Blue Earth County MN Archives History - Books .....Blue Earth County 1882
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Book Title: History Of The Minnesota Valley

BLUE EARTH COUNTY.

OHAPTER LXVII.

DESCRIPTION-SETTLEMENT-ORGANIZATION-DEVELOPMENT.

   Blue Earth county takes its title from the river of that name which enters
the county on the south and forms a junction with the Minnesota river at its
great south bend, which forms the northern boundary of the county. Prairie and
timber are well blended, and its soil is rich, deep and durable.

   The settlement of the county dates from 1852, when P. K. Johnson and Henry
Jackson located at Mankato. The organization of Blue Earth county was effected
by act of the legislature, passed in March, 1853. The governor appointed J. W.
Babcock, John 8. Hinckley and James Hanna commissioners. Edwin Perkins was the
first register of deeds, but held the office only a short time. His resignation
was followed by the succession of P. K. Johnson to the position. The act
creating the county was approved March 5; it was entitled "an act to organize
certain counties and for certain purposes." This act, also called into existence
ten other counties at the same time. Section 34 provided: "That so much
territory lying south of the Minnesota river, as remains of Wabasha and Dakota
counties, undivided by this act, is hereby created into the county of Blue
Earth." The first election was held in October, 1853, and resulted in the
polling of eighteen votes. In 1855 eighty-six votes were cast; in 1856, 216, and
in 1857, 1,131. The census for the year 1857 gave a population of 3,629.

   The county boundaries have been changed several times. In fact, for many
years after its organization, at every session of the legislature, some attempt
was made to effect changes of various descriptions; attempts not always
successful, however.

   In 1855 Kasota was cut off from Blue Earth county. J. W. Babcock then resided
there, and this measure was through his efforts; he wanted to make it the county
seat of Le Sueur county. The next year, however, 1856, one-half of that township
and one-half of another were included within the boundaries of Blue Earth. These
two halves are those now marked on the map as Lime and Jamestown.

   As amended in 1856, the boundaries were as follows: Beginning at the
southwest corner of township 105 north, range 24 west, running thence west, on
said township line, thirty miles between ranges 29 and 30, thence north on said
township line to the centre of the Minnesota river; thence down said river to
the centre of township 109, in range 26, between sections number 18 and 19,
thence due east through the centre of said township, and township number 109, of
range number 25, west, to the line between ranges 24 and 25, west, then south to
the place of beginning." At the same time the county of Brown was created out of
a former part of the county of Blue Earth.

 On February 23, 1856, the county of Faribault was organized and attached to
Blue Earth for judicial purposes.

   Soon after the first settlement was made at Mankato, other parts of the
region were explored and desirable portions located upon. A peculiar feature of
these early settlements was the method by which many were effected; a means
which usually took the shape of the organization of companies, as they were
called. They were not really bodies corporate, but simply the association
together of any number of individuals for the purpose of mutual protection and
assistance. In this way were many places settled. That it was a form of
colonization much in vogue in the decade commencing with the year 1850 is
manifestly apparent, when the records are inspected. These companies, too, were
as a rule formed for the purpose of making claim to town-sites, and the fact
that no government survey had been made had no doubt much to do with their
organization.

   South Bend and Lake Crystal appear to have been the two places next in point
of time to receive the footprints of civilization. The former place, in its
early days, was quite a rival to Mankato, and for long disputed the right of
supremacy. When Amos D. Seward arrived at Mankato, in 1855, he says that there
were only five houses of board and six of logs, and that there were only four
horses in the entire region, two being at Lake Crystal and two at Mankato. At
quite an early date, in reply to the question as to "whether wheat could he
raised in the county" he said that "he did not know." It was then as yet an
untried experiment.

   The first saw-mill to be erected in the county was built in 1851 by Van Brunt
on the Le Sueur river, some six miles south-east from Mankato. This property,
however, soon after had to be abandoned on account of its being on the territory
assigned to the Winnebago Indians by the general government.

   The first meeting of the board of county commissioners was held at Mankato,
August 6, 1853; it was then ordered that Blue Earth county be divided into two
election precincts, the first to be "that which lies south of a line starting
from the St. Peters (now Minnesota) river at the northern portion of the claim
of James Rablin and running due east to the other extremity of the county, and
shall he known by the name of Mankato precinct; and that the other precinct
shall be composed of all that portion of Blue Earth county not contained in
Mankato precinct, and shall be called and known by the name of Babcock's mill
precinct." Henry Jackson, Edwin Howe and Jacob Guenther were appointed judges of
election for Mankato precinct; and B. Butters, C. C. Mack and Philander P.
Humphrey for Babcock's precinct. The elections were ordered to be held at the
"new hotel in Mankato," and at the house of J. W. Babcock, and resulted in the
selection of J. W. Babcock, Ephraim Cole and Jacob Guenther as county
commissioners. This comprised the first elective board, the names previously
mentioned being those appointed by the governor to hold until the election. At
the first meeting it was resolved that "the county seat for Blue Earth county
be, and hereby is, located at Mankato." At a special meeting held some time
later at the office of the register of deeds, Basil Moreland was appointed
treasurer, and T. D. Warren justice of the peace for Blue Earth county.

   The first assessment districts were divided as follows: "All that portion of
land lying north of the creek about half way from Babcock's to Mankato, and
generally known as the half-way creek, is to comprise the lower district, and
all that portion of land lying between said half-way creek and Blue Earth river
is to comprise the middle district; and all that portion of land west of the
Blue Earth river is to comprise the upper district."

   The county was subsequently divided into four road districts and supervisors
appointed for each. Surveys were soon afterwards made and a number of good
county roads constructed during the year 1854. At a meeting held February 6,
1854 it was resolved that the chairman of the board be and hereby is, authorized
to provide some suitable room or building in the town of Mankato, for the use of
the sheriff, register of deeds and such other county officers as the law
requires the county commissioners to provide.

   On April 3, 1854 the name of Babcock's Mill precinct was changed to that of
Kasota precinct. About the same time the county was divided into two school
districts, the boundaries of which were made to accord with those of the
election precincts.

   At an extra meeting held September 4, 1854, Basil Moreland presented in
writing his resignation to the office of sheriff. Minard Mills also resigned his
office of judge of probate and justice of the peace, and Jacob Guenther resigned
his place as county commissioner. Edwin Howe was immediately appointed sheriff
in place of Basil Moreland and action deferred in the other cases.

   That portion of the county above the Blue Earth river, including South Bend,
soon began to get pretty well settled, and in accordance with a petition
presented by the residents thereof it was formed into a separate election
precinct, and Messrs. Evans, Bangs and Matthews appointed judges of election.

   The first term of district court was held by the Hon. Andrew G. Chatfield, on
May 4, 1854, at Mankato, which then constituted part of the third judicial
district of the territory. Basil Moreland was sheriff; Jeffrey T. Adams, clerk;
Charles E. Flandrau, acting United States district attorney; George Maxfield,
crier; J. J. Noah, interpreter; Hoxie Rathburn, bailiff.

   Two cases only were before the court, George Maxfield versus Henry Jackson,
and Henry Jackson versus T. D. Warren. Both were appeal cases from justices
court, and both appeals were dismissed. These district courts were then held
annually.

   In 1857 Charles E. Flandrau appears as judge, at which term, John E.
Tourtellotte, S. F. Barney, Cramer Burt, Daniel Buck, Horace Austin, Charles W.
Miller, and Richard W. Varden, each made application for admission to practice
as attorneys, and after a public examination were all admitted.

   In 1858 the first term of court under the state constitution was held by
Judge Lewis Branson. J. T. Williams was clerk.

   That the payment of taxes was not any more favorably received then than now,
the following entry in the minutes of the county commissioners proceedings,
under date of January 4, 1855 would imply; on motion of E. Cole, Mr. Howe was
authorized to employ a lawyer to answer complaints against him, of N. Myrick, in
writ of replevin of one yoke of oxen taken for taxes, taken by said Howe.

   An indication of growth is afforded at this time by the necessity arising for
the division of Mankato school district into two districts. There was reported
to be forty-seven inhabitants between the ages of four and twenty-one, in Kasota
and eighty in the Mankato district. A month after this, township 109 was created
a school district of itself, as number 4. Progress was rapidly made in
settlement and new districts were therefore constantly being made and township
governments organized, roads and bridges constructed and other public
improvements effected. By the year 1859 South Bend, Judson, Butternut Valley,
Garden City, Watonwan, Vernon, Shelbyville, and Mapleton, were all thriving
centers of industry and there were also at that date a very large number of
"paper towns;" indeed it is safe to say they greatly outnumbered the really
settled towns.

     In 1853 the total valuation of property in the county, for purposes of
assessment, was $5,500; the valuation in 1858 was $1,008,615.

     In 1873 the total area of land under cultivation was 90,515 acres; of this
over 61,000 acres was in wheat. This acreage was divided into 1,981 farms. In
the same year there were 124 organized school districts; persons between the
ages of five and twenty-one, and entitled to the privileges of public schools,
7,494, of which 3,785 were males and 3,709 females; number enrolled in winter
schools was 4,016; the number of school-houses in the county was as follows:
Log, thirty-five; frame, seventy-seven; brick, six; stone, one; total, 119; the
value of the same was estimated at $84,320. At the same date the total bonded
indebtedness of the county was only $20,000 which had been incurred principally
for the erection of bridges, of which there were then three wooden truss and two
iron truss.

     It is gratifying to observe that the county finances have always been
judiciously managed, and the rate of taxation, with the exception of one or two
years, has been lower than that of any other county in the state.

     A great drawback was the presence of the Winnebago Indians and the agency
established in the most thickly populated portion of the county. They were
located there in 1855, when by a treaty with the United States, these Indians
disposed of all their land on the Upper Mississippi, and received in exchange, a
certain sum of money and portions of land in the southern part of the territory
of Minnesota, which was not to exceed ten townships, and which was to be
reserved as their permanent home. This reservation, which was to have been
selected by their agent, was not to approach nearer the Minnesota river than
where the Le Sueur empties into the Blue Earth. It was represented at Washington
that this point was at least thirty-five miles from Mankato. By this unfortunate
mistake, or unpardonable misrepresentation, the Indians were placed within two
miles of Mankato, and became the possessors of six and one-half townships of
land almost in the heart of the county. These townships were those now known as
Rapidan, Decoria, McPherson, Beauford, Medo, Lyra, and the south tier of
sections of Mankato, Leroy and South Bend. There were several persons who had
settled on these lands, among them Van Brunt, who had erected the mill already
referred to, all of whom had to leave. William S. Sargent, the register of
deeds, writing on the matter some time in June, 1859, says that "during last
March a delegation of chiefs, with their agent visited Washington city for the
purpose of treating for a whole or a part of these reservations; and it is
stated that they made arrangements to dispose of four townships and an odd tier
of sections, twelve in number, lying directly south of Mankato, and including
the country watered by the Blue Earth, Maple, and Big and Little Cobb rivers. In
this portion of the reservation there are no better farming lands in America;
and it also includes the much prized mill privilege on the Blue Earth called the
'rapids,' which will readily bring $20,000. If put up for sale I know parties
that will give that sum for it. As to the manner by which this reservation is to
be disposed of (providing the treaty shall be ratified,) is a matter of doubt;
some say by sealed bids, and others at public auction."

   But unfortunately for the interests of the settlers, the treaty was not
ratified; and it was not until 1863 that the removal of the Indians was
effected, when the lands were purchased for their benefit and the occupants
transferred to a point west of the Missouri and north-east of Nebraska.

   During the dark days of the Sioux massacre the inhabitants of the county
became determined to obtain the conveyance of these Winnebagos to some other
place, and many means were adopted looking to that end. One of the most
dangerous manifestations of this determination took the form of the organization
of a secret society called the "Knights of the Forest," which was composed of
some of the most prominent people in the county. Lodges were established in
various parts of the state, all of which flourished for some time. One lodge, in
Mankato, numbered some fifty active members. When the removal of the Winnebagos
became an accomplished fact the order died a natural death.

   The terrible Indian massacre was indeed a justification for the existence of
such a society as this; friends, relations and property were killed and doomed
to destruction. The unfortunate country lying around Mankato was the theatre of
many an appalling scene of conflict and butchery. Repetition here is useless, as
these fearful atrocities and the heroic resistance offered by the settlers have
been fully treated in other parts of this work.

   There also evidently existed other societies with similar objects in the
county, as a letter, written to the St. Paul "Union," protesting against showing
any mercy to the captives held by the military, contained, among other matter,
the following: "All the Quakers this side of eternity cannot save a single red
devil *         *     *     *     So  we of the frontier watch and wait—Lodge
No. 28, Sioux exterminators, has among many other regulations the good by-law,
'Necessity knows no law.' "

   In May, 1865, the county commissioners offered a bounty of fifty dollars for
each Indian scalp taken in Blue Earth county. By a probable oversight or
carlessness in framing the resolution it was not made to cover those taken from
hostile Indians alone. No distinction at all was made. This stood until as late
a date as seven or eight years afterwards, when attention being directed to the
matter by A. D. Seward, who saw while going through the records that the reward
was still in force, the statute was repealed.

   In the meantime it should he stated that a commissioner, E. P. Evans, during
the time of the raids, had been sent into the southern states to obtain some
bloodhounds; the money for the purpose was obtained by popular subscription. He
returned with some six or seven. After that there were no more raids made in the
sections of country where the bloodhounds were.

   In the early days of the county there evidently existed in the minds of the
commissioners a somewhat obscured notion as to the extent of powers possessed,
for it is related that one of the earliest boards, on application being made to
it, granted a divorce.

   In 1854, when the county seat was located at Mankato, it was ordered that the
corners of block 50 be surveyed as the law directed, so as to define its
boundaries for the purpose of locating thereon a court house. Nothing more was
done until July 10, 1856, when it was ordered that there be erected, at the
expense of Blue Earth county, a court house and jail, to be used for county
purposes, and that there be a tax levied to pay for the same. The dimensions of
said building were to be thirty by forty feet, two stories in height, and for
which the clerk was ordered to make specifications. On September 1, of the same
year, proposals were received for the erection of the building, but for various
reasons, the contract was deferred another year.

   November 1, 1857, the contract for building a jail to contain two cells was
let to Francis Bunker; jail to cost $900. It was finished January 1, 1857, and
was in use until 1869, when the present jail was built.

   January 7, 1857, it was ordered by the county commissioners that a stone
building, 24x24 feet, be erected on the court house, square, in Mankato. The
contract for this building was let to Isaac N. Britton and Francis Bunker, July
28, 1857, for the sum of $15,000. This building was small and inconvenient, but
was used until 1877, when the front was torn out and large additions made to the
original building. The entire front is now of brick, as well as the other
portions of the addition.

   When the post-office, the first in the county, was established at Mankato,
George Marsh, of Mankato, and J. W. Babcock, of Kasota, had the first contract
for carrying the mail from Mankato to St. Paul and to Sioux City. They had a
very liberal contract for the service, and were allowed the privilege of
pre-empting a section of land every twenty miles on both routes. Each twenty
mile distance was regarded as a station, at which cabins were built. They were
obliged to send a mail through at least once a month. Hoxie Rathburn, who was
employed on these errands, was frozen to death while making a trip.

   The soil of Blue Earth county being so well adapted for agricultural
purposes, the newspapers, and others, in 1859 began to agitate the necessity of
a union of the people for the purpose of holding agricultural fairs, so as to
bring the advantages of the county more prominently before the world. This
resulted in the formation of a society and the holding of a fair, which took
place at the Minneinneopa House, half a mile west of South Bend, on October 11,
1859, the opening address being delivered by Daniel Buck.

   From that period dates the beginning of the agricultural prosperity of the
county. Previous to that time but little real husbandry had been engaged in—not
enough grain, in fact, had been raised in any one year to supply the home
demand. The agricultural interest received a series of severe blows, inflicted
by the grasshopper scourge. The greatest damage done was in 1874 and '75. In
several sections of the county entire crops were destroyed. To add impulse to
the destruction of these pests, the county officials offered a reward of ten
cents per quart for dead grasshoppers; about $32,000 was paid out in ten days
for this purpose, the amount of grasshoppers measured by the commissioner,
Chris. Arnold, was about 16,000 bushels. They were buried in the ground, but the
stench becoming unbearable, they were covered with wood and burned. The state
paid back to the county one-half of the sum paid in bounties. In 1877 they again
appeared in large numbers, the up river towns suffering most. As soon as the
insects acquired wings they decamped in clouds to parts unknown, and have not
since reappeared.

   The county possesses excellent railway facilities, more than one-half of the
townships being traversed. The St. Paul & Sioux City railroad was completed
through the county in 1868. The Winona & St. Peter was completed in the fall of
1870 and winter of '71. The Central Railroad of Minnesota was finished to
Mankato in 1874, and the branch of the Sioux City road from Lake Crystal to Blue
Earth City in 1879.

   The first ferry licences were those granted January 3, 1854, to N. Armstrong
for a ferry across the Minnesota river opposite the town of Eureka, and to Hoxie
Rathbnrn for one across the same river at Mankato. On March 6, of the same year,
J. W. Babcock received a license to keep and maintain a ferry at his landing,
with the exclusive right for such privilege for a distance of half a mile above
and below. Rates were established by the commissioners and the license granted
for a period of six years. A. J. Myrick received a license at the same time,
under similar conditions, to establish and maintain a ferry at or near the mouth
of the Cottonwood river. August 21, 1855, license was granted to M. Thompson to
run a ferry at the public landing for a period of ten years at the town of South
Bend. Another ferry was at the same time established at Mankato by Francis
Bunker, the license granted being for a term of three years—the annual charge
therefor being set at five dollars.

   The first bridge built over the Blue Earth river at Mankato was finished in
1856. This was carried off by the floods in 1862. The present bridge was erected
in 1869, about the same time that the railroad bridge was constructed. The old
railroad bridge, which was originally a wooden one, was replaced two or three
years ago by a more substantial one of iron. When the bridge over the Blue Earth
was carried off a ferry was established there and maintained until the bridge
was replaced. In 1870 a wooden bridge was erected across the river at Garden
City at a cost of $15,000. During a severe wind-storm in 1880 the entire
superstructure was blown from off its abutments and carried into the river
below. Soon after a contract was entered into for the erection of a better
bridge, this time to be an iron one.

   Besides the city of Mankato, the village of Lake Crystal and that of
Mapleton, there are twenty-three township organizations in the county.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from 

History of the Minnesota Valley
Minneapolis: North Star Publishing Co. (1882)


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