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History of the City of St. Paul to 1875
J. Fletcher Williams' History of St. Paul, first published in 1876, is a thoroughly charming, intimate chronicle of the city's earliest years. The author spins tales of villains, heroes, dark deeds, and progress with wit, irony, and relish. Sprinkled among the careful descriptions of pioneers, city fathers, and important events is a healthy dose of trivia, oddities, and "firsts." Lucile M. Kane's introduction to this edition suggests that the book "to an unusual degree mirrors the man—with all his learning, passion for patient investigation, interest in people, exuberance, dramatic sense, humor, and affection for his adopted city." Minnesota residents, visitors, and students of history will enjoy this insider's view of small-town St. Paul in the 19th century.
- GenresHistory
542 pages, Paperback
First published January 9, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 21, 2022
Fun history, also full of very dated and racist language, it is from 1876.
January 30, 2018
A History of the City of St. Paul to *1875*, published in 1876, is a thoroughly detailed, often peculiar, and necessarily funny read about early Minnesota and the founding of St. Paul, written in the most coherent yet starkly 19th century style imaginable, by one of the city’s moderately early settlers and perhaps its greatest ever documentary champion; a man nearly anachronistic in his supreme awareness of the rapid flight of time as it was slipping away from he and his rather-newly-respectable contemporaries. I only needed to read around 200 pages of it for my purpose, but overshot that mark voluntarily and will undoubtedly return to it often to cross reference the claims made by others, as it’s plainly the veritable Old Testament of the Minnesota Historical Society, and thereby of early Minnesota history as a whole.
The ratio of actual information to narrative generalities provided by J. Fletcher Williams blows that of his colleagues (among those I’ve read so far, anyway) clean out of the water, even of those writing in part or whole about their own first-hand experiences. The majority of the sources quoted by Williams were also the then-still-living early pioneers and settlers themselves too, so not a terrible amount of it is the result of watered-down folklore or subjectively interpreted primary sources that were chiefly created for reasons other than posterity.
He’s also refreshingly shameless (except in obvious pantomime) about many aspects of the city’s modest, nigh reluctant tumble into existence that local historians of the twentieth century were all too happy to largely sweep under the nearest Summit Avenue rug, while still being entirely meticulous about trivia items like who the first white[-identified] child born in the city was (there were several resident claimants), and in whose living room “still” hung the first ever clock brought to the city (one imagines the whole population of unscrupulous traders, native Dakota, Red River refugees, and retired voyageurs until then relying on the position of the sun to know when dinner was to be served, the barbarians).
This book is required reading if you pretend to know the local history of St. Paul, and should be your first read if you’re just now deciding to dip a figurative toe into those storied waters at the confluence of the “St. Peter” and Mississippi rivers. I can’t imagine any motivated seeker being disappointed by the data to be had.
HOWEVER: Be prepared for an unconsciously-supplied 19th century, white, male, colonial, and patriarchal perspective on many events of horrifying violence (from a position of easily assumed personal security) and on many racially sensitive contemporary events (from a position of white & male privilege). This is the obvious cost of reading mainstream texts published in this period of history. Even sympathetic accounts will be tainted by prejudice. This, however, does not invalidate their usefulness as historical sources, and, indeed, if anything the authorial voice presented paints a vivid picture of the social landscape circa 1819-1875, which in turn makes it ever more clear why the civil rights movement had to come into being as a response.
The ratio of actual information to narrative generalities provided by J. Fletcher Williams blows that of his colleagues (among those I’ve read so far, anyway) clean out of the water, even of those writing in part or whole about their own first-hand experiences. The majority of the sources quoted by Williams were also the then-still-living early pioneers and settlers themselves too, so not a terrible amount of it is the result of watered-down folklore or subjectively interpreted primary sources that were chiefly created for reasons other than posterity.
He’s also refreshingly shameless (except in obvious pantomime) about many aspects of the city’s modest, nigh reluctant tumble into existence that local historians of the twentieth century were all too happy to largely sweep under the nearest Summit Avenue rug, while still being entirely meticulous about trivia items like who the first white[-identified] child born in the city was (there were several resident claimants), and in whose living room “still” hung the first ever clock brought to the city (one imagines the whole population of unscrupulous traders, native Dakota, Red River refugees, and retired voyageurs until then relying on the position of the sun to know when dinner was to be served, the barbarians).
This book is required reading if you pretend to know the local history of St. Paul, and should be your first read if you’re just now deciding to dip a figurative toe into those storied waters at the confluence of the “St. Peter” and Mississippi rivers. I can’t imagine any motivated seeker being disappointed by the data to be had.
HOWEVER: Be prepared for an unconsciously-supplied 19th century, white, male, colonial, and patriarchal perspective on many events of horrifying violence (from a position of easily assumed personal security) and on many racially sensitive contemporary events (from a position of white & male privilege). This is the obvious cost of reading mainstream texts published in this period of history. Even sympathetic accounts will be tainted by prejudice. This, however, does not invalidate their usefulness as historical sources, and, indeed, if anything the authorial voice presented paints a vivid picture of the social landscape circa 1819-1875, which in turn makes it ever more clear why the civil rights movement had to come into being as a response.
October 4, 2011
Aside from the blatant racism, particularly while describing the mass murder of thirty-eight Dakotan peoples, Williams writes a pretty light-hearted and enjoyable historical account of St. Paul's beginnings. The book begins with an interpretation of genesis that includes the St. Paul area and continues through the repeated abuse of both the tribes and European squatters with a large focus on Fort Snelling. Particularly interesting are the characters and stories revolving around early squatters outside of Fort Snelling, Pig's Eye, Rondo, watch-makers turned cow herders, etc. Peppered throughout are historical 'firsts' that become somewhat tedious, things like: first male baby born of a family married in St. Paul, or first burial of some male-exclusive club member, or first re-location of a stable by a white man. If you can make it through the tedium and disregard any time Williams mentions savages, darkies, or red people, you can uncover some great gems.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews