LA CROSSE COUNTY HISTORICAL SKETCHES


Pacific railroad company, took pos-
session of the road May 1, 1880.
        Strong Friendship
   A strong friendship existed be-
tween my family and Colonel Stod-
dard and Miss de France up until
the time of my father's death in
1861 and the     death of Colonel
Stoddard in 1874. Afternoon visits
were made and very often I accom-
panied my mother.
    Lt was customary to serve light
refreshments, cookies or tea bis-
cuits and something to drink. I lik-
ed Auntie Susan's beer. It was not
lager beer, for although there were
several breweries here, she served
root beer. She said there was al-
ways a supply in the house as the
colonel was very fond of it.
    On one of our visits the colonel
turned to me and     said, 'Heinie,
would you like to take a ride on
our railroad?' My reply must have
been favorable, for he said, 'Wait a
minute.' He arose from his seat
and went into the adjoining room,
his office or den. Mr. Usher de-
scribed this'room, its contents, con-
dition, and care it received   and
called it his sanctum sanctorum,
but den seems the more appropriate
word.
    The colonel returned    shortly
and said, 'Trains on our road are
only running as far as Lanesboro.
We go out in the forenoon, stop for
dinner and return to La Crosse in
the afternoon.' He handed me a
ticket saying, 'Here is a pass that
will take you out and back.'
    I would like to tell you a story.
Webster gives several -definitions
for a story. One is a faleshood, but
what I am about to tell you is the
absolute truth. Possibly you will
fail to note what this story has to
do with Colonel Stoddard, but the
connection is there.
          Introduces Self
    About 25 years ago, a stranger
 stopped me on Fourth street near
 Main, asking if my name was H. E.
 Rogers, and if my father's was Wil-
 liam C. Rogers. My reply was, 'Yes,
 sir.' He introduced himself (we
 will call him Mr. A), and said, 'I
 live over in Minnesota. I own a
 forty of hay land south of Target
 lake. To get out onto the road I
 must cross another forty. I am buy-
 ing this forty and trying to clear


up the title of it. I find that Wil-
liam C. Rogers has an undivided
interest in this forty. You, as the
only living heir of William C. Rog-
ers, have an interest in that land.
I will give you ten dollars for a
quit-claim deed of your interest in
this land.
   My reply was, 'That happened
so many years ago, that now my in-
terest in that land does not amount
to much. It has been sold for taxes
and some one has a tax deed to it.
    He answered, 'The laws of Wis-
consin and Minnesota differ in these
cases. If this land was in Wiscon-
sin you would have lost your inter-
est by a tax deed, but in Minnesota
a man having a deed to a part or a
parcel of land holds an interest in
that land until he or his heirs trans-
fer it by deed or quit-claim deed.
    I accepted his proposition and a
day and place to meet were agreed
upon. When Mr. A and I met we
looked up a notary. I executed the
quit-claim deed and he paid me ten
dollars.
    About ten days or two weeks
later another stranger stopped me
on the street and asked me if my
name was H. E. Rogers and if my
father's name was William C. Rog-
ers. As I replied in the affirmative,
he introduced himself (we shall call
him Mr. B), and told me of the
same condition Mr. A had told me
about and concluded by saying, 'I
will give you ten dollars for a quit-
claim deed for your interest in this
forty.
    My reply was, 'A short time ago
I gave a man a quit-claim deed to
my interest in this forty, and now,
how could I give a second one?
    He said, 'You can give as many
as you like. You can even give a
quit claim deed to that corner build-
ing and you are not laying yourself
liable in any shape or manner.' A
day and a place were agreed upon
for a future meeting.
          Give Him Deed
    I got in touch with Mr. A, told
him of Mr. B's story and that he
had offered me ten dollars for the
deed for my interest in that forty.
'What shall I do?' I asked him.
   Mr. A began to smile, in fact, he
 laughed out loud, and said, 'Mr.
 Rogers, take his ten dollars and
 give him the quit-claim deed. The
 one you gave me is filed at the