Book Title: An Illustrated History Of Nobles County
CHAPTER IX. POLITICAL - 1870-1874.
The political history of Nobles county dates from the fall of the year 1870. When the settlers residing in the vicinity of Graham lakes determined that their needs warranted the organization of the county they asked Governor Horace Austin to appoint commissioners, who should perfect the organization under the provisions of the act of May 23, 1857,-the act of the legislature creating the county. The governor complied with the request of the settlers, and in September, 1870, appointed Benjamin W. Woolstencroft, Charles H. Drury and Benjamin Harrison commissioners, giving them authority to name the other county officials. [1]
The three commissioners met Oct. 27, 1870, elected Charles Drury chairman and B. W. Woolstencroft secretary, and appointed the following officers: Simon R. Harris, auditor and county attorney; John H. Cunningham, treasurer; Stephen Howell, register of deeds; E. W. Hesselroth, judge of probate; Richard Morton, clerk of court; Captain Miller, surveyor. [2]
These appointments were intended to be temporary, as the general election of November, 1870, was only a few days away. Active preparations were at once begun for this event, and a mass convention was called to be held at the home of Edward Berreau, on section 14, Hersey township. In the log house of that pioneer settler, in the closing days of October, gathered the voters, who put in nomination a complete county ticket. Then, as now, all was not harmony in a political way. Because of the nomination of S. R. Harris for auditor there was a bolt. A few days later the dissatisfied ones met at the home of B. W. Woolstencroft, in what is now Graham Lakes township. All of the nominees of the first convention were endorsed with the exception of Mr. Harris for auditor; the name of B. W. Woolstencroft was substituted for that of Mr. Harris.
The election was only a few days away, and the contest between the two nominees for auditor became spirited. The board at its first meeting had divided the county into three election precincts, the polling places for which were at the homes of S. R. Harris and H. L. Wallace, in Graham Lakes, and the home of Isaac Horton, in Indian Lake. There was no red tape connected with this first election held in Nobles county. At the Harris home a cigar box with a slit cut in the top served as a ballot box. Into this opening a jack knife was stuck; when the polls were declared open the knife was withdrawn and voting began. So bitter was the contest between the friends of the nominees for auditor that violence was narrowly averted at the Harris polling place. Revolvers were worn conspicuously, knives were displayed, and intimidations were indulged in. Despite these manifestations of hostility the situation was controlled by the cooler heads, and the day passed without bloodshed. The home of Isaac Horton-the Indian Lake polling place-was on section 34, on the east bank of Indian lake. Mr. Horton had made a ballot box which was used at that election and for several elections thereafter. It was three and one-half inches deep by four inches wide, and was twelve inches long, fitted with a sliding cover in which was a slit for receiving the ballots.
Thirty-two votes were cast, and there were possibly at the time twelve or fourteen other electors in the county who did not use their franchise. The party favoring Mr. Woolstencroft for auditor was successful. The officers elected were: B. W. Woolstencroft for auditor; John H. Cunningham, treasurer; Stephen Howell, register of deeds; E. W. Hesselroth, judge of probate; Richard Morton, clerk of court; H. L. Wallace, sheriff; Stephen Muck, coroner.
Dissatisfied with the result of the election, Mr. Harris as auditor (which he held by appointment) refused to canvass the vote. While he was undoubtedly wrong in taking such a course and could have been compelled to make the canvass, conditions were such that no action was taken, and for the time being there was no change in the personnel of the county officers. No salary was attached to any of the offices, [3] and the officers-elect were not ambitious enough to compel the canvassing of the vote, which would result in placing them in office. There was a spirited contest between Messrs. Thompson and Whalen for state senator and Messrs. Chamberlain and Patchen for representative, and the votes for these offices were canvassed by Auditor Harris. [4]
So the election of 1870 resulted in no change. But between the date of organization and the time when the officers elected in the fall of 1871 took office there were numerous changes, It seemed difficult to find men willing to serve the county in an official capacity, [5] and several appointments were made for some offices before men could be found who would qualify. Soon after the organization Origen B. Lacy was named register of deeds, Henry Brayton, county attorney; S. R. Harris, judge of probate; Benjamin Harrison, coroner; Edward J. Clark, clerk of court; Charles H. Drury and John Leitz, justices of the peace. At a meeting of the board in January, 1871, William H. Brown was appointed county attorney, James W. Miller, surveyor; Charles W. Bullis, Samuel Barnes and Ole Ellingson, constables. About this time there was a change in the board of commissioners, W. G. Brown being appointed to fill the vacancy caused by the removal of Benjamin Harrison from the county. At a meeting on April 15, 1871, there was a change in one of the important offices. S. R. Harris, who had held the offices of auditor and county attorney from the date of organization, resigned, and in his place was installed W. H. Brown, auditor, and J. W. Palmer, county attorney. These are the only changes that resulted prior to the election in the fall of 1871. [6]
The election of Nov. 7, 1871, brought about an almost complete change in county officers. There were contests for only a few of the county offices, and for state offices there was almost an unanimity of choice. Almost without exception the first settlers of the county were republicans, and out of the total of 73 votes cast 72 were for Horace Austin for governor and one for Winthrop Young. This democratic vote was cast by Michael Maguire, still a resident of Nobles county. There was no political division on county offices, the nominees being put forward by independant conventions. There were only two townships organized at the time—Graham Lakes and Indian Lake. The polling place for Graham Lakes was the residence of H. C. Hallett. The judges of election were E. W. Hesselroth, Asher Allen and C. H. Cutler, and the clerks were Henry D. Bookstaver and B. W. Woolstencroft. In Indian Lake-the polling place was the residence of Isaac Horton, where B. L. Erskine, Frank Tucker and Isaac Horton officiated as judges and Chas. W. Bullis and Henry Brayton as clerks.
Following is the vote by precincts, as certified to by Auditor William H. Brown:
Graham Lakes Indian Lake Total Governor- Horace Austin (rep) 43 28 71 Winthrop Young (dem) 1 1
Lieut. Governor- William H. Yale (rep) 43 29 72 D. L. Buell (dem) 1 1
Secretary of State- S. P. Jennison (rep) 43 29 72 Eric Nelson Falk (dem) 1 1
Treasurer- Wm. Seeger (rep) 43 29 72 Barney Vosberg (dem) 1 1 Attorney General- F. R E. Cornell (rep) 43 29 72 John L. McDonald (dem) 1 1
Asso. Justices- S. J. R. McMillan (rep) 43 29 72 John M. Berry (rep) 43 29 72 Daniel Buck (dem) 1 1 Wm. Mitchell (dem) 1 1
Auditor- H. D. Bookstaver 21 29 51** Walter G. Brown 22 22
Treasurer- Henry Brayton 44 29 73
Sheriff- H. C. Hallett 23 23 Charles W. Bullis 19 29 48 Scattering... 2 2
Register of Deeds- Selim Fox 44* 29 69 O.B. Lacy 4 4
Surveyor- B. W. Woolstencroft 31 28 59 Chas. Frisbee 7 7 Scattering 3 3
Clerk of Court- John H. Cunningham 44 29 73
Probate Judge- E. W. Hesselroth. 41 29 70
Court Commissioner- Warren Fish 23 28 51
Coroner- Stephen Muck 41 29 70 Scattering 1 1
Senator- Wm. D. Rice 43 29 72 C. C. Sylvester 1 1
Representative- Geo. C. Chamberlain. 43 29 72 O. Nason 1 1
Commissioner Dist 1- Irving S. Swan 13 Orange Chapman 6
Commissioner Dist. 2 J.W. Miller 15 John H. Cunningham 4 Scattering 1
Commissioner Dist. 3- Frank Tucker 28
* Evidently a mistake in addition. ** In the Graham Lakes township abstract this vote is given as 40, and was incorrectly put on the county abstract.
The seventy-three voters who cast ballots at this election were as follows:
Graham Lakes precinct [7]-
J. Anscomb, A. A. Allen, L. Allen, H. D. Bookstaver, W. H. Brown, W. G. Brown, Byron B. Brain, W. H. Booth, Caleb Blake, Orwen Blake, Edward Clark, Nathaniel Cox, A. L. Y. Cornish, Orange Chapman, J. H. Cunningham, Chas. Cutler, Chas. Drury, Stephen A. Door, Selim Fox, Chas. Frisbie, John J. Fitch, Henry C. Hallett, E. W. Hesselroth, H. A. E. Hesselroth, O. B. Lacy, Michael Maguire, Joseph Muck, Stephen Muck, J. W. Miller, Stephen Muck, Jr., J. W. Palmer J. Parshall, Joseph Stone, Irwin S. Swan, Philo Snyder, B. F. Tanner, F. Umbrid, Isaac Waterhouse, B. W. Woolstencroft, H. L. Wallace, William Willcox, J. Westinghouse, Frank Zeiner, Englebrih Zeiner. [8]
Indian Lake precinct- R. L. Erskine, Frank Tucker, Henry Brayton, Isaac Horton, C. W. Bullis, Albert Haggard, Henry Davis, Elihue Ellis, Erick Paul, Wm. A. Dillman, Ole Johnson, Moulton McColluns, James Christianson, Louis Sundberg, Gundro Joul, Ole N. Langseth, Ole Fauskee, N. N. Langseth, Ole A. Fauskee, Andrew Sundburg, P. S. Swanson, Hanson Estrom, Charles Wickstrom, Peter Wickstrom, Louis Hardo, Erick Mahlberg, Henry M. Johnson, John Pygall, Nelson Coyour.
The officers elected in 1871, with few exceptions, served their full terms. J. W. Miller, who had been elected commissioner from the second district, did not qualify. In his place appeared John H. Cunningham, who had been his opponent at the polls. Mr. Cunningham was elected chairman of the board Jan. 2, 1872, he resigning the office of treasurer to accept the position on the board. He resigned the latter office, and on May 30 Irwin S. Swan was elected chairman. C. C. Goodnow took the oath of office as commissioner from the third district, replacing Frank Tucker, and M. L. Miller replaced Mr. Cunningham on the board. There had been no candidates for the office of county attorney, and J. W. Palmer continued to hold the office by virtue of a former appointment. He resigned the office Sept. 16, 1872. Prior to Feb. 9, 1872, the county had been without a superintendent of schools, but on that date W. H. Cunningham was appointed. He served until September 16, 1872, when T. C. Bell was appointed to the office.
There was a big change in conditions in Nobles county between the time of the elections of 1871 and 1872. From the seventy-three votes cast in 1871 the number at the election of Nov. 5, 1872, had increased to 321; [9] the number of organized townships had increased to eleven, and in each of these, polling places had been established and elections were held. [10] The county was overwhelmingly republican, as was shown by the vote for president and congressman. Following is the official abstract of the vote:
Presidential electors - republican (Grant), 276; democratic, (Greeley), 45.
Congressman-M. H. Dunnell (rep.), 274; Morton S. Wilkinson (dem.), 43.
Representative [11]-Stephen Miller, 257; H. Anderson, 55.
County Attorney-M. B. Soule, 274; Ole Hansen, 22.
Commissioner First District [12]-J. W. Miller, 32; Scattering, 5.
Commissioner Second District-M. L. Miller, 32.
Commissioner Third District-I. P. Durfee, [13] 113; John Alley, 91.
Court Commissioner-J. S. Shuck, 270; Joel A. Pegg, 20.
Such were the election laws-in the early history of Nobles county that elections were held every year. All the offices were for two year terms, but only part of the officers were elected each year. This condition prevailed until 1885, when a new law went into effect, making the elections only in even numbered years. During the seventies and early eighties the more important county officers were chosen in odd numbered years.
The election of Nov. 4, 1873, brought out a vote of 527, a big increase over that of the preceding year. A lively interest was manifested in the election, and for the first time there was organized opposition. The democrats, as a party, were not yet strong enough to enter the field alone with any prospects of a successful outcome, but conditions were such that quite a strong opposition party was formed, which went into the campaign with the hope of defeating the regularly nominated republican ticket. The ticket which was put up in opposition was labeled "peoples" and was made up of democrats and republicans. The regular republican nominees were generally successful. Following is the official vote of this election:
Governor-Cushman K. Davis (rep.), 371; Samuel Mayall, 40; Ara Barton, 100. Senator-E. P. Freeman (rep.), 490; Scattering, 5. Representative-Nelson H. Manning, (rep.), 315; Warren Smith (dem.), 191. Auditor-W. M. Bear (rep.), 493; Scattering, 12. Sheriff-C. W. Bullis (rep.), 333; A. Miner (peo.), 174; Scattering, 4. Judge of Probate-Dr. J. Craft, 253; B. S. Langdon, 244; Scattering, 1. Clerk District Court-B. N. Carrier, 294; J. A. Town, 213; Scattering, 1. Surveyor-B. W. Woolstencroft (rep.), 355; Otto Berreau (peo.), 153. Treasurer-H. D. Humiston (rep.), 263; Peter Thompson (peo.), 242; Scattering, 1. Register of Deeds-T. C. Bell (rep.), 369; B. F. Thurber (peo.), 133. Court Commissioner-B. S. Langdon, 242; Dr. J. Craft, 252; Scattering, 1. Coroner-J. B. Churchill (rep.), 350; Dr. Lewis Cotthelf (peo.), 161; Scattering, 1. Commissioner First District-M. L. Miller, 23; T. H. Childs, 21.
The grasshoppers and the prevailing hard times had an effect on the politics of the county in 1874. Owing to these causes and the fact that only a few officers were to be chosen, not a great deal of interest was manifested, and there was a falling off in the vote- only 448 votes being cast. To such a small extent did the people interest themselves in politics that it is said the republican nominating convention was attended by "eleven persons, including one little boy." Nor was there a much better showing at the democratic convention. For the first time in the county's history the voters met with straight republican and democratic tickets in the field. While the republicans were in each case successful, the democrats made a good showing, compared with the results of previous elections. The vote:
Congressman - Mark H. Dunnell (rep.), 336;-Franklin H. Waite (dem.), 105. Judge Sixth Judicial District--D. A. Dickinson (rep.), 345; Daniel Buck (dem.), 99. Senator-Niel Currie (rep.), 259. Representative - Charles F. Crosby (rep.), 326; Leonard Aldrich (dem.), 121. County Attorney-Martin B. Soule (rep.), 322; B. N. Carrier (dem), 119. Commissioner Third District-I. P. Durfee14. (rep.), 196; L. B. Bennett (dem.), 80.
The only changes resulting before the next election were in the board of county commissioners, two members being legislated out of office by their own acts. The board on Oct. 12, 1875, redivided the county into commissioner districts. The whole of the north half of the county was made district No. 1; the townships of Lorain, Worthington, Dewald, Olney and Westside were made district No. 2; the southern tier of townships was designated district No. 3. This made vacancies in districts No. 2 and 3, which were represented by Messrs. M. L. Miller and I. P. Durfee, and those gentlemen withdrew. The register of deeds and probate judge filled the vacancies by the appointment of A. C. Robinson from district 2 and Edward Mills from district 3. They took office October 23, and Mr. Robinson was chosen chairman of the board. He served until Jan. 3, 1877, when Mr. Mills was chosen chairman.
ENDNOTES
[1] Unfortunately the early county records have not been preserved, and the data for the political history prior to the election of November, 1871, is furnished by Judge B. W. Woolstencroft, of Slayton, who gives the facts from memory. These are supplemented somewhat by data obtained from a historical atlas of Minnesota, published in 1874, the compilers of which doubtless had access to the records. The early day commissioners' proceedings were kept on legal cap paper and were not transcribed into a permanent record. The record is complete from January, 1872.
On January 9, 1872, the commissioners took official note of the fact that the papers were missing, as follows:
"Complaints having been made to the board that Charles Drury, one of the former commissioners, retained certain records of the old board of commissioners in his possession and refused to deliver them up on demand, the board passed the following resolution:
" 'Whereas, One Charles Drury retains in his possession certain records of the board of county commissioners and refuses to deliver them to the proper officer.
" 'Resolved, That proper action be commenced by the board immediately against the said Drury to recover the said records.' "
The next day the journal records the following proceedings:
"Papers purporting to be the records of the board of county commissioners from Oct. 27, 1870, to Jan. 5, 1871, inclusive, were presented to the board by the auditor as received from Charles Drury. On examination of the papers it was ascertained that they were not the original, but altered copies of the original records. On motion of Mr. Tucker the auditor was instructed to employ competent legal counsel and to proceed against the said Charles Drury immediately for unlawfully detaining the property of the county."
This is the last mention of the matter. If the original records were recovered they have disappeared again.
[2] The historical atlas before referred to states that at this initial meeting Hiram L. Wallace was apointed sheriff and B. F. Tanner and William Hesselroth justices of the peace.
[3] This was the case for several years during the county's early history, and was the cause, doubtless, for the many changes during the early days. Nor were there duties attached to some of the offices, and some of the officers did not qualify. Mr. E. W. Hesselroth, still a resident of the county, tells me that during the time he was probate judge he did not have a case; neither did he have any duties to perform during the years he served as justice of the peace.
[4] While this was the first election in which the electors of Nobles county were permitted to vote for legislative candidates, it may be of interest to know who our legislators had been previously. Under the legislative apportionment of 1860 southwestern Minnesota, including the counties of Faribault, Martin, Jackson, Cottonwood, Murray, Nobles, Pipestone, Rock and Brown west of range 34, was designated as the Twentieth district. In the legislatures of 1861 and 1862 Guy C. Cleveland was senator, and he was succeeded in the next four legislatures by D. G. Shillock. The Twentieth district was represented in the house as follows: 1861, A. Strecker; 1862, B. O. Kempfer; 1863, J. B. Wakefield; 1864, J. A. Latimer; 1865, J. A. Kiester; 1866, J. B. Wakefield. Another apportionment was made in 1866, in which Nobles county was not mentioned. It was doubtless intended, however, that it should still be a part of district No. 20. In the legislatures of 1867 to 1869, inclusive, J. B. Wakefield was senator. J. A. Latimer served in 1870, and C. W. Thompson in 1871. During this period the district was represented in the house by A, Andrews, A. B. Colton, J. W. Hunter, M. E. L. Shanks and A. L. Patchen.
[5] It may not be out of place to note the fact that conditions have changed since then.
[6] Although W. H. Brown was nominally county auditor for the rest of the term he had very little to do with the office. He neglected to have a tax levied for the year 1871, and in the summer H. D. Bookstaver took charge of the office and was, to all intents, county auditor. He was formally appointed auditor Jan. 10, 1872, to serve until March 1, 1872, when the new officers qualified.
[7] Citizens of Nobles county residing outside these two townships were allowed to vote. A few citizens of the new town of Worthington cast their ballots in Indian Lake. The few settlers of Hersey. and Seward voted in Graham Lakes.
[8] Others registered in Graham Lakes township, but who did not vote, were Mark Amundson, Martin Amundson, Rasmus Anderson, Edward Berreau, Alexander Clark, W. Cosper, Daniel Downy, Hearth, Hearth, Johnson, E. F. Jackson, J. Leitz, Bennett Linderman, Parshall, Perkins, Peter Swartwout, Weston, Wating, Wolf, Wolf, Younker.
[9] Those who voted in the several townships, excluding Little Rock and Dewald, were as follows:
Worthington, 85- S. P. Sheppard, W. K. Fish, Chas. Fletcher, R. H. Putnam, Wm. Wallace, J. C. Clark, Chas. Newton, L. M. Chase, Geo. O. Moore, John Alley, J. B. Haines, L. B. Bennett, Frank Stringham, Wm. E. Martin, A. P. Miller, L. P. McLaurin, Jas. Marden, L. Griswold, R. F. Humiston, David Bennett, H. C. Duggen, M. H. Stevens, E. Dilabaugh, Otis Bigelow, T. C. Trimble, Daniel Stone, H. M. Farnam, Wm. H. Willmarth, T. C. Bell, James Gibson, Cyrus Klingensmith, J. T. Shaw, J. S. Shuck, C. B. Loveless, M. B. Odell, James S. Stone. I. N. Sater, C. P. Stough, I. P. Durfee, C. D. Williamson, E. R. Humiston, Chas. H. Stewart, S. D. Sprague, David Stone, E. S. Terry, A. J. Wilcox, Mons E. Distead, H. Davis, W. S. Langdon, E. W. Branch, C. P. Hewett, Jas. Gould, Andrew Buchan, John F. Humiston, H. W. Kimball, L. D. Laythe, C. B. Langdon, Allen Chaney, Ole Hanson, Edward Gillen, John Herzig, C. C. Whitney, C. W. Lewis, B. F. Thurber, Wm. N. Phillips, Chas. E. Tourtelotte, Oscar Whitney, C. C. Goodnow, A. C. Robinson, W. A. Dillman, Edwin F. Whitney, A. J. Manley, J. A. Town, A. L. Clarke, J. C. Goodnow, B. R. Prince, M. B. Soule, Peter Thompson, O. G. Grundsten, C. Hill, C. J. Miller, Cornelius Johnson, Geo. Cline. A. P. Chamberlain, Osmond Barkland.
Indian Lake, 29-R. M. Small, C. Saxon, O. Langseth, A. Anderson. John Haggard, Sr., L. Johnson, G. O. Joul, O. M. Skinner, O. Ellingson, G. Anderson, A. C. Lofstedt, John Blixt, E. Paul, J. Cristesson, John Saxon, L. Wheeler, G. Horton, R. L. Erskine, Henry Brayton A. A. Abbott, James Acheson, S. W. Bolton, J. D. Brown, H. M. Johnson, Andrew Sunburg, Lewis Sunburg, Charles Peterson, John Haggard, Jr., Nelson Coyour.
Elk, 15-T. D. Fowble, Cyrenius Alley, S. P. Bon, W. B. Akins, M. L. Miller. Peter Swetzer, John P. Warner, Chas. Wilkinson, R. B. Plotts, Peter Kleven, Andrew Nord, T. H. Barnfield, Allen McLean, Elliott Covey, D. P. Baird.
Hersey, 31- W. R. Bennett, Daniel Hoffy, A. A. Parsons, J. W. Dyer, Louis Gotthelf, Chas. Smith, W. G. Brown, John Myers, Jermeiah Lynch, Otto Berreau, John Polster, Chas. Hartoon, Herman Berreau, Levi Wrightson, Erastus Church, Caleb Blake, Orwell Blake, Geo. Payne, Chas. Frisbie, W. H. Berger, O. B. Lacy, Jonathan Gordon, John Parsons. Pat Haffy, I. K. Cole, Wm. Grono, John Newberry, Wm. Ditty, A. J. Timlin, A. O. Conde, C. A. Barrows.
Bigelow, 34- J. Ruprecht, Wm. G. Johnston, N. McDowell, S. O. Morse, F. J. Peace, J. Upstrom, E. J. Bear, Adolph Anderson, Ole Lienquist, Wm. M. Bear, Ed. Sprague, T. T. Reynolds, H. B. Tripp, A. A. Kimball, Hugh Mitchell, A. C. Esker, P. Larson, Lars Erickson, J. Moberg, E. Kain, H. Mitchell, S. Elofson, H. Nystrom, Erick Mahlberg, C. J. Wickstrom, Oley Mastrom, John T. Preuett, E. S. Mills, P. G. Swenson, L. R. Hollenback, Charles A. Tellander, Thos. Wills, Robert Frothingham, Geo. M. Plumb.
Fairview (Lorain), 22- Champlin Brown, William Hannah, H. D. Humiston. Dr. J. Craft, W. L. Shoemaker, B. S. Langdon, T. H. Parsons, David Fogo, Richard W. Bagley, William Madison, Crasey Key, Wm. F. Hamilton, Abram A. Burton, Robert Firth, Albert Haggard, James Hazard, Hamilton McCollum, H. S. Finn. B. H. Crever, William Stockdale, Daniel Shell, Alfred Small.
Graham Lakes, 32- J. H. Anscomb, Jeremiah Anscomb, H. D. Bookstaver, W. H. Brown, O. Briggs, Alexander Clarke, Edward J. Clark, A. L. Y. Cornish, O. H. Chapman. J. H. Cunningham, Chas. Drury, A. L. Dunlap, N. Erickson, Selim Fox, H. C. Hallett, E. W. Hesselroth, John Hart, E. F. Jackson, M. McGuire, Stephen Muck, J. W. Miller, A. Nelson, J. W. Palmer, Joseph Stone, Warren Smith. N. H. Smith, I. S. Swan, B. F. Tanner, H. L. Wallace, W. Willcox, F. Zeiner, B. Woolstencroft.
Seward, 13- W. H. Booth, W. W. Casper, P. Gagoe, C. C. Johnson, James Parshall, James Parshall, Jr., Jonas Parshall, P. Snyder, J. P. Vail. J. Westinghouse, J. M. Weston, J. G. Walling, W. Sowles.
Grant (Ransom), 14- Richard Prideaux, Stillman I. W. Alen, F. W. Burdett, A. C. Guernsey, H. S. Belknap, J. H. Scott, Leroy Cole. Coleman Guernsey, Hiram Norton. H. R. Gray, D. K. Gordon, Geo. M. Smith, B. F Congdon, Anthony R. Mutter.
[10] The election officers of the several precincts were as follows:
Dewald (polling place at the house of Leander Shirley), Thos. H. Childs, Andrew O. Miller and Thomas Wilson, judges; Leander S. Shirley and Samuel F. Pepple, clerks.
Little Rock (polling place at the house of Ole C. Peterson), Sylvester Jenkins, J. D. Roberts and Ole C: Peterson, judges; J. T. Green, town clerk.
Grant (polling place at the house of M. S. Belknap), H. R. Gray, M. S. Belknap and A. C. Guernsey, judges; Leroy Cole and Cole Guernsey, clerks.
Seward (polling place at the house of Jos. Willing). John P. Vail, C. L. Johnson and Jonas Parshall, judges; Julius Westinghouse and Philo Snyder, clerks.
Graham Lakes (polling place at the house of H. C. Hallett), O. H. Chapman, E. W. Hesselroth and E. F. Jackson, judges; N. H. Smith and H. C. Hallett, clerks.
Fairview, B. S. Langdon, Thos. H. Parsons and W. L. Shoemaker, judges; R. D. Bagley and Wm. F. Hamilton, clerks.
Bigelow (polling place at the house of Lars Elofson), E. S. Mills, P. T. Reynolds and P. G. Swenson, judges; William M. Bear and A. A. Kimball, clerks.
Hersey, Walter G. Brown and A. A. Parsons, judges; W. R. Bennett and Ira K. Cole, clerks.
Elk, Samuel P. Bon, W. B. Akins and Allan McLean, judges; Chas. Wilkinson and Thos. D. Fowble, clerks.
Indian Lake (polling place at the house of C. W. Bullis), R. L. Erskine, Geo. W. Bottom and John Haggard, Jr., judges; James Acheson and A. A. Abbott, clerks.
Worthington (polling place at the village of Worthington), Benjamin R. Prince, M. B. Soule and Benjamin F. Thurber, judges; Jerrie B. Haines and L. B. Bennett, clerks.
[11] For the want of a better place I shall here give the legislative history of Nobles, county. The legislature of 1871 reapportioned the state into legislative districts. Nobles county became a part of the 38th, the other counties comprising the district being Martin, Jackson, Rock, Watonwan, Cottonwood, Murray and Pipestone. The district was entitled to one se