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Category Archives: Ella Hurtgen’s Beginnings of Pierce County
Beginnings of Pierce County – pt 26 of 27 – removal of native people and early ties to Red Wing, Minnesota by Ella Hurtgen
Back in the good old days a hundred years ago, it took the pioneers a 4 day ox-trip to the mill and back to get their supplies of wheat and grain ground up. In between they could wonder whether the … Continue reading
Beginnings of Pierce County – pt. 25 of 27 – the tale of the Jacob Peterson family – by Ella Hurtgen
Logging began in the early 1840s in the pine lands of northern Wisconsin, and it is recorded that Abraham Lincoln brought down one of the first rafts of logs in the early 1840s to Galena, Illinois. Some of the rafts … Continue reading
Beginnings of Pierce County – pt 23 of 27 – Eastern part of the county – by Ella Hurtgen
This entry appeared in the July 29, 1954 Pierce County Herald originally. The eastern timbered half of the county settled much slower than the western prairie half. The few settlers who came in the the 1850s and 1860s settled along … Continue reading
Beginnings of Pierce County – pt. 22 of 27 Lost Creek – by Ella Hurtgen
This entry was originally in the July 15, 1954 Pierce County Herald. It deals with the Lost Creek area and the early families that settled there. Lost Creek rises near the line between Sections 9 and 10 in Ellsworth Township, … Continue reading
Origins of the County Fair and Ellsworth as the County Seat – by Ella Hurtgen pt. 21 of 27
In Ella’s longest entry of the entire run, she gets into the origin of the county fair and the relocation of the County Seat to Ellsworth. Speaking of Ellsworth, if anyone has any stories or photographs to put into the … Continue reading
Beginnings of Pierce County – Civil War – the first year – a Pierce County Perspective pt. 20 of 27 by Ella Hurtgen
In this entry, from December 10, 1953 Pierce County Herald, Ella lays out some background on the start of the Civil War in 1861 and comments on some of the soldiers that came out of Pierce County. Be sure to … Continue reading
Pierce County Beginnings – pt. 19 of 27 – Spring Valley business people – by Ella Hurtgen
Ella goes into much more detail on who were the earliest business people in Spring Valley in this October 15, 1953 installment. Joe Kahut came to Spring Valley in 1893 and stared up a blacksmith shop with John S. Weiser … Continue reading
Pierce County Beginnings – pt. 18 of 27 – Gilman Township by Ella Hurtgen
In this entry, from the August 6, 1953 Pierce County Herald, Ella looks at the start of Gilman Township. William D. Akers, born in Flemingsberg, Fleming County, Kentucky, September 15, 1820, moved a short time later with his family … Continue reading
Pierce County Beginnings – pt. 17 of 27 – Spring Valley origins – by Ella Hurtgen
This entry focuses on the beginnings of Spring Valley, Pierce County’s only boom town of later years. The population by some estimates of that time grew ten fold between 1891, when ore was discovered and the next year. Doug Blegen’s … Continue reading
Beginnings of Pierce County – pt. 14 of 27 – Rock Elm Settlers by Ella Hurtgen
This entry was originally published in the June 5, 1952 Pierce County Herald. In it Ella describes more of the lives of some of the earliest settlers of Rock Elm Township. James Collett was the 5th settler in Rock Elm … Continue reading
