[0:00] [Music] [0:12] Frank Hollstead was the first hermit of [0:15] Lake Minnotonka. He settled on the [0:17] southshore of what we now know as H [0:18] Hallstead's Bay in August 14, 1855 and [0:22] built a small 14 by8 ft log cabin. He [0:26] returned to his hometown in Elizabeth, [0:29] New Jersey in 1861. And during that [0:32] visit, the Civil War broke out and he [0:34] enlisted in the United States Navy and [0:37] served with his brother George on the [0:40] USS Minnesota. After the Civil War, [0:43] Frank returned to Minnesota in 1866, and [0:47] two years later, he built what became [0:49] known as the Hermitage on the main lower [0:52] lake opposite Crane Island. It was a [0:54] simple building, one and a half stories [0:56] with a cellar basement. The basement was [1:00] used as a bedroom. The upstairs half [1:02] story was also a winter bedroom and also [1:06] served as a storage room. And then the [1:08] main level was used for a dining room. [1:11] Frank Hollstead didn't particularly care [1:13] for the term hermit. At first, he [1:16] accepted it, but later grew to despise [1:18] it. The Minneapolis Tribune in July 1876 [1:23] described him in his manners he was ever [1:27] quiet and assuming and though [1:29] sympathetic and approachable he invited [1:31] no confidence and gave none. A recluse [1:34] he was hospitable and affable and when [1:37] asked why he chose to live such a [1:39] secuted life he always replied in such a [1:42] manner as would show the interrogator [1:44] that it was not a question he cared to [1:47] answer. Captain Frank Hollstead was one [1:50] of the founders and driving forces [1:52] between the Lake Minnotonka Improvement [1:54] Company during the early and mid 1870s, [1:58] particularly focusing on the dredging of [2:01] the hull's narrows, the original narrows [2:04] connecting the upper and lower lakes. In [2:06] the winter of 187576, [2:09] Captain Hollstead started the [2:11] construction of a steamboat Mary. This [2:14] was a large propellerdriven steamboat on [2:16] Lake Minnotonka. When it was launched in [2:19] June of 1876, it proved to be very [2:22] unseworthy. It would list over to the [2:25] side and did not operate very well. [2:28] Despondent over this and perhaps for [2:31] other reasons unknown to us, he decided [2:34] to set his affairs in order and take his [2:38] own life. On June 23rd, 1876, he [2:42] borrowed a neighbor's rowboat, rode out [2:44] around Crane Island, tied a bag of rocks [2:48] weighing about 40 lb around his neck, [2:51] and cast himself into the lake. 2 weeks [2:54] later, people realizing that their [2:56] beloved hermit had not been around, they [2:59] went searching for him. And when they [3:01] knocked on his door, they found nobody [3:03] home. They got back in their boats and [3:06] started to row back towards Excelsier, [3:09] trolling for fish as they went along. As [3:11] they rounded Crane Island, they found a [3:14] body in the lake and unable to lift his [3:17] body into the boat because of the [3:20] decomposition that had happened. They [3:22] returned to Excelsier, procured a coffin [3:25] and floated it underneath him and raised [3:27] him up and brought him back to the [3:29] hermitage where they buried him under [3:31] the canopy of a large maple tree. When [3:34] they searched the Hermitage, they found [3:36] letters from Frank Holstead and one was [3:39] addressed on top of a trunk to his [3:42] brother George Blight Hollstead. The [3:44] letter sent out to his estate and named [3:47] him executive of his will. And George [3:50] came out from Elizabeth, New Jersey to [3:53] settle the estate and found that he very [3:56] much enjoyed Lake Minnotonka. And so [3:59] George decided to stay. George set about [4:01] first setting up the Mary to be an [4:04] adequate steamboat. And where Frank [4:07] thought that it was a terrible failure, [4:10] George soon discovered that it was a [4:12] matter of simply ballasting the boat [4:14] correctly. And after that, the Mary [4:16] performed admirably on Lake Minnetonka. [4:19] An article in the Minneapolis Tribune [4:22] described Major H. Hallstead says, [4:24] "Major Hallstead is a man of polished [4:26] and refined tastes and had a fine [4:28] education. He was a graduate of [4:30] Princeton College and belonged to many [4:33] societies. He was genial and [4:35] companionable and was well-liked by [4:37] those holding his acquaintance. Many [4:39] picnic parties have had lunch on the [4:41] Hermitage property and in this manner [4:44] the major made thousands of friends. [4:47] Major H. Hallstead turned the Hermitage [4:49] into a tourist attraction and at first [4:52] he was charging people 25 cents each to [4:55] come ashore and visit the Hermitage. [4:58] That was later raised to 50 cents. In [5:01] addition, people could pay him an added [5:03] fee where they could sign the siding on [5:06] the Hermitage building. The more [5:08] prominent signatures of famous people [5:11] that were visiting the Hermitage and [5:13] Lake Minnotonka were then covered with [5:15] glass so that nobody else could write [5:18] over the top of them. When tourists went [5:20] inside the building, there were [5:22] decorations all around. There were [5:24] framed prints, engravings, photographs [5:28] of his family. There was a grandfather [5:30] clock, dining room set with his mother's [5:33] china. But there were also two Civil War [5:36] swords, Major Holstead Sword and Captain [5:39] Frank Holstead Sword. In addition, their [5:42] greatgrandfather's Revolutionary Sword [5:45] also hung in the house. The Hermitage [5:47] remained a tourist attraction until [5:50] September 6th, 1901. On that date, the [5:53] Hermitage took fire and Major George [5:56] Blight H. Hallstead died in the flames. [5:59] In accordance with Major Hollstead's [6:01] will, he was buried to the left of his [6:03] brother Frank Hollstead underneath that [6:06] same maple tree and a large boulder was [6:10] placed also to mark the grave. [6:12] Inscriptions on the boulder were later [6:14] engraved. Francis William Hollstead, [6:16] born Newark, New Jersey 1833, [6:19] US Navy 1861-65, [6:22] died 1876. [6:24] and George Blight Holstead, born [6:26] Elizabeth Town, New Jersey, March [6:29] 171820, [6:30] United States Volunteers 1861 to 1866, [6:35] died September 6th, 1901. Today, both [6:38] the maple tree and the boulder are lost [6:41] to time, but the major and the captain [6:44] both still reside on their property in [6:46] Minatrista. [6:47] [Music]