The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1886-07-29
BEAUTIFUL VORTHINGTON.


Hon. Freeman Talbot Writes His Im-
pressions Of O,r Arbor City-Fornaer
Fisits-Ihe Colonists on Early Set
tlers-More First class People than
Erer Seen in q Ne,O Toun-Prosper-
Gus and Intelligent Beyo,ad any Ne,U
Settlement IN America-1he Celebra.
on-Worthinyton's Way Of Celebra-
ting-Most Interesting ond Thorough.
Hon. Freeman Talbot, who delivered
the Grafton at our recent celebration,
was 50 pleased with the beauty of
Worthlngton, and so impressed with
what he saw, heard and felt, that he
sends US the following glowing letter
for publication:
CLEVELAND, MINI, July 20, $50.
EDITOR ADVANCE Fourteen years
ago last May made my first visit to
Mobiles county intending, if the sur
roundings suited me, to make Worth
ington my future home.
Quite u number of the first settlers
had arrived. Some were living in COM
Portable houses, some in rough board
shanties, 12xl4. others in tents and
still others on the bleak prairie about
to select the site Of future independ-
ence Oh or near the banks of the beau
tiful Lakes Okabena.
In /, short time became acquainted
with many of your first settlers.
wrote OF them at the time for the St.
Peter Tribune, and REPEAT it now that
l found in that infant village more
manly culture, more WOmanly refine
mrnt, more educate ed pluck, more valu-
able books, more costly pictures and
more musical Instruments than ever
saw before amongst the first sci tiers of
u new country: | was delighted and
predicted for Wcrtl,ington rapid ad-
vancement. u glorious future.
Still l did not dare to east my lot
with those l $" muc!, admired. NJ
timber, no shrubs, no friendly b,Isl. to
shelter man or beast from the nOontile
sun, nothing but the fertile, bare. black,
burned prairie rs far rs the eye could
reach on every hand; and l. accustomed
all my life to the dense forests Of On-
tari", or the ''bg woodS' of lie Sueur
county, could not settle down remote
from that shade and shelter that all
ackwou,lslnen have deemed essential
to comfort, health aud prosperity.
l have for m;,ny years watched with
deep interest the struggles of your
people. During the first five years of
your settlement the rich soil Of your
county gave but Il scant pittance to the
cultiv;It"r, and year after year count
less myriatls of grasShopprrs made
futile the best directed efforts Of the
agricultnriotS of Southwestern Mime.
sofa. Still your people toiled on pa
tiently, hoping and praying for that
harvest and that sunshine Of prosperity
which had so long been denied them.
That some of the first aud some OF
the best pioneers were impoverished by
the plague and left your county, hoping
to regain 1T least Il portion Of their
old home in the more eastern States,
cannot be wondered at. That many
more did not leave in despair only
shows the indumitable pluck and man.
ly, Christian confidence that sustained
them during the long years Of anguish
and tribulation.
The dark days have gone, 1 trust
never to return. and perceive that for
the last nine or ten years your town
and county have made the most aston
ishing strides to prosperity aud future
independence.
1 found you on last Independence
Day sheltered away in the backuools,
thousands of splendid healthy trees on
every side. shady parks we'll laid out
and beautifully planted, and every
street beautified with trees from six to
twenty inches in diameter, and dense
groves of timber beautifying the coun-
try homes of your people.
WorthingtOn today is the best tim
bered town in this State of its age, and
were now as young as was the first
day that l saw the blue waters of
Okabena, would gladly pitch my tent
for life amongst your people. The
same culture, the same gentlemanly
department, the same lady like hospi-
tality and refinement that was planted
in the soil of Mobiles county in 1872,
has taken deep root and flourished and
multiplied until the greater part of
Southwestern Minnesota is more pros
porous, more contented and more INTEL
ligent in all its pursuits than you will
find in any other settlement in Ameri.
ca. When saw your churches, your
hotels, your CONNER cial houses, your
charitable and patriotic institutions,
and your first class weekly newspapers.
was astonished at the solid prosperity
that saw on every hand and I would
say to those seeking a home in Minne-
sofa. "gO to Mobiles county at once
and there you will see as rich and as
beautiful country as the sun shines
on to-day, and If you are an American,
an lrishman, an Englishman, a Scot, a
German or a Scandinavian, however
educated and refined. you will find your
equals on every side of Lake Okabena. {"
Although an actor amongst your
people on the 4th of July last, permit
me to say that that celebration, in all
its various details, was the most inter-
estiDg and the most thoroughly carried
out Of anything of the kind that ever
witnessed. Money. artistic skill, musi-
cal talent, female beauty and military
genius were all used at the proper time
to make the whole a grand success.
Oh, how regret that such men as
Prof. Humiston, Rev. Creever and
Others were Obliged to leave town or
= country that they had so long and so
faithfully labored to build up and to
make known throughout the world.
Thanks for that book, "COnsola-
tion." The poem, Minnesota" is
excellent. will live in future history,
and is worth more than its weight in
gold. Yours sincerely,
FREEMAN TALBOT.