St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-12-22
THE SPHINX COUNTY WAR.
Both Sides Well Satisfied with the Re
sult-AshtOn's View Of
the Case.
Especial Correspondence to Globsl

The wandering books aud papers are back
in their pisces; the hole that was battered
into the side Of the county building BY the
ambitious party that made the raid is plas-
tered up; the county officers are on routine
duty, aud undlsturbed blaekuess again
broods over the three frame buildings that
constitute the capitol OF Sphinx county. At
Ashton Frequently called New AshtOu) the
flag flying In the frosty air signifies the salts
faction at the result The grim smiles that
tighten up the conferences Of the late far
mer warriors Of the county, and the hearty
hand shakingS among them as they meet in
this lively berg, testify TO the general unani-
nifty Of sentiment on the subject.
As the vindietiveness of feeling
has subsidized enough so that in
teIligible aud not entirely biased information
Of the facts that brought about the trouble
can be obtained, brief statement of the
same may be Of interest 10 the readers OF the
GLOBE. On the organization Of the county
in 1879, Old Ashton was made the county
seat BY the board of county commissioners.
Since then two elections have been held for
the relocation Of the county seat, in Nov.
1850, aud Nov. 1854.
The county seat war was caused bv a dis
pute over the vote that was cast in 1850. In
that year four towns entered the contest. Old
Ashton to hold her own, aud Frankfort,
Reddeld and Ashton to try their strength.
243 votes were cast; Old Ashton receiving
IL, Frankfort "a, Redheld 90 and Ashton 62.
no town receiving the majority necessary TO
effect removal. This count OF the vote Of
four years ago has never been questioned
until since the election OF 1854. At the re-
cent election 1894 votes were cast, e55 for
Frankfort, l,ls6 for Red6eld, aud 743 for
Ashton. Again no aspirant obtaining
enough to take the mantle Of government
from Old Ashton. The last campaign was
extremely bitter. Personalities were freely
INDUCED in, and after the election the charge
was made Of ballot box stuffing and repeat
ing. On the 18th of NOvemb Der last there
was gathering Of citizens from all parts of
the county to witness the official eanvassing
Of the election returns. II vas on that day
that the pOIl bo1ks Of the election OF 1880
were pulled from their musty places aud the
discovery made, or pretended to be made,
that the vote Of that election had never been
correctly counted, that Redfeld had received
1873 OF the 243 votes, and had been in fact
the county seat since that time. No record
OF the vote was found on the books OF the
county clerk. The poll books alone appeared
to be the only evidence bearing in the case
The mat.er-of-eOursed emeanor OF the Red
field adherents was noticeable, aud the aston
ishment Of every one else was great. Sew
eral old settlers we're present, and their ire
was unbounded. at didn't matter how the
books showed now" they said, ''they
knew how those books summed up once, and
they knew that no town had a
majority Of the votes" IL was Red6eId
against the field. The stauneh claims of the
former were met by the promise that the adj
verse end of the dance would be Kept up in
good shape II II Was intended seriously to Law
claim for the county seat or the election oil
1880. A lively dance was made OF Il. as has
become well known. A prominent feature
of the situation was that none Of the county
offices recognized the claims Of Redfeld, al
least not openly, hence it was impossible 10
get the records removed TO the latter place
by any show of authority. The following dav
petition was presented to the county board.
calling for an investigation of the alleged
which q committee was appointed and
hearing set for the 9th of December, to take
such testimony as would be volunteered, the
intention being upon obtaining sufficient
evidence To commence an action for the pun
ish ment OF the eulprits. Meanwhile enough
Of the voters OF 1850 made afIidavits stating
how they voted at that time, to cut the num-
Der for Reddeld below the majority mark.
aud several important papers bearing
on the subject were unearthed. Al
together it seemed to be clear
case Of tampering with the records, and there
was general complaeency Of feeling over
the sure prospect of laying out the aggressive
town. But it was preparation before the
hare was caught.
On the eve of the investigation the situa-
ton underwent sudden and mysterious
transformation, upon which light was soon
shed by letter from the mayor of Redfeld
TO the register Of deeds, announcing that the
records Of the county had been..disc0vered On
in the city hall of Redfeld, that the property
was carefully in charge Of the city authorities
and requesting the register OF deeds to pro-
coed 10 that city and resume the duties Of his
Office. The register went not, but majority
OF the board OF commissioners did. headed
by the deputy sheriff, who was provided with
search warrant.
1t is needless to say that the books were
not obtained from the crowd Of armed men
by whom they we're guarded. On the
morning OF the second day after
that, the now famous "Suink county
mob' made its visitation upon Redfeld
The party demanding the restoration OF the
records was made up from the best of the
citizens Of the county, many OF the largest
property owners we're there aud not the least
vehement among them were men who had
worked earnestly In tne interest of Redfeld
during the late campaign. But the ener-
getic managers at Redfield again had a check
mate In readiness in the shape Of an iuiune-
tion from the judge Of the circuit court tenn
porarily restraining the removal Of the books
IL was critical moment. The besieging
party believed that the injunction could have
| been obtained only by the most reckless mis-
| representation, and upon the first impulse
there was general demand to charge upon
the town aud rescue the books atall hazards
But cooler Judgment prevailed and the crowd
dispersedto await the course Of the injunc-
ton.
No further approach by armed men was
made against Redheld. The excitement
however, was intense for a full week, and
the threatening aud censure usual at such
times were not lacking on either side.
The pOssessors Of the books realized the
temper that had been raised and called
Justify for military protection. The Judges,
upon hearing the evidence, dissolved the in
junction promptly and issued an order for
the retarn of the records To old Ashton The
militia arrived for the defense OF Redfeld In
time to escort the records out Of the city
Report sayeth that no Redaeld man was
visible at this stage OF the proceedings. By
- Il