Page:History of Goodhue County, Minnesota.djvu/269

 11ISTOKY OF GOODHUE COUNTS 213 two, and in some places three, distinct ten-aces, which are prac- tically level, extending along both sides of Prairie creek and the Cannon river. The latter valley is frequently more than a mile wide, and embraces Large and valuable farms. The upland is undulating and has a soil similar to that of the terraces, although its sub-soil is usually clayey rather than gravelly. There is timber along some portions of the Little Cannon and sparsely along the hanks of Prairie creek. The section along this creek is broad and beautiful, bordered by the higher prairie lands, which venders il picturesque and charming to all who behold it. The township is bounded on the north by Cannon river, which separates it from Dakota county, on the east by Cannon Falls, on the south by Warsaw and on the west by Dakota county. Stanton Avas the original name applied to this township, but at its organization it was changed to Lillian, Stanton not having proved acceptable to the state authorities. It was later, however, changed back to Stanton, the name being given in honor of William Stanton, Sr., one of the earliest settlers. The township was originally a New England settlement, most of the pioneers being natives of Vermont and of Puritan ancestry. Some moved further west, but many of them remained, and their descendants still live on the original farms. Late in the fall of 1854 John and George Seasons made claims on the Little Cannon in the eastern part of the township. Soon after, Jonathan and Alonzo Dibble and William Thomas settled near them. In 1855 came the real influx of immigration, when a party of New Englanders arrived from Wisconsin, where they had previously made a settlement. The party consisted of Nor- man Daniels, AYilliam Stanton. Sr., William Stanton, Jr., Robert Deakin, Samuel Daniels and George Gould. There were also a number of others in the party, as well as the families of those mentioned. In the fall of the same year Peter Fagen and Hugh Wooden, with the father and two sisters of the latter, settled here, but one by one the entire family of the AVoodens died, leaving no survivors. The first death was that of Mrs. George Seasons. The mar- riage rites were performed for the first time for George Gould and Experience Daniels, in October, 1855. The first religious services in the town were held in the w r inter of 1855-56, at the house of William Stanton, Sr., Rev. J. W. Hancock, of Red Wing, officiating. William Cleveland taught the first school. Rev. Hancock says: "The log house built by William Stanton, Sr., near the road leading to Faribault from the nearest Mississippi towns, was for several years the only place for tin entertainment of travelers between Cannon Falls and the further West. Mr. Stanton's latch string was always hanging out. and every civil-