Chapter IV Calamitous Days - 1873 1908
Book Title: An Illustrated History Of Nobles County
CHAPTER IV.
CALAMITOUS DAYS - 1873
Now come the dark days of Nobles county history-the grasshopper days. For a period extending from 1873 to 1879 the people of Nobles county, in common with those of all southwestern Minnesota, suffered as few pioneer settlers in any country ever suffered. Adversity followed adversity. The frowns of fortune overwhelmed those who had come with so much hope in 1872 and cast them into the slough of despond. The picture cannot be painted too dark.
The colonists had come to Nobles county because they were poor people and believed that the new country offered opportunities for securing a competence. Some had started with a railroad ticket as their only asset, and even before the grasshopper days a few were in sorry plight. [1] All set to work with a will to break out the raw prairie land, and great were the expectations for the first crop-a crop destined never to be harvested.
The winter of 1872-73 was the most severe one in the county's known history, before or since, and the settlers received their first experience of hardships to be borne in the new country. Winter began November 13. The day had been fine, but toward night those who knew the Northwest saw indications of a blizzard. At dark a gale from the northwest struck the houses with a whack as distinct as if it had been a board in the hands of old Boreas. One of the famous northern blizzards was on, and it continued until the afternoon of the third day. Thenceforth it was winter. Snow covered the prairies and blockaded the railroad most of the time until late in the spring.
On January 7, 1873, came the most violent storm known in the Northwest for fifty years, as the records kept at Fort Snelling showed. It extended over the whole Northwest, and all telegraph wires west of Chicago refused to work. For three days the blizzard raged. The temperature was about eighteen degrees below zero during the whole period of the storm, and on the prairie the air was filled with snow as fine as flour. Through every crevice, keyhole and nail-hole the fine snow penetrated, puffing in the house like steam. Seventy human lives were lost in Minnesota, and four of these were lost in Nobles county. Innumerable were the narrow escapes from death in the storm, and many residents of the county had experiences that will never be forgotten.
The morning of the first day of the storm was beautiful and bright. The sky was clear, and there was no wind. It seemed as though a "January thaw" was imminent, and the settlers set out for town on business or went to neighboring farmhouses with their teams. While the general indications were for fair weather, an aneroid barometer, owned by Professor Humiston, foretold a storm. The instrument had been falling for twenty-four hours, and it had never been known to fall so low before.
Toward noon a change was apparent. The sky lost its crystal clearness and became a trifle misty. Between twelve and one o'clock a white wall was seen bearing down from the northwest. The front of the storm was distinct and almost as clearly -outlined as a great sheet. In a few minutes a gale, moving at the rate of thirty or forty miles an hour, was sweeping the country. When the storm struck Worthington the farmers began to scatter for- their homes. A number, however, did not take the chance of death, and remained in the village during the three days of the blizzard. Some residents of the village, who were not in their homes when the storm struck, remained until it abated, not daring to venture upon the streets, although only a few blocks from home.
One of those who perished was Samuel Small, of Indian Lake township, a man about forty years of age. Just after the storm struck he started out from Worthington with his ox team and sled for his home, four miles southeast of town. He drove within a few rods of his own door, but in the blinding snow failed to discover his house. He wandered over the prairie until he came to some hay stacks, around which a rail fence had been built. He evidently attempted to climb the fence and seek the shelter of the stacks, but he was too near gone to accomplish it. He was found the day after the storm, standing with one hand on the fence, covered with ice and as stiff as an icicle.
There was another fatality in the same neighborhood. Mrs. John Blixt, who lived with her husband and children on section 2, Indian Lake township, met a very sad death. Mr. Blixt had gone fishing, and when the blizzard struck, his wife, fearful that he would lose his way, started out to meet him. She became blinded by the snow, wandered off on the prairie and perished. Mr. Blixt returned in safety.
The third fatal case was that of John Weston, a farmer who resided in Seward township. On that fateful morning he hitched his oxen to a sled and set out for Graham lakes to get a load of wood. While returning to his home the storm caught him. He drove across his own farm, but in the blinding gale missed the house. Weston then turned and drove in a circle, making the same circuit twice, as was shown by the tracks of the sled. He bore to the north and reentered Graham Lakes township. He unhitched and abandoned his ox team, and the animals, after wandering awhile, turned the yoke and choked to death. They were found later on the bank of Jack creek. From this point Mr. Weston evidently concluded to walk with the storm, for he made a bee-line for Hersey station (now Brewster). After walking about twelve miles he was overcome by the storm and fell forward on his face, clutching at the long grass where he fell.
Immediately after the storm the settlers about Graham lakes organized a searching party and scoured the country for the missing man. They found the oxen and sled, but the search for Weston was fruitless, and toward evening they abandoned their efforts and returned home. Late in the following April, when the snow had disappeared from the prairies, the dead body of the missing man was found by another party of searchers at a point one and one-half miles northwest of Hersey.
As a result of the death of Mr. Weston there was originated a ghost story which became famous all over the country, due largely to its reiteration by Mr. A. P. Miller. The story is here given as it was told by Mr. Miller in the Worthington Advance of Jan. 13, 1881:
The story of John Weston's ghost was first published in the Advance and widely. copied, so that it became known throughout the country. Weston appeared to Mr. Cosper, who is still a resident of Seward township, and was an intimate friend of Weston. A few days ago we caught Mr. Cosper in town and had the story from his own lips. He is a practical, unimaginative man and gives the story in a circumstantial way.
The day after the storm Mr. Cosper had been out with some neighbors searching for Weston's body. He had returned to his home and was at his stable feeding his stock just before sundown. He came out of the stable, and, passing around to the east end, saw John Weston coming up the path from the creek. Weston had on the blue soldier overcoat which he usually wore. His hands were tucked up under the cape, and he approached Cosper with his usual smile and usual salutation, saying, "How goes it?" Cosper said, "Why, Weston, I thought you were frozen to death!" Weston replied, "I am, and you will find my body a mile and a half northwest of Hersey!" Saying this, he vanished. Mr. Cosper says that even after Weston had gone it took him some time to realize that he had seen a ghost, and to "feel queer." [2]
Before this, Weston had evidently announced his death to his wife. Mrs. Weston related the incident, and it was confirmed by her son. The second night of the storm she was awakened by a knock at the door. She dozed off again and was aroused by a second rap, when she asked what was wanted. A voice answered, "Did you know that John was frozen to death?" The voice sounded like that of her brother, Mr. Linderman, who lived in the vicinity. The boy heard the voice, and raising up in bed, said: "Mother, did uncle say that pa was frozen to death?" Mrs. Weston went to the door, but there was no one there, and no tracks could be found in the snow. Mr. Linderman had not been there, and it seems that Weston, wishing to announce his death, and at the same time not to frighten his wife too much, assumed the voice of his brother-in-law.
Now for the confirmation of Cosper's story. He told it at once, and it was published throughout the country before the winter was over. Search was made for Weston's body, but in vain. When spring came, however, and the snow began to melt off, Weston's body was found near a slough, where the snow had been deep, a mile and a half northwest of Hersey. We believe that Mr. Erickson, who now lives at Worthington, was the first to discover the body.
Another man who lost his life in this storm in Nobles county (but knowledge of which was not gained until a year later) was a man by the name of Taylor. His home was in Lake Benton, from which place he and four other men had gone to mill. When the storm struck, Taylor became separated from his companions and the ox team which they were driving, and wandered afoot a distance of about thirty-five miles.
It was during the next winter that the body was found in the northern part of Seward township, in a barren country, by Andy Dillman and George T. Bulick, who were out trapping. Coroner Churchill was notified, who took possession of the body, and finally, through advertising, the body was identified. Mr. Taylor was one of four members of a family who froze to death.
A few of the adventures in this memorable storm are worth relating. In the little log school house at the north end of Indian lake the teacher, Miss Mary Jemerson, and the scholars were obliged to stay for three days and two nights. The snow drifted in through the crevices and soon covered the floor. The supply of wood was soon exhausted, and then the furniture had to be split up to keep alive a meager fire, which barely kept them alive until the storm abated. To keep up circulation the children formed in Indian file and marched around the stove through the dreary days and long nights. Being without food, except what little they had left in their dinner buckets, they suffered greatly, but all escaped without damage.
Joseph Poots was caught in the storm in the western part of the county and lay for several days in a snow drift. His feet, becoming exposed, were frozen and had to be amputated. J. H. Maxwell drove four miles against the storm and then took refuge with a neighboring farmer, not being able to reach home. Rev. Mr. Stone walked five miles facing the storm between Worthington and Jackson, and finally took refuge in a sod shanty. A party of Worthington men, among whom were Dr. Langdon and Cornelius Stout, were caught on the road between Jackson and Worthington, and also remained snowed up in a sod house. A man north of Worthington was caught on the trackless prairie, driving an ox team. He unhitched his oxen and took off their yokes. Then he took one of the animals by the tail, and by twisting the tail, kept the beast on a trot. The other ox followed, and the man in time brought up against his own wood pile.
An act of the legislature, approved Feb. 27, 1873, provided for the establishment of a district court in Nobles county, the law to go into effect on July 4, of the same year, but for some reason no court was held in the county until two years later. Rock county was attached to the new district for judicial purposes, but in 1874 it became a district by itself. [3]
Many new settlers arrived in the spring of 1873, and the colony was indeed in a flourishing condition. Those who had arrived during 1872 put in crops, which had come up and were growing beautifully. The faith in the soil had been justified. Everybody was enthusiastic over the prospects.
Then came the never-to-be-forgotten plague-the grasshoppers-and the country that looked so bright and had been so prosperous was wrapped in gloom. Immigration ceased; farmers, mechanics, merchants, everybody became discouraged at once.
It was on or about the 15th day of June that the people noticed something floating through the air from west to east, which some thought at first sight to be cottonwood seeds. They seemed to be drifting with the wind, and some of them were at a great height. They kept increasing in numbers, and soon a few scattering ones began falling to the earth, where they were found to be grasshoppers, or Rocky mountain locusts- forerunners of a scourge that for several years devastated this part of the country and resulted in the retardation of settlement for many years.
The flight kept up for several days, and a great number of the hoppers came down and feasted on the growing crops, and deposited their eggs. They did great damage, but not so great as in later years, and a light harvest was gathered. [4] Many families were left destitute, and in the early winter a relief committee was organized, which looked after the wants of those in greatest need.
Three new townships were organized during the year 1873, Wilson (Summit Lake), Hebbard (Olney), and Grand Prairie. The petition asking for the creation of Wilson township was presented May 9, and was signed by John Ward, Jas. F. Hollopeter, K F. Ganonny, Jas. Marden, Geo. W. Akin, J. F. Cannern, Henry C. Moore, John J. Weaver, Albert J. Ryan, A. B. Coe, D. Stone, S. Wass and Irwin L. Wass. The commissioners created the township May 20, named the new township Wilson, and provided for holding the first town meeting at the home of J. F. Hollopeter on June 5. The state auditor notified the commisisoners [sic] that there was another township of the name of Wilson in the state, and that therefore it would be necessary to change the name of the Nobles county division. The name was changed to Akin, in honor of one of the settlers, on June 15, 1874. Upon request of the settlers of the township the name was again changed, July 27, 1874, to Summit Lake. The name was given for the lake within the borders of the township, and the lake was named because of its topographical location.
The petition for Hebbard township was circulated January 6, and was signed by R. C. Stillman, John Johnston, Jos. V. Bartow, John G. Culpin, R. W. Moberly, Benjamin F. Renn, T. Thompson, Toor Anderson, Wm. F. Hebbard, Allen Simons, Alex Simpson, Chas. J. Fox, W. H. Forencrook and Ole Gunderson. July 10 the commissioners took favorable action on the petition, named the township Hebbard in honor of Wm. F. Hebbard, one of the settlers, and provided for the completion of the organization at the residence of Chas. J. Fox on July 29. The town meeting was not held at the appointed time, and the completion of the organization was postponed. October 14 Mr. Fox appeared before the commissioners and made affidavit that up to that time no officers had been elected and no town meeting had been held. The commissioners then changed the name of the township to New Haven and made further provision for the organization of the township. June 15, 1874, another name had to be selected, because of a prior disposal of the name New Haven upon a township in another part of the state, and Olney was then bestowed upon the new township, after the county seat of Richland county, Ill. [5]
The people of the southwestern corner township asked for organization on August 30, the petitioners being Miles Birkett, M. S. Merriss, M. J. Bryan, Oley Olson, Edmond Olson, P. J. Johnson, Thos. Johnson, H. A. Severson, Paine Stilmets, J. Spalding, Robert Williamson, John Bootcher, O. D. Bryan, Wm. H. Ingraham, Geo. S. Barnes, Chas. A. Barnes, A. W. Walters, Jas. Walker, P. M. Merriss and J. Pride. At a meeting of the board of county commissioners on September 22 the township was created, and on October 30 the organization was perfected. The name Grand Prairie was selected by the commissioners out of a list of three suggested by the petitioners, [6] and the name selected is not a misnomer.
It will be remembered that during the first few years of the county's history the county seat was officially located at Gretchtown, but that, as Gretchtown had no actual existence, the county seat had led a wandering life. The commissioners transacted their business at the homes of the different members (always, in Graham Lakes township), and the various county officers attended to their official duties at their homes, or where-ever was most convenient.
When Worthington was founded agitation for the establishment of the seat of government in that village was begun. [7] Through the efforts of ex-Governor Stephen Miller, who was at the time the representative of southwestern Minnesota in the lower house of the legislature, a bill was passed, early in 1873, providing for such action. Following is the full text of the act:
An act to establish and locate the county seat of Nobles county.
Be it enacted by the legislature of the state of. Minnesota:
Section 1. That the county seat of Nobles county is hereby established and located at the village of Worthington, in said county of Nobles, on section number 23, town number 102. and range number 40.
Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of all county officers who are required by law to hold their respective offices at the county seat to remove their several offices, with all the books, records and papers pertaining thereto, to the said town of Worthington within sixty days after the passage of this act, without further notice; and each and every officer who shall fail to comply with the provisions of this section shall forfeit the county office held or occupied by him.
Sec. 3. In the event of the passage of an enabling act, during the present session of the legislature, authorizing the electors of said county to vote upon the question of the removal of said county seat at the next general election, no indebtedness shall be contracted on behalf of the said county by the officers thereof for the erection of county buildings at the said village of Worthington until the location of such county seat at said village of Worthington shall be confirmed by the vote of a majority of those who may vote upon the question of removing said county seat, in pursuance of such. enabling act, at the general election in November next.
Sec. 4. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed.
Sec. 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.
Approved March 6, 1873.
It was not the intention of the legislature to arbitrarily locate the county seat at Worthington permanently, and on the same day the act was approved, another one became a law which left the matter to the voters. It was in the form of a law removing the county seat from Worthington to Hersey, which was at the time just budding into a village. But provision was made that before the law became operative a majority of the voters of the county must ratify it at the general election in November, 1873. The effect of these two acts was to put before the people the selection of the permanent county seat, limiting them in their choice to the two villages of Worthington and Hersey. The second act reads:
An act to remove the county seat of Nobles county from the village of Worthington to the village [of] Hersey, in said county.
Be it enacted by the legislature of the state of Minnesota:
Section 1. That the county seat of the county of Nobles, in the state of Minnesota, be and the same is hereby removed from the village of Worthington, section 23, township number 102, of range number 40, where the same is now located in said county, to the village or town of Hersey, on section number 25, township number 103, range 39 west, in said county.
Sec. 2. At the time of giving notice of the next general election it shall be the duty of the officers of said county of Nobles, required by law to give notice of said election, to give notice in like manner that at said election a vote will be taken on the question of adopting this act removing the county seat from the village of Worthington to the village or town of Hersey, as is provided in the first section of this act. But no failure of, or irregularity in, such notice, or the giving of such notice, shall in any way vitiate the vote on such question.
Sec. 3. At said election the electors of said county in favor of the removal of the said county seat as provided in this act, shall have distinctly written or printed, or partly written and partly printed, on their ballots "For removal of county seat;" those opposed to such removal, "Against removal of county seat," and such ballots shall be received by the judges of election and canvassed at the same time and in the same manner, and be returned to the same office as votes for county officers.
Sec. 4. The county canvassing board of said county, to whom said election returns are made, shall canvass the votes on said question, at the same time and in the same manner as returns of votes for county officers, and if upon such canvass being made it shall appear that a majority of the votes cast at such election were voted in favor of the removal of said county seat, an abstract of the canvass of said votes shall be made on one sheet, signed and certified in the same ntanner as in cases of abstracts of votes cast for the county officers, and shall be deposited in the office of the county auditor of said county, and the said county auditor shall immediately thereafter transmit to the secretary of state a copy of said abstract, duly certified by said auditor.
Sec. 5. If this act shall be adopted by a majority of the electors of said county of Nobles voting at the said election at the next general election, the governor shall • forthwith make proclamation, as provided by law in such cases, and it is hereby made the duty of all officers who are required by law to hold their office at the county seat, to remove the said offices, books and records to the new county seat at Hersey within thirty days, without further notice, and any failure to so remove said offices shall operate as a forfeiture of their said offices.
Sec. 6. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed.
Sec. 7. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage, except as to section one, which is to take effect and be in force from and after the adoption of the same as provided herein.
Approved March 6, 1873.
The county officials made preparations to carry out the provisions of the first act. Arrangements were made to secure a building at Worthington for court house purposes, and on May 7 a contract was signed leasing the back room of the building known as the post-office building. This was leased for a period of one year from Charlotte E. Goodnow for $150.8
By resolution of the county board of May 20, the auditor officially gave notice to the other officers that they must remove their offices at once to the county seat, and before the first of June the county business was being transacted in Worthington. On June 10 the first meeting of the commissioners was held there. [9]
When Worthington was founded the railroad company gave to the county the block of land in the heart of the city, still used for court house purposes, and now worth many thousand dollars. A clear title was not given at first. It was provided that a court house should be erected thereon within three years (from 1871), and that in case the property ever ceased to be used for court house purposes it should revert to the railroad company. When the hard times period came on it was found impossible to erect a court house within the time specified, and the railroad company granted an extension of two years. In 1876 another extension of time was given, and in 1877 a court house was erected.
In accordance with the provisions of the second act of March 6, the county seat question was decided at the general election on November 4, 1873. There was never much doubt as to the outcome, and the bitter animosities so often engendered in county seat contests were lacking. Worthington was the logical location. It was the center of population and the only town of any pretentions in the county. Hersey was on the extreme eastern edge of the county, and a place of relatively small importance. Hersey and Graham Lakes townships returned majorities in favor of the smaller place; in only two other precincts, Seward and Fairview (Lorain) did Hersey receive any considerable vote. The result in detail follows:
Removal to Hersey TOWNSHIPS For Against Fairview (Lorain) 10 22 Worthington 3 96 Seward* 12 13 Wilson (Summit Lake) 13 Graham Lakes 29 2 Bigelow 1 45 Dewald 39 Elk 1 25 Grant (Ransom) 37 Little Rock 27 102-42 (Olney)+ 13 Hersey 48 1 Indian Lake 33 Grand Prairie 13 Totals 104 379
* Including township 104-41 (Bloom). + A voting precint had been established, but the township organization had not yet been perfected.
A tax of fifteen mills was levied in 1873, of which eight mills was for the general fund, two mills for road purposes, one mill for the poor fund, and four mills to be applied on the payment of interest on the county's debt.
The report of school conditions during the year 1873 is very meager. From it, we learn that there were fourteen districts in the county, in only three of which schools were held, however. The total number of pupils in the county was 369. One frame school house was erected at a cost of $51.31.
Despite the terrible times through which the early settlers of Nobles county passed, the pioneers made the best of their trials, and their social relations were always pleasant. I can give no better idea of the social conditions during these days of hardships than by quoting a letter written by Robert Shore, of Ransom township, in 1901. [10]
"Here in Nobles county some 27 or 28 years ago the lonely settlers' cabins were few and far between, and in the long, cold winters of those early times the days often dragged heavily. . . .
"In the rigorous winters of those early days there were no coal fires in the homes of the farmers on these prairies; no carpeted floors; but few books and papers; and as for the luxuries or life, they were unknown. And yet people enjoyed themselves even then; indeed, I don't think I ever saw people enjoy themselves better than at some of the sociables, so-called, of those primitive times. It would be arranged that on some specified evening there was to be a sociable at the house, say, of Timothy Sharp or some other good neighbor, and at the appointed time people would come from every direction for miles around to spend a pleasant evening together. And then would follow a time of as unrestrained enjoyment as I ever saw. It seemed as if all the pent up jollity of one's nature was let loose, and, as Byron says, 'joy was unconfined.'
"One reason for this was, I think, that the little bickerings which too often disturb the peace of a neighborhood had not arisen; people were animated by a common purpose-the making of homes for themselves in this then new country. Then, too, people were all on an equality; there were no rich and poor, consequently no social distinctions. Every man felt that he was as good as his neighbor, and his neighbor as good as he. Then, again, people in those days were blessed, it seemed with abounding good health. People lived very plainly in those days-were obliged to-and plain living, we are told, is conducive to health. . . . "
ENDNOTES
[1] Prof. R. F. Humiston in a letter to the press in July, 1875, described his part in relieving the situation. Seldom did he speak of his charitable deeds, and his exception was called forth by rumors questioning his sincerity in certain matters. He wrote:
"From the advent of the colony in 1872, I found that a number of persons had come with barely sufficient means to bring them here. To many of those I furnished employment, paying out therefor sums to the amount of several thousand dollars, and to others I loaned money without interest and with very remote prospects of payment, amounting in the aggregate to many hundreds of dollars. During the first winter [1872-73] and before any relief committee was organized, anticipating the danger of a snow blockade of the railroad, and knowing that many of our people were unprovided with fuel for the winter. I ordered several hundred tons of coal. This coal was distributed over a radius of twenty miles from Worthington, a large proportion being donated and a greater portion of the remainder is still unpaid for. Those who spent the first winter here are familiar with these facts."
"I went into my stable after the bucket, intending to water my horses. I came out and turned the corner to go down the path. When about half way down the slope to the well I was surprised to see John Weston coming up the path to meet me. He approached with his usual familiar smile, and his hands were tucked under the cape of his blue soldier overcoat, just as I had seen him approach many times. I called to him and said: 'Hello, Weston! why, I thought you were lost in the storm.' Weston replied: 'I was, and you will find my body a mile and a half northwest of Hersey!' He then began to melt or fade away, somewhat like smoke thinning out, and disappeared. I had not time to realize what was occurring till it was over, and then I began to feel mighty queer."
[3] Jurors were chosen in 1873 as follows: Grand-O. H. Chapman, Peter Swartwout, Warren Smith, Henry Brayton, R. L. Erskine, Albert Haggard, J. C. Clark, Peter Thompson, H. C. Rice, A. A. Parsons, Jonathan Gordon, W. S. Stockdale, J. B. Churchill, F. W. Burdette, D. S. Law, B. S. Langdon, E. S. Mills, W. B. Akins, J. H. Barnfield, J. D. Roberts.
Petit-N. H. Smith, B. B. Brain, E. W. Hesselroth, Julius Westinghouse, J. A. Cosper, C. L. Johnson, W. R. Bennett, Chas. Frisbie, W. G. Brown, B. W. Woolstencroft, Chas. Wilkinson, Peter Swetzer, J. P. Warner, H. S. Finn, Richard Bagley, A. A. Kimball, Edward Bear, S. D. Sprague, B. F. Congdon, J. B. Haines.
[4] Different from most of the accounts of this first invasion is that of G. L. Ellsworth, which was published in the Nobles County Democrat in 1896. Mr. Ellsworth wrote: ". . . Although a great number of the hoppers came down, they did not create much alarm at that time, as there was not much crop for them to eat, had they been so disposed. Their principal business seemed to be the depositing of their eggs, and after staying for a day or two, they all took flight again towards the east."
[5] The name was suggested by R. W. Moberly. Several other names were suggested by the residents of the township, among others being Springfield.
[6] "The name of Colfax we think appropriate to call our township, or if that will not do, call it Grand Prairie or Union township."
[7] "The question now stands. Firstly: Do the voters of Nobles county desire the removal of the county seat from Gretchtown? Secondly: Where is Gretchtown? Can anyone tell us where to find Gretchtown? Is it a seaport or a railroad center? Is it a manufacturing town or a rural district? Did it vote for Grant? Any information under the sun of this lost sister town will be tearfully received by the mourning friends, as well as other members of the unhappy family. Gretchtown, Gretchtown, thou long lost sister, return, re-e-turn, return." -Western Advance, Nov. 9, 1872.
[8] A paragraph of the contract read: " . . . that they shall have free access to said room by use of the back door at all times and access by the front door from seven o'clock in the morning until nine o'clock in the evening of each day of the week, Sundays excepted."
[9] After the first year the county rented of J. H. Johnson an office in a little building located on Ninth street, just west of the present court house, for a rental price of $37.50 per quarter. There was only one room down stairs, and in that were gathered the principal functionaries of the county. There were two living rooms upstairs. Mr. Johnson later opened a harness shop in this building.
[10] Published in the Nobles County Democrat, of Dec. 20, 1901.
Additional Comments: Extracted from:
AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF NOBLES COUNTY MINNESOTA BY ARTHUR P. ROSE
NORTHERN HISTORY PUBLISHING COMPANY WORTHINGTON, MINNESOTA PUBLISHERS 1908