USA > Minnesota > Douglas County > History of Douglas and Grant counties, Minnesota : their people, industries, and institutions, Volume I > Part 32
USA > Minnesota > Grant County > History of Douglas and Grant counties, Minnesota : their people, industries, and institutions, Volume I > Part 32
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The Nelson Telephone Company was organized in 1906 and was in- stalled by C. E. Iverson, The service has always been first-class, which is quite a tribute to the present operators, Mrs. C. E. Iverson and daughter.
The village has a concert band of twenty-two pieces that would do credit to a town many times the size of Nelson. During the summer months weekly concerts are held in the band stand near the center of the village.
There is only one church in the village and that is the Danish Baptist, the pastor being the Rev. P. C. Paulson.
In the way of fraternal organizations there are two, the Knights of Maccabees, organized on April 13, 1901, and the Ladies of the Maccabees, organized on April 30, 1904.
An object of great pride and admiration among many citizens is the Young Peoples Branch of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. This branch was organized in 1911 by Mrs. Scovell, a state worker. In 1913, a building was erected by this organization at a cost of about eight hundred dollars. The building was dedicated by state workers and gained a great deal of notice from the fact that the building was about the only one of its kind in existence. The societies are also very few. The society already referred to maintains an organization holding regular meetings semi-monthly. Edna Larson is president of the organization and also state secretary of the state organization; Wallace Larson is vice-president; E. Youngner, secre- tary; Chris Hanson, treasurer.
Nothing gives the inhabitants of the village and the surrounding com- munity more pride than to speak of their school. And rightfully too, because they have just completed a new brick building at a cost of about twenty
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thousand dollars. The building is modern from basement to attic and is a model of its kind. The village school has been consolidated with a school district in the country and thus made more satisfactory to all. Four teachers are employed and the enrollment averages about one hundred and ten. Ralph Borman is the principal for the school year of 1916 and 1917.
GARFIELD.
The village was named in honor of James A. Garfield, President of the United States. Among the first settlers in and near the village were: T. Knutson, Oscar Dahlin, Fred Bartle, Claus Peterson, Mrs. M. Sanstead and August Fenstad. The townsite plats for the village were filed by Andrew Sanstead, February 17, 1882.
The village began its corporate existence on September 9, 1905. The following officers were elected: President, T. Knutson; treasurer, J. A. Nelson ; recorder, W. W. Dunnicliff ; trustees, Ole Johnson, Joseph P. McCord and J. C. Peterson ; justices, Gust Loo and K. P. Landru; constables, S. L. West and Fred Bartel. The present elective officers include the following : President, P. Christiansen; recorder, Theodore Walstad; trustees, Leonard Loren, Simon Jensen, Edward Sanstead; constable, Herman Zeigelman.
Among the postmasters of the village have been the following: Swan D. Larson, who was probably the first; C. H. Larson, Andrew Gustavson, John Lundstrom, J. L. Larson, C. G. Bergsten, and the present postmaster, C. J. Johnson, who was appointed October 17, 1907.
The business interests of the village during the summer of 1916 were in the hands of the following men :
Auto garage, Charles Johnson; bank, State Bank of Garfield; barber, Gust A. Lund; blacksmith, John Youngberg; creamery, Farmers Creamery Association ; elevator, Farmers Elevator ; general dealers, A. Abrahams, L. Olund & Co., A. Bergsten & Son; hardware, Knutson & Son; harness, Fred Passenheim; hotel, August Buthner; livery, E. Peterson; lumber, Garfield Lumber Company, John Nelson, manager ; meat market, Ketter Bros .; potato warehouse, Farmers, L. Loren.
The German Lutheran church has a congregation in the village and is served by the Reverend Bartz. The village maintains no separate school dis- trict, but is very conveniently served by the district school just at the edge of town.
The first potato warehouse in the county was built at Garfield in 1911 by a farmers co-operative company, and was so much of a success that in 1912 a second one was built.
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MELBY.
The village of Melby, with a population of about seventy, is located in the northwest corner of the county and twenty-four miles from Alexandria. It was platted by A. G. and Sigrid Johnson in April. 1902. The village is surrounded by a fine agricultural community which is its main support. Although the village is small, yet the business interests are varied and almost any need can be accommodated. The business directory is given as follows :
Bank, Melby State Bank; blacksmith, Ole Olson; creamery, Gust Wah- lin ; elevator, Farmers Elevator Company, Johnson & Palmquist; furniture dealer, Constant Lundgren; feed mill, A. G. Johnson & Sons Co .; general dealer, O. M. Gilbertson & Co., Johnson Bros .; harness shop, Swan Lind- . strom; hardware dealer, H. N. Palmquist ; implement dealer, P. M. Pear- son ; lumber dealer, Evansville Lumber Company ; potato warehouse, Farm- ers; restaurant, L. C. Calkin, Fritz Carlson; shoe shop, N. A. Westman. This village is not incorporated.
FORDA.
Forda is a small village located on the "Soo Line." about seven miles south of Alexander and with an estimated population of seventy-five. The village is the heart of an agricultural region and also where much fruit is grown. Thus, the village satisfies the need of a local market and doubtless will continue to grow as time advances. The village was platted by Cyrus A. Campbell in July, 1903, was incorporated on April 6, 1905.
Following is a directory of the business interests: Affeldt, John, hard- ware; Beisek, Lewis, blacksmith; Chase, C., hotel; Farmers State Bank; Forada Co-operative Manufacturing and Warehouse Company; Jenson, William, general merchandise and postmaster; Northland Elevator Company ; Stevens, O. P., grocer; Turnland, Harry, express and telegraph agent.
MILTONA.
Miltona is a small village located in the township that bears its name. It is on the "Soo Line" and although not as large as some of the other villages in the county, is well equipped with elevator and stock shipping facilities. Sufficient business enterprises exist to satisfy all local needs. J. A. Hintzen conducts a general store; Edward Jerome, a blacksmith shop; P. G. Miller, a grain elevator ; the Sandbeck Lumber Company, a branch. Miltona is not incorporated.
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MILLERVILLE.
The town site of Millerville was platted by Edward Schirber in June, 1903. The village began its corporate existence June 29, 1903, after a hotly-contested election had been held to decide the question of incorporation. The liquor question was one of the main issues, as many of the citizens wanted saloons and incorporation was the only means to such an end.
The village is located in the township that bears its name, and though inland, has an extensive local trade. The first house in Millerville was built by John A. Miller, second by Frank Weber, third by Peter Lorsung. The first store was built and operated by Mathias Kotschevar, Joseph Stariha, the first hotel keeper, and Mathias Baden, the first blacksmith.
The business interests during the year of 1916 were as follow :
Bank, German American State Bank of Millerville; blacksmith, Jacob Thoeness : creamery, John Poppler, Jr .; druggist, C. M. Klein; flour-mill, Fred G. Dobmeyer; general stores, J. Linster and A. J. Lorsung; hotel, Mathias Stariha : harness shop, P. B. Lorsung; meat market, J. P. Lorsung ; physician, Dr. John C. Drexler ; machinery, Val. Thoenness & Sons.
CARLOS.
The town-site plats for the village of Carlos were filed in the register of deeds office on August 12, 1903, by Cyrus A. Campbell. The village began its corporate existence on July 7. 1904. It is located on the "Soo Line" and about eight miles northeast of Alexandria. The estimated population is two hundred. The village has two Lutheran churches and a general business that is characteristic of towns of its size.
Following is a directory of the business interests :
Auto garage, G. H. Gilbertson; bank, First State Bank; blacksmith, G. H. Gilbertson, J. Heskenhoff; barber, Charles H. Holgrimson; creamery, Carlos Co-operative Creamery Company; elevator, Homestead Elevator Company, N. Steidl, agent; Woodworth Elevator Company, A. Athman, agent; Farmers Society of Equity; general dealer, Albert Kohler, A. J. Ogren, Renter Bros .; harness shop, Thomas Roach; hardware dealer, August Kohlhaas; implement dealer, Ehlert & Gilbertson; livery, Casper Reuter ; lumber dealer, C. O. Franzen & Co .; meat market, J. E. Taylor ; physician, P. A. Love ; real estate dealer, J. B. Hove, Bundy Scott ; restaurant, Charles Annis; telephone, Central Telephone Company.
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KENSINGTON.
Kensington was platted by William D. Washburn in March, 1887, and incorporated on June 6, 1891. It is located in the extreme southwestern corner of the county, on the "Soo Line" and nineteen miles from Glenwood. Kensington is situated on a rolling prairie whose land is unequalled in pro- ductiveness. A conservative estimate of the population at the present time would be about two hundred and sixty. In the way of religious and civic organizations the village has a Swedish Lutheran church and an active and wide awake commercial club.
The' business directory for the year 1916 is as follows :
Auto garage, Colmark & Brandt; bank, First State Bank of Kensington ; barber, Mark F. Chan; blacksmith shop, Axel W. Hallberg; creamery, Ken- sington Co-operative Creamery; druggist, John A. Wedum; elevators, Farm- ers Elevator Company, Andrew Holt, agent ; Atlantic Elevator Company, P. G. Peterson, manager; furniture dealer, George S. Maxfield; Farmers Warehouse Association, J. T. Rotto, president ; general dealer, Abraham Des- nick, John Bisek; harness dealer, Ole Berglund; hardware dealer, Kensing- ton Hardware and Lumber Company; hotel, Kensington Hotel, Mrs. E. J. Colmark, proprietor ; implements, Harry Osterberg; livery, Bjorklund Bros .; lumber dealer, Kensington Hardware and Lumber Company; meat market, Frank Dahlin; physician, Dr. Otto L. Hanson; photographer, E. J. Col- mark; restaurant, George Hendricks, J. A. Bjerke; tile works, Kensington Tile Company, L. A. Larson, president.
CHAPTER XXI.
SIDELIGHTS ON COUNTY HISTORY.
As an interesting "sidelight" on the history of Alexandria and of Doug- las county, perhaps no event of recent years hereabout has been more signi- ficant or productive of greater interest in the days that have gone than the "home-coming week" celebrated by the people of Alexandria and of the county at large at the county seat in the last week of June, 1916, under the direction of the Commercial Club and of the home-coming committee. A series of interesting meetings were arranged for the affair and the event was marked by the return to the scenes of other days of many who had gone away from this favored community seeking fame and fortune elsewhere, but who still regard Douglas county as "home, sweet home." Meetings were held in the high school hall and music was furnished by the Alexandria band, on Saturday bands from Eagle Bend and Kensington also being present.
The first meeting was held on Thursday evening, Gustav A. Kortsch presiding. The Rev. Francis Welp delivered the invocation and Dr. C. C. Strang, mayor of Alexandria, made an address of welcome to the "back- homers," the response to the same being made by Theo. A. Erickson. Other speakers were A. M. Darling, O. H. Larson, Julian Fitzgerald, Walter Shot- well, W. E. Landeen and A. M. Wilton, all of whom spoke in a reminiscent strain of other days. On Friday morning a reunion of former pupils of the Alexandria schools was held, the program being carried out by members of former classes, and a short historical review of the school dating back to 1861 was given, while talks fraught with interesting stories of past school days were made by A. T. Larson, Theo. A. Erickson, A. P. Nelson and W. E. Landeen. R. C. Bondurant presided and an alumni association was organ- ized with the following officers: President, A. T. Larson, of Minneapolis ; vice-president, W. E. Landeen, of Elbow Lake; secretary, Alma Anderson, of Alexandria; treasurer, R. C. Bondurant. There were present at this alumni meeting five members of the class of 1878. The afternoon meeting on that day was presided over by H. A. LeRoy and a series of interesting letters from persons who had left this county in days past for farther fields was read by George L. Treat, secretary of the home-coming committee.
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Reminiscent talks were made by M. N. Koll, of Cass Lake, and by James F. Dicken, pioneers of the county, and A. T. Larson also gave an interesting talk. At that meeting the address of the week was made by Adolph P. Nelson, of Grantsburg, Wisconsin, who paid a glowing tribute to Alexandria, "Lady of the Lakes," and to the pioneers of Douglas county, among whom he mentioned the names of the Kinkaid brothers, Holmes, Grant, Hicks, San- ford, Gregory, Dicken, Darling, Blackwell, Van Dyke, Shotwell, Sims, Whit- comb, Kent, Lewis, Nord, Walker, Thorp Sprague, Freudenreich, Cowings, Van Hoesen, Baumbach, White, Robards, Moles, Canfield, Brown, Vivian, Aaker, Christie, Sundblad, Bondurant, Hawley, Fahlin, Kortsch, Gilpin, Burkel, Gunderson "and last, but not least," concluded the speaker, "that splendid citizen of your midst who is known as the 'grand old man," not only of Minnesota, but also of the United States Senate. A man who has made his statesmanship and his influence of life so felt in the national gov- ernment that when he speaks, not only America, but the world is glad to listen and to take counsel. I have reference to your peerless citizen, your great representative in the United States Senate, Senator Knute Nelson." Among the earlier teachers in the schools, the speaker mentioned Mr. Gunder- son, Miss Gunderson (now Mrs. Van Hoesen), Miss Childs, Miss Thomp- son, Miss King, the Misses Wright, Miss Barnard (now Mrs. Robards), Miss Dudley, Miss Donaldson, Miss Lloyd and Prof. A. D. Gaines, "through whose genius and leadership the Alexandria high school attained a rank second to none in the state."
The Friday evening meeting was presided over by J. H. Wettleson, president of the Commercial Club, and with one exception the program was made up of five-minute talks by George F. Whitcomb, N. P. Ward, A. M. Darling and R. C. Bondurant. The exception noted was a talk given by James F. Dicken, of La Grand, now past eighty-one years of age and one of the very first settlers of Douglas county, who gave for the entertainment and edification of his hearers a review of the history of Douglas county, he having been a resident here since the very beginning of a social order in this section of the state. Mr. Dicken arrived in Douglas county in 1859 after having spent two or three years in the vicinity of the present city of Hutch- inson, this state, and he gave the dates of the cutting out of the Alexandria- Garfield and the Alexandria-Carlos roads, the names of the parties who did the work and of the occasion that demanded the construction of the roads. He gave also a brief history of the Indian uprising of 1862, of the excite- ment that followed and of the general exodus of the settlers from this region to points of safety at Sauk Center, St. Cloud and elsewhere during that time
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of trouble. On Saturday evening, closing the home-coming week, a recep- tion was given by the ladies at the rooms of the Commercial Club and on Sunday evening a union service was held in the Congregational church, the Rev. F. S. Stein, of Lincoln, Nebraska, preaching on the subject of home influence, or the place of the home as a factor in civilization. As stated above, the delightful home-coming was arranged under the general direction of the Commercial Club of Alexandria, the general committee and chairmen of sub-committees being as follow: Chairman, G. A. Kortsch; secretary, George L. Treat; program, 'George L. Treat; publicity, John Griebler ; finance, Andrew Jacobson; reception, Constant Larson ; entertainment, H. T. Holverson; decoration, W. T. Cowing; music, J. M. Renner ; parade, Lewis S. Kent : membership, J. H. Wettleson.
MEMORIES OF OTHER DAYS.
Among the many letters received by the secretary of the home-coming committee and read at the meeting, there were some so interesting, recalling scenes and incidents of other days so pleasantly, that it is regarded as a matter of value and interest to succeeding generations to quote a few extracts from the same in this connection.
Senator Nelson wrote: ""I am very glad, indeed, that you and the other friends have moved in this matter. It will be a great opportunity for the old settlers to meet and come together to talk over old times and the struggles and trials of frontier life. We have now ceased to be a frontier country, but nevertheless we are still so young that many of the pioneers are still with us and bear the scars and imarks of the intense struggle of pioneer life. Alexandria and Douglas county were fortunate in securing an ener- getic, industrious and thrifty class of people, who have, by their efforts, succeeded in making Douglas county one of the garden spots of Minnesota. We old settlers, who will in the near future pass away, can look back with pride on the great work that has been accomplished with the knowledge and assurance that our work will be taken up by the younger generation that will succeed us and that they will expand and enlarge upon the foundations that we laid. They will have strenuous work before them, but they will be sub- jected to less trials and tribulations and have more of the modern conveniences than we had; but we bespeak for them the same blessings of an All-Wise Providence that we have enjoyed in our day and generation."
Major E. H. Whitcomb, major and chief sanitary officer of the First Brigade, Minnesota National Guard, and a son of Capt. George C. Whit-
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comb, who was commandant of the old Alexandria stockade when the latter was disbanded in 1866, writing from Camp Bobleter, where the Minnesota troops were being mobilized for border service, wrote: "Disappointment falls to the lot of most of us at one time or another, and it certainly has hit me this time. I felt that a duty was incumbent on me to be present at the home coming and have a vacation, but duty of a more serious character has called and I am doing what I can for my country. I was mustered into the United States service yesterday (June 27, 1916). I am chief sanitary officer, with what other duties may arise. I would dearly enjoy the handclasp of friends of old who will be with you. As I sit here in my tent, in fancy I can look into eyes long closed on earth and hear familiar voices wafted on waves of tender recollection from across the Mystic Sea. These will not respond to your invitation, but they will be thought of and spoken of in tenderest terms and will occupy their fitting and essential place in the history of Alexandria."
C. D. Baker, of Fergus Falls wrote: "I wanted a chance to tell what few old settlers there were left there and what I knew about them in an earlier day. I was going to tell about our trip at the time that Knute Nelson, Baumbach, Van Hoesen, Charles Schultz, John Cowing and about a dozen others went down east of town fishing; the time that Charles Schultz could not pull a tree up by the roots, and that Mr. Nelson and Baumbach had to sing songs for the party on their way home that night. I wanted to tell about Mr. Baumbach helping me to sell apple trees. up in the Millerville country, when two of us rode in a two-wheeled road cart; I wanted to tell about Jim Dicken, the time when he was selling fire insurance, when 'for a moment' he forgot himself; and then there were a lot of the boys that I wanted to talk about, but I find most of them have gone to the 'happy hunt- ing grounds.' . As I figure it, there is only about one out of ten of the old- timers alive. . My heart is with you, and it seems as though I can see among the crowd that you have there, some of the old-timers that I knew forty years ago. There must be a few of them.left."
Mrs. Edward Gillette, of Santa Barbara, California, wrote: "And we . are among the pioneers! My dear father, Richard Dent, wife and family of seven children, three sons and four daughters, arrived at Alexandria, Sep- tember 9. 1868, coming by team from LeSueur, Minnesota. It was indeed a frontier town of few inhabitants-looked very dreary to us, never having lived where we could not see railroad trains every day. Father went to work ยท for Mr. William Hicks, in the grist-mill, as engineer. We lived in a log
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house owned by Mr. Shotwell, near Lake Geneva, until a log house could be built on our farm on Lake Victoria. We moved on October 28 and it was not half finished; no chinking in cracks and without windows-hung up blankets to keep out the cold, but we were all well and happy. The few people seemed like one large family. . . D. W. Colby and family were among the early settlers, also Cal. Roland and James Rusk. All were there ahead of our family. Mrs. Van Hoesen and her brother, C. J. Gunder- son were there at Robert Smith's, who had a farm near the Shotwells, on Lake Geneva. Three youngest children of our family were born in Alexan- dria : Mrs. H. A. Plahte, of Spokane, Washington; Mrs. M. H. Terryll, of Faribault, and Dr. Frank E. Dent, of Sequim, Washington. Dear mother passed away at Spokane, May 10, 1911 ; father, May 19, 1915. Brother James Dent, who was in the railway mail service office for twenty years in St. Paul, passed away June 23, 1909. He was chief clerk at that time and was loved by all who knew him. Brother Richard is a member of the big real-estate firm of Arthur D. Jones & Company, of Spokane, Washington, and is vice- president of the company."
William .G. Scott, of Winnipeg, wrote :. "The receipt of your letter caused me to indulge in some 'reminisencing' and recall the fact that it is fifty years this present month of June since my father and my eldest brother -the latter now a resident of the state of Washington-first arrived in Douglas county and located on homesteads in the township of Hudson. The other members of the family, including the writer, followed in October of the same year (1866). The journey from Toronto occupied seventeen days and was made by steamboat to Milwaukee, railway to LaCrosse, steamboat to St. Paul, railway to St. Cloud and 'prairie schooners' to Hudson. At that time there were no large centers of population west of Milwaukee, the present flourishing cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis being mere hamlets. It boasted an abandoned stockade, but few buildings. It had a tri-weekly mail service, carried by the Burbank four-horse stage coaches, which made regular trips between St. Cloud and Ft. Abercrombie, on the Red river. It was on the main highway to the various forts in northern Minnesota, the then territory of Dakota and what was then known as Ft. Gary, or the Red River Settlement. There were continually passing through it long lines of govern- ment wagons, each drawn by six mules, carrying supplies and munitions to the western forts. The commerce of what is now the three prairie provinces of Canada, served at the present time by three transcontinental lines of rail- way and numerous branches, was then carried along the same route in Red river carts, each drawn by one ox, their journey leading through northern
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Minnesota and Dakota, then homeless plains, within whose borders civiliza- tion had not yet entered except in the vicinity of two or three forts."
The Rev. J. Scott Willmarth, of Greenwood, Wisconsin, wrote: "Alex- andria may well be proud of her citizens and of the products of her school. She always has a Treat to show her visitors. Some may come and some may go, but one is always Constant. She is renowned, not only for her fine houses, but also for her barns. In competing with other towns for recogni- tion she can rely on her Knox, and she can easily wrest first honors from all comers with her double Nelson."
J. A. Cranston, superintendent of schools at Santa Ana, California, former superintendent of the schools at Alexandria, wrote expressing the hope, "in the not too distant future, to have the pleasure of seeing once more Alexandria, the crown city of northern Minnesota, and enjoy once more those beautiful lakes and drives for which Douglas county has become truly famous."
Col. B. L. Bull, of North Yakima, Washington, past commander of Meade Post No. 9, Department of Washington and Alaska, Grand Army of the Republic, in a letter to the committee recalled that "We lived there in 1871 and slept in our prairie schooner near your beautiful city, but passed on to Ottertail county. We are inclined to think our mistake was in not driving our claim stake there in 1871."
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