Sciota Township

Dakota County, Minn

Excerpts from 1910 Curtiss-Wedge “History of Dakota and Goodhue Counties” and the 1881 Niell-Williams “History of Dakota County and the City of Hastings”

Sciota township is one of the smaller townships, and contains but fifteen sections of land.  It is bounded on the north by Castle Rock, on the east by Randolph and Goodhue counties and on the south by Rice county.  On the west is Waterford.

When it came to naming the town, there was a great rivalry between what was known as the Canadian crowd, of which Wally Hunter was the leading spirit, and the Ohio faction, led by Hamp Woodward.  An election was held with a great deal of feeling and the Ohio people, who were determined to name it after the part from which they came, the Sciota valley, won out, so that the town was named Sciota.

(1881) The town is purely agricultural, having neither mills, stores nor shops of any kind.  These conveniences happen to be located just beyond her borders in other towns…

The first settlers were Charles Lewis and his son “Zach” and Charles, Jr.  they came in 1854.  They later went to Minneapolis, and Zach eventually went to California and Charles Jr. to “Dakota.” Edward Hone also came in 1854, but soon sold and returned to his former home in Washington county. Those that came in later, previous to 1856 were George Daniels, J.C. and J.H. Couper, A.J. Kibbe, Alexander and James McCulloch, E.B. and Ebenezer Slocum, C.B. Bullock, James Law, a Mr. Woodworth and his sons Hamilton and Nelson, C.T. Collins, John Hoople and his son David, G.C. and Mark Chamberlain, Deacon Roland Weeks, Walter Hunter and Frederick Kleeberger…

A few of the earlier ones of 1856 were John M. Scott, Stephen N. Casey, John Hunter and Horace Jamison.  Mr. Scott was town clerk 13 years in all, 12 years in succession. He moved to Otter Tail county about 2 years ago (1881).  Me Jamison entered the army and was killed by the Indians of the frontier. Mr. Lewis took and active interest in the building up of the neighboring village of Lewiston.  He died early in the sixties near Hastings. 

The first child born in the town was a son of J.C. Couper. E was born October 6,1855, and died the next day. This was also the first death in the town. The second birth in the twon was that of a daughter of A.J. Kibbe and wife.  She was born April 2, 1856. On account of the death of its mother shortly after, the child was sent to its ….

[This is the end of the copy that I have, it appears to be from the Dakota County Historical Society newsletter]

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