Agenda - Public Works Committee - 03/20/2018

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$aneiy acume�y Following is an article written by Mrs. Henry Wilson for the Anoka County Historical Society. It tells of the Wilson family, early settlers in Anoka County, and of early days in Ramsey. ********** Mr. and Mrs. Sardon Wilson came from England to Minnesota and stopped at Old St. Anthony, staking a claim in what is now the heart of Minneapolis, remaining there until great loneliness encouraged them to give up their claim and move to Ramsey in 1856to be near Mrs. Wilson's sister and family, Mr. and Mrs. John Allison, who had come on ahead. The Wilsons lived in various places in Ramsey and gave birth to five children, J. W. Wilson, Herbert Wilson, Elizabeth Wilson (Mrs. James O'Keefe), Loretta Wilson (Mrs. I. A. Harthorn), Henrietta Wilson, (Mrs. Freeman Jordan). When war was declared, Sarden Wilson hired Uncle Moses Goodrich, father of Supt. G. D. Goodrich, to move the family from Bryant farm to Anoka on First Avenue, and he with R. B. Porter, Lewis Carpenter, Isaac Varney, enlisted with Hatcher's Battalion to put down the Indian rebellion. Serving two years in the army, as soon as discharged he took his family and moved to Mananah, near Paynesville. At this time the Great Northern Railroad was construct- ed as far as Foster's corner. Sarden helped to build the stockade at Swede Grove which provided protection in case of further Indian hostilities. After living here about nine years Mrs. Wilson died and the family returned to Ramsey to the Alison home, Mr. Alison being dead, Mr. Wilson later married Mrs. Alison. In those days farming was very crude. Without the aid of machinery much of the work was done by hand and the Wilsons tell how their father used to cradle grain. A cradle was a scythe with teeth along the outside edge 2 or 21/2 feet long and when a swath was cut left the grain lying in a winnow and in a straight line. Afterwards it was straightened by keeping feet close to ground and bending over, picking and straightening and binding into bundles with straw bands. It was said that Sarden was so expert in cradling that he was called the Marsh Harvester and was always very busy in harvest cradling grain for his neighbors after his own was taken care of. A long day spent in this way brought him flour equal to a batch of bread, with which he was frequently paid. Oxen were commonly used to farm with, also for logging purposes farther north. Near Princeton and Milaca pine logs were cut and drawn to the rivers, where they 53