The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1918-03-29


| follows: Tiyoli was the center OF
| this district in the years of 1857 and
1858. The village of Tivoli had been
laid out by the owner Of the land,
! Mr. NJ o. Bennett, who had started
| to build saw mill to be run by
water power oand had met with sew
eral washouts of his dam on the Lee
Sueur river. He was yet tenaciously
! at work repairing the wrecks and
never faltering in his effort to make
the city of Tiyoli at least way sta
; ton for the much talked Of Winona
| & st. Peter railroad, heading from
Winona to ST. Peter or Mankato.
Mr.. Bennett was born a leader and
was one of the first to take the steps
to secure a school house at this Will
age and the best talents to his assist
ance, the late G.. M. Fletcher, who
was a surveyor and did survey much
of this corner of the county for the
government into >quarter sections of
land ready for early settlers in 1854
and 1855. Also he had the late John
Reatz, who | believe held the office
! of school superintendent of Blue
Earth county. Together they marked
out the lines of school district No.
After agreeing to the boundary lines,
upon certain day the early set
tiers for miles around net at the
spot selected, where now stands the
frame building upon the same site.
The telling Of the trees and the
work of the liners and hewers began
in the month of October 1857 For
several days the native forest gave
| evidence by the sounds Of axes and
telling of trees that a mighty host
had invaded her domain. Albert
Turner and George Bennett selected
the trees and feIledthem to the ground
Nathan Bennett and Henry Ruigg
lined the timber as logs. A dozen
men with axes scored to the line,
followed by George Bennett hewing
eff chips. John Cummins, equipped
with g broad axe. counter-hewed
these to a fine. point.
Then the late Charles Bennett, a
boy Of eighteen years, drove two
yoke Of oxen and drew the logs to-
getner, others laid the foundation
while George Raymond, single
maker, cut cut and shaved the
shingles from the butternut trees,
and in ten days the house was COM
pIeted, ready for the plaster. The
size was 22 by 80 feet. Mr.. Joseph
Fuller Of Freedom was then engaged
, to teach the school and then We're
gathered from the east, west. north
and south !. some thirty or forty
+ scholars, some waiting four miles
through the woods, which protected
| Al, dc
AS scholar, ] remember some
amusing pranSs Of the boys. Your
| writer and the late Louis Bennett
3 made and occupied a bench desk in
4 the northeast corner of the school
: house.
One day your humble servant called
/ the teacher to his desk to assist him
in sum in arithmetic. While thus
engaged the said Louis took an ink
: bottle and slyly reaching around me
+ emDtied it's contents into the coat
pocket of the teacher unobserved
d The teacher having a very bad cold
: did use his kerchief quite often to
release the dumpness from his nose
h Not looking at his kerchief at all. he
t finally started across the schoo
: room, when little boy snickered out
loud The teacher went to him tt
: find out the reason Of his glee, wher
several others burst out here and
h there, and finally the whole school
s Joined in with the laugh The teacher
was dumbfounded as to the cause
!. when Miss T., who was his in
n tended and afterwards became Mrs
Fuller, said to him, "Your face is al
+ ink" Well his rage hardly knew any
q bounds, nor could he believe or mis-
trust how it came into his, pocket
He certainly did not lay, it to me a:
! my hands were engaged in trying GU
this sum.
few days later on very colo
e day several of the boys asked per
mission to come TO the stove, while
!, they studied their lessons, and fol
- seats we used sticks Of wood sawed
e off and stood up endwise about fou
. or five inches thick, with a long chi
nailed on for a seat.
7, While some eight or ten were thu!
sitting around the stove like horse
70 sheer, some Of the boys conceived tn.
idea, and the first did fall against tn,
second boy, and he against the third
and on they went clear around like
. row Of bricks set up endwise Will
h the boys were all tangled up, ant
n each was trying to gather out his owl
!. feet, the teacher suddenly fell upol
e us with long sprouts Of a thorn
v 'apple tree. l don't think one escape,
k the lash and I don't think one of u
lie had need to back UP against tn
10 stove for a week to get warm, an,
the teacher got in his revenge TO
the ink episode all correct. But some
like Pat Tracy, got something too b.
being in bad company.
The Community Elevator compan
has just erected corn crib on TIL
- side track west of the elevator wit
= capacity of some 1000 bushels.
/ will tell about our expeFienc
!, during the winter, while engaged i
~ grinding corn for meal and table use
" We find that many Of our customer:
- who bring corn ito grind into {mea
= claim they have taken extra care an
- pains to place the corn in war;
- room near a pipe or chimney, an
!. allow it to dry for two or thre
=. weeks. In most cases we find tina
. the kernel has turned black and ofte
moldy next to the cob, while the ker
mel on the outerside is quite dry. w
find in SholIinp This. corn tbot IL,