"History and Description of Lyon County, Minnesota", 1884
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Town of Custer.
Custer lies on the south line of the county and six miles from the east line, and is town 109, range 41.
The
Cottonwood river flows across the north end of the town from west to east, and had some years ago considerable timber along its banks. This fact, which is an attraction in all new prairie countries, brought white traders to this section before the Indian massacre of
1862. A German some time before this opened an Indian trading station on the
Cottonwood river it is said on section 1. It was called
Saratoga. Trouble with a half breed by the name of
Joseph Campbell led to the murder of the trader by
Campbell who was afterward hung by a mob at
Mankato for the murder of the
Jewett family.
No settlement was made after this till
1868, when
H. C. Masters,
John Avery,
Horace Randall and
G. S. Robinson took claims in the town. The town was organized in
1876, the first town meeting,
Oct. 14th of that year, being held at the school house on section 2. The first ticket elected was
L. D. Lewis, chairman;
W. H. Hughes and
Wm. Shand, supervisors;
B. F. Thomas, clerk and treasurer. The other town offices were not filled till the succeeding spring election.
Jane Mitchell taught the first school in a log house on section 2 in the winter of
1870. The district then combined the present towns of
Custer,
Monroe,
Amiret and
Sodus.
Custer now has three school districts and comfortable school buildings.
Rev.
Riley, a Methodist preacher, conducted the first religious service in the town in
1870. The next year a Presbyterian society of 16 members was organized under Rev.
Joseph Rees. A church was built in
1873, but was burned in
1878. The Congregational society now have a church on section 12, Rev.
Peregerine being pastor.
A considerable portion of the population of
Custer is of
Welch extraction and the census of the town would probably give about 240 people, the spring election of this year showing a poll of 48 votes.
In the south part of the town are two lakes, Lake of the
Hills and
Long lake.
Along the
Cottonwood are some fine groves of natural timber, though large tracts have been cut off for fuel purposes. There are many pleasant homesteads and rich thrifty farms in the town. The assessor's report of
1883 gave 3,142 acres improved, 1,456 of which were wheat, 917 oats, 269 corn, 260 barley,35 potatoes, 6 beans, 90 flax. The town also had at that time 87 acres of cultivated forest trees.
The
Dakota Central runs through the south part of the town, but, as yet, has no station in the town. The nearest markets are, Tracy, four miles east; Balaton, 2 1/2 miles west; Amiret, 3 miles north; Marshall, 10 miles north.