- More Baldwin Area History (Articles from the Princeton Centennial 1856 – 1956)
- Baldwin Area News Briefs
Mille Lacs County
The ten southern townships of this county, Dailey, Mudgett, Page, Hayland, Milaca, Borgholm, Milo, Bogus Brook, Greenbush, and Princeton, were known as Monroe County until Mille Lacs County was established in 1860. The county was named for the large lake, called Mille Lacs, meaning a thousand lakes, which is crossed by the north boundary of the county. It was named Lac Baude by Father Louis Hennepin in 1680, for the family name of Count Frontenac. By the Dakota it was called Mde Wakan, that is, Wonderful Lake or Spirit Lake. Pierre Charles Le Sueur’s journal, written in 1700 and transcribed by Bernard de la Harpe, states that the large part of the Dakota who lived there received from this lake their distinctive tribal name, spelled, by la Harpe, Mendeouacantons. The same name, with better spelling, was given by William H. Keating in 1823, and the lake, on the map accompanying his Narrative, is named Spirit Lake, but his group of the Dakota, the Mdewakanton, had before that time been driven from the Mille Lacs region by the Ojibwe and then lived along the Mississippi. Wakan Island, noted on a later page for the present village of Wahkon, was the source of the name Mde Wakan, given to the lake and to this great subtribe of the Siouan people, and was also accountable, by a punning translation, for the Rum River, the outlet of this lake.
The Ojibwe name of the lake, as given by Joseph N. Nicollet, is Minsi-sagaigon, which is also applied to the adjoining country, “from minsi, all sorts, or everywhere, etc., sagaigon, lake.’ He adds that the first is an obsolete work, ‘’pronounced misi or mizi " Rev. Joseph A. Gilfillan gave the meaning of the Ojibwe name as “Everywhere lake or Great lake.’ This name, spelled Mississacaigan appeared on Buillaume de l’Isle’s map in 1703. It is evidently of the same etymology as Mississippi (great river).
The French voyageurs and traders as Nicollet states, following their usual practice of translating the Indian name, called the country, having ‘all sorts of lakes,’ the Mille Lacs (Thousand Lakes) region; whence this name came to be applied more particularly to this largest lake of the region. It was used by Zebulon Pike, in application to the lake being well known at the time of his expedition in 1805; and Jonathan Carver learned much earlier, in 1766, of the name, but supposed it to refer to ‘a great number of small lakes, none of which are more than ten miles in circumference, that are called the Thousand Lakes.’
Mille Lacs has an area of about 200 square miles, slightly exceeding Leech and Winnibigoshish Lakes but much surpassed by Red Lake. It is shallow near the shore, and there it is often made muddy by the waves of storms, but its large central part is always clear water, varying mainly from 20 to 50 feet in depth, with a maximum depth of 84 feet.
Sherburne County
Sherburne County, established February 25, 1856, was named in honor of Moses Sherburne, who was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Minnesota Territory from 1853 to 1857. He was born in Mount Vernon, Kennebec County, Maine, January 25, 1808; came to St. Paul in April, 1853, and resided there fourteen years, engaging in law practice after 1857; was one of the two compilers of the statutes of Minnesota, published in 1859; moved to Orono, in Sherburne county, 1867, and died there, March 29, 1868.
An interesting biographic sketch of Judge Sherburne, with his portrait, was contributed by Rev. Simeon Milles Hayes in the M.H. S. Collections (vol. X, part II, 1905, pages 863-6). This paper included special notice of his life and public services in Maine before coming to Minnesota. His professional and personal character is portrayed as follows: “Sherburne was a successful lawyer from the beginning of his practice. His absolute integrity, imposing presence, accurate learning, and oratorical endowments drew clients from neighboring counties, and brought him almost immediately into prominence. Although never an office seeker, his popularity and the general respect felt for his ability made him a recipient of public offices during the greater portion of his professional life…. When the Territory of Minnesota applied for admission to the Union as a state, Judge Sherburne took a prominent part in the deliberations which resulted in the adoption of the State Constitution, and his remarks during the Constitutional Convention are among the valuable original sources to which the future historian of Minnesota will apply for an insight into the problems and motives of the Fathers of the North Star State.”
When the first white man penetrated this region in the 17th century, most of the area of the present state was held by the Sioux Indians but about the middle of the 18th century the Chippewa drove them to the country west of the Mississippi and South of the Crow Wing River. Long and bitter warfare followed. As the Sioux retreated southward they concentrated for a time in the lower valley of the Rum River, but soon after 1768 they moved still further south. In 1772 and 1773 bloody battles between the two tribes were fought near the mouth of the Elk River, not far from the present site of the City of Elk River. In 1853 there was a large encampment of the Winnebago Indians on the west bank of the Mississippi River between the mouths of the Rum and Crow Rivers and not far from the present Sherburne County. These Indians were moved to another part of the State in 1855.
Sherburne County has always been agricultural although at the present time many of the smaller farms have ceased operations and the owners are working outside the county. During recent years the farming area at Big Lake has been the center of a large potato raising industry. Rural America’s first atomic plant was located just outside the Village of Elk River.
Baldwin Township and Surrounding Area
Baldwin is situated in the northeast corner of Sherburne County, and contains 23,040 acres of which 1,453 are under cultivation. The population, according to the census of 1880, was 256.
The surface is undulating, and with the exception of the portions cleared for agricultural purposes, is mostly covered with brush and oak openings.
Rum River crosses the northeast corner of the town, forming some low bottomland, but with this exception, the soil is generally a light sandy loam. Battle Brook waters the western portion, entering the town on section seven and emptying into Elk Lake on section thirty. The latter lake is the only one of any importance in the town.
The first settler was Homer Hulett, who located on section four in 1854. H.P. Burrell made a claim in 1855, and in 1856, C. H. Chadbourne settled on section five.
Baldwin was organized by the Commissioners appointed by the Governor, on the 13th of September 1858, and named in honor of F.E. Baldwin, of Clear Lake, who acted in the capacity of Clerk of the Commission. It included all the territory now embraced in Baldwin, Blue Hill and Santiago, and was reduced to its present limits by the organization of Blue Hill in 1877.
The first officers were: Supervisors, Martin Carter, Chairman, H.P. Burrell and L. Pratt; Clerk, Isaac C. Baker; Assessor, Justice of the Peace and Collector, C.H. Chadbourne.
When school district number seven was organized, it embraced all of the present towns of Baldwin, Blue Hill and Santiago. A schoolhouse was built on section ten, about 1862, and two years later, removed to section fourteen.
What is now district number ten was organized soon after the township came into existence, and a schoolhouse built on the west side of section eight. School was kept in the territory now included within this district, as early as 1857.
District number thirty was organized in 1877, and the first school kept in a granary. The schoolhouse, on section twenty-six, was erected in the spring of 1879.
The products of Baldwin, according to the agricultural report of 1880, was: Wheat, 7,194 bushels; oats, 2,609 bushels; corn, 11,385 bushels; barley, 15 bushels; rye, 1,195 bushels; buckwheat, 376 bushels; potatoes, 725 bushels; beans, 64 bushels; cultivated hay, 53 tons; wild hay, 930 tons; wool, 442 pounds; butter, 12,175 pounds; and honey, 1,100 pounds.
BLUE HILL Township, settled in 1857 or earlier, organized March 20, 1877, had previously been a part of Baldwin. It has a lone hill of glacial drift in the northwest quarter of section 28, called the Blue Mound from its appearance when seen at a far distance, which rises about 75 feet above the surrounding flat plain of sand and gravel. The post office named Blue Hill was probably in the township, 1896 – 1902.
LAKE FREMONT, a village on the Great Northern Railway in Livonia, incorporated in 1912, was called Zimmerman by the railway company and as a post office, in honor of Moses Zimmerman, who was owner of the farm on which the village was located. The adjoining lake received its name in 1856, when John Charles Fremont (1813 – 90) was the Republican candidate for president of the United States. He was the assistant of Nicollet, 1838 – 43, in the surveys and mapping of the upper Mississippi region including Minnesota.
LIVONIA Township, settled in 1856 and organized in 1866, is said to bare the Christian name of the wife of Livonia Spencer, who settled in this township in 1864 and was the probate judge of the county for two terms. This is the name of a province in Russia, adjoining the Gulf of Riga.
ORROCK Township, settled in 1856 and organized in 1875, after being previously a part of Big Lake, was named in honor of Robert Orrock, its earliest settler. He was born in Scotland, July 15, 1805, came to America in 1831, settled her in 1856 as a farmer and died at his home, January 4, 1885. The village in section 7 had a post office, 1877-1906, a sawmill, and a station of the Northern Pacific Railroad.
PRINCETON, a city with Sherburne County and the county seat of Mille Lacs County until 1920 when Milaca was named, received its first permanent settlers in 1854 and was named in honor of John S. Prince of St. Paul, who with others platted this village in the fall or winter of 1855, the plat being recorded April 19, 1856. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, May 7, 1821; came to St. Paul in 1854 as agent of the Chouteau Fur Company; afterward engaged in insurance, real estate, and banking; was a member of the constitutional convention of Minnesota, 1857; mayor of St. Paul, 1860 – 62; was president of the Savings Bank of St. Paul for many years; and died in that city September 4, 1895. Princeton Township was organized in 1857, and the village separated from the township and incorporated March 3, 1877. Major industries were brickmaking and a potato starch factory; the village had a station of the Great Northern Railway in section 33, and its post office began in 1861.
SANTIAGO Township, settled in 1856, organized in 1868, and its village, platted in April, 1857, have the Spanish name for St. James, borne by the capital of the republic of Chile, as also by a city and province in Cuba.
ZIMMERMAN, the railway village in Livonia, named for a farmer there, has been before noticed as Lake Fremont, its corporate village name.
HISTORIAL SCRAPBOOK
Some person interested in the history of the Princeton, Baldwin and surrounding area made several scrapbooks of articles that came from the Princeton Union-Eagle newspaper. Many of these articles didn’t include the date when it was written. The articles were most interesting and presented a real picture of what life was like during the early settlement of our area and it’s development from about 1852 to 1956.
The scrapbooks can be found at the Mille Lacs County Historical Society at the Princeton Depot location.
NEAR FATAL ACCIDENT ON THE BALDWIN FLATS
Benjamin McKenzie had a narrow escape from what might have been a fatal accident while returning from his home in Spencer Brook last Saturday afternoon.
A wheel came off the road cart in which he was riding and his foot caught in the framework of the vehicle. He was dragged almost a mile across the Baldwin Flats before he was discovered by neighbors and rescued from his perilous position. He was badly bruised but no bones were broken.
(From Princeton Union-Eagle, May 15, 1993. Incident occurred in 1878.)
Note from the writer: In the next article entitled “Good Roads Seen as Village {Princeton} Need”. Baldwin Flats is better defined as on the Spencer Brook road which is County Road 2 in Baldwin and County Road 5 in Spencer Brook.
GOOD ROADS SEEN AS VILLAGE NEED
Robert C. Dunn’s Interest Spreads From Local Area to State-Wide Campaign
Roads became an important matter for consideration to the business men in Princeton with the heavy marketing of the potatoes, which came in on wagons drawn by horses. On the sand roads the farmers had almost as much difficulty as on the clay roads in wet weather.
Clay Roads Present Problem
On the Spencer Brook road running south of the village through Baldwin, where there was heavy soil, the mud presented a fearful obstacle in wet weather. Sometimes as many as 15 loads of potatoes could be counted stranded in a half mile of that road, which was known as the “Flats.”
Even Main Street presented an obstacle to farmers bringing in heavy loads of potatoes. In the fall after there had been considerable rain, these loads would sometimes on Main Street, right in the center of business district, sink up to their hubs in mud.
The business men of Princeton realized that it would be money in their pockets to have the roads improved. Robert C. Dunn became an apostle of good roads. It was almost an obsession with him. Seeing the condition in this village and knowing that it existed in many other communities throughout the state, he worked unceasingly on the good roads proposition for many years.
An effort was first made to improve the sand roads by strawing them. After the threshing season, farmers would be hired to haul in straw on the sand roads, which packed down and for a time made them quite passable. The theory was that mixing the straw with sand would actually change the character of the soil, but this was not true. The strawing gave only temporary relief, and sometimes that was of short duration. If some thoughtless individual happened to drop a match on the road that had been strawed, the golden covering was soon burned off the nothing but the bare sand left. The farmers themselves were as interested in improving the roads as were the business men in the village, and many of them donated labor and straw on roads leading into Princeton.
Try Crushed Rock on Roads
The next step for the good roads enthusiasts was the attempt to hard-surface the sandy and muddy stretches with crushed rock. The rock was secured from the St. Cloud State reformatory. The roads would fist be graded and a coarse rock applies and then two coats of finer rock. The results were excellent. The Umbehocker hill became passable for heavy loads; the “Flats” on the Spencer Brook road running south from the village were hard-surfaced and loads no longer were mired there. The road running west of the village was coated with crushed rock for about three miles, and was the most popular drive for motorists when the automobiles arrived.
(From the Princeton Union-Eagle)
OLDEST TWINS IN PRINCETON AREA (Live in Baldwin)
Mrs. Marilla Shaver and Mrs. Gabrilla Hannay
“May” and “Gay”, as they are familiarly known, will take part in the style show on Friday afternoon, June 1, at the new high school gymnasium. They are certain to be the belles of the occasion.
Marilla and Gabrilla Wheeler were born August 11, 1874, in Livonia Township. They were the daughters of Lucy Guyett and Francis P. Wheeler. They spent their girlhood in that township on a farm eight miles from Princeton.
Marilla was married July 2, 1894, to James D. Shaver, and lived in Chicago for 40 years. After the death of her husband in May 1944, she returned to Minnesota. She spends her summers on her farm, which was formerly conducted by her father, in Baldwin township just across the road from Mrs. Hannay’s farm. Mrs. Saver spends her winters with her daughter, Mrs. Richard Bojack (Alice), in San Diego. Calif.
Gabrilla on March 27, 1894, was married to William T. Hannay of Spencer Brook. Directly after they were married, Mr. and Mrs. Hannay moved onto a farm in Baldwin township, which he conducted until the time of his death on December 1, 1951. He was a successful farmer, participated in all worthwhile civic enterprises, and took an active part in local politics.
Mrs. Hannay still lives on the same farm in Baldwin township. She is exceedingly active for a woman of her age, and prefers to remain on the farm although she would be welcome in the home of any of her six sons, who have prospered materially.
Mrs. Hannay every summer raises a garden large enough to keep five families supplied with fresh vegetables. She is busy all day long performing the duties that she can handle on her farm, and it is impossible for any of her children to induce her to lead a life of ease. They have finally conceded that it is best to let her pursue her own way of life, but they keep a watchful eye on her.
(From The Princeton Union, Princeton, Minnesota Thursday, May 24, 1956)
OUR FOREFATHERS BUILT WELL
Someone occasionally asks why does Princeton seem to be so prosperous and continue to grow as it does. It is because the people here are living up to the heritage of the pioneer men and women who founded this village a hundred years ago.
A casual perusal of the history of Princeton reveals the fact that those men and women had unlimited courage to face the hardships of frontier life. They were not afraid of hard work, and they were generous. They shared with each other their meager resources. When they acquired a little money, they gave freely of their limited resources to civic projects which would be of value to everyone in the community. The starch factory, the flour mill, the better hotels, and the churches were built because they were underwritten by a group of civic-minded individuals.
The way some of these pioneer villages grew reminds one of the miracle of the fishes and the bread. The original supply was scant, but it increased rather than decreased with the giving.
May the present generation continue to carry on the spirit of those pioneers. Princeton has given a good account of itself in the past couple of decades – a municipal light plant has been built, a fine community hospital erected, and our public school system enlarged until it is referred to by the governor and other state officials as an example of what a community can o with good teamwork.
Our sewer and water system has been enlarged and improved; most of our streets have been tarvia-surfaced, scores of attractive new homes have been built, churches and other public buildings erected. Public parks have been laid out, and an adequate recreational program for the boys and girls sponsored.
May we be humbly grateful for our many blessings.
(From the Princeton Union-Eagle May 24, 1926)
VILLAGE IN 1889 WAS PROSPERING
Volume of Business Done Annually Amounted to $600,000; Five Attorneys in Village
Contrary to some reports, Princeton was quite a thriving village in 1889. Its population in May 1890 was 816. For a village of that size it had a surprising number of stores, according to a resume given in the Union on May 16, 1889, which was as follows:
“C.H. Rines is the oldest dealer in the village. He has been in business here for 20 years. His store is a large two-story, roomy building. He carries general merchandise and has a trade of $50,000 or $60,000 a year.
“N.E. Jesmer, two doors down Main street from Bridge street, has a large two-story double brick store, general merchandise. Mr. Jesmer has been in business here for ten or twelve years.
“H.C. Head, one door further south, carries general merchandise.
“R.B. Newton has a dry goods store.
“S.M. Byers, who carries a general assortment of merchandise, is classed among the most successful business men in town.
“C.H. Pierce does a mercantile business in the Brady building.
“D.C. Mules has the disposal of the Van Alstein stock which consists of a good general store and draws a fair patronage.
“Douglas and Patchen, who recently purchased the bakery from A.A. Love, are doing a paying business.
“Joe and Fred Ross have a confectionery stand at the post office building as has also Mrs. Minnie Sinclair in connection with the millinery business.
“C.A. Jack & Co. bought out the Pioneer Drug store about a year ago. J. Hickman runs the other drug store known as the City Drug store.
“Three good meat markets are run by Buck and Pratt, Herdiska and Martinek and Samuel Miller.
“Neely and Herdliska conduct a harness shop.
“T.H. Caley is the hardware merchant.
“Wm. Cordiner has a blacksmith shop and wagon shop.
“Peterson also conducts a blacksmith shop.
“Mille Lacs County Bank was established a little over a year ago.
“There are three hotels, the Commercial, North Star and Manitoba. The latter is a smaller house located near the depot. The landlady is Mrs. Tibbets.
“L. Proctor has a barber shop.
“Miss Harper is the photographer. Rines and Patterson are real estate dealers.
(From: The Princeton Union-Eagle May 16, 1889)
Five Attorneys
“The attorneys are Chas. Keith, J.A. Ross, L.L. Brady, C.A. Dickey and J.L. Bloomingdale; all are educated attorneys and do a prosperous business.
“L.S. Libby conducts the livery stable.
“The medical fraternity is presented by Dr. E.C. Gile, Dr. H.C. Cooney and Dr. O.C. Tarbox.
“There are four saloons and one temperance billiard hall; one police station familiarly known as the ‘jug’.
“E.A. Ross has an undertaking establishment back on the post office lot. Coffins of all sizes and styles are kept on hand at prices to suit everybody.
“There is one shoe shop owned by Soloman Long, who is a first-class shoemaker and gets plenty of work to do.
“There is one large saw mill owned by C.H. Rines, also a lumber yard on the river bank owned by the same gentleman. A planning mill and moulding machinery in full operation owned by Ames & Love may be found near the depot.
“There are two feed mills, one owned by Harry Head, the other by Mr. Turner, and one small grist mill owned by J.T.D. Sadley. Mr. Turner has a warehouse for the handling of grain. I.E. Burgan, agent for the Dakota Elevator Co., looks after their large elevator and warehouses and buys grain when in season.
“There are two churches owned by Methodists and Congregationalists. There are good graded schools, also on Masonic lodge of forty or fifty members, and one healthy G.A. R. Post.
“There is one printing office (the Union’s) from which this paper is issued.
“The annual total of the business done here every year since the advent of the railroad does not fall far short of $600,000. There is plenty of room yet for men of enterprise and to men who want to get good, cheap homes or invest capital in a legitimate business, a cordial invitation is extended.”
(From the Princeton Union-Eagle, 1889)
TRAVELING LIBRARY OF 50 BOOKS IN 1889
In 1889 Princeton had one of the State’s traveling libraries, thanks to the efforts of Misses Dielman and Gilman, who took hold of the matter and secured the necessary support of the citizens of the village.
The Union stated: “There are about 50 selected books which the people of this section may read without expense, there being no membership fee or rentals. These books will be kept in Princeton for six months and then a new set will replace them. The library is kept at the store of M.C. Sausser, where books may be obtained on Tuesday and Friday evening.”
(From the Princeton Union-Eagle, 1889)
FIRST BANK LOCATED IN THE COUNTY DID NOT STAY VERY LONG
The Bank of Princeton was the first bank to be established in Mille Lacs county and was located at Princeton. It was located in a little wooden building on main street a few rods south of the present Evans hardware company’s building in the year 1880.
On April 20, 1880, the county board made it a depository for county funds, but the bank did not seem to do a profitable business. It did not fail, but was closed for lack of business, and the owners, who had come from Minneapolis, returned to that city.
(From the Princeton Union-Eagle)
FIRST MEAT MARKET IN COUNTY ESTABLISHED AT PRINCETON
It may seem strange to people today to know that in the early days of the county there were no meat markets to supply the people with fresh meat. Everybody had to arrange the best they could to get fresh meat from the settlers, and they could get salt meat from the general stores.
George Buck and Timothy Pratt, of Princeton, first conceived the idea that Princeton should have a meat market. So they got hold of a big oak sawlog and sawed off a couple of big blocks which they fixed up for use in cutting meats. They made butcher knives by grinding down large files and sharpening them to a razor edge and supplied them with home-made handles at the blacksmith shop.
They opened a little shop on main street, but had to provide for their own ice in order to keep the meat fresh, as there was no ice sold in the town. So they made a business of putting up ice in the winter in conjunction with the meat market. The business gradually developed until people considered it no extravagance to buy their meat in small packages, and the meat market business became firmly established in the town.
(From the Princeton Union-Eagle)
PRINCETON IN 1901 LARGEST PRIMARY POTATO MARKET IN NORTHWEST
The era in which potatoes were one of the chief farm products in the Princeton area commenced about 1890 and lasted for approximately 35 years. By 1926 the potato had almost passed out of the picture as a crop yielding appreciable revenue to the farmers in this section of the state.
In 1901 there were 30 or more potato buyers in the Princeton market. During the shipping season on an average of 2,000 cars of potatoes went out from this point, and in 1902 the number of cars actually hit 2,7000. On November 22, 1901, 52 carloads were shipped from Princeton. It was the biggest single consignment of potatoes that ever left a market in the potato belt. The trainload carried 30,000 bushels of potatoes and had brought to the farmers in this area $21,000. The trainload represented the receipts for only a few good days on the market.
The potatoes annually marketed in Princeton in 1901 and 1902 amounted to from 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 bushels. Placing the price as low as 25 cents per bushel, the value of this crop was from 150 to 200 bushels an acre. The potato crop on this basis would yield a farmer from $50 to $100 per acre in an average season.
The Union in its anniversary edition of December 19, 1901, stated that 3,000 carloads of potatoes would be shipped from this village during the season. This would mean that 1,500,000 bushels of potatoes would be shipped from this point.
Potato Industry Passes Out
About 1926 potato growing in the Princeton area on a large scale had practically ceased. The growers were having difficulty with diseases because they were not using certified stock, and also with insects. The leafhoppers were giving them no end of trouble.
O.J. Odegard Big Potato Producer
Since 1929, O.J. Odegard has been the only big producer of potatoes in this area. On the peat bog ten miles northeast of this village he has made a phenomenal success of growing potatoes. He had the good judgment to secure the advice of the soil experts at the University of Minnesota farm school, and then to follow it. He ditched and tiled a tract of 2,000 acres in the bog, which became a veritable garden spot. He used certified seed and the latest types of machinery, some of which were made according to his own specifications.
(From the Princeton Union-Eagle)
STARCH FACTORY BUILT IN 1890
Used Culls When Potato Industry Was at Its Peak in Princeton Area
When the potato growing industry was at its peak in this section of the state, nearly every grower had quite an appreciable number of culls in his crop, for which he could receive only a small price, if anything, on the market. It became apparent that there was need of a starch factory in this village to use these culls. Both Anoka and Elk River had such a factory. Some of the public-spirited citizens saw the need of the factory, but were finding a little difficulty in getting the capital together to erect it.
The Union in its issue of May 16, 1889, commenting on the need of the starch factory, stated:
“If we are going to have a starch factory, creamery or anything else here in Princeton, the businessmen – when we say business men we don’t mean storekeepers only – and property owners must take hold of the matter. The towns all around us are bidding for such enterprises. Princeton must do the same. If a bonus is to be raised, let a meeting be called, and let each contribute according to his or her means. Something must be done to liven up the town. A man in business can afford to give liberally; by so doing he will help the town and his own private interests as well. A man that owns a dozen lots can afford to give away three of them in order to enhance the value of the remaining.”
The building was erected on the site of present Odegard garage. The Union in its issue of May 10, 1900, stated:
Surplus Potatoes to Starch Factory
“Potatoes are coming in rapidly this week and the starch factory has been running steadily night and day. Mr. Caley informs the Union that the factory will probably convert 100,000 bushels of potatoes into starch this spring. He is storing the surplus in bins near the factory, the storage capacity being greatly overtaxed. There are still thousands of bushels left in the country and there is practically no sale for them in the outside markets and the shippers are not buying many.”
Later a second starch factory was erected back of the Princeton Oil company on the bank of the river. The starch manufactured was of a good quality, but it did not prove to be a profitable venture in later years because of the huge imports of starch from Denmark.
When Godfrey Goodwin, of Cambridge, was elected to congress from the old Tenth district, one of his campaign pledges was to attempt to get an adequate tariff on starch, which would permit such factories as that in Princeton to operate on a profitable financial basis. Mr. Goodwin made a hard fight and had good support from Senator Capper of Kansas, but they failed to get a protective tariff on the starch.
Starch Factory Wrecked in 1939
A second starch factory which was erected east of the present Princeton Oil station just north of the famous old elm tree on the bank of the Rum river was in operation until the late /20’s. With the passing of the potato industry a starch faction in Princeton became obsolete.
(From the Princeton Union-Eagle)
ROLLER MILL BUILT IN 1892
Village Votes Bonds to Assist In Promoting Improvements; Mill Ran Night and Day
Although the plans were discussed in 1890 for a flourmill in Princeton, the mill was not actually built until 1892. The Union in its issue of October 30, 1890, stated that T.A. Baker, formerly head miller of the Lincoln mill in Anoka, had been in the village consulting with President Hense of the Mille Lacs County bank about the prospect of having a flourmill erected here.
A special election was held on December 1, 1890, to determine whether bonds should be issued for internal improvements in the village. Eighty-six votes were cast, and only one was against the bond proposition. The results of the election were telegraphed to T.A. Baker of Minneapolis. He arrived in town the following evening. A half dozen of the prominent citizens of the village assured him that the bonus would be forthcoming at the proper time. Mr. Baker selected his own site near the depot, and proceeded to make arrangements for the erection of the mill.
The mill was erected under the personal supervision of Joseph Craig at a cost of $18,000 and was operated for one year by Craig and Mathews. It had a capacity of 100 barrels daily, to be increased to 200 if necessary. Afterwards the management was changed to Craig, Katley and Loring, who operated the mill up to 1897. At that time the Princeton Roller Mill company was organized. Joseph Craig was president and manager; Mrs. M. Zimmerman, vice-president; and J.F. Zimmerman, secretary-treasurer.
When the mill was erected it was equipped with excellent machinery. Besides the mill there was an elevator with a 10,000-bushel capacity. An 80-horsepower engine furnished the power for the mill and elevator and its won electric light plant. The mill ran day and night, year in and year out. Mr. Craig was a practical miller of 30 years’ experience. The two brands of flour that the mill made so popular were “Vestal” and “100%”.
For many years the mill was the principal industry in Princeton and gave steady employment the year around to a large number of men. Farmers came to the mill from a distance of over 30 miles.
With the reduction in the amount of wheat grown in this area, business at the mill slackened down and Mr. Craig became involved in some financial difficulties. His health was also failing.
Charley Carlson was the next man who operated the mill, and he ran it for about seven years, from 1922 to 1929. He made the two brands of flour, “100%” and “Mille Lacs.” When the wheat acreage continued to decrease in this area, the manufacturing of flour ceased to be a profitable business.
(From the Princeton Union-Eagle)
INDIANS VISIT SETTLERS
The Chippewas were in the habit of stopping on their journey down the river in their canoes whenever they saw a settler’s cabin. They would go up to make an investigation. As a rule, unless they encountered some unfriendly attitude and if they were not under the influence of firewater, they were friendly.
In Spencer Brook, Mrs. John Stadden had a rather harrowing experience when a band of Indians came up to the log cabin on that farm when she was alone with the two little girls. One of the Indians, who was drunk, got her in a corner and started brandishing a knife around her head, but an older and cooler Indian pulled him away before he had done bodily harm to Mrs. Stadden. She took the two little girls, one under each arm and ran down into the field to call her husband and other men working with him.
The white settlers in the Princeton area had reason to be afraid of the Indians. In 1862, the year of the Sioux massacre, the settlers here heard that the Chippewas had decided to go on the warpath and exterminate the whites. The settlers came into Princeton and camped in and about the old log hotel near the big elm tree.
A stockade was erected, which stood for years just north of the old Robert Byers house, the first house north of the Dunn Memorial bridge.
With so many of the men in the pioneer families serving in the Union forces, there was cause for alarm among these early settlers.
(From the Princeton Union-Eagle)