"History and Description of Lyon County, Minnesota", 1884
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Town of Fairview.
Fairview lies six miles from both the east and north lines of the county, being in town 112, range 41. It is bounded on the north by
Vallers, east by
Stanley, south by
Lake Marshall and west by
Grandview.
The town was first settled in
1870 by
Wm. S. Reynolds who moved here from
Pa.
Joseph Carter settled in the town about the same time. The next year
J. W. Elliott.
Seth Johnson,
Richard Blake,
John Hanlon,
R. C. Beach,
O. Marron,
W. C. Robinson,
John Brown,
F. D. Wasson,
M. Atherton,
R. Henshaw,
Henry Gibbs and
H. G. Howard settled in
1873. This gave the town the character of a thrifty settlement, and inspired the desire for organization, which was effected in
1873, the first election being held at the house of
J. W. Elliott. The following ticket was elected, constituting the first officers of
Fairview:
Harmon Lovelace, chairman and justice;
John W. Elliott and
C. M. Johnson, supervisors;
John Buchanan, clerk and justice;
B. C. Emery, assessor;
O. Marron, treasurer;
W. S. Reynolds and
A. Williams, constables.
With the organization of the town came also church and school organization. Rev.
Geo Spaulding settled here in
1873 and gave religious services at his house. The first school was taught by
Ada Kennedy in
1874 in a granary be longing to
Thos. Lindsey.
These were years of comparative prosperity and gilt-edged hope, and the settlers who came here came to found homes for the future. The first marriage was that of
Walter Woodruff and
Julia Lovelace; the first birth,
Walter Reynolds, in
April 1871: and the first death that of
Mary Gibbs, mother of
Henry Gibbs, in
December 1871 at the age of 90 years. There have been many marriages and births since but very few deaths. The death of
Henry Gibbs occurred in the winter of
1874 as the result of being lost in a blizzard. He and his wife were visiting at a neighbor's house, and started home in the evening with an ox team. On the way home a blizzard suddenly arose, and the party soon lost their way and drifted with the storm over into
Stanley, where they ran into a slough and broke down. The only thing then possible to do was to fix as much of a wind break as possible with the wagon box and wait for daylight. Daylight came, but the blizzard still raged, and raged through the day and night following as only the storms of the northwest can rage. When it sufficiently cleared to see the way, Mr.
Gibbs made out to reach a house and send a party for his wife, who was rescued and recovered with no serious loss except the partial amputation of a foot. Mr.
Gibbs however, had been so badly frozen that he soon died.
Fairview, as its name implies, is a beautiful prairie township which, especially in early summer, spreads out a landscape of lovliness nowhere else equaled but on the green, rolling prairies, and under the clear atmosphere of
Minnesota.
Its soil is of the richest in the west, and among its thirty-six sections there is scarcely a waste acre. When its fertile lands are all settled and improved it will be one of the richest agricultural townships in the west.
It is watered by the
Redwood river, which runs in a northerly direction into the town to near the center, when it turns east and runs into
Stanley; also by
Three Mile Creek, which by a large bend into
Vallers cuts the northwest and northeast corners of
Fairview, also running out into to
Stanley. There are a few trees along the streams, but nothing that deserves the name of timber. The fuel supply of the town is obtained at
Marshall, except on two or three farms where cultivated timber has grown large enough to be used for fuel Timber culture in
Fairview has been thriftily attended to, and the last assessor's report gives the town 132 acres of growing timber. There are several very fine groves.
In
1883 there were 3,962 acres under cultivation, of which there were 1,970of wheat, 1,060 oats, 569 corn, 286 barley, 43 potatoes, 4 flax.
There were by same report 109 cows, and 202 sheep yielding 1,040 pounds of wool.
There are two organized school districts in
Fairview. The northeast quarter of the town and sections 22, 23, 24, constitute No. 26, school house in northwest quarter of section 14. Number of scholars reported, 19. The northwest quarter of the town and sections 20 and 21 make No. 27, with school house on the north line of section 17; 22 scholars reported. The south two tiers of sections, except section 30 are in
Marshall independent district No. 8.
The settlers of
Fairview are mostly Americans and intellectual thrifty farmers, who are prospering and building up handsome and comfortable homes.
Considerable railroad land has been sold in
Fairview, and a good deal of land is under cultivation that has no buildings on it.
The last assessed valuation of
Fairview was, personal, $12,842; real, $66,935.