This township is the southeast of the six in�terior towns of the county, and the towns in contact with it are, Riceland on the north; Oakland on the east; Shell Rock on the south; and Albert Lea on the west. It is six miles square, like all the other towns in the county.
An arm of Lake Albert Lea, three miles long and a third of a mile wide, lays near the western boundary, in a north and south direction. A stream called Peter Lund Creek enters the lake in section seven, made up of two branches arising back in the town.
The land may be described as prairie, with oak openings and meadow land interspersed, the prairie predominating; the timber being found mostly in the western part of its territory, in the region of the lake. In the northern part of this region may be found, with the oak, some poplar timber,
while southward the wood is red oak and a small growth of poplar. The heaviest timber is in sec�tion thirty-one, which is divided into wood lots of five, ten, or twenty acres. The prairie is rolling, and some of it inclined to be low. The northeast part of the township, particularly in sections eleven, twelve, thirteen, and fourteen, has not yet been reclaimed, and is still owned by the State and railroad. A scheme is however contemplated by which the whole tract is to be drained and improved.
The soil, as a rule, is a black loam, productive of all crops in this latitude. The subsoil is clay and gravel. The Southern Minnesota railroad runs through the town from east to west, entering it on section one and leaving it from section seven.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
The town was named in honor of David Hayward, an early settler, who came from Postville, Iowa, in the summer of 1856, and selected a place in section six, claiming a quarter section, and
there he lived until 1858, when he returned to Iowa. His taxes becoming delinquent the place was sold, and it is now owned in part by Charles E. Fisher.
The first two settlers were two Norskmen, Peter Lund and E. Gilbrandson, who came in company from Iowa county, Wisconsin. They left their families in Houston county and came through to
this place and secured claims on sections eight and seventeen, and on the 20th of June, 1856, they went back and brought their families. At first they lived in a tent arranged by poles and wagon covers; in this they lived until fall, when they dug a hole in the ground, and sodding it over existed in that for a year.
The very first breaking done in the town was by a young man named Olson Andrews, on section thirty-two. This was in the summer of 1856.
James Andrews also broke some land on section thirty-two. He lived in the town of Shell Rock before he brought his family.
The next comers were the Pennsylvania Germans, two of whom located in Albert Lea and one here.
William Newcomb, in the fall of 1856, drifted on to section seven with his family and a team of horses, and put up a log house, which he staid in until 1874, when he sold to John Murphy, and took himself to Council Bluffs, Iowa.
In section eight the first settlement was made by Norwegians.
Section two was settled by Americans.
The southeast corner of the township was first settled by Americans, but is now inhabited by Bohemians.
Lysander R. Luce came to this town in April, 1858, and surrounded a claim on sections seven and eight. He was from Clayton county, Iowa, and pulled through this roadless region with an ox team. He constructed a timber residence, which was all the fashion on the frontier, and here he lived and wrought until on the 16th of June 1882, he drifted across that mystic river of which we talk so much and know so little. He was a native of New York State,
POLITICAL.
The first town meeting in response to a legal notice was held on the first Tuesday in April, 1859 at the house of S. H. Ludlow. According to the records there were two moderators, S. H. Ludlow and I. W. Devereux. The officers of the election were H. M. Luce and Charles Bush. On motion the meeting adjourned to meet at the house of Charles Bush, where the following officers were elected: Supervisors, J. W. Devereux, Chairman, Peter Lund, and H. L. Dow: Clerk, Charles Bush; Treasurer. Peter Lund; Assessor, A. T. Butts; Justice of the Peace, Charles Bush: Constable, H. L. Dow.
The whole number of votes cast at this election was nine, and there was no charge of ballot-box stuffing.
A tax of fifty dollars was levied for town expenses. It was voted that the next town meeting be at the house of A. T. Butts, on section seventeen.
Since that time the town has run on in the even tenor of its way, and the expenses of the government have been gradually increasing until it has now got up to the sum of $125, the amount raised for 1882, and yet no motion has been made to have a committee of investigation to see what has become of their money. It is evident that this is a poor town for rings.
At the election held on the 27th of March, 1882, the following officers were elected: Supervisors, H. C. Nelson; Chairman, Ole Anderson and Peter O. Stensven; Clerk. R. Campbell; Treasurer, Peter Lund; Assessor, E. W. Knatvold.
The whole number of votes cast at this election was eighty, although the number of registered voters is 190. So that less than one-half turned out. The established polling place is the Howard schoolhouse. in District No. 34.
HAY\VARD VILLAGE.
A village was platted here in 1809 by H. C. Lacy. Martha P. Gibbs was the proprietor and
it was recorded on the 20th of December. Morin & Armstrong, of Albert Lea, took an interest in the village in 1870 and erected a warehouse on the railroad grounds. The next building put up was a store and dwelling by Oliver Nelson in the fall of 1870; In 1877 he sold to K. Campbell and went to Lake Mills, Iowa. In 1870 the depot was built.
It is a mere hamlet, and today is made up of a good sized store, kept by Hanson brothers; two blacksmith shops; a boarding house kept by William Hoyt: two warehouses, and two dwelling houses. The population consists of five families. The location is in section nine, and it is six and one half miles east of Albert Lea.
POST-OFFICE.
This perquisite of civilization was established during the war, in 1863. The first man entrusted with the key to unlock the mail pouch was M. W. Campbell, who received and distributed the mail in his house on section four. In 1870 it was transferred to the village, to Oliver Hanson's care, in the store, and after a time it was turned over to H. T. Hanson, who is still entitled to write P. M. after his name. It has a daily mail each way, from the train.
WIND FEED MILL.
There is a feed mill, driven by wind, on the railroad in section eight. It was built by M. M. Luce in 1877, and is 18x32, two stories high, and has a capacity, when there is sufficient wind, to grind two hundred bushels a day. It is one and one fourth miles west of the village.
CEMETERY.
The city of the dead, 'where all mortality finds a home at last�, is on section nine, south of the
village of Hayward, on a commanding piece of ground. The association was organized in June, 1874, the first officers being Olson Nelson and Andrew Gilbrandson. There are four acres. The first one to leave his earthly remains here was Arne Overby, in the winter of 1874. He was a native of Norway and lived on section twenty-three, being one of the early settlers. At the time of his demise he was about forty years of age. There are now sixteen graves here.
EARLY EVENTS.
Ole P. Lund, son of Peter and Else Lund, as is reported, was the first settler to arrive by birth in this town. It was on the 27th of May, 1858, and he still lives here and is himself a married man.
The first known death was that of an infant child of Philo Butts, in the winter of 1858, who at that time lived in section seventeen, but in 1862 he returned to Wisconsin.
POPULATION.�The census of 1870 gave Hayward a population of 382. The last census, taken in 1880, reports 659 for this town; showing an increase of 277.