The Legend of Elysian
Reprinted from The Elysian Enterprise ~ Courtesy of the Elysian Museum archives

What's in a name? People of Elysian, do you know the history surrounding the name of your fine community? Well, people of southern Minnesota, come and listen to this story of how the Village of Elysian got its unique and unusual name.

The story starts with the settlement of this area, back in the middle of the nineteenth century. At that time, most of the land which now makes up Elysian Township was owned by four pioneer farmers named M. Logan, George Johnson, Edward Morsching, and Mr. Godfrey. People settled here from Ohio, Maine, New York, Indiana, Pennsylvania, England, and Prussia. They found this area an ideal place to live, so the settlers bought land, built up farms, and raised families.

The greatest influx of settlers came between 1855 and 1858, and what is now known as the Village of Elysian became the meeting place for the people of the surrounding farms. It came to be that one Francis G. Conway, a shrewd horse thief and con man, was instrumental in the forming of the village and township.

And so it was, in 1857, the Village of Logan was platted. The name Logan was chosen because the proposed village would rest on his property. Conway took care of the legal aspects connected with the platting of the village and township and for his work was appointed the first postmaster of the village in 1859. He left his past behind and became an honest, influential, intelligent member of the community.

The calm, quiet life of the community was soon disrupted by the war that disrupted the nation. The men of the community joined the Union forces to fight in a war far from the peace, quiet, and solitude of their homes. Many did not return.

For four years the war raged on, and then it was over. History records that few men from this community returned home. Among them were John Chandwick, a soldier in a Minnesota regiment in the Civil War; Ephraim Davis, who served in the south during the war and later fought Indians in Minnesota; Frank M. Long, a soldier; Asa B. Swain, a captain in the Union Army. They returned to their farms and families and for nineteen years kept the memories of their dead comrades alive within themselves.

During these years, the Village of Logan grew slowly and by 1882, it had a post office, two general stores, three hotels, two blacksmith shops, a steam sawmill, two shoe shops and a carpet weaver.

The townspeople felt the day was coming shortly when they could officially incorporate into a village, and by the end of 1883, Logan was about to become a village. The four Civil War veterans met together to talk about the possibility of selecting another name for the town, a name that would possibly commemorate those friends and relatives who fought and died so bravely in the war. And so the four went as a group to the next townsmeeting with Asa Swain as their spokesman.

"Fellow townspeople, we are about to incorporate our fine community into a village," said Asa, as he addressed the meeting. "We four would like to suggest that we choose a name for our village that would be a tribute to our friends and relatives who fought and died so valiantly in the war twenty short years ago."

"Mr. Logan was a fine individual and very instrumental in the forming of this community. But so many towns are named after people or lakes. The names have little meaning. We have the opportunity to name a town only once, and we four feel that our town's name should be something unique, something that will have meaning in years to come, something that will remind us of our dead loved ones. Do you agree?"

The townspeople agreed that they needed to select a name with meaning, but what could they choose? Godstown, Havensville, and Warsnone were suggested but no one could agree on any of them.

Suddenly, from the back of the room, wise old Frank Conway spoke up.

"How about naming our town Elysian?", suggested the old man.

"What?", the befuddled people asked, for you see, the name was unfamiliar to them.

"Elysian," continued Conway. "In ancient Greece mythology, Elysian Fields was the place where the blessed, good and heroic people went when they died. It was a quiet, blissful, delightful place with gently rolling fields and hills. A place where happiness prevails. Is our setting here not much the same? Are we happy here? By naming our town Elysian, we would be reminded daily in our town's name that our dead loved ones still live here...in our memories."

The name was unanimously adopted, and the Village of Elysian was incorporated in January of 1884.

Turn of the century postcard images courtesy of the Elysian Museum archives.

The Legend of Elysian story can be found in the "Stepping Stones" book,

a local history collection published by the Le Sueur County Historical Society in 1976.

Step back in time in our vintage photo gallery featuring Elysian's early days.