We just got a press release from the State Sesquicentennial commission, publicizing the celebration of 155 years of Blue Earth County. It all looks pretty wholesome, so we're wondering if there will be a mention of what a folktale about the building we heard as a kid.
There's a statute of Lady Justice perched atop the courthouse tower, scales held high above the Minnesota River Valley. At least, the scales are there now; when we were growing up, her delicate hand was empty, seeming almost to be shaking her fist at the citizenry.
The local explanation for that empty-handedness was the Ledbetter murder trial. Mr. Holland Ledbetter--so the story we heard went--was an old rich English guy who'd built the old big brick house on the Kasota Prairies and married a lively and comely lass. She soon grew bored with the semi-invalid and started messing with the hired man, a guy named Baumgardner.
Our grandmother, who was in her early teens at the time of the murder and 1909 trial, said that the nieghbors and others got wind of the affair and started watching the Ledbetter place pretty close, though nobody told Mr. Ledbetter what they'd seen, since people minded their own business after a fashion.
When Mr. Ledbetter stopped making public appearances, inquiries were made but nothing too incriminating was discovered . The wife and hired man got nervous, Grandma said, and fear of detection made them foolishly dig the late husband's corpse out of the manure pile where they'd stashed it. The watchful neighbors let authorities know the body's location in a fresh dung heap. (That's story we heard about early 20th Century CSI out on the Kasota Prairies; we can't say that we've fact checked the local legend).
The trial was the most notorious in BEC for many years. Mr. Baumgardner received a stiff sentence (his family was so ashamed they changed their name to Gardner, we were told) but Mrs. Ledbetter was acquitted.
At that moment, Lady Justice was so appalled, she dropped her scales atop the building, and no attempt to replace them worked. Our own great-grandfather, Abraham Lincoln Daby, personally climbed to the top and balanced a pair in her hand. Gone in a day or two.
By the time the late 1950s and 1960s rolled around, people had stopped trying to fix the problem and instead offered this cautionary local legend. Sometime after we went off to college, some smarty-pants figured out that a metal bar inserted into the statue and fixed to the scales would hold them up for eternity.
It worked, and we can say with certainty that Justice is rigged in Blue Earth County.
Yep, the Blue Earth County courthouse is pretty groovy. Visitors to Tim Walz's congressional web site can see sun-drenched image (right) of it nestled amid the sylvan hills. Here's the State Sesquicentennial commission release:
Blue Earth County will host courthouse tours, a number of family activities and a concert on the courthouse lawn to commemorate its 155th anniversary along with 150 years of Minnesota Statehood. The event is scheduled for Tuesday June 24, 2008 at the Blue Earth County Courthouse located at 204 S. 5th Street in Mankato.
Tours of the 120-year old courthouse will take place from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. and will depart from the first floor, 5th street entrance every half hour. The last tour will leave at 6 p.m. Signs will be posted. Blue Earth County Historical Society volunteers dressed in period costumes will serve as guides.
Beginning at 6 p.m. a number of activities, informational displays and food vendors will be set-up on the lawn and on the West courthouse parking lot. Families can enjoy free face painting provided by Blue Earth County 4-H, displays and interactive activities from Blue Earth County Public Health and have the opportunity to purchase commemorative Blue Earth County coins and Minnesota's Statehood Sesquicentennial collectables.
Food vendors including Culvers, Matt's Catering and Angie's Kettle Corn will also have food available starting at 6 p.m. Culvers will have ice cream treats for sale, Angie's Kettle Corn will have a live kettle corn pop and Matt's Catering will provide a variety of carnival favorites such as cheese curds, corn dogs and burgers.
The Blue Earth County Historical Society (BECHS) will have historical displays and items for sale both inside the courthouse during the tours and outside during the evening festivities. Gordon Herbst, author of Minneinneopa: 150 Year History of Minneopa State Park will sign copies of his book at 6 p.m. at the BECHS table on the courthouse lawn. BECHS will also have Victorian photo cut-outs available for fun photos, an old fire truck on display and other history themed activities on the courthouse lawn.
Historical rein actors will portray a variety of early settlers from Blue Earth County's past including; Mrs. Rablin (the first white woman in Blue Earth County), Judge Loren Cray, Margaret Rathbun Funk (daughter of a mail carrier who perished in a winter storm), Morton Wilkinson (US Senator during Civil & US Dakota Wars), Martha Thorne (traveled by prairie schooner to Lake Crystal) and Captain Keysor (local Civil War Veteran). The rein actors will mingle with the crowd from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. before the concert begins.
At 7:15 p.m. there will be a short opening program followed by a 7:30 performance by director Ryan Juutilainen and the Mankato Area Community Band. This special Concert on the Courthouse Lawn will carry a unique-themed performance including parts from historical rein actors to pay tribute to our county and state's rich history.
Guests are invited to bring lawn chairs and blankets. Ample nearby parking will be available at the Courthouse and Nichols Building. Handicap parking will also be available. Evening activities and the concert will be cancelled if it rains.
This event was made possible in part thanks to a micro-grant from the Minnesota Sesquicentennial Commission.
Our roots in BEC go back to territorial days; on our father's side, we're descended from the Otts, whose log cabin now stands in Sibley Park. It's the oldest extant building in the county constructed by a white person, or so the story we heard goes.
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