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Calvin F. Leach. – We are not able to give date or place of birth. Mr. Leach came to St. Croix Falls in 1842 and soon after came to the head of Lake St. Croix, and became one of the original owners of the mill, and a founder of the city of Stillwater. In 1850 he was married to Miss – Smith, of St. Anthony. He died in St. Louis in 1853. He was modest and retiring in his demeanor, correct in his deportment and respected by all his acquaintances.
Socrates Nelson. – Mr. Nelson was born in Conway, Massachusetts, Jan. 11, 1814, received an academic education, was married to Mrs. Bertha D. Bartlett in 1844, at Hennepin, Ill., and the same year came to Stillwater, and engaged in selling goods. Previous to his removal to Stillwater he engaged in merchandising in Illinois, in 1839, and in St. Louis from 1840 to 1844, where he established a trading post on the Mississippi nearly opposite Reed's Landing, at a place since known as Nelson's Landing. Mr. Nelson was the first merchant in Stillwater. His store stood on Main street. He built a substantial dwelling and lived in it until his death, May 6, 1867. He filled many public positions, was territorial auditor from 1853 to 1857, and was a senator in the second state legislature. As a merchant he was very successful, being fitted by nature for commercial pursuits. In 1853, he, with others, built a saw mill in South Stillwater and engaged in lumbering. He was of a free and generous disposition in all his relations of life. He conveyed, as a donation to Washington county, a half interest in the block of land on which the court house stands. His liberality and public spirit did much for the prosperity of Stillwater. His wife and one daughter, Mrs. Fayette Marsh, survived him, but Mrs. Marsh died in 1880. She was a woman of great sweetness of disposition, and beloved by all who knew her. His widow died in 1885.
Mrs. Socrates Nelson. – Bertha D. was born at Conway, Franklin county, Massachusetts, Sept. 6, 1813. She was married to Geo. A. Bartlett, of Conway, in 1838, and removed with him to Knoxville, Illinois, where he died. She returned to her parents in Massachusetts, and removed with them to Hennepin, Illinois. In the fall of 1844 she was married to Socrates Nelson, and came with him to Stillwater. She died Oct. 8, 1885. She was the last of her family, husband and daughter having preceded her to the world of spirits. The large attendance of old settlers from Washington county and elsewhere at her funeral, and the beautiful floral tributes contributed by her friends, attested but partially the respect and veneration in which she was held.
Edward Blake. – Of Mr. Blake's early history we have no data. He came to the St. Croix valley in company with Elam Greely in 1840, engaged in lumbering, and died in 1849.
Walter R. Vail. – Mr. Vail, the second merchant in Stillwater, came West in 1844. He built a store, with dwelling attached, just south of Socrates Nelson's store, which buildings are still standing and occupied (1886). Mr. Vail was not successful in business and moved away in 1848.
John E. Mower. – Mr. Mower was born in Bangor, Maine, Sept. 15, 1815. He was married to Gratia Remick, in Keokuk, Iowa, in 1842, and removed to St. Croix Falls, where he entered the employ of the Falls Lumbering Company. Two years later he removed to Stillwater, where he built the second frame dwelling, still standing. Mr. Mower was a millwright and carpenter, but was engaged in lumbering most of his time. He purchased an interest in the mill property at Arcola, in 1847, which place he made his home until his death, which occurred June 11, 1879. He left a widow and three daughters, Helen, wife of the late Louis Torinus; Emily, wife of Henry Van Voorhees; and Mary, wife of – Richardson. One son died after arriving at manhood. Mr. Mower was a pleasant, reliable man, a kind husband and loving father. He was honored by his fellow citizens with an election to the fifth and sixth territorial councils, and to the seventeenth state legislature (house). The territorial legislature affixed his name to a county.
Martin Mower. – Martin, brother of John E. Mower, came to St. Croix Falls in 1842, and worked in the employ of the Falls Company. Afterward he engaged in lumbering and became one of the original proprietors of the Arcola mill. He was also engaged in manufacturing and merchandising in Stillwater. He built a fine block of buildings on Chestnut street, recently burned down and rebuilt on a larger scale. He has been one of the managing owners of the St. Croix Boom Company from its origin. His business interests have been divided between Stillwater and Arcola, but he has made the latter place his home since 1846. As a business man he is capable and shrewd, giving close attention to his business; in his manner somewhat eccentric. He has done in much to improve the farming and other interests of the country.
William Willim. – A firm, consistent, worthy citizen and true friend of his adopted country is William Willim. He was born in the parish of Woolhope, Herefordshire, England, June 26, 1821; came to America in 1838, and to Stillwater in 1844. He was married in 1847 to Clara G. Haskell, and, after her death in 1850, to Joanna W. Hinman. Mr. Willim is a stonemason, plasterer and contractor. He was a member of the sixth Minnesota territorial legislature, and has filled many responsible positions in Stillwater. Mr. Willim's was the first naturalization that occurred in the limits of Minnesota. The oath of allegiance, a somewhat unique and original document of its kind, bears date of June 18, 1847, Stillwater, St. Croix county, Wisconsin Territory, and is signed by Joseph R. Brown.
Albert Harris. – Mr. Harris was a native of Maine. He was born in 1815 and married to Miss Greenleaf in 1841, who died in 1853. He came to Stillwater in 1845, where he died in 1856, leaving one daughter, wife of the late Levi Thompson, attorney at law in Stillwater, and one son in California. Mr. Harris was a house carpenter and much respected by his neighbors.
Cornelius Lyman. – Mr. Lyman is of the seventh generation of the Lyman family that came over from England in 1631. He was born in Brookfield, Vermont, Aug. 11, 1792. He was married in Brookfield to Betsey Cushman and came to Illinois at an early date, whence he removed to Marine Mills, in 1842, where he kept a boarding house until 1844, when he removed to Stillwater, where he kept a boarding house until 1848. He then removed to his farm three miles above Stillwater, where, by industry and economy, aided by his faithful wife, he was able to build a comfortable home, in which they continued to live until at a good old age they were removed by death, which claimed them in the same year, the husband dying January, 1864, and the wife in April. They were members of the Presbyterian church from early life, and respected as citizens, honored as Christians. Mrs. Lyman was one of the excellent of the earth. Mr. Lyman had an inexhaustible fund of humor, and was rather fond of practical joking. Many of his jokes were of the rarest description. They left two sons, Cornelius Storrs and David Pride.
David B. Loomis. – Few men have been more active in business and public life than David B. Loomis. He was born in Wilmington, Connecticut, April 17, 1817. In 1830 he came with his parents to Alton, Illinois, where, at the age of fifteen, he engaged as clerk in a store and served in that capacity five years. Mr. Loomis was in the building in Alton in which Lovejoy was shot and killed for the expression of sentiments which the nation has since been compelled to adopt. In 1843 he came to the St. Croix valley and engaged in lumbering. In 1846 he was one of the four original owners of the Arcola mill, but in 1849 sold his interest to Mr. Mower, and for four succeeding years was in charge of the St. Croix boom. In 1847 he was surveyor general of logs and lumber. In 1851 he was a member of the Minnesota territorial council, and was re-elected in 1853, serving in all four years, during one of which he was president of the council. In 1853 he was one of a company that built a mill in South Stillwater. He sold out in 1859. In 1861 he entered the army as lieutenant, Company F, Second Minnesota Volunteers, and was promoted to a captaincy. He served three and a half years. Stillwater has been his home since the war. In 1873 he represented Washington county in the legislature.
William E. Cove. – The year of Mr. Cove's birth is not known. He came to Stillwater in 1844. His marriage to Nancy Edwards, elsewhere noted, was the second marriage in the village. He was by trade a house carpenter. He removed to Minneapolis in 1864.
John Smith. – Of the eight first families, that of John Smith was one. Of this particular "John Smith" little is known, except that he was sober and industrious, and, in 1848, moved to parts unknown.
John Morgan. – We have no account of the early days of Mr. Morgan, except that he was a native of Pennsylvania. He was living in Stillwater in 1845, in the employ of Churchill & Nelson. In 1848 he was elected sheriff of St. Croix county, Wisconsin. In the same year he was married to Hannah Harnish. He settled on a farm and kept a "half way house" on the road from Stillwater