License Bureau151 Fourth Street SoutheastRochester, MN 55904-3709507-328-7660 - birth, death or marriage recordsFor divorce records call 507-206-2400www.olmstedcounty.gov
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Olmsted County Rochester Minnesota Registrar Of Deeds
The county was established under the territorial government in 1855, but was not organized into towns till the spring of 1858. Previous to this it was merely divided into election precincts. It now includes eighteen townships, each six miles square. T. 108, in R. 11 and 12, are attached to Wabasha county, thus preventing the symmetrical proportions which Olmsted county was entitled to. We have already spoken of the twelve sections, detached from Mower county, and attached to the townships of High Forest and Rock Dell.The city of Rochester is the county seat, and is situated near the center of the county. It is fifty miles west of Winona and seventy-five miles southeast of St. Paul. The fixing of the county seat, as in many other instances of a similar character, involved a struggle. The pretty and flourishing village of Oronoco, in the northwestern part of the county, had sprung into active, bustling life, while Marion, another neat and handsome village, beautifully located some seven or eight miles south of the city, had grown up. The city of Rochester, and the villages of Oronoco and Marion became competitors for the county seat. At an election held in the various precincts in the spring of 1857, the question was to be decided. Oronoco, being situated near the boundary line of the county, concluded that its chances for the honors and profits of a county seat were in nowise flattering, and hence united its strength with Marion as against Rochester. The results of the canvass showed that, although the Marion party had beaten the Rochester party in counting, the latter had scored a real victory in voting. The officers chosen at the first establishment of the county, in 1855, were: commissioners, James George, G. P. Barrows and James Rutan; register of deeds, J. N. McLane; assessor, Michael Pearce; sheriff, Philo S. Curtis; treasurer, Alfred Kinney; judge of probate, R. Ottman. The board of commissioners held their first meeting at Oronoco, August 27, 1855. So far as the record shows, little business was transacted, and the board adjourned to meet at Rochester September 13, following. The principal business done at this session, was to consider some petitions for the organization of school districts and election precincts. The meeting was adjourned to October 1. At the October meeting very little business was done, and the board adjourned to November 12. This session closed the business of 1855.The board of commissioners, in 1856, consisted of E. B. Barrows, John Lowery and James Rutan. The first meeting of the board that year was on January 7. Sessions of the board were held from time to time throughout the year, and several more election precincts were established, and judges of election appointed. The first bills presented the board for allowance were presented at the July session of 1856. The bills were principally for services for viewing, surveying and laying out highways. The whole amount of taxable property for the year, $807,588.County tax, 7 1/2 mills.............$6,606.91School tax, 2 1/2 mills...............2,168.97Territorial tax, 1 mill......................867.48Total tax...................................$9,643.46The board in 1857 consisted of John Lowery, Hiram Thompson and D. B. Coe. At the annual session of the board in January, James A. Bucklin filed his bond of county treasurer with James Bucklin, Henry Woodard, B. S. Coe and Asa Lesuer as sureties.The amount of School fund for this year which was collected by tax was..............$631.63Collected from fines.........................................................................................................46.00Total school fund..........................................................................................................$677.63We append the above figures to show from what small beginnings the county has grown within the lapse of twenty-six years. As yet the county was without a county building. The courts were held at Morton's hall, in the two-story frame building which yet stands at the corner of Main and Third streets. The board of county commissioners met in Dr. McLane's office, a small wooden building occupying a portion of the site where now stands the Cook House block. At the session of the board, July 12, 1856, John Lowery, E. A. McMahon and J. N. McLane were appointed a committee to make arrangements for erecting a suitable building for the use of the county. At the August session the committee made their report, which was accepted and placed on file. In the month of September following, the commissioners held another session, when they passed a resolution instructing the committee on county buildings to prepare and submit to the board, a specific contract, embodying the terms of a proposition made by C. H. Lindsley to supply the county with convenient offices and court-room. These arrangements resulted in the erection of the building on Broadway known as the "old court-house," and now owned and occupied by Mr. N. Peters as a hotel and boarding-house. In the fall of 1858, as near as we can ascertain, the county, through its officers, took formal possession of the building. In 1857 Emery Mapes was elected register of deeds; sheriff, G. W. Baker; county attorney, Stiles P. Jones; county treasurer, W. P. Brooks; judge of probate, Hiram Thompson. These officers elect, qualified the first week in January, 1858. The board of commissioners for this year consisted of John Lowery, L. B. Bliss and B. D. Coe. In the fall of 1858, D. M. Evans was elected clerk of the county board of supervisors, this body taking the place of the county board of commissioners, and consisting of the following named gentlemen: J. W. Everstine, S. Risker, C. H. Lindsley, C. H. Short, Ethan Kimball, L. B. Bliss, T. S. Cornish, M. Pearce, Abram Harkins, John Kilroy, Elhanan Day, D. L. King, James Bucklin, G. C. Sheiks, T. T. Olds, J. A. Coffin, Cyrus Cornell, William Russell, David Whitney, A. J. Doty, O. A. Hadley, Chester Hose, J: W. Everest. In 1859 L. B. Bliss was elected register of deeds; G. W. Baker was re-elected sheriff; C. C. Jones was elected clerk of the district court and J. A. Leonard county attorney. In April, 1858, the county was organized into towns, under the new state government, as follows: Cascade, T. 107, R. 14; Dover, T. 106, R. 11; Eyota, T. 106, R. 12; Elmira, T. 105, R. 11; Farmington, T. 108, R. 13; Haverhill, T. 107, R. 13; High Forest, T. 105, R. 14, also including Secs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of T. 104 in said range; Kalmar, T. 107, R. 15, except Secs. 1, 2 and 3 in said town and range; Marion, T. 106, R. 13; New Haven, T. 108, R. 15, and also Secs. 1, 2 and 3 in T. 107, R. 15;Orion, T. 105, R. 12; Oronoco, T. 108, R. 14; Pleasant Grove, T. 105, R. 13; Quincy, T. 107, R. 11; Rochester, T. 106, R. 14 ; Rock Dell, T. 105, R. 13, also Secs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of T. 104 in said range;Salem, T. 106, R. 15; Viola, T. 107, R. 12. At the time of organization the town of Dover was called Whitewater, the town of Eyota was called Springfield, and the town of Haverhill was called Zumbro; afterward it was called Sherman, subsequently it was given its present name.At the annual town meetings, in March, 1860, the manner of conducting the county affairs was again changed. The county was divided into five commissioner districts, and one commissioner was elected from each district. The first board of commissioners was composed as follows: Thomas Brooks, Abram Harkins, Zebina Handerson, Richard Hull and William M. Pierce. D. M. Evans retired from the office of county auditor, and O. A. Hadley was appointed to fill the office. In the fall of 1860 Mr. Hadley was elected to the office of county auditor.At the election in the fall of 1855 W. D. Lowery, of Rochester, was elected to the upper house, or senate, of the territorial council and J. H. Hartenbower was elected to the lower house, or house ol representatives. Mr. Lowery held the office for two years. E. B. Barrows was elected to the house in 1857.The convention of delegates having completed the state constitution, it was submitted to the people for ratification at the general election in the fall of 1857. The constitution providing for two senators and four representatives from each senatorial district, the people of the county proceeded in their election upon the supposition that the constitution would be adopted, and accordingly elected the full representation thus provided for. Charles H. Lindsley, of this city, and Emerson Hodges, of Eyota, were elected senators, and Sylvanus Burgess, E. A. Power, Samuel Lord and W. K. Tattersall were elected to the house of representatives.In the fall of 1858 P. F. Lawshe, J. S. Sawyer, D. L. King and G. I. Covil were elected to the house, and Dr. H. Galloway and Emerson Hodges were chosen senators. From some cause, however, there was no session of the legislature that year and the members were not called into service, though the senators held their office for two years, and came up to their work in the winter of 1860, with G. W. Green, A. J. Olds, Abraham Ozmun and J. S. Sawyer as their colleagues in the lower house.In the fall of that year Stiles P. Jones, of Rochester, was elected to the senate and Abram Harkins and W. K. Tattersall to the house of representatives. Mr. Jones died just before election in the fall of 1861, and J. V. Daniels, of Rochester, was elected to fill the vacancy; F. Johnson and Thomas Harris were elected to the house. At the same election O. P. Whitcomb was elected county treasurer; O. P. Stearns, county attorney ; Reuben Reynolds, clerk of the district court, and Hiram Thompson, judge of probate. The same year the board of county commissioners consisted of Thomas Brooks, Amos Parks, Samuel H. Nichols, J. M. Greenman and Thomas Harris. O. P. Stearns having resigned the office of county attorney to enter the army, L. Barber was elected in the fall of 1863 to fill the vacancy. At the same election O. P. Whitcomb was elected county treasurer; L. B. Bliss, register of deeds; Horace Loomis, sheriff; M. W. Fay, judge of probate; court commissioner, M. W. Fay. This year the board of county commissioners consisted of W. D. Hurlbut, Amos Parks, S. H. Nichols, George Stocking and J. P. Moulton.In the fall of 1864 J. V. Daniels was elected state senator, and Thomas H. Armstrong and J. P. Moulton were elected representatives. Abram Harkins was elected county auditor. This year L. Barber was elected judge of the third judicial district.Four citizens of Olmsted county have held state office, as follows: David Blakely, of Rochester, secretary of state from 1863 to 1866.In the fall of 1875 Samuel H. Nichols, of Salem, was elected clerk of the supreme court, and is the present incumbent, having been elected last fall for the third term of three years each.In 1867 Thomas H. Armstong, of High Forest, was elected lieutenant-governor and was re-elected to the same office in the fall of 1869.O. P. Whitcomb, of Rochester, was elected auditor of state in the fall of 1872. He was re-elected in 1875 and 1878, holding the office for three terms of three years each.In the fall of 1879 C. M. Start, of Rochester, was elected attorney-general. After serving in that capacity a little over one year, Mr. Start was appointed judge of the third judicial district, to fill the vacancy in that office created by the appointment of William Mitchell, the then incumbent, as one of the justices of the supreme court. In the fall of 1881 Mr. Start was elected judge of the third judicial district, a position which he now occupies.At the session of the legislature in 1864 O. P. Stearns, of Rochester, was chosen United States senator, to fill out the unexpired term of Daniel S. Norton, deceased.In the fall of 1865 L. B. Bliss was elected register of deeds; O. P. Whitcomb, county treasurer; Reuben Reynolds, judge of probate; Horace Loomis, sheriff; O. P. Stearns, county attorney; Alfred Blanchard, clerk of the district court. B. F. Perry, of Kalmar, and R. D. Hathaway, of Pleasant Grove, were elected representatives.The board of county commissioners this year consisted of W. D. Hurlbut, Amos Parks, William Carson and R. S. Russell. This year the board of commissioners passed a resolution adopting the county superintendent system, provided for by a then recent act of the legislature, and at a session of the board held in September of the same year, Sanford Niles was appointed county superintendent of schools. He continued to hold the office by appointment for nearly twelve years.In 1864 measures were taken by the board of commissioners looking to the erection of a more commodious and convenient county building. A tract of land, consisting of about three acres, and situated between Zumbro street on the south and Fourth street on the north, and between Hunter street on the east and Clark street on the west, in the city of Rochester, was purchased as the site for a new court-house. The same year plans and specifications for the new building were submitted and the contract for its erection was let to J. H. Grindall, of St. Paul. In the fall of 1866 the new courthouse was ready for occupancy, and the county records and offices were removed therein. The total cost of the new court-house was $32,000, for the payment of which no direct tax was levied. The funds in the county treasury, arising from the collection of delinquent taxes, together with interest on county funds, practically defrayed the entire expense. In this connection, it might be proper to state, that Olmsted was the first county in the state which became solvent after the general financial pressure of the few years immediately preceding the year last named.Officers were elected in the fall of 1867, as follows : L. B. Bliss, register of deeds ; county treasurer, O. P. Whitcomb ; sheriff, William Brown ; judge of probate, Reuben Reynolds ; county attorney, C. M. Start; representatives, Charles Stewart, S. W. Eaton and Caleb Sawyer.The board of commissioners for 1866 and 1867 consisted of W. D. Hurlbut, William Carson, Amos Parks, R. S. Russell and J. K. Randall.In 1868 J. A. Leonard was elected state senator; representatives, R. D. Hathaway, B. S. Larsen and John Lathrop; board of county commissioners, W. D. Hurlbut, William Carson, R. S. Russell, Edwin A. Doty and Henry J. Grant.The following were elected county officers in 1869: register of deeds, Thomas Brooks; treasurer, A. Gooding; judge of probate, S. W. Eaton ; sheriff, William Brown; county attorney, Charles M. Start; clerk of district court, C. T. Benedict. That year the board of county commissioners consisted of W. D. Hurlbut, William Carson, R. S. Russell, E. A. Doty and G. W. Wirt. Representatives chosen that year, Charles Stewart, S. W. Graham and B. S. Larsen.In 1870 a good deal of unfriendly feeling was developed throughout the state toward the railroads. The companies were charged with unjust discriminations and with exorbitant and oppressive tariffs in the transportation of freights, especially of wheat and other farm produce to the eastern markets. Olmsted county, of course, was struck with the general feeling of dissatisfaction, and consequently was loud in her complaints. By many it was thought that these evils might and should be reached and remedied through the legislature. So strong was this feeling that the matter formed a prominent issue in the canvass for members of the legislature that year. L. B. Hodges, of Oronoco, an outspoken and uncompromising democrat, was nominated for state senator, in the interests of the farmers against the railroads. O. P. Stearns, of the city of Rochester, an attorney, was the republican candidate for senator. Both candidates canvassed the county pretty thoroughly, Mr. Hodges taking extra pains to ingratiate himself into the confidence and favorable consideration of the farming population, while his opponent, Mr. Stearns, confined himself mostly to the discussion of the usual party issues. The result was that Mr. Hodges was elected by a majority of between 200 and 300 votes, notwithstanding the county, on square partisan issues, was at the time good for from 800 to 1000 republican majority. R. A. Jones, Thomas W. Phelps and William Somerville were elected representatives the same fall. D. S. Hebbard was elected county auditor. The board of county commissioners that year was composed of R. S. Russell, G. W. Wirt, C. H. Chadbourn and Eugene S. Wooldridge.At the session of the legislature in 1871, Olmsted county was divided into two senatorial districts, numbered respectively ninth and tenth. The ninth district was comprised of the towns of Quincy, Viola, Dover, Eyota, Marion, Elmira, Orion, Pleasant Grove, High Forest and Rock Dell, and the villages of Eyota and High Forest. The tenth district was comprised of the towns of Salem, Kalmar, New Haven, Cascade, Oronoco, Haverhill, Rochester and Farmington, and the first, second and third wards of the city of Rochester. To each district were assigned one senator and two representatives. In the fall of the same year, Milo White was elected senator in the ninth district, and Arthur Gaskill and Peter Fenton representatives. In the tenth district, O. S. Porter was elected senator, and R. A. Jones and T. B. Lindsay representatives. The county officers chosen that year were as follows : County treasurer, A. Gooding; register of deeds, Thomas Brooks; sheriff, James A. Ellison; county attorney, C. M. Start; judge of probate, S. W. Eaton; court commissioner, O. O. Baldwin. The board of county commissioners for 1871 consisted of G. W. Wirt, E. S. Wooldridge, F. T. Olds, E. H. Dewey and A. Burnap.In the Grant and Greeley presidential campaign of 1872 there were quite a number of republicans in the county who left the party and cast their political fortunes with the Greeley movement. They were styled "Liberal Republicans." But the county went republican that fall as usual. D. S. Hebbard was re-elected county auditor; Milo White was returned to the state senate from the ninth district. M. L. Tibbetts and Marcus Wing were elected representatives in the ninth district, and Thomas B. Lindsay and M. C. Fuller representatives in the tenth.The republicans gained the ascendency in the county in 1857, and held it until 1873. The average majority was fully 800, and a republican nomination was ordinarily equivalent to an election, but in the last year named the politics of the county underwent quite a revolution. A succession of partial failures of the wheat crop, combined with a real or supposed system of oppressive taxation, and perhaps, more than all, with a general uneasiness and desire-for a change, had sown the seeds for apolitical revolt. The farmers were among the first to feel the effects of "hard times," and laboring under the conviction that somehow the government, both state and national, and both republican, was responsible for the financial difficulties, many of them sought for relief at the ballot-box. Granges, or lodges of ''Patrons of Industry," were instituted all over the county, the declared object of which was the protection of the agriculturists against the monied and trading classes. The disaffected ones also became inveterate and persistent anti-monopolists and so-called reformers, and what was specially noticeable, and not a little surprising, these elements of dissatisfaction and desire ior a change were largely confined to the republican party. At the fall election in 1873 these disintegrating forces made themselves felt at the polls. Whether through design or from accident, the patrons, anti-monopolists and reformers readily coalesced with the democrats, and at the election last named, the following-named persons were elected: Register of deeds, L. E. Cowdery, democrat; treasurer, J. L. Wright, disaffected republican; clerk of district court, H. T. Hannon, disaffected republican; judge of probate, J. W. Fulkerson, democrat; county attorney, C. M. Start; sheriff, James A. Ellison; court commissioner, O. O. Baldwin ; county surveyor, Thomas Hunter ; coroner H. Galloway, democrat, Messrs. Ellison, Start, Hunter and Baldwin being the only republicans elected to the several county offices. I. M. Westfall, disaffected republican, was elected state senator for the tenth district, and F. T. Olds and M. Dosdall, both democrats, were chosen representatives. In the ninth district, C. T. Shellman and John Hyslop, both disaffected republicans, were elected representatives.Whether the political change was productive of the beneficial results desired or anticipated, is a question not easily solved. One thing, however, is certain, the county secured a corps of first-class officers.The board of commissioners for 1873 were F. T. Olds, A. Burnap, G. W. Wirt, P. Hoganson and E. H. Dewey.In the fall of 1874, county and district officers were elected as follows: County auditor, A. Biermann; court commissioner, O. O. Baldwin; coroner, G. W. Nichols, state senator, ninth district, Milo White; representatives, L. M. Gaskill, Burr Deuel. Tenth district, representatives, J. Y. Daniels, William Brown.This year the board of commissioners consisted of Thomas Brooks, Joseph Tait, P. Hoganson, George W. Wirt and M. Kepner. At the election in the fall of 1875 the following-named persons were elected: Register of deeds, L. E. Cowdery; treasurer, J. L. Wright; sheriff, J. A. Ellison ; county attorney, Charles M. Start; judge of probate, J. W. Fulkerson; coroner, G. W. Nichols ; county surveyor, Thomas Hunter. A. Burnap and H. M. Stanchfield were elected representatives from the ninth district. In the tenth district J. Y. Daniels was chosen state senator and E. P. Whiting and W. H. White representatives.Thomas Brooks, O. Cravath, Peter Hoganson, W. H. White and M. Kepner comprised the board of county commissioners for this year.At the session of the legislature for 1876 an act was passed authorizing certain counties in the state to elect county superintendent, Olmsted county being included in the list.In the fall of 1876 the following-named persons were elected: County auditor, A. Biermann; county superintendent, M. G. Spring; state senator in the ninth district, B. Deuel; representatives, Thomas W. Phelps and Marcus Wing. In the tenth district, E. P. Whiting and George W. Pugh were chosen representatives.The board of county commissioners for 1876 consisted of Thomas Brooks, O. Cravath, M. Kepner, Henry Postier and John Cornwell.As early as 1874 or 1875 the politics of the county began to be agitated by what is known as greenbackism or fiatism. The advocates of this theory maintained that the financial system of the country was radically wrong. They claimed that the public debt should be paid in greenbacks ; besides, they argued in favor of other measures of reform or change in the conduct of the national finances. This new theory found favor with many of the voters in the county, and here, as well as elsewhere, it became a political issue of considerable force and magnitude. As fate or luck would have it, the greenback policy found its warmest welcome and most persistent advocates among the disaffected republicans, but, for political purposes, they sometimes fused with the democrats.At the election in the fail of 1877 A. F. Keyes, greenbacker, was elected county treasurer; register of deeds, L. E. Cowdery; sheriff, W. H. White ; clerk of district court, H. T. Hannon; county attorney, H. A. Eckholdt; judge of probate, H. H. Richardson; county commissioner, W. S. Booth; county surveyor, Thomas Hunter. On December 22, of the same year, Mr. Richardson died, and D. S. Hebbard was appointed judge of probate by the governor.The same year D. A. Morrison was elected state senator. A. Burnap and John Hyslop were chosen representatives from the ninth district; James Button and Charles E. Stacy were elected representatives in the tenth district.The board of commissioners that year consisted of James N. Coe, John Cornwell, H. Postier, W. J. Rank and O. Cravath.In 1878 A. Biermann was re-elected county auditor; Henry C. Butler, judge of probate; M. G. Spring, county superintendent; O. O. Baldwin, court commissioner. O. H. Page was elected state senator in the ninth district, and Peter Fenton and Charles P. Russell representatives. In the tenth district D. A. Morrison was re-elected state senator; Charles E. Stacy and R. A. Jones representatives. The board of county commissioners for that year consisted of J. N. Coe, John Cornwell, H. Postier, W. J. Rank and Joseph Tait.By the year 1879 the republicans had again acquired the ascendency in the county, electing their entire ticket in the fall of that year, excepting sheriff. The ticket was as follows: County treasurer, G. A. Frizzell; register of deeds, M. R. Wood; sheriff, W. H. White; county attorney, H. A. Eckholdt; coroner, G. W. Nichols; surveyor, Thomas Hunter. The state constitution having been amended, providing for biennial sessions of the legislature, there was no legislative ticket elected that year. The board of commissioners for that year consisted of J. N. Coe, John Cornwell, H. Postier, W. J. Rank and William Freeman.In 1880 the following-named officers were elected: County auditor, C. A. Whited; judge of probate, H. C. Butler; county superintendent of schools, M. G. Spring; coroner, F. R. Mosse. In the ninth district, Milo White was elected state senator, and Ole Juleson and C. A. Butterfield representatives. In the tenth district, J. V. Daniels and O. S. Porter were chosen representatives. This year the board of commissioners consisted of J. N. Coe, John Cornwell, William Freeman, B. F. Bulen and F. L. Tesca.At a special session of the legislature held in the fall of 1881, another legislative apportionment was made. Under the new apportionment Olmsted county constitutes one senatorial district, numbered 14, and three representative districts, allowing the county one state senator and three representatives. The western district is comprised of the towns of Cascade, Kalmar, Rock Dell, New Haven, Oronoco, Farmington, Haverhill, and the village of Byron. Eastern district: Viola, Quincy, Eyota, Dover, Elmira, Orion, Pleasant Grove, High Forest and Salem townships, and the villages of Eyota and High Forest. The central district is comprised of the towns of Rochester and Marion, and the first, second and third wards of the city of Rochester.At the election in the fall of 1881 the following-named persons were elected: County treasurer, G. A. Frizzell; register of deeds, M. R. Wood; clerk of court, C. H. Heffron; county attorney, F. B. Kellogg; sheriff, Henry M. Richardson; county, surveyor, Thomas Hunter. The board of commissioners this year was comprised of J. N. Coe, F. L. Tesca, B. F. Bulen, L. B. Josselyn and William Freeman.The election in the fall of 1882 resulted as follows: County auditor, C. A. Whited; judge of probate, H. C. Butler; superintendent of schools, F. L. Cook; state senator, D. A. Morrison; representative in eastern district, E. D. Dyar; western district, J. Frahn ; central district, M. J. Daniels. Milo White, of Elmira, was elected representative in congress for the first congressional district. The board of commissioners for this year consisted of J. N. Coe, L. B. Josselyn, O. Seeverts, J. W. Fiathers and James T. Price. The population of the county is now about 25,000.History of Winona and Olmsted Counties, 1883 Olmsted County Home Page 2ff7e9595c
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