Hector township embraces Congressional township 115, range 32. It is bounded on the north by Brookfield township, on the east by Preston Lake township, on the south by Martinsburg township, and the west by Melville township. The C., M. & St. P. crosses it in the southern part and the village of Hector is within its borders.

The first settler in Hector township was John E. Lewis, who secured land in section 2 in 1872. The next settlers came in the spring of 1873. They were W. H. Graham, J. J. Clark and Allen Parks, and they likewise settled on section 2. About this time a Mrs. Perry located on section 12. A little later in the year came John Baker. He also settled in section 2. Julia Graham and G. W. Calwell settled in section 4. T. S. Benson and F. U. Baker settled in section 10. O. H. Baker settled in section 14.

During this and the two following years quite a few settlers came in. George W. Leasman, now proprietor of the Twin Hill and Willomine farms, gives some of their names as follows: Samuel Lightly, section 6; James Tarbert, section 6; John W. Kaniff, section 8; A. W. Bemis, section 10; _____ Redman, section 12; David W. Toplif, section 14; Case Rail, section 18; Kjel Olson, section 18; Samuel Hatton, section 18; Frank A. Green, section 20; Frank Green, section 20; Albert Green, section 20; Rudolph Green, section 20; August Mahn, section 20; Charles H. Leasman, section 20; M. B. Foster, section 26; Riley Foster, section 26; Peter Prelwitz, section 26; August Prelwitz, section 28; J. B. Perkins, section 30; John Perkins, section 30; Frank Marsh, section 30; J. C. Edson, section 34; Reuben Nightingale, section 8. George W. Leasman himself settled in section 22 in 1874. To this list might be added James G. Torbert and Charles A. Hamisch.

Among the men who have lived for many years in Hector may be mentioned E. L. Colby, W. E. Kemp, Charles Wenz, Thomas Toole and Henry Mihm. Among the early settlers whose names have been furnished by these gentlemen are John H. Blomendale, T. F. Miller, Fred Myres, Philip Kirchner, William Wolff, Dar. Fink, George Raitz, Gust. Wolft, William Ebert, John Dolan, P. O'Donnel, William Dalton, and Gustaf Schmalz.

John Baker was the first postmaster. He arrived July 1, 1873, with his wife and their four children, O. H., F. U., S. D. and Tsis R. Baker. He was appointed postmaster and kept the office at his home in section 2. The mail route from Glencoe to Beaver Falls served this office. When Hector village was started, Mr. Baker resigned, and W. D Griffith became postmaster in the new village.

Hector township was created April 7, 1874 as Milford, July 29, 1874 the name was changed to Hector, a town in New York, from which many of the settlers had come. The reason for the change was that another town in the state had already been named Milford. The first town meeting was held June 30, 1874, at the home of James Cummings, and the following officers were elected: Supervisors, W. H. Graham (chairman), J. N. Chase and G. W. Calwell; clerk, J. J. Clark; assessor, William Perkins; treasurer, James Cummings; justices, John Baker and J. B. Perkins; constables, N. C. Rale and Allen Parks. The present officers are: Supervisors, W. E. Kemp (chairman), G. C. Henke, A. E. Jung; clerk, C. M. Vance; treasurer, P. E. Poole; justices of the peace, C. H. Reuber and G. W. Leasman; constable, Charles F. Torbert; assessor, George Torbert. The town hall, a 16 by 32, one-story structure of concrete blocks, was erected in the village of Hector in 1914.

The first real estate assessment of Hector township, 115-32, then a part of Preston Lake, was made in 1872. Those assessed were: John E. Lewis, section 2. In 1876, there were added to this list: I. Kourse, section 2; Spencer H. Stearns, section 2; Morris B. Foster, section 26; J. B. Perkins, section 30; James Borden, section 2. (This piece was transferred to William F. Furlong.) In 1878, there were added to this list: Augustus Brandt, section 30; J. S. Rowley, section 32; James C. Edson, section 34. By 1880, quite a number had acquired property in Hector township. Those assessed that year were: Spencer H. Steams, section 2; Wm. Furlong, section 2; John Baker, section 2; S. D. Baker, section 1; Wm. Kemp, section 3; Chas. E. Kemp, section 3; N. C. Little, section 4; Samuel Kline, section 4; Allen Parks, section 2; Reuben Nightingale, section 8; F. W. Baker, secion 10; Riley Foster, section 14; S. G. Rathbone, section 16; Oscar H. Baker, section 14; Mary Nedre, section 17; Gustav Wolff, section 19; J. R. Butler, section 20; J. B. Perkins, sections 19, 30; Wm. Ebert, section 21; L. C. Russell, section 24; Mons Munson, section 24; Chas. H. Seivers, section 24; Peter Prelvitz, section 26; M. B. Foster, sections 26, 35; Wm. F. Hurt, section 28; E. A. Griffith, section 28; F. T. Miller, section 29; Fred Meyers, section 29; August Brandt, section 30; Henry Memp, section 31: Dennis Navins, section 31; Patrick O'Donnell, section 31; Julian R. Rowley, section 32; J. C. Edson, sections 33, 34; N. J. Blemendahl, section 34; P. Foster, section 35; Catherine Smith, section 36; M. Hally, section 36; Daniel Connelly, section 36.

The first personal property assessment in Hector township, 115-32, was made in I876. Those assessed were: James Borden, O. H. Baker, T. S. Benson, F. W. Baker, John Baker, Geo. Brown, H. A. Bloomingdale, James Cummings, Lawrence Doyle, J. C. Edson, Riley Foster, W. H. Graham, Albert Greene, Frank Greene, E. E. Greene, Julia Graham, G. R. Hall, C. T. Hall, Joseph Harris, J. C. Halten, S. W. Halten, S. S. Kline, George Leasman, Charles Leasman, H. McDowell, K. Oleson, Peter Prelvitz, Allen Parks, J, B. Perkins, W.S. Perkins, J. E. Perkins, August Prelvitz, W. C. Russell, N. C. Rale, D. W. Topliff, James Torbit, A. Lee, August Mahns.

Geo. W. Leasman's Reminiscences. About the middle of May, 1872, our family, consisting of my father, brother, two sisters and myself, left Randolph, Wisconsin, and set out for the west. We traveled in prairie schooners or covered wagons, on the side of which was printed "Dakota or Bust." Headed for Bismark, N. D., we trailed along by way of Portage and La Crosse, Wisconsin, Spring Valley, Rochester, St. Paul, Minneapolis, and St. Cloud, Minnesota. At St. Cloud we camped for a day to rest our horses and to take stock of our cash, and found to our sorrow that we had but little funds and that Dakota was out of the question. Father and I decided to go south from St. Cloud and go to Glencoe, Minnesota, where we could work on the H. & D. railroad, which was being built to Glencoe, Minnesota. We arrived at Glencoe June 20, 1872. We worked on the railroad about a month. When the grading was nearly completed, father heard, late one afternoon, that the contractor was going to "pull stakes" and leave early the next morning without paying his men, so father hustled to Glencoe that evening and secured a writ of attachment on him. The next morning at daylight we received our pay. The rest of the men received nothing as the laws were that they could not serve papers out of the county, the county line being only two miles from camp. We then traded one team of horses for twenty acres of standing wheat and two cows and the privilege of living in a log cabin on the northwest shore of Lake Moon in McLeod county. The following spring we rented a farm in the town of Collins, McLeod county, Minnesota, from a homesteader by the name of David W. Toplif. In the spring of 1874, on May 29, my father, Charles H. Leasman, David W. Toplif and I, filed on claims in township 115, range 32 W, in Renville county, now the town of Hector. Father located on the northern half of section 24, Mr. Toplif on the northwestern quarter of section 14, and I on the southwestern quarter and the western half of the northwestern quarter of section 22. The first settlers came in the spring and summer of 1873. They were: W. H. Graham, James Cummings, T. S. Benson, John Baker and three sons.

June 7, 1874, I built a claim shack, six by eight feet, and commenced breaking on a tree claim. This was a very hard task as the mosquitoes were very annoying. A smudge of green hay had to be kept burning all night to keep them off. This job lasted for ten days.

During the winter of 1874 and 1875 I went to the woods around Silver Lake, about twenty-eight miles from my claim, and got logs enough to build a house 18 by 26 feet. That same winter my father and I took two loads of wheat to Minneapolis, eighty miles away, and hauled back shingles and siding enough to shingle and side the house, which was built in 1875. That fall father bought a threshing machine, and I earned enough to keep the wolf from our door.

During the grasshopper times of 1874-7 we had a hard time. The first three years left us enough for seed and bread. The fourth year resulted in no crop whatever. The grasshoppers ate the fields as bare as a traveled road. We tried to catch them in hopper dosers in coal tar, but with poor result. In October, 1875, we had a terrible prairie fire. We came near losing everything we owned. Fire breaks were of no use against the rolling fire. We lost four stacks of grain and several stacks of hay. Many of the neighbors lost grain and hay and one lost stables, grain and hay and nearly everything he had.

In January of the following winter we had a blizzard that came up very suddenly. In five minutes we could not see the stables. The morning had been very fine and mild. My mother had gone to the neighbors. Fearing she might have started for home I hitched up a team and started after her. By this time I could hardly see my team. I arrived at the neighbor's home all right, but had to face the storm going home. I could barely see the track which led me to within thirty rods of our stable. Father was in the stable waiting for my return and hallooing at the top of his voice. By following the sound of his voice I reached home safely. I do not think I could have found my way if I had not had father to halloo at intervals until he got an answer from me. We had many of these blizzards.

In 1877 I went to the harvest fields of southern Minnesota. After harvest I moved my threshing machine to Chaska, Minnesota, and earned enough to buy seed, feed and provisions to start over again. In the spring of 1878 I started for myself. I had the old threshing machine, with $450 due on it, and four three-year-old steers. I traded the steers for three head of horses with William Heckes, a horse trader, and he took a time note for the balance. I was very successful with the old threshing machine. In the fall of 1880 I bought a steam threshing outfit and did well the first year. The second year was very wet and I did not make enough to meet expenses. In 1882 I became sick and lost both the engine and the homestead, being compelled to turn them over to the engine company for notes held against me. All that I now possessed was the tree claim. These and many other hardships were experienced by me during the pioneer days of the seventies and eighties. It is forty-one years since I built my claim shack on the bleak prairie in Renville county. At that time I could stand on the top of my shack and see nothing but blue sky and green grass as far as my sight could reach. Today I have standing around my home on this bleak spot trees that measure thirty inches in diameter.