H. C. Wing, deputy sheriff of Dakota county, was born June 8th, 1835, in Kennebec county, Maine. His youth was passed on the farm and in school. In l858,went into a general merchandise trade at North Vassalborough; sold out in 1862 and came to St. Cloud, Minnesota, and the fall of the same year went to Randolph, Wisconsin, as a telegraph operator. In 1865, came to Farmington, being the first operator here; held the office till 1867, also built the second house in town. Messrs. Wing and Rice started the first foundry in Farmington. During the winter of 1859, he married Miss Julia A. Pettingill of Maine. Two sons and two daughters were born to them.
Quoted from "History of Dakota County and the City of Hastings, including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota , and Outlines of the History of Minnesota". By Rev. Edward D. Neill and J. Fletcher Williams. Published in Minneapolis by North Star Publishing Company, 1881.
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L.P. Dodge, M.D., was born May 25th, 1839, at Sunapee, Sullivan county, New Hampshire. He was left without a mother's. tender care and influence when only six weeks old, and since the age of eight years has cared for himself. In 1860, he began the study of medicine with S. M. Whipple, of New London, New Hampshire, and in October, 1861, enlisted in the Sixth New Hampshire. He received an appointment in the medical department, which he held until mustered out in February, 1863. The same year, he entered the medical department of Dartmouth college, graduating and receiving a diploma in the school of allopathy in November of that year. He then began practicing in Sutton, New Hampshire; came to Farmington in 1865, and was the first practitioner in that part of the county. Married in October, 1865, to Miss Henrietta Shackelford, of Virginia. They have two sons: Warren M. and Albert A.
Quoted from "History of Dakota County and the City of Hastings, including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota , and Outlines of the History of Minnesota". By Rev. Edward D. Neill and J. Fletcher Williams. Published in Minneapolis by North Star Publishing Company, 1881.
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E. L. Brackett, was born December 22d, 1836, at Calais, Maine. In 1847, accompanied his father, who was American consul, to Nova Scotia. In 1854, he returned to Maine. Enlisted in Ninth Maine Volunteers, in 1861, and was mustered out of service in 1864, being commissary sergeant for the regiment two years. After he was mustered out he was in the commissary department at Charleston, South Carolina, until the summer of 1865. In the fall of that year, he came to Minneapolis, in the employ of what is now the Iowa and Minnesota division of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railway. At first he was changed from Rosemount to Faribault and Mendota, where he had charge of the depots and grain warehouses of the company. December 29th, 1866, he took charge of the depot at Farmington, which he has run ever since. For the past seven years he has had charge of the elevator, and nearly all the time has dealt in lumber.
Quoted from "History of Dakota County and the City of Hastings, including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota , and Outlines of the History of Minnesota". By Rev. Edward D. Neill and J. Fletcher Williams. Published in Minneapolis by North Star Publishing Company, 1881.
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J.M.D. Craft from Castle Rock, and Leroy Fluke from Farmington, organized the Farmington Mill Company in the fall of 1870.
Quoted from the City of Farmington website, http://www.ci.farmington.mn.us
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E. Z. Needham, was born March 25th, 1843, in Wales, Massachusetts. Came to Ohio in 1852, and attended school, thence to Rockford, Illinois, and in 1859, to Green Vale, Dakota county, where he worked with his brother on a farm. April 29th, 1861, was mustered in the First Minnesota Regular Volunteers; re-enlisted in 1864, in the Eleventh Minnesota Infantry, being mustered out in July, 1865. Returning to civil life, he was employed in a machine shop at Northfield until 1870. December 25th, 1864, Miss Georgiana Holt became his wife, and has borne him three daughters: Bertha I., Kate May and Eva.
Quoted from "History of Dakota County and the City of Hastings, including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota , and Outlines of the History of Minnesota". By Rev. Edward D. Neill and J. Fletcher Williams. Published in Minneapolis by North Star Publishing Company, 1881.