Lewis Hill was born at Hollis, Maine, in 1822. In 1843 he came to the valley of the St. Croix and located at St. Croix Falls. In 1844 he came to Cottage Grove and engaged in farming, and, excepting a few years spent in Dakota county, has resided there since. He was married to Abbie Welch in 1854. Their living children are Emma C., Jessie L. and Frederick E. G.
Jacob Moshier was born in Nova Scotia in 1820. He removed with his parents in 1829 to Canada West. In 1839 he removed to Illinois, in 1843 to St. Croix Falls, and in 1845 to Cottage Grove, where he still resides. He is a house carpenter, and has also been engaged in farming. He was married in 1854 to Maria Shatto. Their children are Annie F., Mahala, William, Addie, Grant, Laura, and George.
William Ferguson came to Cottage Grove in 1844, and made a claim in section 26.
John Atkinson was born in Lewiston, Maine, April 4, 1805. He remained in his native town until 1833, resided in Pittsfield until 1844, when he came West and located in Cottage Grove. He pre-empted eighty acres of land, purchased additions to it from time to time, and made for himself a very attractive home, where he resided thirty years. Mr. Atkinson was twice married, first to Hannah Moore, at Lewiston, Maine, who died in 1874, then to Mrs. A. B. Fiske, of Baytown, at which place he now resides, an aged, much respected citizen. His first wife left four sons and two daughters.
DENMARK.
This town is located on the point of land between the Mississippi river and Lake St. Croix, and includes the territory lying south of Afton, and between Cottage Grove and Lake St. Croix, fractional townships 26 and 27, range 20. The surface is elevated, somewhat rolling, without lakes or streams, and the soil rich and well adapted to agricultural purposes. The early history of the town is substantially that of its earliest settlement, Point Douglas. It was organized in 1858. Supervisors, John Shearer, Thomas Wright and David Hone.
POINT DOUGLAS.
Levi Hertzell and Oscar Burris, young men, located in 1839 on the extreme point of the delta between the Mississippi and St. Croix lake, where they cut wood and sold it to the steamboats. They built a log cabin and store, under one roof, and traded with Indians, discharged soldiers and French settlers. They were diligent and industrious, and prospered. In 1846 they built a frame store building. Their trade increased and they grew wealthy. Messrs. Levi Hertzell, Oscar Burris and David Hone, in 1849, platted the village of Point Douglas, Harvey Wilson acting as surveyor. It was named in honor of Stephen A. Douglas.
The following settlers came to Point Douglas prior to 1850: Wm. B. Dibble, the Truaxes, Harley D. White, David Barber, E. H. Whittaker, James Shearer, Martin Leavitt, Simon Shingledecker, H. A. Carter, Thomas Hetherington, Geo. W. Campbell, John Allibone, Mark Wright, John H. Craig, John O. Henry, and George Harris. The first post office north of Prairie du Chien was established in 1840, on the site of Prescott, at that time known as "Mouth of St. Croix." This office was removed to the opposite side of the lake in 1841, and Levi Hertzell was appointed postmaster. The first school was taught in 1850, by John Craig. Rev. Joseph Hurlbut, a Methodist minister, preached here in 1848. In 1656 Rev. T. Wilcoxson, Episcopalian, established "St. Paul's Parish." Mr. Woodruff erected a saw mill in 1851. The enterprise was not successful. A. J. Short built a saw mill in 1858, which eventually passed into the hands of John Dudley. The first road to Point Douglas was the Stillwater county road, located in 1847. The Point Douglas and Lake Superior military road was built in 1849. A ferry was established in 1851 from Point Douglas to Prescott, which was chartered in 1856, and controlled by W. B. Dibble, who also established a ferry from Point Douglas to Hastings in 1857. The first marriage was that of Oscar Burris to Amanda M. Henry, Nov. 14, 1847. The first birth was that of Emmet M. Hone, born in 1845, son of David and Mary G. Hone.
Levi Hertzell came to Point Douglas in 1839, and was quite successful in business. In 1846 he was married to Rhoda C. Pond, an adopted daughter of Cornelius Lyman, of Stillwater. In 1849, in company with Burris and Hone, he platted the village of Point Douglas. In the spring of 1856, while in New York, whither he had gone to purchase goods, he mysteriously disappeared, and nothing has since been heard from him. Mrs. Hertzell and her three children were left in a dependent condition, she being able to realize but little from the property held in Point Douglas. She soon after married again. Of her subsequent history nothing is known.