Impressions of Anoka in the 1850s
Pencil drawing of Dr. A.W. Giddings by his grandson Roe Giddings Chase. Original documents from the Aurora Giddings (Dr.) family.
By Rebecca Ebnet-Desens, Anoka County Historical Society
Staff from the Anoka County Historical Society spent the last six weeks at Wargo Nature Center discussing the merits of medical practices with students during the Heritage Lab educational seminar. Our station focused on how and why a family might seek out a doctor and what those early pioneers could do with herbs and other home remedies.
As is often the case, history makes more sense when names and dates take on characters in a story and the lesson comes to life. Below are reprinted portions of letters written by Aurora Giddings, a doctor in Anoka who came to town in 1854 — four years before Minnesota became a state. His observations of the area when writing home provide us with an interesting perspective. All spelling, grammar and word choices are left unchanged from the original documents.
Brothers & Sifters [sisters]
Anoka Minn[esota] Ter[ritory] Nov 1st 1854
… the city was owned and laid out by a company from mane [sic] every tho [sic] men who have laid out forty thousand dollars erecting saw and grist mills planning machine lath factory &c&c now we have two public houses one larger and furnished as well as any in [?] fields the other accommodates 15 boarders & two families of six each the land lady is a half breed one boarding house 16 dwelling houses, one stair all in the short space of three months...but for my own part I am as pleasantly situated as I could wish I am boarding at Mrs. Shaw’s, very kind new englanders the old gent a very refined inquisitive old yankee his son & wife two men & one maid servant compose the family the house is made of logs hewn two stories high with a dining room and kitchen back parlor in front, all the rooms except the kitchen are painted & carpeted, new piano in the parlor indeed the house is as richly furnished as any in your own town but a very different state of things exist from what one might suppose, all are getting rich, people make nothing of doubling their property once in five or six months, everything is very high [priced] here, enough to frighten one at first but I have become accustomed to the charges which are equal to those in any of our eastern cities, one dollar per day for board at the Hotel, horse three dollars per week, I have to keep old Bill there at present…I am highly pleased with the prospect here one halfe[?] was never told about the beauty of the scenery the productiveness of the soil & the salubrity of the climate it has rained but once since we arrived…we have scarcely any twilight but “oh” such splendid mornings, everyone like your sugar weather in spring so bright & bracing, they are often without rain for months yet never suffer from it. I arrived here to remain on the last day oct” on the third of Nov I rode twenty miles after sundown a very cold night, a prety [sic] good commencement “eh” there is no Physician within 19 miles below (at st Anthony) & two hundred above a large clear field, it is estimated that there are a thousand people within six miles of here period. I such a rush can hardly be credited as passes up river every day, the pineries up river one hundred miles from here, the logs are drove down to this place & st anthony at the latter place are eight saw mills in full opperations [sic] I shall make a claim for myself & Peter as soon as I get time & which will ultimately enable us to get 160 acres for 10 shillings per acre, there is a fine heavy growth of timber acrofs [across] the clifs[cliffs], about four miles from here with prairie each side of it which I have my eye on. Moe anon
A. Giddings & Lady
P. Kelsey & Sis law
A.W. Gidd[ings]
Tell my love to all Answer soon.
Rebecca Ebnet-Desens is the executive director of the Anoka County Historical Society.