This final post in the Mahala Felton series will discuss the arrival of the Felton children (adults and a baby), the end of the Buckhorn era, and the start of the farm claim.
Last time we left off with the most plausible account of what happened to the Buckhorn. We talked about how the Buckhorn was serving as a very multi-purpose building, that eventually the demand outgrew the reasonable use, and that new hotels began to be built.
In an earlier post we discussed how Mahala had written a very polite protest letter at having been overlooked as early settlers, when in fact she and William were some of the earliest, and that she did all the cooking for the earliest families to come through the Buckhorn because she left her daughters behind.
Now think about this for a moment when I tell you their oldest daughter had just welcomed a baby. William and Mahala left behind a baby grandson, to journey west, on a vessel on its first journey, to an unknown destination, and with not even a place to live. They did not arrive to a pre-started town, they welcomed families to the hotel they were running for the earliest settlers, and they themselves, were renters of that space.
The log trading house stood near the Mississippi, in the centre of Vermillion street, near its junction with Second street, and was long ago pulled down, but not until it had become quite famous to immigrants for the pleasant hospitality displayed there by Mr. and Mrs. William Felton, who now live on a farm a little west of the town. The first house, after this, was my own, as I have stated, next the store of the Baillys was erected, and soon afterward the hotel of the town, long known as the “New England House,” on Second street, was built, both by the town proprietors. The first white man to settle on the town site after the treaty was made, was myself. Mr. Felton was the next and his good lady was the first white woman settler.
http://genealogytrails.com/minn/dakota/townshiphistory.html
By 1853, however, we see the Felton children began to arrive, themselves becoming pioneers.
Wm. Felton was born in 1802, June 15th, in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, and was educated as a farmer. In 1825, August 18th, he married Miss Mahala Dana, who was born October 15th, 1805, in Dutchess county, New York, and who had removed in 1812 to Susquehanna county, in Pennsylvania. There have been born to this now aged couple two sons and four daughters. One of the sons is at present in the south, one of the daughters is a resident of Rice county, another daughter is a pioneer in Dakota territory, as her mother was in Dakota county, while the remaining son and two daughters are living within a mile of their parents’ home. Beside children and grandchildren Mr. and Mrs. Felton have six great-grandchildren.
In 1853 William and Mahala were still running the Buckhorn. Since it was the only hotel and they were not yet on their farm claim, it is assumed the children and their spouses and any children they had also stayed at the Buckhorn.
But we also see from the passage above that William was educated as a farmer. In 1853 the day also came when the Feltons got 65 acres of the 160 acre farm claim.
The Farm Claim” was the east 160 acres of what is now that addition. Sixty-five acres were broken, in 1853, and Mr. William Felton attended to the land, raising from it, various of the ordinary crops. This was the first “farming,” in the region, west of the river, except we consider an acre or more of potatoes and vegetables which had been cultured by the Baillys in 1852, as coming under that head.
Along with William and Mahala, an 1855 map of the area shows two of the Felton’s daughters’ husbands, along with their son who originally came with them, on that farm claim.
Also, not to be forgotten, in 1854, William built the first wharf and ferry and, as if that was not enough, became the long-standing coroner during this time period.
As we see from the account above, William and Mahala’s family grew on the farm claim, and the account of what happened to the logs from the Buckhorn lend to the thought that not only did the Feltons grow crops but also raised livestock.
The Felton’s farm claim footprint was clearly seen on another map at the end of the century, and some of their descendants still live on that claim.
William passed in 1883, and Mahala passed in 1892. They are both buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Hastings, Minnesota, USA.
End notes
Along the way on this research project, I have had help. My friend, Shirley Dalaska, is a long time historian and suggested I research Mahala Felton almost 6 months ago. Wow! I never would have guessed the journey I would go on.
I am ever so grateful to Shirley for putting up with overly long, all hours texts as I was discovering more and more. And for going to the Pioneer Room and finding corroborating documentation. Dear Shirley, you are a saint! And that you let me garden at the cemetery and not attend many historical society meetings is a testament to the fact that you get me. Thank you so much for who you are, my friend!
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