writes: "It is in connection with this hotel that during the winter of 1855—I856 it was rented to one, N. C. Bennett, of whom it was said that honesty was not one of his virtues. It was rumored, at that time, that this was headquarters for a gang engaged in making counterfeit money; also that a gang of horse thieves made their headquarters there. However that may be, it does seem reasonably certain that things became a little too warm, and he departed for more welcome and peaceful habitation."

Alexander notes in his History of Winneshiek County: "Almost from its inception —from the time that its proprietor kept his jug well filled, down to the present '1882)—Ossian has been celebrated for its traffic in intoxicating drinks, and street brawls were not an infrequent occurrence in its history." A story in the Bee's centenniel issue relates: "The Ossian pioneers were rugged chaps, hard drinkers, hard fighters and hard gamblers. It became somewhat of a habit for these, not too peaceful citizens, to gather on a Saturday night, go from one saloon to another, and as a climax to their evening's entertainment, start an argument and wind up by wrecking the saloon. Then they would go back the next morning and pay damages. Reports say that at the height of one of these dizzy entertainments, a man passed by riding a mule. One of our rugged ancestors whipped out his gun, shot the mule from under its rider, then gave the fallen man $10 and told him to go buy a good mount." Hopefully, we have outgrown such outrageous conduct.

Military Township as recorded in 1856 had 158 families, consisting of 768 people, who lived in 158 separate dwellings. There were 164 landowners holding 2898 acres of improved, and 22,106 of unimproved land. The wheat harvest of that year totaled 19,344 bushels; while 14,030 bu. of corn, and 6262 of oats filled the farmer's bins. There were 148 head of hogs marketed for a value of $1136; and 160 head of cattle sold for $7034. Sixteen thousand eight hundred and ten pounds of butter were manufactured; evidently by churn, since no creameries are listed in the township.

Three hundred forty nine inhabitants were born in the United States--125 of them in Iowa. Three hundred forty gave Norway as their birthplace, and 25 migrated from Germany. The Norwegian population was, by a large margin, the most of any other -ownship in Winneshiek County. This ethnic distribution was to change drastically over the next two decades.

THE CENSUS OF I856

We list the heads of families in this count for the benefit of residents who are interested in determining the date of their ancestor's arrival. In many cases, spelling is phonetic as recorded by the census taker.