The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1911-07-07

the Jail now stands, and got work
but there was no money in the com
munity and the only currency was
Eastwood lumber, but it could not
often be traded for groceries. He
had a family to provide for, and
many times he gave ten hours OF
honest work day for fifty cents
worth of groceries. The family never
missed meal, nor had surplus.
One day, when the late B. Y. Coffin
called, they had only Johnny cake
for dinner. At another time, when
Mrs. Keysor was invited out, the
only refreshments were rye biscuits
without butter, and rye coffee without
sugar or cream, but she said it
was the best meal she ever ate. Al
though there were hardships, there
was also genuine enjoyment then.
There were also the horrors of
Indian massacres. But things have
changed now, and the speaker was
past the eighty-fifth milestone in his
journey of life, but he was glad
to be present to speak upon the
early days, and he hoped that God
would give the younger generation
strength to keep up the work.
Remarks BY George Neff.
Ex-Mayor George w. Neff of Lake
Crystal was invited to take the
che III, ho 10
said that he had been in this county
since 1866, having come from Val
pariso, Ind, by team, and he had
been surprised at the number of
people in Mankato at that time. AS
he drove down the hill in front Of
the William Hoerr hotel, man had
come out swinging his arms and
ordered him to stop and go no fur
Their. He had read of the ways of
western people, and did not know
what would happen next, but he
stopped. Then the man told him to
get right out and eat dinner. He had
learned from that time on to love
and respect the old settlers. They
possible for this country to bloom
like flower garden. In Lake Crys-
tai there cannot be an old settlers
association, as the people do not
settle down long enough.
Colonel Neff said that when he
first came to Mankato he had worked
in the old Union office and had later
bought it, and after a while sold
it to General Baker. Later, the lat
ter had come to him and asked him
if he had ever made anything out
of the office, and wanted to sell it
back to him, as he could not make
but the speaker was glad
to be rid of the paper. He had
seen many pleasant times and many
hard times in Mankato. He had seen
kerosene forty cents gallon, lin.
dress for his wife had
cost SO, and wages were SO or SO
a week. The young people nova
days have every advantage, with
good homes and fine streets, and he
did not see why they could not be
happy.
Mr.. Pelton Tells Experiences.
I. A. Pelton responded to a cali,
and said that it was a great privi-
lege and honor to be called upon to
address this association What the
early settlers accomplished was won
derful-was momentous to the ma
ton as well as to the state. He ar
rived in May, 1858, and started for
Judson afoot, and fell into Lyon
creek, then high, and got wet up
to his knees, which he considered a
introduction to Judson.
In 1858, he loaned $1,000 to a mer-
chant, who failed in the financial
panic. He had supposed that he
was we'll secured, but had to take
what he could get, and among this
was a piece of land, and that was
what held the speaker in the vi
entity. That summer saw tremen-
1ous hard times, with a great
of rain and heat, that cook
ed the grain, and what wheat was
harvested was black and made very
poor bread, and people who could
get Johnny cake were fortunate. I'll