[Image: Cropped map of 1871–1914 Europe; Text: Irish-Danish-German Heritage]

(Europe, 1871–1914)

Goodhue County

Irish–Danish–German Heritage

Introduction | Belvidere | Red Wing | Reference list

Introduction

Goodhue county lies in southeast Minnesota, United States. Its county seat is Red Wing.

Relevant families:

Map of Minnesota Highlighting Goodhue County
[Image: Map of Minnesota]

Goodhue County, State of Minnesota. Named for Thomas [sic; James] M. Goodhue, the first journalist of the Territory and who in 1849 founded “The Pioneer” newspaper of St. Paul.
County seat, Red Wing. Named for the Indian chief, “Red Wing.”

Source: Excerpted from Anonymous 1908, 17; brackets added, bold in the original.

Goodhue County

This county, established March 5, 1853, was named in honor of James Madison Goodhue, who was the first printer and editor in Minnesota, beginning the issue of the Minnesota Pioneer on April 28, 1849. He was born in Hebron, N. H., March 31, 1810, and died in St. Paul, August 27, 1852.

Source: Excerpted from Upham 1920, 205.

Population of Goodhue county, the state of Minnesota, and the United States
YearGoodhue countyMinnesotaUnited States

Sources: United States Census Bureau data from:
1790——3,929,214
1800——5,308,483
1810——7,239,881
1820——9,638,453
1830——12,860,702
1840——17,063,353
1850—6,07723,191,876
18608,977172,02331,443,321
187022,618439,70638,558,371
188029,651780,77350,189,209
189028,8061,310,28362,979,766
190031,1371,751,39476,212,168
191031,6372,075,70892,228,496
192030,7992,387,125106,021,537
193031,3172,563,953123,202,624
194031,5642,792,300132,164,569
195032,1182,982,483151,325,798
196033,0353,413,864179,323,175
197034,7633,804,971203,211,926
198038,7494,075,970226,545,805
199040,6904,375,099248,709,873
200044,1274,919,479281,421,906
201046,1835,303,925308,745,538

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Belvidere

Relevant individual: Lillian May (Kempf) Olsen

Interactive map of Belvidere township, Goodhue county, Minnesota, United States

Belvidere, settled in the spring of 1855, organized May 11, 1858, was at first called York, and later Elmira, the present name being adopted December 28, 1858. Illinois has a city of this name, which also is borne by villages and townships in seven other states.

Source: Excerpted from Upham 1920, 206.

Note: According to Anonymous, the Belvidere in Illinois (Boone county)

was named by Samuel P. Doty, the first white settler, who claimed that he named it at the suggestion of Mark Beaubien, an early French settler of Chicago, who fancied the country around it resembled Belvidere [sic] near Weimar in Saxe-Gotha, Germany. (1908, 43)

Belvedere Palace (Schloss Belvedere) is southeast of the city of Weimar, now in the state of Thuringia, Germany.

Alternately, Gannett claimed Belvidere, Illinois, was

named by one of the founders for his native place in Canada. (1905, 43)

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Red Wing

Relevant individuals:

Red Wing, Minnesota
[Image: Downtown with low brick and other buildings along street]
Map of Minnesota highlighting Red Wing within Goodhue county
[Image: Map of Minnesota]
Interactive map of Red Wing, Goodhue county, Minnesota, United States

Red Wing, the location of a mission to the Sioux in 1837 by two Swiss missionaries, Samuel Denton and Daniel Gavin, was first settled for farming and Indian trading in 1850–52; was chosen to be the county seat in 1853; was incorporated as a city March 4, 1857; and received new municipal charters on March 3, 1864, and February 21, 1887.

[…]

Colonel William Colvill, in a letter to Prof. N. H. Winchell, wrote (Geology of Minnesota, Final Report, vol. II, 1888, page 60): “Red Wing’s titular name was Wacouta—‘the shooter.’ This was always the head chief’s title,—the same as that of the chief who captured Hennepin. He had the name of Red Wing, Koo-poo-hoo-sha [Khupahu, wing, sha, red], from the swan’s wing, dyed scarlet, which he carried.”

Source: Excerpted from Upham 1920, 207–208; brackets in the original.

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Reference list

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