CHAPTER XIII.

EVENTS OF THE YEAR 1846.

INCREASE OF TRADE AND TRAVELING-THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A POST-OFFICEMOVEMENT TO ORGANIZE MINNESOTA TERRITORY-SETTLERS OF 1846—WILLIAM H. RANDAll-James "Mc" BOAL-THOMAS S. ODELL-Harley D. WHITE AND OTHERS-INDIAN TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT-REV. DR. WILLIAMSON SET. TLES AT KAPOSIA-AND WRITES EAST AFTER A SCHOOL MA'AM FOR SAINT PAUL, &C.

SAINT

Saint

AINT PAUL had now become quite a "point" on the river. There were only three or four points on the Upper Mississippi, above Prairie du Chien, where boats ever touched, and only one where they landed with any regularity. Paul might be classed in the latter list. Considerable goods were now received here by the five or six traders who carried on business in the village, and there was some passenger business to and fro. Strangers, travelers, and tourists, generally-sometimes an adventurous trader, from below, seeking for a location-would occasionally land, to "look around" a little. There was no tavern to go to, and HENRY JACKSON, whose hospitality was a distinguishing trait, usually invited them to his house, where they were entertained free of charge.

JACKSON was a Justice of the Peace, a merchant, and a saloon-keeper combined. To accommodate all these branches of business, he kept on enlarging his hostelrie, until it grew into quite a caravansary. JACKSON was a man of a great deal of force, originality and humor, and "the boys" usually liked to loaf round" there, until it became a kind of headquarters for trade, news, gossip, politics and general exchange. It soon became a sort of post-office, too. Nearly every boat that landed would have a handful of letters or papers directed to persons in Saint Paul, and these, by a sort of established custom, were handed to JACKSON, because there was no one else to receive

them, probably. JACKSON used to keep them piled up on a shelf in his store. When any one asked for mail, the whole bundle was thrown down on a table or counter, and the party picked out what he wanted. That was before the days of cheap postage. A letter from the Eastern States those times, cost 25 cents. A letter from England was 50 cents. Now it is two cents, i. e., by postal card.

ESTABLISHMENT OF A POST-OFFICE.

It soon became evident that a post-office was a necessity here, and the proper petition was forwarded to the Post-office Department at Washington, and favorably considered. The records of that Department show that the office was established on April 7, 1846, and a commission to HENRY JACKSON, as postmaster, issued the same day. The business was so small, however, that it is scarcely probable that the emoluments were worth scrambling for. It is different now.

Having now the rank and emoluments of a post-office, JACKSON conceived that some effort should be made, for appearance sake, at least, to establish post-official regulations and conveniences, and so set about making the first case of boxes, or pigeon-holes, that the Saint Paul post-office ever possessed or used. Out of some old packing cases, or odd boards, he constructed a rude case, about two feet square, and containing 16 pigeon-holes. These were labeled with initial letters. The whole affair was awkwardly constructed, apparently with a wood-saw, axe and knife, for temporary use, and, after serving for two or three years, was laid aside. Fortunately, it was not lost or destroyed, and finally, after Saint Paul became a flourishing city, the widow of Mr. JACKSON, (Mrs. HINCKLEY, of Mankato,) gave it to the Historical Society, as a relic of early days. It now graces the cabinet of that institution, and is about the most decidedly "historical" relic of their whole collection, showing, as it does, at a glance, the whole story of the wonderful and rapid growth of our city. The Society value it above all their other relics, and will not part with it for any sum, no matter how fabulous, or we should advocate its purchase and enclosing of it in a glass case for an ornament

to the present post-office, to show the contrast of thirty yearsthe first and the last, the alpha and omega of Saint Paul postoffices.

Saint Paul was not the first post-office established in this region, as some have supposed. "Lake Saint Croix Postoffice," afterwards called Point Douglas, was established on July 18, 1840, and Saint Croix Falls on July 18, 1840. Stillwater was made a post-office January 14, 1846, about four months before Saint Paul.

Saint Anthony Falls, this year, gave promise of being a point of importance. This is why PIERRE BOTTINEAU sold his claim on Baptist hill, on June 16, for $300, and removed to the Falls, where he bought, for $150, a considerable tract, which afterwards became Bottineau's Addition, and built the second house in the place. In his deed of the claim on Baptist hill, (to FRANCIS CHENEVERT and DAVID BENOIT,) he describes it as "bounded east by KITTSON, north by CLEWETT, west by HARTSHORN and JACKSON, and south by Louis ROBERT," and "containing 100 acres." containing 100 acres." This was merely an estimate there could not have been that much.

TERRITORIAL FORESHADOWINGS.

The people of Wisconsin Territory had, for some months, been making efforts to secure a State government. On August 6, 1846, the act of Congress, to enable Wisconsin Territory to frame a State Constitution, &c., was passed. The Convention met on October 5, and adjourned on December 16. Hon. WILLIAM HOLCOMBE, of Stillwater, represented Saint Croix county. The Constitution, as framed, provided for the western boundary of Wisconsin down the valley of the Saint Croix, thence down the Mississippi, so that the region now known as Minnesota was thus "left out in the cold." A little out of its regular order, I might here say that this Constitution, which was voted on in April, 1847, was rejected by the people of Wisconsin.

On December 23, 1846, after the above Convention had adjourned, and, probably on the presumption that its action would be ratified, Hon. MORGAN L. MARTIN, the Delegate from Wis

consin in Congress, introduced a bill to organize the Territory of Minnesota.* This bill fixed the western boundary of the Territory on the Red and Sioux Wood Rivers. The bill was bandied about for several months, and, on March 3, 1847, put to sleep "on the table." Thus early was a Territorial government for Minnesota foreshadowed.

Among those who settled in Saint Paul this year, were Wм. H. RANDALL and WILLIAM RANDALL, Jr.; JAMES M. BOAL, THOMAS S. ODELL, JOHN BANFIL, HARLEY D. WHITE, DAVID FARIBAULT, LOUIS DENOYER, Jo. MONTEUR, CHARLES RoLEAU, &c.

WILLIAM H. RANDALL

was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, May 8, 1806. He was in business in New York, in 1845, with his brother JOHN, when WM. HARTSHORN went there to purchase goods. Mr. RANDALL seemed to feel a great interest in Saint Paul, made many inquires regarding it, and, the following year, accompanied Mr. HARTSHORN out, and resolved to settle here. He seemed to have, from the first, a firm faith in the future greatness and prosperity of the place. He soon after, with his brother, and, perhaps, the FREEMANS and A. L. LARPENTEUR, succeeded to Mr. HARTSHORN's business, and became owner of a large amount of valuable property, in the heart of the city. He was one of the proprietors of the Town of Saint Paul when it was laid out in 1847. This property became immensely valuable, and, just prior to the crash of 1857, "Father RANDALL," as he was called, was considered a millionaire. the early days of Saint Paul, he was one of its most prominent and public-spirited citizens. In 1848, he built the stone warehouse now used by the Milwaukee Railroad. It was a great building for that day. He also graded the levee and improved streets at his own expense, and always subscribed liberally to every public enterprise. The panic of 1857 wrecked him, as it did every heavy owner of real estate, and his once ample

In

*Hon. H. M. RICE says that the late H. L. DOUSMAN, of Prairie du Chien, was the first to urge the adoption of the name, Minnesota," on account of its geographical fitness, and the beauty of the name.

fortune slipped away. In an obituary sketch, the editor of the Press said: "Generous to a fault, and singularly indiscriminate in his friendship, he made loans and endorsements to others, that completely wrecked his princely fortune. While he had property, it was freely used, entitling him to the appellation of a public benefactor. Mr. RANDALL was fitted for that era of our social development, when every man knew and trusted his neighbor as a brother-when legal forms and technicalities were not needed or resorted to, to protect one's rights. Alas! that a higher civilization and social advance should bring, with many blessings, so many wrongs and evils unknown to the simpler, ruder forms of society." The Pioneer,

also, said: "We have never known a more kindly-hearted

man. There are many who owe their start and success in life to his generosity. Very many others, strangers, stricken by sickness in a strange land, who owe life itself to his nursing; and in our cemeteries, scores of mounds mark the graves of those who, having no relatives to minister to them in their fatal illness, were soothed and comforted by the tender hand, and open purse, and sympathizing voice of that kind old man, with whom suffering was always a bond of friendship." Even amid the disasters of 1857, he was cheerful and hopefuland was always the welcome guest of the social circle. On July 30, 1861, he died of heart disease, aged 55 years, and was buried by the Masonic Fraternity and the Old Settlers of Saint Paul. JOHN H. RANDALL, Esq., of the Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad, and E. D. K. RANDALL, merchant, are sons of Mr. RANDALL.

WILLIAM RANDALL, Jr., was the oldest son of Wм. H. RANDALL. He was born at Roxbury, Massachusetts, December 19, 1829, and came to Saint Paul with his father. He was an artist of no common ability, and, as a caricaturist, was very skillful. Some political caricatures he made during the early days of the Territory, are spoken of as being brim full of sarcasm. He died in October, 1851, aged 22 years—an untimely end, cutting short, in the very flower of life, a career of promise and hope.

ED. WEST was also an employee of the firm of HARTSHORN,