Historic Homes and Businesses in Carver - Carver County Historical ...

1857. Ebenezer Bray does not appear in the 1857 Territorial Census for Carver and
probably arrived shortly after it was taken. Bray was elected and served in the 1857-58
legislature that gave rise to the State of Minnesota in 1858. It is possible that Dr. Bray
kept rooms in the hotel, for a notation in the Weekly Valley Herald newspaper for
December 1863 mentions that Bray “had just returned from the East with a new supply of
dental material and is prepared to do operations with the latest techniques in the
profession”. He was doing vulcanized rubber work, which because of cleanliness,
cheapness, and durability was taking the place of gold plate for inserting artificial teeth.
Dr. Bray made house calls and advertised that he could board persons coming from a
distance free of charge, an indicator that he may have been using the Basler House in his
business. In the Minnesota Gazatteer and Business Directory for 1865 Dr. Bray is
advertised as a dentist, the location of his practice given to be on Broadway in Carver.
In the spring of 1870 business was so good at the hotel that the Baslers were compelled to
think about enlarging the hotel, especially as there were plans afoot to connect Carver on
the Minneapolis-St. Louis Railroad line the following year. In May 1870 the Baslers
added a 40-foot addition to the rear of the existing 22-foot deep building, making the
remodeled hotel 62 feet long. By August 1870 the remodeled facility was ready to go.
By 1870 the hotel was a two-story frame building with a false front and bracketed
cornice. It had a second story street-side balcony with a railing over the Broadway
sidewalk, supported from below by three columns. Shutters decorated the windows on
the second level on either side of a center door. At one time the hotel had a large
windmill located to its north and rear.
Barbara Basler handled the food and cooking in the hotel, while Charles oversaw the
attached stable at the rear and the hotel‟s saloon, which advertised the best brands of
liquors and cigars. In 1871 the hotel was again filled to capacity, as was every house and
hotel in Carver, as laborers flooded the town laying railroad tracks, constructing the
Minneapolis-St. Louis Railway Carver Depot, and building a railroad bridge across the
Minnesota River at Carver.
In the Minnesota Gazatteer and Business Directory for 1872 Charles Basler was
advertised as a hotel and saloon proprietor, and in 1873 as a saloon proprietor. In August
and September of 1872 Charles Basler lay severely ill for several weeks, dying of dropsy
on Sept. 30, 1872 at age 43 years, 1 month. The Weekly Valley Herald newspaper upon
his death wrote that the hotel was well known to old settlers of Carver, Sibley, and
McLeod Counties, and that “his house became proverbial for its hospitality to the poor
and friendless, and particularly to those in trouble, who always received his sympathy
and assistance. He was a true representative of the pioneer settler.” Basler was cited to
be too generous and charitable to ever become wealthy, yet at his death was said to be
well off.
Ownership of the Basler House passed through Charles‟ will to his wife, Barbara, who on
Jan. 20, 1874 married Andrew M. (A. M.) Swanson of Carver. Barbara and her second
husband continued to run the hotel until 1876. In the 1870 U. S. Census for Carver
Andrew M. Swanson (born about 1830 and sometimes spelled Swenson) was listed as a