On This Date in Minnesota History: December 11

December 11, 1858 – Born on this date in Oak Grove Township, Anoka County, Henry Gilbert Leathers “was one of the first white children to be born in that township. He lived the pioneer days of the county, remembered the Indian outbreak, of the women being sent hurriedly to Fort Snelling for protection [from] the Indians coming down the Rum River. He

attended school in the county school and his high school in Anoka and attended Carleton College [where he] graduated as a pharmacist. In 1882 he first opened a general store selling everything from soup to blasting powder and later cars. This store was on the west side of the river and south of the bridge (the garage for the cars is still there today as the

Bridge Street Market).”

Leathers’ beautiful Victorian style home in St. Francis was named to the National Register of Historic Places on December 26, 1979.

Steinke, Ray; “History of St. Francis, Anoka County, Minnesota”; St. Francis Area Chamber of Commerce; 2005.

Leathers’ Home in St. Francis, Minn.
Photos taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain Dec. 11, 2013,
as long as acknowledgement included.