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 whose persevering efforts are due the securing from the Post Office department the statistics from which the full and accurate history of the post offices of the county has been prepared. To the Commissioner of the General Land Office; to the Hon. J. A. O. Preus, state auditor; the Hon. W. J. Smith, state treasurer; the Hon. C. G. Schulz, superintendent of public instruction; Mr. Warren Upham, secretary of the Minnesota Historical Society; Dr. H. M. Bracken, secretary of the state board of health; Capt. J. R. Howard, superintendent of the Indian agency at White Earth; the officials at the general offices of the Great Northern, Northern Pacific and Soo railway companies; C. H. Barnes, superintendent of schools at. St. Cloud; and the various county officers of Stearns county—and this by no means completes the list—I would express my indebtedness for courtesies shown and favors granted during the progress of this work.

Especial thanks are due the men who have prepared the general chapters. They have given to the gathering and preparation of the material much valuable time, in may instances at the sacrifice of their personal and business affairs. The results are of exceeding value, representing a wealth of information and details which are of present as they will be of still greater future interest.

Acknowledgments are also due the writers of the history of their respective townships and villages, most of which are full, complete and creditable. It is to be regretted, however, that in several of the townships and villages it was impossible, notwithstanding the most persistent efforts, to secure from prominent residents of the localities, of supposed public spirit and intelligence, the necessary information for satisfactory sketches, which will account for the meager character of those published.

Whatever shortcomings there may be in this History of Stearns county—and I am fully aware that there are many—may be charged at least in part to the difficulty of obtaining reliable first-hand information and in part to the local indifference referred to. I hope, however, that it will not wholly fail in preserving for years to come the memories of the good and true men and women who laid the foundation stones upon which Stearns county grew to be one of the best, most populous and most prosperous counties in the great state of Minnesota.

W. B. MITCHELL.