Early History of Brown County, South Dakota, pages 98 - 125

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Copyright 1970 by Brown County Territorial Pioneers, Aberdeen, S.D.

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[Pxxx].



[P98]

Ida, Mrs. Ott Schinkel; Mary, Mrs. Philip Radke; Agusta, Mrs. John Radke; 
August, Otto, and Charles. Charles was killed by lightning while cutting grain. 
The Bartz family came from Germany and lived a few years in Watertown, Wisconsin 
before coming to Dakota Territory. The farm is now owned and operated by August 
C. Bartz.

Shadrach Evans came to Dakota Territory in June, 1882 and filed on land where 
Randolph now stands. His abode was a dugout and in 1884 he brought his bride, 
Annie Cross, from Wisconsin to share the humble home. Their son, Benjamin, first 
saw the light of day in the dugout in 1886 and still humorously claims to be a 
groundhog. Soon thereafter lumber was hauled from Groton by oxen for a new house 
but the sod barn still sheltered the oxen and a new team of horses he purchased. 
Drought and other adversities in the early 90's discouraged him so he quit; but 
his pioneer spirit fired him again before a year had lapsed and he was working 
the lands again. Bennie and wife (Esther Markham) and two of their sons, Cyril 
and Layle Evans live and farm in the nearby area. Because the pioneer spirit and 
courage did not die, the Evans name is prominently listed as residents and 
tillers of the soil of the James River Valley.

[Photo: Benson Family]

Lester M. Benson, a widower with his two sons' Leon and Parke, came from 
Minnesota, with his brother-in-law, L. J. Fargo in 1882 and they filed on 
adjoining farms in Section 19. The following year his twin daughters, Grace and 
Faith, came to Dakota with their grandparents, Alpheus and Rebecca Fargo. The 
grandparents went to live with their son Leon and the girls joined the family in 
the new home. Soon it was one big circle of pioneer families within walking 
distance--Halls, Messers, Gaberts, Griefenhagens, Sanders, and others. Music was 
a hobby of the family and soon the Benson's furnished music for gatherings and 
dances. It carried on through that generation as the piano replaced the 
dulcimer--and by the next generation for several years. Lester Benson was 
elected by the Populist party to represent this area in the Pierre Legislature 
during the middle 90's. Leon married Stella Alberts in 1893. She was also a 
territorial pioneer. Parke married Bernice Sanders. Their farming years were 
spent in Garden Prairie and later their sons, Leslie and Cecil carried on the 
farming. Leslie still resides on the homestead and Allen Benson, Cecil's son is 
in California. Grace Benson Mathieu still lives in Brentford, S. D.

Albert Schley came from Wisconsin and lived with his uncle John in Gem Township 
until he met his future bride, Amelia Dobberpuhl, who also came to Dakota with 
her family from Wisconsin in 1886. They were married in 1889 and homesteaded on 
a farm bought in Garden Prairie, Sec. 6. Their first home was built of lumber 
brought from Wisconsin where the two oldest children were born, Alex and Della 
(Mrs. Otto Gerharter). In about 1892 a new home was built and the first house 
was made into a granary. Other children were, Edwin (deceased), Bernhard, Rosa 
(Mrs. Edwin Soberg), and Helena (Mrs. Emrickson). Bernhard occupied the farm 
after his father until moving to Aberdeen with his family in 1946.

Robert Ball and wife (Mary Clark) came to Dakota from Wisconsin in 1882 and 
homesteaded northeast of Groton. He and a brother-in-law agreed on a land trade 
and the Ball family located on Sec. 7-121-60. The children were born there, 
namely, Frank, Mattie (Mrs. Ed Hofer, deceased), Kate (Mrs. George Tollefson), 
and Myrtle (Mrs. Dan Clemensen). Tragedy befell the family in 1892 with the 
death of the mother by grippe. The father was determined to keep the family 
together and filled the mother's place with the help of the older children and 
the neighbors. He broke the farm by oxen and the yoke is still displayed with 
the antiques in Groton. He followed the seeder on foot and harvested the grain 
with a cradle. The bundles he made and tied with straw. First thresher was 
powered by horses in the flesh and you count the horses going round and round to 
verify the horsepower. The family progressed and solved their problems of water 
shortage and storms. Schooling was taken care of by a school house just across 
the road to the east. Neighbors lived on the other two corners of the 
intersection and they boasted of the only plastered school house in the area. 
Stella Alberts was teacher for two years and later married Leon Benson. Frank 
Ball carried on the farming after his father and married Bertha Quandahl to whom 
were born three sons and one daughter. After about a half century on the farm 
they moved to Groton where they still reside. Robert, the youngest son, is now 
living on and operating the farm homestead. Henry farms and lives one and one-
half mile south.

[P99]

GARLAND TOWNSHIP
by Mr. & Mrs. Merriel Olson, Joe Huettl, Mrs. Walter Kepke

This township was named after Hamlin Garland, a novelist who lived in this area 
with his pioneer parents, Mr. and Mrs, Richard Garland. The land south and west 
of Columbia to Ordway and Westport was immortalized by this writer in "Among The 
Corn Rows", and "A Son Of The Middle Border".

[Photo: Hamlin Garland, author, Dakota Territory resident of Ordway, Dakota 
Territory.]

Today, Garland Township is a prosperous land, with many fine sets of farm 
buildings. But there were hard times in the 80's and 90's and some homesteaders 
traded their land for a good team of horses and a wagon that they might load 
their meager belongings and go East again. Homesteaders who stayed were rewarded 
later with good crops, and plenty of grass and hay for their cattle. From the 
earliest pioneer times, there were more cattle in this area, than east and 
south, where the land was more level.

The western part of the township was rolling, while the east part was flat, and 
conducive to level farming. When the homesteaders first came to this wide, 
sunny, windy country, the sky seemed so big, and the horizon line so low and so 
far away, there was a majesty to the landscape, regardless.

[Photo: Memorial to Hamlin Garland on the site of the pioneer R. H. Garland 
home. Left to right: Mrs. Lawrence, Mrs. R. M. Van Winkle and Mrs. J. E. Kelly.]

Garland Township was an inland township with no railroad, no town, not even a 
creek. However, there were early settlers.

Records show that Elof Fredell filed on a homestead here in 1882, and a year 
later the following settlers came: Jason B. Roots, John H. Miller, Herman 
Schliebe, F. G. Logan, L. J. Lawson and George Crock and their families. S. G. 
Johnson and W. W. McDonald and their wives arrived later. Abigail Mason also 
came here. Many of the early homesteaders in Garland Township came from Michigan 
or Iowa. By 1887, a number of families of German descent had taken up homesteads 
here.

As is true of all the pioneers in Brown County, when the settlers had their 
claim shanties built, wells dug, and their first 10 acres plowed, they thought 
of their children's schooling. And soon a school house was built in each corner 
of the township. At the present time, none of these early school houses are 
running. Children go to either Westport or the Columbia schools.

Books used for texts in these early day schools included the McGuffey readers, 
the Mitchell geography, and the Ray arithmetic books. Every boy and girl had a 
slate on which to do his sums. Since schools were in session only two to six 
months, there was no time for the frills of education, such as art, handcraft, 
music, poetry, etc. Teachers had to be most resourceful in their lesson plans. 
Probably never in all the years since, has "spelling" been so interestingly 
given as it was in early "spelldowns".

[P100]

In many social affairs, adults participated in this type of thing, too.

These early school houses on the prairies had not a leaf for shade in the 
summer, nor a branch to break the wind in the winter. They were small, 
rectangular "boxes" painted white, with a door at one end, and three windows on 
each side. These barren buildings were also community centers for the pioneers.

After the German residents came they built a church in the northeast corner of 
the township. This was about 1887. However there were services in the homes 
before the church (St. John's Lutheran Church) was built. The little cemetery 
still stands, but the building itself was torn down, and the parsonage was moved 
to Columbia in 1939. Residents now attend church in nearby towns.

Most of the residents now of Garland Township are third generation persons from 
the pioneers.

In this short history of the land, we hope no pioneers have been omitted.

[Photo: A Typical Pioneer Homestead Shanty.]

[P101]

EAST GEM TOWNSHIP
by Mrs. A. J. Radke

As much as West Gem was Norwegian so East Gem became German. The two townships 
were settled the same year, but in the beginning East Gem had settlers of 
several nationalities. During the hard winters and lean years it was the staunch 
Germans who stuck it out and prospered.

Carl Paepke was the first white settler in East Gem. He left his, home and small 
family at Middleton, Wise. for the wide open spaces in search for better farming 
land. In the late fall of 1879 with his brother Herman, and Herman's brothers-
in-law, Martin and August Knie, they left by train for Dakota Territory. The 
Knie brothers and Herman did "railroading"--working on the Milwaukee tracks 
leading to Bath. Paepke was a trapper. In the winter of '79 he trapped along the 
James River. He just carried a knapsack, bed roll and traps. When he was short 
of traps, he dug holes in blocks of wood and filled them with strychnine mixed 
with grease. The hungry animals licked the poison and died. Paepke warned the 
Indians about the poison, so they would not lose their dogs. He also put up 
"poison" signs. He made friends with local Indians and traded furs for a gun. 
They invited him to sleep with them in their dug-out on the bank of the river, 
just 1 1/2 miles west of where he later settled. One of the Indians died, Paepke 
helped bury him.

In the spring Paepke returned to Wisconsin with glowing accounts of Dakota 
Territory and a pack of fine furs to sell. His prize catch was a beautiful prime 
black fox which he sold for $5.00. In the late fall he again returned to this 
area. This time he had a trunk and a barrel of provisions shipped to Bath. 
During the winter he slept in the barrel with his feet sticking out, only a 
blanket to protect them from cold and snow. He decided on his home site, the N. 
W. 1/4 of Sec. 1, Twp. 122, R. 62. He staked his claim in the spring of 1881 and 
built a small shack. One day when he returned from trapping he found a strange 
white man in his home. Carl beat up on him and threw him out in the cold. This 
was some one who intended to establish claim and contest Carl's ownership.

In Feb., 1882 Paepke shipped an immigrant. car from Madison, Wisc. In the car 
was food, clothing, wagon, plow, other farm implements, a cow and two horses. 
This came to Watertown, Dakota. Loading his possessions on the wagon, he and the 
cow walked alongside the wagon to his homestead some eighty miles distance. On 
April 27, his wife and daughter, Emma, age 6, arrived by train at Bath. Carl 
went horseback to meet them. The girl rode while the folks walked home. In the 
summer of '82 Carl built a 12 by 16 frame house and dug a well by hand. He cut 
willows at the river flats from which he made a ladder to carry up the dirt from 
the deepening well. He finished the well with circular curbing of green willows. 
Before this he had carried water 1 1/2 miles from the river. Next he erected a 
sod barn for his livestock.  Carl plowed the slough east of his home that first 
summer; there was a good rain and he had a fine flax crop. When his plow shares 
needed sharpening he walked to Columbia, leaving his horses to rest and get a 
good feed on prairie grass. He swam the river with the plow shares and his 
clothes tied on his head and the shot gun held high in the air with one hand. He 
shot three wild geese which he traded for a slice of bread--flour was hard to 
get.

Carl Paepke prospered, so with money in his pouch he went back to Wisconsin and 
bought a car load of "heaved" horses for $5.00 a head. He shipped them to 
Columbia, put them on the virgin prairie and soon the effect of the moldy and 
dusty, Wisconsin fodder was gone. Paepke was a shrewd man; many of the pioneers 
needed some more pulling power. Some had only the slow oxen so Paepke sold these 
horses at a great profit.

The first child born in East Gem was a son, William, to Carl Paepke on June 8, 
1883. Carl's close friend, Friedrich Sueltz was the sponsor. William Paepke 
still resides on the original Paepke homestead.

Paepke's return visits to Wisconsin brought out his relatives and friends. His 
brother Herman and Hilbert Schnase whose wives were sisters of the Knie 
brothers, who railroaded on the Milwaukee, and August and Martin Knie all chose 
claims in East Gem.

Joe Little, who was Carl Paepke's first neighbor, and the first white man Paepke 
saw here, settled "on the hill" in the N. W. 1/4 of Sec. 12 in 1882. One evening 
the two men walked to Davis's place in the N. E. 1/4 of Sec. 1. (Davis later 
jumped his claim and Robert McCordic, with a large family, took it up). Being a 
cloudy night they set a lantern in Paepke's window to guide them home. It rained 
so hard the slough was filled with water and they missed the shack. The men 
wandered on, much confused. Joe prayed, Carl swore, but it didn't help. 
Eventually they came to the river. Here Paepke got his bearings, knowing there 
was a trail through the river bottom to his place; he searched in the inky 
darkness until he found the trail. On his hands and knees he crawled, feeling 
the tracks so he would not lose his way, and he made his way back to the shack. 
The next morning Joe returned from his wanderings along the river, having gone 
as far as Tacoma Park. Joe was still praying--now for the safety of his friend 
and neighbor.

When Joe Little married, the pioneers gathered for a chavivari. When the 
newlyweds wouldn't come out after considerable noisemaking, Paepke, Davis and 
Sueltz took Little's 300 pound sow and threw her through the window into the 
house. This brought out the newlyweds!

Joe Little's youngest sister-in-law stayed with the Littles. A young bachelor, 
named Wilbur came a-courting. He had a buggy but no horse. He pulled the buggy 
to Little's expecting to use Joe's horse to take the girl to a dance. But Joe 
said,

[P102]

"No". So Wilbur pulled the buggy with the girl two miles to the dance. Pioneer 
spirit could not be daunted!

Frederick Sueltz, a German immigrant from Stegers, W. Prussia came to America to 
avoid conscription. After several years of farm labor around Ortonville, Minn., 
he decided to go west in search of a homestead. In the fall of 1881 he came to 
Groton, struck out on foot and met up with Carl Paepke. At once they became 
bosom friends because they were German "Landsmann". Sueltz liked the virgin 
prairie and the rich deep soil underneath. He located close to Paepke, choosing 
the N. E. 1/4 of Sec. 11.

Since Watertown, Dakota Territory had the U. S. land filing office Sueltz walked 
there to make his claim. Back to Ortonville he went and with his savings and 
inheritance he purchased provisions, equipment and farm machinery, a cow and two 
horses. These he loaded into an immigrant car along with his precious dowry 
chest which his mother had filled with hand woven linens, a feather tick, and 
hand woven linen under wear to last a life time. But in America they wore 
"store-bought" under wear so the under wear was later made into towels and wash 
cloths.

Fred Sueltz spent the next two years building up his homestead. He hauled stones 
for the foundation of the house from the hills beyond Ferney. He replaced his 
claim shack with a 14 by 16 frame house. The granary was a lean-to on the back 
of the house, and he set up a sturdy shed for his livestock. He hand dug a well 
curbing it with rough boards. Each year he plowed more land. He bought one of 
Paepke's cured "heaved" horses. Three horses on the walking plow; that was 
progress! Paepke and Sueltz in partnership purchased the first binder in this 
area.

Now at the age of 29 Sueltz was ready for family life. So on June 15, 1884 he 
took his brother, August, and friend Carl Paepke to meet his intended bride, 
Caroline Zuehlke. She came by train from Ortonville, Minn., where she had worked 
several years as a domestic, after immigrating from Pomerania, Germany. Heinrich 
Blum, Lutheran pastor in Aberdeen performed the ceremony to which the two above 
named men were witnesses. Fred Sueltz was the first bachelor in the community to 
be married. When his first child, Louise, was born he planted a tree in the 
center of the four stakes marking the section corners--This he told Paepke was 
to be "the sparking tree" for Carl's son and Fred's daughter. But alas, when 
roads along section lines were started the tree was in the center of the cross 
roads!

Sueltz wrote glowing accounts of Dakota Territory in free America to his 
relatives in Germany. Soon his brother, August, his sister with her husband and 
four children, the Carl Krahns and Sueltz's cousins, Carl and Fritz Boem came in 
rapid succession; each living with the Sueltz's until their new home was 
established.

[Photo: August Sueltz wearing coat made from Dakota buffalo.]

August Sueltz, a baker by trade in Germany, joined his brother in Dakota in 
1883. August staked his first claim in Section 9, in the river bottom. He put up 
a claim shanty, a barn and well. The well was only five feet deep with two feet 
of water in it. He plowed twenty acres, it flooded; he cut hay in the water with 
a hand scythe. The next year he moved to the up-land and established his 
homestead in the N. W. 1/4 of Sec. 11. At the Elm River he got seedlings and 
seed for box elder and cottonwood. He planted three rows one-half mile long 
which qualified him for a tree-claim. With his brother Fred, they planted trees 
on both places. August used Fred's machinery until he was able to buy his own. 
August chose a local girl for his bride. On July 15, 1887 he was married to Anna 
Jaeschke at Bath by Pastor Preu, the missionary circuit rider. His youngest son, 
Alfred now owns and farms August's homestead.

Hans Schott came in 1879 from Winona, Minn., looking for land for four sons. 
Three sons settled later in Gem Township. On Aug. 1, 1883, William filed on the 
S. W. 1/4 of Sec. 1 and Hans filed on the N. E. 1/4 of Sec. 2 for Adolph, who 
was not old enough to stake a claim. The two brothers built their claim shack 
and started farming. When Adolph was 21 he bought the farm from his father for 
$2000. Lean years came and it took him a long, long time to pay the debt; 
consequently he did not marry until he was 30 years old. The lumber for his home 
was southern pine, cut and fit in Minn., and shipped to Groton, which was the 
end of the Milwaukee in 1881. It was a 14 by 20 one story dwelling which is 
still in use as part of his son Roy's home.

Albert Schott, a younger brother, came in 1886 when he was old enough to file on 
land. He settled two miles south and married a Dakota girl, Caroline Adler.

Henry Jaeschke, a carpenter by trade, came from Wisconsin with his family in the 
fall of 1881. He settled on the N. E. 1/2 of Sec. 12. Later he bought the 
Schnase homestead for $2100. While his two sons, Charles and William did the 
farm work, Henry did carpentering. Many of the pioneer's frame homes were his 
work.

[P103]

[Photo: Henry Jaeschke farm showing 1881 lumber wagon.]

Carl F. Paepke, a cousin of Carl Paepke, the first settler, was a baker by 
trade. To differentiate the two Carls, Carl F. was called "Baker Paepke". He had 
tried farming in Wisconsin with no success so came here and settled in Sec. 23.

James Schlict, a blacksmith from New Ulm, Minnesota, settled northeast of 
Stratford in 1886. Hostile Indians attacked the settlers there and the Schlick 
family survived the terrible night in a hollow log. When he tried to escape with 
a little boy under each arm the Indians shot him and he lost one boy which the 
Indians captured. No one ever heard of the boy again.

C. M. Giddings, a schemer, homesteaded several quarters. Besides his own, he had 
some in his mother's name and some in other relatives names. He dumped ashes and 
garbage outside each claim shack to show proof there was a claimant living 
there.

Alvin Ellithorpe, with a family of twelve girls and two boys settled in Sec. 13, 
but didn't make it during the dry years. In 1962 at the age of 90, he returned 
to this area and enjoyed a good visit with Wm. Paepke.

Other early settlers were Fred Haker and Warren Fifield with his family of six 
children, who it made it" through the lean years. John Reber, an immigrant from 
Switzerland, came in 1887. His family joined him the next year and they bought 
land in Sec. 13.

The Rapp brothers, Casper and Frank, were early settlers. Frank drowned in the 
James River when he was fishing with Carmine and Herman Paepke. He dove in for a 
swim and never came up. His companions tried to rescue him but finally had to 
get the expert swimmer, Carl Paepke, who brought Frank "up by the hair."

Walter McFarlane came and settled just east of the James River. Others included, 
Morris Beckler, the Bonsness family, Earl and Joe Brown, Will Burke and sons, 
the Canning, Christianson, Elliot, Halvorson, Ellingson, Haker, Itland, Atly, 
Sanford Lund, John Morin, Jonas and Peter Larson, Swenson, Tolstad, Wager, 
Walgren, and Westby families. The James Carmines came in 1883. Their homestead 
was directly east of the James River. The family consisted of three sons, 
Chester, Dean, and Raleigh. Both Mr. and Mrs. Carmine spent much time and energy 
in improving and aiding civic projects.

Esther Hoeft Smith, one of eight Hoeft children, tells this story of her father. 
Herman Hoeft, tired of the struggle with stumps and stones, came via boxcar and 
foot in 1896. He worked for the Schley and Fred Stange families. He walked to 
Seneca, didn't like the stones there so he walked back. Lacking a convenient 
bridge, he piled his clothes into a bundle tied on his head with his belt, and 
swam the Jim River. He figured the land east of the river was best for farming 
anyway. The next year he bought the Otto Gunderson farm. This area has very 
little, if any rock, so he used to haul wagon loads of stone from east of Ferney 
to use in making foundations and floors for his farm buildings. Mr. Hoeft was 
the first person to deliver a load of wheat to the Stratford elevator.

The first church services were held in the pioneers' homes. Lutheran Missionary, 
Pastor Preu, was a circuit rider who lived at Scatterwood and served Warner, 
Aberdeen, and Gem. He came from Aberdeen on a stone-boat, which was a rudely 
constructed contraption of rough boards nailed across two runners made of logs. 
On this was nailed a box in which he stood. One horse pulled this outfit. In 
1883 Pastor Preu conducted Bible school which the Paepke, Krahn, and Jaeschke 
children attended.

The pioneers built a wooden shack for their first church on the hill just west 
of the river bridge where the Gem cemetery still stands. This was of the Iowa 
synod and Germans as far away as Bath and west of there attended. When the Gem 
School No. 1 was built services and Bible school were held there. In 1882 when 
the Missouri Synod organized The James Church the Gem Township Germans 
affiliated with them.

[Photo: The first school in East Gem Township. Pupils are Dora Schatt Treml at 
left and the McCordic girls at the right.]

The first school was held in the winter of 1882 in the partially completed 
Casper Rapp home. In the summer of 1883, the pioneers with their carpenter, 
Henry Jaeschke, built a fine large school house, which served until 1926. The 
first teachers were Maggie Cudmore and then Dora Holland. The first pupils were 
Will, Ned, Adeline and Lillian Fifield; Ina, Clarence and Elwin Ellithorpe; 
Bruce, Raleigh, Lathrop, Herbert and Horace McCordic; Amelia and Johanna Paepke; 
Charles, Anna and William Jaeschke.

The year of the big snow, 1880, brought great

[P104]

hardships. The snow was far too deep for horses to wade through, and it didn't 
freeze or harden enough to carry the horses. The men solved the problem of 
travel by tying boards to their boots like snow shoes, thus they went for mail, 
groceries and visits. One day Carl Paepke and Joe Little went scouting to the 
south, at E. S. Nelson's they found Ole Mogen and Halsten Docken with Nelson 
skinning antelope. These three had come upon a herd of 20 antelope below the 
river bank fenced in with a wall of snow too high for the antelope to jump. Now 
they had enough meat for all summer.

In the big blizzard of Jan. 12, 1888, the teacher and pupils expected to be 
marooned for the night and possibly longer. Fred Sueltz, with whom the teacher 
and Fred Krahn boarded, braved the blizzard by following the fence around his 
land to the southeast corner where the school house stood. He instructed the 
teacher to take the lead, the children following and Sueltz bringing up the 
rear, with all of them hanging on to the fence as they forced their way back to 
the Sueltz home against the terrific wind and blinding blizzard.

"Hallowe'ening" was a stunt played on bachelors. Paepke was the ring leader. The 
men carried huge chunks of coal to the bachelor's shack, in the dead of night; 
suddenly the door opened and "the black devil" came crashing and thundering 
across the floor. If the startled bachelor had courage to look out he would have 
seen dark forms hurrying across the prairie to the next bachelor.

The spring of 1882 was like a grand opening of Gem Township. Many settlers came; 
tar paper shacks sprang up on every quarter of land. Contestants were numerous, 
and frequently a little 6 by 8 shack would appear on the opposite corner of the 
claimant's quarter. Then the claimant would appeal to Paepke, Sueltz and Little 
and in the dead of night the contestant's little shack would be pulled with a 
log chain on to the school section "to squat until they rot."

[Photo: Early pioneer living room.]

[P105]

WEST GEM TOWNSHIP
by Helen J. Bergh

Gem Township is somewhat unique in its manner of settlement. Nils Hundstad left 
Norway in 1878 and came to Dakota Territory to seek a new home. Following his 
return to Norway the entire Hunstad family decided to dispose of their property 
in Royse, a district of Ringerike, Norway, and migrate to America. Accordingly, 
in the early spring of 1880, Mr. and Mrs. Ole Hundstad, their sons Edward and 
Nels, their daughter Inger and her husband Jens Svarstad, with their families 
arrived in Watertown. The three younger men rode northwest toward Waubay and 
then west to the James River. The land, river, and trees looked like home and 
they each marked places on a map and returned to the land office at Watertown to 
file their claims. They found all their chosen places had already been taken, so 
they filed sight unseen, on the triangular area between the James River and 
Mocassin Creek and set out together with their families. In the meantime, Edward 
O. Hundstad with his yoke of oxen was left alone while the others returned to 
Watertown. A storm came up one night and lightning struck and killed one of the 
oxen. The following day some Indians moving from the Sisseton Reservation to 
another reservation near Pierre came by and noticed the dead oxen so they 
immediately helped themselves to the carcass. Edward did not argue with them. He 
was glad to retain his scalp in exchange for the dead animal.

During the first winter of 1880-1881 Edward O. Hundstad and his brother Nels 
made two trips on skiis to Watertown for provisions. They pulled a hand sled 
between them on which the necessary items were fastened. They knew the art of 
skiing and had courage, stamina and willingness to grapple with whatever the 
winter elements had to offer. You say, "How fool-hardy?" No, they trusted the 
good Lord would see them through.

Mr. and Mrs. Svarstad raised seven children. Edward Hundstad married Mathea 
Fjeld in Gem Township. There were six children: Olaf, Emil, Carl, Karine 
Swenson, Esther Orton, and Eleda Liedell. This branch of the family has retained 
the original spelling of the name. The Nels Hunstads had twelve children: Ole, 
Peder, Marie, Nora, Lena, Berger, Mabel, Viola, Louise, Karen, Thelma, and 
Ingvald (Ed).

During that first year here, Ole E. Hundstad thought of the many acres of wheat 
there would be to thresh and so he made plans to buy a threshing machine. He 
sent a picture of it home to Norway and the newspaper there printed a long story 
about it. In several cases members of this family are still on the original 
land.

Another 1878 arrival was a Mr. William Anderson who came from Clinton, Ontario, 
Canada. In 1882 he returned to Canada to get married. There were three children, 
Louis, Charles H. and Alfred. Louis and Charles' first teacher was Elizabeth 
Hazzard, later Mrs. George Slater. Miss Sarah Fewins was Alfred's first teacher. 
Charles H. Anderson now lives between Andover and Pierpont. Louis Anderson lives 
at Huron.

In the spring of 1879 Stenner Gullickson, in company with Halsten Docken, Tom 
Kittleson, Rior Halvorson, Ole Tanberg, and Ole Moland traveled by horse-drawn 
covered wagon into the territory. They returned to Minnesota in the fall and Mr. 
Gullickson drove the first mail coach from Canby, Minnesota to Brookings. In the 
spring of 1880 he returned to Dakota with Halsten Docken, Ole Mogen, Erick S. 
Nelson, Otto Gunderson, Ole Tanberg, and Ole Moland. They filed at the land 
office at Watertown, bought supplies and headed west. When they got as far as 
Frankfort they noticed a band of Indians coming north. They detoured to avoid 
them and came unexpectedly upon a white family living in a dugout. The head of 
the family was building a dam in the river with the intention of putting up a 
mill. Traveling northwest they reached Foster City, known as Armadale Island 
where they found a large Sioux Indian encampment of tepees. They proceeded to 
what is now known as Rondell and met Jim Humphrey who guided them north to where 
Stratford now stands for a dollar apiece.

Mr. Gullickson built a two room sod house. In 1884 he married Kjerste Erickson 
in the Nelson School. They had a family of eleven children and lived to 
celebrate their sixtieth anniversary. Among the children surviving are Mrs. 
Marie Docken, Sandford, Charry and Mabel.

Mrs. Marie Docken gives the following account of her family: "My first home was 
a two-room sod house. The furniture consisted of a cook stove, two chairs, a 
home-made table and a bed with rope strung criss cross for springs. The tick was 
filled with hay and later, when they had corn, they filled it with fresh husks 
each fall. Flat irons or bricks kept on the back of the stove all day, and 
wrapped in old blankets made foot warmers.

The first Christmas tree was a branch covered with fringed green wrapping paper. 
Children made paper rings and strung popcorn for decorations.

Butchering was a big event of the year. Usually in December two or three 
neighbors got together. Water was heated to boiling and poured into barrels for 
scalding of hogs. Then came sausage making with tubs of meat cut up for the meat 
grinder.

The medicine cabinet contained turpentine, camphor, and sulphur. Molasses and 
sulphur was the regular spring tonic for the family.

The same year, 1880, Ole Gunderson and his wife came from Minnesota, Peder 
Erickson came from Wisconsin. He lived in a dug out in the bank of the Mocassin 
Creek for a year. He raised his family, Holger, Herman, Aksel, Alma and Oliver. 
At about the same time Mr. and Mrs. Engebreth Bunsness and their six children, 
Hans, Eliza, John, Mathea, Amelia and Peter came from Oslo, Norway, Later, 
Grandma Bunsness walked four miles to Bath

[P106]

with two dozen eggs to exchange foe a pound of coffee. Other homesteaders 
included E. O. Peterson, John Vaaler, Andrew Thorson and A. C. Hanson. Erick 
Nelson, always an active participant in public affairs, helped to organize Brown 
County with the county seat at Columbia.

Hans Gustafson came from Sweden in 1865, fired Mississippi River steamer boilers 
from St. Paul to St. Louis for several years, returned to Sweden, came back to 
Minnesota in 1878, and to Gem Township in 1880. Ida S. Erickson came to 
Watertown in the fall of 1881. They were married in October and their wedding 
trip was a four day covered-wagon journey to the homestead. Sleeping under the 
wagon with a sack of potatoes for a pillow was quite an experience for a girl 
who had never been out of the city. There were four children, Mrs. Sophia 
Fellers, Mrs. Marie Pinkerton, Mrs. Clara Erickson and Carl Gustafson. Jerry 
Brooks, a great grandson of the Hans Gustafson, Nels Hunstad and Andrew Brooks 
families, tells this story. Seeding was done broadcast and later with a shotgun 
seeder fastened to a wagon wheel. Harvesting was done with the scythe. There was 
no twine, so wheat straws, heads and all were twisted together to tie the 
bundles.

In 1880 the snow was so deep that horses couldn't be used so sacks of wheat were 
loaded on a hand sled and pulled to a grist mill at York's Landing near Rondell. 
He tells of skating parties on the Jim when huge bonfires were built, of his 
great-uncle, John Holum, walking fourteen miles every Saturday for confirmation 
classes at the minister's house, of hanging fresh meat in the well so it would 
not spoil, of making primost cheese by boiling buttermilk, of making hominy out 
of corn by soaking it in lye water, of grinding corn for cornmeal, of roasting 
barley to substitute for coffee. Thistles blew into trees and were stomped flat 
and burned in the stove. Some settlers piled up huge piles of brush to burn as a 
warning if Indian troubles threatened.

October 5, 1881, the Saint James congregation was organized in the sod house of 
A. C. Hanson. Pastor J. E. Bergh of Renville, Minnesota helped in the 
organization. Later the congregation took the name of Scandinavia. That same 
fall two acres of land were purchased for a cemetery. Peder Erickson had charge 
of it for many years.

That same winter the Gem Township school district was organized and the Nelson 
school house built, with the school officers, O. J. Tanberg, E. S. Nelson, and 
O. H. Mogen doing the carpenter work. The school opened in the fall of 1882 with 
Miss Clara Amley as teacher. Among the first pupils were Mathilda Hansen, her 
two sisters and her brother. They had come with their parents, the Hans J. 
Hansens. The Vaaler and Hunstad Schools were built very soon after the Nelson 
School. They were used for church services and in summer parochial school was 
held for two weeks in each one. Mrs. Anna Cairns and her sister, Mrs. Emma 
Svarstad tell this story of their mother, Mrs. Ole Tanberg. She was very 
religious and sent her children to the two-week term in all of the schools. When 
the Jim River was in flood stage, she simply put her little brood into a small 
boat and rowed them across. Many of the Gem residents used this same means of 
getting to church in the spring. This strong religious conviction was shared by 
the entire community which started out with people from three synods but 
eventually united into one church.

Gem Township was formally organized in March, 1884. On April 24, 1884, an 
election was held at School House No. 2. The following officers were elected: 
Chairman, O. T. Tanberg; Supervisors, John Burke and Anders C. Hanson; Clerk, 
John Vaaler; Treasurer, Peder Erickson; Assessor, O. H. Mogen; Justices of the 
Peace, William Johnson and Robert McCordic; Constables, S. T. Gullickson and 
Andrew A. Solberg; Road Overseer, Peter Halvorson.

The next year brought the Ever Johnson, Locken and Lee families, Butler Lee in 
1883, his brother Christian in 1885 and brother John in 1886. Ingeborg 
Gullickson, (later Mrs. Tanberg), homesteaded and remained there until her 
death. For many years Betul Johnson gave the opening prayer at church and led 
the singing. His children live in various parts of the U. S. and Canada.

In the spring of 1885 Hans S. Locken left his wife and baby daughter in Norway 
and headed westward. The ocean journey was a hazardous one. The ship's power 
failed and for several days the vessel drifted completely without direction. 
After arriving in Gem Township, he worked for Halsten Docken to obtain money for 
a ticket for his little family. A most trustworthy hired man he proved to be, 
for the boss set him to watching the other hired man, (who later became an 
Aberdeen merchant) to see that he didn't waste too much time resting. They 
didn't visit much for neither understood the other, so the acreage of trees was 
planted in nice straight rows.

[Photo: Mr. and Mrs. Hans S. Locken and daughters Ida and Carrie in 1887.]

Mr. Locken's brother, Sivert and his sister, Mrs. Sivert Lund, came a few years 
later. The Hans Lockens were parents of eleven children. Three are living, Mrs. 
Lydia Tolvstad of Mellette, S. D. and their twin sons Elmer and George in Brown 
County.

[P107]

These are the first twins born in Gem Township. The old home is still in the 
Locken family.

[Photo: Gem Township's first post office in the home of E. S. Nelson. The 
Picture also shows harvesting with header and header boxes.]

Hans Christian Hansen came to America as a fifteen year old boy. He shoveled 
coal to pay for his passage. In 1886 he married Mathilda Hansen. They were 
parents of Mrs. Bernt Kringen, Mrs. Arnold Krueger, Mrs. Ed Bunsness, Mrs. 
George Burke, Hans, Herman, and George still living.

The Peder Hafnors with their family of eight, Andreas, Nils, Gulbrand, Marthe, 
Anna and Olborg arrived in 1888 and stayed for a time with Mr. Hafnor's sister, 
Mrs. Ole Hunstad. Anna Hafnor and her sister were early teachers.

The Samuel Iversons came the same year and later moved to Ravinia Township. 
Miles, Silas, Mabel, and Clarence still live.

The first post office was established in the home of E. S. Nelson on February 
26, 1883. In 1890 Christian Hansen became postmaster, Elizabeth Rapp in 1891, 
Hans J. Hansen also in 1891 and Carl Paepke in 1898. The first rural mail 
delivery began in June 1900 as a result of efforts of E. S. Nelson. He had 
encountered much ridicule as some settlers thought it would cost a great deal. 
His son, Arthur and Melvin survive.

West of the Scandinavian settlement there was a mixture of nationalities with 
Germans predominating. Compulsory military training was the rule in Germany.

In 1870 the Fred Wolter family with its three boys decided to come to America to 
avoid this training for war. They spent some time in Minnesota with the D. G. 
Luke family. There, a little girl, Mary Matilda was born. After a decade of 
battling drouth and chinch bugs, the Fred Wolter, William Bengs and William Glau 
families came to Dakota early in May of 1881, where they were told all they had 
to do was plow the rich soil and plant. It sounded good after all the years of 
felling trees and grubbing roots. Williams F. Bengs, nephew of the original 
William Bengs and cousin of the late Herman C. Bengs, tells the story of their 
coming. Years later William F. Bengs married Ida Bengs and farmed in Aberdeen 
Township for nearly fifty years.

Bristol was the end of the rails. They unloaded the immigrant car onto the 
ground, loaded three wagons and started for Aberdeen. There were no bridges so 
they used a ferry at the James River and forded the smaller streams. It was hard 
to find Aberdeen, so William Wolter went ahead to see if he could find it. He 
soon returned to the other travelers with a lantern. There were two sod hotels, 
a sod livery barn, and a little frame shanty. After finding the homesteads the 
older men went back to Watertown to the land office and to Bristol for the rest 
of their belongings.

Mary grew up and when she was fourteen she worked as a waitress in the sod hotel 
in Aberdeen. Later she married Gustav Werth of Rondell Township. Two members of 
the Wolter family are still living (1964), Albert in Aberdeen and Mrs. Ida 
Bachman in California. A great-grandchild, Elaine Theil, daughter of Carl 
Wolter, lives with her husband and boys on the Wolter homestead. The Werth and 
Wolter families held church at the school house and at the Wolter farm. Men sat 
on one side of the aisle, women on the other. Living in the same neighborhood 
were the Zech and James Hickenbotham families. Myrtle Zech Hill recalls the 
winter fun at the old school, the debates and mock trials. Her father, Carl Zech 
came to Dakota in 1881 and filed south of Groton. Helen Zech Collins' son, 
Wesley, came from Washington state to a meeting of the pioneers a few years ago.

Early teachers were, Miss Murray, Miss Churchill, Mr. Bissel, Ida Kittleson 
(Mrs. Gulik Gullickson), Miss Sarah Fewins, Elizabeth Philbrick, Ida Creed 
(Glau), Miss Bonsness, June Copeland and Margaret Coulter.

In 1880, Mr. Hickenbotham, with a group of land seekers walked from Watertown. 
He tested soil until he found a spot where it was flat, black and deep. 1881 
found him back again with his wife, Edith Polly Hayden, a Wisconsin schoolma'am. 
They plowed ten acres and sowed oats, cross-marked and planted ten acres of ash 
and box elder trees with a two-handed corn planter, which entitled him to a 
tree-claim. For more than fifty years Aberdeen churches and other groups enjoyed 
the shade and

[P108]

the sweet cold water from the sixty foot well. Two of the five children still 
remain, Alice Snyder of Valley City, N. D. and Walter of Aberdeen. Mr. 
Hickenbotham, along with countless others, had an unforgettable experience in 
the blizzard of 1888. He got lost and after his feet got numb, he crawled most 
of the night, bumped into a deserted shack and got inside but was unable to 
light a fire. He kept crawling around until daylight showed snow up to the roof. 
He clawed his way out, blinded by the sun and yelled for help until the Amley 
brothers three miles southeast of Warner heard his call and went with a hand 
sled. They carried him to their shanty and thawed his feet with kerosene, 
wrapped him in buffalo robes, and took him home in the sleigh. The only 
permanent bad effect was the loss of part of each big toe. Another more amusing 
story is that of the little Hickenbothams building a toy farm while their mother 
was out doing chores. They used little Walter's curls for hay. Their fun had an 
abrupt ending when mama came in.

George Hasse lived east of Warner. John H. Lathrop came to Bath in 1888 and 
moved to Gem Township in 1898 to the Jack Culbert farm where Nahon now stands. 
There were four girls, Lydia and Meda Neill, Myrtle Rogers, and Mildred 
Morthland.

Mamie Dixon (Wright) of Fairfax, Oklahoma, remembers the buffalo wallows, the 
winter of 1885-86 when Agnes Dixon walked two and one-half miles to teach the 
Vaaler School, an election at the school house where a woman circulated a 
petition to vote for Women's Suffrage. A pompous man, unable to read, asked her 
to read it. After hearing it he said, "No, I won't vote for them. They are too 
ignorant." She remembers thistles piling up against the wire fence so the 
staples pulled out and the wire blew away with the thistles. She remembers 
hiding in the tall grass so Indians wouldn't see her, and she recalls the 
beautiful prairie grasses and flowers.

Louis Rahskopf, a wagon maker, came from Canada, to Wisconsin, to Dakota, in 
1881. Mr. Knie came from New York. A daughter, Minnie, married John Rahskopf. 
Edwin Rietz; came to Gem Township in 1899. He married Anna Kalbow whose parents, 
the Louis Kalbows had come in 1885. They had four children, John, Edna, Elmer 
and Esther.

A history of this era would not be complete without some reference to everyday 
living. Fuel included wood hauled from Rondell. Much wheat was hauled to 
Columbia to the grist mill. Clothing was strictly homemade. Cattle were often 
picketed or herded for there were no fences at first. Water was drawn by the 
bucket from hand dug wells. When there was sickness the neighbors came. When 
there was death the neighbors came instead of the mortician. Mrs. Cairns tells 
of taking the metal rings from bridles and stringing rope through them to lower 
caskets into the grave. Everyone stayed at the cemetery until the last shovel of 
earth was replaced.

The little one-room rural school with its many functions was truly a community 
center. People had their fun too. The gentle art of visiting was highly 
developed. They used all the talent within their own community as well as that 
of outsiders. The deeply religious background, the bonds of a common nationality 
and relationship, and common needs have created a feeling of togetherness not 
found in many neighborhoods.

[Photo: Gem Pioneers have reunion at picnic, July 22, 1945.]

[P109]

LIBERTY AND GREENFIELD TOWNSHIPS
by Hattie Glover (Frederick Free Press Jubilee Edition, July, 1957)

In the original survey both Liberty and Greenfield were a township and a half. 
Liberty still retains the extra half township, but the township of Richland 
absorbed the extra half of Greenfield with a half township from Frederick.

The settlers named the townships at their organizational meetings. The name 
Greenfield was suggested by W. J. Bartlett at a meeting at the Kronschnabel 
home, and kept. At a meeting at the Bell home, Liberty was named just that. 
Before the organization of the areas, an assessment of the communities was done 
by a man from Bath. The assessing job at first was let out by contract by the 
County Commissioners, each assessor hired having a certain area.

In 1882, Ordway was the northern terminal of the Chicago Northwestern Railroad. 
The immigrant cars came to Ordway, or Westport on the Milwaukee Railroad. People 
coming in drove from one of these towns until they found open land. Many were 
obliged to become "squatters" until the land "came into market". That means when 
the government opened up the land for homesteading.

The first settler in Greenfield was a man named Murray. Following Murray were 
these men: Wooding, Morgans, Waldo, the Bartlett Brothers, Glover, Guild, Ward, 
Mrs. Eldrid and son, N. Eldrid, Dickenson, Plen and sons, Michalis, Flint and 
son, Westphal, Preston, Mahoney, Donnell, Zimmerman, Jacob Henry Kronschnabel 
and sons, King, Wein, and Sandell. Mrs. Wooding was the first woman settler and 
Mrs. Vet Ward, the second.

The official survey was made in July, 1882, to see if any two settlers were 
"squatting" on the same quarter. William Bartlett had made a preliminary survey 
and was certain no settlers were on the same land. It was November of that year 
before the government opened up land for filing in Greenfield, but it was March 
of 1883 before Liberty was ready to be assigned to homesteaders. In the meantime 
the land office was moved from Watertown to Aberdeen.

The first settlers in Liberty Township were Walter Bell and his four sons and 
two sons-in-law and their wives. Other early settlers in Liberty Township were 
the Shippeys, the Ward Brothers, the Bruns Brothers, Mrs. Jane Harp and sons, 
Stearns, Wilmsen, Zeller, Lowen, Yunkers and sons, Adam Kehl, Eygabroad, 
Siefkes, Parks, Countryman, Oshers, Boundy, Russell, Johnson Brothers, Cummings, 
Mabbott, Gilberts, Kaufman, Whiting, Geiken and W. J. Ross.

Mrs. Edwin Stensland tells of the first Greenfield Township board meeting with 
the following officers chosen: Dewitt Morgans, J. W. Guild, B. M. Dickinson, 
August Pein, Paul J. Spilde, Casper Kronschnable, W. J. Bartell, M. Machalis, W. 
T. Ross, S. P. Flint, Frank Feleo and A. E. Bartell. The area was divided into 
road districts. Other early pioneers included S. Comstock, W. T. Glover, Ole 
Stensland, Fred Padelford, Fred King, William Bryant, Daniel Brown, Nathan 
Stout, Clark Clanton, Regel Backman, Frank Miller, William Heckelsmiller, Samuel 
Johnson, John Archabald, Carl, Frederick, and Gustav Pfutzenreuter, Andrew 
Stensland, M. Nygaard and a Mr. Branch.

The two school houses in Greenfield Township, known as the Johnston and 
Kronschnabel Schools were built a couple of years after the homesteaders came. 
The first two school houses in Liberty were the Bell School and the Osher 
School. Liberty's first school board was Meino Bruns, chairman, Charles 
Eygabroad, clerk; and Stephen Captain Yunkers, Sr., treasurer.

Community gatherings included dances, socials, picnics, school programs, ball 
games, and political meetings. Dances were often held in the home of William 
Machalis. Yunker Brothers furnished the music.

Religious services were held in the homes before 1887, but not until that year 
are there definite places and times remembered. Evangelical services were held 
in Liberty homes, usually at Achens. The first Lutheran service in Liberty 
Township was held in the Bell school house on May 11, 1887, with holy baptism by 
the Rev. C. C. Metz of Groton. Later, Lutheran services were held in the Wilmsen 
School. Not until 1901 was a church built. Occasional services by the Methodist 
denomination were held in 1886, at the Bell school house. Some of the families 
attending services lived in Greenfield Township driving some distance to 
worship.

In the summer of 1887 the first church service was held in Greenfield Township 
at the Johnston school house. A homesteader, Mr. Westphal did the preaching. At 
the first meeting a Sunday School was organized with Benjamin Cummings who lived 
in Brainard Township named superintendent. The families of the superintendent, 
John Archabald George Archabald and Amos Mahoney comprised the membership, but 
the Sunday School grew as the years went by. A minister from Frederick preached 
several times that year.

Ministers often were paid in produce instead of cash in pioneer days. At a 
donation party for this Frederick pastor, a cake baked by Mrs. Bern Dickenson 
for the dinner never reached its destination. Charles Sidman and a friend who 
were to deliver the cake to the school house decided to stop on the way and eat 
it, which they did. The young men went on to the gathering and ate more cake. It 
was sometime later before the story was known. There was an abundance of food, 
so the cake wasn't needed.

In 1889 Rev. H. Mundt became resident pastor of Sand Lake Congregation. He also 
took charge and organized the Peace Lutheran Church in the Liberty Township 
area. On October 13, 1889 a constitution was unanimously adopted and signed. 
Services were held in a school house opposite the farm known as

[P110]

the Alevyn Herther place. A small community cemetery was also established. In 
1901 their church was built. It was destroyed by a tornado in 1912 and rebuilt a 
few months later.

[Photo: Peace Lutheran Church Today]

A Literary and Debating Society was organized in Liberty Township at the 
Johnston School, meeting weekly during the winter months. At the meetings were 
programs of readings, songs, and a debate. A Literary Society was also organized 
in Greenfield, but it became the Farmer's Alliance. The two societies had 
debates together. These were in the early 80's.

Hanging out a lighted lantern, when anyone in the family wasn't home by dark, 
became customary among the prairie homesteaders. Roads were laid out on the 
section lines but no one traveled them. You took a direct route across the flat 
vast prairie to the place you wished to go. Some of these trails became main 
traveled roads, as they neared school houses or towns. It was ideal to take 
short cuts in the day time, but dangerous at night, when very dark. Many of the 
early homesteaders camped on the prairies, often not far from home, completely 
lost. The ease in getting lost led to the lantern signal. The story has been 
told so often about William Bruns, Dick Geiken, and Charles Johnson, going to 
Frederick afoot for needed groceries. The roads were impassable for teams 
because of the deep snow. On the way home, a snowstorm and darkness overtook the 
three men, and becoming exhausted Johnson gave up and said he could not go on. 
The other men waited for him to rest, and ate sugar from their groceries to 
satisfy their hunger. While still resting a light appear not far away, and they 
all walked toward it, and soon they were at the Geiken claim shanty. Mrs. Geiken 
had hung out the lantern.

Another pioneer story of this community is that told of the Bruns Brothers and 
their potatoes. The brothers had a fine field of potatoes, but the potato bugs 
were very bad, and it looked as if the bugs would destroy the crops. Money was 
hard to come by and often the farmers had no money to buy "Paris Green" with 
which to spray the potatoes and kill the bugs. But one of the Bruns' boys had 
that extra quarter with which to buy the insecticide, and their crop was saved.

The first threshing rig in Greenfield was purchased by Bert Bartlett from Mrs. 
Arthur and son of Ordway. The engine could furnish power for threshing, but 
could not pull itself or the separator. Horses had to do the pulling. Wilmsen 
and Cummings tended the separator alternating in feeding the grain in, by hand. 
Blackman was the engineer. The farmers worked together, exchanging work, and 
wherever the threshers were the farmer's wife got the meals.

Mrs. Stensland tells of her father, Gustav A. Pfutzenreuter and her uncle Fred 
coming in 1881 and building sod houses near the Jim River near the present site 
of Hecla. They made friends with the Indians who fished and hunted and gave 
vegetables to them. An Indian Chief, Kick-Hole-in-the-Sky gave her father a 
hatchet and pipe combination hewn out of rock in appreciation for his kindness. 
Gustav Pfutzenreuter returned to Norway but the call of the prairie was so 
powerful he came back to South Dakota in 1909.

The settlers went through some very hard times in making a community out of the 
prairie, yet in retrospect, all the hardships seem so worthwhile.

[P111]

GROTON TOWNSHIP
by Miss Pearl Frommel, Mrs. Lydia Jones, Mrs. Lulu Hughes

On May 10, 1883, the Brown County commissioners declared the area around Groton, 
the Groton School District. The first school teacher was Miss Jessie Warner, who 
later became the wife of D. B. Johns.

In March, 1884, a petition was presented to the Brown County commissioners and 
Groton area was formed into a civil township and a township election was held in 
the railroad depot. The first officers elected were: supervisors, A. M. Soreus, 
D. B. Johns, H. W. Jewett; clerk, W. J. Moore; assessor, E. Bacon; justice of 
the peace, W. C. Allen and C. F. Robinson; constable, H. W. Palmer. Groton was 
divided into 6 road districts with a road supervisor to each district, these 
supervisors were: Geo. F. Reynolds, Wesley Sullivan, H. W. Palmer, John F. 
Voight, Adam Frommel, and Chas. Rathburn. The following judges were appointed: 
U. S. Hackett, J. W. Eppard and E. Bacon.

Among the first to file on land around Groton were: A. W. Krueger who came to 
Dakota Territory in search of a homestead, filed on a claim one mile west of 
Groton and also took a tree claim adjoining his homestead. John Voight who came 
with Mr. Krueger filed on a homestead adjoining Mr. Krueger's.

In June, 1881, Miss Augusta Erdmann came out from Wisconsin and filed on land 
which joined Mr. Krueger's. They were married in Wisconsin in Sept., 1881, and 
then came out to their home here. Several years later, Mr. Voight sold his land 
to Mr. Krueger.

There were five Krueger children, three sons, Paul, Arthur, Fred and two 
daughters, Bertha and Lydia. Paul, the eldest son, still owns his father's and 
mother's homestead's.

Spencer S. Mellen came from Retreat, Wisconsin in 1881 and filed on a homestead 
one and one-half miles straight east of Groton. A Mr. Newton came with him and 
filed on a claim south of Groton which is now the Groton City dump ground. Mr. 
Newton sold his homestead and went back to Wisconsin where he continued to run a 
shoe store.

Mrs. Mellen came to Groton, March 15, 1882 with two children, a son, Binone and 
Susan Lulu, who was born August 30, 1881 in Wisconsin, a son, Forest, was born 
at Groton on the homestead.

Mr. Mellen traded his land when he had proved up on it for lumber to build his 
home in Groton. This house is still being used by their daughter Lulu Hughes. 
The dining room and kitchen were part of the homestead, house.

Mr. Mellen had the first blacksmith shop in Groton.

J. B. Quiggle came to Groton and filed on a homestead north of Groton in 1880. 
He took a very active part in community affairs and was treasurer of the 
township board and served very faithfully as it's clerk for many, many years. 
Three sons were born on the homestead, Guy, Ernest and Milo. The eldest son, 
Guy, raised his family on this farm and since Guy went to Montana to live, the 
farm has been operated by his son Wayne and family. Wayne is now clerk of the 
Groton Township Board.

Seven members of the Blair family filed on land in this community--five 
brothers: John, James, Thomas, William and Sam; two sisters: Jen Blair Wilson 
and Emma Blair Harris.

John W. Blair filed on his homestead in 1881 living there until he passed away. 
The homestead is operated by his son William and two grandsons James and John. 
There are two daughters, Edna Blair Rix and Margaret Blair Rogers, who still 
hold farming interests in this community.

In the Thomas Blair family there were two sons, Frank, who is an attorney at 
Virginia City, Montana, Edward, who lives in Groton, and one daughter, Jennie, 
who lives in Texas.

Christian Weihrauch came to Groton in 1880 filing on a homestead in the 
northwest part of the present Groton Township. He also filed on a tree claim, 
which is the home of their younger daughter, Christina, who married Elliott 
Mallett. There were two other children, Harry, who passed away at the age of 27 
years, and Elizabeth who is now Mrs. Harlan Whisman and lives in Minneapolis, 
Minn.

Mr. and Mrs. C. Weihrauch came to Dakota Territory from Wisconsin.

Severt Osman came to Dakota Territory in 1881 and filed on a homestead in Groton 
Township just east of Groton. There were 10 children in this family: Joseph, 
Lillie, Marshall, Pearl, Mary, Tena, Austin, Hattie and Clara. Lillie being the 
member who still lives in Groton, the other having moved to other places or have 
passed away.

Adam Frommel was born in Washington County, Wisconsin in 1851. In the spring of 
1881, he and a younger brother, Nick, came to Dakota Territory and filed on 
homestead claims southeast of Groton. Adam's quarter had Mud Creek running 
through the southeast corner of it and Nick's quarter joined it on the north. 
Nick was not married and he sold his claim and returned to Wisconsin.

Their father was drowned when Adam was 14 years old, he remained to help with 
the farm work, his father having been a farmer. His mother remarried and when 
Adam was 21 years old, he purchased a business in Fox Lake, which he conducted 6 
1/2 years.

While on his mother's farm he had worked winters with S. Y. Sanborne, who had a 
contract with Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad running a wood saw and 
while there he became interested in coming west where the railroad was being 
built and much of the lumber was being sent.

His carload was on the first train to reach

[P112]

Andover from where he hauled his goods. He started farming with 3 horses, a 
wagon and a plow. He built a 12 x 16 shanty with lumber he brought from 
Wisconsin and erected a sod barn for the horses.

The first summer Mr. Frommel did some breaking and went to North Dakota to help 
in the harvest there.

He had married Sophia Smith June 5, 1875, who was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. 
Fred Smith. She was born in Attica, N. Y. and her parents had moved to Fox Lake 
where our subjects met. In March, 1882, Mrs. Frommel came to Dakota Territory 
with their 3 children: Katherine, John, and Fred who was born August 22, 1881 in 
Fox Lake, to make their home on the homestead of her husband.

In 1886 eighteen stacks of grain were torn down by wind and there were many hard 
years from hail, prairie fires and drought. Despite these discouragements they 
persevered and by hard work were considered successful pioneers. Mr. Frommel 
took an active part in public affairs and was township supervisor for many 
years, also a member of the Groton Independent School which he helped organize. 
The children of Groton Independent District went to Groton school as there had 
never been a school building south of Groton.

There were 6 more children born on this homestead: Albert, Emma, Eva, Pearl, Irl 
and Geo. Dewey, who joined Kate, John and Fred born in Wisconsin, making a 
family of nine children.

This farm is still owned by members of the family.

Wm. Koepsel was born in Dodge County, Wise. and came to Groton in 1882 and took 
up a homestead southeast of Groton. He erected a shanty, 12 x 14, which was 
later destroyed by prairie fire. During the summer of 1882 he worked at Big 
Stone City as a carpenter, the following year he purchased horses, machinery, 
etc. and started farming. He was married in March, 1883 to Bertha Wangerine, a 
native of Wisconsin, who passed away in 1885 leaving an infant son Edward. Mr. 
Koepsell married Adaline Wegner in 1888. Three daughters were born to this 
union: Emma, Frieda and Lydia.

Mr. Koepsel took an active part in public affairs in his community and was 
township assessor for a number of years. He lived in Groton for a number of 
years before moving to California where he remained for the rest of his life. 
One daughter, Liddia Hope, still lives in California.

Abraham Palmer was born in Lancashire County, England. His mother's cousin, Wm. 
Slatter was in the house of Lords in England. At the age of 12 he left home to 
work out at farm work and received seven dollars and a half for six months' work 
and his board. When 20 years of age he came to America and visited relatives in 
Canada. He then came to Michigan and worked in the iron mines. From Michigan he 
came to Minneapolis, Minn. and worked in the flour mills. In the spring of 1882 
he came to Groton and took as a pre-emption claim, N. E. 1/4 Sec. 5, Twp. 123, 
Range 60, and later he filed on a homestead claim where he erected an 8 x 12 
shanty. He started the first barber shop in Groton and continued it until 1888 
when he disposed of it and has engaged in farming since.

He married Katherine J. Hackett, June 25, 1894, a native of Michigan, and a 
daughter of U. S. Hackett. He has made a success in his adopted land and 
entirely through his own energetic efforts, he may truly be classed as a self 
made man, as he had nothing when he came to Groton. In 1892 he lost 100 acres of 
wheat by hail, but he was not discouraged and by perseverance became one of the 
most substantial men in Groton Township. Abe is remembered by those who knew him 
for his fine tenor voice where he sang in the choir at Trinity Episcopal Church 
in Groton.

Mr. and Mrs. Palmer raised Mildred Saunders, a niece, who was an infant when her 
mother, Mrs. Larry Saunders passed away. Mrs. Saunders was a sister of Mrs. 
Palmer. Mildred graduated from Groton High School, was married to Robert Ward in 
the Episcopal Church at Groton and has lived in California for many years. Mr. 
Ward passed away a number of years ago.

Frank Stevens came to Dakota Territory and took S. W. 1/4 Sec. 29, Twp. 123, 
Range 60 for a homestead in the very early eighties. His wife filed on S. E. 1/4 
Sec. 30, Twp. 123, Range 60 as a tree claim, making their home on the homestead, 
later building a large 2 1/2 story house, which was one of the best homes in the 
community at that time. After farming for some years they started an eating 
place in Groton City. Later Mr. Steven became a salesman of machinery.

The family lived at Aberdeen for a number of years and later moved to Redfield 
where Miss Florence Stevens still lives in the Steven's home there.

There were 4 children born to this union namely: Louis, Herbert, Florence and 
Earl. Louis passed away when a young man. Herbert became a dentist and practiced 
in Aberdeen for many years. Miss Florence taught school and at one time taught 
in Alaska. Earl was in business in Montana, where he passed away. Dr. Herbert 
and Mrs. Steven's son Robbin was killed in the Second World War, their daughter 
Eileen is the wife of Ernest Gunderson, a former mayor of Aberdeen and who now 
holds a judgeship position and he and his family now live in Rapid City.

Both Dr. and Mrs. Steven now lie at rest in the Groton Union Cemetery as do his 
parents and grand parents.

Samuel J. Griffin homesteaded on S. W. 1/4 Sec. 31, Twp. 123, Range 60 where 
they lived for a number of years, building a large two story home. Later they 
moved to Groton City where they celebrated their 50th anniversary. They had one 
daughter Mabel, who married Samuel Lloyd Hartranft, who was Supt. of the Groton 
City Schools for many years and later became Brown County Supt. of Schools.

The Hartranft's had one son, Lloyd, and they moved to California, where Mrs. 
Hartranft and son still reside, the father having passed away.

Priscilla Jones owns this homestead where the

[P113]

Henry Jones' family made their home before retiring to live in Groton. The 
Orville Huffman's bought a small acreage and the buildings and live there now.

Ulysses S. Hackett was one of the most colorful men who came to Groton Township 
from Michigan in the very early 1880's. He was very well educated and had done 
some writing which was published.

We found no record of the year he came, but his name is in the township record 
book as a voter from the year 1886. Those who remember them say the family lived 
in the house where the Maurice Olson family live at the present time. Their 
daughter Katherine married Abraham Palmer. It is thought that they went back to 
Michigan to live. A second daughter, Mildred, mother of Mildred Saunder, married 
Larry Saunder.

John Flynn came to Groton Township where he filed on a homestead and took a tree 
claim N. E. of Groton, farming it until he became ill, when he sent for his 
sister Ann, as he was a bachelor. Ann had married Mike Mulligan in Flint, 
Michigan. When they came to Groton they had 4 daughters and Lizzie, the youngest 
was a baby in her mother's arms, Sadie married a Mr. Zick and lived on a farm 
near Aberdeen. The twins, Nana and Mollie, became Mrs. Nana Reid, wife of Matt 
Reid of Groton, and Mollie Peterson, wife of Jack Peterson of Groton. Lizzie 
married W. Noltner of rural Aberdeen.

Mike Mulligan was a very interesting and witty Irishman whose rules of life 
were: no medicine, no operations and no hospital. When he passed away at age of 
89 years he had never been in a hospital.

Mr. Mulligan is very well remembered as being seen driving a white horse, 
hitched to a buggy and his faithful dog following behind him.

Among the settlers who came in the early 80's and stayed and took part in the 
building and developing of the Groton community were Mr. and Mrs. Marshall M. 
Brown. They were neighbors of the J. B. Quiggles, living three miles north of 
Groton. They had four children, two sons, Howard and Hugh, and two daughters, 
Nina and Lucy. Both sons have passed away; Nina now lives in Longmont, Colorado, 
and Lucy lives in Montana.

William Rix came to Groton from Spring Valley, Minn., in 1882, and settled on a 
homestead two miles north of Groton. He married a Minnesota girl two years 
later, and when they returned, they made their home in Riverside Township, now 
Putney. His first wife died, and Mr. Rix married Miss Grace Robinson. There were 
9 children in the family, seven sons and three daughters, namely: Wilbur, 
Foster, James, Arthur, Otho, Arden, Bryan, Mabel, Jessie and Ruth. Several of 
the sons are successful farmers in the area.

[Photo: Among early pioneer edifices which no longer exist except in the 
memories of the few remaining pioneers of Brown County is the Groton Collegiate 
Institute, pictured above. Established by the Presbyterians, it consisted of a 
chapel, which was originally erected by the Congregational Church Society, and 
two buildings like the large one above. One burned, the other was demolished, 
and the chapel was sold to the German Lutheran Church Society and moved to 
downtown Groton.]

[P114]

GROTON CITY
by W. R. Veitch

Groton is one of South Dakota's towns that came into being by reason of a 
railroad's extension, and so its beginnings are pretty clear cut as to time and 
so forth as against the towns that just happened.

Groton is so close to Mud Creek which flows into the James River down at 
Armadale, or what was called the Dirt Lodges, that one can be reasonably sure 
that it was on or close to an Indian Trail long before white men came into the 
Country. There is no record of white men in this area to tie to until the 
surveyors came. The first one into the area was M. T. Wooley, who surveyed the 
east line of what became Brown County in 1872. Six years later, Horace J. Austin 
came into the area and surveyed the interior lines of the 4 eastern townships in 
the lower tier of the County. The next year, 1879, he got into the second tier, 
but previous to his advent, Thomas F. Marshall started in on July 5th to survey 
Township 123, Range 60, where Groton is largely located. On the 9th it appears 
that his crew did the west second line which is the road just west of the 
Athletic Park, so we do have a record of a white man in Groton on that date, and 
it is quite possible that the lead chainman was the first man to set foot in 
Groton. His name was J. C. Rutan, and for what it is worth, he was the first man 
in. A historian will use a pretty fine comb to get at some really non-essential 
fact like that. Of course, we know before that, that LeBlanc in 1835 had a trade 
post over near Rondell and might have come close to Groton to reach it, but the 
chances are good that he passed Groton by about ten miles in going to and from 
this post from the east. In 1877 a party starting out near Ft. Pierre came into 
Brown County from the southwest. At that time there was sort of a military trail 
that led from Ft. Sully N. E. and crossed the Jim River at what later became 
known as the Yorkville Ford, and onto Ft. Sisseton. These people took claims on 
the East side of the James a few miles north by squatters rights. They were 
there when Ole and Ben Everson came in from the Southeast and took claims. The 
Eversons could have passed by Groton. When Thomas F. Marshall got there to 
survey in 1879, he found Ole Everson on the S. W. of 12 and Ben on the N. E. of 
11. Township 124, Range 62. W. R. York also came up in 1879 and established a 
community that was called Yorkville. There were enough people around, that by 
July 30th, they got a Post Office. The first in Brown County.

In those days, waterpower was a fabulous factor in the establishment of 
communities. Some folks had spotted what looked like a good waterpower near what 
is now Columbia. They came in with some Lake Pepin Half Breed script and took 
the land where Columbia now is located. They had bought the script from a woman 
named Julia La Frambois and that location by that script was the first 
instrument filed in Brown County.

But we should go back aways. After Marshall surveyed the Township lines in 1872, 
there was something to tie a county to up in this area and the 1872 territorial 
legislature indulged in an orgy of County creating. Never again were so many 
counties created. Before that, what is Brown County had been a part of a 
tremendous Hanson County that started down where Alexandria now is, and went up 
to the 46th parallel and east to the present west line of Brookings County 
extended North. But in 1873, the legislature decided to honor everyone in 
Dakota, and they set up about where Brown County now is two counties. Beadle in 
the north half and Mills in the South half, and so they remained until 1879, 
when they both were made into Brown County which was named for Alfred Brown of 
Hutchinson County, whose home address was Scotland and who never acquired any 
other fame. It was September, 1880 before they got around to organizing the 
County. With the population then east of the Jim River and Columbia with a 
waterpower, it was not hard for them to get the County seat. Once they got it, 
they clung tenaciously through elections and court contests until July 29, 1887, 
when having lost a spring election they finally gave it up.

Maybe you would like to know more about Groton and I am coming to that. The 
railroad from the East had got out to Webster by October, 1880. Then in an early 
season blizzard, that certainly was the longest lasting shut in, that ever 
occured in South Dakota and perhaps, the greatest snow fall statewide that ever 
occured, all activities pretty well stopped. No trains moved and mighty little 
other traffic.

When the snow went off in the spring of 1881, the Jim River was a lake from 
North Dakota to its mouth and a great deal of the track that had been laid in 
1880 was in no shape for trains for a long time. So it not until June 18th, that 
the track reached Groton, it was July 6th when it got through to Aberdeen.

It does not appear that there were any "sooners", folks who came in ahead of the 
surveys, right around Groton when W. R. York came down from Yorkville and built 
himself a little store north of the railroad track. Groton got its name supplied 
by the railroad, who usually set the "townsite" point and whose subsidiary 
company figured on making a nice thing out of the lot sales. The Railroad 
Company was not overlooking any bets at Groton, and had acquired such title as 
Henry Ulrich had to the land, to plat its townsite. By July 13, Charles E. 
Henry, who had come into the area in 1880, was named Postmaster. It wasn't long 
before M. V. B. Scribner and J. D. Reeves arrived on the scene to set up rival 
newspapers. Scribner got his first issue of the Groton News out on September 
7th, while Reeves could not get his type set and into print for the Mirror until 
the 9th of September, two days later to his great chagrin. We have those first 
issues of the Mirror, and as I read its columns during that first six months, I 
am very interested in getting them, if there are any in the community, one or 
more copies of the News--for obviously the two

[P115]

editors--had no love for each other, and if Scribner was saying as mean things 
about Reeves as Reeves was about Scribner, I would like to see the files.

Unless you can get hold of somebody's well kept diary, there is nothing to 
compare to a newspaper to tell you what was going on in a community. The Mirror, 
as run by Reeves, was a good little newspaper and there were not so many people 
around that much was overlooked. Going back to that first issue, the advertisers 
were: J. M. Bennett & Co., wholesale jobbers on the side; E. H. Stockman, 
lumber; J. F. Brown & Co., supply store; Egbert and Johns, Hardware; Giles & 
Company, feed and coal; W. J. Moore, realtor and notary public, as was H. W. 
Campbell. There were two blacksmiths, S. B. Rowe and S. S. Mellen. W. R. York 
ran the hotel; J. C. Dow was a contractor and builder and W. E. Bickworth was 
the purveyor of "liquid hardware".

Reeves sort of apologized for his first paper as he said he only had four 
working days to get set up and the paper published.

[Photo: The first house in Groton.]

There was still no Depot in Groton, but anticipating another long, cold, hard 
winter, they had a coal house down by the tracks and the Depot was being raised. 
Giles, who was the station agent was happy to have a place to house his 
passengers. Despite the fact that Groton was two months old, there "was not the 
sign of a sign" in town and a sign painter was wanted. C. H. Sheldon had gone 
off to purchase a stock for a store and it sounded like it was Hutton's store 
that was going to get the stock. That issuer of Mirror said that a Presbyterian 
Church had been organized on August 28th by a Rev. George Lindsey, but 
subsequently, the paper said it was a Congregational Church.

Up north in Township 124, they had organized a school district and were starting 
a school, the first in Brown County. Mr. John H. Drake, the editor of the Dakota 
Pioneer at Aberdeen, who had got started in early August to the disgust of the 
Groton editor, was claiming all out doors for Aberdeen including the County seat 
and Territorial Capital. By the 16th of September, the sign painting business 
was solved when John Voight, who had a claim lap North came into town for the 
winter and he could paint signs.

A vagrant full of "goat pizen" which sounds a good deal like whiskey was taken 
by the citizenry, as there was no Marshall or organization, and deposited in a 
box car. To this treatment we are told he submitted with "the grace of a greased 
pickerel" which would indicate that he may not have been a willing depositee. 
There was a train each way each day. Aberdeen was clamoring for a fall election 
on the County seat issue, but Reeves opined that they would get beat as they had 
very few citizens with nine months residence in the Territory, while the area 
east of the Jim had a good many. He also was of the opinion that Groton badly 
needed a Constable and a Justice of the Peace. He used a term I have never heard 
before. He advocated that cattle producers let their "cattle ripen", as the 
market was good for well fattened animals. By the 23rd, the Depot crew had the 
Depot done and had left for Bath to build one there. Groton had a firm of 
Lawyers. Alger & Alger, who were if the paper is to be believed, identical twins 
resulting in frequent mix ups. Groton had a rather large citizen, one Sam 
Marshall, who fished at Yorkville and sold his catch at Groton by the cartload. 
There was a rumor that the railroad would not run trains during the winter which 
Reeves thought would certainly ruin all immigration. J. W. Gordon and E. P. 
Story, a doctor, were fresh arrivals.

Walter Cole, who lived up North died of typhoid fever, the first death noted in 
the area. A good many men were in late September going back east for the winter, 
planning to return in the spring with their families. Among them was J. M. 
Bennett, the storekeeper. York and Sam Marshall heard rumors of a coal field 75 
miles N. W. and made a trip but found no coal. Aberdeen was making such a fuss 
about the County seat that the Mirror opined that it should be made a separate 
county and thus have what they wanted. He used some highly tinted grammar which 
is worth quoting:

"Aberdeen would arise on the electric wings of the Aurora Borealis to an 
imminence of glory, the dazzling and irredescense and splendor of which would 
reach and touch the uttermost parts of the baitable world and travel on through 
space until the eternal fixedness of the North Star would be changed in order to 
'give more attention to this great oasis and center of the universe fixed at 
Aberdeen . . . "

There was no school at Groton and the Mirror thought a district should be 
organized. The Mirror was sure if an election was ordered that. Groton had a 
much better chance than any other town to get the County seat. During this time 
President Garfield, who had been shot was lying at death's door and finally 
passed on in early October. York was about to open the social season with a 
dance at his hotel. W. F. Giles had a new stable, while the Snider orchestra 
from Groton furnished the music for a dance at Aberdeen.

The Post Office in two months had sold over $50.00 worth of stamps and a daily 
passenger train was to be put on.

Ralph Drew had bought Bickford's Saloon which had gone out of business and he 
was to start a bank. The railroad company was still working on a well, but had 
to bring a tank of water daily from the Jim River. Groton had a town well, 
apparently only one (location not stated) and "At early dawn the musi-

[P116]

cal sound of the town well is heard for the benefit of the town folk. The early 
bird catches the water".

Aberdeen had sent 12 men out to get a petition to hold a county seat election, 
to the Mirror this looked like a "nigger in the woodpile" as he thought Aberdeen 
had no chance at all to get the necessary votes.

Tobias Belding had bought York's Hotel by October 1st and a petition was at J. 
W. Gordon's office to create a school district 6 miles long and two wide with 
Groton near its center. There was no bridge over the James and teams could pull 
empty wagons and could Ford at Yorkville. The closing of the saloon gratified 
some and filled many with regret. There was no stock yard as yet, but one was to 
be erected. By October Brown County could boast of 96 miles of railroad for both 
the Northwestern and Milwaukee were building up from the South and on North 
through Aberdeen.

The Mirror did not waste all its envy on Aberdeen as the Mirror stated that, 
"The famous waterpower at Columbia was a good place to drown cats". Ordway which 
is today a wide place in the road, was a twin for Groton the fall of 1881, as a 
visitor up there reported.

Finally the petitions for a county seat election reached the County 
Commissioners at Columbia. Aberdeen for, Ordway chiefly against. The 
commissioners voted 2 to 1 against an election. Campbell who was from Groton, 
and Johnson were agin, only Barnes was for such an election. Aberdeen threatened 
to take it to the Courts. They did set up 6 election precincts however. No. 2 
was the S. E. part of the County with the polling place being Alger & Algers 
Office at Groton. W. C. Allen, J. W. Gordon and Frank C. Alger were the judges. 
The matters at issue were: superintendent of schools for Brown County, Justice 
of the Peace at Groton and a Commissioner from the 3rd District.

The Mirror did not think it was getting a break on the County printing, but 
thought that the present commissioners were about as good as they were apt to 
get and so advocated no change. They carried a weekly column called "Bath 
Nuggets". The Mirror was sure that a bridge over the James was much more 
important than any change in the County seat.

The school up north ordered fine new desks, but the Groton school district was 
put off, as the County Superintendent did not like the area designated for the 
school district. The Mirror thought that the drawers of water at the town well 
before day break should oil the wheel to save waking up the entire town.

Groton recently had acquired a fine pair of hay scales and Mr. Reeves tantalized 
Aberdeen with their short comings. In this paper published in mid October 
appeared the first final proof notices and one notice of a homestead contest.

There was a county convention called for Columbia on the 25th of October. A pre-
convention caucus was held at York's Hotel with J. D. Reeves as Chairman and W. 
C. Allen; M. B. V. Scribner, the publisher of the News; M. Hayden; H. H. Wilson; 
F. D. Adams; F. James; C. Henry, postmaster and W. H. Johns were in attendance.

Mr. Reeves grew real earnest about the necessity for a school and in some 
scintillating language made unfavorable comparisons saying among other things 
that "If Groton was to amount to anything, its business men must not shiver like 
a rat tied to a piece of ice" in planning for the future. By November 11th, a 
Sunday School had been organized to meet at Giles Hotel. Supt. was C. H. 
Sheldon, who kept a store, the assistant superintendent was J. W. Gordon a real 
estate man, Secretary-Treasurer was W. H. Johns who was in the hardware business 
and J. P. Brown who was the librarian. The teachers were J. W. Gordon and Mrs. 
H. L. Wood.

Belding had taken over the Hotel. The Mirror moved to the Giles Building. 
William Burnham's wife and children arrived. The Mirror was certain that the 
route of the James Town stage that come up from the South and passed 5 miles 
west of Groton should be changed into Groton.

By December, the Michigan Hotel had a new register and on it a directory of 
Groton business, which was just about the same as in the September 9th issue. 
Rev. W. H. Thrall of Yale was splitting his time between the Groton and Webster 
churches, but it does not say whether Congregational or Presbyterian, although 
later he was head of the Congregational Conference for many years.

Groton was doing a little boasting about its coal consumption. It had bought 400 
tons while Bristol had only disposed of two tons. The water shortage was to be 
relieved, F. E. Chamlin had arrived with a well auger and had already put down 
wells for H. L. Wood and Giles & Company. W. D. Weeks had taken over the S. B. 
Rowe blacksmith shop. Sam Marshall was Groton's heaviest citizen, he must have 
been huge to merit so much comment, had started off for New Mexico to spend the 
winter. The Sunday school was to have a Christmas tree and the J. M. Bennett 
Company dissolved its Pioneer Store business with W. A. Beuflier taking over the 
management. It was about this time that W. R. York found that lending money was 
much less tiresome than running a store or a hotel, and if the Mirror columns 
are to be believed the rate of interest was serious. There were just two unsold 
lots in the business district on Main Street. J. W. Gordon was appointed a 
Deputy Sheriff, thus bringing some sort of a police power into the 5 months old 
Groton.

It was about then that a lot of people went back east to spend the winter. The 
Mirror says that "it was the principle population" of the James Valley that was 
departing. The daily train was reduced to one each alternate day. There was 
still no school, but the Mirror was hot in the argument that it was better for 
the District to get organized and to issue 10 years bonds rather than orders 
that had to be discounted by half to find a buyer. The Western Enterprise 
viewing the pages of the News and the Mirror said that it was apparent that the 
Brown County newspaper did not constitute a happy family. Reeves laid it all on 
Scribner, saying that "the Mirror had a strong desire for peace and happiness, 
but that the presence of a few (a strong word that can hardly be repeated here) 
in the Journalistic family thwart all our efforts to keep the peace". The last 
issue of the Mirror was on March 31, 1882 with No.

[P117]

XXX and Andreas 1884 Atlas which is usually quite accurate says, that the Mirror 
and the News merged on April 1, 1882 and called the new paper the Groton 
Advocate. They ran the Advocate until September, when Reeves sold it to Scribner 
who continued the Advocate. Just what became of the Advocate I am not aware, but 
J. D. Reeves was back in Groton on June 18, 1884. He then started the Groton 
Independent now in its 79th volume which indicates that they tack the Mirror and 
Advocate onto their chain of title, and which Reeves ran himself until June 15, 
1915 when his son, Jay Reeves, known to many of your people here in Groton took 
over as publisher.

[Photo: Groton in 1885. College center rear, old school extreme left.]

One can not help to wonder a bit just how well Scribner and Reeves got along. 
Reeves had called Scribner a 42 year old idiot in one of his stories.

I really only meant to cover the beginnings of Groton in that summer and fall of 
1881 and leave it there. However, a short time since, I got an inquiry about 
Groton Academy. All I could find out from the usual sources is that Groton 
Academy, Scotland Academy, and Pierre University, all Presbyterian institutions 
merged to become Huron College. A few inquiries of persons here did not indicate 
any knowledge of this institution, so I took occasion to look in the Groton 
papers and came up with some interesting details. The Groton papers are the 
chief source of knowledge. The Minutes of the Presbyterian Synod for. 1885 has a 
fine add of the Groton Collegiate Institute and lists seven members of the 
faculty. The report also states that it has two buildings, one formerly a 
church, a new dormitory at a cost of $7,000 and $16,000 in total assets. The 
paper reflects that it was doing rather well at its start. Classes were 
instituted on October 8, 1885. They speak of the buildings being on Upper Main 
Street. There were several benefits including concerts at Groton and Aberdeen, 
given after the college was opened. They had 45 students enrolled. The Groton 
public schools that fall had 40 students and the academy had a successful year 
1885-86. Trees were planted on the Campus on Arbor Day 1886. That fall the 
Groton papers say that it had three large buildings but the details were pretty 
scarce. They had no good correspondent from the college, as they had the 
preceding year. The costs were, including board and room, less than $40.00 per 
quarter. They opened up again in the fall of 1887. On October 28th, the 
Independent had a long editorial blasting the people over at Aberdeen for trying 
to get the College to move over there, but no detailed news of the College 
except that from time to time, there was some small item, indicating it was 
still operating. The last item, but I do not say that this by any means the 
final item, because it is easy to find when things start but awfully hard to 
find when they stop, that I was able to locate was on April 1, 1889, when the 
paper announced that the Spring term was about to start and that Tuition was 
$1.00 a week and Board $2.50.



GROTON CITY
by Mrs. Lydia Jones and Mrs. Calvin Kneff

Groton began with the coming of the railroad in 1881.

The water situation was one of the most vexing problems during Groton's early 
days. The surface wells were curbed with pine board, and as a result the water 
left a distasteful taste. Many of the wells went dry.

One well was dug in the middle of Main Street, between the site of the present 
post office and the Corner grocery store. As the season advanced there was less 
and less water, and so the old windless could be heard creaking at crack of 
dawn.

In the fall of 1881 a prairie fire burned over much of the present site of 
Groton. The fire department was called out. Its apparatus consisted of brooms, 
shovels, and anything which could be used to smother the fire.

[P118]

An Indian scare frightened many of the people of Groton. Someone had started a 
rumor that the Sisseton Indians were ugly. Some were truly frightened, but there 
was no more danger from Indians then, than has ever been since.

Groton had its first dance in the fall of 1881. It was held at the York Hotel. 
All the young ladies east of the river were there. It was said that there were 
enough present to dance one full set.

Two newspaper offices opened in Groton in 1881. M. V. Scribner edited the 
"Groton News" and J. D. Reeves the "Mirror". In the following years these papers 
merged, various other papers were published. They were the Gazette, The Leader, 
and The Independent. Finally there was just one paper. The Groton Independent, 
published by J. D. Reeves, who was one of the men who stayed to take an active 
part in making the dream of those early pioneers a beautiful reality.

The first depot agent in Groton was W. F. Giles. In addition to handling the 
station, he was a coal dealer, a dealer in oats and ground feed, a claim holder, 
and a farmer. W. C. Allen and Frank Stevens were in the lumber and harness and 
tin shop west of the post office.

C. E. Henry was the first post master, but tended strictly to his farming, while 
his deputy, Mr. Allen conducted the post office.

The former governor Sheldon was a former Groton man. In 1881 he resided on a 
claim northwest of Groton.

Col. W. A. Burnham was an 1881 resident. He did a rushing business in groceries 
and drugs, but he too had a tract of land to the north of Groton and was an 
enthusiastic farmer.

[Photo: St. Croix Lumber Yard, Groton 1884, property of R. A. Mather. Later the 
office of Guy Herron, Case Implement Dealer.]

J. C. Brooberg came in 1882 and his first venture was in the selling of farm 
machinery. In later years he owned one of the largest implement stores in 
Groton.

H. W. Cassels was one of the largest dealers in machinery. He was connected with 
various Groton businesses.

Other dealers in machinery were: J. F., Mike and Pat Bowler, Flinter, John 
Voight and J. W. Eppard.

J. F. Kurtz built the first bakery in Groton in 1883.

The first banker in Groton was L. H. Neff, and for a number of years he was 
president, cashier and bookkeeper. In 1884 W. B. Miller became associated with 
the Bank of Groton. The Bank of Groton started doing business in the building 
now occupied by the Paetznick Furniture Store. A year later it was moved into 
the building now used as the Groton Post Office. In 1905 the bank nationalized 
and became known as the First National Bank of Groton. In 1911, W. B. Miller 
built the brick building which still houses the First National Bank of Groton.

W. B. Miller was connected with the bank 46 years.

H. C. Funk was in the first harness business in Groton. He did a prosperous 
business and later he was succeeded by his son W. C. Funk. The firm of Funk and 
Bowden carried a line of wagons and buggies, in addition to their fully equipped 
harness business.

W. J. Rawson spent many years in the harness business in Groton.

The first law firm in Groton was Alger and Alger, who hung out their shingle in 
1881. There were no courts and no litigation, and they drifted with other 
business. There was also the firm of Basom and Alger which was later continued 
by N. S. Basom.

In February of 1882 a young German cobbler, F. H. Kuehnert, came with his shoe 
making kit and his concertina. His son, Ewald Kuehnert, followed in the same 
business.

S. S. Mellon was Groton's first blacksmith. Mrs. Henry Holz and Mrs. Leash were 
the first milliners.

The pioneer doctors were: Dr. Story and Dr. Smith, and the first dentist was Dr. 
H. S. Young.

Helmuth Paetznick established the first Funeral Home in Groton. This was in 
connection with a furniture store. His son Allie Paetznick continued the 
business until his death when Mrs. Allie Paetznick took over. It is now owned by 
Mrs. Allie Paetznick and Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Garness. This is the only 
establishment in Groton which is owned by the third generation.

John Townsend was an early resident of Groton, and he became one of the largest 
land owners in Brown County. He was an outstanding citizen and a great promoter 
of Groton.

The Ben and Ed Mather families were early pioneers. Ben was a banker in Groton 
for many years. Ed was an outstanding farmer who lived west of Groton. Mrs. 
Margaret Mather Lamont and her sister, Edith Gannon, now live in Aberdeen.

W. C. Allen came to Groton in 1881. His folks built the first frame house on the 
lot now occupied by the Blair Service Station. Mr. Allen's mother worked in the 
first post office at Yorkville on the James River. This was during the summer 
months. W. C. Allen was Editor and Publisher of the DAKOTA

[P119]

FARMER from 1911 to 1939.

[Photo: Paetznick Furniture Co., the only business establishment in Groton owned 
by the third generation.]

K. O. Lee had an early implement shop in Groton.

John Hall was also an early resident of Groton.

The Presbyterian was the first church organized in Groton. George Lindsey 
organized a group Aug. 28, 1881. For two years services were held in the waiting 
room of the Milwaukee Railroad. Rev. R. H. Hooke was an occasional preacher. The 
Rev. J. D. McLean came in 1883, and he built a church on the land in the 
northeast part of town where the Norma Chilton house is now located.

In 1885 the Presbyterians sponsored a college in the far north end of town. The 
college was coeducational, and was housed in two three-story buildings and a 
chapel. The campus consisted of 40 treeless acres.

The faculty consisted of five men professors and two women instructors in music 
and art. It offered courses leading to a Bachelor of Arts, and a one-year normal 
course for teachers.

The two buildings were called dormitories. In the men's dormitory the first 
floor had the class rooms, laboratory and reading room. The other two floors had 
accommodations for 56 boys. The women's dormitories had a dining room, library 
and music room on the first floor with 46 girls and the women teachers housed on 
the second and third floors.

Expenses were modest. Room rent, fuel, board and tuition were $35 for the fall 
and spring terms, but $38 for the winter term.

The College was plagued with debt throughout its history and it was finally 
closed in 1889.

Rev. Joseph Zimmerman was an early resident of Groton. His daughter, Emma, 
married John Corte in 1880 and later moved to a farm near Big Stone City.

Herman Wegner was one of the first blacksmiths in Groton. He was invited to 
Minneapolis, Minnesota where he was presented a golden horseshoe because he had 
shoed so many horses.

John Karnopp came in 1883. He lived in Groton and his occupation was farming.

Julius Wegner, the first mayor of the city of Groton, came in 1881.

[Photo: J. C. Wegner, Groton's first mayor.]

[P120]

EAST HANSON TOWNSHIP
by Charles W. Zech

[Photo: C. W. Zech]

Two young men were visiting at Cambria, Wisconsin one day as to what the 
prospects were for them as renters with their families at Cambria. Both were 
renters. The two men were Carl Zech, my father, and Charles Mielke. Land had 
gone up in price from $15.00 to $20.00 an acre, which at that time, was a high 
price for land. They had heard that free homesteads could be filed on in Dakota 
Territory. Spring was approaching and they decided that they would put in their 
crops and then go out to Dakota Territory to investigate.

This was early in the spring of 1882. They hurriedly seeded their crops and took 
the train to Dakota, arriving at Groton and went uptown to look for a bite to 
eat and met several men, among them were Mr. Funk and John Kindschi. They were 
told that all the land near Groton had been filed upon, but that five miles 
south, there was some good land still open for filing. They hurriedly walked 
south across the prairies as there were no roads as yet and the more they saw of 
the beautiful rolling prairies, the more enthusiastic they were. They chose two 
quarters across from each other so as to be neighbors and then hastened back to 
Groton to catch the night train for the land office, which was at Watertown. 
While waiting for the train, two men walked in and sat down across from them. 
One said to the other, "Well, shall we file on those quarters?", describing the 
identical quarters that Mr. Mielke and Father, Carl Zech, had chosen. Father 
heard them and whispered to his friend, "Did you hear that?" "Yes, well, we will 
have to beat them to the land office in Watertown and file first or lose out". 
Arriving at Webster, they hurried to the only livery barn in town and asked to 
hire a team. The livery man said, "Well, I am sorry, but two men have hired the 
only team I have and they are going to get them in the morning to drive to 
Watertown to file on some land." Father and Mr. Mielke stood for a moment 
crestfallen. Mr. Mielke and Father decided they would have to beat them to it 
and walk and run there across the prairie. They got a lunch and started out. Mr. 
Mielke, being a much heavier man than Father, soon tired out and said, "Carl, I 
cannot make it but you have to as we must beat them to Watertown." Assisting him 
to his feet, again they walked and then ran again and then rested. At sunrise 
they reached Watertown and hurried to the land office, which at that time, was 
on the corner of Kemp and Maple Street. They immediately gave the description 
and the papers were made out and signed. Just then in walked the men described 
before and stated their intention to file on the land describing the same. The 
Agent looked at Father and Mr. Mielke and said, "Those men have just filed on 
those quarters." The two gentlemen looked at Father and Mr. Mielke and asked, 
"How did you get here as we had the only livery team in Webster, and we saw you 
in Groton when we took the train to Webster?" Father answered, "We walked and 
ran here." For a moment, the men said nothing and then said, "Gentlemen, we just 
wish to say you certainly have earned it and are welcome to it."

Filled with joy, Father and Mr. Mielke hastened back to Wisconsin to tell their 
waiting families that they now had a home in Dakota they could call their very 
own. As soon as the harvest was over and threshing done, both of the Fathers 
loaded two railroad cars and what could not be put inside of the cars was tied 
on top of the railroad cars. Their families stayed with kind neighbors at 
Cambria. Upon arriving at Groton, the Fathers unloaded the goods and stored them 
in a vacant building and hurried to build two sod barns for the horses and 
lumber was hauled out for two claim shanties on the Homesteads, 16 x 24 and 10 
feet high. By this time, it was already September and fall breezes were making 
themselves felt. Their families, staying with kindly friends in Wisconsin, were 
getting restless and wished to be in their own homes. Not having heard from the 
men for some time, as they were too busy to write, Mother said to Mrs. Mielke, 
"I think we will take the train and go to our new home and surely we will find 
some place to stay until our homes are built." How little did those dear Mothers 
know how primitive the prairies were at that time. We arrived at Groton on a 
chilly cold morning in November. Father and Mr. Mielke had not known that we 
were coming as they had not taken time to drive to Groton to get their mail. On 
arriving, Mother said to me and Charles Mielke, Jr., "Go and find out where the 
Fathers are." We walked down toward town and saw a man milking a cow and asked 
him as to the whereabouts of our Fathers. It was Mr. Funk we asked. He looked up 
startled as he asked who we were. He came to the depot and when he saw the 
crowd, he stood a moment astonished, not knowing what to do. There were 13 of 
us. He said, "Come along," and he took all of us to his home and then went over 
to his neighbors and the whole crowd was fed by those kind folks. He hitched up 
his horse and drove out to see Father and Mr. Mielke and told them what had 
happened. That was one of the many problems that faced the early settlers.

[P121]

Mr. Funk had a claim shanty on his homestead 3 miles southeast of Groton and 
kindly permitted the two families to take possession of it for their home until 
our shanties would be completed. Thus for weeks 16 of us lived in the little 
claim shanty of Mr. Funk, which was 16 by 24 feet. It was crowded, but was a 
place to stay and we could keep warm. Finally our shanties were finished and 
they were both 16 by 24 feet and 10 feet high, covered with tar paper on the 
sides and roof with only a cook stove to furnish the heat. Winter came and the 
snow piled up. The greatest difficulty was that neither claim had water. That 
had to be hauled from Mr. Funk's claim on a stoneboat and a barrel and that was 
a terrifying task as enough had to be hauled for the horses, the one cow and the 
use in the home.

During the winter, the storms tore part of the tar paper off the roof and we 
children would look out from under the featherbed and count the stars and then 
quickly pull the featherbed over our heads again to keep warm. Often the barrel 
in which the water was hauled would be nearly frozen solid by the time the men 
got home and it had to be thawed out again. In the spring of 1883, Father tried 
to break some of the soil and discovered that it was a strange soil which he had 
not known before. A neighbor came over and told Father that it was alkali and 
not suitable for crop raising. What a disappointment! The spring of 1883 Father 
rented some land that had been broken up just north of ours and Mr. Mielke also 
got some soil that was more suitable for grain. All things were new to those 
early settlers. I recall that Mr. Mielke had gone over to, I think, Mr. Eddies, 
to assist him with some work and was walking home as it began to get dark. 
Father had just come from the barn when he heard Mr. Mielke shouting in a most 
frightened voice out on the prairie. Father lit the lantern and hung it on the 
N. W. corner of the shanty and Mr. Mielke came in sweating and frightened and 
said he had been chased by a vicious animal--he could not tell what kind of an 
animal it had been. Later it was discovered that he had gotten in between a 
badger and a badger's hole and the poor animal had tried to get home and the 
more Mielke ran, the more the badger ran and each was afraid of the other. The 
badger to get to his hole and Mr. Mielke to get to his home. On retracing the 
path the next day to find the vicious animal, it was discovered that it had been 
a badger.

The greatest problem was to find water. Mr. Mielke and Father went to work the 
spring of 1883 with spade, pick and shovel to dig and tried everywhere to find 
water with no success. They went down about thirty feet without curbing, just a 
little N. E. from our claim shanty. The ground was pulled up with what was 
called a windlass with two boxes tied to the ropes so that when the bucket was 
down the well, the other would be above. They had in this laborious way gotten 
down thirty feet. While Father was waiting for Mr. Mielke to empty the bucket or 
box on top, he looked and saw the wall of the well beginning to sag and knew it 
was caving in. He cried to Mr. Mielke to hurry and let down the empty bucket and 
Father braced his spade against the wall and held it and when the bucket got 
down, he climbed in and was pulled upward while at the same time bracing the 
wall that was threatening to cave in. When he got above the bulge, he took off 
his spade and about ten feet of the well caved in. Had he not seen it in time he 
surely would have been suffocated as at least ten feet of ground had filled the 
well. They went to Groton to get some lumber to put in a curbing and while they 
were in town, we had the first great thaw and when they got back the well was 
full of water to the top, with the spade, ax and shovel down in the well and 
that is where they are today and all is prairie over that well. It might be that 
some day someone will dig there and discover the tools and then the story might 
be published that 100,000 years ago a race lived here who had tools like we have 
now. Yes, all those tools are there today, 30 feet underground.

When we arrived, the skeletons of the slain buffalo were lying all over the 
prairies and we boys heard that they paid a cent apiece for the buffalo horns if 
they were polished so the Mielke boys and I went to work and got a lot of those 
buffalo horns and polished them and for my share, I accumulated the large sum of 
150. That Fourth of July, I spent 50 and saved 100 for the next July as there 
might not be any more buffalo horns to polish. About this time, there was a wild 
rumor that the Indians were getting very restless and might break out of the 
Reservation and the settlers were frightened. About this time, Father got word 
from the land office at Watertown that there was an error in the filing papers 
and he had to take the train to get to Webster and then either ride to Watertown 
or walk. He dreaded to leave considerig the Indian scare, but it had to be done 
so before he left, he got out a revolver which he had brought along from 
Wisconsin to defend himself against the savages as everyone believed. He showed 
it to Mother and taught her how to use it in case of an emergency. I can still 
see Father as he held the revolver and showed her how to pull the trigger. After 
Father was gone and we children in bed, Mother would take that VICIOUS gun and 
stand at the door and hold it at half arms length, and having, I think, the 
shells all removed, she would hold it and then pull the trigger and hear it 
snap. I sometimes wonder if she had been called upon to use it what she would 
have done.

Well, one day the opportunity presented itself. Father had said that whatever 
happened not to let any Indian get into the house. Well, one beautiful day, 
across the prairies, we saw a man coming wearing a red, shirt and a FUR cap. He 
was a big fellow and walked like one who was ready to kill anyone who got into 
his way. Mother quickly slammed the door shut and put the bar across the door 
and told us children to crawl under the beds. We did not need a second 
invitation. All was silent in the house. There stood Mother as brave as a 
soldier, with gun in hand, but trembling and frightened. The man walked up to 
the shanty and pounded on the door again and again. Then the man shouted but 
Mother said nothing and then the man said in German, "Menschan seid ihr alle 
Verruckt?" (People, are you all crazy). Mother knew that an Indian would not 
talk German, so she unbolted the door. When he came in and saw the gun, he 
laughed and asked, "What is that for?" Mother cried and told

[P122]

him the whole story. He had a good hearty laugh, but sympathized with her. He 
was that early settler, Julius Cam. He had quite a history attached to his life 
but with all of his roughness, he had heard that there were children in that 
home and so he had provided himself with stick candy and gave each of us 
children some candy. He often had a good laugh that Mother had thought he was an 
Indian.

In the year 1884, Father saw that the land we had was not productive, and since 
we also could not get water there, he located another quarter of land that had 
been filed upon and then let go. Father applied for that and Mr. Mielke also 
located another quarter just south of the one father had located. Both moved 
their claim shanties to the new locations and on that quarter, Father discovered 
a good well. He only went down about 12 feet and found an abundance of water. 
Julius Kam, the man above mentioned, had his homestead a mile to the S. E. of 
ours and he had two large dogs and a sleigh. In the winter, he would hitch those 
dogs to his sleigh and it was really a sight to see him drive them and the speed 
they developed. What a pride he had in those dogs. He had a very clever way to 
guide them. He had a long pliable fish pole. He would tie some rabbit meat on 
the end of that stick and then get onto the sleigh and hold the fish pole over 
them in front of the dogs just beyond their reach. Then he would speak to them, 
give them a taste of the meat and then hold it out just beyond their reach and 
those dogs would chase that rabbit meat the whole way to Groton at express rate 
speed. He would just give them a taste occasionally. He had to pass our claim 
shanty on the way to Groton. Many a good laugh we got out of Julius Kam's trick 
on his dogs.

By this time in 1884, our neighborhood became quite a neighborhood. We had as 
neighbors, the Edicks, Julius Kam, Donaldson, O'Harro, Fellers, Burk, Tollefson, 
Burks, Wegners, Paetznicks, Matthews, etc. Many others, some whose names I have 
forgotten.

That reminds me of an incident about prairie fires which I have never forgotten. 
One evening Father came in and said, "It appears there is a bad prairie fire 
southeast of us up in the hills." He hurried over to Mr. O'Harros and soon 
neighbors began to gather and hurry toward the south. The whole neighborhood was 
awake, hitching horses to the ploughs and breakers. We had a firebrake around 
our yard, but soon saw that all the neighbors would have to fight to save their 
winter's hay and even buildings. By this time the whole country for miles was on 
fire. We had the sacks and buckets full of water and whenever a spark would fly 
across the firebrake we would put it out and so saved the buildings and hay and 
feed. I, too, was fighting when Mr. O'Harro said, "Say, Charles, what are you 
doing? You are scattering the fire. Here, WET THAT SACK AND DO NOT HIT WITH A 
DRY SACK." The fire passed and all of our property and the neighbors was saved.

The rejoicing was soon to be changed into sorrow. Across the prairie came our 
neighbor, Mr. Burk, who lived 2 miles to the N. W. of our claim. He was crying 
that his son Sammy (who was about 5 years old) was lost while they were fighting 
the fire. He had been with them but now they could not find him anywhere. How 
bitterly Mr. Burk cried. It was late at night, but Mr. O'Harro and Father went 
over to the stricken family's home. They, too, cried and shouted and and 
searched, but Sammy had vanished.

Men were sent out on horseback and aroused the whole country side. The next day 
it seemed that Groton , too, had sent all of their citizens. We children went to 
school but there was little studying as the teacher and we children were all 
heartbroken. We saw the great crowd of men forming south of the schoolhouse 
about a rod apart and the whole countryside was to be combed as the general 
impression was that Sammy had gotten ahead of the fire and had been burned to 
death. Here they came combing the prairies and every hole and river bank. What a 
sight that was. The school house that stands there now was just across the road 
on the west side of the road. School had been dismissed.

Teacher and all of us children were on the outside watching the army of marching 
men. Just when they reached the school house, they suddenly stopped as though a 
command had been given. To the north, there came a team with a man standing up 
in the wagon box, waving a coat. The horses were on the run and he came on 
shouting and waving. When he arrived at the school house, he held up little 
Sammy, well--but crying.

The night of the fire, the parents were so busy trying to save the hay and 
buildings, they could not watch the children and Sammy had strayed off and 
followed the fire. Then when the parents saw that all the buildings had been 
saved, they were calling the children together and missed Sammy. The child said 
he had run to find Daddy and Mother but was lost and wandered following the fire 
and at last came to a sod building and cried to the people, but they did not 
answer him. He found an open window and looking in, he fell in and cried himself 
to sleep. It was a deserted sod barn with some machinery in it.

The window he had fallen through was too high for him to reach and crawl out. 
The man who found him had driven there several miles to get a piece of machinery 
and found the child in the old sod barn. Well, what rejoicing there was in that 
neighborhood and all the people who were present that day. School was dismissed 
and the people from Groton and the country all gathered at Mr. Burk's and it was 
a day of universal glad fellowship. The lost had been found!

We had two bachelors as neighbors, the Scripture Brothers. One day, old Prince, 
one of our horses, was gone. We looked for him everywhere, but could not find 
him. When the horses were not used, we staked them out on a rope so they could 
graze. After a day or so, Mr. Scripture came over and brought back old Prince. 
The neighbor had borrowed him but had not told us of it. Just across from us 
lived Mr. O'Hara and they were real neighbors, Zellers a little farther north.

The second year we lived on the Pre-emption, Father suddenly took very sick and 
the Dr. was called and he did all he could for Father, but he was

[P123]

in bed a long time. (I am sorry not to be able to remember the Dr's. name as he 
was a hard working man and went through the hardships with the pioneers).

The harvest was in shock, but no one to stack the grain. One morning, Mr. O'Hara 
came over and said, "Charles, do you think you could load the grain (I then was 
10 years old) if I pitch the same? Then we will drive over to the old farm and 
that rented place your father put in and stack the grain." Mother hastily put up 
a lunch for us and we drove over to the old homestead and former home. When we 
got near we saw about 20 teams and many stackers and four stacks were already 
half way up and it was only 9 a.m. Mr. O'Hara had driven around all night with 
his oxen and had sent a boy horseback for miles around and asked all to come and 
stack the grain. The crowd came and when all the wheat was in stacks, Mr. O'Hara 
said to load up the 15 acres of oats and haul it over to Mr. Zech's new home as 
they will need that to feed the horses and cow over the winter. They loaded up 
the entire oats crop and when the great caravan wended its way those two miles 
to our new home on the preemption and stacked it in the yard, Father burst out 
into tears and wept. And from that time, he recovered as there is no doubt that 
he worried very much about the grain.

What was lacking on the Homestead we found in abundance on the Pre-emption as 
Father dug a well near the creek that flowed through the corner of the farm near 
the house and found a good well of fine water 12 feet deep.

The time came for threshing the grain and a man, Mr. Tollefson, lived some miles 
south of our home and he came to thresh it. To get to our place he had to cross 
the creek. Mr. Tollefson went down to the bank of the creek and looked at the 
bottom and then jumped on the platform of the engine and down into the river and 
when he got into the middle, the engine began to mire and he let out the most 
terrible oaths and opened the throttle wide and the Drivers caught and up the 
bank he went on the opposite side, but the bank was so steep that Mr. Tollefson 
fell off, the engine ran wild in the prairie. Mr. Tollefson ran after the 
runaway and kept up a rhythm of oaths and he finally caught the runaway and 
stopped it. He got to our place and threshed the grain and as I recall, he would 
not take a cent for his work. Neighbors, yes, real neighbors.

After I had been in the ministry from 1896 to 1902, I was sent to the Groton 
field as pastor of the Evangelical churches of Groton, Edwards, Garden Prairie, 
Butler and Ferney. One Sunday I saw a man in the back part of the audience at 
the Garden Prairie church who looked familiar. After the service he came up and 
asked if I knew him. I said, "I have seen you somewhere". "Yes," he said, "do 
you recall of a thresher who threshed for your Dad when he was sick in 1884?" I, 
of course, remembered that. "Well," he said, "I am that man who could curse 
according to notes. I have surrendered my life to the higher life in God and am 
trying now to do as much good as I did evil in those days." Sure a great change 
had come to that man. I asked him, "Have you still that old engine?" He said, 
"Yes, I drove over and looked at the old engine that had run wild way back there 
in 1884 and dreamed those days over again." He laughed and said, "Brother, I 
often wondered how it would look to see an engine blow up and a few years ago, I 
took the old engine out into the field to a straw pile and plugged up all the 
openings in the boiler and then put on a steam gauge that would register 800 
pounds and then I built a fire and ran up the pressure 'till I thought it was 
time to leave and went to a straw pile 60 rods away and through a spy glass, I 
saw the pressure go up until it was 800 pounds and how much farther it went I do 
not know, but it did not blow up and there is the old engine I cursed so away 
back in 1884 and this then was 1902.

The school in our neighborhood was built in the year 1884, as I remember, and 
still is standing there, where I got the first lessons in school, now over 70 
years ago. Most of the scholars of that time are gone to the great beyond and 
those who taught us likewise. Teachers those days got a very small salary. I 
recall when Orie Miller, who later was one of the Merchants in Groton and very 
active in the various activities for the betterment of Groton, taught our school 
away back in those early years. His salary was $25.00 a month and he boarded 
with us and gave $6.00 a month for his board and that left $19.00 for teaching a 
month. We had about 5 months school and it was very primitive indeed, Reading, 
Spelling, 'Rithmetic.

The last time I drove through the neighborhood, (1950) the old school house was 
still standing and what memories cluster around the old building. The old 
settlers of those early days are all gone and even the younger generation are 
now old people the same as myself, 81 last Christmas season.

The hard dry years of the middle 80's came and Father had borrowed a small sum, 
as we now figure, on that pre-emption and then in 1886 we left the old farm 
forever, and moved on Mr. Pasco's farm four miles S. W. of Groton and then had 
several good crops which lifted us out of debt and made it somewhat easier for 
all of us.

that deal as renters did not turn out so well, but while there we had the 
experience of the terrible blizzard, January 12, 1888, when so much stock was 
lost and even people perished in that blizzard. It came up so suddenly that it 
caught people off guard. It was a beautiful quiet and pleasant warm morning, and 
we had the first team of horses at the well only about 30 feet away from the 
barn. In those days water was pulled up with two buckets on the rope running 
over a pulley overhead and one bucket going down in the well, while the filled 
one came up. Suddenly Father looked up and said, "What is that noise? That 
certainly is not the train going through Groton." He had hardly said that when 
there was a roar and a solid blanket of snow. A person could not see your hand 
when you held it out from your face. We put the team into the stable and then 
shovelled snow into the mangers for the stock to eat, as we could not lead them 
out to the well, and the storm was so you could hardly stand up in it.

In 1888, we move to a farm 5 miles S. E. of Aberdeen where we lived in the 
neighborhood for many years.

[P124]

Having now been in Dakota for over 74 years, it is astonishing how the primitive 
prairies have been changed into productive farms and busy cities and towns. The 
roads have been paved and where the wagons moved along slowly at 3 to 4 miles an 
hour, now the autos at 60 miles an hour, but I sometimes wonder whether the 
people are any happier than those settlers were those many years ago.

We say we have made progress, and materially that is true, but have we 
progressed accordingly socially and religiously? I sometimes am inclined to ask 
that question. Having now been in the work of the ministry for nearly 60 years, 
a person is inclined to make comparisons.

I have written these few reminiscences from my diaries which I have now kept for 
these 60 years, but regret that I do not have some of the particulars of 
friends, by name, of those I have known and loved these many years. 
Nevertheless, I am thankful that I do know that I have had most precious friends 
by the thousands whom I loved and believe, that precious possession also was 
reciprocated. Though having, what is called "retired" I am so thankful to be 
able to serve in many of the churches and denominations of the Northwest and 
also in the municipal affairs of my community.

[Photo: Aberdeen Band About 1910, Mr. Cason, Band Master.]

[P125]

WEST HANSON TOWNSHIP
by Grace Herron, Mrs. A. J. Radke, Mrs. George Riggs and 75th Groton Anniversary 
Book, 1881-1956

Hanson Township was first a double township named after Richard Hanson. It was 
divided into East and West Hanson in 1927. The Richard Hanson and N. O. P. 
Synoground families were the first settlers of which there are any definite 
records. They came as young people and filed for homesteads in Sections 14 and 
11, both very near Mud Creek in 1880. Deciding to stay through the winter, they 
lived together in the Hanson claim shanty. Money was scarce, there was very 
little food and the men had to haul wood from the Jim River, some six or seven 
miles west of them. This they did on a crude hand sled, each man helping to 
pull. Often storms came up and the women feared lest the men get lost as there 
were no roads, fences, or other guides if the wind would blow their previous 
tracks shut. Hanson's homestead is now the Mrs. Louise Hoops farm. Edward Oliver 
owns the Synoground homestead.

Mr. Synoground came from Denmark and was one of many Danish Petersens. In fact 
he filed on his claim in the name of Nelson Olsen Petersen. Later, wishing to be 
more distinctive, he added Synoground, which was the name of his home in 
Denmark. When he proved up on his claim he took along witnesses and had his name 
legally changed to Synoground and from then on signed his name N. O. P. 
Synoground.

[Photo: Mr. and Mrs. N. O. P. Synoground and family.]

Mr. Synoground strove to make their American life equally as good as the Danes. 
He gave a 100 year lease for the land on which the Synoground school was built 
in 1881. He built a beautiful ten room home for his family of ten children. Both 
home and school were completely destroyed by the cyclone in May, 1918.

He promoted the building of a rural co-operative telephone in this area. He was 
the instigator of the first Horticultural Society in South Dakota. Synoground, 
along with Richard Hanson, the Norwegian, and August W. Krueger, a German, 
attended the first State-wide Horticultural Society at Yankton. At this meeting 
Synoground was made the first president and Mr. Krueger was chosen Vice 
President. Hanson was a member of the board.

J. M. Herron's first trip into Brown County and Dakota was in 1880, by way of 
Casselton, N. D. He drove overland from there and after camping overnight on the 
James River was ferried across by a settler who charged him $1.25. He returned 
to Wisconsin for the winter and arrived back in Brown County, Dakota in the 
spring of 1881. He filed on the S. E. 1/4 of Section 8, Township 122, Range 61 
and with the help of a man named Gilbert Gilbertson, whom he paid $1.50, built 
his shanty in one day.

August Klabunde, Arnold Ringer, Conrad Von Wald, and John Kindschi came in 1881 
from Alma, Wisconsin, in a covered wagon to Webster to file on their claims in 
West Hanson Township. They built their sod shanties, and plastered them with mud 
to keep out the cold and heat. In the fall they returned to Wisconsin and the 
next spring brought their families by train. Ringer was a farmer, Von Wald a 
wagon maker, and Kindschi a store keeper. Kindschi decided to start business in 
Groton so built a big general store, which was in Groton during all its growing 
years. Von Wald was successful in farming with his ten children. Those still 
living: Anna Zoellner, Christine Zoellner, Valentine and Conrad of the Groton 
area, Walter of Aberdeen, and George of Seattle Washington. Ringer who had no 
children acquired the most land, buying up abandoned farms through the hard 
times.

Many came in 1881 to file. Among these were Julius and Frank Putney, Miles 
Riggs, T. W. Lindesmith, James Julson, A. T. Amsden. Others coming early were 
Charles Olson, Otto Schinkel, Fred Schmidt, S. W. Cook, George W. Dickens, J. T. 
Hatton, T. G. McKiver, William Badten, Arthur Dobberpuhl, J. M. Grinolde, Christ 
Reber, Annie Wage, August Pigors, A. B. Pigors, J. D. Showers, Fred Ehrenberg, 
Gust Bahr, Fred Clocksene, a Mr. Holtz, and Mr. Kenitzer. All these pioneers are 
gone as are many of their children. Amsden Dam and Amsden Park are named for Art 
Amsden whose son George, now lives on the old homestead. George Riggs, son of 
Miles Riggs, is on the original land as is Ida Julson, daughter-in-law of James 
Julson, Sr.

Carl Erdman operated a mill in West Hanson where the farmers took their wheat 
and rye to be made into flour.

James Julson came from Manitowoc, Wisconsin in 1880 and settled in West Hanson 
Township. The family lived in a covered wagon for two months. Mr. Julson went to 
North Dakota to thresh. When he returned he built a sod house and barn. The 
windows were covered with greased paper. His son Edwin, spent his entire life on 
the farm and it is now owned by Edwin's sons, Robert and Delmont Julson.

Arthur T. Amsden came from Oronoco, Minnesota in 1880. Mr. Amsden brought the 
first thresh-