The first post office was established at Brunswick in 1859, Geo. L. Staples, postmaster. The first mail was from Anoka via Cambridge to Brunswick. In 1847 Rev. W. S. Boutwell preached the first sermon within the present limits of the county. The first deed recorded was a warranty deed from Ralph Potter to John A. Snyder, both of Illinois, in June, 1857, conveying lands in sections 3 and 10, township 38, range 25. The second deed recorded was from David Bagley to Hersey, Hall, Whitney and Fenno, of Boston, and Isaac Staples of Stillwater, conveying the northeast quarter of section 1, township 38, range 24, and other lands.
ARTHUR.
The town of Arthur includes township 39, ranges 23, 24 and 25. It was organized in 1883. The first supervisors were: Ira A. Conger, Andrew E. Westling and Charles A. Staples; clerk, Stanton D. Seavey. The village of Mora was the first settlement. Anna C. Larson was the first child born in the town. The first marriage was that of Frederick G. Turner and Edith Perkins. The first death was that of Henry Rust, in 1847, killed by Indians. There is one house of worship, at what is known as the Swedish mission.
MORA,
A village, platted in 1882, is located in section 11, township 39, range 24, on the Hinckley branch of the Manitoba railroad. Myron R. Kent, owner of the town plat, made the first improvements, building a hotel and post office, of which he became postmaster. Alvah J. Conger opened the first store in 1882. The village now contains a court house, school house, two hotels, five stores, three saloons, and many fine residences. Lake Mora, a lovely sheet of deep, blue water, about one hundred and fifty acres in extent, is located within the village limits. The village is beautifully situated on a plateau on the east side of Kanabec river.
Stephen L. Danforth lived in the county of Kanabec during the '70s. His occupation was that of a farmer or lumberman. He died in Stillwater in 1884.
N. H. Danforth, brother of S. L., also settled here in the '70s, and still resides here, an active business man.
Alvah J. and Ira Conger are cousins. They came from Maine to Minnesota in 1850. Alvah J. kept the Tombler House in Wyoming. Subsequently he removed to Cambridge, where he kept a hotel and store, and thence removed to Pine City, where he kept a store until 1882, when he moved to Mora. He was married to Charlotte Pennington. They have no children. Ira Conger has been actively engaged in business at Cambridge and other places, and moved to Mora in 1883, where he is proprietor of a hotel and store. His oldest son, John, has charge of his business interests.
BRONSON.
This village is yet unplatted. It is located in section 21, range 24, on the line of the Manitoba railroad. A post office was established here in 1884, of which Frank P. Burleigh is postmaster. Adjoining and including this village is the large farm of Isaac Staples, including 2,000 acres, of which six hundred and fifty acres are under cultivation. The improvements on the farm are two large barns, one store, one blacksmith shop, one wood working shop, and commodious dwellings for employes. This farm is headquarters for the lumbering interests of Mr. Staples in Kanabec county.