The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1908-01-29
A COLD JANUARY.
Files of Gazette Show that January Of
1875 was a COrker.

1875, some time after w. B. Her
riott became owner Of the property.
v. C. Seward, the publisher of The
Redwood Falls Mail, sold out at
some time before the opening of
1875, and thus far we have been
unable to find out whether these
valuable files of that paper are in
existence or not, all of the members
of that family having passed away
with the probable exception of a
daughter of Mr.. Seward, whose adj
dress is unknown to US.
The GAZETTE of 1875 contained
two eight column pages of home
print, with a fairly liberal amount
of advertising. The town contained
at that time nearly five hundred
people and it's prospectus, which
helped to fill up the front page of
THE GAZETTE for several months
continuously at this time, states
that it has fourteen stores, two
Touring mills, a sawmill, grain
elevator at the steamboat landing
(which it does not state was fully
three miles away, three hotels,
three blacksmith shops, land office,
etc.
The city hotel was presided over
by Geo. Leatherman, the Redwood
House by w. C. March, who was a
travelling shoe man for many years
after that, and died a few years ago.
The list of county officers included
the late H. D. Baldwin, who at that
time combined the duties of clerk of
court and judge of probate. Thos.
Mcmillan as sheriff, E. A. Chandler
auditor, L. F. Robinson trea .urer.
G, w. Braley register of deeds, NJ
E. Powell attorney, w. B. H-rriott
superintendent of schools and D. L.
Bigham surveyor. Messrs. Bigham
and Powell are the only ones now in
Redwood Falls, and four of the list
are no longer among the living.
Here is paragraph from the real
estate prospectus above referred to
which will be of interest as a piece
of unfulflled prophecy: It is esti-
mated that there is now standing
sufficient timber to meet the wants
of the county for twenty years.
This, in connection with the we'll
demonstrated fact that timber can
be grown in ten years large enough
for fuel and fencing, and that al
most every farmer has from one to
ten acres growing. should set at rest
in Redwood county the fears so
often entertained in regard to prair-
lie countries, that the supply of tim
Der will become exhausted or so
scarce as to be ruinously high priced.
At the present time good seasoned
wood can be purchased at from So
to $3.50 per cord, the latter being
the price of dry hard maple wood
delivered in Redwood Falls.
1t will be of interest to our south
side readers to note that at this
date a proposition was before the
legislature to create new county
to be called Sanborn, with the coun-
ty seat at Walnut Grove. Major
Blake of Lyon county had the petit
ton in charge, and Chas. Porter
addressed a protest to him against
the proposed scheme, reciting that
the burden of supporting the new
county would fall on nine of the
townships included in the limits, all
of which had been devastated by
grasshoppers for two years. That
not one settler in fifty could even
pay his personal property tax that
year, and that the whole scheme
was to build up a little town by
locating a county seat there. Thus
we see how near Walnut Grove came
to being a metropolis and county
seat.
Evidently Till Tibbetts was already
getting restless, though it took him
80 years longer to break away from
Redwood Falls. The.New Ulm News
was quoted on the 21st as follows:
"Our friend Till Tibbetts talks of
leaving Redwood Falls to seek a.
site in foreign land. May you be
successful, TILL"
Rev. Edward Eggleston, who has
1atnlv hncorno fanoI1c oc M o,,+bo,.