John C Fremont

John C Fremont (known as the “pathfinder”) was an early explorer, who, in 1838 accompanied Nicollet, a French geologist to western Minnesota and eastern Dakota

Early Fremont History

Formation of Fremont twp in 1873 when Moody County was organized. (The year of the massive German-Russian immigration, Advent of Railroads in South Dakota). Fremont history is tightly weaved into that of Medary, which became the county seat of Midway County in 1857—so before Moody County, we were probably part of Midway or Minnehaha County. The population of Fremont twp in 1900 was 400—do you think our present population is more or less than this?

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History of Fremont Twp

Fremont’s Past

Townshipping
The present system of Governmental Land Surveys was adopted by Congress on the 7th of May 1785. It has been in use ever since and is the legal method of describing and dividing lands. It is called the “Rectangular System,” that is, all its distances and bearings are measured from two lines which are at right angles to either other, viz +. These two lines, from which the measurements are made, are the Principal Meridians, which run North and South, and the Base Lines which run East and West. These Principal Meridians are established with great accuracy . . . In the Governmental Surveys Township Lines are the first to be run, and a Township corner is established every six miles and marked. This is called “Townshipping”. After the Township Corners have been carefully located, the Section and Quarter Section Corners are established. Each Township is six miles square and contains 23,040 acres, or 36 square miles, as near as it is possible to make them . . . Each Township, unless it is one of the exceptional cases . . . is divided into 36 squares, which are called Sections. These Sections are intended to be one mile, or 320 rods, square and contain 640 acres of land.
Civil/Congressional Townships (taken from Chapter XIV The Township pp 292-303 of an old Civics book, Civil Government of the United States and South Dakota by Frank L. Ransom, published 1917): “Congressional refers to what was described above, a tract of territory six miles square, surveyed and numbered so that no two pieces of property within the United States can have the same description… The second use [Civil]…is as a name for an organization of people within a certain district…for the purpose of local self-government and the prosecution of local public works. The Civil Township: … When organized the civil township is both a body politic and body corporate and may, therefore, exercise the functions of government and business. The powers of the township are to care for matters of local interest, such as the construction and repair of roads, establishing signboards, the impounding of stray stock, the preparation of fireguards, the destruction of noxious weeds, the purchase of a site for and construction of a town hall, and other duties which will appear as we proceed.
Town Meeting. Every qualified voter of the civil township has a right to discuss and vote upon matters of interest to the township… The township and school district are the only public corporations in our national government scheme which are pure democracies. In these all the voters may meet and discuss the things which are to be done. To determine the things which are to be accomplished in other civil organizations, delegates or officers are selected to meet and discuss what should be done and to provide for its accomplishment. Not so here. The voters all meet and all may vote.”
In past years (as recent as 1957—from the 1957 Moody County Atlas), the township officers included an Assessor, a Justice of the Peace and a Constable. Interesting to note that past statutory powers of the township board included appropriating money for the poor. Also that “the business of the township not performed by the voters at the town meeting devolves upon this board…”
...to be continued

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