History of Goodhue Co Minnesota, 1909
Transcribed by Janice Rice
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HOLDEN TOWNSHIP Holden is one of the western tier of Goodhue county townships, and like the others, is rich in agricultural possibilities. It is bounded on the north by Warsaw, on the east by Wanamingo, on the south by Kenyon and on the west by Rice comity. This township has some of the highest land in the county and is mainly an undulating prairie, but is much diversified through the central part by the headwaters 'of the Little Cannon and its tributaries. There are patches of timber in several localities. especially in the northeastern portion and along the Zumbro in the southern part. In the summer of 1854 there came to this township a young man named Hans Ovaldson, who broke about four acres on section 24. He was followed by Ole C. Oakland, who broke the same amount of land in section 23. The following year both these pioneers raised a crop of wheat. Neither of them, however, became permanent residents of the township. In the fall of 1854 Jens Ottun made a claim and built a sod hut on section 33, where he commenced breaking the land in May, 1855. On May 27 there arrived A. K. Finseth, K. K. Finseth, H. K. Finseth and Ole J. Bakke. The Finseths purchased Mr. Ottun 's claim and that gentleman returned to Wanamingo, where he had previously made a claim. Mr. Bakke staked out a homestead on section 33 and Mrs. Bakke soon afterward joined him, she being doubtless the first white woman settler in the township. That she had her share of pioneer discomforts, not to say alarms, is shown by a story of the early clays that is still told in the town- ship. It seems that in spite of the removal of the Indians, many red men were prowling through that portion of the county, and the squaws were particularly troublesome. One day while Mrs. Bakke had gone to draw a pail of water an Indian squaw entered her cabin, and evidently concluding thai the white baby would make a valuable addition to her family, snatched Mrs. Bakke's infant and started to run. Mrs. Bakke, upon her return. gave a cry of alarm and hastened into the woods after the fleeing squaw. The baby seriously impeded the progress of the red woman, who was more accustomed to carrying babies on her back than in her arms, and finally, in fright at the pursuit, she dropped the infant and continued her flight. Mrs. Bakke recovered her child and no harm was done except for the fright that the poor mother had fell at this attempted pioneer kidnapping. In the month of June. 1855, Ole O. Houset settled on section 23. Halvor Ennerson Vraalstad on section 27, and Thorbjorn Ennersoh Vraalstad on section 35. In the same year Ole 0. Nauset and Erik Anderson settled on section 9, Nels Mikkelson Dalsbotten on section 10. and Mikkel Johnson on section 15. Some of these pioneers erected cabins and roofed them over, others erected walls but did not take time to finish the roofs, some lived in their covered immigrant wagons, others had even less shelter, the main object being to raise a crop during the summer months, leaving the question of permanent and comfortable abode until the autumn time, when the harvest would be garnered in and there would be more time for home building. The supply of provisions which the settlers had brought with them was soon gone, and from time to time one of the colony was delegated to go to Red Wing or Hastings to procure the necessities of life. This journey of over thirty miles was long and tedious, and even dangerous, especially in winter, and even after trading points were reached the prices were so high as to be almost prohibitive. During the summer of 1855 many new claims were staked out. A few were occupied in the fall, but the majority of these claimants did not locate until the following spring. Among these settlers of 1855 are said to have been Nelson Sollefson, Thomas Anderson, Camite Thomas, John Thompson, Antin Anderson, G. K. Worsing and Ole Oleson. The first settlers of the township were Norwegians, and their sturdy character has since remained the predominating influence in the township. In the early days a number of German families settled in the western part of the township, and many of their descendants still remain there. According to the authorities now available, the first white child born in the township was to Mr. and Mrs. T. E. Vraalstad, in September, 1855. The first marriage was that of K. K. Finseth and Bergitte Halverson, the ceremony being performed by the Rev. H A. Stub, at the residence of the bride's father in Rice county, September 13, 1856. The first death was that of Erik A. Elton, who died in the fall of 1855 and was buried near the north line of section . An old history gives some entirely different facts in regard to the first birth, marriage and death, but upon what authority is not known. According to this old history, Mr. and Mrs. Lars Nelson were blessed with twins shortly after their arrival in the township, these twins being the first births in the township. The first marriage, declares the same authority, was that of Kettle Erickson and Margaretta Flom, performed by Escquire Bowies, of Cannon Falls, and the first death that of a child of Ole Oleson. Another authority says that the first child was born to Thorbjorn Ennerson. In 1856 a state road was surveyed through the southeast part of the township, and the following year Norway postoffice was established, with Ole O. Hauset as postmaster. Mr. Hauset served until his death in 1862. Some time afterward, the office was removed a short distance, across the line into Wanamingo township. About the same time Holden postoffice was established in the north part of the township, with T. E. Thompson as postmaster. Eidsvold postoffice was established in 1875, on the daily mail route between Red Wing and Faribault, and Hans Christianson Westermo was named postmaster. In 1867 Lawrence Stagner opened a store in the western part of the town. The first two winters the township was settled were very severe and much hardship was endured. The winter of 1857 was especially long, and sleighs were in use in the latter part of April. The crops that year, however, were good, and since that time the people of Holden have enjoyed almost uninterrupted prosperity. Hay Creek receives its name from the stream which touches the west central portion of the township and along whose banks in the early days the settlers found large quantities of wild hay. The surface of the township is somewhat uneven, but is rich in agricultural possibilities. A deep valley crosses the town- ship from east to west in the northern part, and another, with various branches, crosses the township in the center, east and west. These make a hilly and rolling surface for the whole town, the hills being from two to four hundred feet above the valleys. Yet, owing to the abundant overspread of fine clay and loam, practically all of the surface is tillable. Many of the hillsides are covered with growing timber, and the valleys were originally heavily wooded. In the southeastern part is Wells' creek. Bullard creek drains the northern part. Hay Creek comprises township 112, range 14. and is bounded on the north of Red Wing and Wacoota, on the east by Florence, on the south by Belvidere and on the west by Featherstone. It was organized with its present boundaries in 1858. The first settlement was made in the spring of 1854 by a Mr. Egar, in the northeast part of the town. Among the early settlers were George Steel, Ernest Schubert, Henry Inzancee, William Hayman, Garry Post, David Bartrom, Simon Peterson, Benville Mosier, Rudolph Kruger, Charles Darling, Jacob Turner, M. Eggleston, G. F. and William Meyer, John Hack and James B. Wakefield. George Frederick, an early settler of Belle Creek, also lived here a short time in the early days. The early settlers were subjected to constant annoyance, the whole township, with the exception of a small portion in the northwest, being within the limits of the half-breed tract. Meetings were held and the settlers organized for mutual protection. Charles Alders, who in 1856 built a hotel near where Borkhard's hotel was later located, was one of the many who suffered the annoyance of a previous claimant. He had his first log cabin nearly completed when another man appeared to dispute his claim to the land. This man's claim was based on the fact that he had been there and inscribed his name on a tree previous to Mr. Abler 's advent. The former claimant was backed by a mob of men armed with clubs, axes and other weapons. So there was no alternative but for Mr. Aiders to pay the amount of money demanded for a relinquishment of the claim, which he did, and later opened his house to the public. There are always two sides to every question, and while Mr. Aiders was given a great deal of sympathy, it would look in modern times as though he had intended to take another man's claim. He was but one of many who suffered much inconvenience and trouble until the half-breed matter had been settled in Washington, after which the actual settlers were left in peace. The first town meeting was held in 1858, with only six citizens present. They were William Hayman, Henry Lorentzen. S. A. Wise, J. B. "Wakefield. Rudolph Kruger and David Bartrom. This meeting was held in a log cabin schoolhouse, near Wells' creek. The explanation given for the poor attendance is one that looks strange in these days. It seems that a camp meeting was in progress in a grove near by and the people were so interested in matters pertaining to the future life that they had no time to devote to such temporal affairs as a town election. Whether the six who attended loved religion the less or politics the more than the others tradition does not relate. A log schoolhouse was built near the spot where the Wells' creek mills were afterward erected, in 1857, and a school was taught there by a young man named Graves. The first marriage was that of Ernest Schubert and a Miss Reinehart, the ceremony being performed by William Hayman. justice of the peace. In the earliest days the German Lutherans and the Methodists held meetings and both later erected comfortable places for church worship. Near the center of the township there is a substantial town hall. In 1863 R. H. Matthews built a mill on Wells' creek, and in 1865 John Hack and G. F. Meyer built one on Hay creek. Later a third mill was built on Hay creek, but was afterward abandoned. The chairmen of supervisors of the town from 1858 to 1869 were : Samuel A. Wise, William Hayman. John Benson, Dunning Dewey (six terms). Rudolph Kruger (two terms), George Hackman. The town clerks during the same period were: Henry Lorentzen (two terms), John Hack (six terms), Peter J. Erbar (five terms). Leon constitutes government township 11, range 17, and is bounded on the north by Cannon Falls, on the east by. Belle Creek, on the south by Wanamingo and on the west by Warsaw. It is drained by branches of the Little Cannon in the northwestern portion, these streams causing the land to be somewhat broken in that locality. In the valleys there is a light growth of timber. The eastern part of the township is drained by the waters of Belle creek. The soil is rich and causes Leon to be one of the most desirable farming sections of the county. The people are educated and progressive, being for the most part Americans of Norwegian and Swedish descent, although a few of the sturdy old pioneers of Norwegian and Swedish birth still remain to tell the story of their early struggles to their children. Of Leon it has been truthfully said: "Its cultivated fields, possessing a soil of marvelous fertility, its broad acres of arable land, its timber and water, beautiful residences, barns and granaries, flocks and herds, and finally the health and general prosperity of its inhabitants, are the living evidences of a section of country rich in natural resources and abounding in happy homes." The first settler, Haldro Johnson, a Norwegian, came here from Dane county, Wisconsin, in the fall of 1854. He made a claim on section 20, built a rude cabin and spent the winter there. The following spring he went back to Wisconsin, and married, bringing his bride with him to the new country, where they were to establish their rooftree and live in happiness. In the summer of 1855 came the following Scandinavians and their families : A. J. Malande, Andrew Larson, Gutrom Pederson, Ole Pederson, J. Wamberg, John Bottolfson. M. Edstrom. C. A. Haggstrom, William Olson and Rognold Johnson. They at once staked out claims and broke the land, most of which still remains in the possession of the families of the original claimants. In 1856 came Albert, Calvin, Samuel, David and Horace McGaughey, F. F. Dimmick, James Cox, Seth Davis. Charles A. Johnson, William Greaves and Ellery Stone with his sons. The eastern people who settled in the central and southeastern part of this township in the early days did not as a rule remain long, and consequently few of their names have been handed down to posterity in this county, although several attained prominence in the localities where they afterward settled. Frank Johnson, born May 8, 1856, and died September 7 the same year, was the first white child born and the first person to die in the township. The first school was taught in 1857 by Daniel Van Amberg, in a log schoolhouse near where William Olson afterward took up his residence. Among the early settlers came H. Ferrell, who laid claim to a section of land and surveyed and laid out town lots, naming the place Wastedo. His dreams of a future great city were not realized, and a larger part of the village plat is now devoted in farms. In 1857 E. A. Sargent built a store and stocked it with general merchandise, and the next year Martin Thompson built another store. Blacksmith shops were opened in 1857 and 1865. In more recent years the store of M. T. Opsal at this point became the trading center of the town. The postoffice at Wastedo was discontinued some years ago and Cannon Falls R. F. D. No. 1 was substituted. Of Leon, thirty years ago, it was written: "The township is now inhabited almost exclusively by a steady, industrious class of people, natives of Norway and Sweden, and their descendants, the Norwegians residing principally in the southwestern portion of the township, and the Swedes in the northeastern. They are all, or nearly all. citizens of the United States, and as their interests are thoroughly identified with the land of their adoption, they take a deep interest in the political and social welfare of the country. Many of them are men of wide education and ability, some of them having represented their districts in one or both branches of the state legislature, while others have filled local positions of trust and honor." This is no less true today. |
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