Part 14 (2/2)

DR SAMUEL DENEEN, the first white settler in Sterling, was born Dec

27, 1801, in Youngstown, Ohio He was aret Conly He studied an, and ca in 1855 Dr Deneen practiced his profession, rist mill on Wolf creek, established a post office and took an active part in the interests of the new settlement

He and his wife still live on the homestead which they have held for the past thirty years Mrs Deneen was born in 1800

WILLIAM W TRIMMER ca as for many years known as ”Trimmer's Hotel” Mr

Trimmer died in St Croix Falls in 1874

ARNOLD DENSMORE was born in Nova Scotia, in 1822; wasin 1867, where he died, Jan 20, 1886, hbor, citizen and Christian

CHAPTER VI

ST CROIX COUNTY

Jan 9, 1840, the Wisconsin legislature created a new county out of Crawford county, including territory west of the Chippewa river, extending northward to the British possessions, and nanated for an election, at which a county seat was to be chosen and county officers elected ”Mouth of St Croix,” now Prescott, and Ca-kang, now St Croix Falls, were designated as voting places Two places only were voted for, ”Mouth of St Croix,” and Dakotah, Brown's clai's addition to Stillwater Dakotah was chosen by a vote of forty-five to thirteen The returns were made to Prairie du Chien, county seat of Crawford county, and certificates issued to the county officers elected by C J Leonard, clerk of Crawford county The legislature had at the ti the new countyappointed judge

The history of the county until 1848 has been given elsewhere, as connected with the early history of Stillwater

The admission of Wisconsin Territory as a state in 1848 divided the county, giving it the St Croix river and state line as its western boundary The Wisconsin portion of the old county was consequently left without a county seat, while the portion west of the St Croix had a county seat, but ithout state or territorial jurisdiction

Congress, however, declared Wisconsin territorial laws to be still in force in the excluded territory, and they so reanization of Minnesota Territory Soon after the admission of Wisconsin, that part of St Croix county within its lianized for county and judicial purposes, and a new county seat chosen, located in section 24, townshi+p 29, range 19, at the mouth of Willow river This county seat was at first called Buena Vista On Sept 9, 1848, the county co the county, held their firstat the county seat, in the house of Philip Aldrich The commissioners present were Ammah Andrews, chairman; W H Morse, and W R Anderson, clerk Philip Aldrich was appointed treasurer Four voting precincts were established, Mouth of St Croix, Willow River or Buena Vista, Osceola, and Falls of St

Croix These early commissioners perforovernment of a new county There was as yet no county seal, and they were required to draith the pen upon legal docu a seal, and to use other foral precedent

At the secondof the county commissioners Osceola was represented by Har of the board Moses Perin was appointed collector License for selling intoxicating liquors was fixed at twenty dollars per annum

The rate of taxation was fixed at seven mills on the dollar The first state election in the county was held at Buena Vista, Nov 7, 1848

One hundred and fifteen votes were the whole nu officers were elected: Senator, James Fisher, of Crawford county; representative, Joseph Bowron, Buena Vista; county commissioners, Wm H Morse, Ammah Andrews, Harmon Crandall, Buena Vista; county clerk, W Richardson, Buena Vista; register of deeds, W

R Anderson, Buena Vista; judge of probate court, Alvah D Heaton, Osceola; county treasurer, Philip Aldrich, Buena Vista; coroner, Wm

O Mahony, Osceola; surveyor, Alex S Youle, St Croix Falls

At the co, Feb 28, 1849, the county was divided into the following towns: St Croix Falls, Buena Vista, and Elisabeth

At an election held Sept 3, 1849, Hae, and Joel Foster forty-one Mr Perkins was drowned at St Croix Falls soon after, and the governor appointed Mr

Foster to fill the vacancy Judge Foster held his first court at Buena Vista Daniel noble Johnson was appointed prosecuting attorney in 1849 Jahes was appointed in 1850 The first district court was held in August, 1850

At a special hes and J

M Bailey were appointed a building committee to make estimates for the erection of a courthouse and jail At the specialof the coanized

They had also under consideration the erection of county buildings, and appointed Ammah Andrews to erect the sa of the board, was fined fifty dollars, but the fine was subsequently reed the name of the town of Buena Vista to Willow River, also of the town of Elisabeth to Prescott At a subsequentthe contract with As was rescinded, and Daniel Mears was ent to build a jail, and three hundred and fifty dollars was appropriated for that purpose The town of Rush River was organized Nov 13, 1851 At the request of petitioners, the town of Leroy (now Osceola) was organized Nov 9, 1852 A day was fixed in 1852 to vote on the change of name, Willow River to Hudson The naislature of 1853 created from the territory of St Croix county the counties of Polk, St Croix and Pierce, Polk being located on the north, Pierce on the south, and St Croix occupying the central portion of the original St Croix county, and retaining the county seat

St Croix county, as at present constituted, lies on the east bank of the river and Lake St Croix, forularities on the western line, a parallelograes 15 to 19, with fractions of range 20 on the west The surface varies fro the lake are not precipitous, as on the Upper St Croix, but are even and continuous, with gently rounded slopes From the river, eastward, the country is broken and so prairies on which are fine farinally heavily timbered The eastern tier of townshi+ps is covered by a heavy growth of ti Woods The timber is composed of basswood,of white pine The soil is a rich clayey loarain and root crops Good building and limestone crop out in places The county is well drained by the St Croix and its tributaries, Apple, Willow and Kinnikinic on the west and Rush river on the east Of these tributaries Apple river is the largest It rises in Polk county, where it is supplied by nuonally across the northwest corner and empties into the St Croix river a few miles above Stillwater Willow river rises in Cylon townshi+p and empties into St Croix lake, just above Hudson This river passes through a deep gorge in the li in its passage over several ledges of rock, producing falls farandeur Kinnikinic river in the south part of the county is famed also for the beauty of its scenery and for its waterfalls It passes into Pierce county and then, uniting with its southern branch, flows into Lake St Croix Rush river rises in Eau Galle, and turns and flows thence to Lake Pepin These streas and small lakes There is a remarkable formation in the Kinnikinic valley about seven e of pure white sandstone rock, nearly circular, and rising to a height of sixty feet It stands on a natural elevation far above the level of the valley and so forms a very conspicuous and curious object The base is forty or fifty feet wide, and the summit is a turret-shaped h The part upon which the turret rests is dome-shaped, its sides worn by the rains into deep furrows Years ago a tree grew upon the suradually worn away by the winds and rains

HOW THE SCHOOL LANDS WERE SELECTED

Philip Aldrich was appointed commissioner in 1848 to locate the state school lands in St Croix county, at that ti Polk and Pierce counties It is said that Dr Aldrich would cli his eyes east, west, north or south, would proclaim such and such numbers or sections as school lands Where all were so arable and fertile there was no use in discrinated as St Croix county was subdivided into three towns, Buena Vista or Hudson, Willow River and Kinnikinic or Troy As the population increased these toere divided and subdivided until they nuanization Where iven the last is the present name: