Part 55 (1/2)

JUDGE MOSES SHERBURNE, for whom the county was named, died at Elk River in 1869

CHAS F GEORGE, who settled in Santiago in 1856, is at present chairman of the board of county commissioners

ROYAL GEORGE, a pioneer of the same date, returned to Vermont, where he died in 1887

W L BABcock, a o, still resides here

CHAPTER XVII

BENTON COUNTY

At the organization of Minnesota Territory three counties were created, of which Benton was one Its eastern boundary followed the course of Rum river from its mouth to its junction with the west branch and thence a line due north to the Mississippi river The boundary line upon the west followed the windings of the Mississippi down to its junction with Ruular in outline, extending from north to south about one hundred miles, and about forty at its widest point from east to west The formation of new counties since that ti east of the Mississippi river and bounded on the north by Morrison, on the east by Mille Lacs, and on the south by Sherburne counties The soil is diversified There is black sandy loaetable ricultural district, having groves of pine and hardwood in the east and natural s in the central and western portions It is atered by the Mississippi and its tributaries, Elk, Little Rock and Platte rivers It has sos and Little Rock are the largest A granite formation underlies most of this county and crops out in ranite is plain and variegated and is being worked and shi+pped extensively Near the village of Watab there is a rich upheaval The St Paul custoranite

The Northern Pacific railway passes through this county parallel with the channel of the Mississippi river The Manitoba, St Cloud & Hinckley branch passes through the southern tier of towns The organized towns are Alberta, Gile, Maywood, Minden, Sauk Rapids, St George, and Watab The villages are East St Cloud, Foley, Oak Grove, Rice's, and Watab

The first settlers were Philip Beaupre, in 1844; David Gilman, in 1848; Jere, Wm

Smith, and J C Mayhew, in 1849 Sauk Rapids was made the county seat, then Watab, then Sauk Rapids

The first board of officers, qualified Jan 7, 1850, were: Commissioners, Wm A Aitkin, chairman; Joseph Brown and James Beatty; assessors, Truman A Warren and Reuben M Richardson; attorney, W D

Phillips The voting precincts were at Sauk Rapids, Swan River and Crow Wing The judges of election were: For Sauk Rapids, J Russell, Wis and Curtis Bellows; for Swan River, Philip Beaupre, Ja, Allen Morrison, Wm Morrison and Sylvester Stateler The first election was held at Pierre Bottineau's house, now in Sherburne county George Egbert and Thoes of election

The first court in the county was held Nov 11, 1850; Bradley B

Meeker, presiding David Gilman was the first sheriff, John C Hawley the second The first deed recorded was from James hitchins to Wm F

Coblett It bore date of Oct 21, 1850 Taylor Dudley was register of deeds The land conveyed was a tract lying at the foot of Sauk Rapids, being a land claim of one hundred and sixty acres, purchased from Calvin Potter

SAUK RAPIDS

The site of the village of Sauk Rapids was judiciously chosen It slopes gently to the river's east bank, giving a pleasant frontage to the rapids Philip Beaupre came here first in 1844 His son, William P, was the first white child here, born May 24, 1852 Geo O Sas the second, born Aug 22, 1852 Several Indian traders located here and at Watab Following Mr Beaupre came T A Holmes, James Beatty, J Russell, Calvin Potter, James hitchins, Curtis Bellows, and Charles Webb The first plat of Sauk Rapids was made and recorded in 1854 The proprietors were J Russell, G M Sweet and S Van Nest

The surveyor was C B Chape was incorporated in 1881 The coanization were Alphonso J

Dee built across the Mississippi at this point cost 25,000 It was greatly daed by a storm, and partially destroyed by the cyclone of 1886

The dam across the Mississippi at Sauk Rapids was built in 1870 at a cost of 140,000 The east wing is owned by the Commodore Davidson estate; the west, by the Sauk Rapids Manufacturing Coranite ledges across the channel of the river A flour mill built here with a capacity of three hundred barrels per day was totally destroyed by the cyclone of April 16, 1886, which was one of the most destructive on record The estimated loss in Sauk Rapids was 300,000, of which 108,000 was made up by voluntary contributions from St Paul, Minneapolis and other portions of the State

The public buildings, including the court house, school buildings and several churches, were destroyed, together with s

Since the cyclone the village has been handsomely rebuilt A new court house has replaced the old one at a cost of 6,000, a new school house has been built at a cost of 12,000--awith roos, an Episcopal, Congregational, Methodist and two Lutheran

WATAB

Watab appears to have been a noted Indian trading post from 1844 to 1855 Asa White, D Gilman, C W Borup, N Myrick, Gen Lowry, and others were located, or had stations here Watab was for a short tie was once built across the Mississippi here, but it has disappeared The village site was surveyed and platted, and a post office established in 1853 P Lamb was postmaster A steam saw mill was erected here, but was afterward removed The first improved farm in Benton county was located in the vicinity David Gile Goodhue were early settlers

PHILIP BEAUPRE was born in Lower Canada, in 1823 As his name indicates, he is of French descent He received a French education He came West in 1841; entered the employ of the fur company in 1843, and located at Sauk Rapids in 1844 When he arrived there were no white inhabitants, save Indian traders, on the Mississippi north of St