﻿MILTON ABBA& 



MINNESOTA. 



US 



miln N.E. from M»id.toi», Mid 394 ">••»• K.>^f- from London. The 

 population of the puuh in 18S1 wu S407. Tbn living ii • Tie*n((a 

 in the aRlxlMeoniy of MaidHoM mkI dioccM of CutcrburT. Hilton 

 Poorl^w Unioii oontaios 18 puuhra Knd townihipa, with an am of 

 S3,59S acre*, and a population in 1851 of ll,»9'i. 



Milton wai a place of aome importance iu the time of the Saxona. 

 It contains many good hooaea and ootti^n of rcct-nt construction, a 

 lam and bandaome ehnrob, chapab for Baptists and Independent!, 

 and National adioola. There is a good oTster-fisheij ; and the port 

 forma the point of communication with London for the district in 

 which Hilton is situated. Saturday is the market-day ; a fair is held 

 yeariy. I^pcrmaking, brick-making, tanning, and other occupations 

 are carried on. In the centre of the town is an ancient courtrhouse, 

 with the town-jail in the lower part of the building. 



MILTON ABitAS. [DoasxTSBiBE.] 



UILVEKTON. [SoaKMCTBHlBE.1 



HINAS OEUAI..S. [Braxil.] 



MINCHIKHAMITON, Olouceetershire, a market-town in the 

 parish of Minchinhampton, is situated in 51° 42' N. lat, 2" 11' W. long., 

 distant 14 miles S. by E. from Gloucester, and 98 miles W. by N. from 

 London. The nopuUtion of the parish in 1851 was 4469. The liring 

 ia a rectory in the archdeaconry of Gloucester and diocese of Glouoes- 

 tar and Bnstol. 



Minchinhampton is an irregularly-built market-town, pleasantly 

 aitoaled on a gentle dedirity. It is in the clothing district of which 

 Strood may be considered the centre. There are three market-houses, 

 two of which were erected in 1700 by Mr. P. Sheppard, with the 

 dnaipi of establishing a wool-market, but the attempt wns unsucct^ss- 

 fol. The doth manufacture is carried on along the baijks of the 

 numerona brooks and rivulets in the vicinity. The church, which is 

 orueiform, was foimded about the reign of Henry III. by the nuns of 

 Caen : it was rebuilt iu 1842. There are chapels for Wcsleyan 

 Methodists, Association Methodists, and Baptist*, a Free school, a 

 National school, and a dispensary. The market-day is Tuesday : 

 fidrs are held on Trinity Monday and October 27th. Amberley, a 

 tnot of common land on the west side of the town, is the site of a 

 nmatkable encampment, supposed to have been made by the Danes 

 daring their occupation of Cirencester in 879. The encampment 

 extends abunt three milea. 



MINCIO. [AcsTRii.; Po.] 



MINDANAO. [Pbiltppikb Iblaxdb.] 



MINDEN, the meet eartem of the three govemments into which 

 the Pmssian province of Westphalia is divided, has an area of 2024 

 square miles ; the population in 1847 was 459,888. The soil is of 

 unequal quality. There are some barren spots, but the greater part 

 ia fertile in com : hemp and flax also are generally cultivated, linen 

 and thread being the chief industrial products. The pastures are 

 good, and cattle abound. Iron, lead, and salt are the most important 

 minml products. The Weser is the principal river, and the trade on 

 Ha banks is very considrrable. The Lippe drains the southern part 

 of the government [WESTFnAMA.] 



JftncMi, the capital of the government and a strongly fortified 

 town, is sttoated 37 miles by railway W. from Hanover, 230 miles 

 from Berlin, and 161 from Cologne, in 62° 18' N. lat, 8° 53' E. long., 

 oo the left bank of the Weser, here crossed by an old bridge 600 feet 

 long. It is one of the oldest towns in Germany. The streets are 

 narrow and irregular ; the old-fashioned houses are in general built 

 of atooe or brio£ The Domplatx, or cathedral-close, is a handsome 

 square, planted with trees. Among the public buildings, the largest 

 and handsomest is the Roman Catholic cathedral, which was com- 

 plrted in 1072 ; it in built in the lower part of the ton-n, on a founda- 

 tion made with piles. Besides the gymnasium (which had 15 teachers 

 and 243 pupils in 1850) and a seminaiy for schoolmasters, there are 

 asTsral public schools, the Westphalian museum, and other useful 

 institutions. The manufactures are woollen stufi, linen, leather, 

 tobaooo, sugar, vinegar, beer, and brandy. In the vicinity there are 

 oil- and saw-milla. The population of the town exceeds 9000. The 

 Fmch were defeated near Hinden on the 1st of August, 1759, by an 

 Aaglo-Hanoverian force under Prince Ferdinand. 



PatUrbom, the capital of the old principality of Psderbom, now 

 iDdnded in this government, is an andent gloomy town with about 

 9000 hihabitanta, situated about 40 milea 8. from Minden, on the 

 Wsstphalian railroad from Hamm to Warburg, which joins the 

 Cologne-Minden line to the Thuringian railway through Cassel, Uotha, 

 ■ad Ldpsig to Dresden. The town, which ia built at the source of 

 tha Psdar, a feeder of the Lippe, is surrounded by a wall pierced with 

 ftrs latM- The cathedral ia the prindpal building ; the former uni- 

 *antty is now a Roman Catholic theological college. Paderbom gives 

 tills to a Roman Catholic bishop ; the see was foundrd in the time of 

 Chirlemsgnsb The town was a member of the Uanseatic League. 

 The Catholio gymnssium of Paderbom had 22 teachers and 606 pupils 

 in 1850. 



Btrford, 15 milea 8.W. by railway from Minden, on the Werra, a 

 Cssdsr of the Weser, is a wallsd town, and has 6000 inhabitants, who 

 Minnfi stall ■ ootton-twistt ealioo, linen, tobacco, and leather. It has 

 • '■■I* pilson, an aisenal, a gymnasium, a museum, and six churches. 



MilMd is dsseribsd in a separate article. [BiKLXntLO.] 



milbOBa [PHtUPPtH ISLAHM.] 



MINEHEAD. LSo>tEiisRBai»s.1 



MINEUVINO. flliBi, Tw«A »t] 



MINORELIA. [Geoboia.] 



MINIR), UIVER. [PonTOOAL.] 



MINNESOTA, a territory of the United States of North America, 

 lies between 48° 30' and 49° 22' N. lat, 90° 0' and 102° 8U' W. long. 

 It is bounded E. by tlie state of Wisconsin, N.E. by Lake Superior, 

 N. by British North America, W. by the territory of Nebraska, and 

 S. by the state of Iowa. The area is estimated at 141,839 square 

 miles; the population in 1850 was 6077, or 0-04 to the square mile : 

 but this does not include the native Indians living in tribes. 



The surface of this territory has generally the character of an 

 immense high ' rolling prairie land,' but there are considerable 

 exceptions. Towards the eastern side it runs into a ridge of lofty 

 hills, which traverses a large portion of it in a north-east and south- 

 west direction. From a short distance above the Falls of St. Antl\ony, 

 on the Mississippi, there extends southward a vast forest region for 

 120 miles, with a breadth ranging from 15 to 40 miles. The northern 

 and north-eastern portion of the territory is sometimes termed the 

 'region of lakes,' from the great number of lakes of various sites 

 which here lie along the upper course of the Mississippi and its 

 tributaries ; and for some distance below this region the Mississippi 

 traverses a swampy country. 



The territory is in every part abundantly watered. The Mississippi 

 rises within its boundaries, in Lake Itasca; aud belongs wholly to it 

 down to the confluence of the St.-Croix, after which to the southern 

 boundary of the territory, it belongs equally to Minnesota and Wis- 

 conoin. This part of its course is described under MjasnsiPPi River. 

 The principal tributaries which join it in this territory are the 

 St-Croix, which separates Miuuesota from Wisconsin, and the Min- 

 nesota, a large and broad stream, which rises near the centre of the 

 territory, flows through Big Stone Lake, and after a course including 

 its windings of some 500 miles, first south-east, then south, and finally 

 north-east, falls into the Missiaaippi at Fort Snelling. The Mississippi 

 is navigable in Minnesota by steam-boats during seven months of the 

 year: the other five mouths it i«, with its tributaries, closed by ioa. 

 The Missouri, with its tributary the White Earth River, forms the 

 western bouudary of Minnesota : it is navigable by steam-boats 

 throughout Minnesota. It is joined by several small feeders, but by 

 none of any consequence in this territory. The Red River, which 

 flows northward to Winnipeg Lake in British America, has its source 

 in, and belongs for n very considerable distance to Minnesota, and has 

 numerous tributaries in this part of its course. The Big Sioux and 

 several other rivers have also thdr upper courses in this territory. 

 The Mississippi, Missouri, Minnesota, and St-Croix rivers, with Lake 

 Superior, afford great commercial facilities : while the numerous 

 smaller streams and lakes afford like facilities for agrioultural and 

 manufacturing operations. The principal lakes are the Itasca, Cass, 

 Red, Leech, Devil, Ottertail, Big Stone, and Pepin lakes, which range 

 firom about 5 to 20 miles long. 



As regards its geological character, the larger half of the country, 

 including the centre and north-eastern portions, appears to belong to 

 tho igneous and metamorphic formations. In the northern and 

 south-eastern districts are extensive tracts of Lower Silurian rocks. 

 Extending from the centre eastward to Lake Superior is a narrow 

 band of New Red-Sandstone, with dykes of copper trap. The Missouri 

 through its whole course in Minnesota appears to flow through 

 cretaceous rocks, which are bordered on the east by tertiary forma- 

 tions. Copper- and lead-ores are said to have been found. 



The climate, though severe, is not subject to rapid or extreme 

 variations. The winter>i are long, but owing to the stilluoss of the 

 air during winter, the coldest weather is endurable. A great quantity 

 of snow falls in tho winter, but generally there is not much moisture. 

 The soil over a couutry so vast in extent, and having such different 

 lithological features, is of course g^reatly varied ; but in the settled 

 parts it is found to be remarkably fertile, and the mould is of unusual 

 depth. Most of the cereals appear to flourish : maixe, oats, and wheat 

 are the crops most cultivated, but rye, barley, and buckwheat are 

 also grown. Potatoes, peas, and beans are raised to some extent The 

 broad prairies appear well adapted for raising stock. There are at 

 present no manufactures in the territory. The chief occupation is 

 tho cuttiug and preparing of pine lumber, much of which is retained 

 for home consumption, but the larger portion is sent to St. Louis. 



At the census of 1850 Minnesota was divided into 9 counties. The 

 political capital is St Paul, the only place which can as yet fairly take 

 rank as a town ; but Prmbina, on the right bank of the Red River, 

 at the northern boundory of the territory — Fort Snelling, at the 

 confluence of the Minnesota with the Mississippi — and Stillwater, 

 on the west nde of St Croix Lake, an places of growing local 

 importance. 



S(. Paul, the capital, occupies a commanding position on the left 

 bank of the Mississippi, 16 miles below the Falls of St Anthony, in 

 44° 62' N. lat, 93° 4' W. long. The first trading-house was built 

 here in 1842, it having previously been merely the station of a Roman 

 Catholic uiiasion. It now contains a State-house 139 feet long, a court- 

 house, jail, nine churches, schools, numerous hotels, stores, an iron- 

 foundry, agricultural implement factories, flour-mills, &c. The streets 

 •re traTStM4 by oosohss and omnibuses ; and, whilst the river is fk<es 



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