Lynden Township Excerpts from:Farnham's History of Wright Co., MN ========================================================================= 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: Rebecca B Frank ========================================================================= Lynden Township excerpts from: Mitchell, William Bell, History of Stearns County, Minnesota. Volume II. Chicago: H.C. Cooper, Jr. and Co. 1915. Page 1273 - 1275 LYNDEN TOWNSHIP The town of Lynden is situated in the southeast corner os Stearns county, and was originally covered with brush and timber. A large part of the town is undulating, with a rich and fertile soil. The Mississippi river forms its eastern boundary, while the Clearwater river flows along its southern line. A few settlers arrived in the town in 1853, but it was not until 1856 that any considerable settlement was made. The town is so situated that its history is very intimately connected with the towns of Clearwater and St. Cloud. The settlers of Lynden received their mail and attended church, bought their supplies and sold their produce at these points. For many years the settlers occupied only the eastern side of the town, and a large part of the western side of the town remained unsettled. The farmers were an intelligent, active and progressive class of citizens, and conducted their farming operations in an enlightened and business-like manner. During the early years of the town's existence, the settlers saw hard times, and scant fare, and suffered many privations. T. C. Porter and John Townsend made the first claims in what is now the town of Lynden, in 1853. Their claims were made in sections twenty and twenty-one, on land later owned by W. T. Rigby and B. B. Benson. Mr. Porter sold his interest to Townsend, the following year, for 10 dollars; it was subsequently pre-empted by Joseph and Peter Townsend, brothers of John, who had also arrived in 1853. William and John McDonald came the same year. Porter and the Townsends were natives of Pennsylvania, the former coming to Minnesota before the territorial organization. Jonathan and William Dallas, natives of Indiana, settle on section four, in 1854. In the same year, M. D. Cambell came from Ohio and James Cambell, his brother from New York. They took claims in the fall. Abel Kent, wife and four daughters, accompanied by J. W. Stevenson, came from Ohio in 1855, and settled on sections nine and ten. Tradition says, T. C. Porter ferried the young ladies across the Clearwater river on his back, and escorted them to their new home. George T. Cambell also arrived and took a claim this year. However, he went back to Boston and did not return until 1860. J. W. Stevenson married Emma Kent in the fall of that year. Simon Stevens, another pioneer, lashed two Indian canoes together and took the wedding party across the Mississippi river, and the ceremony was performed on the east bank of the stream, between sundown and dark, by John H. Stevenson, justice of the peace of Sherburne, then Benton county. As soon as they were declared man and wife a party of pioneers secreted in the timber near by fired a salute in honor of the event frightening many of the bridal party into the belief that the Indians were upon them. Joseph Townsend and Harriet Ball were married in October of the same year by the same official and under similar circumstances there being no clergyman or justice of the peace in this town at that time. The first ceremony performed in the town was the marriage of A. B. Darby to Jerusha Ingalls on March 19, 1858. In 1856 the population was increased by the arrival of S. A. Clifford, W. D. Davis, Turman Parcher, L. C. Johnson, Martin Johnson, Stephen Oyster, E. G. Mathews, George E. Warner, T. Heaton, A. C. Powers and B. T. Lyons. They took claims in the eastern part of the town. The same year, Charles Dally, Joseph Pratt, and ______ McConney took claims in the west part of the town, near the Fair Haven line. The first child born was a son of Peter Townsend, named Byron, in August, 1856. The first death was J. W. Stevenson, to whom reference has just been made as the principal in the first marriage ceremony. He died on September 14, 1856. The first school was taught by J. Langley, of Vermont, in the winter of 1858-59, in a shanty, which had been erected for a groggier. The first schoolhouse was built in the summer following, the funds being raised by subscription, and Marietta Vorse taught the first school therein. The first election was held at the house of S. A. Clifford, in October, 1857, in what was then called Clearwater precinct. S. A. Clifford, Truman Parcher and Martin Johnson were judges of election, and A. C. Powers and W. D. Davis were clerks. The town was organized on January 15, 1859, and the first election held on that day at the house of John McDonald, later owned and occupied by Abijah Whitney. A preliminary meeting had been held in 1858, and the name of Corning chosen for the new town, but the fist annual meeting the name was changed to "Lyndon," though now written "Lynden." The first township officers were: Supervisors, Seth Gibbs, chairman; Martin Johnson and Truman Parcher; clerk, W. a. Sumner; constables, T. Heaton and F. H. Thompson; justices of the peace, W. T. Rigby and Jon McDonald; assessor, S. A. Clifford; overseer of the poor, N. W. Merrill; road overseer, Jonathan Sargent; collector, T. Heaton. During the Rebellion, the town furnished its quota of volunteers for the army, and her sons did noble work on many southern battlefields. The following are among the names of those who enlisted during the war: Carroll H. Clifford, Frank W. Clifford, George C. Clifford, Frank W. Lyons, William H. Lyons, James M. Lyons, E. P. Parcher, Frank M. Parcher, Benjamin Rovinson, Adam Bunt, William Dallas, Wilbur F. Fisk, James Langdon, C. H. Vorse and George T. Campbell. There was one lacking to fill the town's quota, and Levi Gleason was drafted and afterwards promoted to chaplain. All of the above named volunteers, except E. P. Parcher, who was killed at the battle of The Cedars, December 7, 1864.