About Our Township 

  History    (date created ?)

Lumbering was active in this township in the sixties, for in 1867, C.A. Gilman and wife, Hester, sold 174 acres of land in sections 25, 26, and 34 of township 43, range 28, county, New York, (1) but it was in 1869 that those veteran purchasers of pine lands, Mary P. Wilson and her husband, Joseph, acquired lands in sections 20, 21, 23, 25, 27, 28, and 34. They had bought patents assigned to the States of Massachusetts and Illinois, and located very choice pine lands.

(2) In 1871, they sold these lands to Hugh G. Harrison, Wm. M. Harrison and Joseph Dean, all of Minneapolis.

(3) Sherman Hall, the pioneer preacher and teacher, also owned lands in this township which he had received from Edwin Hall, but he sold them in 1871 to Charles A. Gilman.

(4) Gilman sold his interest to Adam Oliver and Elisha Hall of Ingersoll county, Oxford, Canada. As Mr. Gilman paid $700.00 for this property and resold it five months later for $2,400.00, he made a nice little profit.

(5) Oscar E. Garrison, who later settled in Garrison township, was actively interested in getting out timber in this township, for he bought 800 acres of timber land from Mary P. Wilson and agreed to cut four million feet of pine for Hugh G. Harrison, Thomas A. Harrison, William W. Harrison and Joseph Deane, doing business as Deane & Co.

(6) One of the few log markets to be registered in this county is that of the above firm, J. Deane & Co., and consisted of Diamond ExTwo Crosses.

(7) This was a diamond shaped figure, followed by a large X and two small x's.

Other lumber companies must also have been land holders, for the Delinquent Tax List published in 1872, gives the names of Chester Wait, H.G. Harrison, W.M. Harrison, Joseph Deane, and Hester Gilman.

(8) During the eighteen eighties and nineties, there was probably no permanent residents in this township, even though the county commissioners attached it and detached it from various other townships. It was first mentioned in 1881, when it became part of the Mille Lacs precinct.

(9) In 1882, it became part of Mooresville township and attached to Daggett Brook township. (10) In 1888, it was detached from Mooresville and attached to Daggett Brook township.

(11) In 1901 it was detached from Daggett Brook and attached to Platte Lake township,

(12) and the following year it was organized as Roosevelt township.

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The census of 1890 enumerated the population by separate townships, and although this township was attached to Daggett Brook, no residents were enumerated. It was 1910 before the population of this township was counted, and then there was a population of only 76 persons. Ten years later, there were 98 inhabitants; and in 1930, it had reached a total of 192 inhabitants.

The county commissioners granted the petition for organization July 14, 1902.

(13) It was signed by: H.B. McConnell, C.F. Schellin, George Simpson, August Bonk, Ole Olson, Wm. Mattson, Sam Brand, J.E. Ellinson, Samuel C. Mognett, Albert A. Kuhl, John Dewing, Erdman Templin, Carl Marohn, C.A. Foster. The meeting held to organize the township was held at the C.F. Schellin farm, and Mr. Schellin says that John Dewing was elected chairman; C.F. Schellin treasurer; Sidney Davis clerk; and F.L. Jennison was one of the supervisors.

John Dewing, a county commissioner for many years, was one of the first settlers in the township. George Wakeman and FL Jennison came about the same time, shortly after 1900. The county atlas, published in 1913, shows that a Jacob Mangold was a very large landowner in the township. He was an Iowa farmer who invested heavily in Roosevelt township real estate, and two of his sons, Henry and Carl Mangold, became residents of the township.

(14) There were no schools in the township until 1902, and then districts 75 and 78 were organized. Both of these are still active, although there are no children of school age left in district 75.

One post office was established in Roosevelt township, the Schwitz post office. The office was established January 19, 1912 with Ernest Brand as post master, and it was discontinued February 28, 1913.

(15) There are no villages or platted townsites, but a settlement is growing up at Pine Center, the intersection of S.A.R. No. 2 and C.A.R. No. 3.

In 1925, the Holy Family Mission was established in section 28, where they also maintain a monastery. In the fall of 1939, the Roosevelt Gospel Tabernacle was organized and a small church building erected a short distance north of Pine Center.