Book Title: An Illustrated History Of Nobles County
CHAPTER XII.
WORTHINGTON-1871-1872.
Worthington, the capital of Nobles county, is the oldest and largest town in
the county. It is located on the east shore of lake Okabena, and its elevation
above sea level is 1,593 feet. [1] It is in the eastern part of the county, the
business center of the town being 16 miles from the county's northern boundary,
eight miles from the southern, seven and one-quarter from the eastern and
twenty-two and three-quarters from the western. Otherwise described, it is 178
miles southwest of St. Paul, the state capital, and is located on three lines of
railroad—the Chicago; St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha, the Worthington & Sioux
Palls, and the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific.
The population, according to the last census,—that of 1905—-was 2,276. There
has been an increase since that date, and there are now about 2,500 people
residing in the village. It is one of the most progressive and prosperous^ towns
in southwestern Minnesota. All lines of business that are to be found in the
prairie communities of the Mississippi valley are represented. It is noted for
its schools, churches and social organizations, and in this respect it is the
peer of any town of its size in the state. It is the kind of town in which one
prefers to live.
The location of Worthington, considered in its natural state, is one of
unusual beauty, and with the embellishments that have been added by the hands of
its residents, it stands at the present time as one of the prettiest little
cities of a state distinguished for its pretty towns. Especially is one charmed
with its loveliness in the summer season. Then the broad avenues and parks are
clothed in emerald foliage. Trees are everywhere. Due to the foresight of the
town's founders, the spot which was once barren prairie is now a bower of
beauty. Picturesque lake Okabena, upon the shores of which the city is builded,
is another beauty spot that adds charm to the location.
One can hardly realize that less than half a century ago this spot was an
uncharted wilderness; yet such is the case. Time was when the dusky red men
pitched his tepee where now our churches are located; vast herds of bison moved
about lake Okabena and made their wallows where now our courts are held; timid
deer browsed where now the student studies his natural history; elk in
countless numbers roamed the adjacent prairie and saw their antlers reflected in
the clear waters of Okabena as they bent down to drink.
The first white men to set foot on the site of the town, so far as shown by
any records I am able to find, was the party of explorers under Joseph Nicholas
Nicollet, mention of whose explorations has been made in a previous chapter. On
the map which he issued in 1842 "Okebene" lake is accurately located, showing
that in the late thirties or very early forties the site of the town had been
visited by white men. Between that time and the date of the permanent settlement
of the country the site was visited infrequently by explorerers, military
parties, scouts, and trappers. The latter were the more frequent visitors.
During the late fifties and early sixties the country a short distance to the
east and south was settled, to a very limited extent, by trappers. The abundance
of game which overran the region drew hunters and trappers regularly to its
lakes. The Okabenas were on the itinerary of these nomadic frontiersmen, and the
site of. Worthington was visited occasionally by these men long before there was
any thought of a town there. Their permanent abiding places were further to the
east in Minnesota or in the settled portion of northern Iowa, about Spirit Lake,
and until the late sixties none claimed even a-temporary home within the limits
of what is now Worthington.
It was in the month of September, 1868, that the first building was erected on
land which is now within the corporate limits of the town. On the 24th of that
month, there came to the Okabena Lake country, from Blue Earth, three
trappers-W. A. Dillman [2] Frank Fortner and John Wilson. They erected a
combination sod and log shanty on the east shore of East Okabena lake. Fortner
remained only two days, Wilson a month, but Mr. Dillman occupied the shanty and
engaged in trapping until Christmas, and became Worthington's first citizen. [3]
Although over 100 people became settlers of Nobles county during the years
1867 to 1870, inclusive, on the site of the future village of Worthington not
one established his permanent home. During the winter of 1870-1871 G. J. Hoffman
engaged in trapping on lake Okabena and succeeded in taking $600 worth of furs.
He spent the winter in a dug-out on the south shore of the lake, a few paces to
the west of what is known as the "swimming hole." In the spring of 1871 he
walked to Osage, Iowa, and back again, carrying on his return trip a bundle of
willow cuttings- the start of the now famous Ludlow grove. That summer Mr.
Hoffman went to St. James, bought a small house there, and hauled it down to the
future city of Worthington on wagons. That house constitutes a part of what has
been the Ludlow home up to the present year. It was the first building of wood
within the corporate limits of the town. Mr. Hoffman's family, consisting of a
wife and two children, came to the new home as soon as the building was ready
for occupancy, and was Worthington's first family.
Although both the Dillman shanty and Mr. Hoffman's house were within what is
now the corporate limits of Worthington, they were located outside the present
platted portion of the town, and the construction of those buildings had nothing
to do with the founding of the village.
Worthington came into existence as the result of the building of the Sioux
City & St. Paul railroad. [4] The permanent survey was made early in 1871.
Immediately thereafter graders and bridge builders were put to work, and before
the winter set in the grading was completed to LeMars, Iowa, and the track was
laid as far as the present town of Worthington. During the time grading was in
progress one of the camps was located at the point where the village afterwards
made its appearance. The contractors erected a shanty just across the track from
the present location of the freight depot, which was used as a boarding house
for the graders. Immediately after the grading was completed the shanty was torn
down. It was early the intention of the railroad company to locate a station and
build a town on land at or near the point where the road passed Okabena lake.
The site first selected was on the south side of the lake, where Mr. G. J.
Hoffman had taken his claim. That gentleman refused to sell his property to the
railroad company for what the company considered a reasonable figure, and that
site was abandoned. [5]
The railroad company, of which E. F. Drake was president and guiding spirit,
then selected the site at the east end of the lake and made the survey. Although
the original townsite was surveyed in the summer of 1871, the plat was not put
on record until the following year. The original plat extended from Eighth
street to Fourteenth street, and from the railroad track (along which ran First
avenue) to Eighth avenue. Blocks two to 25, inclusive, were surveyed by Alex L.
Beach, and blocks 26 to 45, inclusive, by T. P. Gere. The Gere certificate of
survey was dated May 22, 1872. The dedication was in the following words:
The Sioux City and Saint Paul Rail Road company by Elias F. Drake, its
president, and the said Elias F. Drake, on behalf of himself [6], proprietors,
hereby acknowledge that so much of the plat of the town or village of
Worthington, as is shown hereon has been made by said proprietors and is
acknowledged and filed in accordance with the requirements of "an act providing
for the record, of town plats" now in force. The streets and alleys indicated on
said plat are dedicated to the use of the public for streets and alleys only and
in case of the vacation of any such streets or alleys by any competent
authority, the reversion and title in fee of such vacated streets or alleys is
hereby expressly reserved and declared to be in said proprietors, and the fee of
any part of any street or alley is declared not to be included in or as part of
any lot herein.
ELIAS F. DRAKE, Prest.
ELIAS F. DRAKE.
The acknowledgement was made June 24, 1872, before G. A. Hamilton, a notary
public of Ramsey county. The instrument was filed in the office of the register
of deeds of Nobles county June 27, 1872, by Selim Fox, register, per John H.
Cunningham, deputy. [7]
Before the lots were placed on the market, before a building was erected on
the townsite, an event occurred which vitally affected the history of the
town-to-be. This was the formation of the National colony and the assumption by
it of the control of affairs in Nobles county. It is not necessary here to
repeat the story of that organization, which has been told in a preceding
chapter. With the purchase and subsequent manipulation of the railroad lands by
the company, arose the necessity for a town in the new country to be used as its
headquarters-a town builded in accordance with the temperance beliefs of its
founders, who had extensively advertised that the community to which they were
to bring emigrants should be moral and temperate. Prof. R. F. Humiston and Dr.
A. P. Miller, who were the leading spirits of the colony company, at once
assumed the duties of founding the town, and late in the summer of 1871 they
paid a visit to the site. The land upon which the town was built a few months
later did not then have a sign of habitation on it, nor had it yet been
definitely named.
The party consisted of Professor Humiston, Dr. Miller, Mrs. Miller and Captain
Aiken Miner, who made the trip by team from Jackson. They came to view the lake
and the site of their future labors. As they stood on the shore of the lake they
viewed the country as it had been since time begun; the hand of man had not
changed the work of nature. [8] The two promoters made the trip around the west
lake on foot on an exploring expedition. At the inlet at the west end of the
lake they constructed a raft and floated across the stream. It was nearly
nightfall when they finished surrounding the lake, and the party then went to
Graham lakes, fifteen miles away, to spend the night. Shelter was secured in the
log hut of H. C. Hallett, who "kept tavern" and was the postmaster.
During the time the railroad was being graded through southwestern Minnesota
the site where afterwards the town of Worthington was built was known as
Okabena. When the colony company became interested, and. before the town was
founded, the name was changed to Worthington, which was the name of Mrs. Mary
Dorman Miller's (wife of Dr. A. P. Miller) mother before her marriage. The name
was suggested by Prof. Humiston. [9] The Worthington family was a prominent one
in Ohio. Among its members were Thomas Worthington, once governor of the state,
for whom the town of his name in Franklin county was named; and General J. T.
Worthington. [10] Not alone is the name distinguished for its Ohio connections.
It is one of the oldest in America. From a member of the Worthington family [11]
it is learned that the name can be traced back of the time of the Norman
conquest in England. It is a Saxon name and originated before the time of
William the Conqueror. The Saxons bearing the name lived in Derby, and there was
a town of the same name. Some member of the family came to America on the
Mayflower, and the American branch is founded from that ancestor.
The name was not entirely satisfactory, and several times in the early days
suggestions were made that a change be made, but no action to that end was ever
taken. Many regretted that the Indian name "Okabena" was not given. [12]
So soon as it was definitely settled that the colony company was to build a
town on Okabena lake preparations were begun to start the town. Before winter
set in quite a little town, had made its appearance on the spot where late in
the summer there was not a sign of habitation. Construction on the first
building was begun on Sunday, the first day of September, probably only a few
days after the Miller-Humiston party had visited the site. It was a frame
business house erected by H. W. Kimball for a hardware store. A detailed, and
apparently authentic, account of the building of this first structure is
furnished by a letter written by S. C. Thayer, the carpenter who did the work on
the building, and it is here reproduced. The letter was dated Liberal, Mo., Jan.
6, 1885:
The first nail was driven with the following ceremonies:
First I go back a little that you may understand it. At that time (August to
September, 1871) I was living on a claim in Jackson county and had been living
in Jackson. Had done some work for one, W. S. Kimball, of that place. At this
time said Kimball had a nephew come from Illinois, who was to start a kind of
branch hardware store at Worthington, which at this time was an uninhabited
prairie, not a stick or house within some, distance, the railroad not yet
completed to Worthington.
So, on Saturday afternoon, Aug. 31, 1871, said nephew (Herb Kimball) came to
my claim "shanty" with a span of horses and wagon loaded with lumber for the
commencement of his new hardware store at Worthington. He had with him a
carpenter from Jackson by the name of Stephen Ford, who was to assist me in the
erection of the building. As it was getting late in the afternoon and I had some
arrangements to make in order to leave my wife and one child comfortable, I
prevailed on the "ship's crew" to stay with me over night, and take a fresh
start on Sunday morning, which was done.
On Sunday morning all was ready, and we set out for our long journey (some
thirty miles or more) across the wild prairie, with shot guns, carpenter tools,
lumber, wagons and horses, with plenty of the necessaries of life for a week or
two. On we went. Noon came, and yet we were on wild prairie. Stopped and fed,
took a lunch, and we went toward the New Jerusalem. On, on, on until about five
or half past we passed a kind of swamp lake, and a beautiful southern slope of
another little sheet of water, and very close to it we stopped. It was a most
beautiful evening and also a beautiful spot of ground. Nothing to be seen except
land and water.
Then arose the question in what manner we could best fit up our temporary
quarters until we could get our building enclosed, or partly so, I suggested the
wedge shaped shanty with ridge pole, which was adopted. Now for a couple of
stakes to rest our ridge pole on, but lo! we were not in a timbered country. So
we took a piece of 2x4x14 and cut it in two, sharpened the ends of each, drove
them into the ground. Then for the ridge pole took another of the 2x4. Here it
was found that it would take a 20d spike to fasten the ridge to the poles of our
building. So out of the wagon was rolled a keg of spikes, and Mr. Kimball
suggested that, inasmuch as I was a carpenter, I had better do the nailing. I
took the hammer and nail and stepped upon the keg, which had been placed at the
foot of the post, it being a little too high to reach. At this moment it
occurred to me that I was to be the man to drive the first nail in the (what was
to be) city of Worthington. So with these remarks I "sent the nail home" that
fastened the ends of the two first pieces of wood together in your city:
"Be it recorded and by these witnesses (H. Kimball and S. Ford) remembered
that I, Solon Cassius Thayer, who was born in Bloomfield, Ohio, on the 21st day
of August, 1843, now a carpenter and joiner, and having no faith whatever in the
popular Christian religion, Gods or devils, but do believe in doing justice at
all times and in all places, and for the purpose of the upbuilding of a little
city that may bud and blossom for the good of its inhabitants, do on this
beautiful Sunday evening, the first day of September, 1871, drive the first nail
that shall fasten the ends of two pieces of wood together for the protection of
its inhabitants from the weather." [13]
Off and up went the three hats and cheers for the city of Worthington.
On the next morning we went at the framework of the new store, while Mr.
Kimball went to Heron Lake for more lumber. About the time we got our frame up
the lumber was on the ground for a large hotel and so on, and by the time we had
ours done there was quite a village. [14]
The site of this first building was on Tenth street, where Devaney's billiard
hall is now located. As stated by Mr. Thayer, that fall there were a number of
others who came, erected buildings, and added to the population of the town. The
railroad was not yet completed to Worthington, and the material for all the
buildings erected in the fall of 1871 was hauled from Heron Lake, then the
terminus (temporarily) of the road. The building that fall was nearly all done
in October and November. Nearly all the buildings were under way at the same
time, and it is impossible to give the order in which they were completed.
One of the first buildings started and completed was a store building put up
at the corner of Tenth street and Third avenue by L. F. McLaurin, [15] who
opened a general stock of goods, including dry goods, groceries, etc. A man by
the name of Leslie erected a little building on Ninth street, between Third and
Fourth avenues, [16] where he opened a store and sold whiskey as a side line.
Henry Davis & Brother opened a general store in a tent, carrying tobacco, shoes,
shirts and other articles, which found a ready market among the graders who were
then at work there. This temporary affair was discarded that fall, when Henry
Davis erected a one and one-half story building on Tenth street. [17] Although
their stock had to be hauled in on wagons from Heron Lake, three lumber yards
were opened that fall. One of these was in charge of I. N. Sater; another was
owned by Crocker Bros. & Lamoraux, with a man by the name of Folsom in charge;
the third was owned by Henry Young & Co., of which Levi Shell was the manager. [18]
The most pretentious building erected in Worthington in 1871 was the
Worthington hotel. Excavation work was begun in October, the building was
completed that fall, and was opened during the winter. It was erected jointly by
the railroad company and the National colony, and its management was vested in
the latter. The cost is said to have been about $30,000. It was three stories
high and was, practically, the front half of the present day Worthington hotel.
Wm. B. Moore was the first manager. [19]
The postoffice was established in December, 1871, and H. W. Kimball, the
hardware merchant, was appointed postmaster. Regular trains were not then
running to Worthington, the mail being brought in by stage by "Stormy Jack"
Grier, over the route from Jackson to Luverne. [20]
Times were lively in the little village during the building days in the fall
of 1871. When cold weather set in some of those who were not in business left
the town to spend the winter in their old homes, and times were dull during the
cold weather season. A man who visited the town in January, 1872, said of the
conditions at that time:
"I counted thirteen buildings all told and was informed that there were
thirteen inhabitants at that time. It was one of the 'snow winters,' and drifts
were piled all around the houses. I think there were seven snow steps leading
down to the depot platform. There was in the hotel one newspaper and a lot of
greasy pieces of pasteboard with heart shaped devices on them and other devices.
Several men boarders were waiting for spring to open."
Almost all the inhabitants were men [21] who had established business
enterprises and could not leave them. They amused themselves with the newspaper,
the heart shaped devices, and practical jokes. About twenty men resided in the
town during the whole winter. Among these was a "mess" of five-E. R. Humiston,
A. P. Chamberlain, C. C. Goodnow, J. C. Goodnow and Jerry Haines-who,
soldier-like, went into barracks in a boarding house near the railroad and
boarded themselves. Besides those in the village proper were G. J. Hoffman, who
spent the winter on his, claim on the south side of the lake; Wm. F. Hibbard,
who wintered in a small house on the east lake; and Jerome Stewart, a blind man,
who lived in a shanty just across the track from the town.
While times were dull during the winter it was known that with the opening of
spring Worthington would be one of the liveliest towns on the frontier.
Assurances were received from the colony managers that hundreds would pour into
the country in the early spring. Some of the colony immigrants arrived before
spring set in, and even during the month of January quite a few came and took up
their residence in Worthington in order to be in on the ground floor. Among
these 'were some of the best known citizens of Worthington today. The people who
were looking for the big rush were not disappointed. The first regular passenger
train ran into Worthington April 29, 1872, bringing with it many settlers, and
thereafter each day the train was filled with families who came to find homes in
the new country. Mrs. Clark, who was among the advance guard of the colony, has
written of the conditions in Worthington as she found them:
"We were among the first members of a colony to arrive at the station of an
unfinished railroad, which was to be the nucleus of the colony and the county
seat of the county. There was a good hotel, well and comfortably furnished, one
or two stories neatly furnished and already stocked with goods, several others
in process of erection. A few rough board tenements, temporary shelters, to
serve the occupants until better houses could be built. The streets, scarcely to
be defined as such, were full of prairie schooners, containing families, waiting
until the masters could suit themselves with 'claims,' the women pursuing their
house-wifely avocations meanwhile-some having cooking stoves in their wagons,
others using gypsy fires to do their culinary work; all seeming happy and hopeful."
Freeman Talbott, in a letter written July 20, 1886, tells of the impressions
he received of the new town during the rush time in the spring of 1872:
"Fourteen years ago last May I made my first visit to Nobles county,
intending, if the surroundings suited me, to make Worthington my future home.
Quite a number of the first settlers had arrived. Some were living in
comfortable houses, some in rough board shanties, 12x14, others in tents, and
still others on the bleak prairie, about to select the site of future
independence on or near the banks of the beautiful lake Okabena."
The arrival of the colonists had a magical effect upon the village, and new
business enterprises sprang into existence. On the last day of August, 1872,
there were 85 buildings on the town-site, where a year before the plat had been
located. Of these nearly all were permanent and much more substantial than is
usually the case during the rush of starting a new town. A list of the business
houses in Worthington on that date is furnished by a directory published in the
first issue of the Western Advance. Certainly an excellent showing had been made
in one year:
HOTELS.
A. P. Lyon, Worthington Hotel.
C. B. Loveless.
DRY GOODS AND GROCERIES.
Peter Thompson, Ninth street.
L. F. McLaurin, Tenth street, corner Third avenue.
Davis & Brother, next door to postoffice.
Davis & Morrison, "Colony Store."
HARDWARE.
C. P. Hewett & Co., opposite the park.
H. W. Kimball, near Worthington hotel.
H. D. Humiston, "Colony Store."
LUMBER.
I. N. Sater, with Harrison's.
J. A. Town, with Crocker Bros. & Lamoraux.
DRUGGISTS.
A. K. Veitz, opposite Worthington hotel.
Barber & Lawrence, opposite park.
FURNITURE.
Heilburn & Pratt, Tenth street, opposite the park.
GROCERIES.
S. D. Sprague, Ninth street, opposite park.
P. B. Crosby.
FLOUR AND FEED.
S. F. Shepard, Third avenue,
Peter Thompson, Ninth street.
BAKERY.
Hugh & Dorman, Ninth street, opposite park.
RESTAURANTS.
Fred Hascall, Tenth street, near the post-office.
C. P. Stough, Ninth street.
Hugh & Dorman, Ninth street.
LIVERY.
Daniel Shell, Tenth street.
MEAT MARKET.
Bigelow & Co., Third avenue.
ATTORNEYS.
M. B. Soule, Third avenue, opposite park.
J. S. Shuck, Tenth street, opposite park.
PHYSICIANS.
Geo. O. Moore, corner Fifth avenue and Tenth street.
J. Craft.
R. D. Barber, Tenth street, at drug store.
NOTARIES PUBLIC.
C. C. Goodnow, postoffice.
M. B. Soule, Third avenue, opposite park.
COLONY COMPANY.
Miller, Humiston & Co.
LAND AGENTS.
A. Miner, at postoffice.
C. C. Goodnow, at postoffice.
Soule & Langdon, Third avenue, opposite park.
PAINTERS.
L. F. Margrat and -. -. Shaw.
NEWSPAPER.
Western Advance.
HARNESS MAKER.
C. L. Johnson, Ninth street, opposite park.
BLACKSMITHS.
C. B. Loveless, Eleventh street.
W. Hodgkinson, Eleventh street.
SHOEMAKERS.
C. Moore, Eleventh street.
J. S. Stone, Fourth avenue.
PRINTING.
Advance Printing Co.
The improvements for the year footed up to $80,550. Included in this amount
was the public hall building, known as Miller hall, which was erected by the
colony company at a cost of about $7,000. The building was 48x80 feet, was two
stories high, and had three large store rooms below. For several years the hall
served the purposes of church building, lodge rooms, school room, and was the
place of all social gatherings. It was destroyed by fire in 1878. The town was
extensively advertised, and during 1872 gained the reputation of being one of
the best towns in southern Minnesota. [22]
One of the events of the year was the organization of Worthington township. A
petition was filed on March 30, asking the board of county commissioners to take
action toward bringing about the organization, and on April 30 the petition was
granted. On May 20 the first town meeting was held, and the village was under
township government for the first time.
The temperance question was a very live issue in Worthington during the first
year of its existence. One of the first things determined on by the founders of
the National colony was that the colony should be a moral community, and to
secure this end it was decided to exclude the liquor traffic from the town and
country over which it had jurisdiction. This fact was emphasized in all the
advertising, and the result was that" the majority of the first settlers were
temperance people, who had been drawn to the colony largely by the promises
made. A large sum of money was set aside by Prof. Humiston and his associates to
prosecute liquor dealers should the traffic be started in the new town. A large
part of this fund was expended during the year 1872 in bringing actions against
three men who made attempts to establish liquor saloons in Worthington. The
saloons were promptly closed, and thereafter for many years there was no liquor
sold in the village.
The village government had not been organized in 1872, and license legislation
was enacted by the board of county commissioners. To that body the people of
Worthington went with their request that no saloons be licensed in Worthington
township. A petition was circulated August 30, and was worded as follows:
To the Honorable Board of County Commissioners of Nobles County, State of
Minnesota:
We, the undersigned, citizens of the town of Worthington, in said county,
respectfully represent that we believe that a. majority of our citizens within
our said township are opposed to the granting of license for the sale of any
kind of intoxicating liquors-either spiritous, vinus or malt-in our said town as
a beverage. And whereas the statute authorizing towns to vote on the question of
license provides that such vote shall be taken at a general election. And
whereas the next general election at which such vote can be taken will not be
holden until November 5.
We therefore petition your honorable board that they rescind the vote of the
former board of commisisoners so far as it affects the said town of Worthington,
and that your honorable board refuse to grant licenses for the sale as a
beverage of any kind of intoxicating liquors within the limits, of our said town
of Worthington until after the next general election.
Dated this 30th day of August, A. D., 1872 [23]
Attached to the petition was a memorandum as follows: "Will Mr. Miller [county
commissioner] please present this petition? Many more names could have been
secured if there had been time to circulate it throughout the township. The wish
is almost universal that no license should be granted. I have asked but five to
sign it who have refused.-R. F. H."
At the same time the ladies of the village presented a petition of similar
import [24] with the following attached memorandum, evidently made by Prof.
Humiston: "These are all from the village of Worthington, and there are other
ladies who would have signed the petition, but they were absent from home. Only
two have declined to sign and they on account of their husbands.-R. F. H."
This overwhelming sentiment on the part of the people of the village and
township was not disregarded by the commissioners, and at a meeting held
September 3 they resolved "that no license for the sale of spiritous, vinus or
malt liquors be granted to any person in the township of Worthington before the
next general election." At the election in November only four votes were cast in
favor of the licensing of saloons. The promises of the colony managers to
provide a temperance town had been fulfilled.
ENDNOTES
[1] This is the elevation as given by the C. St. P. M. & O. Ry. The
elevation as given by the B. C. R. & N. engineers is 1,585 feet. At the
point of crossing of the two roads it is 1,573 feet.
[2] Still a resident of Worthington.
[3] more detailed account of this event is to be found in chapter 2.
[4] Now the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha.
[5] Worthington Advance, Nov. 29, 1883.
[6] The railroad company was the owner of the greater part of the
original platted town-site (on section 23), which it had acquired
through the land grant. A small three cornered piece of the original
plat (on the southwest quarter of section 24) was the property of Mr.
Drake, personally, he having come into possession of it by purchase.
The quarter had been filed on by Geo. E. Stewart on Dec. 16, 1871, and
that gentleman had secured the patent from the government on May 20,
1874. The property was deeded to Mr. Drake the same day the filing was
made.
Clary's addition, which, however, was not platted until later,
comprises parts of the northwest quarter of section 24. The east half
of that quarter was filed on June 1, 1872, by Elias D. South. The west
half was filed on May 27, 1872, by Veeder J. South.
[7] Additions to this original townsite have been platted as
follows:
Park-Surveyed by O. D. Brown June 12, 1876; dedicated by the S. C. &
St. P. R. R. Co., by E. F. Drake, president, and G. A. Hamilton,
assistant secretary, Sept. 29, 1876; filed Oct. 4, 1876.
Second-Surveyed by John O. Brunius; dedicated by the S. C. & St. P.
R. R. Co., by E. F. Drake, president, and G. A. Hamilton, secretary,
Nov. 1, 1879; filed July 8, 1880.
Anderson's-Surveyed by T. Linus Blank Oct., 1882; dedicated by Henry
H. Anderson Oct. 25, 1882; filed Oct. 26, 1882.
Clary's-Surveyed by F. L. Diserens October, 1882; dedicated by
Timothy F. Clary and Eliza F. Clary Dec. 2, 1882; filed Dec. 12, 1882.
Subdivision of Blocks 20, 21 and 22-Surveyed by Orrin Nason;
dedicated by the S. C. & St. P. R. R. Co., by Elias F. Drake,
president, and G. A. Hamilton, secretary, Aug. 24, 1883; filed Sept 7,
1883.
Drake's-Surveyed by Wm. A. Peterson; dedicated by Elias F. Drake
Feb. 11, 1884; filed Feb. 20, 1884.
Anderson's Subdivision of Blo
