Most of the early settlers of Dassel came from Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, and Sweden, especially from Vastergotland and Varmland. Adam Brower was living in Indiana when he enlisted in the Union Army in April 1861. He fought in battles at Winchester, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Cumberland, Resaca, and Altoona, where he was wounded and laid up in the hospital for a few weeks. He was taken prisoner by the Confederates in the battle of Winchester on May 25, 1862, and was kept by them until September 20, when he was exchanged for another prisoner. In February 1867, he came to Meeker County and purchased a place near Swan Lake (Dassel). For the first three years, he did brick making in the village, but then he started farming. Harlow F. Ames came to the township, with his brother Henry, in January 1868, and they settled on the farm their father, Harlow, Sr., who had bought the land in absentee. The brothers stayed there until 1869 when their parents came to claim their land. Harlow F. got his own claim and Henry moved between Darwin and Litchfield where he started his famous brickyard, the bricks of which built downtown Litchfield.