Blaine
The Story of
D
akota and Ojibwe Indians hunted on the land that later became Blaine long before settlers appeared. In 1847, a government land survey crew led by Deputy Surveyor Andrew Hewett measured the perimeters of the township “by slogging through swamp and thicket and over dunes.” In his report, Hewett concluded, “The township is almost inaccessible for either man or beasts except when frozen up.” In the 1850s, speculators began acquiring land by hiring squatters with the idea of turning over ownership in the form of land patents to the speculators, who by all accounts never lived there. However, one individual, Andrew More, who purchased land in 1855, most likely lived in the township. His name appears in the 1857 census, making him possibly the first settler.
4 | BlaineMN.gov
The first permanent settler was most likely Phillip Leddy, whose name was misspelled in early historical sources as Laddy. Leddy purchased land in 1857 and 1859 near what was later called Laddie Lake, presumably named for him. He farmed there from about 1862 until his death in 1872. Leddy’s wife Bridget and three of their seven daughters continued to live on the farm until at least 1875. They then moved to Minneapolis. The township was officially organized in 1877. Moses Ripley was elected as the first chairman of the Board of Supervisors. According to local lore, Ripley, who had come to Minnesota from Maine, persuaded his fellow board members to name the new township in honor of James G. Blaine, a U.S. Senator and statesman, also from Maine. In 1880, Blaine Township had a population of 128. A former enslaved person from Kentucky also helped set Blaine on its early course to permanent settlement. Greenberry “Green” Chambers served as a private in Company H of the 115th U.S. Colored Infantry and later as a supervisor cook during the Civil War. After his 1865 discharge from the Union Army, Chambers traveled by steamboat up the Mississippi River to Minnesota with his wife and three of their five children in search of a better life. Chambers purchased a farm in Anoka County that later was lost to foreclosure. The family then settled on another farm, likely in southeastern Blaine, where Chambers served on the Township Board of Supervisors from 1878-1881 as a constable and in 1882 as a road overseer. He and his son, Green Jr., are listed as voters in the 1881 Blaine Township election.
