Grandeur At A Cost

As the lumber industry hit it’s boom in Stillwater, many new millionaire’s began constructing the gorgeous homes that still dot the modern city’s hillside.

But beyond their massive price tags, poor safety standards also resulted in human tragedies.

During the completion of the Isaac Staples mansion, a painter tumbled from his scaffolding. The fall described in following article from the Stillwater Messenger sounds absolutely brutal.

We’ve actually already discussed this incident in passing back in May, in our A Millionaire’s Missing Mansion featured article. If you re-read that e-newsletter, you’ll see that despite the article’s optimistic prognosis, the painter’s injuries proved fatal.

Perhaps even more sobering is the fact that this beautiful mansion was torn down only a few short decades after this unnamed man’s death. In the end, the monetary cost of maintaining the home was deemed too great.

Serious Accident – Stillwater Messenger – October 20, 1871

On Wednesday afternoon a young man, a Swede, in the employ of Webster Brothers, while engaged in painting the cornice of Mr. Isaac Staples new residence accidentally stepped backward off from the platform and fell some thirty feet into the cellar, striking on his head and shoulders the stone steps.

Fortunately his fall was broken by striking upon the roof of the porch and then upon the top of a door from which he fell into the cellar-way. He was taken to his boarding house on Main street formerly occupied by Muller’s furniture store, and Dr. Kinkle called. It was found that though no bones were broken he was badly bruised and probably injured internally; he is doing well and will probably recover.

Stillwater’s 1868 Champions

by Brent Peterson, WCHS Executive Director

Almost one hundred and fifty years ago, a handful of young and up-and-coming Stillwater businessmen gathered together on a playing field and left as undisputed champions. It took an abundance of skill, physical agility and most importantly, a sense of teamwork. These champions were known by the river that had made their city great; the St. Croix Base Ball Club.

They became the Minnesota state champions of base ball in October 1868 by defeating the Minnehaha Club of Northfield in a three game series. Contemporaries and historians have both called the final game the best played base ball game in Minnesota during the 1860s. The game featured many outstanding defensive plays as well as an amazing showing by the St. Croix’s highly esteemed pitcher [or hurler] William Miller.

Luckily for us, the Stillwater Republican newspaper has preserve a report of each inning of the big game: “The third and last game of the series of the match between the St. Croix Base Ball Club of Stillwater and the Minnehaha Club of Northfield, was played on the grounds of the Vermillion Club of Hastings on Saturday last and as the following score will show, resulted in favor of the St. Croix boys.”

“The Minnehahas won the outs and St. Croix went to bat. The first inning resulted in a score of three tallies for the St. Croix, and a whitewash for Minnehaha. On the second inning the order was reversed – the St. Croixs being whitewashed and the Minnehahas making two runs. The third inning was hotly contested, and closed with two tallies for St. Croix and one for Minnehaha.”

“The fourth was by far the prettiest of the game – the St. Croixs sustaining another whitewash and the Minnehahas being saved from a like score by the agility of Rawson who made home from third on a passed ball. The next strike put the side out.”

“On the fifth inning both sides were ‘on their muscle’ and succeeded in making one tally each. The sixth was very animated and closed with a score of two for St. Croix and three for Minnehaha – making both sides even with eight tallies each. O’Brien, of the St. Croix made a beautiful steal from third, home on this inning.”

“On the seventh inning the St. Croixs treated their opponents to another whitewash. Minnehaha returned the compliment by ‘serving up’ a similar dish to the St. Croix. The St. Croix boys went to bat on the eighth inning with ‘business’ stamped on the countenance of each and run up a score of seven tallies. O’Brien and McKusick making two pretty home steals. The Minnehahas worked hard to retrieve this loss but were obliged to take the field after scoring two runs.”

“On the ninth and last inning, the St. Croixs went to bat under favorable circumstances and were evidently determined to run up another good score but their opponents took two pretty flys and one foul, and forced them to go to the field after making two tallies. The Minnehahas now came to bat realizing that nothing but hard work would save the silver ball to them – for they had to make seven tallies to tie and eight to beat their opponents. Vangilder, Fuller and Miner succeeded in making one run each and the game closed leaving the St. Croix boys four tallies ahead on the game.”

“Mr. Miller, the pitcher of the St. Croix club had been up from a sick bed but a few days and was unable to pitch the entire game. But when he was on duty his swift balls counted every time. He is acknowledged to be the best pitcher in the State and the St. Croix boys claim him to be the champion pitcher of the Northwest.”

Miller, the pitcher, would never again pitch for the St. Croixs. The St. Croixs lost the State championship the next year to the Lake City Club. However, the Stillwater team continued to be a dominate force in baseball right through the 1870s.

These days, volunteers from the Washington County Historical Society
take up the mantle of the St. Croix Base Ball Club
and challenge other local vintage clubs to 1860s rules base ball.
In this way, we can all share a bit of our athletic predecessors’ glory from when the sport was a gentleman’s game…and when the game was two words.