Check your Mower County registration.

The federal government established Wisconsin Territory effective July 3, 1836, and included what is now Minnesota, until its eastern portion was granted statehood (as Wisconsin) in 1848. Congress established the Minnesota Territory effective March 3, 1849. The newly organized territorial legislature created nine counties across the territory in October of that year. Two of the original counties, Dakota and Wabashaw (later Wabasha), had portions reassigned on March 5, 1853, to create Rice County. In 1852, Jacob McQuillin's family settled in southern Rice County, beginning a settlement movement that rapidly grew. On February 20, 1855, the territorial legislature created the present county from the southernmost part of Rice County. The new county was named for John Edward Mower, a member of the territorial legislature. On March 1, 1856, Territorial Governor Willis A.

Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.