This township lies east of Britton, and the ridge or
elevation on which Britton is located extends across the northwest corner of the
township and terminates in the southeast corner of White township on sections 35
and 36, where the Wild Rice passes through to the north. This termination is
generally known as the "Gap," and by the Indians called Spirit Earth, where they
annually congregated to hunt buffaloes. The southeast corner of the township
extends pretty well up into the Coteaus; there are several coulees containing
excellent spring water. Near Mr. Ford's, on section 11, is really the great
water shed of the continent; the water a few rods south of there flows into the
Missouri River, while just north, a short distance, the water flows into the Red
River of the North. Mr. John Appleby has a spring on his claim, which is said by
experts to have a volume and fall sufficient to furnish a twelve-horse power.
One of the coulees had considerable timber three years ago.
Frank Ford, the first settler, was born
in Franklin Co., Mass., in 1848. Came here from Richland Co., Dak., and located
on his present home on section 11 the latter part of June, 1882, and built the
first frame house in the county. F. Labord and J. R. Purdy came about the same
time and located near Mr. Ford's.
August 17th, Capt. A. C. Poor and family came here and
located. He has six children, of whom Nellie and Will are at home, and the
others located as follows: Martin, section 22; Oscar, section 27; Charles,
section 28; Mrs. Annette Poor Gardner, with her husband, section 22.
Mr. Poor was born in the state of New York and has
lived in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Came to Hastings, Minn., in 1852, and with the
exception of twelve years in Wisconsin, lived there until he came here. Served
as Captain in the First Minnesota Regiment in the rebellion. Is now Justice of
the Peace.
The Appleby family, consisting of James, the father,
and the brothers John, Thomas and Joseph A., all emigrated from Yorkshire,
England, to Wellington, Canada, in 1857. Father Appleby, John and Joseph, came
here with an ox team from Wilmar, Minn., August 20, 1882. Thomas came here from
Storm Lake, Iowa, March '85, and are all located on sections 23, 25 and 26.
Thomas is this season, including his own stock, herding 200 head of cattle, and
intends to make stock raising a specialty, as he has good water and a splendid
range.
This township was not surveyed until late in 1882, so
that the settlers mentioned were squatters on land whic]r came in market in the
spring of '83. A. C. Poor made the first filing in the township. There were only
four families that wintered here during the severe winter of '82-'83. The snow
was unusually deep and the settlers took turns in getting the mail at Ft.
Sisseton, going afoot. Frank Ford's family and boarders consisted of eight
persons, and owing to the deep snow ran short of flour, and for six weeks took
turns at the coffee-mill grinding wheat. The following spring, 1883, the
settlers rushed in from all directions and the vacant claims were soon taken.
The following is a list of the settlers in the
township, including three sections added to it on the east side:
P. F. Hibbard came from Vermont to Fargo in 1880, and April 17 located on
section 20. Put in a stock of goods in E. W. Blood's residence and the same
summer built a store on section 22, A. C. Poor's tree-claim, and was
commissioned postmaster that fall and lived there until 1884, when he moved to
Britton. Is engaged in the real-estate and land office business; is also notary
public.
The Woodards, from Carlton, Minn., located: Edward N.,
section 20; Marvin S., section 29; Jerome, section 30; Miss Jane, section 30,
and A. S. Woodard, section 30; Geo. D. Whitaker, section 19.
Horace H. Carver and son, John N., on sections 29 and 30, came here from Tomah,
Wis.
L. Armison, from New York, section 33.
L. E. Blackman came to Brown county with York in 1878, and was one of the
pioneers there. On one occasion, having cut his foot, he was alone for six weeks
with only an occasional Indian visitor. The young squaws used to come in and
trade him moccasins for canned fruit; and by the time Lester's foot got well he
had accumulated a large supply of moccasins and beads. He traded his claim on
the Jim for land in this township on section 33, July, '83.
Andrew McCray, from Yankton, Dak., section 32. He has been a resident of Dakota
for thirteen years.
Albert and Fred Wismer, from Nena, Wis., sections 19 and 31;
John McDonald, from Canada, section 4;
C. M. Goss, from Iowa, section 34;
Carlton Thayer and sons, Charles and Daniel, from Alleghany Co., N. Y., settled
on sections 32 and 33;
Geo. W. Curtis and son Homer, from Alleghany Co., New York, settled on sections
31 and 13;
Arthur N. Schlosser, from St. Croix, Wis., section 19, went back to Wisconsin in
winter of '85-'86 and died there.
Albert Compton, from New York, section 1.
Wm. R. Brown, Justice of the Peace, came here from St. Lawrence Co., N. Y.,
settled on section 21.
E. W. Blood, from Green Lake, Wis., section 21, and now lives in Britton.
Ed. McQuillin, from Ionia, Mich., section 29. Is township assessor.
George and Chas. Elsom, from Whitehall, Wis., sections 15 and 17.
Job and Howard Stark, from Elkhart, Ind., settled on sections 19 and 30. Howard
married in '85 and returned to Michigan.
Wm. Griffiths, from Pennsylvania, section 1;
Jno. Reed, from Pierre Co., Wis., section 1:
D. A. Duncan, from Mercer Co., Ill., section 24;
Louis Harrington, section 12.
A. G. Waterbury, from New York City, located on section 24 in 1885. Is now in
butcher business in Britton.
Alonzo Thayer, section 13, and
Dewitt Thayer, from New York, section 23, bought out Jno. Watts.
Robert and Frank Morland, from Michigan, sections 8 and 9.
H. Haig, from Menasha, Wis., section 12;
Geo. A. Wilson, from Freemont, Ohio, section 19;
Alex. Hall, from Minnesota, section 8.
The following named settlers are Scandinavians from
Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota. They are an industrious and thrifty class of
citizens.
Thomas and Andrew Gronseth, sections 10 and 15;
O. A. Hagen, section 15; Ole Gunderson, section 10;
Ole and Chas. Rustand, sections 3 and 10;
John Swanson, section 3;
Otto Denetz, section 4;
Martin Johnson, section 7;
James, Henry and Mack Rudd, section 6:
James Rudd, from Sheldon, Dak., section 5; his son Henry, section 6, and
son-Mack, just over the line in White township, section 31;
James E. Roberts, from Rudd, Ia., section 7. Mr. Roberts was one of the pioneers
in Miller township.
Victor |
White | Newark |
Dayton |
Stena | Britton |
Miller |
Pleasant Valley | Waverly |
Lowell |
Newport |
Hickman |
Langford-Hickman |Sisseton
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