OUTSIDE LOOKING IN

SEALS WAS MINNEOTA ICON
While there have been many prominent men who have Minneota ties such as Val Bjornson, Bill Holm, Les Josephson, Jim Meger and Larry Tillemans, a look back into history should reveal another man should be added to that list.
Thomas ("Doc") Seals grew up in Pennsylvania and moved to Flandreau, SD and opened a trading post. He then made his way to Lake Benton before coming to Minneota in 1875, where he opened a dry goods and grocery store. He passed away 95 years ago on Jan. 14, 1929 at the age of 91.
What may be unfamiliar to residents here is that Seals not only helped in the naming of Minneota, he also was an Army soldier under the direction of George Armstrong Custer, who was just out of West Point and training volunteer soldiers.
Seals injured his hip and leg during the Battle of Bull Run in 1861 but fully recovered and then became a volunteer surgeon with the Union Navy until 1865.
Seals is buried in a cemetery in Marshall. His headstone reads: "Hospt. St. U.S. Navy 1861-65" below his name.
His nickname "Doc" came from his time as a surgeon in the Civil War, although he often sold medicine ("bitters" as he called it) to Indians while in Flandreau. The medicine was more alcohol than medicine.
When Seals came to Minneota, he sold drugs as well as groceries in his store. Several businessmen in town, including the constable, heard he had "bitters" stashed away in his office, according to an article in the Mascot. This was during prohibition, so Seals steered the men away from thinking the medicine had significant amounts of alcohol.
"Bitters" was an alcoholic preparation flavored with botanical matter such as herbs, spices, and roots for a bitter or bittersweet flavor. Originally numerous longstanding brands of bitters were developed as patent medicines. It was originally used for relieving stomach pain.
"The men would claim they had an Indian disease often, so they could get some 'bitters' from me," Seals jokingly told the Mascot in an article in 1924.
Seals was also known as the man who was responsible for the changing of the town's name from Nordland to Minneota, according to a 1906 Mascot article.
"In the fall of 1875, I wrote to my uncle, a New York banker, and asked him to see Senator Strait (Minnesota) and request a name change for this hamlet, which at that time was called Nordland and was not large enough to cut much figure in the commercial world," Seals said. "I suggested the name Minneota, which is an Indian name meaning 'much water'. My request was granted and our little collection of shanties was officially designated Minneota."
Seals was a popular and well-liked man in town, but in his elder years was known more for his "gift of gab" as one local pastor often told him, according to Mascot files. Because he had a propensity for embellishing his stories over the years, it was not always known whether the things "Doc" was telling were truth or fiction.

VALENTINE'S DAY WEDDINGS
I have been trying to locate couples who were married on Valentine's Day for a story in an upcoming issue of the Mascot.
If you were married on Valentine's Day, please contact me at your earliest convenience by calling 320-894-6007 or emailing me at scott@thomabooks.com.