Lauren Austin Paddock

Inserted throughout this Blog Post you will find, Note: my personal notes and From the Letter written by Louisa M (Crail) Miller to Robert Lyn Gray. Currently, the only photo I am able to include is one of Loretta Norton, 2nd wife of Lauren Austin Paddock. Note to Family: Lauren Austin Paddock was our 3rd Great-Uncle, brother of Louisa M Paddock (married Timothy Lynch), our 2nd Great-Grandmother. Louisa’s siblings did not stay put in Dodge County, Minnesota, they were caught up in the historic events of the time period: Civil War, Gold Rushes, Sioux Uprising. Helen Mar Paddock wrote and published a book about her capture and escape during the Sioux Uprising of 1862 in Minnesota. When Lauren Austin Paddock died in 1900 the front page of the Wadena Pioneer Journal covered his life and death; a biographical sketch of him is included in the COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY & BIOGRAPHY OF NORTHERN MINNESOTA, PUBLISHED 1902. I begin this Blog Post with the Wadena Newspaper cover story.

Wadena Pioneer Journal  Vol XXII   Friday January 12, 1900  (Source: Find a Grave Memorial Page; courtesy of Jeff Bender, descendant of Lauren Austin Paddock, received via email 9/12/2009):

BUSY LIFE ENDED L A Paddock dies suddenly Monday January 8, 1900

    Monday noon our citizens were startled by the report that L. A. Paddock was dead.  No one aside from his family and close relatives were aware that he was ill and even those nearest to him had no intimation that the end was near until a few hours before his death.  His death was therefore a shock to his family and community in general and exemplified emphatically the uncertainty of life.  

    Mr Paddock's last illness was brief.  He returned home last week Thursday from Bemidji and Camp Lake where he had contracted what appears to be a severe cold.  He had been absent from home several days and went to look after some property interests in Bemidji.  His illness was not looked upon as being serious and he was about the house Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  He complained, however of feeling badly and did not come to town as was his custom, but busied himself writing letters and looking after matters of business.  The last letter he wrote was Saturday, which was to his daughter, Mrs Minnie Buckland of Michigan City, ND and she received the letter on the same day she was notified by telegraph of his death.  Sunday he was about the house and outdoors several times, but toward evening he grew worse and early Monday morning he felt so badly a physician was summoned for the first time.  Dr Kenyon went out and found that he was in a very critical condition and notified his family.  He was suffering from a severe attack of pneumonia, but even that morning he got up and ate a very hearty breakfast.  Mr Paddock was a large man and for many years had been a sufferer of asthma and when pneumonia fastens itself upon a man under those conditions it usually results in fatally.  Dr Kenyon realizing the seriousness of the case at once came to town for medicine and took back with him Dr Babouck, whom Mr Paddock had expressed a desire to see.  Mr Paddock was taken to his bed after breakfast and grew rapidly worse.  He breathed with great difficulty and suffered considerable pain.  He was conscious until a short time before his death and seemed to recognize the fact that the end was near.  He desired that some of his absent children be sent for and talked some about business matters which he desired to be attended to, but Mrs Paddock and the family advised him not to worry over such matters and he finally sank into a semi-conscious state and breathed his last  at 11:00 o'clock in the morning.  Both doctors worked over him unceasingly until the end came.

    When his death became known many were the expressions of regret heard upon all sides.  Mr Paddock has resided on his homestead three and a half miles south of town for over twenty-five years and during that time his figure had become a familiar one upon our streets.  He was a large fine looking man, being over six feet tall, well proportioned and symmetrical and he greeted all with a cheery smile and a pleasant word.  In his younger days, when he enjoyed the blessings of a vigorous and active manhood, he was as fine a specimen of physical strength and ruggedness as one would ever meet.  Then he was fond of outdoor sports, was a crack shot with a rifle and a successful hunter and a typical and sturdy pioneer of the then undeveloped middle west.  In those days his life was an active one.  Full of hope and courage and possessed of much natural shrewdness and foresight in business matters, no obstacle too great for him to overcome or no problem too difficult for him to solve.  He made money and he lost it time and again, but there was no such word as failure in his lexicon of those early days.  In many respects he was a remarkable man and his life was an eventful one.  Of late he still retained much of his energy and hopefulness, but matters did not go well with him the past several years.  His health became impaired from early exposure and he would be greatly discouraged at times.  But, adversity did not sour his genial temperament and at all times he was a most companionable man, a good neighbor, a kind husband and father, and an enterprising and progressive citizen.

AN EVENTFUL LIFE  Incidents of the life of Mr Paddock during the early days

    Lauren Austin Paddock was born at Newberry Ohio, March 23, 1837 and was therefore nearly 63 years old at the time of his death.  At the age of 14 he moved with his parents from Ohio to La Crosse, WI, they being the first white settlers in that country at that time.  He stayed with his parents until he was 17 years of age and during that time they established a good farm and a comfortable home in what was heretofore a wilderness.  The country round about settled up quite fast and lumbering became the chief occupation of the sturdy young men of that time.  Mr Paddock engaged in that vocation for two years.  At the age of 19 he first married and becoming enthused with the prospects of making his fortune at Pikes Peak (Colorado) during the gold craze, he in the company with his young wife and a party of friends made that hazardous journey traveling with mules and wagons.  This was in 1858.  [The 1860 Census lists them in Nevada gulch, Arapahoe, Kansas Territory; L.A. is 23, Olive is 20.] They made some money there, but returned to Wisconsin at the outbreak of the civil war and the day after he enlisted as a private and came out as a first lieutenant, serving in town in the quartermaster's department and as second lieutenant.  He served until the war ended. [Military Service Record: June 1861 to April 28, 1865.]

  After the war he went to Iowa where he settled on a farm and after spending a few years there he went to Marine Mills , where he went into the lumber business , which he followed up to the time of his removal to Wadena county twenty-five years ago.  In the lumber business he prospered , but met with a series of reverses and lost about all of the fruits of his labor.  His first wife died in 1868 and in 1870 he married his present wife, Miss Loretta Norton at Winnebago City, MN.  In 1874 he came to Wadena with his family and took his homestead, the farm upon which he has since lived.

    At the time of the Black Hills (South Dakota) gold craze (1874), Mr Paddock was again seized with a desire for adventure and in the company with several friends went to Bismarck.  It was on this trip that he came near losing his life and the exposure to which he was subjected then no doubt contributed in no small way to his death.  At Bismarck he and his friends joined, a company of several hundred men who were making their way to the Black Hills by wagon train.  It was in the spring of the year and the wagon train made slow progress.  Mr Paddock and six companions became impatient at the slow progress being made and they finally proceeded by themselves.  The Indians were very hostile at that time, but they concluded to take the chances and were anxious to reach the hills about which fabulous stories of great gold discoveries had reached their ears.  They had merely a pony to pack their luggage, but they bravely set out and would have probably reached the hills in safety had it not been that a severe blizzard and snow storm overtook them.  Mr Paddock and one friend laid down near a kollol, covered their blankets over them and remained there for one day and two nights and when they crawled out they were unable to find their provisions or companions.  The weather turned bitterly cold and they wandered around aimlessly for eight days and several times laid down to die only to get renewed courage to press on.  Some hunters discovered them on the eighth day and took them to the camps utilized by the stage lines established by N. P. Clarke of St. Cloud and they secured teams to take them to Bismarck.  Here they received medical aid.  Mr Paddock was frozen badly about the feet and hands, but he did not fare as badly as his partner , who had to have both legs amputated.  It was a fearful experience and one which many men could not pass through without meeting death.  Their five other companions perished in the storm.

    Mr Paddock figured prominently in many pioneer incidents of this county and had upon more than one occasion displayed his bravery.  As will be remembered by all old settlers, the first murder ever committed in this county was by an Indian in the town of Aldrich.  A family named Costello lived  here at that time and during a visit of some Indians to the house, the son and one of the Indians got into a quarrel.  The son threw the Indian out of the house and the Indian, seeking revenge, fired a shot at him, but the bullet struck his sister, killing her instantly.  The Indian was arrested by the sheriff, but was afterwards taken away forcibly by a crowd of Indians and taken to their camp on the Red Eye river.  The affair occasioned much excitement at the time and an armed body of men went out to again secure the Indian.  L. A. Paddock was one of the leaders of the movement and after coming up to the Indian camp, the members of which were very ugly, Mr Paddock alone volunteered to go to the camp and size up the situation.  This he did at the risk of losing his life and he discovered that there were not near as many Indians as reported.  They would  not give up the murderer, however and Mr Paddock strongly advocated an attack.  The other members of the party were more cautious, however, and finally persuaded him to retire.  Mr Paddock never had any use for the Indians.  During the Indian massacre near New Ulm in the early 1860's his sister was taken as a captive by a band of warriors and treated with much cruelty and he was always ready to fight redskins ever after that.

    In the early 1880's Mr Paddock went into the lumbering business north of New York Mills and he carried on quite an extensive business.  The town of Paddock, Otter Tail county was named in his honor.  His mill was destroyed by fire and he afterwards devoted himself almost exclusively to farming.  Mr Paddock was an excellent and successful farmer and had he devoted himself entirely to his farm he would have amassed a comfortable fortune.  He kept himself thoroughly posted in agricultural matters and knew how to conduct a farm to the best possible advantage.  In 1893-4, Mr Paddock was very comfortably situated, when unfortunately for him, he went to Duluth and entered into the grain business.  In those times of depression the grain business was not profitable and he lost heavily.  Afterwards he went to Georgia, where he located a colony in the lumber woods and was at the head of a company which erected a saw mill.  He subsequently returned to Wadena and has since remained on his farm. barring a few months he spent at Bemidji in the lumber business. He traded his interests at Bemidji for business property there which the family still retains and the week before Mr Paddock's death he had just closed a contract whereby he leased the property at a monthly rental of $70.

Note: after he “retired” to his farm in Wadena, about 1893, he began regularly writing letters to his cousin Nellie (Lynch) Chase; daughter of Louisa M Paddock-Lynch… these letters are the ones I refer to with the heading: From the Letter written by Louisa M (Crail) Miller to Robert Lyn Gray.

    During the last few years of his life, Mr Paddock was an ardent and enthusiastic Populist (representing “ordinary” people).  He occupied a prominent place in the state organization, serving for some time on the state central committee and when Governor Lind was elected he applied for a place in the grain department in Duluth.  He was given a minor position with only a salary of $65 per month and Mr Paddock would not accept that.  He resigned and wrote a caustic letter to Governor Lind in which he stated his position.  It was a great disappointment to him that a position of more importance was not tendered him.

    Mr Paddock leaves a wife and a large family of children to mourn his loss.  All of the children were present at his funeral.  By his first wife he had three children, Mrs Buckland of Michigan City, ND, Lorenzo A Paddock and John W Paddock.  Eight children were born to them from his second marriage as follows:  Mrs Dolly Waldrom of Bemidji, L. A. Paddock Jr, Mrs Helen Schriner of Hewitt, Della G, Arthur G, Elbridge Gerry, Ethel and Annabel.  Of these all but Arthur and  Elbridge Gerry are alive.  He also had two sisters:  Mrs L Tarbell (Helen Mar Paddock) and Mrs Tim Lynch (Louisa M Paddock) both of Dodge Center, who were here to attend his funeral.

    The funeral occurred from the M.E. church in this city Wednesday afternoon and was largely attended by the town.  Rev John Hughes presented a discourse and his remains were placed in the Wadena cemetery.

COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY & BIOGRAPHY OF NORTHERN MINNESOTA, PUBLISHED 1902. Paddock, Lauren A. Lauren A. Paddock was born in ohio, March 27, 1837. His parents were Thomas J., and Laura Paddock, natives of Vermont. Mr. Paddock enlisted in Company B, First Wisconsin Light Artillery, in 1862 and received his honorable discharge after three years of meritorious service in 1864. Mr. and Mrs. Paddock were married at Winnebago City, Minnesota, in 1870, she being the former Loretta Norton, daughter of George and Lydia N. (Falkner) Norton, natives of Vermont and New York, respectively. They conducted a hotel in Minneapolis for one year and then lived for one year at Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. At Brainerd, Minnesota, Mr. Paddock followed lumbering for two years and then in 1874 was among the first pioneers to locate in Wadena county. He took a homestead claim on section 20 of Wadena township and erected a log house and barn. Oxen served him for a time for the first three years. He later erected a more commodious residence and this was destroyed by fire. In 1888 he erected their present residence at a cost of over one thousand dollars. Mr. Paddock was a Mason in good standing, his membership being at Stillwater, Minnesota. He died January 8, 1900. Mrs. Paddock is conducting the first with success and has proven herself a good manager and an agriculturist of ability and sound judgment. The estate is one of the most valuable in Wadena county and in every detail shows evidence of thrift and energy. Mrs. Paddock has six living children named as follows: Dolly, Lauren A., Helen M., Della G., Ethel and Anna B. The deceased children are Arthur G., and Elbridge G. The family are members of the Methodist church at Wadena and enjoy the respect and esteem of the entire community.

Obituary for Loretta Norton Paddock (2nd wife of Lauren Austin Paddock). Source: Find A Grave Memorial Page. Death results from an internal cancer after two years of illness, the end coming Wednesday, September 6, at the home of her son, L.A. Paddock, Jr. Her body was shipped to Minnesota for burial.

  On October 7, 1871, she became the wife of L.A. Paddock, at Winnebago, Minnesota, and came to this county in the year 1874 to make her future home. They settled on a homestead south of this city which is now known as the Peter Gaul farm and during their career they became owners of four hundred acres of land.

From the Letter written by Louisa M (Crail) Miller to Robert Lyn Gray:

 Aunt Rose says this second wife Rhetta (Loretta Odell) was raised in Grandma Lynch’s parents home, and was quite a little younger than Uncle Austin. You will note that Uncle Austin mentions Grandma Lynch (Louisa) and Rhetta being “Tom Boys” together. Note: Lauren was born 1837, Loretta was born 1846 = 9 yrs difference between them.

Obituary for Olive Barrett (first wife of Lauren Austin Paddock). Source: Find A Grave Memorial Page.

Olive P. Barrett is the 3rd daughter and 5th of 6 children of D. Cantlin Barrett and Mary/Polly Odell of Danby, Rutland, VT. She is the granddaughter of Alexander Barrett and great granddaughter of Bartholomew Barrett, a Revolutionary War Captain. Her family moved west to Ohio between 1833 and 1836 and lived in Burton Township, Geauga County, OH.

  On November 22, 1856 she married Lauren Austin Paddock, her first cousin and son of Thomas J. Paddock and her mother's sister, Laura Odell. They migrated westward to Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. For a short time in 1858 they were part of the Pike's Peak gold craze, making a hazardous journey to Kansas Territory with a group of friends. They returned to WI at the start of the Civil War, in which L.A. served and then moved to IA to farm, and then to MN to take advantage of the booming St. Croix River lumber business in Marine Mills, MN (now Marine on St. Croix). Olive was just 29 when she died, and L.A. remarried to Loretta Norton in 1870. He lived the rest of his life in Wadena, MN.

  L.A. and Olive had 3 children, Lorenzo Austin, born in 1862 in Niosho, WI; Minnie, born in 1864 in MN; and John William, born in 1866 in IA.

From the Letter written by Louisa M (Crail) Miller to Robert Lyn Gray:

   Uncle Austin seemed to have been married twice, first family:

 Willie, born about 1866 (Aunt Rose says his condition was always THOUGHT TO BE because his mother and father were cousins???) And this ties in with our Aunt Doll’s first marriage to Herb O’Dell (I have Harley O’Dell) who was a cousin once or twice removed. So these Paddock’s mother must have been an O’Dell. (I mean Grandma Lynch’s parents). Note: (John) William Paddock: in the 1900 Census he is 34 and living at home (sometime after his father’s death he sent to live at the “State Hospital” in Faribault, MN, a progressive institution that specialized in vocational training for their patients, because of his agricultural background, William lived and worked on a farm that was run by them); in the 1910 Census he is 44 and living in the Faribault “State Hospital”, he dies there in 1927, age 61. Cause of death was a chronic kidney disorder.

From the Letter written by Louisa M (Crail) Miller to Robert Lyn Gray:

 You know since I got on this binge -I come up with the name Isabelle Morrow, whom I have known for years, and who claimed shirt-tail relationship. So I just called her, and this Minnie and Amos Bucklin are her grandparents.

Note: Minnie, daughter of Lauren Austin Paddock and Olive P. Barrett, m: Amos Abner Buckland.

 She was all for coming and reading the letters, but I warded that off since, Uncle Austin was quite disturbed about Minnie marrying the hired man.

    Did tell her however that we would go over some of the letters later. She says that when Uncle Austin died that the whole front page of (I suppose the Wadena paper) the paper had history of his life, that she remembers her grandmother (Minnie) having it when she was about nine years old, and that it was an old paper then. Isabelle was born in 1910. She has no idea what became of that paper, but we both feel that there might be a copy of it still in the newspaper office in Wadena. (Note: I found the Obituary for Lauren Austin Paddock from the Wadena Pioneer Journal on Find A Grave Memorial Page).

Note: I have traced the Paddock’s back to the Plymouth Colonies

Robert Paddock m: Mary Holmes. Robert Paddock  immigrated from Dublin Ireland to the Plymouth Colonies (before 1634). Their son, Zachariah m: Deborah Sears moved from Plymouth, MA to Yarmouth, Barnstable, MA. Their son, Zachariah II m: Berthia Hall lived in Yarmouth, Barnstable, MA. Their son, Deacon David m: Mary Foster moved from Yarmouth, MA to New York. Their son, Marshall m: Tamzun Raymond moved from New York to Vermont. Their son, Foster Marshal Jr m: Chloe Raymond moved from Vermont to New York. Their son, 1-Thomas J Paddock m: Laura Odell moved from Vermont to Ohio (around 1837) to Wisconsin (around 1843) to Minnesota (around 1860); first residing in Mankato Twp, Blue Earth Co. ending up (around 1865) in Ripley and Westfield Twp, Dodge Co, MN (1865 Minnesota, Territorial and State Census); the 1870 Census lists them in Ripley Twp, Dodge Co, MN. Laura died there in 1873; Thomas in 1874.

    The Paddock-Lynch connection begins there when 2-1 Louisa Marie Paddock-Lynch married 2-1 Timothy Lynch in 1865. Their daughter, 3-6 Clare Maud Lynch, married George Alvey Gray in 1899. Their son, 4-1 Robert Lyn Gray (Lynch Branch), is my grandfather in a story he wrote about his grandmother, 2-1 Louisa Marie Paddock-Lynch, he states she lived a mile from his home (Riverview Farm).

    See, Gray-Piper Blog Post: The Paddock-Foster Lineage to William Brewster Mayflower. Mary Foster m: Deacon David Paddock was a 6th Generation Descendant of the Mayflower.