BENJAMIN DENSMORE:

Judge Orrin Densmore was born in Washington, New Hampshire on September 22, 1805. His family moved to Genesee County, New York and later to Rock County, Wisconsin where they lived at Emerald Grove. In 1856 he made three trips to Minnesota and was impressed by the possibilities of the lumber industry. With certain relatives, he bought the Freeborn saw mill in Red Wing and moved the family there in May 1857.

He was judge of probate; city recorder; county treasurer; member of the board of trustees of the State Insane Asylum at St. Peter; deputy collector of U.S. internal revenue for Goodhue County; assistant U.S. Marshal to take the census of 1870; served two terms in the State House of Representatives, serving as chairman of the committee on education during both terms; and was connected with the State Department of Public Instruction in St. Paul until his health failed. While judge of probate he drew up the "State School Law of 1861." He was a member of the Masonic order, a republican, and the family was identified with the Presbyterian Church of Red Wing. He died at Red Wing in 1878.

Elizabeth Fowle, daughter of Benjamin Fowle, was born in Wheatland, New York on November 3, 1808. She married Orrin Densmore in Wheatland on December 11, 1828. Orrin and Elizabeth Densmore had six children. Their son Norman married Delia Webster and lived in Iowa, was a member of the legislature and president of a Farmer's Cooperative Insurance Company and died in Des Moines at the age of 93. Their son Benjamin married Sarah Greenland and lived in Red Wing. Their son Daniel married Susan M. Warner and lived in Red Wing and California. Their daughter Margaret married Otis J. Smith and, after his death, married his brother Edwin J. Smith and lived in Red Wing. Their daughter Martha married Henry C. Hodgeman and lived in Red Wing. Their son Orrin married Emma Philleo and lived in Red Wing until his death in 1892 at the age of 48. Elizabeth Fowle Densmore died in Red Wing on January 21, 1891.

Benjamin Densmore was born near Caledonia, New York on August 10, 1831. He moved to Emerald Grove, Wisconsin in 1846. He attended Milton Academy and Beloit College Preparatory School. As a civil engineer in 1852-1853 he had charge of building the first section out of Chicago of what is now the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. In 1854 he opened an engineering office in St. Paul. He had charge of surveying the first railroad from St. Paul to St. Anthony, and the first section toward Duluth of the first railroad in that town. He also worked with a land company locating town sites in western Minnesota. In 1857 he moved to Red Wing and made the grade survey of that city.

On October 21, 1861 he enlisted as a private in the Minnesota Infantry, Third Regiment, Company E. He went south with his regiment in November and surrendered at Murfreesboro, Tennessee in July 1862, when he was ordered back to Minnesota to fight in the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. He was with General Sibley in the battle of Wood Lake when he was struck by a bullet in the back of the head, rendered unconscious, and carried to safety by his comrades.

After healing he returned south to assist the chaplain in caring for and organizing into the service the "contrabands" (freed Negroes, some of whom were sent North as servants) at Columbus, Kentucky. He was promoted to quartermaster sergeant on September 25, 1863. He was later made 1st lieutenant of Company F, U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery, Second Regiment for his efficient work. In July 1864 he was promoted to captain of the Fourth Regiment, U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery in which position he remained until the end of the war. In February 1866 he mustered out.

In 1866 he, along with his brother Daniel, established the Red Wing Iron Works and continued in the business until 1912. Also in 1866 he married Sarah Greenland at Cazenovia, New York. They had two daughters: Frances Theresa and Margaret Louise. A son, William Greenland, was born in 1869, and died in 1870. Benjamin Densmore died at Red Wing on January 26, 1913.

Sarah Adelaide Greenland was born in Cazenovia, New York on August 4, 1838. She came to Red Wing in 1859 to visit her uncle, Fayette F. Philleo and remained about a year, visiting again in 1861 for a shorter time. She married Benjamin Densmore on June 12, 1866 and lived in Red Wing the rest of her life.

In her early years she was a Presbyterian and active in missionary societies. Later on she became an Episcopalian. She took an active part in the organization of the Red Wing Hospital, serving as secretary of its board for many years. She was a woman of unusual culture and of marked literary ability. Benjamin and Sarah had two daughters, Frances and Margaret, and a son, William Greenland, who died in infancy. Sarah Densmore died on January 19, 1920 in Red Wing.

Daniel, son of Orrin Densmore, was born near Caledonia Springs, New York on September 4, 1833. The family moved to Emerald Grove, Wisconsin in 1846. He entered Beloit College in 1852, graduating as salutatorian in 1858. He taught school near Gallatin, Tennessee in the fall of 1858 and in Red Wing in 1859. He read law in the office of Wilder and Williston and did office work in Red Wing until 1862 when he assisted in the recruiting of Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, Seventh Regiment, Company G, and was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant.

He was immediately sent to Fort Ridgley and was in the battles of Birch Coulee and Wood Lake, as well as other battles in the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 and the Sibley Expedition in 1863. He spent the next winter guarding the Dakota at Mankato and in the barracks at New Ulm. In January of 1864 his regiment was sent to St. Louis. He served in the south, taking part in several major engagements. He was a major in the 68th U.S. Colored Infantry. He was also on General A. J. Smith's raid into Mississippi and in the battle of Tupelo. In 1865 he sailed with the expedition from Pensacola to move against Mobile from the east. Marching up through the country, during the final charge on April 9th, Colonel Jones was wounded and Daniel, as Lieutenant Colonel, took command going up the river to Selma, to Montgomery, and back to Mobile. He suffered from typhoid and southern fever during the war. He contracted a fever again on the return trip to Alexandria and was discharged in 1865 because of illness. He brought his horse Jockey back to Red Wing with him.

In 1866, with his brother Benjamin, he established the Red Wing Iron works, continuing in that business until April 1912. He lived at the Densmore homestead in Red Wing until 1900, the house having been built by his father in 1857. He went to Lindsay, California in November of 1912 and died in Los Angeles on March 5, 1915. He married Susan Malvina Warner in 1891. She died in Lindsay, California in 1914.