Sherburne History Center Blog

Charcoal Print of Joshua Cater, in the collections of the Sherburne History Center The Cater Family served a prominent role in the settlement and development of Sherburne County.   Settling in the area of Haven Township in 1860, Joshua Otis Cater and his descendants contributed significantly to the early history of the county.   Lottie Cater Davis, the granddaughter of Joshua Cater, the daughter of Levi Woodbury Cater, provided an oral history to the Sherburne History Center, remembering some of the early settlement: My dad farmed in a big way—he had over 1,000 acres of land.   We had an older house in Becker, south of here on Highway 10.   I was born in the old house in 1896.   When I was four, my dad wasn’t working and he built that great big house.   We had that house built in 1900 and moved in there.   I can remember when there we ten buildings on that farm, right in the yard. They could buy land for five dollars and acre, but to get ...

An early example of the dedicated and adventurous settlers of Sherburne County is the namesake of Haven Township, John Ormsbee Haven.  A local public servant, John O. Haven established himself as an early leader in Sherburne County. Although his life history is sparse in detail, it is worth noting and acknowledging.    Born in Addison County, Vermont on October 3, 1824.  He graduated from Middlebury College and began teaching.  In 1854 he migrated to St. Paul, then to Wright County, Minnesota.  During his time in the county to the south, he surveyed both Monticello and Big Lake.  In 1866 he relocated north of the Mississippi River to Big Lake.  There he took up the many duties of public servant.  The next few years he served as: Sherburne County auditor, Register of Deeds, Surveyor, Superintendent of Schools, Clerk of the District Court, and County Commissioner.  In 1872, he also had time to represent Sherburne County in the State S...

The drama of crime reveals itself in the pages of the Sherburne County Star News .  Reporters tell the stories of victims and perpetrators.  They also reveal the patterns of crime and use language to generate greater interest in the events.  As an example, in 1903 the newspaper noted crime is seasonal in Sherburne County, “parallel with the influx of the tramp a hobo fraternity.”    The crime reporting also generates creative writing from newspaper correspondents.  In a burglary in Haven Township in August of 1903, “two men, on a tall and ugly looking genius, and a shorter companion with a dark mustache” burglarized a home.  They ransacked a home, “to show how thorough and accomplished there in the work they cut open and ripped every mattress in every bed in the house.”   Less than two weeks later, “bold burglars” used explosives to rob the Clear Lake bank.  “Sheriff Ward has gone up to do some sleuth work.”  The string ...