"A History of Western Murray County" by Robt. B. Forrest Table of Contents, Murray Co., MN Published 1947 ========================================================================= USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. If you have found this file through a source other than the MNArchives Table Of Contents you can find other Minnesota related Archives at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/mnfiles.htm Please note the county and type of file at the top of this page to find the submitter information or other files for this county. Made available to The USGenWeb Archives by: Robert B. Forrest III ========================================================================= A HISTORY OF WESTERN MURRAY COUNTY from 1688 to December 1946 and of LEEDS TOWNSHIP a typical prairie township by Robt. B. Forrest [Published 1947] Early W. Murray Co. MN Hist., Contents (1)TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface...................................Preface Western Murray County History.................5 Early Days in Western Murray County..........15 Drainage Basins of Western Murray County.....18 Murray County................................19 Buffalo Ridge Was First Telegraph Station....20 Leeds Township...............................21 "The Prairie Mother".........................28 What the Pioneers Lived on...................30 Christmas in the Early Seventies.............21 Social Entertainment.........................33 The First Preacher in Western Murray County..35 The First Schoolteacher in Leeds.............35 Lighting.....................................35 The Prairie Fire.............................36 Early Farm Implements........................36 The Grasshopper Days.........................37 Early Fuel...................................39 The Red Men Were Still Here in the 70's......39 What the Settlers Wore.......................41 The Early Harvests...........................42 The Sod Shanty on the Claim..................43 Settlers Paid a High Price for Money.........45 Game was Abundant............................46 The Winter of 1880-1881......................46 Leeds Holds First Township Election..........49 Leeds Township in 1946.......................50 History of the Hadley Study Club.............51 The Hadley Lutheran Church...................53 Early History of the Village of Hadley.......55 The Hadley Co-Operative Creamery.............58 Highest Pavement in State in Chanarambie Twp.61 The Hadley Co-Operative Elevator Company.....62 The Gateway House............................65 Law Makers from Western Murray County........69 The Lake Shetek Massacre of August 20th,1862.71 Formation of Murray County...................75 In Memory of Those Who Gave Their Lives in World War II..78 The Buffalo..................................79 The Early History of Lake Wilson, Minnesota..80 Church History of Lake Wilson................89 The Lake Wilson Co-Operative Elevator & Lumber Company..92 The First National Bank of Lake Wilson, Minnesota...... 95 The First White Man to Visit Murray County Was Philander Prescott..97 Chanarambie Township.........................98 First Road in Murray County.................102 Cameron Township............................103 Murray County Known to White Men in 1820....106 There was Plenty to Eat in 1836.............107 Early History of Lowville Township..........108 The Oldest House in Murray County...........112 In the Days When We Were Cave Dwellers......113 Early Ditching..............................115 Elections Held In Towns that Never Existed..116 "Lost Timber"...............................120 Muskrat Did Not Tempt Early Settlers........121 Family Histories: Lars Aga Family.............................125 L. M. Adams Family..........................125 Henry W. Anderson Family....................126 W. E. Aderhold Family.......................127 Ole Aleckson Family.........................128 Andrew Amundson Family......................129 Severt Amundson Family......................131 Henry D. Bose Family........................131 Ernst Buldhaupt Family......................133 Fred B. Bedford Family......................133 Robert Courtney Family......................134 Henry Carney Family.........................135 N. C. Christensen Family....................136 Edward G. Christianson......................137 Fred Carlson Family.........................137 Claus Clauson Family........................138 B. H. Crissinger Family.....................140 Peter A. Dahlquist Family...................141 Carl Eisfelt Family.........................142 David M. Engel Family.......................143 Andrew Edmundson Family.....................144 Embric A. Engebretson Family................145 John W. Erickson Family.....................146 August Erickson Family......................147 Lloyd F. Fowser Family......................148 Phillip Flannery Family.....................149 Axel Fresk Family...........................150 Dr. James Forrest Family....................151 Robert Fraser Sr. Family....................153 William Ginn Family.........................153 James A. Gilfillan Family...................155 Fred G. Gass Family.........................156 Otto K. Heimness Family.....................156 L. J. Heimness Family.......................157 William Helmke Family.......................157 Fred Helmke Family..........................159 Rolf Harmsen Family.........................161 Wesley Hromatko Family......................162 John Heins Family...........................163 Evan E. Jones Family........................163 Hans Jacobson Family........................165 Gilbert Johnson Family......................166 Olaus Johnson Family........................169 Theodore Knutson Family.....................170 B. M. Low Family............................171 James Lowe, Sr., Family.....................173 Mike Mihin Family...........................178 Joseph G. McGlashen.........................179 Carl H. Nissen Family.......................180 Hans Nelson Family..........................181 Julius F. Nepp Family.......................182 Henry Nett Family...........................183 Swen Nelson Family..........................184 A. J. Osborne Family........................185 Albert Oberg Family.........................186 Andrew I. Olson Family......................187 C. F. Sierk Family..........................188 George H. Smith Family......................189 Charles Swan, Sr., Family...................190 Hans Simonson Family........................193 Lars 0. Solem Family........................194 Pete Thompson Family........................195 John A. Tutt Family.........................196 Benjamin F. Warren Family...................197 Reuben Wee Family...........................199 R. E. York Family...........................199 Acknowledgments.............................203