Houston County, Minnesota—local development

First publication 2013.11.15. © Thomas G. Kohn, 2013.

As part of southeastern Minnesota, the county is in the “Driftless Zone,” which is marked by the absence of glacial drift[8] and presence of bedrock cut by streams into steep hills. The plateau that surrounds Caledonia includes flat, fertile farm land and hilly, verdant pasture land.

Figure 10. Mississippi transportation, undated.

Navigation up and down the Mississippi encouraged growth of the county (Figure 10). Records of river transport document shipping from as early as 1844. The shipping season typically opened in April, after the river is free from ice. In 1855, a ferry from La Crescent to La Crosse was licensed. Named the “Wild Kate,” it operated without a regular timetable from its normal berth at La Crosse (Figure 11). Two horses powered a treadmill for the crossing. An unreliable steam ferry named “Honey Eye” soon replaced Wild Kate. However, its steam engines had little capacity, and often the ferry “had to tie up to an island, let the steam go down, take off the safety valve, and with buckets fill the boiler, then get up steam again and finish the trip.”[9] After two years of such service, the ferry was abandoned and another company provided better service through 1878.

Figure 11. Mississippi ferry at Redwing, about 1900.

Railroad companies were provided bonds for building by the Minnesota Supreme Court in 1857, in the face of popular and legislative opposition. However, referenda and laws were passed that obstructed state bonds for railway development through 1860. Although the battle over state funding of railway building raged until 1881, the private companies began to install their lines. “A part of the great St. Louis and Minneapolis line runs through the county north and south near the Mississippi River. Another road runs in the valley of the Root River east and west, connecting with the Mississippi road at the river. The third railroad in the county is the ‘Caledonia and Mississippi,’ which, from the junction on the river, follows up the Crooked Creek in a northerly direction to Caledonia, the shire town, where it deflects toward the south, and passes through Spring Grove, and thence on to Preston, its present terminus. This line was undertaken by local enterprise and is of the standard narrow gauge.”[10]

Figure 12. Harvesting flax.

It is possible that John Reinert brought tools of his trade with him to pioneer America, where there would be a ready market for both linen thread and cloth. This hypothesis may be hard to prove, since tax records have not been found to date. Writing in 1882, Neill reported that flax cultivation had begun with one acre in 1878, which produced four bushels of seed.[11] Even through the 20th Century, Minnesota was one of several states that devoted many acres to flax.[12] Flax had become competitive in northern states like Minnesota because these states need fast maturing, cool season crops. Flax can be planted in April, as soon as the soils begin to warm, and it can be harvested in August (Figure 12), well before early frosts.[13] However, since about 1970, American flax production has failed to compete with imported textiles, whether as raw materials or as finished goods. The plat maps of 1931[14] report that neighboring farms to the Reinert home had cattle, hogs, chickens, and geese. An average 120 acres of each farm supported the livestock with grain and pasture.

The county population grew quickly in the 1860s, decreased slightly from 1900 to the 1930s, and gradually grew to the 2010 population of 19,000.[15] The town of Caledonia has grown steadily, although slowly. La Crescent growth began only in the middle of the 20th Century, and its growth has been the driver of county growth since then. Of the other villages and townships, only Spring Grove village, Houston village, and La Crescent township have 1000 residents or more. The remaining 19 villages and townships have not grown much beyond populations of 500 each.

Figure 13. Root river in Houston county.

The Root River and its broad floodplain (Figure 13) divide the county into a north third and a south two-thirds. In the north are the villages of Money Creek (unincorporated), Pine Creek (unincorporated), Houston (population 979 in 2010), Hokah (population 580), and the largest town of the county, La Crescent (population 4,830). La Crescent overlooks the Mississippi floodplain and slow-moving river, almost directly west from La Crosse, Wisconsin. South along the Mississippi are the towns of Brownsville (population 466) and Reno (unincorporated).

The southwestern two-thirds of the county populate the rolling plateau above the Mississippi. Caledonia (population 2,868) sits in the center. The other towns on the plateau are Yucatan (unincorporated, township population 351), Sheldon (unincorporated, township population 289), Black Hammer (unincorporated, township population 326), Riceford (unincorporated), Newhouse (unincorporated), Spring Grove (population 1,330 and Spring Grove township population 422), Wilmington (unincorporated, township population 472), Eitzen (population 243 and Winnebago township population 257), and Freeburg (unincorporated, Crooked Creek township population 323).

Figure 14. Map of Caledonia, 2001.

The town of Caledonia is a typical American small town (Figure 14). The streets are broad and mostly planned in a matrix of parallels and right angles. The businesses form a tightly-knit downtown that has stood for one hundred years or more (Figure 15). The largest buildings in Caledonia are the county courthouse, which was built in the 1890s, and St. Mary Catholic church, which was originally built in the 1880s. Both are located in the southern central area of town, within a few blocks of each other. The brick or stone buildings that date from before 1885[16] have weathered well, although some façades have received incongruent modernizations. A line of newer businesses skirts the western edge of town along Highway 44-76.

Figure 15. Caledonia downtown, 1907.

The homes developed clearly in separate additions: a few frame homes from the end of the 19th Century still stand, a group of homes built in the 1920s occupies one section of town, more modest homes built after the Great Depression are in another pocket, and in several groupings are the homes built to house the smaller families that formed after soldiers returned from World War II. Here and there, you can find homes built in the 1960s through the 1990s that fill in vacant lots left during the other periods of development. Along State Route 44-76 are the most recent businesses that include gas stations, motels, fast food, and restaurant-bars. The nearest city for movies and other entertainment is seventeen miles away: La Crosse, Wisconsin.[17]

Previous sections: Background for family history, Parish
Next sections: History, Reinert History in the Area, Travel to Kansas in 1872, Tipton KS, Seguin KS, La Crosse WI

Notes

8

See Coulee Region, accessed 2013.10.22.

9

Neill, p. 285.

10

Neill, p. 258 (writing in 1882 about the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul company).

11

Neill, p. 292.

12

378,000 acres in 1920 Minnesota, 1.6 million acres in 1943, and diminishing lately to only 10,000 acres, as cited in a Minnesota farms publication.

13

Thomas Jefferson Agricultural Institute, in their online essay on flax.

14

Unattributed, Atlas and Farmers’ Directory of Houston County,. Webb Publishing Company (St. Paul MN), 1931. Personal copy available as scanned images.

15

Population figures cited in Wikipedia's article on Houston county and linked entries for each township and town.

16

Neill, p. 271.

17

Nine years after Susanna Reinert had left the Caledonia area for Tipton, Kansas with her mother, sisters, and brothers, she moved to La Crosse with her husband John M. Kohn and three children. They had moved there at the encouragement of her brother-in-law Mathias Kohn, who had owned and operated a well-respected and successful saloon and boarding house in La Crosse since 1864.

Houston County, Minnesota—background for family history

First publication 2013.11.13. © Thomas G. Kohn, 2013.

John Reinert and his wife Katherine Blasius-Reinert arrived in the U.S. around March of 1867. To date, no ship’s passenger list has been found to document their exact arrival.[1] The Prussian commander of the militia signed a permit for emigration on 9 February 1867. If the family left Germany soon afterward, travel to Le Havre, France might require a week, and ship passage about three weeks. Thus, it is likely they arrived in March.

The family traveled with five children aged 19 (Susanna), 16 (Nicholas), 14 (Peter), 7 (Maria), and 3 (Gertrude). Their most likely port of arrival was New York City, and they may have been processed through Castle Clinton (also called Castle Garden).[2] However, it is possible their ship landed in Hoboken NJ. The family stayed some time with one or more of Katherine’s siblings. Her brother Nicholas Blasius lived in New Trier township, Cook county, Illinois; her sister Anna Catharina Blasius-Schmitz-Simon also in New Trier township or the nearby town of Wilmette; and her brother Johann Blasius lived in Chicago.

Figure 1. Caledonia township, Houston county MN, 1871

An informal family history holds that they had settled near Caldedonia in or after 1867. By the Ninth U.S. Federal Census of 1 June 1870, John Reinert and his family lived in Houston county, Minnesota. Their home in Minnesota was a farm about one and one-half miles north and three to four miles west (red square in Figure 1) of the village of Caledonia (red polygon). The farm might have included crops like flax, which the father John Reinert had experience with in Germany. No deed exists to show ownership, so it is likely they leased the farm.

Figure 2. John Reinert Household entry, U.S. Federal Census 1870

The enumeration of household 127 in the 1870 census (Figure 2)[3] identifies John Reinert as “John Rinerd” (age 50, farmer with real estate valued at $1700 and personal estate valued at $400) and his family as Catherine (46, keeping house), Susanna (22), Nicholas (19), Peter (17), Mary (10), and Gertrude (5).

Other families enumerated before and after the Reinerts include these households.

• William Paddock (dwelling 118, household 112, in section 10)
• James Mulligan (dwelling 119, household 113, in section 10)
• Delmer Irvin (dwelling 120, household 114, section 10)
• Michael Lorig (dwelling 121, household 115, not found as an identified land owner)
• James Lochead (dwelling 122, household 116, “Lockard” in section 3)
• John Schmitt (dwelling 123, household 117, in section 3)
• Gunder Knudson (dwelling 124, household 118, in section 3)
• Edmund Powell (dwelling 125, household 119, in section 3)
• Jacob P. Bakin (dwelling 126, household 120, “Becker” in section 3)
• Dwelling 127, household 121 is the John Reinert family
• Daniel McCarty (dwelling 128, household 122, in section 3)
• Michael Allen (dwelling 129, household 123, “M. Ellings” in section 9)
• Patrick Jennings (dwelling 130, household 124, in section 9)
• Catherine McGloughlin (dwelling 131, household 125, “Laughlin” in section 9)
• Michael Jennings (dwelling 132, household 126, perhaps occupant of “P.Jennings” in section 4)
• John Hashite (dwelling 134, household 128, “M.Hastings” in section 4?)
• Nicholas Pirrotte (dwelling 135, household 129, in sections 9 and 10)
• Frank Wis (dwelling 136, household 130, not found as an identified land owner)
• Anna Shields (dwelling 137, household 131, not found as an identified land owner)

Figure 3. Neighboring households to John Reinert, Caledonia twp

The household locations are shown as numbers in Figure 3. Two small squares indicate dwellings that are not enumerated with a family. They are possible locations for the John Reinert family.

It is likely that John swore his intention to become a citizen at the District Court of Minnesota in Caledonia on 23 October 1867. However, the signature could be read as “John Reinart,” who was a different immigrant who lived in Houston county at the same time.

John Reinert died from throat or neck cancer in March of 1871. The parish registers do not include burials of 1871,[4] and his grave is not recorded in the Caledonia parish cemetery. Katherine and the children kept the farm running for about a year.

Geography

The land features of Houston county, and for that matter, much of Minnesota and Wisconsin along the upper Mississippi River, resemble those of the middle Mosel River. Meandering tributaries feed the broadly flowing Mississippi, which is bounded by the bluffs that rise above the river.

Figure 4. Map of Houston county, Minnesota, 2003

The Root River flows east through the north third of Houston county and beside the towns of Houston and Hokah. Tributaries of the Root River from the north are Storer, Silver, and Money Creeks. North of Houston on Money Creek, a tributary of the Root River, is the unincorporated village of Money Creek. Also north of the Root River are Pine Creek (unincorporated) and the largest town of the county, La Crescent, which overlooks the Mississippi floodplain across from La Crosse, Wisconsin. South along the Mississippi are the towns of Brownsville and Reno (unincorporated).

The southern three-fourths of the county rise as much as 500 feet above the Mississippi, and most of the climb occurs in the bluffs above the western bank of the river. Tributaries of the Root River from the south are, in westward order, Thompson Creek (formerly also known as Indian Spring Creek), Crystal Creek, and Badger, Beaver, and Riceford Creeks. Thompson Creek was named in honor of Edward Thompson and his brother, Clark W. Thompson, the principal founders of Hokah. Caledonia sits in the center of the broad plateau above the rivers, among gently rolling hills that might have reminded John Reinert and his family of the plateaus above Wasserbillig and Igel. The land is fertile but often steeply sloped. The farming typical to the area includes raising soy beans, corn, and livestock feed crops. The area is not populated very heavily today, with the average town size of about 700 residents. The other towns on the plateau are a combination of unincorporated areas (Yucatan, Sheldon, Black Hammer, Riceford, Newhouse, Wilmington, and Freeburg) and incorporated villages (Spring Grove and Eitzen).

Next sections: Parish, Local Development, History, Reinert History in the Area, Travel in 1872, Tipton KS, Seguin KS, La Crosse WI

Notes

1

Several online sources provide transcripts of ship manifests, including an index of arrivals by year,  (an index of departures by port, including Le Havre, a searchable database of NARA records, and the Dayton and Montgomery County Library has most volumes from Germans to America: Lists of Passengers Arriving at US Ports 1850-1897 (Ira A. Glazier and P. William Filby (the correct volume to search is Vol. 19).

2

On August 3, 1855, Castle Garden opened as an immigrant landing depot. The creation of Castle Garden represented a country at a crossroads, signaling a change in American immigration policy, and in the ways through which immigrants became Americans. Two out of every three immigrants to the United States in this period passed through the Castle Garden. It was closed on April 18, 1890 and immigrant processing was moved to Ellis Island.

3

Ninth U.S. Federal Census of Houston county, Minnesota; page 18, dwelling 127, household 121, lines 10 through 16.

4

Email of Oct 17, 2013 “Re: Parish records from 1871” from Maria Keefe (stmaryschurch@acegroup.cc) “Unfortunately, we have very few records dating as far back as 1871. Of the few we have, I was not able to locate any burial records for John Reinert.”

Pioneers who Resettled from Caledonia MN to Tipton KS

© Thomas G. Kohn, 2013.

Although the John Reinert family lived in Houston county, Minnesota only five years (1867 to 1872), their life there should have left some records. I've begun further research for these items.

• School attendance for Nicholas (age 16 through perhaps 18), Peter (ages 14 through perhaps 18), Mary (ages 7 to 12), and Gertrude (ages 6 to 8)
• Burial of Johann Reinert
• Confirmations of Nicholas and Peter, possibly Mary and Gertrude
• Lease agreements for the farm property
• Tax forms for 1868 through 1872
• Auction notices and receipts for the small property that could not fit in a wagon

I found a news item and advertisement in the Houston County Journal of 25 June 1872 that must have piqued their interest.

Buffalo Land.
We are in receipt of this new and most agreeable volume of over 500 pages from the press of E. Hannaford & Co., (Publishers of First Class Subscription Books, Cincinnati and Chicago) The author is Hon. W. E. Webb, of Topeka, Kansas, long and widely known from his connection with the interests of emigration, and a strikingly original and jocular humorist.

He describes the wealth and wonders, the mysteries and marvels of the boundless West—that wild region so much talked about, yet as little understood, whose growth and development seem like a tale of Eastern magic. It is superbly illustrated, containing no less than fifty-three original and striking engravings, from actual photographs and designs by Prof. Henry Worrall, and executed (the enterprising publishers assure us) at a total cost of over $2,800.
In a short review like this, it is, of course, impossible to convey a perfect idea of this admirable work. To any one who has the least touch of “the Western fever,” it must prove really invaluable; and for all classes of readers, without execution, it is the liveliest and most laugh-provoking book we have seen for many a day. It abounds with valuable information, the reliability of which is vouched for by Governor Harvey, of Kansas, and others. It fairly brims over with wit and humor, and many of its chapters rival Mark Twain’s happiest style.
“Buffalo Land” embraces a wide and varied range of topics, among them the following:
Details of great interest and importance concerning the natural features, vast resources, rapid development, and almost incredible progress of the far Western States and Territories, with glimpses of their mighty future;
Curious and interesting facts connected with the climatic and other changes consequent upon the settlement and denser population of the newly-reclaimed Western lands;
Fresh and authentic information, from official sources, respecting the supply of fuel and lumber available for use on the Great Plains: the cost of a farm, what the emigrant should bring with him, stock-raising at the West, &c.
A full summary of the Homestead and Preemption laws and regulations, prepared by a former Register of the U.S. Land Office.
Full and accurate descriptions of the habits, characteristics, etc., of the savage red man, buffalo, elk, antelope, etc., as found in their native wilds and on the out-skirts of civilization;
Graphic and thrilling narratives of hunting adventures, stalking the bison, encounters with Indians, etc.;
Vivid pictures of life on the frontiers; the past and present of the Great Plains; the vast inland sea, and the marvelous animal life with which it once teemed;
Highly interesting accounts of the geological wonders of the West, antiquarian and scientific researches, etc.
The publishers desire agents for everywhere, allowing exclusive territory and the most liberal commissions. The firm is a prompt and reliable one. We give their address in full: E. Hannaford & Co., 192 West Madison Street, Chicago, Ills. Many of our readers will want this book, and agents will make money rapidly in its sale.The book created excitement among residents of the county.

A couple Houston county residents travelled to Kansas and returned to verify many of the claims made in Buffalo Land. In September 1872, Nicholas Arnoldy liquidated his business, and with his brothers Michael, Peter, and Chris formed a wagon train. Katherine decided to join about a dozen other families who left for Tipton KS. These families included the Schwinden and Palen families, among others.

Katherine Reinert and her family of five children (Susanna, Nicholas, Peter, Gertrude, and Maria) arrived in Tipton after a trip of 600 miles or more. Although a family document asserts the travel was by wagon, travel on the Mississippi River seems more logical to some landing down river. St. Donatus, Davenport, or Burlington in Iowa or Hannibal or St. Louis in Missouri are possible locations for the transition to a wagon, . Their arrival in Tipton is indirectly documented in the parish history of St. Boniface.

They came from Caledonia, Minnesota, in the fall of 1872. The names of those families are: Nick Arnoldy, Sr., Peter Jacobs, Franz Jergen [tgk correction: Mergen], Matt Ellenz, William Swinden, Nick Gasper (single), Philip Schroeder, John Beck, John Elser, Mike Cordel, John Cordel, and Mrs. Catherine Reinert. Before the families arrived, Mr. Peter Jacobs had been sent, earlier in the same year, to inspect the territory. These families were followed by many others, and by 1879 the number of families had increased to seventy. "

 The St. Boniface history lists the family names, though it doesn't clarify that all had come from Caledonia:

H. Konzem
F. Mergen
P. Jacobs
J. P. Cordel
M.J. Arnoldy
Mrs. Catherine Reinert
Michael Cordel
Frank Cordel
Nicolaus Gasper
Anton Gasper
August Richter
Frank Boden
Peter Arnoldy
Nicolaus Arnoldy, Jr.
Conrad Arnoldy
John S. Arnoldy
Peter Gengler
Peter Krier
Philip Schroeder
Henry Streit
Theodor Arens
John Arnoldy, Sr.
Ignatz Hake
John Bach
Bernard Thummel
Dominic Schulte
John Scheer
Carl Henneboehle
John Beck
Carl Braun
John Stroh
Joseph Fischer
Jacob Pauly
Matthias Ellenz
Matthias Eck
John Endres
William Fueser

Relevant Links

• Means of travel from Caledonia to Tipton
• Description of the Reinert home in Europe. 
• The Kirchenbuch of Igel, 1818-1908
• The Familienbuch of Igel, 1706-1899