Gov. Hubbard was married in May, 1868, at Red Wing, to Amelia, daughter of Charles Thomas, a merchant of that place. He has three children, two boys, aged seventeen and eleven respectively, and a girl.
William Colville is of Scotch descent on his father's side. The ancient homestead of the family at Ochiltree is mentioned by Sir Walter Scott in his novel, "The Antiquary." On his mother's side he is of Irish descent. His ancestors participated in the American Revolution. He was born in Chautauqua county, New York, April 5, 1830; was educated at the Fredonia Academy, taught school one winter, read law in the office of Millard Fillmore and Solomon L. Haven, of Buffalo, and was admitted to the bar in 1851. He practiced law at Forestville three years, and then removed to Red Wing, Minnesota. His first winter he spent in St. Paul as enrolling clerk of the territorial council, and the winter following was secretary of the council. In the spring of 1855 he established the Red Wing Sentinel, a Democratic paper, and conducted it until the Civil War broke out. In 1861 he entered the service as captain of Company F, First Minnesota Infantry, and served with that regiment three years, conducting himself with such gallantry as to win promotion. He was wounded at the first battle of Bull Run, at Nelson's Farm and at Gettysburg, the last wounds received maiming him for life, and necessitating a close of his military career. At the end of three years he left the service with the rank of colonel, and edited the Sentinel until January, 1865, when he took his seat as representative in the legislature. At its adjournment he was appointed colonel of the First Minnesota Heavy Artillery which was stationed at Chattanooga till the close of the war. Col. Colville was mustered out of the service with the brevet rank of brigadier general. In the autumn of 1865 he was elected attorney general of the State on the Union ticket and served two years. In 1866 he ran for Congress in opposition to the Republican nominee. In 1877 he was elected as a Democrat to the lower house of the state legislature in the strongest Republican county in the State. The same year he was appointed by President Cleveland register of the land office at Duluth, to which place he has removed his residence. He was married to Miss Jane E. Morgan, of Oneida, New York, in 1867, a descendant of Elder Brewster, who came over in the Mayflower.
Martin S. Chandler, for twenty-two years sheriff of Goodhue county, Minnesota, was born in Jamestown, New York, Feb. 14, 1827. He came to Goodhue county in 1856 and engaged for awhile farming at Pine Island. He was elected county commissioner in 1856, and served until 1858, removing meanwhile to Red Wing, which has since been his home. In 1859 he was elected sheriff of Goodhue county, and held the office for eleven consecutive terms, until 1882, when he was elected to the state senate. He was presidential elector in 1872. He was appointed surveyor general in 1883, which office he held until 1887. He was married to Fannie F. Caldwell, of Jamestown, New York, in 1848. His only daughter, Florence C., is the wife of Ira S. Kellogg, of Red Wing, one of the oldest druggists in the State.
Charles McClure was born in Virginia in 1810; was graduated at Lewisburg, Virginia, in 1827; studied law and was admitted to practice in 1829. He came to Minnesota and located at Red Wing in 1856, where he opened a law office. In 1857 he was a member of the constitutional convention, presidential elector in 1861, state senator in 1862-63 and in 1864, judge of the First district, filling the vacancy caused by the retirement of Judge McMillan. At the fall election of the same year he was elected judge of the First district and served seven years. This district embraced Washington, Chisago, Goodhue and Dakota counties. Judge McClure is a man of unquestionable ability and integrity.
Horace B. Wilson was born in Bingham; Somerset county, Maine, March 30, 1821. His grandfather settled in Maine twenty years prior to the Revolution. He had a fair common school education until sixteen years old, when he attended the Maine Wesleyan Seminary, graduating four years later. He devoted himself chiefly to teaching, and studied law meanwhile, but never practiced. He taught in Cincinnati, Ohio, Lawrenceburg and New Albany, Indiana, until 1850, when he was elected city civil engineer, which position he filled six years. In 1858 he removed to Red Wing, Minnesota, and taught, as professor of mathematics, natural science and civil engineering in Hamline University four years. In 1862 he enlisted in Company F, Sixth Minnesota Infantry, was elected captain, and mustered out at the close of the war. His military service was quite arduous, including campaigning against the Sioux until 1864, when the regiment was ordered South and attached to the Sixteenth Army Corps.
In 1866 he was appointed superintendent of schools for Goodhue county. In 1870 he was appointed state superintendent of schools, which position he held five years. He was elected representative in the state legislature in 1877, and subsequently he served four terms as senator, and was president pro tem. of that body during the trial of E. St. Julien Cox, and in the absence of the lieutenant governor presided during the trial. For the past few years he has devoted himself to civil engineering, and has had charge of the public improvements of Red Wing. In 1844 he was married to Mary J. Chandler, who died in 1887.
Among the prominent early settlers of Red Wing not mentioned in our biographical notices were William Freeborn, for whom Freeborn county was named, and who was a senator in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth legislatures. Judges Welch and Wilder, W. C. Williston and Warren Bristol, lawyers, both state senators from Goodhue, and the latter a judge in Arizona. Rev. Chauncey Hobart, D.D., a Methodist pioneer preacher, and author of a history of Methodism in Minnesota and an autobiography; Rev. Peter Akers, D.D., an eminent educator; Rev. M. Sorin, D.D., an eloquent preacher, and Rev. Samuel Spates and J. W. Hancock, prominent as missionaries, the latter the first pastor located in the village. Andrew S. Durant, first hotel keeper; Calvin F. Potter, first merchant. W. W. Phelps and Christopher Graham were appointed to the land office in 1855.
WABASHA COUNTY.
This county, named in honor of a Sioux chief, lies on the west shore of the Mississippi river and Lake Pepin, between Goodhue and Winona counties. It has a majestic frontage of bold bluffs on the lake and river. From the summit of these bluffs stretch away broad undulating prairie lands, with occasional depressions, or valleys, caused by the streams tributary to the river.
Wabasha village is the county seat. The county is traversed by the St. Paul & Milwaukee railway, and the Zumbrota Valley Narrow Gauge railroad has its eastern terminus at Wabasha village. A railroad from Minneiska to Eyota, in Olmsted county, through Plainview, also passes through this county. Lake City is a thriving village on the lake shore, beautifully situated. The Grand Encampment, located about two miles below Wabasha village, was once a point of great interest. It was from time immemorial a camping ground for Indians. It has an abundance of ancient mounds. The only people in the county in 1845, when the author first visited this section, were the Campbell, Cratt, Bessian, and a few other French families. Bailey and sons, Dr. Francis H. Milligan, B. S. Hurd, Samuel S. Campbell, a prominent lawyer, and Wm. L. Lincoln came later to Wabasha. Reed's Landing, at the foot of Lake Pepin, was early settled by Messrs. Reed, Fordyce, Richards, and others. This point controls an immense trade for the Chippewa river, which empties its waters into the Mississippi just opposite.