Exterior view of the G. W. Steinke wagon shop in St. Peter. It was located at the southeast corner of the intersection of Minnesota Avenue and Broadway.
Alex Moore, one of the great founding fathers of Sauk Centre, in 1885. He constructed the first dam in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, which was destroyed in the ice breakup of 1860 but soon rebuilt using the power for the saw and grist mill.
Exterior view of the Krueger Hotel in St. Peter, which was located on the northeast corner of the intersection of Fifth street and Broadway. The hotel was operated by Mr. and Mrs. William Krueger. It was also called the Pink Hotel.
A Grist Mill once stood where the present city of Anoka is currently located. This was on the east bank of the Rum River on the north side of the Main Street bridge.
Exterior view of Hamline University which was constructed in Red Wing in 1855-56 and later moved to St. Paul in the 1860s. The courthouse shown behind it was built in 1858-59.
Portrait of Joe Whitford. Mr. Whitford built the first cabin on the townsite in the summer of 1857 and was responsible for naming the city in honor of his benefactor, James Fergus.
Orgins of St. Benedict's Monastery (convent), St. Joseph, Minnesota. Mother Willibalda Scherbauer, OSB, led four sisters and two candidates, ranging in age from 18 to 26, from St. Marys, Pennslyvania, to the Midwest frontier (St. Cloud, Minnesota) in 1857. Mother Willibalda (Franciska) was born in Kastel, Bavaria in 1831. At an early age, her family took her to St. Walburg Convent in Eichstätt to be educated. There she professed her vows in 1851; four years later, she volunteered to join the sisters in America. Then in 1857, she volunteered to venture to the Northwest Territory and was appointed prioress of the St. Cloud community by Boniface Wimmer, OSB. Mother Willibalda was an accomplished musician of whom Jane Swisshelm, editor of a local newspaper, wrote, "The Lady Abbess is small, slight, delicate, graceful, and as accomplished a lady as you could meet in any circle...waking the first echoes of those broad prairies in a call (daily ringing of the church bell) to bow regularly at an altar of Christian worship..." (McDonald, page41). Mother Willibalda's able administration as leader gave the Benedictine sisters a firm monastic foundation, not only in St. Cloud, but also in St. Joseph, the nucleus of St. Benedict's Monastery. She is lovingly remembered for accepting Mother Benedicta Riepp into the St. Cloud community when she was misunderstood by authorities and some community members for upholding the rights of the sisters in America (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 12, 15-16, 19).
Charles H. Berry, Resident Director of the Winona Normal School from 1885-1888. He was also a charter member of the Winona Society of Arts, Sciences, and Letters which raised funds for the Winona Normal School.
Contributing Institution:
Winona State University, Darrell W. Krueger Library
Rev. William McKinley, 1834-1918. His obituary dated January 13, 1918 [newspaper not identified], reads: "Early Methodist Divine Dies at Home in Winona. Rev. William McKinley, dean of Minnesota Methodism, active as a lecturer, author and divine in various parts of the state since 1854, died late yesterday at his home in Winona, where he has lived since his retirement from active ministry ten years ago. Dr. McKinley was 84 years old and was known prominently throughout the Northwest as an author and preacher. In the Civil War he gained his early experience as a chaplain among the Union soldiers. His first pastorate was at Hastings, where he lived as boy on a farm. Subsequently he was pastor of Hamline Methodist Episcopal church of this city, Central Park church and of First Methodist Episcopal church of Minneapolis, besides serving as district superintendent of the St. Paul district. He was an intimate friend of Edward Eggleston, the famed minister-author, in whose church in New York city he served for a year. A native of Scotland, Rev. Mr. McKinley came to the United Sates in 1841 at the age of 7 years. The veteran Minnesota divine became well known as the able chronicler of Minnesota Methodism. In 1911 he published 'A Story of Minnesota Methodism.' Dr. Eggleston, in commenting on the work at the time of its publication, said: 'Dr. McKinley has succeeded in giving to the public an exceedingly vivid and interesting description of the early days of Minnesota, the social conditions and the leading personages in the settlements of that state.'
The book was the witnessing of one who knew and who saw the panorama of the days gone by in the Northwest.
This is what Dr. McKinley said about his landing in the state:
'When navigation opened on the Mississippi I took the first steamboat up the river and landed in Minnesota, April 13, 1855. The ice was not out of Lake Pepin so we left the boat at Read’s Landing. There was another boat at Red Wing to take the passengers to St. Paul and there were wagons to carry the women to the head of the lake. But with the 700 passengers, mostly men, there were not enough wagons to carry them and they had to walk. Rather than do this another young man and I decided to start overland to Faribault. We tramped all day across the prairie without anything to eat. Neither of us ever had done a day’s walking and before night we were used up, but stern necessity compelled us to trudge on. We saw no house nor signs of human habitation all day.'
In graphic descriptions Rev. Mr. McKinley wrote one of the most authentic accounts of early Minnesota, a book consulted frequently by historians and chroniclers.
The funeral services for the aged clergyman will be held at Winona on Tuesday."
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Annual Conference United Methodist Church
The Sauk Centre House was an early hotel, social gathering place, and used as a stage coach pick-up. It was destroyed by fire but rebuilt and renamed, The Palmer House.
View of tents of the First Minnesota Regimentin a field. The First Minnesota Regiment was the first voluntary infantry regiment to serve in the Union Army during the Civil War. The camp shown was located between Poolesville, Maryland and Edward's Ferry on the Potomac River near the site of the Battle of Ball's Bluff, which was on October 21, 1861.
This photograph shows St. Peter Civil War veteran William B. Stone in his uniform. He served as a sergeant in Company H of the Fourth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Sergeant Stone died in St. Louis in 1862.
This is a photograph of Nicollet County Civil War veteran James Magner. He served as a captain in Company I of the 28th Massachusetts Regiment. On May 18, 1864 Magner was killed during the battle of Spotsylvania.
This is a photograph of Nicollet County Civil War veteran James Magner. He served as a captain in Company I of the 28th Massachusetts Regiment. On May 18, 1864 Magner was killed during the battle of Spotsylvania.
This photograph shows Civil War Capt. Asgrim K. Skaro, who was killed in the battle of Nashville in 1864. Skaro served in the Second and the Ninth Minnesota Infantry Regiments. He was one of the founders of St. Peter in Nicollet County in 1853.
This is a photograph of Nicollet County Civil War veteran Andrew Anderson, who lived in Granby Township, near Swan Lake. Anderson rose to the rank of corporal in Company H of the Fourth Minnesota Regiment, serving for nearly four years.
Portrait of Lt. Matthew F. Magner, a member of Company F of the 43rd Battalion of the Virginia Cavalry. This unit served with Mosby's Rangers in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. The Magner family settled in Nicollet County prior to the war.
Photographs of Minnesota Volunteers, 1861 to 1866, from the Whitney Negatives, now owned by Edward A. Bromley, Minneapolis, Minnesota. A collection of mounted Cartes-de-visite (card photographs)-size portrait photos, with a few of larger size. Not all photos listed in printed index are present.
View of the First Episopal Church under construction in the summer of 1862. This first church was known as St. John Evangelist, but was never completed. It was destroyed on August 18, 1862 during the Dakota Conflict of 1862. The church is now known as St. Cornelia's Church at Lower Sioux Agency.
Studio portrait of Union Soldier, who was killed one year later in action (probably Civil War). He is wearing complete uniform with hat, rifle and sword. Studio background has a scene depicting a field and Union soldiers conversing near their camp.
This is a photograph of Col. William Crooks in his army uniform. Crooks was the commander of Minnesota's Sixth Regiment of Volunteer Infantry until October 28, 1864.
Jacob Dieter is photographed in his Civil War uniform. He enlisted in 1862 and served in company F of the Ninth Minnesota Regiment. His family accompanied him to Fort Ridgely, Minnesota and returned home when his unit was sent to another location. Jacob Dieter was reported missing after the battle of Guntown. He had been captured by the Confederate forces along with twenty-six other Olmsted County men. The group was transferred to Andersonville Prison. On June 22, 1864, he wrote his last letter from Andersonville Prison. He jumped off a train while being transferred to another prison, but was re-captured. He died in Salisbury Prison in 1864 at the age of thirty-eight.
This photograph shows St. Peter Civil War veteran Benjamin Rogers in his uniform. He served in Company D of the Ninth Regiment of Minnesota Volunteer Infantry.
This is a photograph of Rev. Aaron H. Kerr, a Presbyterian minister in St. Peter, who became the chaplain of Minnesota's Ninth Regiment of Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War.
Portrait of St. Peter resident Lt. John Kinsman Hezlep, a member of the West Point Class of 1865 (where he graduated #14 in a class of 68). He was the son of George Hezlep, one of the members of the St. Peter Company, the group of men who founded the community of St. Peter. Hezlep served in the U.S. Infantry and Engineers and died in service of Yellow Fever on August 13, 1867 at Fort Morgan, Alabama.
This is a photograph of Governor Henry Swift from St. Peter, Minnesota. Swift was the third Governor of Minnesota and served from July 10, 1863 to January 11, 1864.
Collage of studio portraits from Minnesota Company A, Seventh Regiment, Volunteer Infantry, 1862, including 52 oval portraits of Civil War soldiers, some in uniform and some in later years. An eagle, flag, and banners appear at the top.
This is a photograph of John Otherday, whose Dakota name was Ampatutokacha. Called Good Sounding Voice when he was young, he was born in the vicinity of Swan Lake in Nicollet County about 1819.
This is a photograph of Po-Go-Nay-Ke-Shick, also known as Hole in the Day, an Ojibway Native American. The photograph was taken in the studio of St. Paul photographer Joel E. Whitney. The photograph was purchased in 1862 by a woman from Indiana.
Early years in St. Joseph, Minnesota (1863-1880). This sketch of the layout of the first church/school/convent complex in St. Joseph was drawn in 1930 by Sister Paula Bechtold, OSB, from her memory of St. Joseph's Convent where she had lived as a young sister. This complex became the home of the Benedictine sisters when they moved from St. Cloud to St. Joseph in 1863. Gradually a small campus to the west of the complex developed -- consisting of laundry, bakery, summer house, chicken coop, barn, woodshed, and a well. Though the primary purpose of the sisters' coming to St. Joseph was to teach the children of the parish, the site served well as the beginnings of St. Benedict's Convent which continued to flourish in St. Joseph. Varied projects were begun in this simple convent complex: the school (the beginnings of the academy), care of orphans, and the Industrial School for Indian girls. In 1886, the old complex of log church and school was completely destroyed by fire. Although new housing had to be found for the orphans and the Industrial School, a new convent/academy had already been built in 1881-1882. With the completion of that new building, the name was changed from St. Joseph's Convent to St. Benedict's Convent (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 59-62, 70-72, 120-122).
This photograph shows Civil War veteran William C. Durkee in his uniform. The photograph was taken in Mankato, Minnesota. A note on the reverse states that he fought in the last battle of the Civil War at Palmetto Ranch, Texas. Durkee was a captain in the 62nd U. S. Colored Infantry Regiment, but had prior service as an enlisted man in other units.
Roswell H. Kinney was the first superintendent of the Minnesota Institute for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind, and served during 1863-1866. He was present when the school opened on September 9, 1863. The school's name changed from "Minnesota Institute for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb" to "Minnesota Institute for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind" during his administration.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf Alumni Association Museum
Students and staff are standing in front of the first school building that was used as a temporary home for the Minnesota Institute for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb. One of the school's founders, Judge Rodney A. Mott, rented Major Fowler's store on what is now the corner of Division and Central Avenue in Faribault, and the school opened in this temporary home on September 9, 1863. This building was used during 1863-1868, and the school's name changed to "Minnesota Institute for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind" during this time.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf Alumni Association Museum
Students and staff are standing in front of the first school building that was used as a temporary home for the Minnesota Institute for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb. One of the school's founders, Judge Rodney A. Mott, rented Major Fowler's store on what is now the corner of Division and Central Avenue in Faribault, and the school opened in this temporary home on September 9, 1863. This building was used during 1863-1868, and the school's name changed to "Minnesota Institute for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind" during this time.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf Alumni Association Museum
This negative provides a front view of Plymouth Congregational Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. The church's first building, dedicated in December 1858, stood at Fourth Street and Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota. No photographs remain. In June 1860, Plymouth�s second minister, Henry Martyn Nichols, preached a fiery temperance sermon that inspired women to launch an effort to close the saloons. Within days of the sermon, a fire destroyed the building. People widely believed the fire was the work of arsonists representing the saloon interests. The Congregation�s second church, built on the same spot, was dedicated in September 1863. Its interior had circular seating for 350 people and a raised pulpit. The congregation worshipped in this church until 1875 when growth in membership required a larger building.
This photograph provides a front view of Plymouth Congregational Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. The church's first building, dedicated in December 1858, stood at Fourth Street and Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota. No photographs remain. In June 1860, Plymouth�s second minister, Henry Martyn Nichols, preached a fiery temperance sermon that inspired women to launch an effort to close the saloons. Within days of the sermon, a fire destroyed the building. People widely believed the fire was the work of arsonists representing the saloon interests. The Congregation�s second church, built on the same spot, was dedicated in September 1863. Its interior had circular seating for 350 people and a raised pulpit. The congregation worshipped in this church until 1875 when growth in membership required a larger building.
Scrap of lined paper with a photograph mounted in the center. The photo shows three men posing in front of the White House: one standing, one leaning against a statue, and one reclining on the ground at the base of the statue. The handwritten note at the top of the paper points out "Rev'd Edw'd D. Neill __ __ __ an assistant Sec. to Pres. Lincoln 1864- ". A handwritten note on the bottom of the paper says, "White House, Washington, D.C. During President Lincoln's administration."
This photograph shows St. Peter Civil War veteran Frank Y. Hoffstatt in his uniform. He rose to the rank of first lieutenant in Company E of the Second Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment.
Civil War musician Maximilian Hoefer, who was a member of the 19th United States Infantry Band, served as a Musician Second Class from October 13, 1864 until October 13, 1867. He was born in Luxembourg in 1847, and became a prominent businessman in St. Peter, MN.
Schools in St. Cloud (1869-1909). By 1860, St. Cloud had expanded from its four homes in 1854 to 1,651 citizens. The 1856 church/school/convent was no longer adequate. In 1864, St. Mary's parishioners built a new church on the shores of Lake George. The large Gothic-style church served the parish for almost 60 years . When it was destroyed by fire, another church, the present St. Mary's Cathedral, was built. St. Mary's Parish eventually solved the school controversy by building its own parochial school. The first one in 1887 was a one-story frame building to accommodate 180 pupils. In 1896, a large parochial school, still in use today, was built next to St. Mary's Church (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives ; Witte, pages 10-11, 17; Dominik, John, J. pages 12-14, 20).
This photograph, taken in St. Paul, Minnesota, shows Nicollet County Civil War veteran B. F. Sylvester in his uniform. He served as a first lieutenant in Company E of the Second Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment. A note on the reverse indicates that he was wounded at the battle of Chickamauga.
Nicollet is misspelled; unpaved street, power pole is visible; horse and wagon with driver and pedestrians are visible; from a series by Webster and Albee, Rochester, New York.
Contributing Institution:
Hennepin County Library, James K. Hosmer Special Collections Library
Albert Dahlem was a Grand Army of the Republic Civil War Officer, seen here wearing his uniform. After the war, he moved to Sauk Centre, becoming an avid businessman.
This stereo photo shows an early view of the steamboat landing and a warehouse next to it in St. Peter. The area shown in the photo is located on the west bank of the Minnesota river, near Broadway.
Aerial view looking from St. Anthony side of river; first suspension bridge; log jams; lumber stacked up on Nicollet Island, town of Minneapolis with mills, houses, businesses in background.
Contributing Institution:
Hennepin County Library, James K. Hosmer Special Collections Library
This postcard shows a view of a foundry in St. Peter. The image is a reproduction made from an earlier photograph. Several horse-drawn vehicles are shown.
Portrait photograph of J. A. Kiester. Kiester was an early settler-lawyer, member of the Minnesota House of Representatives and Minnesota State Senate. He was also an Episcopalian, Freemason and Faribault County historian.
Early Barn Bluff businesses are shown. On the far left is the sawmill of Grannis, Daniels and Company. The Francis Ives building is in the center and the Metropolitan Hotel, which was later destroyed by a fire in 1869, is on the left.