Bancroft History
Bancroft, Kossuth County, Iowa, USA
Ramsey Township
from
"History of Kossuth County Iowa
Volume 1"
by Benjamin F. Reed, LL.B.
Chicago
The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
© 1913
Pages 669 - 672
Congressional township 98-28 became the civil township
of Ramsey after those thirty-six square miles had belonged
to other civil townships. Like all the territory north of
the county seat, what is now Ramsey belonged to old Algona
township until the board of supervisors set it off to form
a part of some other township.
The first change came when 98-28 became a part of Portland
in October, 1869, a township, that was twenty-nine miles long
and six wide, and extended from Minnesota south to include
the present Plum Creek. In September, 1870, the east row of
sections of 98-28 became a part of Collar township, but that
order was soon rescinded. When Ramsey was first created in
June, 1879, its size was very different from what it is at
present. It comprised the east third of the present Ramsey,
Ledyard and Springfield, the west half of the present Lincoln
and all of the present German except the southeast fourth.
This arrangemeut, of course, left the west two-thirds of the
present Ramsey and the territory north of it still belonging
to Portland.
The next change came in April, 1882, when Ramsey was enlarged
by the addition of the east half of the present Lincoln and
all of Hebron. It was further enlarged in January, 1884, by
the addition of the west two-thirds of the present Ramsey,
Ledyard and Springfield. By this change 98-28 for the first
time became wholly a part of Ramsey.
Ramsey was reduced to its present size as other townships
from time to time were formed from portions of its large
territory - German in 1887, Hebron in 1889, Springfield
and Ledyard in 1891, and Lincoln in 1893. The name of
the township was adopted in honor of Wayne Ramsey, a banker
at Madison, Wisconsin, who owned a large tract of land
in the large township when it was created.
There will never be any dispute as to who was the first
settler in Ramsey township. Norman Collar was not only the
first to locate in Ramsey, but the first in all that
region of territory. July 13, 1867, he arrived with his
family from Illinois and settled upon his homestead on
the southeast quarter of 24. With the family also came
a nephew and niece of Mrs. Collar's.
These settlers were compelled to camp in the wagon until
August 25th, by which time their sod house was completed.
Sods were turned over by the breaking plow and then cut
into pieces small enough to handle and place in position
for the crude sod structure. This was the kind of a home
the first family locating in Ramsey had for several years.
The Collar "sod tavern" was not only a conspicuous place
of abode on the prairie, but was a place where travelers,
claim seekers and others frequently took lodging. There
they met with a cordial welcome and were royally entertained.
Mrs. Collar was a good cook and made a fine hostess.
Norman Collar was reliable and practiced the principles of
the Golden Rule. He became identified with the growth and
progress of that portion of the county and was regarded as a
leader in the affairs of the township. He frequently headed
the local delegations to conventions, where he made friends,
of all with whom he came in contact. He was chosen a member
of the board of supervisors and served with satisfaction
to his constituents.
Settlements formed at a very slow rate for several years
after the first family located. Claim takers came and went,
and some of them remained hardly long enough to make the
acquaintance of any one. In fact it was ten years before
there were groups of settlers in the township large enough
to justify building a schoolhouse. The little colony that
clustered on section 13 in 1877, east of the Union slough
and about a mile and a half north of the Collar place, was
the first group that attracted attention.
Rev. J. Liesveld was the head of this colony that located in
1877. He was a Presbyterian minister and began at once to
found a church. The influence he wielded was strong and his
judgment was relied upon in business and political matters
as well as in religious affairs. A little country village
called Ramsey was started and its prosperity at that time
seemed assured.
W. L. Green that year put up the first house in the village,
one that for many years was pointed out as a landmark.
Peter G. Schneider, one of the colony, built a shop and
commenced blacksmithing. He was the most active in the
affairs of the township of any of that number. He was
an inveterate worker at the polls for a cause he espoused,
and was frequently employed by those desiring to effect
some measure to "carry the township" on election day. T. W.
Tinker and D. A. Duitman were also early settlers in the
vicinity.
The Ramsey postoffice was established in 1877 and Schneider
became the first postmaster. After three years the office
was turned over to F. Esebrandt, who held the position for
a couple of years and was then succeeded by John Meinburg,
a well remembered settler who later spent several years at
Bancroft conducting the Phoenix livery barn. B. F. Smith was
the next to hold the office. After him came Adam Fisher and
then the last one, A. G. Wortman, who also started a store.
B. F. Smith was as popular a citizen as the township ever
claimed. He was jovial and companionable and at ease in any
company. He too was a power in political campaigns that had
to be considered by his opponents. He was elected a member
of the board of supervisors and made a good official.
James L. Paine, of Algona, was the first to carry the mail
between that place and Ramsey when the office was established.
He made his trips twice each week by stage or hack and
frequently had passengers along.
After three years Rev. Leisveld was succeeded as pastor of
the church by Rev. A. Krebs, who remained only one year,
until Rev. F. Schmidt arrived to take his place. The church
went down after Germania was started.
The first schoolhouse in the township was built in the village
in 1877, and was largely intended to be used as a town hall.
The initial school was taught that summer by Silas Scheneck.
The Kleist family were residents of the village for a while,
but they soon moved away and others followed. A few old
buildings and the grove are about all that can now be seen
of the Leisveld-Schneider enterprise. The village went to
decay according to Pete Schneider's opinion, because the
general sentiment of the county was opposed to the presence
of saloons.
It was Leisveld, Green and Schneider who agitated the matter
of having Ramsey township established. They went before the
board in 1878 with a petition asking to have Ramsey set off,
but they met with defeat. The next year they were more
successful. When the township organized in 1879 Schneider
was elected assessor and Case Wiltse one of the justices.
Later when the township was divided, Wiltse became a resident
of German.
Dr. G. H. Peters on 33 was chosen one of the county supervisors
and thus had the same honor conferred upon him as was upon
Norman Collar and B. F. Smith.
When referring to the old settlers the residents of Ramsey
include those who came at any time before the middle eighties.
John Loctu on 32 was one of the very early homesteaders to
locate. Herman Bruhns, who settled on the same section with
Collar, is ranked also in that class. Henry Merrifield on
19 was making things lively in politics as early as 1880.
Michael Winter on 23 was also among early comers to that
section.
When Mike Sandt located on 28 he became the democratic leader
of Ramsey. He was also one of the earlier settlers. On the
northwest corner of 11 the noted author and poet, Ole 0. Bracke,
selected his home farm.
J. B. Mousel, after living eight years on his farm, moved to
Bancroft where he is an officer of the hoard of directors of
the First National bank. He came in the spring of 1885.
Dr. E. A. Howe was a prominent citizen in Ramsey before moving
to Bancroft.
Several of the farmers are stockholders in town enterprises.
For instance Jacob Rahe on 6 is a stockholder in the Bancroft
Creamery and in an elevator, while Andrew Bratland on 5 and
J. Freark on 11 are stockholders in the creamery and elevator
at Germania.
For enjoying life as one goes along Nicholas Scholtes on 17
ranks number one, and he has neighbors who make a close second.
The officers of the township are Henry Recker, clerk; Frank
Froehle, assessor; Joseph Rahe, Joe Rake and John Haupert,
trustees. The school officers consist of J. S. Freark,
president; James Johnson, Joseph Rahe, Peter Erich, Henry Fox,
Geo. Lester, John Tjaden, Nick Goche and James Vaske. The
secretary is Henry Recker and the treasurer, James Recker.
The teachers doing service in the schools at the present time
are Gertrude Putzier, Eva Sundstrom, Mary Sanftner, Caroline
Seger, Alta Clement, Barbara Droessler, Anna Gaul and Mabel
Saunders.
A short distance east of the Collar place, in the fall of 1854,
the first stack of hay in the county made its appearance. It
was put up by a government surveying crew of which D. A. Haggard,
who for many years has been a resident of Algona, was a boy
member.
The best known of all the marshy places in the county is Union
slough, which passes through the eastern portion of the township
and forms the head or source of a branch of the Blue Earth river.
while its waters flow northward there are evidences that once
the water went in the opposite direction. This is the opinion
of the state geologists who have examined the direction in
which the sloughs and ravines run into Union slough. It is
their opinion, furthermore, that the slough was once an expansion
of the river and was a quarter of a mile wide and more in
places. During the lapse of centuries the expansion became
filled with a vast accumulation of peat. In the early days that
slough made the basis for fixing the boundary lines of townships,
and affected the location of settlements. The wet lands along
its borders also caused much contention with the swamp land
company who claimed them because they were wet and unfit for
cultivation.
E-mail: dwagner2@isd.net
©2003 DJW
Last Modified:
November 8, 2003