This contract, for a piece of land in Pipestone County Minnesota, is between Samuel Haughton Graves of Close Brothers & Company for South Minnesota Land Company and Garret J. Vande Berg of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin. It is for the north half of the southwest quarter of Section 5 in Township 107 North, Range 45 West of the fifth principal meridian. This land is in Grange Township, Pipestone County, Minnesota. The contract involves 80 acres for the sum of $760 and includes detail of payment between September 1886 and May 1890 cancellation. The Close Brothers & Company, composed of William Close, James Close, John Close, Frederick Close and S.H. Graves, organized in 1876 and located in Pipestone in 1883. They also operated under business names Western Land Company and the South Minnesota Land Company.
This 64-page booklet, published by the Minnesota State Board of Immigration, extolls the value of Northeastern Minnesota as a land ideal for agriculture and livestock. The booklet describes a fertile new country with unique conditions unparalleled elsewhere." It also describes "established railways and rich markets within its own borders; contiguous to the most populous cities between Chicago and the North Pacific Coast. The booklet describes the various crops that can be raised successfully and the projected profit per acre. Includes numerous photographs of farms and livestock.
Jerome Cooley headed north from Minneapolis in about 1869. On his way north, he stopped in Hinckley for about two and a half years, started the community of Barnum, and made it to Duluth in the spring of 1873. This 99-page memoir comes from his recollections and stories he had heard about the early history of Duluth. He covers subjects such as the digging of the ship canal, sailing the north shore in the early days, Duluth hotels, early industries, the volunteer Duluth Fire Department, real estate, mayors, the election of 1876, schools, and some early characters.
This 40-page book, published in 1897, describes the land and towns that lie on the route of the Saint Paul & Duluth Railroad. Chapters describe the route of the railroad; the counties the railroad passes through; various crops grown, including potatoes, grain, berries and small fruit, and dairying. The last chapter provides brief descriptions of some towns along the route, including Pine City, Hinckley, Finlayson, Rutledge, Willow River, Sturgeon Lake, Moose Lake, Barnum, Mahtowa, Carlton, Duluth, and West Superior.