By Benita Devney

This history was written as a part of the Eureka Township Centennial 1954

The building of the Dodd road, from Fort Snelling to St. Peter, passing through Eureka Township, played an important part in the settlement of the town. Early in the fifties, hopes were high throughout Minnesota, that St. Peter was the coming city of the new territory.

In May of 1853, the Kingsley brothers, Cyrus, Dwight, and Ancil, under the direction of a Captain Dodd, began work on this territorial road. By the latter part of June, their work had brought them to a portion of the road, afterward included within the boundaries of Eureka Township. When at the point (now in section 7), where the Dodd road crosses the Vermillion River, Captain Dodd was so impressed with the loveliness of the spot he told Cyrus Kingsley to build a log pen and stakeout a claim of one hundred and sixty acres for him. His interest was short lived, for he soon forgot his claim as his work carried him along the new road. However, his fellow workers, the Kingsley brothers, could not forget.

While spending the winter of 1853-54 in St. Paul, where they built the city's first foundry buildings, the brothers met an old friend from the east, Benjamin Caskey, who was looking for a good location. Impressed with the Kingsleys description of lands waiting to be taken along the Dodd road, Caskey set out alone, in May, on a prospecting tour. As chance would have it, he settled on the exact claim staked out the year before by Captain Dodd.

A few weeks later, two of the Kingsley brothers, Cyrus, and Dwight came down the road to be Caskeys neighbors, even sharing his cabin for a time. For the first house, in Eureka, was built by Cyrus Kingsley and Benjamin Caskey on the latters claim during July 1854. In terms of today, this first cabin was located near the home of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Pool, present owners of the old claim.

The cabin was typical of those days, built of logs and about fourteen by eighteen feet in dimensions. For beds, wooden pins were driven into the logs and slabs or poles were laid upon them. A foot or so of wild hay completed the crude beds. The nearest neighbors were a camp of fifteen lodges of Dakota Indians.

That summer, Dwight Kingsley brought his wife from St. Paul and they soon built a cabin on Dwight's claim in the southeast quarter of section 6. Since both claims were located near the Dodd, the only road through the area, Alexander Faribault and other important personages, as well as the most humble of early pioneers shared the warm hearted hospitality of Eureka's first citizens, the Caskeys and the Kingsleys.

Writing for the Dakota County Tribune in 1904, Dwight Kingsley, then living in Minneapolis, told this about Old Days in Eureka:

"I am one of the first settlers of Eureka Township and the only one now alive that first settled in Eureka. At the beginning, my brother Ancil R. and Cyrus M., with myself, worked cutting the Dodd road through, under the direction of Captain Dodd. We worked from May 3rd to June 20th, 1853, then went across country to what is now Union Lake. We followed the Indian trail to Black Dog and came to St. Paul by way of Mendota. I never received one cent for my work on the Dodd from Captain Dodd or anyone else. I went east and married Ellen Caskey and made for Minnesota again, as I thought the winter was the nicest I ever saw. I came back with my wife in the spring of 1854, on April 13, my birthday, and reached St. Paul in ten days. Stayed there until July and then made a break for a farm and I settled in Eureka at the head of the Vermillion River. It was as handsome a stream as I ever knew. My partners were Ben Caskey and wife. In the course of two or three months, I found I had some neighbors about three miles from me at Chub Lake by the name of Peter Sampson. They had some cows and two horses. In the spring of 1855, James Caskey came in. He had left his wife behind and soon got sick of farming and sold out to his brother Henry.

I built a shanty on land Joseph Mallery now owns. There were a good many people traveling to Faribault. They used to stop with us sometimes and we had them lying on the floor two or three thick."

On July 18, 1854, Peter Sampson and his son Magnus; Ole Torrison and Ole H. Oleson Halling, all Norwegians, arrived at Chub Lake, from Wisconsin. Mr. Sampson took a claim in section 22 and 27. The Torrisons and Olesons located claims in section 21.

During the fall of that year, Peter Sampson and Ole Torrison built cabins on their claims. These two cabins, with those of Benjamin Caskey and Dwight Kingsley, making four in all, were the only houses in Eureka in 1854.

The summer of '54 also brought Slyvester Bell to the community. To him goes the credit for breaking the first land in the township, during the summer of 1854, on his claim in section 5. He broke about five acres with a plow drawn by oxen. Corn and a little wheat were planted. The wheat was cut with a cradle, tied in bundles with grass. It was used for hay.

Ancil Kingsley arrived in December of 1854 and took a claim in the southwest quarter of section 6, next to his brother Dwight.

However, it was from twenty-eight Hoosiers, the occupants of thirteen prairie schooners, who arrived May 25, 1855, that the township received its name. Leaving Miami County, Indiana, on the first day of April, they spent almost eight weeks looking for open, fertile lands that had near by, the pioneers two necessities, wood and water.

A story written by Charles Curry, from notes furnished by his uncle, Issac Curry, and published in the Dakota County Tribune, April 14, 1915, tells how they reached Eureka twice before deciding to stay.

Mr. Curry wrote:

"The first event to which my attention was called took place one day while the party was in camp just south of Castle Rock. (I mean the rock itself.) They were on the south side of the big marsh. They saw the rock in the distance, which they believed to be the monument to some illustrious dead or the mark of some boundary line between some of the Indian tribes.

They sent a delegation across the marsh (no small undertaking) to investigate. They did so, cutting their names in the soft sandstone as others had done before them. After the delegation returned, the party broke camp and moved further west, going in camp on the banks of Chub Lake, near the old homestead of Seger Larson.

From here they moved to Cannon Lake, four miles west of Faribault, where they went into camp for several days, while part of the company traversed the big woods (lying on the west) on foot and looked over the prairie west of the Blue Earth river not far from where Mankato now stands. When they returned, they decided they could not get through the woods with their wagons. They decided to turn back and double their trail to Chub Lake."

Tired and hungry, they reached the cabin of Peter Sampson, near Chub Lake, the evening of May 24 and quickly accepted his warm invitation to make camp for the night. The next morning, they moved on again in a northwesterly direction and soon arrived at what is now section 9, on the Vermillion River. Here they quickly realized that their wanderings were over. Here was everything they had been searching for, and a jubilant cry of "Eureka" went back from the first wagon to each of the other twelve in the train. Thus, our township was named, "Eureka, I have found it."

Because of the great impetus toward the settling of Eureka, that this large group of settlers brought with them, much importance has always been given this event. The names of the occupants of the thirteen prairie schooners are as follows: James B. Sayers and wife, three daughters and one son, Phoebe, Ann Eliza, Ellen and Issac; Charles Jones and wife and four children, Ancil, Labon, Alice and baby Emma; Issac Van Doren, a widower, whose little son, Willie had died the second night after leaving their Indiana home; R. S. Donaldson and wife and two children, Clarence and Mary; Issac Curry; Abram Van Doren; I. N. Van Doren, and Oscar Van Doren, all nephews of Issac Van Doren; D. J. Lumsden; A. C. Speck; Adam Shadinger; Clymer Shadinger and wife; William Coburn and wife and daughter Emma. These folks were nearly all related by blood or marriage.

Four of the group, Issac Curry, R. S. Donaldson, James Sayers, and Charles Jones settled in what is now Lakeville Township, just over the line from Eureka. All of the others settled in Eureka. When the last claim was staked, an area of two and one-half square miles had been chosen for settlement. It is easy to understand why the "Hoosier" invasion has never been forgotten.

After locating their claims, the settlers continued to live in their wagons and tents. The heads of families and the young men turned their attention to breaking up the prairie sod to have it in readiness for a crop the next year. In their spare time they busied themselves building their little cabins or shanties, and by fall all were settled in warm, little homes of their own.

In July of the same year, 1855, according to the "History of Dakota County" written by Reverend Edward Neill in 1881, another train of covered wagons, this time, nine in number, arrived in Eureka. Two or four team of oxen drew each of the wagons, and the caravan included fifty head of cattle.

This group consisted of Johann Loe and his family; Johannes Torbenson Leinie; Ole and Stephan Torrison; Lars Mohn and family; Christian Husevald Anderson and family and Peter Hendrickson Ruh and family. They were all Norwegians, who had settled first near Muskego, Wisconsin. They had left there because they found the area very unhealthy, because of the mosquito and cholera infested swamps. Their four hundred miles of travel, which took four weeks, finally brought them to the vicinity of Chub Lake. Here they decided to remain and story has it, that the decision to do so was made because the area reminded them of their native Norway. These Norwegian folks, along with the Sampsons, Torrisons and Olesons, who had come in the year before, formed the nucleus of the Christiania settlement of Eureka.

These early settlers encountered all the hardships of pioneer travel. Their greatest difficulty was the crossing of many streams and rivers. No modern iron, steel or concrete bridges spanned these waters as they do today. All had to be forded or ferried. To determine the depth of the water to be forded, a man on horse or oxen would cross ahead of the train. If the water was deep enough to run into the wagons, they would place blocks under the wagon boxes and take their goods over dry. Sometimes, the rivers swollen by rains or melting snows would be too deep to be crossed and they would make camp and wait for the waters to subside. When the rivers were to be crossed by ferryboats, the lead oxen would be unyoked and with the milk cows are driven into the river and they would swim to the other side. Usually, all the wagons but one would pass over before the loose cattle were driven in. Strong currents often swept the cattle down stream some distance, adding to the trials of the travelers.

Eureka's growth did not stop even for a little while after the folks from Indiana and Muskego arrived. Coming that summer and fall were Peter Thompson, Garrick B. Mallery, William Kelly, Jule Knudson, Ole P. Ruh, Samual Bean, Daniel Collett, Silas Schofield, Jacob Van Doren, Thomas Smith and Frederick Wright. The year 1856 brought William Pool and sons Benjamin, Joseph, Robert and Jeremiah; John Pool, brother of William; Charles Smith and Thomas Van Doren. In 1857, Seger Larson, Howard Shadinger, Samual Livingston, and Reverend F. A. Pratt became residents of the town.

The first birth, the date of which is known, was that of Annie Kelly, daughter of William and Bridget Kelly. She was born, on August 20, 1855, on her father's claim in section 6. T'hedeman J. Knudson, son of Jule and Inga Knudson, was born in section 29, on December 1, 1855.

The first marriage in the town was that of Ancil Kingsley and Maria Lumsden, on December 2, 1856.

The first death was the ten-year-old daughter of Daniel and Sarah Collett, November 18, 1856. Little Susannah was buried in the dooryard of the home, in section 9. Almost everyone buried their dead on the premises, before cemeteries were laid out. In those days, undertakers and hearses were unknown. William Christ, who lived on part of the Kelly farm, along the Dodd road, made all of the caskets for the settlers dead.

Travelers often spent the night at the homes of Benjamin Caskey and Dwight Kingsley during the winter of 1854-55, until the first regular hotel was built by Thomas Smith, on his claim in section 4, in the summer of 1855. It was built with posts set in the ground, the sides boarded up and a hay roof. He built a better house in the fall, so history records, but most of the houses were poorly built and this was no exception. During the winter, Mrs. Smith is said to have frozen her feet while in bed.

As early as 1856, a school district was formed, including portions of lands afterwards in Eureka and Lakeville Township. However, the schoolhouse was built during the summer of 1856 and located on the old site of District 44, in the center of section 33 Lakeville.

As far as can be ascertained, the first school in Eureka was taught by Garrick B. Mallery, at his home in section 6, during the winter of 1857-58. This was a night school for the accommodation of the neighbors and had a good attendance.

In 1858, school District 47 was organized and the following spring a school was built on the northeast quarter of section 7 at a cost of $200. The first teacher was Sarah Jenkins. It was not unusual to have an enrollment of fifty or sixty pupils. The first school board was composed of G. B. Mallery, Henry Caskey, and William Christ. In 1881, it was voted to erect a new school building about five hundred yards south of the original site, on land donated by Silas Schofield. This is the present District 47 schoolhouse.

It is something of a coincidence that the first school in Eureka to hold classes as an organized district of the town, should be the last. District 47 is the only one of the eight school districts formed in the township during the past century, in which classes are still being taught. All of the other districts namely: 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 85 and 96 closed their schools, when the school districts throughout Eureka, including 47, consolidated with the school districts of Castle Rock, Lakeville or Farmington. District 47 is operating as a part of the Lakeville school system.

Religious services were held in Eureka during 1855-56 by traveling missionaries. The D. J. Lumsden home was a favorite place for these meetings.

J. W. (Jim) Pool, who came to Eureka with his parents in 1856, tells a little about one of these meetings, in the following story that he wrote for the Dakota County Tribune in 1904.

"We have good reasons to believe, the first sermon preached in Eureka was at the home of D. J. Lumsden, in the month of December, 1856. A Baptist minister came to the house of Lumsden to stay all night. Adam Shadinger came to see me late in the evening and said if I would furnish a team he would hunt up some girls and have a sleigh ride and go to church. So me (J. W. Pool) with Adam Shadinger and Jeremiah Pool started. We drove through the snow over to Father Sayer's house, near where Issac Curry lives near Lakeville, there we got two girls, and then we went over to Brimhalls, where Mortons live and got Miss Brimhall. We got to Mr. Lumsdens rather late. We took Issac Sayers along for a driver as he wanted to go. Issac was a young boy, perhaps fifteen or sixteen years old. We had a nice ride and we believe the first sleigh ride with girls in the town of Eureka. The congregation consisted of nine persons."

The first church organization, in which the future town of Eureka participated, was called the Vermillion Presbyterian Church. The society was formed December 6, 1856 at the home of James Sayers, across the line in what is now Lakeville Township. Reverend J. A. Sterratt who walked twenty-seven miles from the vicinity of Prescott, Wisconsin and Reverend J. G. Riheldaffer, who had driven from St. Paul, assisted in the organization. Five members formed the nucleus of the society. They were James Sayers, his wife and two children and Jacob Van Doren. The two gentlemen were appointed elders. Reverend F. A. Pratt, who preempted a farm in section 18, in 1857, was the first regular pastor. A short time later Samual Livingston and wife; Silas Schofield and wife; G. B. Mallery and wife and Sarah Coburn joined the congregation.

For a time, the services continued to be held at the home of James Sayers, later at the District 44 school house. Sometime later, Jacob Van Doren donated an acre of land in section 4 to be used for church purposes. In 1866, ten years after the first organization meeting, the present church was built, at a cost of $900. All the money was raised by subscription.

After the completion of the church building, the members invited the Methodists, who had been meeting in private homes, to share their building. Reverend J. 0. Rich, who had preempted a farm in section 31 of Empire Township, was the Methodists first pastor. The Presbyterian minister preached in the church every second Sunday. On alternate Sundays, the pulpit was occupied by a preacher of some other denomination, sometimes a Baptist but more often a Methodist.

Regular services have not been held in this old church for many years, as the congregation now worships in the Presbyterian Church at Farmington. Occasionally, the church is opened for the funeral of one of the old pioneers or his or her descendants.

As of the year 1954, there are two other churches in Eureka, each with a strong, active membership. They are the Christiania Lutheran Free Church of which Reverend Marius Haakenstad is pastor and the Christiania Evangelical Lutheran Church, whose pastor is Reverend Ernest Hoff. The spires of these, the Twin Churches, are landmarks that can be seen for miles beyond the boundaries of our township.

Neill's History of Dakota County records that the Christiania Lutheran Free Church was formerly organized, March 28, 1860, although it was known to exist before that time. The first pastor was Reverend P. Carlson. This is said to be the oldest Lutheran Free Church organization in the state.

According to the same historical source, the Christiania Evangelical Lutheran Church was begun in 1857. Regular ministerial work was undertaken Free Lutheran by Reverend B. J. Muus of Holden in Goodhue county, as visiting pastor. He served until 1866, when Reverend Quammen was called.

Reverend Quammen's service among the Norwegian people of Eureka was unique, not only because he labored among his little flock for forty-six years as their spiritual leader, but he was a doctor of medicine as well. Before heeding the call of a vocation as a minister of God, Reverend Quammen had studied medicine. What a boon this was to the early settlers, far removed from doctors because of poor roads and modes of travel, to have a man of such education living among them. Imagine the comfort that this man, who could minister to body and soul, must have brought to the sick and their families. Of the long list of ministers, who have served the churches and people of Eureka for the past one hundred years, it is doubtful that there is one more beloved than Reverend N. A. Quammen.

Well kept churches, cemeteries, farms with modern parsonages complete the properties of these two Lutheran congregations.

Until 1898, very little pastoral work was done among the Danish Lutheran people who migrated from Denmark and settled in Eureka.

These people worshipped in the Lutheran churches of Christiania or Hazelwood. In June of that year, Reverend J. Simonsen of Northfield conducted the first Lutheran services in the Danish tongue in the schoolhouse of District 96 in section 13. Others followed this first service, some held in the schoolhouses and some in private homes. These services paved the way for the organization of the St. John's Danish Lutheran Church on Sunday, March 2, 1902 at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Pedersen, in section 14. Mr. and Mrs. Ferdinand Miller donated to the congregation a piece of land large enough for a church lot and cemetery. In 1903, a church was built on this property in section 14, which was dedicated on November 29. In 1913, the congregation bought the old Catholic church building in Farmington and after that most of the services were held there. In the spring of 1925, the church building in Eureka was sold to Sorn Rasmussen, who moved it to his farm and remodeled it into a barn.

In May 1867, the Greenwood Cemetery Association was organized at the Vermillion church, by R. S. Donaldson, Jacob Van Doren, Issac Van Doren, G. B. Mallery, Charles Jones, Issac Curry, and William Coburn. The object of the association was to furnish a burial place for the surrounding community, regardless of sect or religious denomination. Two acres of land, adjoining the church on the west, was purchased from Jacob Van Doren. In 1876, two additional acres were bought and beautified by planting evergreens and shrubs. The first evergreen trees planted were brought from Duluth by Charles Jones, according to his son Ira C. Jones, now ninety-four years old and living in Medford, Oregon. Gradually, the bodies of those, who had died prior to the platting of the cemetery, were moved to a final resting-place in this beautiful spot.

The cemeteries serving the two Lutheran of Christiania and adjoining their churchyards were established in 1865 and 1866. Until then the cemetery was located near the site of the old post office of Christiania. There is another cemetery in section 14 near where the Danish church stood.

Christiania post office, Eureka's only post office which was established in 1859, at the home of Dominic Moes in section 19, along the Dodd road, was a high point in the settling of the community. The office was on the old mail and stage route between St. Paul and Faribault. Magnus Sampson was the first postmaster with Dominic Moes deputy. In 1861, Mr. Sampson enlisted in the army and Silas Schofield was appointed in his place. The office was removed to his farm, where it remained for fourteen years. When Mr. Schofield resigned, Albert Olson was appointed his successor. He moved the office to section 21 and opened a small store stocked with general provisions. When the Rural Free Delivery routes were established in 1897, this post office passed out of existence. Not far from the post office was a blacksmith and wagon shop, serving the farmers of the area. These business places and the Twin Churches made up the little settlement which is still referred to as Christiania.

With the exception of some road orders by the town supervisors and other minor matters, all the early records of Eureka township have been lost or never kept. However, it appears that the township was organized May 18, 1858 and the formal meeting, for the organization and election of officers, was held at the barn of Issac Van Doren in section 9. How many votes were cast is not known, nor is there a list of the candidates or a full list of successful aspirants. The board of supervisors consisted of G. B. Mallery, chairman; Cornelius Wager and Joseph Bean, associates. James W. Pool was the first town clerk and Issac Van Doren was the first treasurer. For many years the annual town meeting and elections were held at what was known as the "Central School," District 49. In the late seventies or early eighties, the meetings were held at the blacksmith shop in Christiania, for which a small annual rent was paid. Not until 1908, when the present town hall was built in section 21, did the town of Eureka have an official building for the transaction of public affairs.

In the summer of 1862, the residents of Eureka were alarmed by rumors of the Indian uprising at New Ulm for their own Dodd road led right into this territory. From a story written by Garrick B. Mallery, one of Eureka's earliest settlers we are given a realistic word story of those terrifying days. Mr. Mallery said,

"One rainy Sunday morning in August, 1862 we noticed quite a number of wagons loaded with men, women, children and household goods, on the Dodd road, going toward St. Paul, and were wondering why so many were on the road at that time, till one of the neighbor boys came in and told us that the Indians had broken out and were killing all they could find and burning the buildings.

He told us they were about Chub Creek, coming like a streak of fire. After giving us warning, he went to St. Paul. Not long after, Dwight Kingsley came in. We thought it not likely that the Indians could be so close without our hearing of it before. Several of us met on the Dodd road near Mr. Schofields to see if they were really coming.

Some rode a distance up the road and came back and reported they saw nothing, of them. They were, in fact, 75 or a 100 miles from us. Rumor sometimes travels faster than Indians.

I think it was the next day we heard that Governor Ramsey called for volunteers to go to the scene of the massacre for the relief of the settlers. The following day Dwight Kingsley and I went as far as Shakopee, in the afternoon. A friendly Indian brought in some refugees.

The next day we joined a few others and went to St. Peter, where quite a number had gathered from different parts of the state. The next day two companies were formed, one going to New Ulm, and the other under Col. McPhail, started for Fort Ridgely.

They seemed to think it was best to make the trip in the night. We started towards evening and ate supper at a deserted house, on smoked meat and other things we found there.

Col. McPhail's orders were to ride slowly the fore part of the trip so the horses would not be fatigued if it should be necessary to hurry later. There were some strips of timber we had to pass through, and our orders were that if attacked not to stop and fight, but to ride through to open prairie as rapidly as possible.

Several times in the night some one thought they saw or heard Indians, but nothing alarming happened until near morning, when we saw on a hill to our right a signal light which moved several rods back and forth.

Our guide, Auntwin, could not see any signal. The Colonel told him if he could not see that, he would never do to hunt Indians. I had some doubt about the light moving till we stopped, on account of some obstruction, but as it continued to move I was fully convinced.

We watched and talked of it till it began to get daylight, when we found it was the morning star. Why it acted so queerly that morning I never could quite understand.

We passed some houses that had been burned, where there was still some fire. We also saw dead cattle and one white man lying in the road.

It was light when we came in sight of the fort, and as the flag was still flying we thought the Indians had not gained possession. There was a rather deep wooded ravine between us and the fort and after looking it over as carefully as he could, the colonel told us to go through, but not to stop in it if attacked.

I think those in the fort were glad to see us, as they had passed several dangerous and watchful days; were nearly worn out and were running out of some kinds of ammunition.

When I began this I thought of giving some incidents of the Birch Coulie affair, but it is too long already. I will say in conclusion that some thinking of "safety first," when they heard of the outbreak, went the other way, without waiting for any organization, not where the trouble was.

Perhaps in a real fight they would have been of very little use, but the Indians were not quite so sure of this and were held somewhat in check till real soldiers had time to get there."

In the late nineties another business enterprise was added to the Christiania settlement. This was the picturesque Dutch windmill which was built by Magnus Miller atop the hill on the Peter Johnson farm in section 20. Mr. Miller, who came from Sweden in 1892 built the mill entirely himself from lumber cut from a nearby woodlot. It was a five-story structure with sixty-four foot fans. Many in Eureka recall that when the mill was first built the squeaking of the wooden cogs and moving parts frightened the horses and cattle for miles around. Here for twelve years, Magnus ground grain for the farmers of the neighborhood and a wide area. Two men operating the mill could turn out eight hundred sacks in a day and night run. Finally, Mr. Miller dismantled the mill and moved it and the home he had built nearby to Lakeville.

Time moved on and between 1911 and 1912, a railroad, known then as the Dan Patch, now the Northfield Southern was built from Minneapolis to Northfield passing through Eureka. A station was built at the junctions of sections 15, 16, 21 and 22, right in the center of the township, for the convenience of farmers shipping milk and other produce on the railroad. Gradually, a little village grew up around this station, which was called Eureka Center and the town hall was moved there.

Several of Eureka's citizens have taken a prominent part in the affairs of the county and state, by being elected to public offices. Garrick B. Mallery served in the First Territorial Legislature, often referred to as the Dakota County Legislature, during 1858. Henry Caskey served in the State Legislature in 1859-60 and John B. and Aris Kelly from 1903-05. J. A. Jelly was county auditor from 1901 to 1903. Those who served as county commissioners were William Parry, Peter Thompson, Ed Ruh, Allbert Sayers, and Nels Storlie. Albert Sayers was county treasurer for many years.

As this informal history story of Eureka township draws to a close, we wish to pay honor to the pioneers of each generation, who worked, hoped, sacrificed and prayed that we might have the Eureka which we love today. Their labors were not, unappreciated we know, for many of the descendants of the pioneer families are still carrying on in Eureka in 1954, even into the sixth generation.