Soon after the outbreak of the Rebellion, in 1861, Gov. Ramsey tendered him the commission of major of the Seventh Regiment, Minnesota Volunteers, but his eyesight being defective, he was obliged to decline it. In 1864 Judge Hamlin was chosen by the Democratic party as one of the delegates to the Democratic national convention. He was appointed as one of the committee on platform, and openly denounced, with three others, the platform before it was adopted, because it declared the war for the Union a failure. Judge Hamlin was a war Democrat, and hung out the stars and stripes over his residence in Sauk Rapids, the first one in that town to do so. In 1873, being an only child and yielding to the solicitations of his parents, Judge Hamlin returned to his native county and opened an office in Honesdale. After a short residence there he removed to Bethany, which has since been his home. He continued the practice of his profession in Honesdale until June, 1885, when failing health compelled him to retire.
Judge Hamlin has been twice married. His first wife was Mary A., daughter of Judge Eldred, who for a quarter of a century graced the bench of Pennsylvania. She died at St. Cloud, Sept. 27, 1868. In October, 1870, Judge Hamlin married Ella F., daughter of E. B. Strong, Esq., for years clerk of the district court of Stearns county.
MORRISON COUNTY
Morrison county is somewhat irregular in outline. It is bounded on the north by Crow Wing and Cass, on the east by Mille Lacs, on the south by Benton and Stearns, on the west by Stearns and Todd counties. The portion east of the Mississippi originally belonged to Benton county, and the portion on the west side to Todd county. It contains 1,139 square miles. The eastern part is well covered with pine and hardwood forests. The west and central portions consist of oak openings and brush prairies. The groves are interspersed with poplar. The surface is generally level, but is well drained by the Mississippi and its tributaries, mostly small streams. It has some fine lakes in the northern and central parts. The soil is well adapted to farming. A granite range, an extension of the range of Sauk Rapids and St. Cloud, passes through the county.
William Nicholson was probably the first settler in this county. He first came to Swan River in 1847, in company with ten other men. They forded the Mississippi near the mouth of Swan river, made a raft and floated down the river a few miles, where they abandoned it on account of low water, and returned south, whence they came. The next summer Nicholson returned with twenty-two men, crossed the river at the same place, and cut a road through to the Winnebago agency at Long Prairie. Returning the same year to the crossing, he found Wm. Aiken had made a claim and was building a hotel and store on the east bank of the river. Mr. Nicholson remained some years in the vicinity, but is now a resident of Little Falls. Wm. Aiken permanently located at Swan River in 1848, one year after Nicholson's arrival at that point. He died in 1851, aged about sixty-five years. He had two Indian wives. They quarreled and fought savagely at the funeral as to which was entitled to the position of chief mourner, wife number one coming off victorious. James Green made a squatter's claim in 1848, and built a saw mill on the east side of the Mississippi by the island at the falls. Wm. Knowles located at the mouth of Rabbit river in 1849. John Stillwell came to Swan River in 1849. He was a carpenter and worked at his trade until 1866, when he went into the hotel business. He now resides at Little Falls. He and Nicholson are the only old settlers of Swan River remaining in the county.
At the organization of the county in 1856, Little Falls, located on the Mississippi a short distance above Swan River, became the county seat. The year before and the two years following were years of wild speculation. The chief ambition of the speculators was to found a city. During these years twenty-four village or town plats were recorded in the office of the register of deeds in Morrison. Not all, however, were located within the bounds of the county, some being platted on unsurveyed government lands. Of these towns, the only one remaining, or of note, is Fergus Falls, Otter Tail county, platted by a company from Little Falls. Of the towns located in Morrison county, every one vanished except Little Falls, though Swan River, Belle Prairie and Granite City kept up an appearance of prosperity for a time.
The early history of Morrison county is enlivened by many thrilling incidents of Indian warfare, chiefly of contests between the Sioux and Chippewas. The Sioux had claimed the territory from time immemorial, but over a hundred years ago the Chippewas had driven them westward across the Mississippi and were in possession of the soil. The tribal hostility of the two races continued to manifest itself in predatory and retaliatory raids, and from these the early settlers were often sufferers.
Nathan Richardson, the historian of Morrison county, an authority to whom we are greatly indebted, says that the country was acknowledged to be Chippewa ground before and during the settlement by the whites, but that the Sioux made frequent raids through the counties in parties of from five to twenty-five, their principal object being to possess themselves of Chippewa scalps. The Chippewas retaliated by pursuing the Sioux into their own prescribed limits. Mr. Richardson avers that the Chippewas were seldom known to treat the white settlers uncivilly, while the Sioux would kill stock to supply their wants, for which the settlers were left without compensation from Indians or government.
The Winnebagoes were for some years located within the bounds of Todd and Morrison counties. In 1848 Gen. Fletcher removed them from Fort Atkinson, Iowa, to Long Prairie, west side of the Mississippi; but although the agency was located at Long Prairie, the Indians occupied the Swan River valley within the present limits of Morrison and Todd counties for a period of seven years, where they engaged partly in hunting and partly in farming, having about two hundred acres under cultivation, when they became dissatisfied and were removed to the Blue Earth country.
When the Winnebago Indians were brought to Long Prairie and the Swan River valley, in 1848, the government built Fort Ripley on the west bank of the Mississippi, about twenty miles above the mouth of Swan river. The government still owns the fort and reservation around it, and keeps a garrison there. Fort Ripley, however, has other associations than those connected with the Winnebagoes. It was necessary to place a force here during the Indian outbreak in 1862, the object being to overawe and hold in check the Chippewas, who were more than suspected of an intention to make common cause with the Sioux in their warfare against the whites. There the Seventh Regiment, Minnesota Volunteers, had its headquarters for a time.
Morrison county was named in honor of Hon. Allen W. Morrison, who came to Minnesota some time in the '20s, and was prominent in the early history of the Territory. It was organized April 18, 1856, by the election of the following county officers: Commissioners, Wm. Trask, Elliott J. Kidder and W. W. Stebbins; register of deeds and clerk of board of commissioners, Nathan Richardson; judge of probate, James Fergus; sheriff, Jonathan Pugh; district attorney, W. B. Fairbanks; assessors, W. B. Tuttle and John Fry.
The first term of court was held May 15, 1856; Judge Moses Sherburne, presiding. The first deed recorded was dated June 19, 1854, conveying from William Shelafoo to Louis Robair the northeast quarter of the southwest quarter, and lots 3, 4 and 5 of section 30, township 40, range 32.
Morrison county is subdivided into the following towns: Agram, Belle Prairie, Buckman, Bellevue, Culdrum, Elmdale, Green Prairie, Little Falls, Morrill, Motley, Parker, Pierz, Pike Creek, Ripley, Swan River, and Two Rivers.
LITTLE FALLS VILLAGE,
The county seat of Morrison county, is located on the east bank of the Mississippi river, in sections 7, 8, 18 and 19 of township 40, range 32. It derives its name from a rapid in the Mississippi river, formed by the extension across the river of the slate stone ledges of the St. Louis. The site is a prairie, sloping gently to the water's edge. The first survey was made in 1855, by S. M. Putnam. The village grew rapidly from the first, and in 1857 the best lots were selling for $1,000 each. Previous to 1855 the only houses in the place were two cabins, a frame building in which E. J. Kidder lived, and a school house. Two hotels were built that year, one by Joseph Batters, the other by W. B. Fairbanks and Nathan Richardson.
The first settlers were the Kidders, Fairbanks, Batters, Richardson, James Green, William Sturgis, William Butler, and O. A. Churchill. James Green came as early as 1848, and took a squatter's claim on the east bank, including the water power, and built a saw mill, but soon after died, and the property passed into the hands of H. M. Rice and Capt. Todd, who in 1850 sold their right to Wm. Sturgis. In 1852 John M. Kidder pre-empted the mill power, transferring it to the Little Falls Company, consisting of Wm. Sturgis and Calvin Tuttle, organized in 1854 for the improvement of the falls. This company purchased about 1,000 acres of adjoining land from the government, and in 1855 merged into a stock company with a capital of $100,000, of which the original company retained one-half, the remaining half being converted into cash. The stock rose in value at one time two hundred and fifty per cent.
The company built a new dam and mills, but the revenue did not keep the property in good condition after the expenditures. These valuable improvements, including the dam and mills, were all swept away by high water in 1860; the firm became bankrupt, and the valuable power became nearly worthless and entirely useless, until 1887, when a new company, known as the Little Falls Water Power Company, was formed with a paid up capital of $600,000, which is distributed among eastern and western capitalists. The company is now constructing very extensive works, the power of which will have a head, or fall, of twenty feet, thus making it the largest water power, next to Minneapolis, to be found in the whole Northwest. The dam, now about completed, has cost about $200,000.
So thoroughly convinced are the people of Morrison county of the great future before it, that, by a majority of over 2 to 1, they voted a subscription of $100,000 in 5 per cent bonds as a bonus to be delivered to the company upon the completion of the work. The village of Little Falls also entered into a contract with the company, agreeing to pay annually a sum of money equal to the taxes imposed upon that corporation, and also to exempt from taxation any manufactory using the water power for a period of five years. The improvements under process of construction consist, first, of a dam across the entire river, resting, however, against the head of Mill island; second, a canal on the west side, starting from a point opposite the head of Mill island, and extending 1,000 feet down stream. This canal is 80 feet wide and 13 feet deep, is lined with a retaining wall, and provided with head gates at the upper end and with a waste way at the lower end; third, a wheel house, races, and, if found desirable, a wire rope tower for transmitting power to Mill island and to the east shore. Basing the rental of this power on that of the water power at Lowell, Massachusetts, it would be worth $150,000 per annum. The officers of the company are W. H. Breyfogle, of Louisville, Kentucky, president; M. M. Williams, of Little Falls, secretary and treasurer.
Little Falls was incorporated as a village in 1880, Louis Houde president of the board. The improvement of the water power has given a strong impulse to the prosperity of the village. It numbers now amongst its public buildings a court house, school house having rooms for six grades, two Catholic churches, one Congregational, one Episcopal and one Methodist church. In Belle Prairie, four miles distant, there is also a Catholic church, school and a nunnery.
A bridge, built at a cost of $24,000, crosses the Mississippi at this point. The bridge is 400 feet in length. The Little Falls & Dakota railroad, a branch of the Northern Pacific, is finished from Little Falls to Morris in Stevens county, a distance of 85 miles. In addition to the mills connected with the water power there is also a steam saw mill.
ROYALTON VILLAGE
Is located in an oak grove on the Northern Pacific railroad, twenty miles above Sauk Rapids, and ten below Little Falls near the south line of Morrison county. It includes some lands in Benton county. Platte river flows through the village and furnishes a water power of 8 feet head, improved by a dam, supplying a flour mill which has a capacity of 250 barrels per day, and a saw mill with a capacity of 40,000 feet. There is 65 feet fall on the Platte within five miles of Royalton below, and 45 feet above the village, yet unimproved. James Hill, of Baldwin, St. Croix county, Wisconsin, with Putney and Nobles erected the flour mill, John D. Logan, the proprietor, having donated the water power and grounds for manufacturing purposes. Mr. Logan has a steam saw mill with a capacity of 30,000 feet per day. The Platte is spanned by an iron bridge. The village has, in addition to its mills, a weekly newspaper, a large elevator, a good graded school with six departments, and three churches, Episcopal, Presbyterian and Methodist. It was surveyed and platted in 1879 by John D. Logan, and incorporated in 1887. The first officers were: President, J. D. Logan; recorder, John Holmes; trustees. J. C. Wakefield, J. C. Higgins, R. Lambert; treasurer, G. E. Putney; justices, Robert Brown, Wm. Jones; constables, Wm. Roller, C. O. Brannen.
Peter Roy, a mixed blood of French and Chippewa parentage, was born in Rainy Lake, in 1829. He was educated at La Pointe, Wisconsin. At the age of twenty-one he came to the agency at Long lake, where he served as interpreter until 1853, when he was elected to the territorial legislature. He opened a farm at Belle Prairie in 1855; became a member of the state legislatures of 1860 and 1862. In 1866 he removed to Little Falls, where he resided until his death, in 1883. He was a man of large frame and of generous impulses, liberal and open-handed, even to his own pecuniary disadvantage.
Wm. Sturgis came to this county from Big Meadow, Sherburne county, Minnesota, in 1850, and located at Little Falls, where he put a ferry across the Mississippi. He also laid out a town and built a saw and grist mill at the mouth of Little Elk river. He was a member of the territorial council from Crow Wing and Sauk Rapids precincts in 1849 and 1851; of the territorial house in 1856, and of the constitutional convention, Democratic wing, in 1857. Some years later he removed, first to Montana, and then to Sturgis, Michigan.
James Fergus was born in the parish of Glassford, Lanarkshire, Scotland, Oct. 8, 1813. His parents were well-to-do farmers, and gave him a good education along with excellent moral and religious training. In his youth he was noted for his thoroughness in whatever work he undertook, and his fondness for good books. At the age of nineteen years he came to America to improve his fortunes, locating first in Canada, where he spent three years, and learned the trade of a millwright. Becoming involved in some political troubles just before the outbreak of the Papineau Rebellion, he left Canada for the United States, and spent a couple of years in Green Bay and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and at Chicago and Buffalo Grove, Illinois, going thence to Iowa, and thence to Moline, Illinois, where he found employment in the machine shops and foundries of Buford, Sears & Wheelock. In 1854 he removed to Little Falls, and in company with C. A. Tuttle built a dam across the Mississippi and platted the village. He subsequently owned the site of Fergus Falls, now a thriving city, that has done well in assuming his name. In 1862 he drove his own team from Little Falls to Bannock, then in Idaho, now in Montana Territory. He became prominent in territorial affairs; was influential in the organization of the new county of Madison, and held many positions of trust and responsibility. He was the commissioner appointed for Madison county, served two terms in the Montana legislature, and was a member of the constitutional convention of 1887. At one time he lived in Lewis and Clark counties; he now resides in Meagher county, near Fort Maginnis, where he is engaged in stock raising.
His main characteristics are an aptitude for mechanical enterprises, a sturdy independence of thought, a strict integrity of purpose, and an ardent love of study and good books. He is a typical pioneer, and in the mellow light of his declining days has the respect and love of his contemporaries to a remarkable degree. He is the first president of the Montana Pioneer Association, a position which he worthily fills.
Mr. Fergus was married March 16, 1845, to Parnelia Dillin, of Jefferson county, New York. Mrs. Fergus died Oct. 6, 1887. He has one son and three daughters, the latter married and living in Montana.
Nathan Richardson was born in Wayne county, New York, in 1829. He was raised on a farm, educated at Romeo, Michigan, and came to Little Falls in 1855. He served as register of deeds for Morrison county eight years, and was postmaster eleven years. He also served as county surveyor and county attorney, having been admitted to the bar in 1877. He was notary public twenty-five years. He was a representative in the Minnesota legislatures of 1867, 1872 and 1878. During his first term in the house he represented nineteen counties, nearly one-half the territory of the State. He served as judge of probate two terms. Mr. Richardson has prepared, by order of the board of county commissioners, and published in the local papers, a complete and valuable history of Morrison county, to which we are greatly indebted. He was married to Mary A. Roof in 1857, and has a family of three sons and two daughters.
Moses La Fond, a Canadian Frenchman, came to Morrison county in 1855, and located at Little Falls, where he commenced as a teamster for the Little Falls Manufacturing Company. He found more lucrative employment, became a butcher, then a merchant, then a legislator, having been elected a representative in the legislature of 1874.
O. A. Churchill. – Orlando A. Churchill was born in Windsor county, Vermont, in 1825. He came to Illinois in 1843, and to Little Falls in 1855, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. He was elected to the legislature of 1858, but did not serve, as no session of the legislature was held that year. He served several years as auditor of Morrison county. He removed to St. Paul a few years ago, and later to California, but is now again a resident of Little Falls.
John M. Kidder made a claim of government land on the east side of the Mississippi, on the site of Little Falls. He died in 1855, before the land was entered, and the claim was purchased by Wm. Sturgis, a son-in-law of Mr. Kidder, and by him sold to the Little Falls Company. Elliott J., a son of John M. Kidder, is still a resident of Little Falls.
Warren Kobe located at Royalton in 1880 and built an elevator, store and first class hotel. Mr. Kobe is a public spirited citizen and has expended much in improving the town.
Ola K. Black, of Norwegian birth, was one of the first settlers.
Ira W. Bouch came from Buchanan county, Iowa, in 1880, and opened the first store in Royalton.
Robert Russell, living on a farm near the village, came from Scotland to America in 1850 and settled here in 1853. Mr. Russell died in July, 1862; Mrs. Russell died in 1876. Three sons and five daughters survive them.
Peter A. Green, a farmer, pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres in 1854, a part of which is surveyed into town lots. He built the second building on the town site. Mr. Green was born in 1817, in Green county, New York, where he married. He died January, 1884. His widow and two sons survive him.
Rodolphus D. Kinney was the first settler on the town site of Royalton, in 1854, erected the first house and was the first postmaster, in 1856. Mr. Kinney gave the name of Royalton to the post office, the name being that of his birthplace, in the state of Vermont. He was born in 1828; had good educational advantages in youth and attended Fairmount Theological Seminary in Cincinnati; was an associate of the early Presbyterian missions and was the first school teacher in Morrison county, in 1851 and 1852, at Belle Prairie. He was married in St. Paul in 1852. His eldest son, Jonathan, was born in 1853. One daughter lives in Alabama and his youngest son is a physician at Royalton.
John D. Logan came to Minnesota from Philadelphia in 1855 and located in Hastings; served during the war in Company G. First Minnesota Regular Volunteers. In 1879 he came to Royalton and devoted himself to the development of the water power and the building up of the village. He has a wife and three children.