were James and John Rogers. The first school (1865) was taught by
Maggie Crawford. The first school house was built in 1866. A grange
was organized in 1884. The town has now a good brick school house and
a saw and flour mill.
PATRICK LILLIS was born in Ireland in 1807. He came to Polk county in
1856, and, with his amiable wife and enterprising sons, made a claim
on what was afterward styled Milltown, an inappropriate name, but
given by Mr. Lillis himself, as he humorously remarked, "because there
was not a stream large enough for a mill site in the town," and
Milltown it remains to this day. Mr. Lillis prospered and made himself
a good home. He died Feb. 26, 1886. Mrs. Lillis died December, 1885.
They left six sons. John C. is in Greene county, Texas, Simon C. is in
Southern California, and Richard is in Memphis, Tennessee. Henry, the
youngest, aged twenty-nine years, has for the past six years been a
resident of Tacoma, Washington Territory. The residence of Martin and
James is not known.
OSCEOLA.
Osceola contains all of township 33, range 18, except the eastern tier
of sections, and ten whole sections and some fractions of range 19,
made somewhat irregular by the St. Croix river boundary, and the
obtrusion of three sections of Farmington in the southwestern part. It
is a rich agricultural town, consisting chiefly of prairie, the whole
forming a tableland, terminating westward on the precipitous bluffs of
the St. Croix. It has a good steamboat landing and two good water
powers, Osceola and Close's creeks. These are both fine trout brooks.
The bluffs overlooking the St. Croix are bold and high, and, for a
great part, precipitous. Most conspicuous of these bluffs is the
promontory known as Eagle Point, situated just below the Osceola
landing. An escarpment of limestone, about two hundred feet above the
river, projects over its base, not much unlike the celebrated table
rock at Niagara Falls. A tall and solitary pine tree stands upon the
extreme verge of this rock, the whole forming a conspicuous landmark,
visible to a distance of several miles down the river. The cascade on
Osceola creek, a few rods above its mouth, has scarcely a rival
amongst the waterfalls of the West. It has sometimes been called the
Minnehaha of Wisconsin, but while it resembles somewhat in the lower
part of its descent that celebrated cascade, the scenery around it is
much wilder, perpendicular rocks towering over it to a great height,
while the upper part of the fall is over an inclined plain, broken
into steps. It is a favorite haunt for artists and photographers.
There are several minor waterfalls of great beauty in the vicinity.
The trap rock formation crops out in the eastern and northern parts of
the town, rich in specimens of copper and silver. Silver is also found
in ledges at East Lake.
The first land claim in the town, made May 14, 1844, by Milton V.
Nobles and Lucius N. S. Parker, included the cascade and the present
site of the village. The claim was made with the intention of building
a saw mill at the outlet of Osceola creek. The mill company, organized
in 1841, consisted of M. V. and W. H. Nobles, Wm. Kent, Wm. O. Mahony
and Harvey Walker. Mr. Nobles sold his interest and removed to Willow
River; Wm. Parker removed to St. Anthony. The mill commenced cutting
timber in 1845. It was run at first with a small flutter wheel, which
was replaced by a an overshot wheel, 30 feet; that by another, 45
feet, and that by one 50 feet in diameter. In 1845 the company built a
two story boarding house, also a shop and office, near the mill. After
the completion of the mill Walker withdrew from the firm and Anson
Northrup was for a short time a member. Kent & Mahony for a number of
years operated the mill, selling lumber in Galena and St. Louis.
Mahony left for California in 1852. Around this mill, as a nucleus,
the settlement of Osceola and the village were built up. The mill,
with its immense water wheel, for so many years a conspicuous object
on the river, has long since disappeared.
Osceola has had many enterprising business men engaged in
merchandising and manufacturing. The first flouring mill was built by
Kent Brothers in 1853, just above the cascade. This mill changed
owners several times, and was burned in 1880. It was rebuilt by
Lovejoy & Sutton in 1883. Its present capacity is one hundred barrels
per day. The second flouring mill was built by Dresser & Wilson in