MORE TOWN HISTORIES AND THIS N' THAT CONTINUED

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We would never learn to be brave and patient
if there were only joy in the world.
Helen Keller

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Hartland Township
The first board of supervisors of Hartland consisted of A. Harris as chairman, with Joseph Sleeper and R. M. Sproul as side supervisors. The earliest known settler was Lewis Buckmaster, who settled on section 1 in 1853. James Buckingham and Augustus E. Hodgeman settled on sections 28 and 24, respectively, in 1854. The first school was organized in 1858 with Mary Ann Stunio as the teacher. Hiram Patch was the first postmaster of Esdaile. Hartland Township had within her boundaries 512 head of horses of all ages in 1907, and they had an estimated aggregate value of $85,840; 2,419 head of cattle, worth $33,866, and 799 head of sheep and lambs. The return of swine indicated 577 head on the farms of Hartland Township, and they were worth $3,462. The acreage in Hartland devoted to growing crops in 1907 was divided as follows: Wheat, 200 acres; corn, 1,050 acres; oats, 1,475 arces; barley, 1,280 acres; rye, 430 acres; flax, ......; potatoes, 90 acres. There was only 985 acres of hay land that year. The total crop production of all kind during the year 1906 was as follows, all amounts being given in bushels unless otherwise indicated: Wheat, 6,450; corn, 15,975; oats, 41,700; barley, 29,980; rye, 1,370; flax, 100; tame hay 3,685 tons. Esdaile had within its borders 100 persons, one general store, a farmer's creamery, telephone service and a combined blacksmith and wagon-making establishment. (taken from "History of the St. Croix Valley", published in 1909)

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Go oft to the house of thy friend
for weeds choke the unused path.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Isabelle Township
At a meeting of the board of supervisors held March 2, 1855, the town of Isabelle was created with boundary lines, as follows: "Townships 24, 25 and 26, range 15, and fractional township 24 of range 16, and townships 25 and 26 of range 16, and fractional township 24 of range 17, and townships 25 and 26, range 17."" At the same meeting township 26, range 18, was designated as the town of Trim Belle. The town of Isabelle was re-established June 19, 1871, after the county board had canvassed the votes cast in the town of Hartland, upon the question of division, a majority of which were in favor of setting out township 24, north of range 17 west, as the town of Isabelle. The town of Isabelle was first organized March 2, 1855, the same date as that of Trim Belle, but in 1869 it was vacated and annexed to the town of Hartland, but was again established as a separate town with its old name in 1871. John Buckingham was chairman of the first board of supervisors, and the first town meeting was held at the home of Abner Brown. In 1856 the town plat of Saratoga was laid out on land overlooking the bay by A. C. Morton, who had employed a surveyor named Markle. A. J. Dexter, who had previously purchased the land from the government, objected to the trespass by Markle, and in an altercation which followed fatally shot Markle. Dexter was subsequently tried for manslaughter before Judge S. S. N. Fuller in 1855 and convicted, but was afterward pardoned. The ground occupied by the town of Saratoga was afterwards replatted and is now the site of the present city of Bay City. The town of Isabelle, which is the smallest in Pierce county, only reported 127 horses in the township during the year 1907, 403 cattle, 12 sheep and 110 head of swine. The growing crops in 1907 were distributed in acreage as follows: 179 acres of wheat; corn, 324; oats, 382; barley, 504; rye, 240; potatoes, 20, and 15 acres in apple orchards, containing 526 fruit-bearing trees; 985 acres was in growing tame hay. The yield of the different crops during the year 1906 is given herewith: Wheat, 2,704 bushels; corn, 7,535; oats, 12,965; barley, 14,520; rye 2,345; potatoes, 1,825; beans, 25; apples, 177; strawberries, 13 and raspberries 35. The yield of tame hay was 953 tons.

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The manner in which one endures what must be endured,
is more important than the thing that must be endured
Dean Acheson
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Maiden Rock Township
Maiden Rock derives its present name from the rock ledge overhanging the Mississippi river from which, the Indian legends relate, a love-lorn Indian maiden leaped to her death. Maiden Rock was first organized under the name of Spring Valley in 1857. The site of the village of Maiden Rock was purchased from the government by Alber Harris and J. D. Trumbull in 1853, and they built the first house there in 1855 and during the following year constructed a lumber mill. The townsite was laid out in 1857 by J. D. Trumbull and among the first residents there were J. H. Steel, J. D. Brown, John Foster and Joseph B. Bull. The post-office was opened in 1856 with J. D. Trumbull as postmaster and the total receipts during the first year of its existence were eleven dollars, while the expense of maintenance sustained by the postmaster was fifty dollars. The first school in the town was taught by Lottie Isabel of Batavia, Illinois, and the first sermon delivered in the town was preached by Rev. James Gurley, a Methodist minister from North Pepin, Wisconsin. The first marriage was that of A. J. Smith and Corinda Eatinger in 1857 and the first white child born was Ida Trumbull in 1858. The first death to occur in Maiden Rock was that of William Trumbull during the same year. Probably the first hotel was conducted by G. R. Barton, in a building constructed by J. D. Trumbull, and the structure still remains as a part of the Lake View House. In 1907 there were 435 head of horses in the town of Maiden Rock; 2,030 neat cattle, of all ages; 348 sheep and lambs, and 378 head of swine. The acreage in crop in the township in the same year was divided as follows: wheat, 733, corn, 1,206; oats, 1,775; barley, 3,100; rye, 678; flax, 18; potatoes, 5; and 1,257 gruit bearing apple trees. The yield of the principal farm products during 1906 was reported as follows: wheat, 14,345 bushels; corn, 21,088 bushels; oats, 52,576 bushels; barley, 84,915 bushels; rye, 8,070 bushels; flax seed, 465 bushels; potatoes, 250 bushels; 2,515 tons of tame hay was gathered; 16,840 pounds of farm butter was marketed, for which $3,368 was realized. Maiden Rock was the only town in Pierce county reporting any production of cheese, the amount being 800 pounds.

The Village of Maiden Rock
The village of Maiden Rock has now a population of 323. It has a bank, known as the State Bank of Maiden Rock, which has a paid-in-capital of $10,000. A weekly paper, the "Press," is published there. There are four general stores, one tinsmith, one livery barn, a drug store, one grocery store, where feed and fuel are sold, one saloon, one establishment where harness making and shoe making are carried on; one jewelry store, one hotel, a dealer in grain, a lumber yard, where the material is sold at wholesale or retail; the Mercantile company's general store; a blacksmith shop, a furniture and undertaking establishment, a millinery store, a meat market and a dealer in agricultural implements. (taken from "History of the St. Croix Valley", published in 1909)

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Whatever America hopes to bring to pass in this world
must first come to pass in the heart of America.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
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MARTELL TOWNSHIP
The town of Martell was set off as follows: "Commencing at a point where the range line, running between ranges 14 and 15, crosses the township line between townships 27 and 28, south on said range line to the township line between townships 27 and 28, thence west on said township line to the range line between ranges 18 and 19; thence north on said township line to place of beginning." The remaining parts of Pierce County to be known as the Town of Prescott. The earliest settlers in Martell were four Frenchmen - Joseph Martell, who gave his name to the town, Lewis Lepeau, John Doe and Xerxes Jock. They settled there in 1847. The town was organized in 1854 with Amos Bonesteel as chairman of the board and R.J. Thompson and M. Statten as associates. The first school was opened in 1857 with M. Bewel as the instructor. The first post office was Martell, with O. Rasmusson as postmaster. The number of horses owned in the town of Martell in 1907 was 618 head; cattle 3,037; sheep and lambs 1,601; swine, 320. The number of acres in growing crops in 1907 was wheat, 111; corn 826; oats 4,690; barley 625; rye 95; flax 348; potatoes 54 and hay 2,231. The principal crops grown in 1906 was: wheat, 1,838; corn 20,730; oats 168,715; barley 20,870; rye 8,070; flax 465; potatoes 250 and hay 3,971. (Submitted by Cliff Watt, from History of The St. Croix Valley). (An aside: One thing to keep in mind is that Martell was once part of St. Croix County, WI and became part of Pierce County when it was created in 1853.)

In the 1930’s, a number of people submitted stories to the SPRING VALLEY SUN that told of the early days of the township.“Early Settlers In Martell” by Mrs. Hans O. Hanson. In the year 1864 Mr. and Mrs. Ole Anderson Ingemoen came from Dane County, Wisconsin to Pierce County. They came by boat up the Mississippi River to Prescott. Here they did not know anyone and had no place to go. Stener Thorson happened to be in Prescott when they came. He thought they looked like ‘newcomers’, so he had a talk with them, finding out they were headed for this part of Pierce County –Martell. “He took the family with him, giving them food and shelter for a week while Mr. Ingemoen secured a cabin for them to live in. They got a small cabin across the road from the Amund Winger farm, on Rush River. Here the family lived until Mr. Ingemoen built a log cabin on a forty of homestead land, where the South Rush River church is now located – Rev. Jothen’s charge. The cabin stood just where the church now stands. It was hard for the early settlers to make a living for their large families in those days. Mr. Ingemoen cleared a small part of his land, on which he raised wheat for their flour. He cooked maple syrup; In the evenings he patched shoes for both his family and for others. They had a very poor lighting system. When they did not have tallow candles, he would go out into the woods and cut pieces of pine wood and splinter it. At night he would set fire to one or more and the children would stand around him holding those torches, in order to give him enough light to see and patch their shoes. Mrs Ingemoen did her house work and also helped outside. Besides that, she did spinning and knitting for other people, earning a small amount for it. Many a time for a light she would make a brisk fire in the stove and open the fire door, thus getting a light from the fire. The older children all had to work away from home for a living. “One girl, aged 15, worked for a family in Prescott. A boy, aged 13, worked for a family in the country about forty miles from home. Another boy, 11, watched cattle for the neighbors so they would not stray too far into the big woods. There were no fences at that time. Lots of times, Mr. Ingemoen walked to Prescott and back, carrying a sack of flour with him home. “At the time they had no church. There was an old vacated log cabin they used for meetings. The Ingemoen family was not the very first family there. I cannot recall who was the first one. Families that lived here when they came were: Andrew Jenson, who lived where South Rush River Parsonage is located; Ole Moen (better known as Klokker Ola); he was given this name because he was a deacon at the church services; Throne Moen and Morten Nessa also lived there. The Ingemoen family lived there about two years; he then sold his land to Mikkle Syness and bought, for a very good sum of money, a forty of railroad land near El Paso. It is on this farm that Otto Christopherson now lives. Here Mr. Ingemoen and John Wasman operated a lime quarry, where they burned lime ready for use during the summer months. In spring they cooked maple syrup; they had over 500 maples. All they had to catch the syrup was in butternut troughs. The children all helped to gather the sap. This place was about four miles from their former home. Jermin Amundson, Christopher Wangen and John Waamen were their neighbors here. In El Paso there were two stores, one owned by Ed Welch, the other by Ole Anderson Bjondalen. Here Mr. Ingemoen did most of his trading. Here they also lived two years, or a little more; he then sold his land to Sam Anderson Bjondalen. Later he bought some land in Gilman from Morton Iverson. This farm Julius Julson now owns. They lived in that spot for about three years, raising wheat enough for their own use, cooking maple syrup and also operating a lime quarry. Early settlers who lived here were John Wilson, Iver Mikkelson, Albert Martin (better known as Yankee Martin), Rise Ness, Magnus Olson, Torkel Torkelson, Gilbert Weimodet and Andrew Hugner, a Norwegian school teacher. Mr. Ingemoen sold this land to Hans Ness and bought a forty from Lars Rustebakke.

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In the field of world policy, I would dedicate
this Nation to the policy of the good neighbor.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
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Oak Grove was set out as follows:
"Commencing at the northeast corner of section 1, township 26, range 19, thence west on the line between townships 26 and 27, to the middle of the north line of the northwest quarter of section 2, township 26, range 27, thence south to the northeast corner of the city limits; thence south on the east line of the city of Prescott to the middle of the Mississippi river; thence down said river to the line between townships 25 and 26, range 19, thence south on the line between ranges 18 and 19 to the place of beginning. A resolution was also passed at this meeting that the newly created towns of Clifton and Oak Grove should pay their pro rata share of the existing debt of the town of Prescott with the new City of Prescott. The board then set aside township 26, range 17 as the town of Perry. Oak Grove Township was set off from the town of Clifton in 1856 and Hart Broughton was chairman of the first town board. The earliest settlers in Oak Grove were the Thing Brothers, the Cornelison Brothers, and Harnsberger Brothers, the Miner Brothers, John M. Rice and others who came there about 1848. The assessment reports of Oak Grove Township for 1907 showed an equine population of 625 head; 1,438 cattle; 891 sheep; and 653 head of hogs. The crop in field in 1907 was divided among the different farm products as follows: wheat, 928 acres; corn, 1,257; oats, 4,210; barley, 3,537; rye 1,783; flax, 26; potatoes, 71, and forty-two acres in apple orchards, containing 854 trees bearing fruit; 2,435 acres was in tame hay. The different farm products for the previous year was as follows: wheat, 30,992 bushels; corn, 43,360; oats, 87,656; barley, 95,815; rye, 30,793; flax seed, 654; potatoes, 7,527 bushels; 32,035 pounds of butter was sent to market from the farm, for which $4,407 was received.

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Some people are always grumbing because roses have thorns;
I am thankful that thorns have roses.
Alphonse Karr
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Evangelical St. John's Church
of Oak Grove.
In 1859 a few Germans met and organized a Protestant congregation. The Rev. Aug. Blumer, of Schocopy,(Shakopee) Minn., preached to his faithful band every six weeks, making the trip by boat. In the summer of 1862 it was decided to build a church, and a site was selected in section 16, township of Oak Grove, the ground being donated by Frederick Mercord. The building was completed in the fall of that year and in June 1863, it was dedicated by the former minister. In 1864-65 W. Hoffman, from Stillwater, Minn., preached to the congregation, and in 1866 a young man named Albert Coon, of the Evangelical Lutheran church of Woodbury, Minn., occupied the pulpit. During that winter Mr. Coon drew up the constitution and called the church the Evangelical Lutheran church of Oak Grove. In 1867 the members erected a parsonage, and another acre of ground for a cemetery was donated to them by F. J. Endor. In 1868 Rev. J. Schadegg occupied their pulpit until the fall of 1873, when the congregation split and through the power of the legislature the name was changed and the property was sold to the Evangelical St. John's church. In 1874 A. G. Bierbaum, the first Evangelical minister, lived in Oak Grove and occupied the pulpit. In 1877 he was succeeded by C. Mortiz, and in 1881 Aug. Blankennagle entered the pulpit. The succeeding ministers were L. Kehle, in 1888, and L. Mack, in 1889. In 1891 the church building was sold to the town of Oak Grove to be used as a town hall, and it was moved a few rods south, just across the road, while a new, much larger and finer building was erected on the place of the old church. In 1893 G. Otto took charge and in 1900 he was succeeded by A. Yanke. The present pastor is E. Herman, who came in 1903.
Reference: Taken from "History of the St. Croix Valley", published in 1909

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Words Our Ancestors Used
Consort: An associate; husband or wife mate
Apoplexy: Stroke or paralysis

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