Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1913-10-31

n 0~a1 When the winds Of a few sKGssA&S
II more storms shall have SyMssS@aa
Go I'M blown to the beach two -
-I1lI apple trees which have ksY$SAsA@ss
but a frail footing at the E@s&sss
embankment's edge the last reminders of \NT@$M
a once thriving and populous place will WSSW
have been swept away. NEE
Almost seventy years ago the hamlet NES&
OF ST. John was founded by a man named NJ
It"tlnger and a few of his followers.
The size chosen was a commanding one :
on the bluff overlooking the lake and
or" half mile east Of the point where the north
western depot at the Village Of lakewood now
stands. The great clay banH with the stretch of
sand beach which shelves away to the waters edge
at us root looks as If 1t were strong enough and
far enough removed from the breakers to be safe
against the angriest northeaster that ever blew.
The men who built their houses upon the plain
surrounding the embankment thought their foun-
datlons were as sure as though founded on the
traditional rock. They did take the precaution,
however, to limit their building operations on the
east by a line drawn fifty yards from the edge of
the bluff. That line has long since been buried in
the sand under the waves, and with 1t are the
houses and the shops Of the early settlers.
In the year 1916 the Village of st. John was the
rival Of Waukegan, which was then called Little
Fort. FCth were prosperous and both were grow
Ing. HighwOOd tradition hath it that people pass
Ing through the two places from Chicago declared
'hat 81 John showed the ear marks OF success and
that it was destined to be a big city. Other people
beside the Chicagoans thought so, too, and they
hocked to the place and built substantial houses
and shops. The two apple trees which alone re
main Of all that pertained to the Village Of st.
John grew in the yard Of Sebastian Richards,
whose house was farther removed from the
lake than any other in the village. The apple
trees were back Of the residence. Not long ago
the foundation Of bricks, which was all that
was left of Richards dwelling, slid down the
bluff into the lake during the height of a win
ter storm. The roots Of one Of the apple trees
are even now extending into the air through the
side Of the embankment. One good strong push
would send it hurtling to the beach 100 feet
below.
Among the names of the builders of ST. John
in addition to those Of Hettinger and Sebastian
Richards, the only ones that the oldest High
wood Inhabitants can remember. are Frank
Mitch, Peter Baker and George Shepard. Mitch
was a shoemaker and it is said that he is still
following the trade in a town in the far north.
AS far as Is known he IS the only survivor OF
the men who founded the Village of st. John.
In the year 1847 there were several stores. a
blacksmith shop. a tavern and q p~ostofice IN the
Village Of st. John. which then held 2 porHh-
ton Of about 200 people. In that day there was
a stage coach line between Chicago and Mil
waukee. The tavern at st. John was a relay
station for the stage. Henry Mowers. who re-
members the village in its latter days, says
that the tavern was noted for its table. and its
liquor, and that people frequently took the stage
Journey from Chicago for the sole purpose of
getting g good dinner and a good glass.
It was Il man who intended becoming a resi-
der Of st. John that afterward founded the
'"lage Of Half Day. He had looked over the
lakeside village, and then had declared that he
would establish one that would last longer and
had more people in it. The Automobiles who
every Sunday pass through Half Day on their
runs to Waukegan and return may look on the
h~alfdozen houses there ssembled and know
that the man who turned his back on St John
has kept his word.
When the Chicago and Milwaukee railroad was
Quilt the surveyed line ran one-haIf mile west
Of the Village Of st. John. An adequate idea
of the Importance Of a place Of which now bare
ly a vestige remains may be had when it is
known that the railroad authorities built a spur
line running to the south edge of the town.
Some Of the practical residents Of the place had
discovered that an excellent quality Of brick
could be made from the clay which was found
IN a pit a short distance south OF the blacksmith
shop. AS a matter OF fact, the presence Of this
b~r1ckyard was one of the chief reasons that the
branch line Of the railroad was built. When
Uncle Sam accepted from the Commercial Club
Of Chicago the land to the north of the city as
a military reservation the soldiers drew hun
dreds OF carloads Of both good brick and broken
brick from the site of the old brtckyard and
used the material for temporary road-making
and for the filling in of swamp spots. The fore
thought Of the ST. John people In leaving be-
bind them specimens of their handiwork saved
the United States governnent a great many
dollars.
It is possible to trace today with no difficulty
at all the embankment upon which the branch
line OF the railroad ran to the ~brickyard and to
the now lost Village Of st. John. In size and
outline 1t looks like a military redoubt. and II
would perfectly answer the purpose of one. The
embankment was leve1ed at its western end
when stores were erected in the Village Of High
wood. It starts now from q noint almost direct
iy back Of the little Methodist church. and runs
eastward, broken only by roads which have been
dug through 1t.
1t was less than ten years after the founding
Of ST. John that the people awakened to a posi-
bic danger to their homes by the encroachment
Of the waves Of the lake. 1t is true that they