Residence Post Office: Mendota
Marital Status: Married; Relation to Head: Self
Hij is getrouwd met Ann Masterson.
Zij zijn getrouwd in het jaar 1855 te Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
Kind(eren):
Charles Small
Birth 1827 Ireland
Death 7 Jan 1911 (aged 83–84)
Mendota, Dakota County, Minnesota, USA
Burial Church of Saint Peter Historic Cemetery Mendota, Minnesota, USA
Plot Block 4 Memorial ID 33805325
Charles Small (born Keeley escaped from County Mayo, Ireland, so says the family. He could read and write.
He married Ann Masterson (also born in Ireland) probably about 1854. Soon they moved to Minnesota from Cincinnati.
They moved along the Ohio River in a boat that used a long pole to move and which to them to the Mississippi. They then boarded a larger boat and set out for what now is the Twin Cities.
Family legend has it that they met a young doctor on this boat named Mayo and he got off near the present location of Rochester, Minnesota.
Charles was a carpenter, and he and his brother Frank set about making a living in Mendota. Nearby fur trader, and prominent Minnesotan, Henry Sibley, ran a store. Sibley contracted the Small brothers to transport the soldiers from Ft. Snelling to his shop.
Sibley paid Charles with 80 acres of land. (Land sale 18 Jan 1877, Dakota Co. Courthouse).
Family folklore claims that he "traded the original land for acreage closer to present day Mendota Heights. Seems the Indian natives were a little restless and he wanted his family closer to town."
Brother Frank later moved to Memphis, Tennessee.
Charles settled his land in Section 25 of Dakota county (Mendota) by squatting on the land (Pre-Emption patent application Oct. 13, 1855 and Pre-Emptive claim approved July 1, 1856)prior to the 1862 Homestead act.
It was a tough start; somebody had torn down his first built home. Soon after he rebuilt his home. It was "something over 14 x 16 square. It has a double slanting board roof supported by rafters, pine board floor and roof floor nailed down. It has a large window with nine panes of glass in it. There is a door, door shutters and lock and key to the same. It is a comfortable house enough to live in," wrote his childhood friend James Grant.
Charles was very active in his town of Mendota and held a few town meetings at his house.
Charles, Ann and the family were active members of St. Peter Catholic Church.
By 1860, he was very much a farmer tending his land. He remained there farming until he retired when the land continued in the family for three generations.
He did not serve in the American Civil War (1865 State Census).
His obituary said, "Mr. Small was an indefatigable worker, a prosperous farmer, and a very upright, honest man."
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1855 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ann Masterson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||