HomeMy WebLinkAboutChurchill, Nelson & Slaughter (West Half)-UpdatedTHE WEST HALF OF THE CHURCHILL, NELSON & SLAUGHTER
ADDITION RESIDENTIAL AREA,
STILLWATER, WASHINGTON COUNTY, MINNESOTA
Winter/Spring, 2002
National Register Identification and Evaluation Study
Submitted to:
The City of Stillwater
Heritage Preservation Committee
Prepared by Donald Empson
Empson Archives
P.O. Box 791
Stillwater, MN 55082
J�1 y, 2002
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION FUND SUPPORT
AND NONDISCRIMINATION POLICY
This project has been financed in part with Federal funds from the National
Park Service, Department of Interior, through the Minnesota Historical
Society under provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act as
amended. However the contents and opinions do not necessarily reflect the
views or policies of the Department of the Interior, nor does the mention of
trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or
recommendation by the Department of the Interior.
Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the U.S. Department of Interior prohibits
discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, or handicap in its
federally assisted program. If you believe you have been discriminated
against in any program activity, or facility as described above, or if you desire
further information, please write to: Office of Equal Opportunity, U.S.
Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C., 20240.
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The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
ABSTRACT
One hundred and forty-six properties within an area of forty acres
were surveyed for inclusion on the National R egister of Historic
Places. These properties are located in Stillwater, Washington County,
Minnesota in an area designated as the West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson
& Slaughter's Addition to Stillwater HPPA.
The complete papers generated by this survey will be deposited with
the City of Stillwater, and the Minnesota Historical Society.
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The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
INTRODUCTION
Between December 1, 2001, and June 1, 2002, Empson Archives
conducted a National Register survey of the West One -Half of
Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition HPPA residential area of
Stillwater, Washington County, Minnesota. The project area was the NE 1/4
of Section 33, Township 30 N, Range 20 W.
Included within the survey is the West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson
& Slaughter's Addition to Stillwater.
The objective of the study was to conduct an intensive historical survey
of the West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition to
Stillwater residential neighborhood bounded by, or on a line with, South
Holcombe Street on the West; South Fourth Street on the East; West
Hancock Street on the South; and West Willard Street on the North. There
are 146 structures within this survey area covering 40 acres.
The work was conducted between December 1st, 2001 and June lst,
2002 by Donald Empson, the principal investigator; and his wife, Kathleen
Vadnais.
Donald Empson, the principal investigator, meets the Secretary of the
Interior's Professional Qualifications Standards.
The property types in this survey included dwellings, associated
garages and carriage houses, outbuildings, objects and structures, and
businesses. These properties were located, photographed and their physical
descriptions documented. The project team compiled building files on each
inventoried site for the City of Stillwater's Heritage Preservation
Commission. A project report was prepared for the City of Stillwater and for
the Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office. The format of the final
report is determined by regulations of the Minnesota Historical Society.
Properties within the Holcombe's Additions residential area were evaluated
for preliminary National Register significance in terms of one appropriate
statewide historic contexts: "St. Croix Valley Triangle Lumbering (1843-
1914)." The project team consulted the Stillwater historic context study
(Vogel 1993) in evaluating local significance and determined the appropriate
context was: "Development of Residential Neighborhoods in Stillwater,
1850's-1940's."
This effort is part of the on -going program of the Minnesota Historical
Society's State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), which began after
passage of the Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended. The SHPO
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The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
administers the National Register of Historic Places program in Minnesota.
In the early years of this program, the SHPO concentrated on basic
inventories of the 87 counties in Minnesota on a county -by -county basis.
Stillwater established a Heritage Preservation Commission in 1973
and, in conjunction with a federal grant from the Minnesota SHPO,
contracted for is first National Register survey of the downtown commercial
area in 1988. This study led to the placing of Stillwater's downtown
commercial area on the National Register in 1991.
In 1992-3, the Stillwater Heritage Preservation Commission (HPC)
received a Certified Local Government (CLG) grant and sponsored a study of
historic contexts in the city, conducted by Robert C. Vogel and Associates.
The final report, "Stillwater Historic Contexts: A Comprehensive
Planning Approach," was completed in July 1993. The Stillwater HPC has
divided the city's neighborhoods into Historic Preservation Planning Areas
(HPPAs) and intends to proceed with systematic surveys of all Stillwater
neighborhoods over the next decade. The current report summarizes the
results of the fourth HPPA to be systemically surveyed.
The seven previous surveys were of the North Hill (Original Town) the
South Hill (Original Town), the Greeley Residential Area, the Dutchtown
Residential Area, the Holcombe's Additions Residential Area, the Hersey,
Staples Addition, and the South One -Half of the Carli Schulenburg Addition.
The Stillwater Heritage Preservation Commission has indicated that it
will make this survey history available to the residents of the area.
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The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
RESEARCH DESIGN
Theproject area was the NE '/4 of Section 33, Township 30 N, Range
20 W. Included within the survey area is Churchill, Nelson, &
Slaughter's Addition to Stillwater.
We have done a thorough study of the area, despite the considerable
time and money constraints. We have used the yearly tax assessor's
records collected in the State Archives and available on microfilm,
1861-1900, at the Stillwater Public Library --a gift of Rivertown Restoration.
These records were generated much the same way they are today. Every year
the tax assessor viewed all the properties in the city and made an estimate of
the market value of the land and the improvements. By following a property
through the years, it is usually possible to determine when the value jumped
from that of a lot only to that of a lot with a building on it. This record also
contains the name of the property owner through the years. While this kind
of research is tedious in the extreme, it gave us accurate information that can
be found in no other way.
(Two previous surveys have used the date of the building found on the
assessment card at the tax assessor's office. Before the turn of the century,
these dates are notoriously inaccurate, an admission readily made by the tax
assessor's office itself.)
Rivertown Restoration recently paid to have the Stillwater building
permit applications, 1886-1940, microfilmed. They, along with an index
compiled by Kay Thueson, are available at the Stillwater Public Library. The
applications give the date of building, the size of the structure, name of the
owner, sometimes the name of the builder and architect, and other incidental
information. There are also applications for repairs and remodeling. This
information was invaluable and essential for this study.
There are useful records available in the Water Department, the Fire
Department, and the Public Works Department and in the Minutes of
the Stillwater City Council that have never been used before. The
Sanborn Insurance Maps did not illustrate the residential area, but they
were useful in following the history of the some of the businesses. There are
a number of unpublished manuscripts and some published
reminiscences which contained useful information, but since they are often
inaccurate, we only quoted them when we could verify their information from
another source. In general, we used only original sources for our research.
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The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
For visual aids, there are two Bird's Eye View Maps of Stillwater
drawn in 1869, and again in 1879. With their accurate representations of
each house and building, these were extremely useful, and we reproduced
sections of both maps in the text of this report.
We talked to the residents of the area in cases where we had some
uncertainties; when convenient we obtained copies of Property Abstracts.
We also used the land records at the office of the Recorder of' Deeds.
We also used the Stillwater City Directories; consulted the local
newspapers on microfilm at the Stillwater Public Library, and pursued
other research materials that were useful.
We incorporated the information gleaned from our research in the
context of Robert Vogel's Stillwater Historic Contexts and other research
done previously in Stillwater.
We reviewed the survey work on the properties prepared by the
Stillwater Heritage Preservation Commission.
We identified, dated, and cataloged the 146 properties in the
Preservation Planning Area in the manner required by the Minnesota
Historical Society.
We discussed the architectural styles in the Preservation Planning Area
and compared them to other Stillwater neighborhoods.
We photographed all properties.
We have prepared a report that describes the development of the area,
recommendations for future survey work, and evaluated the possibility of
properties that might be eligible for local historic designation and/or eligible
for the National Register of Historic Places. We are not making any
nominations ourselves. We have discussed any possible planning methods for
preservation of historic structures, landscapes, and neighborhoods.
We have attended three meetings with the Stillwater H.P.C.
The work was conducted between December 1, 2001 and June 1st,
2002 by Donald Empson, the principal investigator and his wife, Kathleen
Vadn ais.
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The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
THE THIRD STREET HILL
A small news item appeared in the Stillwater Republican newspaper
❑n November 2, 1869:
Closing the Gap
"The Third street grade is rapidly approaching completion. The
gap between the two sides of the fill is steadily being closed, and
a week or two of the kind of weather we have been having during
the past few days will enable the workmen to complete the job.
Gov. [Mayor] Holcombe promises, however, if the weather does
not permit finishing the work, that he will cause a temporary
bridge to be made, spanning the gap, for the convenience of the
scholars this winter, who reside in the northern portion of the
city."
The S. Third Street hill between Chestnut and Willard Streets was a
massive public works project that included the filling of a major ravine and
grading down through the bluff. For most of the 1860's, the city fathers
planned and schemed to find the wherewithal to breach the bluff. In 1867,
construction began on the new Washington County Courthouse at the top of
the hill, and plans were laid for a new Central high school —the largest in
Stillwater —kitty corner from the new Courthouse. (Pix from corner of 1870
BEV) Opening a street between the hilltop and downtown became
imperative.
Previous to 1870, the South Hill, or Nelson's field' as it was then
known, was accessible only by the Main Street steps rising to S. Broadway, or
by a winding path snaking down a ravine (named Nelson's Hollow)2 which
spilled east into Nelson Street and Nelson's Alley.3
Unfortunately the men most involved in this development of what we
know today as the South Hill were in their graves.
1 Michael Kinsella obituary in the Stillwater Gazette, December 25, 1878. His store at
Willard and Fifth Streets was in "what is known as Nelson's Field"
2 The Stillwater Republican, July 21, 1868
3 Emma Glasser, "How Stillwater Came to Be," in Minnesota History 24:195-206 (September,
1943)
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The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
Socrates Nelson was born in Conway, (Franklin County)
Massachusetts, January 11, 1814. As a young man, he attended Deerfield
Academy before becoming a merchant in Conway. At the age of 25, he
wondered west to Illinois prospecting and buying furs. By 1840, he was in
the rapidly growing city of St. Louis, Missouri where he took up with his
future business partner, Levi Churchill. Four years later, Nelson took a wife:
Bertha Bartlett, a widow from Conway who had come to Illinois after the
death of her husband.
Upon his marriage, in 1844, Nelson took his wife and some mercantile
goods upon a steamboat north on the Mississippi River to the northwestern
frontier: a St. Croix River landing with a newly erected sawmill. There, at a
place called Stillwater, he built himself a house and store near what today
would be approximately the intersection of Nelson Street and South Main
Street.`
Socrates Nelson's partner, Levi Churchill, was also a Yankee, born on
September 16, 1813 in Woodstock, Windsor County, Vermont. He married
Elizabeth Marion Proctor on Oct 2, 1844 in Proctorsville, Vermont. They
must have moved to St. Louis shortly after the wedding.5
In the outpost settlement of Stillwater, Socrates Nelson (Nelson's
Warehouse) collected furs, and sold merchandise. The furs were shipped
downriver to St. Louis where Levi Churchill sold the furs, and used the
money to buy merchandise to ship upriver to Nelson. Socrates also acted as a
transfer agent on the Stillwater levee, receiving packages and other goods
headed further up river and inland and arranged to ship them to their
ultimate destination.
But it was obvious to the residents of the frontier Territory that the
future lay not in furs and trading, but in land and town sites. As one of the
first residents of the location, Socrates and Betsey Nelson, and their St. Louis
partners, Levi and Elizabeth Churchill, split the waterfront territory of
Stillwater with two other pioneer settlers. Joseph R. Brown took the
northern part of the waterfront, between what would be today the site of the
old Prison and Brown's Creek. John McKusick bought out his sawmill
partners, and claimed the area between the old Prison site and what is today
Nelson's Alley. Nelson & Churchill's claim extended one-half mile south of
4 Fifty Years in the Northwest by W.H.C. Folsom. Pioneer Press Company, 1888, Page 59-59;
History of Washington County, North Star Publishing Company, Minneapolis, 1881. Page
590. There seems tobe some question about the notion that he was at Nelson's Landing m
the Mississippi River.
5 This information comes from two Internet genealogy sites: LDS Family Search and
www.ancestry.com
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The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
Nelson's Alley. All three claims extended three-quarters of a mile west from
the river. As one local historian put it:
"in 1845, a verbal agreement was made with regard to land
claims, by which [Joseph R.] Brown's claim was recognized as
extending along the lake shore north of Battle Hollow, where the
Minnesota state prison now stands. South of Battle Hollow,
along the lake shore to Nelson, extending three -fourths of a mile
west, was the claim of the mill company, originally held by
Fisher. [This claim was purchased by John McKusick.] South of
Nelson's alley, one-half mile down the lake, three -fourths of a
mile west, was S. Nelson's claim." 6
This original claim, supplemented by subsequent purchases, made
Socrates and Betsey Nelson, and Levi and Elizabeth Churchill, owners of
much of what is today known as the South Hill.
One of the first purchases Churchill and Nelson made at the new land
office when it opened in St. Croix Falls in 1849 was the NE 1/4 of Section 33,
one -hundred and sixty acres between what is today W. Orleans and W.
Willard Streets; between S. Holcombe Street and Sixth Avenue S.7 Churchill
was apparently the partner more active in land speculation; in 1845, he was
one of several proprietors of the town of Fillmore in Andrew County,
Missouri.$
But land was not the exclusive focus of Churchill & Nelson. Socrates
Nelson was involved in a number of commercial ventures in the fledging city
of Stillwater. He was the first merchant: trading in furs, hardware,
household goods and lumber. He was a developer of Baytown Township, and
along with others, built a steam sawmill on the riverfront of what is today
Bayport. He was active in public life, serving as territorial auditor from 1853
to 1857, and as a state senator. Of his personal nature, one historian
remembered him as "He was of a free and generous disposition in all his
relations of life." 9
6 Fifty Years in the Northwest by W.H.C. Folsom, Pioneer Press Company, 1888. Pages 40-
41.
7 Land certificates #30, 31; 2 Deeds 612, 613.
8 The Missouri Historical Review, Volume X, April 1916, Number 3. Page 197
9 9 Fifty Years in the Northwest by W.H.C. Folsom, Pioneer Press Company, 1888. Pages 58-
59.
10
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The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
NE 1/ of. Section 33
T3ON,R2OW
S. Holcombe Street
a.aaiIS xaoauVH .PA
40 Acres
Survey
Area
S. Fourth Street
Ne.>
Sixth Avenue S
PanS PJMM 'M
West 1/2 of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
11
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
THE FEVER
On the western frontier of the United States, the 1850's were boom
years, and optimism was at an all-time peak. The eastern part of
Minnesota, and its cities, including Stillwater, were growing rapidly, and the
one thing every newcomer needed was land: land to farm, land to live on,
land for commercial enterprise. The businessmen of Stillwater were well
aware of this demand, and many of them bought tracts of land to develop into
building lots.
Stillwater began with a sawmill in 1844. Five years later, when
Minnesota became a Territory, the population was estimated at 609.10 A
year later the population had jumped to 1,052. Most of the residents lived in
what is the downtown area today. But boom times lay ahead.
Thousands of immigrants were pouring into the Territory, and the
price of land was rising rapidly. Through the early 1850's, the price of land
doubled, and doubled again. The Territory was struck with the fever of land
speculation. With the continuing influx of newcomers, all of whom needed a
place to live, how could the price of land not continue to rise — or so the
speculator reasoned. By 1854, the speculation in land prices was just
beginning in earnest, peaking in the year 1857, when it is estimated that in
Minnesota, at least 700 towns were platted into more than 300,000 building
lots — enough for 1,500,000 people." Stillwater did not escape the speculation
fever.
The St. Croix Union newspaper was delighted to point out that:
"About two years ago, Hersey, Staples & Co. gave $600 for
a lot [which] last week sold for $3000 to Mr. Dodge... We add that
when Hersey Staples & Co. made the aforesaid purchase, many
thought they had given a very high price...but time will prove
that the lot will increase as rapidly in value, in the next two
years, as it has done in the two just passed. Mr. Dodge has
already been offered $500 advance on what he gave. Our faith in
Stillwater is unbounded. "12
'°Theodore C. Blegen. Minnesota A History of the State. U. of Minnesota Press. 1963. Page
159.
11William Watts Folwell. A History of Minnesota. St. Paul, The Minnesota Historical
Society, 1956. Vol.
1, page 362.
12 St. Croix Union, August 6, 1856.
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The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
On another occasion, the editor struck back at any who might doubt
the future.
"Less than two years ago they sneered at Stillwater's being
anything outside the Basin, or Original Limits [of downtown].
We well recollect that we were laughed at, by some, for pitching
our tent out in Holcombe's Addition —it being then a wild
unbroken wilderness. But what are now the facts? There are
over 100 houses out there now —some of them first class —and
about G00 inhabitants. Lots which, when we located there [two
years ago] could be had for $25 cannot now be purchased for less
than a hundred dollars —and they are constantly rising..
Lots...have been enhanced in value four -fold within the past two
years, and the way we read the signs of the times, they lack much
of having reached their maximum.13
MORE ADDITIONS
Anticipating quick profits in the land, Stillwater entrepreneurs did
what others throughout the settled portions of Minnesota
Territory were doing: they platted more Additions. The trick was, they
reasoned, to buy the land by the acre and sell it by the -foot.
"STILL WA 1 'ER FOREVER
Another Addition to Stillwater
Additions to Stillwater are all the rage now. Within a few
days past, Jacob Maerty has sold to Joshua B. Carter and Gov.
Ramsey, 140 acres of land lying west of Stillwater and adjoining
Holcombe's Addition, for $7000. It is soon to be surveyed into
town lots.
We rejoice to see this movement.
There are now three heavy St. Paul capitalists and
speculators deeply interested in Stillwater; viz: R. F. Slaughter,
Col. H M'Kenty, and Gov. Ramsey. We are glad to know that St.
Paul speculators are vitally interested here, because it argues
that they now see what we saw nearly three years ago; that is,
that Stillwater is destined inevitably to be a great place. They
now see that Stillwater is not a 'one-horse town, chucked down
among the hills in the sand.' They now see that Stillwater has
13 St. Croix Union, December 5, 1856.
13
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
unrivaled advantages -that she has much capital -that a Rail -
Road is to come here probably before one runs to St. Paul, and
that Stillwater is rapidly advancing in all that contributes to
material prosperity and greatness. "i4
HURRAH FOR STILLWATER"
In January of 1857, just as the land speculation was reaching its
height, Churchill and Nelson began to act. On January 12, they deeded an
undivided one-half of the NE 1/4 of Section 33 (40 acres) to Robert F.
Slaughter of St. Paul for $5,000.00.15 Slaughter, who was involved in several
other Additions in Stillwater, was a consummate real estate salesman; his
specialty was selling local lots to out-of-state speculators.16
The following May, Slaughter sold one-half of his portion to Hilary B.
Hancock of the town of Minneapolis. Hancock paid $2,500 for his 20 acres.17
On June 15, 1857, the four men and their wives: Levi and Elizabeth
Churchill, Socrates and Betsey Nelson, Robert and Nancy Slaughter, and
Hilary B. Hancock platted Churchill, Nelson, & Slaughter's Addition to
Stillwater.
But their timing was very bad.
As late as February, 1857, the future looked bright:18
"Real Estate and Business in Stillwater
The price of land in our city and vicinity has advanced
with astonishing rapidity during the last two years, and from
present appearances we shall see still greater improvements in
the future. During the week past Mr. H. R. Murdock purchased
ten acres of land adjoining Cooper's Addition, from Mr.
Slaughter, for $100 per acre. Two years ago this same land was
sold for five dollars per acre.
14St. Croix Union, December 12, 1856.
16 H Deeds 75
16 There is more on Slaughter in this author's book: A History of the Greeley Residential
Area. Slaughter may have lived in Stillwater for awhile; there were a couple of liens filed
against him for houses he built.
17 H Deeds 422
18 A Plats 129
14
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
Three thousand seven hundred dollars have been recently
offered by Mr. Gorgas, the banker, for a lot on Main street, corner
of Chestnut-25 -feet front and 80 -feet deep- and refused. The
owners —the Messrs. Murdoch, Druggists —intend to build a
.splendid stone building on it in the spring. This is at the rate of
about $150 a front -foot, and be it remembered that the whole lot,
of which this is only a part, a little over a year ago, sold for $10 a
front -foot. This, to say the least, is a very fair advance.
There are yet many splendid investments and fortunes to
be made in this city —which is, as yet, in its infancy —and every
day presents new evidences of its future greatness...On every side
preparations are being made for the erection of capacious ware
houses; substantial —and in some instances —fine private
dwellings, and every thing promises a season of unprecedented
prosperity."19
The four partners must have had visions of sugar plums dancing in
their heads. With close to 500 lots for sale in this Addition alone, their future
was assured.
THE CRASH
On the 24th of August, 1857, the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust
Company of New York failed; its creditors were forced to default,
and a calamitous chain of events spread across the United States. Within
two months, almost everybody in Minnesota was in debt; the Minnesota
Territory was literally emptied of cash. City lots became virtually worthless.
Those who were formerly wealthy found themselves bankrupt. Stillwater
boosters were in despair, and the city was never to fully recover its boundless
optimism after this Depression of 1857.
Writing of St. Paul, Thomas Newson described what was also true of
Stillwater:
"And then came the terribly hard times. With no money,
no values, no property, no business, little or no emigration, no
banks, or banks with empty vaults, no courage, no hope, notes
due, mortgages foreclosed, men heavily in debt, land depreciated
from fifty to seventy-five per cent, no trade, indeed with nothing
is St. Croix Union, February 13, 1857,
15
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
to trade, no foundation to build on, no one can imagine the
frightful condition of affairs in St. Paul in the latter part of the
year 1857 but he who passed through it all... "20
The Stillwater Democrat, on January 1, 1859, editorialized:
"A Happy New Year to our Friends and Patrons. Eighteen
hundred and fifty eight, with its panics and monetary
convulsions, its depression of trade and depreciation in value of
all and every kind of purchaseable and ponderable goods and
estates, has, thank goodness, departed for ever..."
The population of Stillwater had declined, and all plans for the future
were put on hold. A couple of the local banks, not being able to obtain cash,
printed their own bank notes, and Washington County was forced to issue its
own scrip payable against tax dollars that were difficult, if not impossible, to
collect.
In 1857, before the crash, Churchill & Nelson managed to sell only a
couple of lots in Block 10.
But as the economy collapsed, and the real estate market withered,
Nelson, as the partner resident in Stillwater, realized that the sale of his lots
would ultimately depend upon better access to the top of the south hill. To
prmote his property, Nelson did what many other land developers and
speculators did in the nineteenth (and twentieth) centuries: they donated
some of their lots for a public development, in this case, they donated a whole
block for the building of a new Washington County Courthouse on Pine and
S. Third Streets. This was not an act of altruistic generosity on the part of
the partners; they knew the building of a Courthouse would make their own
lots surrounding the courthouse much more valuable. Not only would the
sale of their lots benefit from businesses and workers wishing to live near the
Courthouse; the developers would also benefit because the city would finally
be forced to provide easy and quick access up the bluff to the courthouse.
As Churchill & Nelson anticipated, the building of the new Courthouse
served as the impetus for other development. A new, large, and very grand
public school, Central School, was constructed kitty-corner from the
Courthouse, and across S. Third Street, Father Michael Murphy paid the
astronomical sum of $4,000.00 in 1871 for three of the best lots in the city
which he used to build the new St. Michael's Church.
20 T.M. Newson. Pen Pictuies of St. Paul., Minnesota and Biographical Sketches of Old
Settlers. By the
Author, St. Paul, 1886. Page 698.
16
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
With the building of the Courthouse and other institutions nearby, and
the opening of the Third Street hill, the lots in Churchill, Nelson and
Slaughter's Addition began to sell, houses were built, and the neighborhood
began to take shape.
But the two men most responsible for these changes were both dead.
Levi Churchill had died at the young age of 45 in St. Louis, Missouri on
Christmas Eve, 1857. He had left his entire estate to his wife, Elizabeth M.
Churchill. Elizabeth, in turn, assigned responsibility for the affairs of the
Stillwater partnership to her brother, John Proctor, a well-known Stillwater
resident.21
Socrates Nelson had died on May 6, 1867 at the age of 53. His heirs
were his wife, Betsey, and his one surviving daughter, Emma A. Nelson.
Socrates left an estate of considerable value. His household goods were
appraised at $448.00 including a very expensive $50.00 double-barreled
shotgun. (By contrast, his four featherbeds were only valued at $30.00, and a
walnut dining table was valued at $3.00). His store inventory was valued at
$9770.00. His accounts payable were valued at $13,416.00, giving him total
assets in personal property of $23,303.00. In addition to this, his real estate,
consisting of lots in Stillwater and Baytown, were appraised at $63,990.00.
The total value of his estate was close to $100,000.00, a great deal of money
when the average wage was $2.00 a day, and you could buy a modest house
for $500.00.22 His business affairs were to be continued by Betsey and a local
businessman and surveyor, Harvey Wilson.
The other two partners: Robert Slaughter and Hilary B. Hancock,
discouraged no doubt by the panic of 1857, forfeited their claim to the lots
and are nowhere to be found.23
THE FIRST SIX HOUSES; THE 1870 BIRD'S EYE VIEW
n 1870, when the first Bird's Eye View map of Stillwater was drawn,
just before the S. Third Street hill was opened, there were only six
houses in this Addition.
21 Will #51, Washington County Probate Court. On June 21,. 1858, Elizabeth Churchill gave
the first of many Powers of Attorney to act for her. D Bonds 34
22 Will 4155, Washington County Probate Court
23 There are no recorded documents to explain what happened to Slaughter and Hancock's
title to the property. Slaughter, I believe, ended up in St. Peter, Minnesota; I don't know
what happened to Hancock.
17
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
The first house built in the Addition seems to be one that stood on the
southwest corner of S. Sixth and W. Churchill Streets; today that location is
occupied by an 1890's home with the number 902 S. Sixth Street. The first
house on this location was built in 1857-58 by Charles and Mary Wagner
who purchased the lot from Elizabeth Churchill in July of 1857 for $250.00.
The following year, in May of 1858, they took out a $1,000.00 mortgage from
the eccentric and wealthy Englishman, Morgan May —for whom the
Township is named. Two years later, May foreclosed on the house and
property and sold it to Mrs. Mary Jackman. In 1866, Mary bought three
additional lots. In 1883, Mary sold the house and four lots to Maria C.
Adams. This large house is quite evident on the 1870 Bird's Eye View Map.
In May of 1894, a lumberman, John J, Kilty, bought Lots 1 & 2, and
presumably built the small Queen Anne house that graces those lots today. 24
The oldest remaining house, sitting high on a hill, which dates from
before the Civil War, is at 313 W. Willard Street. Elizabeth Churchill sold
Rudolph Lehmicke Lot 3 of Block 6 in April of 1861. He built a modest house
on the lot valued at $450 in the 1863 Tax Assessor's records.26 Lehmicke,
who was later to become a Washington County Probate Court Judge, moved
out around 1865, and Kate and Thomas Powell moved in and purchased three
additional lots from Elizabeth Churchill.26 By 1871, A.M. Dodd, who was
later to become Register of Deeds for Washington County, had purchased the
house. Three years later, he purchased two additional lots, 5 & 6, from
Elizabeth Churchill thereby owning all of the six lots fronting W. Willard
Street between S. Fifth and S. Sixth Streets.27
In 1868, three years after the end of the Civil War, Elizabeth and
William Giossi purchased Lot 10, Block 6 from Elizabeth Churchill. A year
and a half later, they purchased the adjoining Lot 11. By 1870, they had
built a house, which took the number 718 S. Fifth Street, estimated at $400,
on their two lots. William worked in the Staples Mill.28 In 1879, the Giossi
family sold the property to Albert Drews, a Miller.29
In March of 1868, the Canadian born Herman and Katie Steinhorst
purchased Block 6, Lots 7, 8, & 9, from Elizabeth Churchill. Somewhere
between 1865 and 1870 (a' period for which we have no tax assessor's
24 I Deeds 79; D Mtg 198; P Deeds 262; Q Deeds 428; 10 Deeds 591; 40 Deeds 220
26 N Deeds 286; SAM 78, Roll 4
26 P Deeds 200, Q Deeds 551, R Deeds 481.
27 Z Deeds 211; 1877.83 Stillwater City DirEctories; SAM 78, Roll 8 & subsequent
2e R Deeds 453; V Deeds 518, SAM 7, Roll 2; Stillwater City Directory, 1877.
29 8 Deeds 207; Stillwater City Directory, 1881-82.
18
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
records), they built a $350 house that later took the number, 712 S. Fifth
Street. Herman was a carpenter who built at least one other house in the
neighborhood. There were three children in the family: Alfred, Frank and
Caroline. Eventually the family moved to Oak Park,
Ellen and John Goff purchased Lot 11 in Block 7 in the spring of 1868.
When the tax assessors made his rounds in 1870, he placed a value of $200
on the building on the lot —a small house. Four years later, this home at 722
S. Sixth Street, had increased in value to $660, implying a large addition to
the original home. John Goff is listed in the Stillwater City Directory of
1882-83 as a cooper, i.e. barrel maker. They must have liked the
neighborhood because they remained in this house for the next quarter
..tury. :-0
Elizabeth Churchill deeded over Lot 1, Block 7 to an H. Mahlstrom
who in turn built a large $700 house that took the number, 712 S. Sixth
Street. Two years later, the assessed value had risen to $1,000. Alas, the
house went into foreclosure with Hans Hanson, the mortgagee. By 1882, the
house and property had passed into the hands of William E. Cummings, who
had a jobbing shop on the corner of S. Third and Oak Streets; his wife was a
dressmaker, and their son, Albert, was an apprentice at the St. Croix Drug
Comp any.31
CHURCHILL STREET HOUSES
Tn August of 1872, Elizabeth Churchill sold the west one-third of Lots
26, 27, and 28, Block 9, to Frederick Kadel, a wagon maker. Within
a year, he had built a house that took the number, 521 W. Churchill Street,
valued by the tax assessor at about $350. Ten years later, in April of 1882,
Fred sold the property to John George Kern. From his new house, it was a 12
block walk for John Kern to his place of employment below the bluff, the
Hersey & Bean Lumber Company. Kern lived in the house for over two
decades. In 1922, Albert Peaslee, a plumbing contractor and the owner of the
house paid Emil Bieging, a local building contractor, about $100.00 to have a
new porch entrance and a new window added to the structure. Two years
later, in June of 1924, Peaslee paid another local contractor, Frank Linner,
$1400.00 to rearrange the interior rooms of the house as well as other
repairs. 32
so Y Deeds 153; SAM 7, Roll 2;
31 SAM 7, Roll 2; X Deeds 493; 1884-1887 Stillwater City Directories.
92 X Deeds 71; 10 Deeds 121; SAM 78, Roll 9; 1877, 1882-3, 1887, 1904 Stillwater City
Directories. City of Stillwater Building Permits #1922, #2041
19
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
In the tax assessor's hand written record in 1872, there is a penciled
note added that a D. Hannigan is the owner of Lots 21 and 22, Block 8 and
notes there is a $200 improvement on the property. This appears to be one of
those instances where Churchill and Nelson sold the lots on an unrecorded
document similar to a Contract for Deed, because the first recorded sale of
the lots takes place in May of 1873 when Elizabeth Churchill sells the
property to Henry Diers. Over the next decade, the property is sold three
more times, ending up in the possession of John Curtiss in 1883. By 1890,
Curtiss, a stone mason, is listed in the City Directory as occupying the house
at 514 W. Churchill Street.33
Elizabeth Churchill sold the east two-thirds of Lots 26, 27, and 28,
Block 9, to John M. Nelson in August of 1872. It appears from the tax
assessor's records that he quickly built a small house which tripled in value
by 1874, and became a good sized house that later took the number, 513 W.
Churchill Street. Nelson worked for various employers, including the Isaac
Staples and the Hersey Bean lumber companies. Nelson lived here more
than 20 years.34
Churchill & Nelson sold Lots 1 & 2 to Thomas Sutton in May of 1873.
Sutton turned around and sold the two lots to Peter Shattuck two months
later. Five years later, in September of 1878, Shattuck sold the two lots to
Daniel Reardon who, in 1882, built a substantial $700, two story house, 20
feet by 28 feet, which took the house number, 505 W. Churchill Street. In
1891, Reardon, who was a Stillwater policeman, hired the Northey Brothers,
local contractors, to do some finish work inside the house. In 1928, Emil
Bieging, a local carpenter, made a $1,200 addition to the home.35
John and Nancy McGrath, natives of New Brunswick, purchased two
lots from Elizabeth Churchill in June of 1873 for $250. That same year, they
built a substantial house the tax assessor valued at $600.00. In 1876, John
died, and Nancy was left in their home at 502 W. Churchill Street with her
large Irish family which, in 1880, was listed as: Nancy, age 58; Maggie, 32;
Andrew 29; John 26; Nellie, 20; Emma, 16; Katie, 14; and a nephew, Joseph
7. Nancy lived in the house until her death in 1899.36
33 SAM 7, Roll 3; Z Deeds 343; 1 Deeds 144; 8 Deeds 37; 12 Deeds 178; 1890.91 Stillwater
City Directory.
34 X Deeds 73; SAM 7, Roll 3; SAM 7, Roll 4; 1877 & 1887 Stillwater City Directories
36 X Deeds 346, 350; 1 Deeds 627; City of Stillwater Building Permit #532 & 2235; Stillwater
City Directories for 1881-82, 1887.
36 X Deeds 325; SAM 78, Roll 9; 1880 Census, #222; there is quite a bit more information on
this particular house in an article by Brent Peterson in The St. Croix Valley Press, April 11,
1996.
20
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
In 1874, Walter Herald bought four lots in Block 7 from Elizabeth
Churchill: lots 17, 18, 19, & 20. It does not appear that Herald built on these
four lots, but in May of 1890, he divided the four lots on an east -west basis.
The west one-half of the four lots was sold to Alexander ("Sandy") McClellan
who, in the spring of 1892, built a house on his half of the lots. The home,
which took the number, 410 W. Churchill Street, was estimated to have a
building cost of $900; its dimensions were listed as 19 front feet, 26 feet in the
rear, and 28 feet deep; one and a half stories high. It was to have a 9-foot by
14-foot cellar 7 feet deep. The contractor was Eugene Schmidt, who had an
office at 412 S. 3rd St. In 1932, another contractor charged about $350 to do a
general remodeling of the interior, changing partitions, and putting in new
floors.37
The east half of lots 17, 18, 19, & 20 were sold by Walter Herald to
Robert Barter in May of 1890. It appears that Barter built the first house —
which took the number, 404 W. Churchill Street — on this property soon
after he purchased it. Barter, like his neighbor, McClellan, was a
lumberman. After the turn of the century, George Giebler, a butcher who
worked in the family meat market on South Main Street, acquired the
property. Giebler kept the house for many years. In 1938, he paid Emil
Bieging, a local carpenter, $600 to remodel the house into a duplex, including
an outside stairway to the second floor.38
But Giebler was not only a butcher; he was also a developer. He
purchased the two lots west of him, lots 21 & 22, and divided them on an
east -west line. On the east half of the two lots, he had the home at 416 W.
Churchill Street built in November of 1912. The price of the building is
listed on the building permit as $2,000.00. The size was to be 28 by 30 feet, 2
stories, with a full 7-foot deep basement.39
Three years later, in 1915, Giebler had a second house built almost
identical to the first. $2000,00 was the listed cost of this home at 424 W.
Churchill Street, but this house was a trifle smaller at 26 by 30 feet. This,
however, was not the first house at this address. The first was built about
1870 by Phillip and Eliza McDermott, the parents of Nancy McGrath who
lived at 502 W. Churchill Street. McDermott became a prosperous
lumberman, and in 1884 built a large attractive house that remains at 1312
37 X Deeds 539; City of Stillwater Building Permit #678, #2369; 1892 Stillwater City
Directory
38 X Deeds 539; City of Stillwater Building Permit, #2535.
39 City of Stillwater Building Permit #1516.
21
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
Fourth Avenue South. When the original house on these two lots was
demolished, I do not know.
The home at 421 W. Churchill Street has been changed considerably
from its original appearance, but it would seem that at least a part of this
house was built about 1872 by Alfred Johnson who is listed in the Stillwater
City Directory of 1877 as a member of the river police. In the summer of
1917, local carpenter, Emil Bieging added a $150 porch to the house. 41
The classic Greek Revival house at 322 W. Churchill Street was built
in 1871 by Levi Thompson — who does not seem to be a relation of the other
Levi E. Thompson in Stillwater, an attorney and land developer. In
enumerating progress in the year, the Stillwater Gazette of Nov 14th, 1871,
lists "Levi Thompson res. and barn $3000" under "Improvements on Sixth
Street." The tax assessor was a little more realistic in listing the value of the
house at $1,000.00. This property transaction is another example of how
Churchill and Nelson used an intermediate unrecorded deed in selling their
properties. Although we know the house was there in 1871, and therefore
Thompson must have been in possession of the property, the first recorded
deed does not occur until November of 1878 when a Warranty Deed transfers
the property from Churchill to Thompson. Levi and his wife, Aurora, were
born in Maine; they had two sons, Charles and Ernest, and two daughters,
Alice and Iris. In the later part of his life, Thompson was a partner with Asa
Pattee in a coal and wood fuel business.42
For a time in the 1870's, the home at 319 W. Churchill Street had
the more logical house number, 619 W. Churchill Street. James B. and
Martha Davis, both of whom had come to Minnesota from Maine, built this
house in 1872. James worked in the lumber trade, first as a riverman; later
for Isaac Staples. The Davis family had three children: Edward, Ford, and
Gertrude. Although their home was actually built in 1872, the deed from
Elizabeth Churchill to Martha Ann Davis was not recorded until July of
1874. In 1891, a good-sized one -and -a -half story stable was added to the
property.43
Unfortunately I was unable to ascertain an accurate date for the
building of 314 W. Churchill Street. Both 322 and 314 W. Churchill were
on three lots belonging to Levi Thompson. Because all three lots were in the
40 R Deeds 636; T Deeds 483; SAM 7, Roll 2; City of Stillwater Building Permit, #1619; 1880
Census #212; Empson: History of the Hersey Staples Addition, page 33.
41 SAM 5, Roll 2; Z Deeds 61; City of Stillwater Building Permit #1665.
42 SAM 5, Roll 2; 5 Deeds 45; 1880 Census, #191; 1877 and 1887 Stillwater City Directories.
43 Z Deeds 27; 1880 Census, #197; 1877 & 1887 Stillwater City Directories; SAM 5, Roll 2;
City of Stillwater Building Permit #606.
22
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
hands of Thompson until 1908, the assessor did not appraise this house at
314 as a separate parcel. In the 1879 Bird's Eye View Map, it appears there
is a small house in this location. It may be that that original small house
remains as an addition on the west side of the present two-story house. My
best guess would be that at least part of what is today 314 W. Churchill was
built in the late 1870's. There are no records pertaining specifically to this
house.
310 W. Churchill Street is another house, which I cannot date
accurately. It was built, probably as a second house, on the two lots
purchased by Howard Packard and the site of his larger home at 824 S. Fifth
Street. It is quite a small house of the simple style built in the decade before
and after the Civil War. It appears to be on the 1879 Bird's Eye View Map.
There are no records pertaining specifically to this house.
In 1871, the tax assessor, making his rounds of this neighborhood,
placed a value of $350 on the house situated on the three lots (1, 2, 3, Block
11) owned by Hans Hanson. In 1881, Hanson sold his property and the house
that took the number, 309 W. Churchill Street, to Fridolin Becker. Becker
was a teamster. In the summer of 1911, this house was moved on its two lots
to accommodate the building of 904 and 908 S. Fifth Street.44
In May of 1872, Elizabeth Churchill sold Lot 28, Block 12 to Bridget
Keating, and there is a note in the assessor's records penciled in "Keating's
house, $400." Two years later, however, the property was sold to Joseph
Olson who lived at 219 W. Churchill Street for more than two decades. But
it appears this house was demolished, and around the turn of the century a
second house was built in this location. The present house had five feet
added to it as well as a porch over the kitchen in 1922, and the following
year, there was a massive $5,000.00 remodeling in which the rooms and
porches were rearranged.45
In the post Second World War building boom, 413 W. Churchill
Street was built in 1948 and 313 W. Churchill Street was built in 1951 on
what appears to have been a vacant lots. 522 W. Churchill Street was built
in 1950; and 509 W. Churchill Street was built in 1955 on what also appear
to have been vacant lots.
4SAM 78, Roll 8; R Deeds 116; 1877 & 1884 Stillwater City Directories; City of Stillwater
Building Permit #1453.
46 SAM 78, Roll 9; D Bonds 400; Z Deeds 34; 1887 Stillwater City Directory; City of Stillwater
Building Permits #1899, #2003
23
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
A MARRIAGE
ri September 26, 1871, the busirpss of Churchill and Nelson took
another turn. Emma, the heir and only surviving daughter of
Socrates Nelson, married a 28-year-old dapper and promising Stillwater
attorney, Fayette Marsh. One of the first orders of business was to build a
splendid new house for the family. The house at 516 S. Broadway, which cost
around $15,000.00 was a resplendent conglomeration of brackets, bays,
porches, all in a more or less fashionable French Second Empire Style. [pix
of house]
In November of 1880, Emma Nelson Marsh died leaving three
children. In her will, we find that the $100,000.00 estate left her by her
father some 13 years earlier has been reduced by one-third. Emma's personal
assets included bank stock, promissory notes and cash worth $9,131.00. The
value of her real estate was reckoned at $57,275.00, which included the value
of the S. Broadway house at $13,000.00. From her personal estate, her
husband, Fayette, was to receive $3,043.23; each of the three children, Ella
N. Marsh, Nelson Orris Marsh, and Faith Marsh, were to receive $2,029.23.
Fayette was the administrator of the will, and it was his task to continue
managing the real estate interests of the estate.
However, there was apparently some difference of opinion over the
administration of the real estate between Fayette and his mother-in-law,
Betsey Nelson, Socrates' widow. In a five page memorandum between the
two heirs of Socrates, which reads, in part, "...certain differences have arisen
between [Fayette] and Betsey D. Nelson respecting the rights and interest
in...the residue of the estate of Socrates Nelson, deceased which...consists
principally in certain real estate situated in the city of Stillwater..." Fayette
agreed to pay her a monthly allowance from the proceeds of the real estate.
As an indication of the amounts concerned, there is a note in the will that the
rents received from the properties was $4,270.00 between November 23, 1880
and November 1, 1882.46
But Betsey Nelson was apparently not the only one Fayette Marsh had
difficulty with. The beleaguered son-in-law, who had an unfortunate and
ultimately fatal addiction to alcohol, was apparently accused of living off, or
at least using his wife and mother-in-law's money for his own extravagant
purposes. In a letter of justification to his children, accompanying an account
book, he wrote:
46 Will of Emma Nelson Marsh, #535 in Washington County Probate Court
24
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
'The account which is set forth just above is as you perceive the account
front, the time we finished building the House [516 S. Broadway] up to the time
of your Mother's Death. The history of that period is this. In order to explain
the account from 1873-4 when, we finally closed up House building until 1876
Mrs. Nelson continued the business of the Churchill & Nelson Estate. Your
mother's [Emma Nelson] property was our half of that estate. And you will
find that 1 have charged to myself all that which I received from him during
that period, even when it was delivered directly to your Grand Mother. This
lasted until the Fall of 1876 at which time Harvey Wilson [a trustee under
Socrates Nelson's will} died. Then for about one year or perhaps a little more
Mr. John Proctor, the brother of Mrs. Churchill, who was the owner of the
other half of the estate ran the business: and I have charged myself with all of
the cash which I obtained from him. There was no other source from which I
received any belonging to your Mother during that period, so I charged it all to
myself. During that period also --the fall of 1876--your Grand Mother [Betsey
Nelson] resided with me and I paid the entire expenses of my family and of
your Grand Mother except for as far as she purchased clothing or expended
money which was drawn from Mr. Wilson which money you will find charged
to me in the accounts set forth. But the money tztrned over to her for her
especial use was also credited back to her in the same account so that made it
stand in this way: From the time we quit building the House up to 1876 I
supported your Grand Mother except as to her spending money and some
money which she used for the purchase of clothing that she received from Mr.
Wilson through me as indicated in the account. This continued to be the case
during the administration of the estate by Mr. Proctor which lasted until
sometime in 1877. Except that he so miserably managed the affairs of the
estate that but little money was received which might be disbursed. You will
observe by this account contained in the old Wilson Book, which will be
presented for you, that he must have lost most of the rents and indeed made a
very lame attempt at running the business of the Estate. It was the actual
desire of both parties that the Estate should then be divided: It was done so in
a very satisfactory way I believe to both of them.47"
"Now at the division of the estate a certain lot of notes were turned over
to me as the agent of your mother; a part of them never were collected; all of
those that were collected you will find in the list charged to my account on
page 14 of this Book. Three of the notes were not collected and you will find
them charged to my account. At the tirne of the division of the estate there was
no property except certain bank stock in the Lumbermans National Bank and
in the First National Bank of Stillwater, these certain promissory notes and
47 Previous to 1877, the deeds in Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition were signed by all
parties: John Proctor (for Elizabeth Churchill), Betsey Nelson, Emma and Fayette Marsh.
When the estate was divided, certain lots were deeded to Churchill, and certain lots were
deeded to Nelson's heirs.
25
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
the real estate. The real estate of which I speak was conveyed to her by Deed.
You will find these deeds recorded in the office of the Register of Deeds at the
Court House. [3 Deeds 116] There were three of these deeds. The deeds that
were so recorded described all of the real estate that was conveyed to your
mother at that time. I enclose in this book and attach to it maps showing
where that real estate was situated. The colored pieces on the maps indicate
the estates which were conveyed to your mother at that time. It contained a
complete description of all that was conveyed to her; nothing has been omitted.
In order to show you that I account for every piece of Real Estate sold I have
jotted down upon these maps on each lot the number of the item and the pages
where you will find that I have been charged with it. This is so that you may
be perfectly convinced that I have accounted for every foot of real estate which
was deeded to your mother or of which she was the lawful owner. When I do
that and account for the promissory notes received and for the cash received
from Mr. Proctor and Mr. Wilson I have absolutely accounted for every dollars
worth of property of hers that I ever touched or handled.
There was also certain other real estate which was nominally or
apparently conveyed to your Mother. The deed of that has never been
recorded. The reason for that was this: Before the division of the partnership
property there was quite a number of lots conveyed by way of Bond for Deed
[similar to our Contract for Deed] and notes given therefore. In many instances
the taxes were not paid upon it, therefore the deed of that could not be
recorded. These notes given for them are the same notes which I have charged
myself twice because they were already sold and a bond given for a deed so
that the real estate really was not ours. The bond only giving us a lien or title
to the property until the notes were paid. When the notes were paid the
property became theirs. Therefore I ought only to charge myself with the notes.
[Many of the lots in this addition were not conveyed with a Warranty Deed to
the new owners until several years after the owners had built a home on the
lot. What Fayette is explaining above is that an intermediate (unrecorded)
instrument much like our Contract for Deed was used to convey the property
until a later Warranty Deed was issued by Churchill or Nelson]
If you are not satisfied upon this point show this paragraph to any real
estate Lawyer or any competent Lawyer and he will tell you that I am stating
just what the legal rights of the case are and that I should so charge myself
just as I have done and in no other way. And you will discuss by the
examination of this account and the books of Harvey Wilson and the maps
which are attached to this Book and the deeds which are upon record at the
Court House recorded in the year 1877, about the month of May, that I have
accounted for every note and every dollar in money that I ever received of your
mother's and every piece of real estate that I ever sold of hers up to and
26
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
including the year 1880, the account closing on the 23rd day of November
1880, the day your mother died."
"Let me state the proposition broadly to you that from the time that I
married your mother in 1871 to the 23rd day of November, 1880, I furnished
the entire support of my family without the use of a Dollar of your mother's
money. That such money of hers as I did receive was expended as you see by
the account for her benefit and in the protection of her property and in the
building of valuable Buildings upon her estate.
[When I came to take charge of the Estate and the division was made there
was only one building upon the property save and except our Homestead.
There was no property that would pay an income as you perceive except this
building known as the old Willard Building which was standing at the time
that I write this explanation. That was rented for five hundred Dollars per
year. The taxes on the property, it being all outlying lots, was above Twelve
Hundred Dollars per year. You can see that instead of being a help to us it
was a positive nuisance and burden. Yet notwithstanding this truth all of
those years I necessarily had to bear the humiliation and reproach of the
current belief in society, reiterated upon every possible opportunity by the
friends of Mrs. Nelson that I was being supported out of the property
belonging to your mother. Your mother understood it correctly and used every
possible endeavor she could to correct such a misapprehension and in all
respects in reference to it behaved toward me like a noble woman which she
was. In her there was no fault either in reference to that or anything else.
This will close up the account to 1880 at the time of her death. The next two
years the account was filed with the Probate Court. It consisted in the
collection of various notes which we had at that time and in the sale of some
certain real estate. I will indicate upon the map what the Real Estate was.
The account will only be the account just as I filed it in the Probate Court at
that time and nothing more. From that time forward I will continue the
account so as to show that I have accounted for every piece of property, money
or any other thing had or owned by your mother.
As I have above stated I found the property was outlying and producing
no income in my judgement and I now believe it was the best business
judgement in order to secure an income for my wife and children in case of my
death and I thought that this outlying property ought to be sold and converted
into money and buildings built upon that portion of the estate lying upon
Main Street in the city of Stillwater where it would bring a good rent. As you
see by the accounts I have accomplished for that purpose the buildings are
built: and if you notice the larger rents with which my account has been
charged since that date you will perceive that it was a good business
judgement.
27
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
This property will be turned over to you in your due proportions when you
arrive at Lawful age, and upon my D eath by the terms of my wit You will
inherit every Doll ars worth of it, every doltzrs worth of p roperty of which your
mother died possessed together with much other property and life insurance
which I shall be able to confer upon you. I do this with only the desire of
accounting to you for all of your mother's estate. I shall neither permit my
wife [he had remarried] or anyone else to inherit a dollars worth of the property
that belonged to your mother. After the close of the account which I shall add
and which is filed in the Probate Court I will go on with the receipts and
disbursements from that date until the present, and from time to time while I
live I shall keep up this account. And I say here, that in case I shall live, after
I complete one more building up on that property I shall feel that I have made
sacrifices enough in the labor I have bestowed upon it and shall feel at liberty
to use the income in excess for what I have done with the money. "98
FOURTH STREET HOUSES
The history of the house at 704 S. Fourth Street begins with the
Stillwater Gazette of November 14, 1871. Under a listing of
improvements on Fourth Street for the year, there is a note: A. Caplazie
$500. Albert Caplazi bought Lots 1 & 2, Block 5 from Elizabeth Churchill in
1871 on a Bond for Deed (similar to our Contract for Deed), followed by a
Warranty Deed in 1872.
Albert Caplazi built a house on the southwest corner of
Fourth and Willard and at one time had a dairy of about 15
cows, until the herd law went into effect about 1885 when the
cows were not allowed to run at large, many in the neighborhood
came and got their milk fresh at milking time, morning and
evening.49
When the herd law went into effect, Caplazi opened a grocery store on
the corner at 702 S. Fourth Street while living next door at 706 S. Fourth
Street. Caplazi and his wife, Chetien, had emigrated from Switzerland.
They had, in 1880, three children: Paul, 12; Rosa, 10; Ottelie, 4.
48 This document, along with other information on Churchill and Nelson, is from the
grandson of Nelson Orris Marsh (who was a son of Emma & Fayette Marsh), Richard
Huseth, 11007 Spicewood Parkway, Austin, TX 78750. Richard was extremely helpful in
gathering information on Churchill and Nelson.
as Paul Caplazi, unpublished manuscript, 1944, in the Stillwater Public Library.
28
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
In the summer of 1941, a new residence was constructed on these two
lots by local contractor, George Olson. The cost was estimated at $6,000.00;
the owner was Mrs. Ethel Gower.s°
Henry Desteffany purchased Lot 5, Block 5 in November of 1874, and
it appears that his one and a half story house, 20 x 26 feet, at 716 S. Fourth
was built soon afterwards. Henry worked as a clerk for a local lumber
company. In 1888, local contractors, the Northey Brothers, constructed a
large $700 addition that matched the size of the original house.51
In 1878, Morris and Bridget Quinlan, who owned Lots 6 & 7, Block 5,
on what today we would call a Contract for Deed, built a home which took the
cumber, 720 S. Fourth Street. Quinlan went to obtain a Warranty Deed to
the lots from Emma and Fayette Marsh in August of 1880. In 1932, the
interior of the house was extensively remodeled with new floors, new stairs,
and new doors.52
From the tax assessor's records, it appears 724 S. Fourth Street was
built in 1878 when the value of Lots 6 & 7 was put at $750. The lots,
however, were in Fayette Marsh's name indicating that whoever built the
house had a Contract for Deed (unrecorded) interest in the property rather
than possessing a Warranty Deed. No other information is available.63
New Brunswick natives, John and Elizabeth Mealey, built their house
at 802 S. Fourth Street on Lot 8, Block 5 in 1871 when it was listed among
a number of improvements in Nelson's Field. According to a building permit,
this original house was one-story, 24-feet by 24-feet, with a 16 x 20 foot ell. It
had a 10 x 16 foot cellar. In 1886, William May, a local carpenter, added a
porch and bay window after moving the house eight feet west on the lot. The
following year, another carpenter, Michael Carroll, constructed a $210 18 x
20 foot addition to the house to be used as a kitchen. John Mealey was a
Stillwater policeman, and he and his family lived in the home until 1903.64
In 1878, According to the yearly tax assessor's records, a F. Scwartz
built a $500 house that today has the number, 806 S. Fourth Street.
so D Bonds 272; Z Deeds 75; 1877, 1881-82, 1884, 1887 Stillwater City Directories; City of
Stillwater Building Permit #2032
61 Z Deeds 147; 1877 & 1881-82 Stillwater City Directories; City of Stillwater Building
Permit #374.
62 5 Deeds 582; SAM 7, Roll 7; City of Stillwater Building Permit #2367; 1887 Stillwater Dity
Directory lists John Quinlan, a plumber, living there.
63 SAM 7, Roll 7.
54 List of improvements, Stillwater Gazette, Nov. 14, 1871; City of Stillwater Building
Permits #29 & 203; 1887 City Directory lists both Mealey as well as Neil McKay running a
grocery store at that address; 1880 Census, #152.
29
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
However, Schwartz never received a Warranty Deed to the property so the
extent of his tenure cannot be traced. In April of 1883, Joseph and
Wilhelmina Link purchased the house and property. He was a bartender
when the couple took up residence there in the early 1880's. For a time, the
house had the number, 730 S. Fourth Street.55
James Barry, who worked as a watchman for the Hersey, Bean &
Brown Mill on South Main Street had the home at 810 S. Fourth Street
built in 1878. He bought the lots in 1876 and 1879.66
In 1871, The Stillwater Gazette combed the city for any improvements
that could be used to brag up the progress of Stillwater. In the November
14th issue, under the heading "Nelson's Field," there is a listing for "P.
Goodman, res, 24 x 26, $400." This is a reference to the building of the
residence at 816 S. Fourth Street. Phillip Goodman was a lumberman, and
he lived in the home for over a quarter century. In the early days of house
numbers, this home had the number: 740 S. Fourth Street.57
The lot 820 S. Fourth Street is situated on was carved out of Lots 13
and 14. I was unable to deduce any information about the building of this
house.
The brick commercial building 826 S. Fourth Street appears to have
been built in the 1920's, but there does not seem to be any building permit.
That location was the site of an earlier grocery store in the 1880's operated by
Edward and Philomena Lemoine, and later, James Walsh. They had built a
house there in 1875.58
Dennis J. Hooley, a butcher by trade, built his first grocery store and
meat market in 1886 at 902 S. Fourth Street. His first store was one story
high, 20 feet wide, and 36 feet deep. It did not have a foundation or
basement. The price of construction was $275. On the adjacent lot, he built a
14 x 21 foot stable —probably to house his delivery wagon. The builder was
Edward Olson. Dennis lived next door at 906 S. Fourth Street It wasn't
until 1890 that he actually purchased Lots 1 and 2 of Block 12. In 1901,
Dennis had local carpenter, Alfred Zoller (who lived at 809 Sixth Street S.)
build him a new building that was two stories high, 30 feet wide by 51 feet
deep. The building has a peaked roof, stone foundation, sheet iron ceiling,
56 SAM 7, Roll 7; 1882-83 & 1884 Stillwater City Directories; 12 Deeds 44.
66 Z Deeds 572; 5 Deeds 420; 1877-1883
b7 8 Deeds 3; SAM 78, Roll 9; SAM 7, Roll 4; 1877-1884 Stillwater City Directories
68 A Liens 123; I Deeds 25; 1877-1894 Stillwater City Directories.
30
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
and cost $1200. In 1943, local contractor, George W. Olsen made a number of
improvements to the interior of the store.59
In October of 1881 and June of 1882, Charles Nordstrom bought Lots 5
& 6, Block 12, and soon afterwards built a large dwelling at 916 S. Fourth
Street. Nordstrom is listed in the 1887 Stillwater City Directory as a
laborer.6°
Michael Carroll, a carpenter, built the home at 924 S. Fourth Street
about 1874 shortly after he bought Lot 8, Block 12 from Churchill & Nelson.
Michael was born in New Brunswick about 1843; his wife, Mary, was born in
Maine about 1850. By 1880, they had three children: James, age 6, Miles,
age 2, and John, about 8 months old. In 1886, the Carroll's sold their house
to Maurice Clancy, and moved down to South Main Street. In 1890, Clancey
added Lot 7 to the property. 61
In 1873, Edward and Philomene Lemoine built a small home at what
would later take the number, 1006 S. Fourth Street He was a Canadian
born carpenter, the father of seven children: Alice, Clara, Felix, Philuda?,
Fred, Clothide, and Mary. For a time in the early 1880's, the Lemoines ran a
grocery store out of their house. As far as I could tell, the Lemoines never did
have a deed for their property, and in 1882, it passed to Mary Ann
McC allom.62
About 1884, George Muller, the boat manufacturer, had a large house
built at 1010 S. Fourth Street on two lots he had purchased from Churchill
& Nelson in May of 1873. Unfortunately, that house was destroyed by fire,
and in December of 1888, Muller took out a building permit to rebuild the
house to the same dimensions, which were two stories, 22 feet by 28 feet
deep. The cost of the house was put at $1,800, a substantial sum for the
time. In 1931, Emil Bieging performed a substantial remodeling of the
kitchen.63
In April of 1872, Hersey, Bean & Brown, a lumber company on
Stillwater's south Main Street filed a :Lien on Lots 13 & 14, Block 12, against
Edward and Ann Elliot "for erecting a dwelling house." The unpaid amount
59 City of Stillwater Building Permits #09, #1024, #1222, 2713; Stillwater City Directories
1887-1905; 35 Deeds 205.
8° 10 Deeds 219; 8 Deeds 461; SAM 5, Roll 6.
el 1877-1884 Stillwater City Directories; 1880 U. S. Census, #138; Z Deeds 604; 15 Deeds
556; 31 Deeds 31; 1890 Stillwater City Directory.
62 M Mortgages 557, 0 Mortgages 48; SAM 78, Roll 9; SAM 7, Roll 4; 12 Deeds 15; 1877-1884
Stillwater City Directories; 1880 Census, #148.
68 SAM 78, Roll 14; City of Stillwater Building Permit #380, 2349;X Deeds 355; 1884
Stillwater City Directory.
31
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
was 174.22. From this lien, we can date the first house on these lots, a house
which today has the number, 1022 S. Fourth Street The tax assessor's
records for 1873 assign a value of $300 to the structure on the lots. Edward
Elliot was born in Ireland about 1830; his wife, Ann, was born in New
Brunswick about 1837. They had eight children living with them: William J.,
22; Mattie, 18, Edward, 15; Allan, 12; Katie, 10; Annie, 8; Nora, 5; and
George,. 2. The house, it appears, also had the numbers 1022 W. Hancock,
and 506 W. Hancock. Around 1897, the property was sold to the Malloy
family (Did they build a new house?)
After the Second World War, in a period of expansion for the city of
Stillwater, several new houses were built on lots that had previously
contained an older house. 710 S. Fourth Street, built in 1966, had previously
been the site of the home of Henry and Dominica Desteffany which they had
built in the 1870's.64 912 S. Fourth Street was built in 1946 on what had
previously been a vacant lot.
FIFTH STREET HOUSES
Two
years after the Giossi family built their home at 718 S. Fifth
Street, Dietrich J. and Margaret Muhlenbruch purchased the
adjacent lots: 12, 13, & 14 from Elizabeth Churchill. Within that same year,
a house, valued by the tax assessor at $500, had been constructed on the lots.
Muhlenbruch, who later changed his name to the much more generic, John D.
Millbrook66, was a stone mason. When house numbers were assigned, this
home became 804 S. Fifth Street. The Millbrooks lived in the home through
the 1890's.66
Elizabeth Churchill sold Lot 26, Block 5, to Patrick and Bridget Collins
in May of 1872. The following year, the assessor noted a house valued at
$175 on the property. Patrick was born in Ireland; Bridget in Canada; their
three children: William, John, and Eddie, were born in the United States.
Patrick was trained as a stone mason, but he eventually became the
Assistant Health Officer of the City of Stillwater. The Collins family lived in
their house at 715 S. Fifth Street for more than 30 years before Patrick's
death in 1907.67
64 T Deeds 419; X Deeds 192; Z Deeds 147; City of Stillwater Building Permits #1988, #2051,
#2078; 1880 Census #158; 1877-1883 Stillwater City Directories.
66 There was this odd practice in the 19th Century of switching a man's first two names
around. Thus William D. Evans will suddenly become David W. Evans. This can be very
confusing. If foreign names are involved, it is even more confusing.
86 X Deeds 352; SAM 5, Roll 2; Stillwater City Directories, 1881-1894.
H7 X Deeds 370; SAM 78, Roll 9; 1877, 1881-2, 1894 Stillwater City Directories; 1880 Census,
#178
32
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
The contractor, August Kutz, and his carpenter sons, Charles,
Herman, and Rinehold built 713 S. Fifth Street in the spring of 1888. The
homeowner was Robert Schneider, a machinist, who had purchased the
property from Sarah Withrow in April of 1883. The building permit lists the
cost of the house at $600.00, and gives its size as 18-feet by 26-feet, one -and -
a -half stories. Three years after building the house, Schneider took out a
mortgage from the Stillwater Fire Department Relief Association.68
It is difficult to date the home at 708 S. Fifth Street because it is not,
in the land or tax assessor records, separated out from the house at 313 W.
Willard. From the value of the combined lots, I would guess this house was
built in the early irs rims. The property was owned for many years by A.M.
Dodd who lived on Willard. ,
A German born widow, Johanna Morgan, age 43, purchased Lot 21,
Block 5 in 1874, and a year later, she also bought Lot 22. A penciled note in
the yearly assessor's record notes the lots are "with house," and indicates the
building's value at $640, a substantial house for the time. But Johanna
needed a larger house, for the 1880 Census tells us that she had seven
children living with her. Georgia, 28, and Fredericka, 26, were dressmakers.
John, 21, and Silas, 25, were tinners. In addition, there were the other
children, Josephine, 24, Charles, 14, and Ella, age 12. The first number of
this house was 727 S. Fifth Street which ignored the existence of the east -
west Abbott Street. The house number was later changed to 807 S. Fifth
Street.69
The tax assessor's records indicate the home at 817 S. Fifth Street
was built about 1884, probably as a part of the Goodman family who lived
behind this house at 816 S. Fourth Street.70
John H. Johnson purchased Lots 16 & 17, Block 5, from Hans Hanson
on September 3, 1879. It appears Hanson had built a house that later took
the number 823 S. Fifth Street on the lots around 1873. Johnson was a
sawyer for the East Side Lumber Company. In 1889, Sven Berglund, a well-
known local contractor, added a 16-foot by 16-foot $150.00 one-story kitchen
to the house.71
68 City of Stillwater Building Permit #281; 10 Deeds 630; 11 Mtgs 127.
89 Z Deeds 8, 229; SAM 7, Roll 4; 1877, 1881.82.83 Stillwater City Directories 1880 Census,
#176
70 SAM 78, Roll 14; 10 Deeds 164.
71 5 Deeds 207; 0 Mtgs 91; SAM 78, Roll 9; City of Stillwater Building Permit #329; 1877 &
1881 Stillwater City Directories.
33
The West One Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
In a burst of civic boosterism, the Stillwater Gazette of November 14th,
1871, listed all the improvements within the city for the past year. Under the
list of improvements for Fifth Street, there is a notation: "H. Packard, res.
and barn." Howard and Deborah Packard, both of them Maine born, received
the warranty deed from Elizabeth Churchill to their lots 18 & 19, Block 6, in
January of 1877, six years after they built their substantial home at 824 S.
Fifth Street. Packard was a guard at the state prison north of downtown
Stillwater. The 1880 Census lists the Packards, both in their 50's, living with
William & Caroline Whiting, and their two adolescent children. This house
has, in the rear, what appears to be another house tacked on to the main
structure. This rear structure appears to be a typical small house of the Civil
War period with its center door and symmetrical windows in front. Perhaps
it was the first house on the property.72
Charles Glaser, a grocer in the neighborhood, had the home at 904 S.
Fifth Street built in the summer of 1911. The building permit specifies the
cost at $2,200.00, and the dimensions as 28-feet by 30-feet, two stories high.
The basement was to be full size and 7% feet deep. In order to build this
newer house, he had to move an older house at 309 W. Churchill Street to
another place on the lots.73
Next door, at 908 S. Fifth Street, Charles Glaser built a second house
in the winter of 1911, this one to cost $1,800.00 with dimensions of 26-feet by
30-feet, two -stories high. Both of Glaser's houses were built on speculation;
that is, to sell to a third party.74
Fred Pankonin and his wife, Teresa, both Prussian born, built their
house at 909 S. Fifth Street about 1881. The purchased the north %2 of Lot
25 and all of Lot 26, Block 12, from Elizabeth Churchill in June of 1881, and
in August of that same year, they took out a mortgage from the Stillwater
Building Assocation. Fred worked as a mill hand; they had two daughters:
Lizzie and Anna.76
Henry Roettger bought Lot 4, Block 11, from Elizabeth Churchill in
August of 1874. He built a house on his lot that took the number, 912 S.
Fifth Street, valued at $600.00 by the tax assessor. Two years later, he sold
his lot to Jacob Bean, a wealthy mill proprietor. The following year, Bean
bought the adjacent Lot 5 from Elizabeth Churchill.76
72 1877, 1881-82, 1884 Stillwater City Directories; Z Deeds 440; 1880 Census, #173
73 City of Stillwater Building Permit #1462
74 City of Stillwater Building Permit #1444
76 8 Deeds 295; P Mtgs 488; 1880 Census #165; SAM 5, Roll 6; 1887 Stillwater City Directory.
76 SAM 7, Roll 4; Z Deeds 389, 432; I Deeds 302; 1877 Stillwater City Directory.
34
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
The Maine born Rufus E. Goff and his Minnesota born wife, Josephine
had the dwelling at 913 S. Fifth Street built about 1880. Goff purchased
Lot 24 from Emma Marsh in the summer of 1879. In 1888, a local carpenter,
R. W. Phelps, made a 1-1/2 story, 14 x 20 foot bedroom addition to the
original 1-1/2 story 14 x 20 foot building. Before adding the adih inn, Phelps
also moved the original house 16 feet west on the lot. In 1910, Goff had
another 12 x 12 one-story addition constructed by Frank Linneroth. Rufus
was listed in the 1890-91 Stillwater City Directory as a lumberman.77
Emma Marsh sold the Danish born Peter Jackson and his wife, Celia,
lots 6 & 7 in Block 11 in November of 1879. But by the time he received his
Warranty Deed, he had already been living in his house at 920 S. Fifth
Street for two years. But Jackson was not one to stay. In August of 1880,
the property was sold to Mary H. Allen, who, in 1886, had a 20-foot by 8-foot
kitchen added to the house by Ely B. Woodard --who is listed in the 1890-91
Stillwater City Directory as a barber! In March of 1889, Allen sold the
property to Anna Tobisch, a midwife.78
, Edward and Catharine McFarlane had the house at 921 S. Fifth
Street built in the early 1880's.79
The Irish born Morris and Mary Quinlan and their son, John, were the
first residents of 1002 S. Fifth Street, which they had built in 1877. Two
years later, they received their Warranty Deed from Emma Marsh. Morris
was listed as a gardener: considering the location of their house at this time, T
would guess this to mean he raised produce —probably to sell in the city. But
perhaps the house was not as rural as he wished, for in 1881, he sold the land
to Robert Carter, who in turn sold it to William Brigan.80
Louis Avery built a large home at 1003 S. Fifth Street about 1882.
The following year, he received his Warranty Deed from Elizabeth Churchill.
James Avery is listed as the resident of the house in the Stillwater City
Directories.81
1008 S. Fifth Street is reported to have been built in 1906. No
further information seems to be available.
77 5 Deeds 449; City of Stillwater Building Permit #369, #1404; SAM 5, Roll 6; 1880 Census
#168
78 SAM 7, Roll 6; 5 Deeds 270; 5 Deeds 549; 28 Deeds 235; City of Stillwater Building Permit
#62; 1880 Census, # 166.
79 21 Deeds 334; 1884 & 1890-91 Stillwater City Directory.
80 SAM 7, Roll 6; 1880 Census, #166; 1881-82 Stillwater City Directory; 5 Deeds 146; 8 Deeds
101; 12 Deeds 2.
81 7 Deeds 184; SAM 5, Roll 6; 1884 & 1887 Stillwater City Directories.
35
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
Marcel Gagnon appears to be living in 1016 S. Fifth Street as early
as 1877, three years after he purchased Lots 12, 13, & 14, Block 11. He is
listed as a florist and a gardener, and apparently he had a greenhouse either
on this property or close by. Born in Canada, he was, at least in 1880, a
single man of 53 living with the Edward Bell and George Gerard families.
But some disaster must have occurred around 1894 because Marcel moved to
Tacoma, Washington, and a new $1,000.00 home was built on Lot 12 by
Michael Carroll, a Stillwater carpenter on behalf of Eugene Savage, a janitor
at Central High School who is listed as living at 1008 S. Fifth Street.
Given the occasional mistakes on the old records, it might be possible
that the building permit for Lot 12 (1016 S. Fifth Street) is really the building
permit for Lot 11 (1008 S. Fifth Street), which would explain why there is no
information on 1008 S. Fifth Street.82
Lot 14, Block 11 was one of the three lots purchased by Marcel Gagnon
in 1874 at which time the assessor's records indicate a considerable $600
improvement on it. Who actually lived in the house which took the number
1020 S. Fifth Street is uncertain although Gagnon continued to be the
recorded owner of the property until he sold it to John Hines in October of
1883. Hines was listed as a laborer.83
After the Second World War, in a time of expansion for Stillwater,
there were several houses built on S. Fifth Street. 805 S. Fifth Street was
built in 1947, replacing the earlier home of the Swiss -born Henry Hefty, a
butcher with a local grocery store.84 Two newer houses were built at 808 S.
Fifth Street and 811 Fifth Street in 1948 replacing at least one earlier
home there that had, for a time, the house number 733 S. Fifth Street. It was
the house of the Prussian -born Hohlt Gotlieb, a teamster.86 812 and 816 S.
Fifth Street, two new houses built in 1965 replaced the old Edward and
Ellen Yorks house which had been built about 1872.86 1013 S. Fifth Street
was built in 1956 on what appears to have been an empty lot. An older home
was moved from this Lots 15 and 16, Block 12 in 1899 which allowed the
construction of 1019 S. Fifth Street in 1948.87 In 1980, 801 S. Fifth Street
was constructed on what had been a vacant lot.
82 1877, 1890-91, 1894 Stillwater City Directories; 1880 Census, #164; City of Stillwater
Building Permit #818
83 12 Deeds 475; SAM 7, Roll 4; 1877 & 1881-82 Stillwater City Directories.
84 1877-1887 Stillwater City Directories; 5 Deeds 376; 1880 Census, #177
86 1881-1894 Stillwater City Directories; 5 Deeds 405; 1880 Census #175
86 I Deeds 370; SAM 7, Roll 3; X Deeds 628; 1887 Stillwater City Directory.
87 City of Stillwater Building Permit #974
36
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
SIXTH STREET HOUSFS
Ayoung man by the improbable name of Elephalet Goff, and his
wife, Mary, were the first residents of 715 S. Sixth Street. He
was born in 1849 in Illinois; she was born in 1851 in Indiana. They had two
children, Bertha and Fred. They bought Lot 31, Block 6 in her name in
September of 1878, and a year later, they bought a second lot, 32, in his
name. It appears they had this home built in 1878. Elephalet worked in the
lumber business."
The home at 719 S. Sixth Street was built in 1879, possibly by
Samuel Packard, a bridge tender. The `.�lqCPCQPd valuation was appmcdmate y
$390. It was a simple one and one-half story house, four rooms, with a
partial basement, and, an elegant touch for workingman's house, a bay on the
north side. In July of 1882, Packard sold the property to Edward J. and
Emma Davis. (He was also known as James E. Davis.) In 1892, under new
owners, John and Jessie Sinclair, a 14-foot by 18-foot ell was added on the
south side, and the interior woodwork updated. By 1903, the house had
passed into the possession of Mrs. Zona Doyle, a teacher at the Central
School.89
It appears the house at 720 S. Sixth Street was built about 1874 by
Daniel McQuillan who owned a saloon and billiards hall on Main Street in
downtown Stillwater. In the first Stillwater City Directory published in
1877, McQuillan is listed as living on Sixth, south of Goodwood (Willard).
This is apparently another case of using unrecorded documents on a piece of
property in this Addition, for the first official record of the property is a deed
from Elizabeth Churchill to James Fowler, Jr. in July of 1881. Fowler, a
young man of 24, his wife, Eliza, and their year -old son, Sanford were natives
of New York State. Although he listed his occupation as chemist, Fowler had
taken an entrepreneurial bent in Stillwater opening a furniture store on N.
Main Street in downtown Stillwater. Business must have not been good, for
he soon sold their house to Ange Christianson, who in turn, sold it to Joseph
Eichten, who, in his torn, sold it to John Pretzel in 1890. Pretzel was a
cooper (barrel maker) who worked for the Joseph Wolf brewery.9°
The German-born Jacob Laun, and his Ohio wife, Annie, built a small
home at 728 S. Sixth Street about 1877. Latin is listed in the Stillwater
98 12 Deeds 238, 239; SAM 7, Roll 7; 1877-1887 Stillwater City Directories; 1880 Census
#185.
89 5 Deeds 527; 10 Deeds 299; 31 Deeds 612; 56 Deeds 532; City of Stillwater Building Permit
#659; SAM 7, Roll 8; Stillwater City Directories.
34 8 Deeds 316, 365, 368; 7 Deeds 103; 31 Deeds 120; 1880 Census, #192; SAM 7, Roll 4; 1877,
1881-82, 1890-91 Stillwater City Directories.
37
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
City Directory of 1884 as a peddler. Perhaps it was a hazardous occupation:
in 1880, Jacob was 34 years old; ten years later, his wife is listed as a
widow.91
John Henry Lohmann, Jr, and his wife, Augusta Lohmann purchased
Lot 12, Block 7 from from Elizabeth Churchill in Sept. 1882. The built a
modest $500 home which took the number, 802 S. Sixth Street. Lohmann
briefly ran a saloon on the S. Main Street. 92
In July of 1876, Tobias Ambuhl purchased Lot 27, Block 6, from
Elizabeth Churchill. He immediately set out to have a house built at 805 S.
Sixth Street with much of the labor done by his neighbors. Herman
Steinhorst, a carpenter who lived at 712 S. Fifth Street, did much of the basic
construction. John Millbrook, a mason living at 804 S. Fifth Street, did the
lath and plaster and the chimney for the house. We know this today because
both of these workmen filed liens against the house: Steinhorst for $65.00;
Millbrook for $133.55. Ambuhl, a mill hand for Hersey, Bean & Brown , sold
the house to Alexander Bradley two years later.93
There was an earlier house on Lots 25 and 26, Block 6 in the location
of today's 809 S. Sixth Street. However it appears that the present house at
this address is a later house built near the turn of the century. In 1872,
Churchill sold the two lots to Frederick Bennecke who apparently built a
house on the lots. They were subsequently sold to Henry C. & Mattie Pierce,
a guard at the prison. In 1884, the Pierces sold to Joseph & Rosina
Remmele.94
Shenanda E. Bradley, a 42 year -old woman from New York State
purchased Lot 14 from Elizabeth Churchill in April of 1872. The tax assessor
making his rounds that year made a pencil notation: S. E. Bradley, lot=$60,
house=$300, a notation marking the construction of 810 S. Sixth Street.
Two years later, E. B. Bradley purchased Lot 13 from Churchill. The 1877
Stillwater City Directory lists an A. B. Bradley, teamster, living on 6th N. of
Churchill. But the 1880 Census lists Shenanda Bradley as living with the
family of John Starkwhether, a carpenter, his wife, Mary, and their three
children. Two years later, the Stillwater City Directory lists a Mrs. E. B.
Bradley as residing at 732 S. Sixth Street, which was the original house
number for this house. By 1887, the Stillwater City Directory lists Mrs. E.
91 SAM 7, Roll 6; 1880 Census #187; 1877, 1884, 1890-91 Stillwater City Directories; 5 Deeds
599; 28 Deeds 54.
92 SAM 78, Roll 12; 7 Deeds 139; 1884 Stillwater City Directory.
93 Z Deeds 388; 5 Deeds 41; A Liens 146, 147; SAM 7, Roll 6; 1877, 1881-82 Stillwater City
Directories.
94 SAM 7, Roll 3; X Deeds 207; Z Deeds 213; 10 Deeds 15; 12 Deeds 437; 1880 Census #190;
1882.1884 Stillwater City Directories.
38
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
B. Bradley living at 810 S. Sixth Street. Without a fair amount of additional
research, it is impossible to know if Shenanda E. Bradley was in fact, the wife
of E. B. Bradley.96
The records are confused and conflicting regarding the house at 813 S.
Sixth Street, and I cannot reach any conclusions.
814 S. Sixth Street was built in the summer of 1872. We know that
because Julius Lippert, a cook, who bought the property that same summer,
had a lien filed against him by Phillip Mueller. Mueller claimed Lippert
owed him $118.75 because he worked "_..1st and last days of July
16 72...making, constructing, altering & repairing a certain dwelling house..."
It seems Lippert had given Mueller $50.00 in cash and a promissory note
(unpaid) for the remainder of his bill. Two years later, Lippert sold the
property to a Swiss butcher, John NI.ideren, and his Prussian born wife,
Annie, who lived there with their five children: Edward, John, Ulrich,
another son, Rosa, and a sister-in-law. Lippert meanwhile moved the house
behind, 813 S. Seventh Street.96
902 S. Sixth Street is small Queen Anne house built on the site of an
earlier house.
Stillwater City Building Permit #1592 gives us the information that
908 S. Sixth Street was built in the spring of 1915. The owner of the
property who had the house built was J. Ernest Blanke who lived — and
continued to live — in the neighborhood at 1017 S. Seventh Street. The
permit lists the cost of the house at $1,500.00, and the dimensions of the
building as 26 feet by 32 feet, one -and -a half stories.
911 S. Sixth Street was, according to Stillwater City Building Permit
#2209, built in the spring of 1928 by the owner of the property, Herman
Millarch, a painter. According to the building permit, the cost was to be
$570.01! The dimensions were 20 feet by 22 feet deep with ten -foot studs,
giving a maximum height of 18 feet. The house was to have a fireproof slate
roof, and the ground floors were to be of oak. Why was the price so low:
there is a note on the permit that Herman will "build it my self."
This Greek Revival house at 916 S. Sixth Street was built in 1872
when the tax assessor, making his yearly rounds, made a note about a new
house "back of Jackman." The value of the house was set at $500, meaning it
96 T Deeds 725; Z Deeds 241; 1880 Census, #194.
96 X Deeds 77; A Liens 91; SAM 7, Roll 3; 1880 Census #195; 1887, 1890-91 Stillwater City
Directories.
39
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
was a substantial house. Elizabeth G. and Harvey Ferguson bought Lot 5,
Block 10 from Churchill in November, 1872, and Lot 6, Block 10 in December,
1874. Both Harvey and Elizabeth were natives of New Brunswick, following
the lumber trade west. Harvey was a river pilot. They had two children:
Maggie and Harvey, Jr.97
August Arndt bought Lots 22 and 23, Block 11, in October of 1880. He
built a modest house soon afterwards which took the number 919 S. Sixth
Street. August and his wife, Augusta, were born in Prussia. They had three
boys: John, Clement, and Paul. August was a shoemaker.98
William Zorn purchased Lots 7 and 8, Block 10 from Frasier Ferguson
in March of 1882. Zorn soon after built a small house on his lots which took
the number, 922 S. Sixth Street.99
Mrs. Melvina Fox, a midwife, had the home at 923 S. Sixth Street
built about 1882, although she did actually receive a deed to the property
until March of 1883. The 1880 Census, # 201, lists the following household
which included Melvina: Melvina Fox, 48, b. Kentucky, living with: Thomas
Malone, 29, son, and Mary his wife, 25, and Henry, son, and his wife, Nora,
19, and Matilda, her daughter and Mary Sunberg, 19, daughter; James
Sunberg, 17, son, Sarah Sunberg, 15, daughter; Ida Sunberg, 12, a daughter,
and grandchildren: Henry, Thomas, Melvina, Robert, James, Ida, Edward,
Henry, and Ann. In the same house were also: David Sinclair, 25; wife
Sarah, 19, and their one child, Amy, aged one month.'°°
Josiah Millet, who was born about 1836 in Maine, appears to have
been a man of many talents. He is listed in various places as a bookkeeper,
an explorer, and a Master of the Boom. Whatever his many talents, we know
that he and his wife, Clara, and their six children were the first residents of
1004 S. Sixth Street which they had built in 1875. Many years later, in
1932, local carpenter, Emil Bieging, was hired to make repairs after fire
damage. 101
In July of 1922, Robert Schmoeckel applied for City of Stillwater
building permit #1901 to have contractor, Henry J. Mohr, build him a house
at 1007 S. Sixth Street. The cost was to be $3,000.00. It was to be a two-
97 SAM 7, Roll 3; X Deeds 191; Z Deeds 606; 1880 Census, #199; 1877, 1881-82, 1887
Stillwater City Directories.
98 5 Deeds 613; 1882-1887 Stillwater City Directories; 1880 Census, #200.
99 SAM 78, Roll 14; 12 Deeds 266; 1884-1887 Stillwater City Directory.
100 4 Deeds 591.
SAM 7, Roll 5; 5 Deeds 442; 1877 Stillwater City Directory; 1880 Census #206; City of
Stillwater Building Permit #2356.
40
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
story house, 26-feet by 28-feet, with wood floors and a foundation five feet
above the ground. Henry was a carpenter who lived on W. Olive Street.
James and Henrietta Webster purchased Lot 11, Block 10 in August
1902. Although there don't seem to be any records remaining, it, appears they
built 1010 S. Sixth Street soon afterwards. James is listed in the Stillwater
City Directory as a p ainter.'°2
It appears Albert Schmoeckel had the house at 1015 S. Sixth Street
built about 1883 when he took out a mortgage on the property. Albert and
his wife, Augusta, were both born in Prussia; they had four children: Albert,
Minnie, Robert and Emma. Albert was a stone mason.'°3
The house at 1020 S. Sixth Street was built about 1878 when Emma
Marsh deeded Lot 14, Block 10 to Joseph Arndt in January 1878. Arndt,
worked as a butcher for a local grocer.
When Thomas and Kate Ratican built their home in May of 1882 at
1021 S. Sixth Street, he did not pay the St. Croix Lumber Company the
$101.74 worth of lumber they furnished him — at least not until the lumber
company filed a lien against his property. Four years later he took out a City
of Stillwater building permit to replace his old porch, and make $75.00 worth
of improvements. To do the work, he hired Michael Carroll, carpenter living
on S. Main Street who had done other construction in the neighborhood.
Ratican was a lumberman from eastern Canada following the lumber trade
as it moved west. The Raticans had four children.'°4
In 1990, a new home was built at 1016 S. Sixth Street on a lot which
was once the site of an earlier home. In 1961, a newer house was constructed
at 1002 S. Sixth Street on what appears to be a previously vacant lot.
REMINISCENCES
n his reminiscence of Stillwater in the 1880' and '90's, Albert Caplazi wrote
in 1944_
"Other early residents of Stillwater were Levi Thompson
who lived on the northeast corner of Churchill and 6th Streets.
[322 W. Churchill] John and Leif Goff, [722 S. 6th St.] John
102 48 Deeds 410
102 1880 Census, #204; 1877.1890 Stillwater City Directories.
104 1880 Census, #207; City of Stillwater Building Permit #36; A Liens 307;
41
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
Niederer, [814 S. 6th St.] Jake Laun, [723 S. 6th St.] Poly Patwell
[621 W. Churchill] and others lived on 6th north of Churchill —
south of Churchill were Jim Davis, [319 W. Churchill] Sunberg,
[823 S. 6th St.] Cates, [1016 S. 6th St.] Millet, [1004 S. 6th St.]
Ferguson, [1020 S. 6th St.] Schmoekel [1015 S. 6th St.] and others.
Phillip McDermott lived on the north east corner of
Churchill [424 W. Churchill] before he built a residence on 4th
Ave. [1312 4th Ave. So.] which later passed to Martin Powers.
Others on 7th north of Churchill were McGrath (1Mrs.
McDermott's parents) on the north west corner of Churchill and
7th [502 W. Churchill], Keyes [818 S. 7th St.], McNally [722 S. 7th
St.], Compke [Collopy, 812 S. 7th St.], and others south of
Churchill St. on 7th were Johnson [421 W. Churchill], Arndt [913
S. 7th St.], Zorn [921 S. 7th St.], and others. On Holcombe south
of Churchill were Garbe [1001 S. Holcombe], Julius Loeber, Sr.
[917 S. Holcombe], Wm. Huser [921 S. Holcombe], Jim Doyne
[516 W. Hancock] and others. Churchill between 4th and 5th was
called Caton's Hill after Mr. Caton who lived on the south east
corner of Churchill and 5th [219 W. Churchill]. Early residents
of 5th south of Churchill were Rufus Goff [913 S. 5th St.], Quinlan
[1002 S. 5th St.], Gagnon the green houseman [1016 S. 5th St.],
Pankonin [909 S. 5th St.] and others.
Lumber and labor was cheap in the '70's & '80's it is said.
Conrad Drechsler who operated the Casino Saloon on the north
east corner of Chestnut and Union built a fine large residence on
the northwest corner of Willard and 5th in the late seventies for
$2,200. Herman Steinhorst was the builder. [Steinhorst also
built 805 S. 6th St.] A. M. Dodd lived on the south west corner of
Willard and 5th at that time Charles Lustig lived there later. [313
W. Willard].
Many families kept a cow or two in the seventies and early
eighties. There was lots of free pasture, from Hancock St. south
to Oak Park and Highway 212 and west to Lily Lake was nearly
all woods. There was no herd law, cows could run at large, They
would be turned out in the morning and come home in the
evening to be milked. About that time in the late seventies City
Clerk E. A. Hopkins built the fourth house south of Willard
Street on the west side of 4th and while he lived there his cow
gave birth to four calves all alive all white with red ears and
nose. They were pretty calves, but Mr. Hopkins was an
42
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
inexperienced cow man, gave the calves too much rope. They got
tangled up in the ropes and hung themselves.
Mr. Hopkins later built the middle house on the west side
of 1st between Hancock and Burlington Streets and lived there.
At that time Elliots on the northwest corner [1022 S. 4th St.] and
Days on the northeast corner of and Hancock streets were the
last houses on 4th street. The road ran from there diagonally to
the race track [Athletic Field today/ and on down through the
woods to Oak Park.
From Hancock St. south to Fairview Cemetery and from
4th street west to Holcombe St. was forty acres of woods, which
was cleared, broken and sowed to grain in the late seventies....It
was called Marsh's Field. Mrs. Marsh was Betsey Nelson
[actually it was Emma Nelson], the daughter of Socrates nelson
who owned much of the land in that vicinity....At that time in the
evening you could hear the Whipporwill and other night birds
which are not heard any more.
The South Hill from Willard to Hancock was called
Nelson's field after Socrates nelson who owned the land in 1872
Albert Caplazi built a house on the southwest corner of Fourth
and Willard [704/706 S. 4th St.] and at one time had a dairy of
about 15 cows, until the herd law went into effect about 1885
when the cows were not allowed to run at large, many in the
neighborhood came and got their milk fresh at milking time,
morning and evening.
Other early residents of South 4th St. were DeStaffeni [710
S. 4th St], where Joe Giossi lives now. City clerk E. A. Hopkins,
Mealy [802 S. 4th St.], Crimmins, Barry [810 S. 4th St.],
Goodman [816 S. 4th St.], Le Moine [826 S. 4th St.], Elliot [1022
S. 4th St.], Sinclair [719 S. 4th St], Barrow [Barron, 801 S. 4th
St.], Kitty [807 S. 4th St.], Ward mite, Crowley [921 S. 4th St.],
McGee, Sutherland [1009 S. 4th St.], Day, Carroll [924 S. 4th St.]
and others.
The early residents on 5th were Dodd [313 W. Willard],
Steinhorst [712 S. 5th St.], Giossi [718 S. Fifth St.], Millbrook
[804 S. 5th St.], Yorks [house gone], Packard [824 S. 5th St.],
Morgan [807 S. 5th St.], Rensch [805 S. 5th St.], Collins [715 S.
5th St.], Hardyman, Kinsella, and others. Mike Kinsella had a
store on Willard.
43
The West One Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
Oct 10, 1875, a fine October Sunday about noon there was
made a wing shot that don't happen very often, a large flock of
geese were flying North, they were high, so high they appeared
about the size of a two months old chick. A Mr. Roettger lived in
the third house from the southwest corner of Churchill and 5th
[912 S. 5th St.]. He shot at those geese twice from his door step,
when they got half way between Churchill and Willard over 5th a
goose turned and headed south, she held there a moment and
then she began to tumble over and over she went and struck a
fence and broke the top one by six inch fence board edgewise back
of where Hooley's meat market is now, corner of 4th & Churchill.
It was surprising the size of that goose, they looked so small in
the air. She was dark colored and weighed about ten pounds. It
was quite a sight to see that goose come tumbling down from
such a height. The Irish Church [St. Michael's] had just let out
so it attracted a large crown. Mr. Roettger later moved to a farm
in Wisconsin between Houlton and Somerset.
A terrible thing happened between the Irish Church and
Hooley's butcher shop on Sunday about noon late in November in
the late eighties. Mr. Ratican living on the northeast corner of 6th
& Hancock [1021 S. 6th St.] bought a team of horses for the
woods. They were large, young and frisky. They were being led
to water. George Ratican about 12 year old, was leading one of
the horses. He had learned from some one who worked at the
boom to make a hitch which they used to tie logs together. He
made a hitch around his wrist. There was a water fountain in
the triangle at 4th, Willard and Locust but the water was shut off
for the winter, so they had to go down on 3rd at the head of
Chestnut on the way back just as they got in front of St. Michael's
Church the bell struck 12 o'clock —church out, the horse bolted
and started to run the boy couldn't hold him and he couldn't let
go as he was hitched to the end of the halter rope. The horse
turned on Locust down 4th running away with the boy dangling
at the end of the halter rope when the horse turned on Churchill
the boy's brains were spattered on the sidewalk and the side of
Hooley's Meat Market on the S.W. corner of 4th and Churchill."
In 1885, another principal in the Churchill & Nelson business died.
Betsey Nelson, the wife of Socrates, died on October 8th. She left her estate
totaling $5921.64 to be divided among her three grandchildren.'°5
'° Will of Betsey D. Nelson, #854 Washington County Probate Office
44
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
SEVENTH STREET HOUSES
There is a note in the tax assessor's records for 1875: "Carl Zanke
paying" i ndicating that, although there were no recorded deeds,
apparently Zanke was paying the taxes on the property. From the assessor's
records in 1880, it appears he built a small house, which eventually took the
number, 702 5. Seventh Street. In March of 1887, Churchill finally gave
him a deed to the property, and in June of 1889, he sold the house and
property to Henry Hefty. Zanke does not appear in the Stillwater City
directories and I have no further information on him.
The history of 702 and 706 S. Seventh Street are combined because
both are a part of Lots 1 & 2, Block 8. The early records only seem to record
one house on the two lots, hut it is difficult to say for sure. In June of 1889,
Carl Zanke (who owned all of both lots) sold them to Henry Hefty. In 1899,
Hefty sold the south part of the lots to Theodore Erlitz, and in 1900, Hefty
sold the north part of the lots to John Luchsinger.
715 S. Seventh and 719 S. Seventh Streets have a confusing
history. 715 is on Lots 32 and 33, Block 7; 719 is on Lots 30 and 31, Block 7.
From the records, we know that in 1872, Lizzie and Henry Rheiner had an
unrecorded contract of some kind for all four lots, and there was a $300 house
on the property. I would assume that house eventually took either the
number 715 or 719 S. Seventh Street,, hut. I have no way of knowing which
was the first house on the four lot parcel. In 1879, Lizzie and Henry actually
received the deed from Churchill to the four lots. The Rheiners then sold the
four lots to a man by the name of August Domke. The next record we have is
a building permit taken out by Julius Sierberlich for an addition to a house
on Lots 32 and 33 (715 S. Seventh). That was in 1888, and the permit is for a
kitchen addition to an existing house that 20 by 28 feet, one —and -a -half
stories high.1°"
The home at 720 S. Seventh Street was built in 1877 by natives of
Maine, Annie and Michael McLean. He worked for a time at the Hersey,
Bean & Brown lumber mill below the bluff on S. Main Street. The original
house was quite small with an assessed valuation of around $200.107
George F. Allen sold Lot 11, and the N. 10 feet of Lot 12, Block 8, to
George and Amy McNally in November of 1874, and it appears they built the
home at 722 S. Seventh Street on the lots soon afterwards. Both George
106 SAM 7, Roll 3; 5 Deeds 88; 8 Deeds 236; City of Stillwater Building Permit #326.
107 SAM 7, Roll 6; 8 Deeds 269; 1877 & 1890 Stillwater City Directories; 1880 Census #231.
45
The West One Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
and Amy were natives of New Brunswick, and at one point in time, they had
three boarders in their residence, all of them also from New Brunswick. He
was born in 1830; she was born in 1831. By 1890, George was dead, and Amy
was living in the house as a widow.'"
August Weideman, a laborer, bought Lot 29 from Frank Domke in
1883. At some time either before or after his purchase, he built his home at
725 S. Seventh Street.109
George Allen bought the lots where 726 S. Seventh Street stands
today from Churchill & Nelson in 1873. It appears he built this house there
in 1878. Allen is listed as a laborer in the Stillwater City Directories, and he
lived at this address for at least the first twenty years."°
A handwritten note on the 1871 assessor's entry for Lots 27 and 28,
Block 7 reads "Domke's house" and it assigns a value of $200 to the building
which today has the number, 731 S. Seventh Street. August Domke was a
mill hand at the Hersey Bean Mill on S. Main Street.111
William or Wilhelm Stack, a stone mason, purchased Lot 25 & 26,
Block 7 from Churchill & Nelson in August of 1872, and he quickly built a
house there which today has the number, 811 S. Seventh Street. The
assessor put the value of this first house at $300.112
The first resident of 812 S. Seventh Street was Thomas and Mary
Collopy, natives of Ireland. They received their deed from Churchill in Nov.
of 1871 about the same time they built their home. Within a short time,
Thomas seems to have died or disappeared, and Mary was left to raise their
three children, Ella, Thomas and John, by herself.113
The home at 817 S. Seventh Street was apparently built about 1875
by Heinrich Wagner, a laborer. By 1882, the property had passed to
Frederick Webber, a mason and plasterer. At one time this had the number
743 S. Seventh Street.114
Dennis Keyes, a carpenter, purchased Lots 17 & 18, Block 8, from
Churchill in June of 1871. The tax assessors records a house worth $200 on
108 Z Deeds 144; Y Deeds 328; 1877 & 1890 Stillwater City Directories; 1880 Census #230.
109 12 Deeds 103; Stillwater City Directory for 1884.
110 Z Deeds 144; SAM 7, Roll 7; 1877-1891 Stillwater City Directories.
111 Z Deeds 243; 1877.1884 Stillwater City Directory.
112 X Deeds 128; 1877 Stillwater City Directory.
113 SAM 78, Roll 8; 1877 & 1887 Stillwater City Directories; 1880 Census, #227
114 1884 & 1890 Stillwater City Directories; X Deeds 454, 456; 10 Deeds 527;
46
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
the lots by 1872. Today that building has the number, 818 S. Seventh
Street.115
Thomas Levi was the apparent builder of the house at 911 S. Seventh
Street. Although his purchase of the property is not recorded until 1876, it
appears he built this house in 1874. Seven years later, he sold the property
to John Sheehan, a laborer who lived there for several years. It appears this
house once had the number 909 S. Seventh Street.
In March of 1884, Joseph and Annie Arndt bought Lots 24 and 25,
Block 10 from Elizabeth Churchill. In 1886, the tax assessor added a value of'
$600 to the two lots indicating a house which took the number, 913 S.
Seventh Street bad been built. Joseph was a native of Canada; Annie was
from Prussia. The couple had six children: Mary, 17; Frank, 14; John, 13;
daughter, 9; Albert, 4; Lilly 2. The 1887 Stillwater City Directory lists him
living at this address; his occupation is listed as cooper (barrel maker).116
August and Henrietta Batke (or Bardkey) were natives of Prussia. In
1885, they bought Lot 5, Block 9, and about 1891, built a small house there
which took the number, 916 S. Seventh Street. They had fiVe children:
Emil, William, Amelia, Emma, Edna. August is listed as a laborer in the City
Directory.
In 1876, local magnate, Isaac Staples, filed a lien of $43.25 for
"building materials" against the property of Margaret Warner who lived at
what is today the site of 918 S. Seventh Street, This lien would seem to
indicate that at least the beginnings of what is today 918 S. Seventh Street
had taken place in 1876. The 1881 Stillwater City Directory lists: Warner,
Mrs. llL. [resides] 7th bet. Churchill & flancock,"7
Emil Zorn purchased Lots 22 and 23, Block 10 from Churchill &
Nelson in August of 1873. The tax assessor's records indicate he must have
built a small house which took the number, 921 S. Seventh Street, on his
lots soon thereafter. In March of 1876, he sold the property to John & Anna
Warmann. John is listed in the 1877 Stillwater City Directory as working for
Isaac Staples and living on 7th S. of Churchill.
The property, which is the site of 922 S. Seventh Street was bought
and sold 7 times between 1872 and 1886. Finally in September of 1886,
116 SAM 5, Roll 2; 1877 & 1887 Stillwater City Directories; T Deeds 480_
116 7 Deeds 236; 18$0 Census #208; SAM 5, Roll 8;
117 19 Deeds 44; A Liens 176.
47
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
Bertha and Emil Keitzmann bought the property and the house and stayed
there. He was a carpenter."8 (See also 924 S. Seventh Street)
923 S. Seventh Street was built in 1877 by Michael and Wilhelmina
Zorn, both immigrants from Prussia. Michael was born in 1815; his wife was
five years younger. He worked as a mill hand at the Hersey, Bean & Brown
mill on S. Main Street until he retired in the 1880's. His son, William, and
his wife, Emma, and their granddaughter, Ida, as well as his son, Herman,
lived with them in the house.119
Bertha and Emil Keitzmann appear to have been the first residents of
924 S. Seventh Street; at least they are listed as the residents in the 1890-
91 Stillwater City Directory. They purchased three lots, 7,8, & 9 in
September of 1886. At some point, those three lots were divided among two
houses. The present house with the number 924 S. Seventh Street was built
about 1920. It either replaced Keitzmann's earlier house, or Keitzmann's
earlier house took the later number 922 S. Seventh Street when the present
924 S. Seventh was built in 1920. However, in checking the Stillwater City
Directories, I find that the Keitzmanns lived at 924 S. Seventh from 1919 to
1928.120
John Sprich purchased Lots 10 and 11, Block 9 in 1881 at which time
it appears a small home, 1006 S. Seventh Street, was built on the lot. The
1890-91 Stillwater city directory lists, Adolph Sprich, a carpenter, as living
at this address. In 1924, local carpenter, Frank Linner, constructed a $700
addition to the house.121
Gustav and Amelia Tollas, both born in Prussia, purchased Lots 18
and 19, Block 10, from Elizabeth Churchill in September of 1890. It appears
he built his house at 1009 S. Seventh Street very soon afterwards for he is
listed as living there in the 1890-91 Stillwater City Directory. The couple
had seven children: Augusta, Laura, Frederick, George, Charles, Nina, and
Amelia. Gustav worked as a plasterer. The family had lived in the
neighborhood previously at 833 S. Seventh Street.122
1013 S. Seventh Street is listed in the Washington County Assessor's
office as being built in 1912.
11s 19 Deeds 161; 1890-91 Stillwater City Directory.
119 10 Deeds 156; SAM 7, Roll 6; 1877 & 1887 Stillwater City Directories; 1880 Census #216.
in X Deeds 164; 10 Deeds 593; 19 Deeds 161; City of' Stillwater Building Permit #2704.
121 1 Deeds 472; 8 Deeds 167; 1890-91 Stillwater City Directory; City of Stillwater building
Permit #2035.
122 31 Deeds 218; 1880 Census #217.
48
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
1014 S. Seventh Street is listed in the Washington County Assessor's
Office as being built in 1920.
In May of 1895, Ernest and Christian Blanke had William Hall build
them a $750 house which took the number, 1017 S. Seventh Street. In
March of 1919, 24 years later, J. E. Blanke too out a building permit to
construct a 20 x 22 foot barn on his Lot 15. The barn was to be "built
complete of old lumber from a building torn down." It is not clear, but
possibly this barn was built from the remains of the 1895 house, for in July of
1921, Blanke took out another building permit to construct a 22 x 28 1-1/2
story dwelling on the adjacent Lot 16. The cost of the building, which
remains today, is listed on the permit as being $2500.123
The history of the dwelling at 1018 S. Seventh Street is confusing
and uncertain. About. the only fact that is certain is that by 1890, Herman
Zorn was the owner and resident of the house.124
After the Second World War, in a time of expansion for Stillwater, 714
S. Seventh Street was built in 1949 on what appears to have a vacant lot.
815 S. Seventh Street was built in 1975.
HANCOCK STREET HOUSES
20 W. Hancock and 516 W. Hancock Street were built in 1964. For
t) whatever reasons, there have never been many houses fronting on the
north side of W. Hancock Street
HOLCOMBE STREET HOUSES
According to Judy & Tyler Smith who were kind enough to call me,
their home at 611 S. Holcombe Street was moved to this location
around 1964 when they were building Highway 280 in the midway district of
St. PauliMinneapolis.
It appears that the home at 615 S. Holcombe Street was built about
1880 by Luella Tuttle. The Tuttle family owned quite a bit of property in this
area of the city.
123 City of Stillwater Building Permits #f853, #1709, #1837; Stillwater City Directory for 1898.
124 The 1890-91 Stillwater City Directory; 30 Deeds 37.
49
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
701 S. Holcombe and 913 S. Holcombe Street were built after the
Second World War; the former in 1955 and the latter in 1948.
Almeda Tuttle purchased Lots 24-28, Block 8 in 1880, and it appears,
built a house around the turn of the century which today has the number,
705 S. Holcombe. The Tuttle family lived at 601 W. Abbott, but owned
considerable property in the neighborhood.125
August Loeber, a Prussian immigrant, and his wife, Otelia built the
home at 917 S. Holcombe Street about 1874. Loeber worked as a clerk for
one of the lumber companies. They lived in the house for more than two
clecades.126
William and Catherine Huser purchased Lots 20 & 21, Block 9 from
Albert Zinke in April of 1874. About that time he built the house that
remains at 921 S. Holcombe Street. Huser is listed in the Stillwater City
Directory for 1877 as a teamster. Ten years later, only his wife is listed as
living at this address.127
Alexander Albert Garbe bought Lot 19 from Churchill & Nelson in
September of 1872, and, according to the tax assessor's records, he built his
dwelling which today has the number, 1001 S. Holcombe Street, soon
afterwards. Two years later, he bought the second lot, #20, of the two lots
which make up this property. Garbe and his family lived in this residence for
more than two decades.128
WILLARD STREET HOUSES
The story of 215 and 219 W. Willard Street is unclear. In the
December 13, 1870 Stillwater Gazette, there is a citywide list of
improvements meant to bolster the image of the city. Under residences,
there is a note: "ill7. Kinsella, foundation for residence $1000". The following
year, in the November 14, 1871 Stillwater Gazette, there is an additional
note: Fourth Street, M. Kinsella, $500. Michael and Bridget Kinsella were
building on Lots 28, 29, and 30, Block 5 which would be on the south side of
Willard, between S. Fourth and S. Fifth Streets. On these three lots, the
Kinsella's had both a house and a store, which may —or may not —have
occupied the same building. The 1877 Stillwater City Directory lists:
"Kinsella, Michael, grocer, cor. 5th & Goodwood, res. Same." [Goodwood was
the first name of Willard Street] In December of 1878, Michael Kinsella died
125 4 Deeds 319.
126 Z Deeds 36; 1880 Census #239; Stillwater City Directories 1877 & 1884; SAM 7, Roll 4.
127 SAM 7, Roll 4; X Deeds 565, 566.
128 SAM 7, Roll 3; X Deeds 105, 593; 1877 & 1884 Stillwater City Directories.
50
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
in his store and his obituary was in the Stillwater Gazette, December 25,
1878. His store at Willard and Fifth Streets was in "what is known as
Nelson's Field." In 1878, the assessed valuation of the three lots, including
any buildings on them, was $ 1800, indicating either one very large house, or
two modest structures. The 1879 Bird's Eye View Map indicates two
buildings on the lots. The question then becomes what is the relationship
between these early buildings, and the houses at 215 and 219 W. Willard that
are there today.
In June of 1902, a building permit for a $700 house to be built on Lot
30 was issued by the city. The owner (but not the occupant) was J. Ernest
Blanke who lived at 1017 S. Seventh Street. The builder was E. Hall of
Lindstrom. The buiidin g was to be 22 front feet and 30 feet deep, one -and -a -
half story. While today, 219 W. Willard is a story and a half house, the
present owner tells me that it had originally been a two story house. Thus
neither residence really fits the description in the building permit, but then
sometimes the building permits had the wrong lot numbers on them.
It is appealing —at least to us historians —to think that perhaps some
part of Kinsella's store, the first in the area, built 132 years ago, remains in
either 215 or 219 W. Willard Street. But unless some new evidence comes to
light, we will probably never know for sure.
305 W. Willard Street was built in 1957.
Frank Schwartz, a mill laborer, had local builder, William Bieging,
build him a dwelling, 18 x 26 feet, 1-1/2 story, with a cost of $450 in April of
1887. This house took the number, 409 W. Willard Street. There was an
older 1870's house just to the east with the number 401 W. Willard which is
not gone.129
It appears there was a small house at 415 W. Willard Street as early
as 1877. The 1877 Stillwater City Directory lists: "Henry & Hannah
Gabbert, lab, res. Goodwood, e. 7th". The 1881-82 Stillwater City Directory
lists: "Theodore Reynolds, coachman, E. L. Hersey, r. Willard bet. 6th & 7th".
By 1887, there is a third resident of the house: "Anton Wesestra, lab, res. 415
W. Willard".
In May of 1885, Churchill sold the lots on which 421 W. Willard
Street stood, to Theodore Plaster. However the first Stillwater City
Directory in 1877 already lists Theodore Plaster, blacksmith, residing at the
corner of 7th and Willard.
129 City of Stillwater Building Permit #194.
51
The West One Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
Peter J. Shattuck, a riverman, purchased Lots 3 and 4, Block 8 from
Patrick O'Connell in September of 1882. According to the tax assessor's
yearly record, he built a house valued at over $500 that same year; a house
which today has the number, 511 W. Willard Street. Shattuck sold the
property in 1892.130
John Hogan, a lumberman who worked at the Boom, bought his lots
from Elizabeth Churchill in August of 1881. He must have built a small
house soon afterwards which took the number, 515 W. Willard Street.
Hogan is listed as a resident at that address in the 1884 and 1890-91
Stillwater City Directories.131
Ludwig Joseph Mueller built the home at 521 W. Willard Street
about 1891. He is listed in the Stillwater City Directory as a laborer.132
THE FINAL CHAPTER
y 1900, most of the real estate left by Levi Churchill and Socrates
Nelson had been sold. In September of 1901, Fayette Marsh died
at the age of 57. His obituary testifies to the tragic figure Fayette had
become.133
"The sad fact has for years been impressed upon the minds of our citizens that
the once brilliant lawyer, Fayette Marsh, bound by a seemingly uncontrollable
passion to habits of dissipation was moving in the pace that kills. All the
efforts of his better nature and the kindly influence of relatives and friends
were of no avail. At times it seemed as if the great curse of his life was to be
lifted, and he became himself. But not for long. The demon of drink clutched
him again in its deadly grasp, and he went steadily downward. His speedy
decline, the loss of the respect and confidence among friends who had hoped in
vain for his deliverance from the cruel bonds which led him captive on the
downward road, these are too well known to most of our readers.
Last Tuesday afternoon, while in a weak and dazed condition, he stumbled
and fell down a flight of stairs in the Mower block and was found insensible a
few moments later. He was taken to the city hospital and after an
examination by the physicians his case was pronounced a very serious one. He
lingered, however, in a semiconscious condition, until last evening at 8:30,
130 8 Deeds 364; 10 Deeds 427; 35 Deeds 536; 1884 and 1887 Stillwater City Directories.
131 8 Deeds 345
132 7 Deeds 169; 19 Deeds 254; City of Stillwater Building Permit (woodshed) #868; SAM 7,
Roll 19.
183 Stillwater Gazette, September 14, 1901.
52
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
when death closed the career of one who in life was respected and beloved by
all, and whose memory will be kindly cherished by hundreds who will only
remember his many noble and unselfish acts of kindness, forgetting else in the
charity which covers all the shortcomings and imperfections of this brief,
transitory existence here."
Fayette's will134 left one-third of his estate to each of his three children
with Emma Nelson Marsh. He left one-half his law library to his second
child, Fayette Marsh, Jr., age 13, by his second wife, Kate Greeley. The
personal assets of Fayette totaled $218.00; his real estate, heavily mortgaged
with back taxes, was valued at $333.00. Socrates Nelson's legacy, worth
$100,000.00 in 1867, had been reduced to less than $1,000.00, two
generations later, despite a ten -fold increase in the price of Stillwater real
estate.
On May 11, 1908, Elizabeth Churchill, aged 83, died at her home at
5108 S. Broadway in St. Louis, Missouri. She had no children. Her estate
consisted of Block 29 on Main Street in the original plat of Stillwater, which
was valued at $5,500.00; some lots in Churchill's Second Addition valued at
$950.00, and $773.00 in cash. Her house was left to her sisters; a brother,
Barron Proctor, age 74; and two nephews: Levi Proctor, age 52, and William
White, age 60, were her sole heirs.135
134 Will of Fayette Marsh, #2297 Washington County Probate Office.
136 Will of Elizabeth M. Churchill, #3039 Washington County Probate Office
53
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
APPENDIX A
Building dates
(SORTED BY DATE)
e following is a listing of the houses in the neighborhood by the
date they were built. For over six months, I have researched these
houses and their building dates. I have used the records of the yearly visits
by the tax assessor which are now in the Minnesota State Archives; I have
used the City of Stillwater Building Permits; I have used the deeds and
mortgages found in the Washington County Recorder's Office; in short, I have
thoroughly researched the dates that I present below. In many cases,
particularly for those homes built before 1900, my building dates in bold will
be different than the dates (in parenthesis) you have for your house. This
difference in dates is generally the result of a real estate agent using the (in
parenthesis) building date found in the Assessor's Office when listing the
home for sale. Before 1900, these (in parenthesis) dates in the Assessor's
Office are generally inaccurate, and only meant to serve as a general
guideline.
Date
1863 (1875)
1870 (1872)
1870? (1870)
1870? (1880)
1870? (1880)
1870? (1885)
1870? 1875
1870's (1875)
1870's (1875)
1870's (1876)
1870's? (1862)
1870's? (1864)
1870's? (1872)
Street House Dir
Willard
Sixth Street
Fifth Street
Fifth Street
Willard
Sixth Street
Willard
Seventh Street
Sixth Street
Fourth Street
Churchill
Fifth Street
Churchill
313
712
718
712
219
722
215
706
813
820
310
708
314
W.
S.
S.
S.
W.
S.
W.
S.
S.
S.
W.
S.
W.
54
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
1871 (1864)
1871 (1873)
1871 (1874)
1871 (1875)
1871 (1876)
1871 (1878)
1871 (1880)
1872 (1880)
1872 (1880)
1872 (1885)
1872 (1900)
1872 (1862)
1872 (1862)
1872 (1864)
1872 (1864)
1872 (1874)
1872 (1875)
1872 (1876)
1872? (1865)
1872? (1872)
1872? (1882)
1873 (1876)
1873 (1880)
1873 (1885)
1873 (1888)
1874 (1862)
1874 (1864)
1874 (1870)
1874 (1872)
1874 (1874)
1874 (1874)
Fourth Street
Churchill
Seventh Street
Fourth Street
Seventh Street
Churchill
Fifth Street
Holcombe
Sixth Street
Churchill
Churchill
Seventh Street
Seventh Street
Churchill
Sixth Street
Fifth Street
Sixth Street
Churchill
Seventh Street
Seventh Street
Churchill
Fifth Street
Churchill
Fifth Street
Fourth Street
Fifth Street
Fifth Street
Fourth Street
Seventh Street
Seventh Street
Seventh Street
816 S.
322 W.
812 S.
802 S.
731 S.
309 W.
824 S.
1001 S.
916 S.
513 W.
421 W.
811 S.
818 S.
319 W.
814 S.
804 S.
810 S.
502 W.
719 S.
715 S.
514 W.
715 S.
521 W.
823 S.
1006 S.
912 S.
1020 S.
924 S.
722 S.
911 S.
921 S.
55
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
1874 (1875)
1874 (1878)
1874 (1880)
1874 (1880)
1874 (1880)
1875 (1873)
1875 (1882)
1876 (1880)
1876 (1885)
1877 (1875)
1877 (1870)
1877 (1872)
1877 (1874)
1877 (1875)
1877 (1875)
1877 (1878)
1878 (1868)
1878 (1872)
1878 (1875)
1878 (1880)
1878 (1880)
1878 (1890)
1878 (1890)
1879 (1872)
1880 (1880)
1880 (1880)
1880 (1880)
1880? (1878)
1880's? (1878)
1881 (1872)
1881 (1874)
Sixth Street
Holcombe
Fifth Street
Fourth Street
Holcombe
Seventh Street
Sixth Street
Sixth Street
Seventh Street
Willard
Fifth Street
Seventh Street
Seventh Street
Sixth Street
Willard
Fifth Street
Sixth Street
Seventh Street
Fourth Street
Fourth Street
Fourth Street
Fourth Street
Sixth Street
Sixth Street
Holcombe
Seventh Street
Seventh Street
Fifth Street
Fifth Street
Seventh Street
Fifth Street
720
917
807
716
921
817
1004
805
918
421
920
923
720
723
415
1002
715
726
806
720
724
810
1020
719
615
702
1006
913
921
910
909
S.
S.
s.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
W.
s.
S.
S.
S.
W.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
56
The West ()n.e-Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughler's Addition
1881 (1875)
1881 (1875)
1881 (1888)
1882 (1868)
1882 (1875)
1882 (1880)
1882 (1880)
1882 (1882)
1882 (1885)
1883 (1874)
1883 (1876)
1883 (1878)
1883 (1880)
1884 (1880)
1885 (1870)
1885? (1885)
1887 (1875)
1888 (1883)
1890
1890 (1872)
1890 (1872)
1890? (1890)
1891 (18620
1891 (1875)
1892 (1878)
1892 (1878)
1894
1894 (1890)
1900
1901
1902
Willard
Willard
Sixth Street
Sixth Street
Sixth Street
Churchill
Fourth Street
Fifth Street
Sixth Street
Sixth Street
Seventh Street
Sixth Street
Fourth Street
Fifth Street
Seventh Street
Seventh Street
Willard
Fifth Street
Sixth Street
Seventh Street
Seventh Street
Sixth Street
Seventh Street
Willard
Churchill
Churchill
Seventh Street
Fifth Street
Fourth Street
Sixth Street
Churchill
511
515
919
1021
923
505
916
1003
802
1015
725
922
1010
817
913
922
409
713
902
810
1009
809
916
521
404
410
1018
1016
1022
1010
219
W.
W.
S.
S.
S.
W.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
W.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
W.
W.
W.
S.
S.
S.
S.
W.
57
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
1902 Holcombe 705 S.
1906 Fifth Street 1008 S.
1911 Churchill 416 W
1911 (1910) Fifth Street 904 S.
1911 (1911) Fifth Street 908 S.
1912 Seventh Street 1013 S.
1913 Sixth Street 908 S.
1914 Churchill 424 W.
1920 Seventh Street 924 S.
1920 Seventh Street 1014 S.
1921 (1908) Seventh Street 1017 S.
1923 Sixth Street 1007 S.
1928 Sixth Street 911 S.
1941 Fourth Street 704 S.
1946 Fourth Street 912 S.
1947 Fifth Street 805 S.
1948 Churchill 413 W.
1948 Fifth Street 808 S.
1948 Fifth Street 811 S.
1948 Fifth Street 1019 S.
1948 Holcombe 913 S.
1949 Seventh Street 714 S.
1950 Churchill 522 W.
1951 Churchill 313 W.
1955 Churchill 509 W.
1955 Holcombe 701 S.
1956 Fifth Street 1013 S.
1957 Willard 305 W.
1960 Holcombe 611 S.
1961 Sixth Street 1002 S.
1964 Hancock 516 W.
58
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
1964
1965
1965
1966
1975
1980
1990
Commercial
Commercial
IIancuck
Fifth Street
Fifth Street
Fourth Street
Seventh Street
Fifth Street
Sixth Street
Fourth Street
Fourth Street
520
812
816
710
815
801
1016
826
902
w.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
59
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
APPENDIX B
Building Dates
(SORTED BY ADDRESS)
Mhe following is a listing of the houses in the neighborhood by the
J. address and date they were built. For over six months, I have
researched these houses and their building dates. I have used the records of
the yearly visits by the tax assessor which are now in the Minnesota State
Archives; I have used the City of Stillwater Building Permits; I have used the
deeds and mortgages found in the Washington County Recorder's Office; in
short, I have thoroughly researched the dates that I present below. In many
cases, particularly for those homes built before 1900, my building dates in
bold will be different than the dates (in parenthesis) you have for your
house. This difference in dates is generally the result of a real estate agent
using the (in parenthesis) building date found in the Assessor's Office when
listing the home for sale. Before 1900, these (in parenthesis) dates in the
Assessor's Office are generally inaccurate, and only meant to serve as a
general guideline.
Street Dir House Date
Churchill W. 219 1902
Churchill W. 309 1871 (1878)
Churchill W. 310 1870's? (1862)
Churchill W. 313 1951
Churchill W. 314 1870's? (1872)
Churchill W. 319 1872 (1864)
Churchill W. 322 1871 (1873)
Churchill W. 404 1892 (1878)
Churchill W. 410 1892 (1878)
Churchill W. 413 1948
Churchill W. 416 1911
Churchill W. 421 1872 (1900)
Churchill W. 424 1914
Churchill W. 502 1872 (1876)
Churchill W. 505 1882 (1880)
60
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
Churchill W. 509 1955
Churchill W. 513 1872 (1885)
Churchill W. 514 1872? (1882)
Churchill W. 521 1873 (1880)
Churchill W. 522 1950
Fifth Street S. 708 1870's? (1864)
Fifth Street S. 712 1870? (1880)
Fifth Street S. 713 1888 (1883)
Fifth Street S. 715 1873 (1876)
Fifth Street S. 718 1870? (1870)
Fifth Street S. 801 1980
Fifth Street S. 804 1872 (1874)
Fifth Street S. 805 1947
Fifth Street S. 807 1874 (1880)
Fifth Street S. 808 1948
Fifth Street S. 811 1948
Fifth Street S. 812 1965
Fifth Street S. 816 1965
Fifth Street S. 817 1884 (1880)
Fifth Street S. 823 1873 (1885)
Fifth Street S. 824 1871 (1880)
Fifth Street S. 904 1911 (1910)
Fifth Street S. 908 1911 (1911)
Fifth Street S. 909 1881 (1874)
Fifth Street S. 912 1874 (1862)
Fifth Street S. 913 1880? (1878)
Fifth Street S. 920 1877 (1870)
Fifth Street S. 921 1880's? (1878)
Fifth Street S. 1002 1877 (1878)
Fifth Street S 1003 1882 (1882)
Fifth Street S 1008 1906
61
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
Fifth Street S. 1013 1956
Fifth Street S. 1016 1894 (1890)
Fifth Street S. 1019 1948
Fifth Street S. 1020 1874 (1864)
Fourth Street S. 704 1941
Fourth Street S. 710 1966
Fourth Street S. 716 1874 (1880)
Fourth Street S. 720 1878 (1880)
Fourth Street S. 724 1878 (1880)
Fourth Street S. 802 1871 (1875)
Fourth Street S. 806 1878 (1875)
Fourth Street S. 810 1878 (1890)
Fourth Street S. 816 1871 (1864)
Fourth Street S. 820 1870's (1876)
Fourth Street S. 826 Commercial
Fourth Street S. 902 Commercial
Fourth Street S. 912 1946
Fourth Street S. 916 1882 (1880)
Fourth Street S. 924 1874 (1870)
Fourth Street S. 1006 1873 (1888)
Fourth Street S. 1010 1883 (1880)
Fourth Street S. 1022 1900
Hancock W. 516 1964
Hancock W. 520 1964
Holcombe S. 611 1960
Holcombe S. 615 1880 (1880)
Holcombe S. 701 1955
Holcombe S. 705 1902
Holcombe S. 913 1948
Holcombe S. 917 1874 (1878)
Holcombe S. 921 1874 (1880)
62
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughters Addition
Holcombe S. 1001 1872 (1880)
Seventh S. 702 1880 (1880)
Seventh S. 706 1870's (1875)
Seventh S. 714 1949
Seventh S. 715 1872? (1872)
Seventh S. 719 1872? (1865)
Seventh S. 720 1877 (1874)
Seventh S. 722 1874 (1872)
Seventh S. 725 1883 (1876)
Seventh S. 726 1878 (1872)
Seventh S. 731 1871 (1876)
Seventh S. 810 1890 (1872)
Seventh S. 811 1872 (1862)
Seventh S. 812 1871 (1874)
Seventh S. 815 1975
Seventh S. 817 1875 (1873)
Seventh S. 818 1872 (1862)
Seventh S. 910 1881 (1872)
Seventh S. 911 1874 (1874)
Seventh S. 913 1885 (1870)
Seventh S. 916 1891 (18620
Seventh S. 918 1876 (1885)
Seventh S. 921 1874 (1874)
Seventh S. 922 1885? (1885)
Seventh S. 923 1877 (1872)
Seventh S. 924 1920
Seventh S. 1006 1880 (1880)
Seventh S. 1009 1890 (1872)
Seventh S. 1013 1912
Seventh S. 1014 1920
Seventh S. 1017 1921 (1908)
63
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
Seventh S. 1018 1894
Sixth Street S. 712 1870 (1872)
Sixth Street S. 715 1878 (1868)
Sixth Street S. 719 1879 (1872)
Sixth Street S. 720 1874 (1875)
Sixth Street S. 722 1870? (1885)
Sixth Street S. 723 1877 (1875)
Sixth Street S. 802 1882 (1885)
Sixth Street S. 805 1876 (1880)
Sixth Street S. 809 1890? (1890)
Sixth Street S. 810 1872 (1875)
Sixth Street S. 813 1870's (1875)
Sixth Street S. 814 1872 (1864)
Sixth Street S. 902 1890
Sixth Street S. 908 1913
Sixth Street S. 911 1928
Sixth Street S. 916 1872 (1880)
Sixth Street S. 919 1881 (1888)
Sixth Street S. 922 1883 (1878)
Sixth Street S. 923 1882 (1875)
Sixth Street S. 1002 1961
Sixth Street S. 1004 1875 (1882)
Sixth Street S. 1007 1923
Sixth Street S. 1010 1901
Sixth Street S. 1015 1883 (1874)
Sixth Street S. 1016 1990
Sixth Street S. 1020 1878 (1890)
Sixth Street S. 1021 1882 (1868)
Willard W. 215 1870? 1875
Willard W. 219 1870? (1880)
Willard W. 305 1957
64
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
Willard W , 313 1863 (1875)
Willard W. 409 1887 (1875)
Willard W. 415 1877 (1875)
Willard W. 421 1877 (1875)
Willard W. 511 1881 (1875)
Willard W. 515 1881 (1875)
Willard W. 521 1891 (1875)
65
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
APPENDIX C
ese are the names, addresses and occupations for this
n eighborhood from the 1894-1895 R.L. Polk and Co. City
Directory. If you had lived in this area a century ago, these would have been
your neighbors. the people you knew. The first address is the home address;
a second address (when given) would be the address of their work place.
These Directories are not always complete, and they have their share
of misinformation. Despite the mistakes. however, I think this is a good
indication of who lived in the neighborhood and what they did for a living.
Res. means generally the home owner; Bds. means a boarder, often an adult
child of the home owner.
Churchill W. 215, McDonough, John, laborer, bds.
Churchill W. 215, McDonough, Miles, lumberman, bds.
Churchill W. 215, McDonough, Peter, drayman, res.
Churchill W. 218, Loeber, Christina, domestic,
Churchill W. 218, Nichol, James A., lumberman, res.
Churchill W. 219, Olson, Elmer, clerk, bds.
Churchill W. 219, Olson, Joseph, street commissioner, res.
Churchill W. 303, Giebler, George, butcher D. J. Hooley, res.
Churchill W. 310, Currie, Sarah J., (widow, John) res.
Churchill W. 310, Sandahl, Charles, cook, res.
Churchill W. 319, Garen, Florence, Furniture & Undertaker 310 S. Main, res.
Churchill W. 322, Thompson, Alice, student Stillwater Business College, bds.
Churchill W. 322, Thompson, Charles, lumberman, bds.
Churchill W. 322, Thompson, Levi, Wood and Coal, 115 N. Main, res.
Churchill W. 404, Barter, Arthur, lumberman, res.
Churchill W. 404, Barter, Robert, lumberman, res.
Churchill W. 410, McClellan, Alexander, lumberman, res.
Churchill W. 421, Johnson, Harry S., stenographer, bds.
66
The West One-l-laif of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
Churchill W. 421, Kane, Thomas A., teamster, res.
Churchill W. 424, Chase, William L, driver Bronson & Folsom, res.
Churchill W. 502, McGrath, Andrew, lumberman, res.
Churchill W. 502, McGrath, John, lumberman, bds.
Churchill W. 502, McGrath, Nancy (widow John), res.
Churchill W.
Churchill W.
Churchill W.
Churchill W.
Churchill W.
Churchill W.
505, Mosier, Thomas, rafter, bds.
505, O'Brien, John, rafter, bds.
505, Singleton, William, teamster, bds.
505, Whelan, James, laborer, bds.
505, Whelan, T. L. 1 -7_ H. John, laborer G. H. Atwood, res.
505, Whelan, William, rafter, bds.
Churchill W. 513, Nelson, John M., res.
Churchill W. 514, Curtis, John Jr., mason, bds.
Churchill W. 514, Curtis, John, mason, res.
Churchill W. 514, Noonan, Timothy, horseshoer Wm. Noonan, res.
Churchill W. 521, Kern, George, laborer G. H. Atwood, res.
Fifth S. 0712, Weiss, Balthasar, ice, res.
Fifth S. 0713, Olson, Mary, milliner L. Albenberg, bds.
Fifth S. 0713, Olson, Oscar J. manager R. A. Kirk, res.
Fifth S. 0715, Collins, John, bds.
Fifth S. 0715, Collins, Patrick, Asst Health Officer, res.
Fifth S. 0718, Lane, Mary (widow John), res.
Fifth S. 0804, Millbrook, Christina, milliner A.C. Schuttinger, bds.
Fifth S. 0804, Millbrook, David, mason, res.
Fifth S. 0804, Millbrook, Herman, clerk Joseph Dahm, bds.
Fifth S. 0804, Millbrook, Mary, clerk Singer Mnfg. Co, bds.
Fifth S. 0805, Ziegler, Fritz, Saloon 302 N. Main, res.
Fifth S. 0807, Morgan, Frederica, dressmaker G. C. Morgan, bds.
Fifth S. 0807, Morgan, Georgia C., dressmaker 117 E. Chestnut, bds.
Fifth S. 0807, Morgan, Hannah (widow John), res.
67
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
Fifth S. 0811, Hohlt, Gottlieb, drayman, res.
Fifth S. 0816, Sliger, Amelia, res.
Fifth S. 0817, Goodman, James, Insurance, Real Estate, and Employment
Agency, 14 Tepass Block, 231 E. Chestnut, bds.
Fifth S. 0817, McFarlane, Edmund J., travel agent, res.
Fifth S. 0817, McFarlane, Edward, travel agent, bds.
Fifth S. 0817, Ulrich, Amanda, domestic
Fifth S. 0823, Peterson, Anne (widow Andrew) bds.
Fifth S. 0824, Clark, George, laborer, res.
Fifth S. 0824, Gowan, George, lumberman, res.
Fifth S. 0904, Becker, Emma V., dressmaker, bds.
Fifth S. 0904, Becker, Ferdinand, teamster, res.
Fifth S. 0904, Becker, Frederick, clerk. J. J. Eichten, bds.
Fifth S. 0904, Becker, John C., teamster, bds.
Fifth S. 0909, Pankonin, Ferdinand, laborer, East Side Lbr. Co, res.
Fifth S. 0912, Wentzel, Frank, collector, Stillwater Gazette, bds.
Fifth S. 0912, Wentzel, Melvin H. porter, Union Depot, bds.
Fifth S. 0912, Wentzel, William J. works G. H. Atwood, res.
Fifth S. 0913, Goff, Rufus E., lumberman, res.
Fifth S. 0920, Tobisch, Ferdinand, canvasser, res•
Fifth S. 0920, Tobisch, Mrs. Anna, Midwife, res.
Fifth S. 0920, Tobisch„ Frank, florist Frank BerrY, bds.
Fifth S. 0921, Greeder, William, lumberman, res.
Fifth S. 0921, McFarlane, Annie, folder Clewell & Easton, bds.
Fifth S. 0921, McFarlane, Catherine M., bds.
Fifth S. 1002, Kreger, Henry, driver, res.
Fifth S. 1003, Brigan, Albert, laborer, bds.
Fifth S. 1003, Brigan, Hiram, lumberman, bds.
Fifth S. 1003, Brigan, William, lumberman, res.
Fifth S. 1003, Kemper, Frank H., driver L. Thompson, res.
Fifth S. 1004, Smith, Charles G., laborer, res.
68
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
Fifth S. 1008, Savage, Eugene, janitor Central School, res.
Fifth S. 1008, Savage, Harry, laborer, bds.
Fifth S. 1020, Dougherty, Thomas, lumberman, bds.
Fifth S. 1020, McGrath, Frank P., teamster, bds.
Fifth S. 1020, McGrath, John V., laborer, bds.
Fifth S. 1020, McGrath, Paul, lumberman, bds.
Fifth S. 1020, McLeer, Michael J., rafter Musser S. L. L. & Mnfg, Co, res.
Fourth S. 0702, Gruber, Gottlieb, umbrefla mender, res.
Fourth S. 0702, Waseschi, Clara (widow Anton) res.
Fourth S. 0706, Dustin, Mark, cook, bds.
Fourth S. 0706, Leonard, Albert H., rafter, hcls.
Fourth S. 0706, Leonard, William H., laborer, res.
Fourth S. 0706, Nelson, Frank, hostler Stewart & O'Shea, res.
Fourth S. 0710, McPike, Alice, dressmaker, bds.
Fourth S. 0710, McPike, Charles, lumberman, res.
Fourth S. 0713, Kerr, Evelyn W. (Gagne & Kerr) res.
Fourth S. 0716, Hart, Patrick F. engineer, res.
Fourth S. 0716, Kehoe, Mark, laborer, bds.
Fourth S. 0720, Utecht, John (Utecht Bros), res.
Fourth S. 0724, Litfm, Frank, engineer, Florence Mill Co, res.
Fourth S. 0801, Barron, Ernest J., laborer, bds
Fourth S. 0801, Barron, James P. laborer, bds.
Fourth S. 0801, Barron, Patrick, laborer, res.
Fourth S. 0801, Barron, Thomas E., laborer, bds.
Fourth S. 0802, Mealey, Alfred, lumberman, bds.
Fourth S. 0802, Mealey, George, bartender 209 E. Chestnut, bds.
Fourth S. 0802, Mealey, John, policeman, res.
Fourth S. 0806, Johnson, Catherine, dressmaker, bds.
Fourth S. 0806, Johnson, James 0, clerk L. Albenberg & Co, res.
Fourth S. 0808, Kuehn Rudolph A, (Kuehn & Nehring [florists]), res.
Fourth S. 0806, Nehring, Robert (Kuehn & Nehring), bds.
69
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
Fourth S. 0807, Kilty, James D, clerk, bds.
Fourth S. 0807, Kilty, Timothy C., Commission, Wood and Coal, res.
Fourth S. 0807, Kilty, Timothy, res.
Fourth S. 0810, Michaud, David (Lupien & Michaud), res.
Fourth S. 0810, Wolf, Clara, domestic
Fourth S. 0815, Kilty, John J., manager T.C. Kilty 313 E. Chestnut, res.
Fourth S. 0816, Goodman, Phillip, res.
Fourth S. 0817, Kelly, James, bds.
Fourth S. 0820, Cote, Arthur, laborer, res.
Fourth S. 0820, Belisle, Philomene (wid. Naresse), carpet weaver, res. same.
Fourth S. 0820, Belisle, Samuel, clerk Linder & Erickson, bds.
Fourth S. 0822, Berg -in, Patrick, rafter, res.
Fourth S. 0822, Hiltz, George, lumberman, bds.
Fourth S. 0822, Hiltz, John, laborer, res.
Fourth S. 0822, Ward, James H., grocer, res. 909 S. 4th.
Fourth S. 0902, Hooley, Dennis J. meats
Fourth S. 0906, Forsythe, Alexander, laborer D. J. Hooley, bds.
Fourth S. 0906, Giebler, John, driver D. J. Hooley, bds.
Fourth S. 0906, Giebler, Lena, domestic
Fourth S. 0906, Hooley, Dennis J. meats 902 S. 4th, res.
Fourth S. 0906, Larson, Carl, driver D. J. Hooley, bds.
Fourth S. 0910, Kelley, Joseph, laborer, bds.
Fourth S. 0910, McLellan, Walter J,, laborer, res.
Fourth S. 0916, Dyson, Charles (Fitzgerald & Co.) res.
Fourth S. 0916, Nordstrom, Charles A., laborer, res.
Fourth S. 0924, Clancy, Maurice, res.
Fourth S. 0924, Quigley, Margaret, domestic
Fourth S. 1001, Buggy, Edward, teamster, res.
Fourth S. 1001, Keen, Frank, lumberman, res.
70
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
Fourth S. 1006, McCallan, Gertrude, telephone operator, bds.
Fourth S. 1006, McCallan, Lillie, principal, Nelson School, bds.
Fourth S. 1006, McCallan, Nettie, teacher, bds.
Fourth S. 1006, McCallan, Thomas, tailor 216 Main, res.
Fourth S. 1010, Garbe, Emil J., laborer, East Side Lbr. Co., res.
Fourth S. 1010, Gedatus, Paul, laborer, bds.
Fourth S. 1010, Meisner, August C., tailor, res.
Fourth 5. 1010, Meisner, Henry L, teamster, bds.
Fourth S. 1010, Meisner, James E., clerk O'Neal Bros, bds.
Fourth S. 1010, Meisner, Joseph, elevator operator Torinus block, bds.
Fourth C Meisner, Wiii
v �u u�� S. 1010, lVl ClbilE9Y, vv�iiiAm E., bds.
Fourth S. 1010, Tollas, Charles, laborer, bds.
Fourth S. 1014, Arndt, John, travel agent, res.
Fourth S. 1022, Carroll, William, Saloon 102 S. Main, res.
Fourth S. 1022, Roettger, Clara A., domestic, bds.
Hancock W. 524, Elias, Mrs. Katherine, res.
Holcombe
Holcombe
Holcombe
Holcombe
Holcombe
Holcombe
Holcombe
Holcombe
Holcombe
Holcombe
Holcombe
S. 0615, Tuttle, Benton T., lumberman, res.
S. 0615, Tuttle, Thomas B., lumberman, res.
S. 0913, Gust, Wiliam, laborer H. A. Kunzmann, res.
S. 0917, Loeber, August, clerk, R. A. Kirk, res.
S. 0921, Huser, Albert, clerk C. Heitman, bds.
S. 0921, Huser, Catherine (widow William) res.
S. 1001, Garbe, Alexander A., laborer, East Side Lbr. Co., res.
S. 1001, Garbe, Alexander C., laborer, East Side Lbr. Co., bds.
S. 1001, Garbe, August F., laborer, East Side Lbr. Co., bds.
S. 1009, Klatt, Charles, laborer, res.
S. 1009, Klatz, Charles, laborer, res.
Seventh S. 0702, Monson, Christian, driver F. Garen, bds.
Seventh S. 0702, Monson, Ole, Boots and Shoes Made To Order, res.
Seventh S. 0707, Krevinghause, Henry, driver C. Heitman, bds.
71
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
Seventh S.
Seventh S.
Seventh S.
Seventh S.
Seventh S.
Seventh S.
Seventh S.
Seventh S.
Seventh S.
Seventh S.
Seventh S.
Seventh S.
Seventh S.
Seventh S.
Seventh S.
Seventh S.
Seventh S.
Seventh S.
Seventh S.
Seventh S.
Seventh S.
Seventh S.
Co., bds.
Seventh S.
Seventh S.
Seventh S.
Seventh S.
Seventh S.
Seventh S.
0715, Seiberlich, Leopold P. carpenter, res.
0716, Seiberlich, Joseph, cabinetmaker Simonet Bros, res.
0719, Arsanault, Andrew, rafter, res.
0719, Kutz, Herman (H. Kutz & Co. [contractors & builders]), res.
0720, McLane, Michael D., laborer, res.
0720, Keeler, William, tallyman, bds.
0722, Jamieson, William, lumberman, bds.
0722, McNally, Amy E. (widow George) res.
0725, Biers, Frank F., laborer, res.
0725, Weideman, August, engineer Doud Sons & Co, res.
0725, Wojahn, Augusta (widow Martin), bds.
0726, George F. Allen, rafter Musser S. L. L. & Mnfg Co. res.
0731, Beecroft, Isaiah, laborer, res.
0809, Sheahan, John, res.
0810, Erlitz, Albert, mason, res.
0811, Then, Joseph, carpenter, res.
0812, Ratican, George Jr., rafter, bds.
0812, Ratican, George, rafter Musser S L L & Mnfg, Co. res.
0812, Ratican, Thomas, barber S. H. H adley, bds.
0817, Underhill, Robert, rafter Musser S L L & Mnfg. Co, res.
0817, Weber, Frederick, res.
0818, Keyes, Catherine A., stenographer Minn Thresher Mnfg.
0818, Keyes, Dennis, laborer, res.
0818, Keyes, Jeremiah, lumberman, bds.
0818, Keyes, John W., clerk, bds.
0818, Keyes, Robert J., lumberman, bds.
0818, Keyes, William F., lumberman, bds.
0818, Walsh, William F., mail carrier, bds.
Seventh S. 0910, Plaster, Albert T., laborer, East Side Lbr. Co, res.
72
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
Seventh S. 0913, Arndt, Joseph, cooper, res.
Seventh S. 0916, Bartkey, August. laborer, res
Seventh S. 0916, Butke, August, laborer, res.
Seventh S. 0918, Apmann, John, laborer, res.
Seventh S. 0921, Barthol, Joseph, laborer, res.
Seventh S. 0923, Zorn, Herman Jr., laborer, bds.
Seventh S. 0923, Zorn, Michael, res.
Seventh S. 0924, Kietzmann, Adolph, baker E. Gust, bds.
Seventh S. 0924, Kietzmann, Edward, apprentice St. Croix Post, bds.
Seventh S. 0924, Kietzmann, Emil Jr, laborer, bds.
Seventh S. 0924, Kietzmann, Emil, carpenter St. Croix Lbr. Co, res.
Seventh S. 1006, Sprich, Adolph, carpenter, bds.
Seventh S. 1006, Sprich, Charles F., laborer G. H. Atwood, bds.
Seventh S. 1006, Sprich, Emil, carpenter, res.
Seventh S. 1009, Tollas, Frederick, laborer G. H. Atwood, res.
Seventh S. 1009, Tollas, George A., bds.
Seventh S. 1017, Blanke, Christian, bds.
Seventh S. 1017, Blanke, Ernest, laborer, res.
Seventh S. 1018, Zorn, Herman, laborer East Side Lbr. Co, res.
Seventh S. 1018, Zorn, Mrs. Antenea, dressmaker, res.
Sixth S. 0712, Cramer, Henry, carpenter, res.
Sixth S. 0712, Lueken, Henry, cooper, res.
Sixth S. 0712, Scheurer, William, baker G Heitman, res.
Sixth S. 0715, Goff, Eliphalet N., lumberman, res.
Sixth S. 0715, Goff, Frederick, lumberman, bds.
Sixth S. 0719, Sinclair, John, rafter Musser S L L & Mnfg. Co, res.
Sixth S. 0720, Pretzel, John, cooper Joseph Wolf, res.
Sixth S. 0722, Goff, Emma B., clerk, bds.
Sixth S. 0722, Goff, John S., cook, res.
73
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
Sixth S. 0723, Wohlers, William, laborer, res.
Sixth S. 0802, Reutimann, Frank, Painter & Paperhanger 304 N. Main, res.
Sixth S. 0805, McCarthy, James R., lumberman, res.
Sixth S. 0809, Soller, Alfred, carpenter, res.
Sixth S. 0809, Tuller, Alfred, carpenter, res.
Sixth S. 0810, Manthey, Anton, laborer G. H. Atwood, res.
Sixth S. 0814, Heron, Benjamen, rafter, bds.
Sixth S. 0814, Heron, Charles, lumberman, bds.
Sixth S. 0814, Heron, Esther (widow Benjamen) res.
Sixth S. 0814, Heron, Henry, laborer, bds.
Sixth S. 0902, Kilty, John, lumberman, res.
Sixth S. 0904, Collopy, John E. wagon maker 232 S. 2d, res.
Sixth S. 0916, Foster, Edward G, clerk, County Treasurer, res.
Sixth S. 0919, Arndt, August, shoemaker, McLaughlin & Kilty, res.
Sixth S. 0919, Arndt, John, bds
Sixth S. 0922, Zorn, William, laborer G. H. Atwood, res.
Sixth S. 0923, Fox, Melvina (widow William), nurse, res.
Sixth S. 1004, Short, James A, driver O"neal Bros, res.
Sixth S. 1004, Walsh, Amy, bds.
Sixth S. 1007, Hendrickson, Christian, bds.
Sixth S. 1007, Hendrickson, Lena (widow Peter), res.
Sixth S. 1015, Schmoeckel, Albert, mason, res.
Sixth S. 1015, Schmoeckel, Emma, seamstress, bds.
Sixth S. 1015, Schmoeckel, Minnie, clerk A. C. Schuttinger, bds,
Sixth S. 1016, Cates, B. Ellsworth, lumberman, bds.
Sixth S. 1016, Cates, Timothy L, laborer, res.
Sixth S. 1016, Hodnett, Albert, laborer, bds.
Sixth S. 1016, McInnis, Angus, laborer, bds. rear
74
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
Sixth S. 1016, McInnis, Daniel, laborer, res. rear
Sixth S. 1021, Ratican, Thomas J., lumberman, bds.
Sixth S. 1021, Ratican, Thomas, lumberman, res.
Sixth S. 1021, Ratican, William J., lumberman, bds.
Sixth S. 1022, Arndt, Joseph, butcher, res.
Willard W. 313, Lustig, Charles, bartender 410 E. Chestnut, res.
Willard W. 401, Glass, Mary L. (widow Peter), dressmaker, res.
A".dlard vv. 401, Glass, Nicholas, laborer, bds.
Willard W. 409, Schwartz , Albert teamster, East Side Lbr. Co, bds.
Willard W. 409, Schwarz, Frank, laborer Florence Mill Co, res.
Willard W. 409, Schwarz, Frederick, laborer, bds.
Willard W. 409, Schwarz, William, foreman, bds.
Willard W. 421, Plaster, Gustav, painter Minn Thresher Mnfg. Co, bds.
Willard W. 421, Plaster, Minnie, milliner Mrs. L. seeba, bds.
Willard W. 421, Plaster, Theodore, laborer, res.
Willard W. 511, Murphy, Terence, laborer, res.
Willard W. 511, Sennitt, Frances A. dressmaker, res.
Willard W. 511, Sennitt, Michael, res.
Willard W. 515, John Hogan, laborer, res.
Willard W. 521, Muller, Joseph L, laborer, res.
75
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Birds Eye Views of Stillwater, 1870 and 1879. Drawn by Albert Ruger.
Originals in the Washington Count3r Historical Society, Warden's House
Museum, and the Minnesota Historical Society. Reprints available from
Empson Archives, P.O. Box 791, Stillwater, MN 55082.
Paul Caplazi. Unpublished manuscript, April, 1944.
The Charter and Ordinances of the City of Stillwater. Compiled by C. F.
Gregory, City Attorney. Stillwater, Lumberman Steam Printing Co, 1881.
Fifty Years in the Northwest, by W. H. C. Folsom. Pioneer Press Company,
1888.
History of the St.. Croix Valley, edited by Augustus B. Easton. Chicago, H.C.
Cooper Jr. & Co., 1909.
History of St. Louis City and County, including Biographical Sketches of
Representative Men, by J. Thomas Scharf. Philadelphia, Louis H. Everts &
Co. 1883.
History of the White Pine Industry in Minnesota by Agnes M. Larson,
University of Minnesota Press, 1949.
History of Washington County and The St. Croix Valley, North Star
Publishing Company, Minneapolis, 1881.
Minnesota Biographies, 1655-1912. Collections of the Minnesota Historical
Society, Volume XIV.
Sanborn Insurance Maps, 1884, 1891, 1898, 1904, 1910, 1924.
St. Croix Union [newspaper, Stillwater, Minnesota]
Sectional Map of the City of Stillwater, [1878]. There is a copy of this map
hanging in the Washington County Recorder's Office.
Stillwater City Directories, 1876-1964
Stillwater Daily Gazette [newspaper, Stillwater, Minnesota]
76
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
Stillwater Historic Contexts: A Comprehensive Planning Approach.
Stillwater: Stillwater Heritage Preservation Commission, July 1993.
Stillwater Gazette [newspaper, Stillwater, Minnesota]
Stillwater Lumberman [newspaper, Stillwater, Minnesota}
Stillwater Messenger [newspaper, Stillwater, Minnesota]
Stillwater Public Library. Stillwater Building Permits [on microfilm]
Stillwater Public Library. St. Croix Collection.
United States. Census of Minnesota Territory. Washington County.
Stillwater.
United States. Census of 1860, 1870, 1880, Washington County: Stillwater:
Washington County Probate Court Files.
Washington County Recorder's Office: Books of Deeds, Books of Mortgages,
Books of Bonds, Books of Plats.
Washington County Tax Assessor's records for 1861-1900. Minnesota State
Archives. Microfilm copies can be found at the Minnesota Historical Society,
and the Stillwater Public Library.
77
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
CONTEXTS
here were two contexts appropriate to this survey. The first
context was the statewide historic context: St. Croix Valley
Triangle Lumbering (1843-1914).
The chief economy in Stillwater in the 19th Century was that of the
lumbering industry: gathering the timber, moving the timber to the
Stillwater sawmills, and then delivering the finished lumber to the markets.
In Appendix C, I have listed the occupations of all the residents of West One -
Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition to Stillwater in 1894; the
vast majority were employed in some way in the lumber industry. All of the
largest homes in the neighborhood were built with lumber money; so were
many of the smaller ones.
Many of the residents of this area had worked in the lumber industry
in New Brunswick; they followed the lumber trade east. When the timber in
the St. Croix Valley grew scarce, many followed the industry to northern
Minnesota, and from there to the Pacific Northwest.
The second context, which comes from the Stillwater historic context
study (Vogel 1993) was: Development of Residential Neighborhoods in
Stillwater, 1850's-1940's.
This neighborhood was developed largely in the 1870's after the Third
Street hill was opened to give access t.o these lots above the business district
of Stillwater. The vast majority of the houses in the area are old; there is
relatively little infill of the newer houses built after the Second World War.
78
The West One Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
RECOMMENDATIONS
he following are my recommendations for the West One -Half of
Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition to Stillwater Addition.
They are based on the assumption it is desirable to maintain and promote the
historic character of this neighborhood. It is my belief that the long-term
prosperity and value of the West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's
Addition to Stillwater Additions and Stillwater's other older neighborhoods
lies in preserving their old fashioned character. This is what distinguishes
Stillwater from the myriad of other suburban developments surrounding the
Twin Cities, and makes Stillwater :ter a unique place to live.
HISTORIC DESIGNATION
n this survey, as in previous surveys. I have tried to identify homes
that are significant or unique; homes that are typical of a long
forgotten time; or homes that are particularly representative of Stillwater.
But these surveys of mine are soon forgotten, and the significance I have
ascribed to a particular dwelling may be forgotten as soon as the next owner.
I urge the City of Stillwater and the Heritage Preservation Committee to
initiate a process of designating and marking the historically significant
houses in Stillwater. This will have the benefit of apprising the present
owner that his home has value as a city landmark, and it will enable those
interested in the history of the city to find the historical homes.
The City of Stillwater should initiate its own historic designation for
houses throughout the city that are a significant part of Stillwater's
history.
EDUCATION ON REMODELING OLDER HOMES
he city —or some local organization --should make some efforts to
provide information to the public on maintaining and remodeling
or repairing the older homes. In Stillwater, older homes that have
maintained their original integrity command a higher price than those homes
have been changed from their original appearance. But the average
homeowner who might be concerned about preserving the integrity of his
house is presently hard pressed to find good information on how to improve or
79
The West One -Half of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition
update his house without destroying it historic value. A simple brochure
containig some basic guidelines to be distributed by realtors, neighborhood
groups, and the city could —over a perp)d of years-- make a substantial
difference on the overall appearance of the city.
THE DEMOLITION OF HOUSFs
Livery year, a few more old homes in Stillwater are demolished •
despite a city ordinance regulating and discouraging the process.
In some cases, it is a matter of business or church expansion; in some cases it
is the owners wishing to build a new house on the same lot; and in several
cases lately, it has been a matter of demolishing the old house to increase the
value of the lot which can then be used for a new more expensive house. This
latter situation has been particularly true of those lots with a river view.
While this practice may be lucrative for the developer, I believe it detracts
from the community as a whole: the old houses are part of a legacy, an
inheritance, Left for future generations. One of the additional steps the city
might take to encourage preservation would be to have architects and
builders on call that are sympathetic to repairing and restoring older houses.
This might discourage one of the most frequent rationales that the house is
beyond repair —used to justify demolition.
80
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Shop on North Side Myrtle, between Fifth and Sixth,
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The original plat of the W Y of Churchill, Nelson & Slaughter's Addition.
The neighborhood in 1879 from the Bird's Eve View Map by Albert Ruger.
A page from Socrates Nelson's day book of the 1845 when he was in the fur trad
e.
Jack & Don Miielke, ages 6 and 3. beside 502 W. Churchill in 1943.
502 West Churchill in 1939