Of course, we found quite a bit of info about D.B.Searle, partly from the censuses, partly with help from MCHS (thanks, Ann Marie ☺), but mostly (surprise!) Larry. 
Dolson B Searle was a prominent lawyer in St Cloud, Minnesota. He was established here by 1871, and eventually had a stock farm in nearby Sartell (LeSauk Township), so it's likely he was acquainted with Peter and Angelique Sand, grandma Lizzy's grandparents.
Here's a bio he probably wrote himself for a book called "Progressive Men of Minnesota" published in 1897--Page 192-193:
DOLSON BUSH SEARLE.
Mr. Searle is judge of the district court of the Seventh District of Minnesota, and resides at St. Cloud. His father was Almond D. Searle, who resided in Franklinville, Cattaraugus County, New York, and was a prosperous farmer. His mother was Jane Scott, of Scotch birth and a lineal descendant of Sir Walter Scott. On his father's side, Mr. Searle's grandfather was Elijah Searle, a man of more than ordinary ability and force of character. He took active part in public and political affairs. He was formerly a resident of Whitehall, New York, and was a soldier in the War of 1812. He also took part in the battle of Lake Champlain. He died about the year 1865, and was then about seventy years of age. Judge Searle's grandfather on his mother's side was John Scott, of Scotch descent, and a man of good ability. He was a farmer at Whitehall, New York, and was a soldier in the War of 1812.
The subject of this sketch was born June 4, 1846, at Franklinville, New York. His early education was obtained in the common schools and the academy of his native town. He graduated from the Columbian Law College of Washington, D. C., in 1868, with high honors. Three years later he came to Minnesota and began the practice of law with Hon. E. O. Hamlin, at St. Cloud, the style of the firm being Hamlin & Searle.
Mr. Searle soon obtained a prominent position as lawyer, and also took an active part in state politics as a Republican. He was elected city attorney of St. Cloud for six years; county attorney of Stearns County two years, although in a strong Democratic county, and his majority reached as high as eleven hundred. He was appointed United States district attorney in April, 1882, by President Arthur, and served with conspicuous ability until December, 1885, when he resigned on his own motion in order to give President Cleveland a chance to appoint his successor. Mr. Searle was a member of the state central Republican committee in 1886 and 1887, and took an active part in the Republican national campaign in the fall of 1884. He was appointed district judge of the Seventh Judicial District November 12, 1887, by Governor McGill, and re-elected without opposition in the fall of 1888, and again in 1894. Judge Searle was nominated for congress from the Sixth District in 1892. There was a vigorous contest for that nomination between him and H. Z. Kendall, of Duluth. Judge Searle made a brilliant campaign and ran ahead of his state ticket and national ticket over a thousand votes, not withstanding the opposition to him in St. Louis County, where he received only a bare majority, although Governor Nelson received about fifteen hundred majority. He was defeated at the polls by Major Baldwin, but by a very small majority.
Judge Searle has an honorable war record. He enlisted as a private in Company I, Sixty-fourth New York Infantry, in August, 1861, and served for nearly two years. He was engaged in the following battles: Yorktown, Seven Pines, Fair Oaks, Savage Station, Malvern Hill, the seven days' fight before Richmond, the second battle of Bull Run, Antietam, White Oak Swamp, Lee's Mills, Williamsburg and other notable engagements.
Mr. Searle, having been discharged from active service in the army in 1863 on account of disability, was at that time appointed clerk in the war department at Washington..."
["In his official position he was brought in close relations with President Abraham Lincoln, Secretary-of-War Stanton, the Adjutant General of the Army, and others at that time prominent in public life. He was in attendance at Ford's Theater, April 14, 1865, and witnessed the assassination of President Lincoln, an event which ever thereafter remained vividly in his memory". From the History of Stearns County, Vol 1, page 517 (Thank you, Andy G)]....and held that position until 1871. He was during most of this period in charge of an important bureau in the Adjutant General's office. Judge Searle has always been a Republican, and until he went on the bench was very active in political matters, and has given his influence and best judgment to the proper conduct of the municipal affairs of his own city. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, being a Master Mason, a Royal Arch Mason and a Knight Templar. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias and of Lodge No. 59 of the Elks. He is a prominent member of the G. A. R., and on October 24, 1896, was appointed aid-de-camp, with the rank of colonel, upon the staff of the commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic. He was married in 1875 to Miss Mary Elizabeth Clarke, of Worcester, Massachusetts.
Even in 1879, endorsements from newspapers were important:
But from the Albert Lea Standard newspaper in May, 1879, there were those who cast aspersions too. When we checked what the "odorous pine land ring" might have been, Larry discovered it was most likely referring to the logging and forest interests of the Pine Tree Lumber Company and Frederick Weyerhaeuser:
Charles Augustus Weyerhaeuser was born on 2 April 1866 to parents Frederick (1834-1914) and Sarah Weyerhaeuser. Charles apprenticed at various jobs within the family timber business before taking over management of the Pine Tree Lumber Company in Little Falls, Minnesota, with family friend Richard "Drew" Musser when they both were in their mid-twenties. The boys' fathers Frederick Weyerhaeuser and Peter Musser had formed the company along with seven other lumbermen on 24 June 1890. Drew Musser, whose father was company president, presided over sales and served as secretary for the organization while Charles managed the company's logging, sorting, and milling activities. Under their collective management skills, the Pine Tree Lumber Company was debt free and earning solid profits by 1899.
--From the Forest History Society website.
Was D.B. Searle involved in setting up Pine Tree Lumber in 1890? There might still be more to this story, huh?
And look, D.B. had a brother named F.E.--who evidently figures in the history of Sauk Centre, Minnesota, but that's another story that needs telling....by someone else. ☺
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