As the story of this township is so closely interwoven with that of the City of Ellendale that the same sources of information are largely drawn upon, mostly the recollections of old settlers and the files of the county papers, with township and school district records.

The Milwaukee Railroad came into this township in 1881, before there was any organized local government, and has aided the farmers in the up-building of their homes, as has also the Great Northern which built into Ellendale in 1887. The township to the north came very near getting the city, but by the railroad's backing down three miles the city fell into the territory of this township.

The Sunshine Highway crosses from north to south and State Highway No. 11 runs east and west across the township. With these highways and its graded township roads, Ellendale is better provided for as to traveling facilities than any other town in the county. There are now (1929) seven miles of graveled roads in the township with more to be made in the near future.

This township was the first to be completely surveyed in Dickey County, and it is said that Mr. C. H. Pryor of the Milwaukee hired this surveyed at his own expense. The land was taken up earlier than any other, and has always been sought after for homes on account of being close to school, church and market. The land has been largely used for mixed or general farming, as the City of Ellendale affords a home market for farm produce.

Alonzo Griffin had emigrated from Nova Scotia, his birth place, to Boston in 1870. Some of his friends had been in the Black Hills gold rush and had come home with great stories of the vast prairies that were being developed out in Dakota. He came out to Minneapolis, where he heard of Aberdeen and a new branch that was being pushed north into a new country.  He went to Aberdeen and he and four other men secured a hand car and pumped it to the end of the line three miles north of where Ellendale is now located. They expected to find a town, but there was none, so Mr. Griffin got off the hand car and walked west to look over the land. He took a pre-emption on Section 3, later locating on the north half of Section 7, where the family home was maintained for many years. It was on March 27, 1882 that he landed in this region.

He built a shell of a frame house on his pre-emption in the summer of 1882 and his family came out on the 6^th of August. When the family reached Ellendale they all got into the farm wagon and Mr. Griffin took them out with a yoke of oxen. That first winter in the shell of a house was a cold one for there was no plaster and only a cook stove for heat. As they had to establish a residence on the homestead they were moving out on April 30^th from the pre-emption. They had to get the fire out of the stove so they could move it. One of the children took the hot ashes outside and the wind whipped a spark into some hay which set the house on fire. It burned and nearly everything they owned in the way of household goods went with it. Some wheat was stored in it which they were able to save as it was sacked and could be dumped outside. They tried to save the family organ which they had brought out from Boston, but it was too late. The neighbors were very kind and helped them out; one brought a ham, another a jar of butter and others provided clothes so they were able to get along.  Mr. Griffin had built a house in town, 12 by 14 with a car roof, in the winter of 1882-83. When the snow came he dragged it out to the homestead and it was into this they were moving when the fire destroyed the other house on the pre-emption.

The children were too small to help much with the work, but a school was held in the south part of the township, with Miss Owen as the first teacher.   Miss Winship was one of the earliest teachers.  Mr. Griffin did some freighting business from Grand Rapids in the winter of 1882-83, and then tried a crop in 1883. Albert Meadows, his hired man, was an expert seed sower for he could sow grain with both hands. He was in great demand as he could sow very fast and evenly. He had a sack with a hoop in the top to open it. It held about a bushel and was carried suspended from his neck.

The Griffins had three bad fires after they located in Dakota. The first was when the house on the pre-emption burned, April 30^th, 1883; the second on the property in Ellendale, and again when the house burned out on the road west of Ellendale where Ralph Griffin now lives.

There were three of the Saunders brothers who came to this region in 1882. Steve Saunders, Joe Kilby and L. H. Hull had come by way of Fargo to Jamestown on the train, thence down to Grand Rapids by stage, from which place they walked to Ellendale. They had come down to get land, expecting to take squatters' rights until it was open to settlement.  After the land was located they went back to the vicinity of Fargo to work until the next spring. Ed. M. Saunders came out in the spring of 1883, and the group put in the summer improving their places. That spring they were able to rile on their land but during the summer Mr. Hull sold his relinquishment to Ed Saunders and after that worked in Ellendale. Chas.  Saunders came out in August, 1884. He was not able to get a claim but bought a relinquishment nearby and filed on it. They were located three and one half miles southwest of Ellendale. 

Charles Saunders and Mr. Hull were among the early stage drivers.  Steve Saunders was elected County Auditor and left the farm on the flats.  He built the first creamery in Ellendale, and was postmaster of that city at the time of his death. Charles and Ed. Saunders moved out to the hills, in Albertha township, in 1895, and were out there in the winter of the big blizzards of 1896-97. Their homes have been out there except that both families moved into Ellendale at intervals to gain school privileges for their children.

Alexander Wright came from Scotland. He had a cousin who owned land north of Ellendale, and it was probably through him that Mr. Wright got the notion of coming to Dakota. He secured land seven miles northwest of Ellendale and brought his large family out to the new country where there was plenty of room for everybody to work. Mrs. Chas. Saunders, who came after the family was located, and Mrs. Shimmin were two of the daughters, Alex Wright Junior, one of the sons, was with the Dickey County Leader at Ellendale for some time and for many years was publisher of the Oakes Times at Oakes, where he is now (1929) postmaster. His brother, Robert Wright, and family, also reside in Dickey County near Forbes. 

Nels Bjornstad came to Bismarck in 1882 with the expectation of looking for land in the Mouse River country. Not liking the looks of that country he came back to Jamestown but was unable to secure hotel room, consequently could not get out of his frozen clothes and was ill for several days. When he was able to get around he caught a ride to Grand Rapids, and from there he and Henry Oberman walked to Keystone, where Oberman found some land. Mr. Bjornstad came on to Ellendale, where he helped settlers find land and erect their shanties. Mr. Bjornstad and N. T. Holte bought out a furniture store, in spite of the fact that they had very little money. The store flourished and the business then started has continued ever since, although Mr. Bjornstad sold out his part many years ago, and has been engaged in other business, in later years farming southeast of Ellendale.

Among the many fine farms of the county that of A. W. McDonald on Section 17 is an example of excellent management. The owner came from Ontario, Canada, in 1884, and has made this farm one of the best producers, as well as a real home. He raised a family of three children and amassed a competence.

In April, 1882, John J. Scott loaded an emigrant car at Lyle, Minnesota, and came to Ellendale, Dakota Territory, his being the first emigrant car unloaded in Dickey County. The horses and cows were got out by the piling up of railroad ties, there being no stock-yard or chutes, in fact there was no agent or depot as yet.   Mr. Scott "squatted" on the northwest quarter of Section 21, Township 129, Range 63, which he homesteaded when the land came into market. He returned to Lyle, and the next spring, in 1883, he moved his family to this territory. There were four children; Charles E., James, Margaret, who afterwards married Will Arnold, and Mamie, who became Mrs. Boyd. Two brothers of Mr. John Scott came to Dakota afterward. William and J. T. Scott, the father of Bruce Scott and Mrs. Henry Oberman, who settled near Monango. Charles Scott married Miss Mary Pehl, and they are now (1929) living on Fourth Street in Ellendale.

Andrew Pehl came out in May, 1883, and homesteaded the southeast quarter of Section 30,-129-63. His son, Ed. Pehl now lives on the home farm.  The family of seven children grew up and four of them are among the leading citizens of the county; Hannah (Mrs. Ed McShane), Sophia (Mrs. A. W.  McDonald), Mary (Mrs. C. E. Scott), and Ed, who is one of the most extensive farmers and stock raisers in this section of the state. Will Pehl is proprietor of a large farm at Terry, Montana, while Andrew is in business at Seattle, Washington.

Patrick McShane came out from Wisconsin Falls in 1882, about the 1^st of May. He and Jim McGlynn shipped out several cars of oxen from there to be used in their places in Dickey County. McGlynn started a little lumber yard in Ellendale, and it is probable that he brought part of his original supply in the cars that came with them. They turned the stock out on the prairie when they got unloaded, and put up a shed along the track to stay in till they could locate on their own land. They had looked over land east of Ellendale, but thought it seemed too low and might flood in wet weather so they located to the southwest, two miles from the Elm River.  In the fall of 1883 they went back to Wisconsin again and left a Mr. Lemke, who had come up with them, in charge of the stock. A year or two later Mr. Lemke took up a claim of his own and lived on it for many years. In the spring of 1884 both McGlynn and McShane brought out their families.  They also shipped out three cars of goods including some horses, household goods, machinery and supplies. Ed McShane rode one of these cars and his two brothers were with him most of the time. The father rode on the passenger train to Minneapolis and stopped there till they came along to see that they were all right.

The day after arrival in Ellendale they unloaded the cars on the ground and set about hauling their property out to the claims, but the families stayed in town for a while. As soon as the cars were unloaded Ed was put to work till mid summer helping dig a cellar for a house and a hole for a basement barn; then when that was done he hired out to a neighbor to shock grain at 313.00 a month till after harvest. The father put up a real house and a barn that summer, doing the work himself. Both families wintered out on the claims that year. There was nothing to do but care for what little stock they had and amuse themselves with cards or other little parties. 

There were no fences to mark the roads, and it was quite a trip to go to Ellendale, so they did not go very often. The home was there till about 1909. In 1900 Ed married and lived on a rented farm at Orient, then moved back to Dickey County to his present location, where he has built up a splendid farm home.

Jim Johnson landed in Frederick on March 23^rd, 1883, and went out to Guelph to take up land. Mr. Johnson and a man named Axtell had come out together from Kalamazoo, Michigan. They brought two cars of emigrant stuff, and found traffic on the railroad so great that they ran into a real blockade and were nine days on the road. To locate their land they started at the Brown County line, measured out with a tape line, and made an allowance of twenty rods for variation when the land was surveyed.  They unloaded the two cars at Frederick and drove across to Section 35 in Ada Township. Jim took a tree claim and a pre-emption but soon converted the tree claim into a homestead. He had an experience in 1884 that shows the big hearts of the old timers. He had thirty acres of ground pre-pared for which he had no seed. His man asked him what he was going to do with it. Jim answered, "Nothing, I haven't anything to get seed with." The fellow said, "I have thirty dollars that isn't working, take it and get some seed and put it in." Mr. Johnson did, went to Ellendale and bought some Scotch fife wheat, took it out to his place sowed it by hand and covered it by scratching it over with a spring tooth harrow on which he had hitched a team of five hundred pound ponies. He got 500 bushels of fine wheat so was able to return the thirty dollars and did not have to pay usury. He stayed on the homestead twelve years, then moved into Ellendale where he resided for seven years and then located on a farm west of town. 

Charlie Ward, as he was best known, was an early comer whose home was on the southeast of 21. He lived in Ellendale however, most of the time.  His daughter, Mrs. Aaron Edgerly has lived in the township or the city ever since coming to the township.

H. H. Sperry was born at Eaton Rapids, Michigan, in 1843, his ancestors coming from Oneida, New York. He was a contractor and builder by trade, and came to Dakota Territory in 1882, settling on the southeast quarter of Section 25, -129-63. He is now living in Aberdeen, South Dakota. His son Robert Sperry married Miss Ruth Tousley of Ellendale. 

Ellendale Township took its name from the city that was located within its borders and for the first organization the township and what is now the city were considered a unit. The people of the new settlement wanted better opportunity to organize and support a school, so under the territorial laws the northeast corner of the township, including Sections 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 was formed into a school district on its own account. Soon after this the other three quarters of the territory of the township was organized as a district for school purposes. When the City of Ellendale organized a special district within its own territory it included only that part of the old district that was within the city limits. This left an outer zone of land around the city that was a duly constituted school district but without a school house or organized school. Since that time there have been three school districts within the township; the Ellendale Special, Ellendale School District No. 15 (what was left around the outside of the city), and Dickey School District No. 16 which was three quarters of the township, and which maintained three rural schools. Children living in Ellendale School District No. 15 attend the Ellendale City Schools by arrangement between the school boards.

In 1917 Ellendale School District No. 15 made an agreement with the State Normal and Industrial School to send its school children to a new Demonstration Rural School on the campus of the state school. As the school house in the southeast part of Dickey District was considered out of condition to house the children there, that School District also entered into a contract to send the children from that region to the Demonstration Rural School. This agreement was extended over two years and the Demonstration School functioned as a first class rural school. The other part of the district not sending to the Demonstration School wanted better school facilities, so steps were taken to consolidate the west half of the town-ship, but that plan was changed to make the consolidation include the entire district, and although there was considerable rivalry between the parts of the district the proposition carried by a good majority in a popular vote. The district then put up a very substantial and commodious building with rooms for two teachers, and by so doing have not only a first class school but also a community center for their club meetings and other community matters. The tenant farmers in Ellendale School District No. 15 moved away with their families, so the remaining school children were cared for in the Ellendale City Schools.

Representatives from the United States Department of Agriculture had been in Ellendale in the winter of 1916-1917 to look up the location of an aero logical observation station. There was then only one station of this kind in the United States, that located near Omaha, Nebraska. On July 12, 1917, Mr. B. J. Sperry came up from Nebraska to complete the arrangements.  He leased the southeast forty acres of the southeast quarter of Section 12 (129-63) from Dr. M. F. Merchant for this purpose. Dr. Merchant put up a two story building 26 by 48 feet for offices and instrument room. A building for housing the kites and balloons, a steel tower to carry some of the instruments, and a revolving turret for the reel and instruments were erected. That fall a crew of four men put the station into operation. The station has not only the instruments ordinarily used in a weather observatory, but in addition has kites and balloons to test the upper atmosphere. A kite carrying a self-recording instrument which keeps a continuous record of the temperature, barometric pressure, humidity of the air and velocity of the wind is put up first, then other kites to carry the cable follow as needed.  A cable length of 22,000 meters has been used for these flights. The balloons test the atmospheric pressure by being set to burst at certain pressure, and are observed for height when this occurs. Observations are conducted daily regardless of the weather and much valuable data is obtained in this way.  There are now (1929) four other such stations in the United States.

In recent years there have been some excellent new farm homes established near Ellendale. P. J. Rasmussen from Albion township, when ready to retire from his large farm, bought ten acres one-fourth mile east of town and built a nice home with grounds which form a beauty spot of the en-tire region. A carpenter, John B. Millard, built for himself and family a large house south of town, but unfortunately this has changed owners several times and has not been kept up well. Mr. R. J. Mueller came over from Cogswell and bought the northwest eighty of Section 1 in 1916 and has built up a home that stands as an example of what can be done in a few years in building a home from the raw prairie. Tom Fleming has put in a set of excellent farm buildings and built up a pretty farm home on the north of Section 9 thus making another attractive place from raw pasture land in a few years. Frank Learner put up a new and modern set of buildings on the southeast corner of his farm on the northeast quarter of Section 10. A. C. Strand established a new farmstead by placing buildings and modern improvements near the northwest corner of the southwest quarter of Section 11, and is rapidly making it a place of beauty by planting a grove for a windbreak and ornamental trees on the front lawn, showing what a few years of good care can accomplish. Joe Lantz, in 1927-28 built a thoroughly modern home on a parcel of land adjoining the Rasmussen place on the west and will make another beauty spot there.   Among the newer farmers of Ellendale township should be mentioned Clark Pierce, Wm. Rietz, J. P.  Shoemaker, Otto Durheim and Robert Hall.

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