdale was organized as a town November, 1858. The first supervisors were E. C. Gray, John Bershen and E. L. Morse. The clerk was W. Armstrong.

The first settler was B. B. Cyphers, who kept a hotel or stopping place on Sun Fish lake in 1848. The year following John Morgan built a more commodious house a mile and a half west on the stage road, and this was afterward known as the "Half-way House," it being nearly midway between St. Paul and Stillwater. At this well known station the pioneer stages of Willoughby & Powers changed horses at noon, and the passengers took dinner. In 1855 the property passed into the hands of E. C. Gray. The Malones, Lohmans, Grays, Day, Stevens, and Gardiner located here in the '50s.

The first post office established was in 1857, in the south part of the town, in section 35. Arthur Stephens was for ten years postmaster. The office was called Oakdale, and was discontinued and another established at the Half-way House, and called Lohmanville post office. In 1873 it was transferred to the Oakdale station on the railroad. It was discontinued in 1876, and re-established at Bass Lake station, where it has since remained but is now known as the Lake Elmo post office.

The St. Paul & Stillwater railroad passes through this town from east to west. It has three stations, Lake Elmo, Oakdale and Midvale.

The churches of Oakdale are the St. John's Lutheran and the Church of the Holy Angels. These churches have fine buildings and good congregations. The buildings are located on the line of the old stage road, and have spacious burial grounds attached.

Lake Elmo is the only village in the town. It is handsomely located on Lake Elmo. The company that platted the village has expended over $65,000 on improvements. The hotel is an elegant and spacious building, and a favorite resort for summer tourists. The lake was originally known as Bass lake, and the station was known as Bass Lake station. In 1879 the lake and station were rechristened Elmo, a name certainly more musical and charming than the original, and inferior only to the aboriginal name, which ought to have been retained.

E. C. Gray came originally from Pennsylvania, and located in Oakdale in 1855, having purchased the Half-way House of John Morgan. He died in 1874, leaving a large family of children. Two of his sons, M. P. and W. H., remain on the family homestead. Others are in St. Paul. All are known as men of good business ability.

Arthur Stephens was born in Scotland in 1830. He came to America in 1839, lived awhile in Illinois, learned the trade of a mason and plasterer, came to St. Paul in 1849, worked at his trade until 1854, when he removed to Oakdale, where, with the exception of six years' residence at Stillwater, he has since lived. Mr. Stephens served as postmaster ten years, as county commissioner three years, and has filled town offices. He was married to Marie Payden in 1852. Their children are Harris S., Arthur, Elizabeth and Emma.

ONEKA

The town comprises township 31, range 21. It was organized as a town in 1880. A. J. Soule was the first moderator, George Walker the first clerk and treasurer. The eastern and southern portions are diversified, being quite rugged and uneven. The western part is quite level, and was originally timbered with burr oak and poplars. The town abounds with lakes. Bald Eagle lies partly in the town; Oneka; Rice, Egg, Eagle, Horseshoe, and others are within the town. Small springs and rivulets abound. A tamarack swamp, varying in width from a few rods to a half mile, traverses the town from north to south, forming a natural barrier between the eastern and western divisions. The principal lake is Oneka, located in sections 9 and 16. Rice lake has been celebrated as the resort of Indians from Mendota, who camped here annually to gather wild rice for the St. Paul and Minneapolis markets.

The first settlers were Fayette Tainter and John Chester, young men who came together in 1850 for the purpose of locating claims and baling hay. They carried on a stock farm for five years. The next settlers, Lewis Sempler and his son-in-law, Joseph Freeman, came in 1855. They were followed by Dunn, Barnum, Hatch and Beecroft.

The St. Paul & Duluth railroad passes through the western part of the town, entering in section 31, and leaving in section 5. There is but one station upon the road, Centreville, a thriving little village, having a hotel, store, school house, etc. Its post office was established in 1874.

The first school district was organized in 1867. Ruth Miller taught the first school. The first marriage was that of Joseph Lambert and Mary Courtone. The first child born was Hoyt E., son of O. L. Kinyon, Dec. 27, 1863. The first death was that of Herbert, son of O. L. Kinyon, May 30, 1869.

ONEKA,

Located in the northeast quarter of section 8, was platted May, 1847, by Franklin Jones; Chas. B. Lowell, surveyor.

SHADY SIDE VILLAGE,

Located on Bald Eagle lake, was platted in 1880, by Chas. P. Hill; Brinckerhoff & Phillips, surveyors.

Daniel Hopkins, Sr., son of Daniel Hopkins, of whom biographical mention is made in the history of Newport, was born in New Hampshire. He came to St. Paul in 1850, and engaged in the mercantile business on Third street until 1852, when he removed to a farm between St. Anthony and St. Paul, and dealt extensively in blooded stock until about 1855-56, when he purchased the farms of Austin and Tainter, on Rice creek near the railroad. His farm consists of about 600 acres. The railroad has a flag station at the farm known as Hopkins station.

STILLWATER

Stillwater comprises fractional township 30, range 20, excepting the site of the city of Stillwater. The surface is rolling and the soil good. It is well watered with rivulets and small lakes. The first settlers in the town outside the city limits were the Lymans, consisting of the father (Cornelius) and two sons, C. Storrs and D. P., Charles Macy, W. T. Boutwell, Sebastian Marty, Wm. Rutherford, J. J. McKenzie, Albion Masterman, and Dr. James Carey. The first white child born in the town was Emily S., daughter of C. S. Lyman, in 1846. The first death was that of Betsey, daughter of C. S. Lyman, in 1846. The first marriage was that of Abraham Click and Jane Sample, in 1853. The first school was taught by Cynthia Pond, in 1852. The first road through the town was from Dakota village via Carnelian lake and Marine to St. Croix Falls. Messrs. Rutherford & Booth in 1857 built a flour mill on Brown's creek, which empties into the St. Croix near the head of the lake. The mill was located above McKusick's lake, and has been for some years abandoned. Brown's creek originally passed through sections 18, 19, 20 and 21 to the river, but was turned in 1843 from its natural course, and made to connect McKusick's lake with the St. Croix by a new channel cut through sections 28 and 29, thus giving to Stillwater its initial advantages as a manufacturing centre. The Washington county poor farm, consisting of 207 acres of improved laud with good buildings and other conveniences, was located in this town in 1858.

OAK PARK

Was platted May 27, 1857. It is situated between the city of Stillwater and South Stillwater, with frontage on the lake. The proprietors were John Parker, Wm. Dorr, Gold T. Curtis, Mary Curtis, Olive A. B. Anderson, and Wm. M. McCluer. The surveyor was A. Van Voorhes.

The township of Stillwater was organized April 3, 1860, with the following board of officers: Moderator, Cornelius Lyman; judges of election, H. Packard, W. T. Boutwell, D. P. Lyman; supervisors, C. Storrs Lyman, H. Packard, Henry A. Jackman; clerk, Sylvanus Trask.

David P. Lyman was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, in 1822. In 1844 he came with his parents to Marine. In 1846 he removed to his present residence in the town of Stillwater. He was married to Anna J. Hannah, at Farmingdale, Illinois, in 1850. They have five children. Mr. Lyman is an upright, reliable citizen, and a consistent member of the Presbyterian church.

Henry A. Jackman, a native of Robbinstown, Maine, was born July 30, 1819. He was married to Sarah Blanchard in 1848. Mr. Jackman, with his family, his father and his wife's parents, came West in 1849 and located in Stillwater. In 1851 he removed to his farm. He has since engaged in farming and lumbering, and has filled several important positions. He served as school trustee for 30 years, as county commissioner 8 years, as warden of state prison 4 years, as state prison inspector 20 years, and was a representative in the territorial legislature of 1856, and the state legislature of 1867. Mr. Jackman's father, a native of Brunswick, Maine, died at his son's residence in Stillwater, April, 1867, aged seventy-four years. He was a man honored for his kindness and sterling integrity. His wife, the mother of Henry A., died in Maine in 1844. Three sons and four daughters survive them. The children of Henry A. Jackman are Mary E. (Mrs. Russell Pease), James E. and Alice (Mrs. Wm. A. Boxwell).

Frederic J. Curtis, a native of Ireland, was born in 1818. Before coming to America he learned the trade of boot and shoe making. He came to America in 1843, and spent two years in New York City working at his trade. He also spent two years in St. Louis and New Orleans. He came to Stillwater in 1848 and settled on his farm in section 9, where he has since lived. He held the office of sheriff two years. He was one of the first police of the city of Stillwater and has been town treasurer and school director. He was married to Bridget Fenton in 1849. Their children are Daniel, Thomas, James, Elisabeth, Mary, Maggie, and Ellen B.

David Cover was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, May 22, 1826. In 1844 he came with his parents to St. Louis, Missouri, where he became a river pilot, and engaged in lumbering for eight years, when he came to Stillwater, and for some years gave his attention largely to selling logs and lumber between Stillwater and St. Louis. During the years between 1860 and 1870 his business transactions were heavy, involving hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, and from some injudicious movements, due to lack of experience, resulted in disastrous failure. After his failure he devoted himself to farming and fire insurance business. He was married in 1850 to Elisabeth Harrold. They are the parents of three sons. Mr. Cover was accidentally drowned in Lake St. Croix Sept. 14, 1884. His life was insured for $17,000.

John Parker came from Vermont to the valley of the St. Croix in 1848, located for a couple of years at St. Croix Falls, and came to Oak Park, town of Stillwater, about 1850. In 1848 Mr. Parker was married to Susan, daughter of David Cover, who bore him three children: Edwin E., the oldest, killed by the explosion of the boilers of the steamer Penn Wright, near Winona; John E., living at home with his mother, and Ella, wife of Henry Pevey, of Stillwater. Mr. Parker was a kind hearted, genial man. He was one of the early river pilots, and came to his death in June, 1867, while in the performance of his duties as a pilot. In handling a line to "snub" a raft, he was caught in its coils and so bruised that he died.

WOODBURY,

As at present organized, includes township 28, range 21. At the date of its organization, in 1868, it was named Red Rock, and made to include a little over two sections of fractional township 28, range 22. This fragment contains the famous painted rock, now included in the town of Newport, and from this rock, familiarly called Red Rock, the town received its first name. The first board of town officers consisted of John Colby; moderator; David Little and C. Schmeiding, judges of election; John Colby, John A. Ford, J. J. Miller, supervisors; Ebenezer Ayers, clerk.

The town held the name of Red Rock until 1859, when, by notification from the legislature that another town bore the same name, the board changed the name to Woodbury, a name given in honor of Judge Woodbury, of New Hampshire, a particular friend of Mr. Colby, at that time chairman of the board. The fraction containing the painted rock was set off by order of the board of county commissioners, meeting at Stillwater in 1861, and added to Newport. It is said that this act did not meet with the hearty approval of the citizens of the town.

The town was originally timbered with various species of oak. The surface is undulating, and in the western part there are abrupt hills or bluffs. It is a fine agricultural town, well watered with creeks, springs and small lakes.

The first settlers were the McHatties, Middletons, Robert Cummings, John Towner, and Joseph Cooper. The first marriage was that of John McHattie and Jane Middleton, Jan. 15, 1847. The first child born was Sarah Middleton, afterward the wife of Anthony Fritz, of Newport. The first death was that of Sarah Middleton, May 4, 1849. The first traveled road in the town was from Stillwater to St. Paul via Bissell's Mound. The first post office was established in 1850, at Oakdale, in the northern part of the town; G. Hartoung, postmaster. The first school was taught in 1855 by Miss A. F. Colby. The German Methodist church was organized in 1855; Rev. Jacob Young, pastor. The church and parsonage are built of stone. The Salem Evangelical Lutheran church was organized in 1865; Rev. J. W. Huffman, pastor.

Jacob Folstrom. – The history of Jacob Folstrom reads like a romance. He was born in Sweden June 25, 1793, and when he was nine years of age left home as cabin boy on a steamer commanded by his uncle. The steamer was wrecked on the coast of England. He escaped with his uncle to London, and there lost sight of him. What was his uncle's fate he never knew. He understood nothing of the English language, and applied to the Swedish consul for aid. Lord Selkirk was then raising a company of men to go to his settlement on Red river, British America, and Selkirk, who could speak Swedish, spoke kindly to the friendless lad, and offered to take him with him to the New World. He, not knowing what else to do, consented to go. After his arrival he found employment with the Hudson Bay Company for a time, and subsequently came down to the Fort Snelling reservation. When the settlers were driven from the reservation in 1839; he made a farm in what is now Woodbury, Washington county. At Lake Superior, in 1823, he had been 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.