The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1885-09-25
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WuiSh oSSuNiou wv uiu JuStiCt W III otiI
last edition. Our course of travel was
through the towns of Soutl, Bend and
Judson, via Lake Crystal, n section of
country too well known To need n topo-
graphical or historical delineation. In
the former town we We're Interested,
primarily, i'm the primitive village, once
the embryo of n visionary metropolis
which was paralyZed i'm its development;
and the legitimate but vain ideal of it's
founder compelled to vanish through
combination of forces unknown Ia the
writer, and, no doubt, uneXplaInable by
any. Perhaps, however it is not amiss
to say that these were mostly natural
and commemorative present site of
Mankato proving To he the more advan-
tageous. From allappearances, the con-
clusion that the founders were not at
':lult, in inevitable, for the style of archi-
cture and general plan of the struc-
lures of the defunct village isproof posi-
tive that they: aimed ut both beau
ty and permanency, two features that
are highly instrumental in attracting
citiZ, y to an infant town. AS we refined
our =: ID over the sandy roads beyond
quota ms, numerous, from Goldsmith's
"DescI IA Village" fitted DER the mind,
and scrr'd aptiy spoken az concerns
South H., Il village.
We souu assembled to the prairie lands
beyond AM keenly enjoyed the contrast
between the dry dusty street with its
hustle and n,,ise, and the fresh, verdure
scented .atmos phere of the fields, and the
restfll quiet that pervaded all. Again
the pleasant scenes on either hand were
delightful Ia the eye after months of
gazing upon blank paper and printers
ink" In all directions the fields were
| ri 81 .hns AZ la,
which showed that the blowing had
been crowded along, and scores of NOV
ing teams Indicated that the work was
being still pursued with AL possible eX-
petition. In every direction, but less
frequently, the curling smoke and hazy
dust-cloud rising i'm the distance demon
strated that threshing il being vigorous
ly executed, and long before Boreas lays
on his grip the grain will all he safely
garnered. Inquiry among the farmers
determined that more than half the
grained was then thrcshed.
We had the pleasure of visiting Hon.
I. NJ. Pugh, "The gentleman from
Dickey," and enjoyed the hospitality of
himself and estimable lady at the noon
meal time. Mr.. p. settled on his present
farm in the pioneer days of this locality,
and 10y dint ofindustry and economy and
|
half, succeeded.in Wrestling his POO acres
from the realm of the western wilds,
and bringing about him u competency
of this worlds gear, which was convert
ed to the Use of identifying and making
home-likc the spot upon which they
cast their fortune when first they launch
ed their domestic craft upon the huctu-
ating seas of fortune. Nor have they
aimed amiss nor labored in vain, for
few farmers have so fully succeeded in
CARRYING ont the dictates of eminent do
mestic tastes, the never erring exponent
of enterprise and culture. Few city
homes contain the essence of elegance
and comfort more exactly than does Mr..
Pugh's. He has been absent from his
farm a number of seasons, but has again
permanently located upon il and is Civ
ing close attention to its further develop
ment. Ii is his purpose to enter into
stock raising another year, and ere long
"Maple Grove" farm THAT being it's
naInc) will Ice represented among tho
best stock growing farms in the county.
Ii was our good fortune Ia call upon
Griffith Lewis, one of the well-to-do
farmers of Judson, and found him busy
turning over his stubble fields prepare
tory for another crop. He informed us
that he was well ahead with hls autumn
work and is satisfied with the results of
this years yield of the various cereals.
From Mr.. l.. we learned that the frost
did not destroy the corn in his locality
80 generally az i'm some other parts of
the county, and that the crop is a fair
one after all. Further up i'm the same
town We halted at the farm of Joshua
Wigley but found him absent. This,
however, did not prevent a birds eye
view Of his surroundings which are all
indicative of thrift and comfort, he hav-
ing an unusually good outfit of farm
buildings.
Ii was our lot TO shake the hand of "a
number of the agriculturists of this town,
all of whom are deniZens since early
times, and have fought against the nu-
merous universities to agricultural pur-
suits successfully, and are now independ-
ent, if not wealthy. From each and all
we cleaned many facts of inter est, and
were given many practical ideas CON
corning the present status of our farm
communities, all of which would be pro-
fitable reading could we find space for
their reproduction. The section tray
ersed is the eastern and southern por-
tons of the town, and it is delightful
region to ride through nj this time of
year. We accidently happened upon
Hon. Richard Wigley in the southern
portion of the town, where he was en-
gagged upon his new farm located about
four miles from his old hOmestead)
erecting granary, that is, there was
another gentleman erecting the granary
while his honor sOldiered around and
did the bossing and grunting. IL is evil
dent from the cOrpulence and inactivity
of the honorable Legislator, that he has
not entirely eliminated from his system
the results of the capitol city's polynom-
ious bills of fare and general luxury.
He is a thorough, thrifty farmer how
ever, and has done his part faithfully
and well in bringing our county To its
excellent standing i'm the North Star
state. Night coming upon us we sought
shelter and rest at the pleasant home of
S. q. Brooks, Esq, on the northwest
bank of fair Lake Crystal. and was royal
ly treated by Mr.. Il. and family. Few
farmers i'm Blue Earth county stand bet
ter, financially, than Mr.. Brooks, and
desirable citizen. Mr.. and Mrs. Brooks
settled in the eastern part Of Medic town
ship, this county, in 1865, with no wealth
willing hands and hopeful hearts. They
remained there until they could. like
the village blacksmith
Look the whole world In the face,
Fer they owed not any man."
and had nice little fortune besides.
Desiring better educational OppOrtuni-
ties for his family he sold ont six
years ago and purchased the Captain
Murphy farm where he now resides,
and the general appearance of thrift