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

East Union, was employed in cutting logs on Jorgenson‟s claim, remaining on the claim
alone while Jorgenson floated logs downstream on his barge. Jorgensons barge was
described by early area settler Ole Paulson as an old, dirty, heavy, flat-bottomed boat,
which could float downstream, but if not towed upstream by a steamboat, would have to
be propelled with long poles. Jorgenson seems to have offered prospective settlers free
lodging and transportation from St. Paul up the Minnesota River to virgin land in his
claim area in return for them helping to propel his barge. It purportedly would take three
long days of hard poling work against the current to reach Jorgenson‟s claim.
In Feb. 1854 former Minnestoa Territorial Alexander Ramsey and Levi Griffin visited
Jorgenson‟s claim and decided to purchase the 415 acre tract on behalf of the investors of
the Carver Land Company which consisted of Ramsey, Griffin, Charles D. Gilfillain,
Joseph E. Fullerton, Joseph W. Hartwell, James K. Humphrey, and Matthew Groff. This
land purchase later became the town of Carver. In Oct. 1854 Levi Griffin and his wife
took up residence in Jorgenson‟s claim building while Griffin built a general store with a
residence above. Levi Griffin later donated Jorgenson‟s shanty to the community, which
was then used as the first private school building in Carver County, the first designated
public shool building in Carver County, and the first schoolhouse for Minnesota School
District #1. Evidence is strong that Jorgenson‟s old building survives, in whole or in part,
in the Torrey Stable located at the rear of 201 Fourth Street East in Carver, the parcel of
land to which it was moved around 1858-1860.
Axel Jorgenson left Carver, but remained in Carver County for a time. At a meeting of
the Carver County Board of Commissioners on March 3, 1856 the recently created
Carver County in the Minnesota Territory was divided into 5 election precincts and 3
assessment precincts. Axel Jorgenson was made one of the first 3 assessors of Carver
County, being chosen for the 3rd precinct, which comprised San Francisco Township,
which was then serving as the Carver County seat of government. By Dec. 1863 Axel
Jorgenson planned on moving to Shakopee in Scott County, Minnesota to take up
business doing clock and watchmaker repair work. In the Minnesota Gazatteer and
Business Directory for 1865 Axel Jorgenson was advertised as a watchmaker and jeweler
on Holmes Street in Shakopee, Minnesota.
Sometime between 1865 and 1870 Axel Jorgenson married Ellen Marie, last name not
known, an immigrant from Vadsø in Finnmark County in northern Norway, who was
born about 1840 and who arrived in America in 1865. The couple lived in Shakopee for
the first years of their marriage. The 1870 United States Census for Shakopee in Scott
County, Minnesota mentions that Axel Jorgenson was a watchmaker and legal citizen of
the United States with $2730 in real estate worth and $600 in personal property value, a
tidy sum for the period. He is listed in 1870 as being married to Ellen M. Jorgenson, age
30, who is described as a housekeeper and not yet a legal citizen. Both are listed as born
in Norway and having no children or others listed as living in household. In May 1871
Axel Jorgenson had lumber on the ground in Shakopee in preparation for building a onestory
building for his jewelry and silversmith business.