Stark Township
The second township from the south line of Brown
County, and the third from the eastern line of the
county is Stark, which is in congressional township 109,
range 32 west. At its north is Home Township, at the
east is Sigel, at the south, Albin and at the west is
Leavenworth town ship. It is without a railroad or a
town or village, save the mere hamlet of Ibera in its
center. It has numerous lakes, including these: Bachelor
Lake, in the northeastern part of the territory; a
smaller sheet of water to the southeast of this, and
Rice lake, in the southwestern portion of the township.
Others have been drained out with the town ship's
settlement and development. The soil here is fertile and
wonderfully productive of crops common to this latitude.
The last three United States census periods show this
township to have a population in 1890 of six hundred and
twenty-three, the most that it ever has had; in 1900 it
had fallen to six hundred and four, and by 1910 it had
only five hundred and eighty.
Stark township was organized in the spring of 1868; the
first township election was held with results as follow:
John Moore, chairman
Russell Ives and Joseph Hillesheim, supervisors
Samuel Auger, clerk
John Wiggins, assessor
G. Bickelhaupt, treasurer
Eli Benham and Jacob Duncan, justices of the peace
A. Slocum and L. Birch, constables
The first settlers were as follow: In 1858, Luther
Whiton, George Richard, Edwin and John Charnock, Seth
Henshaw and John Blum all located in the township.
Henshaw was killed by the Indians while trying to reach
New Ulm in 1862 with Mrs. Harrington, Mrs. James Hill
and two children. The women and children escaped. Mr.
Blum and family, with the exception of one boy, were
ruthlessly murdered by the savage foe enroute to New
Ulm. A number more were killed and wounded from this
township, but the names are not now at hand.
Other pioneers of this township, whose names should
never be forgotten in making up the annals of this
county were:
C. W. Smith
Andrew J. Bangs, of
Delaware
Samuel Bellig, of
Switzerland
Frederick Benham, a
Vermonter
Henry Berg, a native
of Prussia
John Callahan, an
Irishman
Jacob Duncan, Jr., of
Indiana
W. J. Dungan, of
Adams County, Illinois
Andrew J. Gilman, of
Vermont
John F. Grubby, a
German
T. H. Humphrey, of
Vermont |
Luther C. Ives. Of
Michigan
George Kroy, a
Bohemian
F. W. Kuehn, a German
William Miner, a
Vermonter
William Otrwein, a
German
Herman Plath, a
German
August Schwerdtfeger,
a German
Lorenzo Slocum, of
New York
Charles W. Smith, of
New York
John Van Kaufenberg,
of Luxemburg
H. Zander, of Prussia |
Early Happenings
Among the first and always interesting events in this
township may be recorded: The first birth was that of a
son born to Mr. and Mrs. C. W. Smith, May 10, 1861. The
first death was that of Daniel Tuttle, in the spring of
1858. The earliest religious services in the township
were held at the house of C. W. Smith, in the spring of
1860, by Rev. Jones, a United Brethren minister.
The pioneer school was taught in the summer of 1865.
Ibera Post office
Ibera post office was established in 1870, and had for
its earlier postmasters F. F. Benham, Judson Bangs and
William Kuehn. This office was about the center of the
township, and at one time there was a steam saw-mill,
several general stores, blacksmith's shops, cabinet
shop, a shoe repair shop and a farm implement agency.
There was later a water power grist-mill with three run
of stones, built by Plath & Schwerdtfeger, about 1872.
Henry S. Back built a steam saw-mill in the northern
part of the township, which later was washed away by a
big flood.
With the coming of railroads and the further development
of the county, most of the former business interests of
the little hamlet moved to other parts, leaving simply a
small store.
Brown County |Minnesota
AHGP
Source: History of Brown County,
Minnesota, L. A. Fritsche, M.D., Editor, Volume I, 1916.
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