Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2023
Peter Jost Yost was born on February 2, 1822 in Honsfeld, Büllingen, Verviers, Liège, Prussia (later German Empire, now Belgium). His parents were Nicolaus Jost (1782-1844) and Cäcilia Fickers Jost (1791-1855).
In the period 1815-1919 it belonged first to the Kingdom of Prussia and later to the German Empire following the unification of Germany. Büllingen is a municipality of East Belgium, located in the Belgian province of Liège, Wallonia. The official language of Büllingen is German. Its component village of Krewinkel includes the easternmost point in Belgium. The municipality also contains Rocherath, the highest village in Belgium, as well as the second highest point in Belgium, the Weißer Stein near Mürringen.
By 1850, Peter was living and working as a settler-colonist in St. Paul, Minnesota Territory.
Peter married Maria Catherine “Katie” Bender, who was born on April 27, 1837, in Meerfeld. Meerfeld is a village and municipality belonging to a collective municipality in the county of Bernkastel Wittlich in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Maria’s parents were Mathias Bender (1804-1853) and Catherina Jungels Bender (1799-1847). Mathias and Catherina married on January 22, 1829. When Catherina died in 1847, Mathias and their three children immigrated to America. On that trip, Mathias died on September 14, 1853. The three children continued to the United States.
One of Mathias’s daughters, Maria Catherine “Katie,” married Peter on February 20, 1855, in St. Paul. They then headed to Shakapee City in a steamboat, where on the levee at the foot of Holmes Street, the first of ten children, Caecilia was born on November 28, 1855.
Peter became the chief of police in Shakopee in 1876. A resolution was passed by the Shakopee council, fixing his salary at $2.00 a day, and $3.00 for special day and night assignments, according to an article, “Wage of Police Hard But $2.00 Per Day in ‘70s,” Shakopee Argus-Tribune, April 1, 1931.
Chief Yost’s duties included giving his whole time the first Monday of each month, from 9 a.m. until midnight. He also had to be available on the 4th of July, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, or any time the circuses came to town, and any other public days. He had to work on Sundays from 2 p.m. until midnight.
In those days, the chief was kept fairly busy. Shakopee had several saloons, and sometimes there was trouble there. Besides that, the chief was responsible for checking for the saloon licenses were paid for, and that all city ordinances were strictly obeyed.
Once, in 1877, people criticized Peter because of alleged infractions. Yost was charged with letting the patrons of some saloons on First Street become too noisy, thus disturbing the peace of people walking along the street.
Besides this, Chief Yost had to oversee keeping stray animals off the streets, especially those in the business section, and he was supposed to round up or send home all dogs found running around town. Between the cows and dogs and an occasional intoxicated celebrant, he had his hands full.
Chief Yost was instructed to keep all strangers from creating disturbances within the city limits, and to keep track of all suspicious persons.
While there were no gangsters in town in 1870s, there were plenty of unwelcome visitors who tried to reap a harvest by frisking saloon patrons or doing a little pickpocketing on the streets.
In the 1870s and 1880s, the city slickers frequently visited the smaller towns, like Shakopee, especially at fair times, and on holidays in the summer when crowds gathered. Their work was crude, according to the Shakopee Argus-Tribune, but the people had not yet been educated and often were victimized. The larger numbers of people in town, and the culprits were more skillful.
In some towns in the early years, the marshal was allowed fifty cents or a dollar for each drunk he arrested.
It was reported in Gaylord that the marshal used to wait outside the saloon that had the most people in order to make a bit of money. When that started, the drunks stayed in the bar and would not leave unless the saloon owner had to get someone to help them out without the marshal catching them!
Luckily, this did not happen much in Shakopee. In Shakopee, the people enjoyed a real beer or a little good whiskey once in a while.
Peter Jost Yost died on August 4, 1895. He was buried up the hill at Calvary Cemetery in Eagle Creek. His wife, Maria Catherine Katie Bender Yost, died twelve years later on June 21, 1907.
Bibliography
“Wage of Police Hard But $2.00 Per Day in ‘70s.” Shakopee Argus-Tribune, April 1, 1931.