USA > North Dakota > Dickey County > History Of Dickey County, ND, 1930 > Part 24
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John Kunrath was the first of the family to come to America. He was for a time in Minneapolis but being out of work he came to Ellendale over the Milwaukee, reaching that town in May or June of 1883. He worked out that summer in the vicinity of Ellendale doing farm work or any task he could get to do. In the fall he met some of the Ladds from Hudson who told him that a homestead could be bought near their place, so John rode over with them. The homestead was the southeast of section one and was held by a man named Shubert, who was tired of homesteading, and wanted to go back. He sold to Kunrath, in this way giving Kunrath a building 14 by 16 feet and some little plowing. Kunrath moved in and made his home there until he proved up. He was one of the few homesteaders who farmed his land and did not have some business connected with the town. His brother, George Kunrath, came over from Germany a little later. George was ten days in coming from New York to Ellendale, as he was not acquainted with the country or its language and was sent to Chamberlain instead of to Ellen- dale. He was four days coming up from Aberdeen as it was in the winter time and the snow was deep and frozen hard. The passengers had to get out and shovel to help the train through. He reached Ellendale just at the time of the spring thaw and had to wait seven weeks before the Maple river could be crossed, so he was taken out to Mr. Lohses' where he got work to
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pay his board, as he had spent the $14.00 he had when he reached Ellendale to pay for his living before he found a job. Finally his brother John came after him and he stayed with his brother working in the summer and going to school in the winter. He worked a while for a Mr. Folsom driving mules on the plow. The first noon when he stopped for dinner he was going to un- hitch the mules, but Folsom said, "No, no, don't unhitch them, just let them go," and the mules grazed around until it was time to go to plowing again. They were not unharnessed at night either; only on Saturday nights was the harness taken off. In the winter of 1888 George went back to the old country to settle up an estate and report to the authorities there, as he had been away from Germany as long as he had permission to be absent. He came back in the spring, bought out a relinquishment and proved it up as a homestead.
Mr. Morgan says, "It was a favorite pastime in the early days to lay out a railroad and plat towns and sell lots, but many of them did not stand the test and never materialized." The rather pretentious plans of the Dakota Midland were formed in 1883 and where the railroad crossed the James river there should be a town, so in May of 1883 the Dakota Midland platted the town of Hudson. Also a road north and south to be known as the James River Valley Railroad was expected to pass through the town. Neither of these ever materialized for Hudson, but the surveyor's stakes and the prospects of a junction town furnished a great stimulus for buying lots. The town was located on an ideal place on the west bank of the James on the corners of Sections six and seven of Township 130-59 and Sections one and twelve in Township 130-60. M. H. Chamberlain maintained a land office in Hudson for the sale of lots.
The town of Hudson was quite a place according to Andreas Atlas of Dakota, (1884) which says, "Early in April 1883 settlers began to come in rapidly and by the following October scarcely a claim was to be had within five miles of the river at this point. In May, 1883, the Dakota Midland platted the town of Hudson, which is located on a beautiful plateau rising by gradual ascent from the James river. The town is regularly laid out with streets one hundred feet wide and near the center a fine public park.
"The business establishments at present consist of two hotels, three stores, three real estate and loan offices, one printing office, the Hudson Herald established December 14, 1883 by R. S. Busteed, one livery stable, one pump shop, one blacksmith shop and a post office."
Mr. George H. Ladd built a hotel and another building for a store. These were built of lumber hauled out from Ellendale, and were two stories high. Mr. Ladd had teams enough to handle the material for his buildings and his trade, but had to hire men to drive them back and forth between Ellendale and Hudson. His son, George F. Ladd, was just a boy but did much of the hauling for the store and hotel after they got started. The flour was brought from Columbia and other supplies came from LaMoure and
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Ellendale. On one occasion George took a load of butter to Lisbon where he sold a part of it for six cents a pound. Part he could not sell as it was too salty. There was not a great deal of butter made in the country as yet, but even at that there was more than could be used locally. Eggs were six cents a dozen (if they had shells on) and were packed in oats or chaff for handling as the egg crates were unknown at that time.
Hudson was named from the river of the Empire State as many of the settlers were from that state. Mr. T. W. Millham, who had a store, was the postmaster. The mail was brought out from Ellendale by any of the citizens who happened to go to Ellendale as there was no regular route established.
At first the James river had to be forded, but a ferry was established by a man named True who had a claim five miles west of town. True would come over every day to operate his ferry; then later he moved his family to a house on the east side of the river. The boat was a scow, with a flat bottom and top, which could haul one wagon and team at a time, and it was operated by pulleys and rope to haul the boat across. When a traveler came to the side of the river and found the boat across on the other side or to the west side at night he whistled and the boat came after him. The fare was twenty- five cents whether for a person or team, and a young man who had a sweet- heart upon whom he called frequently found it expensive for him as well as troublesome for the ferry man. Later a bridge was built across the river by the township, a little south and east of Hudson. This had long earth ap- proaches through the shallow water and a span about 60 to 80 feet long in the center, supported on eight by eight inch piling. The bridge used to wash out in the high water of spring but it would be watched by someone and would be caught and tied up to the bank till the water went down when it could be replaced.
A good school house was built in Hudson in 1885. This was built large enough to serve as a community rallying place and for church services. When the town was abandoned this school house remained at its old location for many years, and was moved in 1923 two miles west where it still serves its original purpose The first school was taught by a man named Hinman. There were thirty pupils and the next year there were forty. Many of the boys were big fellows, the McLains, Davises, Morgans and Kendalls, and George Kunrath. On January 12, 1888, there was an electric storm so bad that the frightened parents did not dare go after the children at school: There was so much electricity that they could not touch the stoves. At the Hudson school the teacher decided not to have school with such a bad look- ing sky threatening and started for his claim but only got half way when he had to turn back, glad to get under shelter.
The most of the people who located at Hudson were Americans and were a very good class of people. They made no disturbances and were supporters of the school and churches. Church services were held first in Ladd's hotel but when the school house was completed the services were
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held there. Reverend Witham of Guelph was the first minister. He held services in the school house for some time. Later on Reverend R. H. Hook, a Presbyterian, was the minister, and as the people were pretty well divided between Methodist and Presbyterian, the Methodists had Rev. Mr. Giddings one Sunday and the Presbyterians had Rev. Mr. Hook the next, all uniting as one church.
As the Dakota Midland Railroad never materialized the new town had no railroad. When the Northwestern came up the east side of the river it was thought that a new town would be located over on the east side and thus make Hudson a town with a railroad, but the Northwestern went about three miles farther north and a town was located there. Many of the people and the buildings of Hudson went to Oakes and within a few years nothing was left of Hudson but a few cellar holes to mark the location of an interest- ing and aspiring city.
However, over on the southwest part of this township a settlement had been made which extended over into the township to the south and which secured a railroad and became a town. The village of Guelph lay partly in Hudson and partly in Port Emma, and has an interesting history.
When the Dakota land boom of 1882 reached Wisconsin, Mr. M. H. Puffer of Neenah took a trip to the new territory around Aberdeen. His investigation was satisfactory, and in the spring of 1883 he brought his family to the James River Valley, and a number of his friends and acquain- tances from Menasha, Wisconsin came out with him, shipping their emigrant cars to Ellendale, the terminus of the new railroad. In the group coming at this time were; M. H. Puffer, Capt. Thatcher, True and Fred Thatcher, George Keyes, Mrs. Mary Hall and two daughters, Wm. Hall, Hiram El- dridge, Phillip Brown who worked for Mr. Puffer, Carlton Batchelor, and Lanse Freeman who worked for the Thatchers. Mr. Keyes located fifteen miles west of Ellendale; the others located claims within two miles of what is now Guelph.
The center of this settlement of pioneers was at first called Menasha Center, then Thatcherville, and some other names were proposed. After the Great Northern came through, Mr. Puffer plotted a forty acre town- site and named it Centralia. The Post Office department refused to accept this and other names suggested, and the name finally accepted was Guelph suggested by one acquainted with the town of Guelph, Canada.
The four claims surrounding the main corner of the present town were chosen as follows: M. H. Puffer, the quarter northeast of the corner on which the school house is now located; True Thatcher pre-empted the quar- ter adjoining to the south, their home being located a little southwest of the coal shed of Lon Puffer; Carlton Batchelor took the quarter on which the Guelph bank is located, their first building being about fifty feet from the J. D. Root store, and Phillip Brown filed on the remaining quarter.
Capt. Thatcher with Fred located on the claim joining True Thatcher
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on the east, Fred later filing a tree claim entry on the claim joining True Thatcher on the south. This is where Charles Denison erected one of the finest sets of farm buildings in the county. Lanse Freeman filed on the re- maining quarter of this section. Mrs. Hall located one and a half mile south and built her house so that the main part was on her quarter while a bed- room was over on another quarter on which the daughter was holding resi- dence. Wm. Hall, the son, had a claim shanty a few rods away on another quarter, where he slept frequently, but made his home with his mother. Hiram Eldridge who came as the carpenter located his claim one mile west of Guelph. This was afterwards filed on as a homestead by T. H. Thatcher and is owned by him at the present time (1928).
At the time of the coming of this colony the only house on the road out was that of Dr. Long, an early landmark, and the village of Port Emma, with here and there a claim shanty going up. A fairly safe bridge had been built over the Maple and a well enough defined road that the people could follow with their loads of household goods. There were no houses ready for complete occupancy and the goods were stored out-doors or wherever a place could be found. Water had to be hauled in barrels, although later several good wells were put down. One of the best wells was dug by True Thatcher but the track of the Great Northern passed directly over it, so after keeping it for a time it was filled in.
Within a few weeks many new settlers were added to the first group. Wm. Bateman from Michigan homesteaded on a claim one mile east of Guelph, and taught the first winter schools for two years. Dan Huffman, a Civil War veteran from Ohio, located on the claim east of Bateman's. Henry Ellsworth located two miles northeast of Guelph, and could not be scared away by being ambushed by some one. Stevens located on the quar- ter adjoining Ellsworth on the south, and Frank Hofer just east of him. His place became a landmark from the fine grove of cottonwood trees.
One mile north of Guelph was the following group: John Patchett who filed a pre-emption with his daughter Libby on the quarter to the north, Taylor located east of John Patchett's quarter, and Ed Robinson filed on the quarter north of Taylor, where Frank Courtney made his home. George Patchett filed on the claim east of Taylor, and later homesteaded two miles southeast of Guelph. G. M. Baker and his family from Canada located sev- eral quarters of land four miles east of Guelph, and became influential mem- bers of the community. Ed Baker, one of the boys, became County Judge.
N. D. Witham and his son Joe came in from Maine and built a frame house and sod barn and stable. He was two miles southeast of Guelph. He was a preacher and announced that if his neighbors would meet at his house a certain Sunday he would preach to them. About fifty people turned out and Mr. Witham took his place in his door and preached a powerful and vigorous sermon on the text from II Kings, 20th chapter, verse 1, "Set thy house in order." He served several communities in the early days be-
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fore settled pastors were available.
School began in the claim shanty of Phillip Brown, on the corner across from where the Guelph bank was built. Miss Eva Smith was teacher and had ten pupils that summer session. Wm. Bateman taught the winter school with fifteen pupils from the families of the Puffers, Huffmans, Patchetts, Thatchers, Wileys, Withams and some others. Later a regular school house was built on an acre of ground given to the school district by Mr. Puffer. Among the list of teachers were; Bateman for the winters of 1885 and '86; Lindersmith of Ellendale for the winter of 1887, Hinman of Hudson for 1888, C. C. Shepard for 1889, Miss Helferty for 1890, Lon Puffer, 1891, and Lute Puffer for 1892. These were winter teachers, and Miss Smith, Nevada Hatch, and Mrs. Rawley were among the summer teachers.
Polishing buffalo horns was an occupation that at once became general and was fascinating. The solitary homesteader could work at it odd times, evenings and rainy days. Methods of polishing the horns became a topic for conversation and it became a real art. First the horns were scraped until the solid black part was continuous; then it was made very smooth. Next it was polished with emery or sand-paper, and finally by a rough cloth, oil and the hand. Hat racks, coat trees and common ornaments were made. They were prized in the early days and were often sent back east as a present to relatives.
The social life around this community was enjoyable. Parties, dances in the newly inclosed shanties, a literary society, were the means of amuse- ment in addition to hunting and later fishing in the James. Wild animals were found and helped much in the menu, which otherwise became rather tame at times. There was not much crop the first few years. Mr. Monty ran a threshing rig but the distances between neighbors were so far that it did not pay him. B. T. Martin, three miles west of Guelph, raised sorghum and had a sorghum mill. A number of farmers raised sorghum cane but it did not prove a success. Mr. M. H. Puffer raised a beautiful grove, which be- came a well-known picnic ground and several camp meetings have been held there.
With the expectation of big crops and good prices, machinery was bought freely. Banks and loan companies flourished. Money rates were exorbitantly high, two per cent a month not being uncommon. Supplies for the family, feed for work horses and other expenses drained the resources of the pioneer. The high hopes of the settlers gradually fell, and some moved out; others came in, and the coming of the railroad gave a new impetus. At one time hard times pinched the people and in the 90's the Great Northern gave free transportation of corn from the corn states to Guelph to help tide over, and even one or two car loads of second hand clothing were distributed from cars at Guelph. But times improved and those who stayed by the land and place have come through the pioneer days to see a prosperous community. Located as it is and with its fine land Hudson is destined to
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remain a place of homes.
As Guelph and also the modern Port Emma are both very near or on the township line a trade of some sections has been made so that all of Guelph is included in Hudson township and school district and an equal territory has been given to Port Emma township and district. The families of many of the pioneers are still found on or near the old homesteads.
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CHAPTER XXXII
LOVELL AND LUDDEN, 129-59
[The sources of information on this township is a History of Ludden by Mrs. Florence Folsom, papers submitted by Miss Agnes Randall and letters and stories from the old settlers and their families.[
T OWNSHIP 129, range 59, like many others, was not surveyed until after its opportunities became so well known that many people had made squatters' locations. The stage road, or perhaps better, the mail trail between Columbia and Jamestown up the east side of the James river crossed this township.
The first settlers came up from Columbia and they looked to it for their trading center for several years. The township had a post office known as Ticeville, established October 18, 1883, which was kept in the home of a family named Towne, although Fred Mckay is given in the official records as the first Postmaster, then Edward T. Kay to 1887. The office was discontinued January 9, 1888. Some of the early experiences in the region are nicely given by a member of one of its early families, Emily Kennedy.
"It is only when time has cooled the hot sting of poverty and dulled the memories of the bitter hardships of pioneer days, that we are able to concede to them the picturesqueness which we could not see at that time, and to fully appreciate the hardy, kindly neighborliness, and resourcefulness which characterized those people, who, coming from every state in the Union and representing every degree of society, toiled, endured and gave of their best.
"My parents had been in Dakota for two or three years when I came from Chicago where I had been sent for schooling. The tale of the suffering which my father had endured while carrying mail the thirty miles between Columbia and Ticeville-on foot, fighting blizzards and wading through snow drifts-stopping at the halfway house to thaw frozen nose and feet- had already become a tradition in the family, and although he forgot the incident and forgave the man who stole the money he should have received, money so hardly earned and so sorely needed .- I have never been able to do so.
"The Ticeville Post Office was the neighborhood community center. We spoke of it as the Towne house, since the interesting, eccentric and tal- ented family who lived there bore that name. Crissie Towne was my dear chum and fellow-conspirator. Our activities were many and varied, cul- minating perhaps in the paper which we jointly edited for a literary meeting, in which we parodied and [punned upon and held up to ridicule every
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member of the association. We were only fourteen or fifteen years of age and were amazed that many people were hurt and insulted.
"The Literary, held fortnightly during the winter, was the social event of the neighborhood. Much latent talent was discovered, and many persons of education and culture generously helped. Fred Sinclair gave orations from the classics; Mr. Eaton read or talked interestingly from his wide ex- perience; little Mrs. Jenny Robertson read charmingly; Mrs. Towne wrote original poems. The programs were varied and always interesting.
"Our first term of school was held in a small claim shanty belonging to Grandma Woodward, and was taught by tiny, merry seventeen-year-old May Towne. While the discipline was not all that might have been desired, it at least was as good as could have been expected in so small a room. A perpetual feud existed between the boys and girls, who sat on opposite sides of the room. We studied aloud, stopping occasionally to hurl a book or an epithet at an enemy across the not more than six feet of intervening space. Cool days found us spending recess periods twisting hay to be burned in the little air-tight stove. We were exceedingly fond of our little teacher, and attested our loyalty by being model students for one afternoon, during the dread visitation of the county superintendent.
"May's marriage to the lover from back home was the season's event. But for the generosity of our kind and loquacious neighbor, Mrs. Devlin, who loaned me her extra pair of shoes, I should not have been able to attend, for it being the between-crop season, money to replace worn out shoes was not forthcoming.
"The bride was very lovely in a wine colored silk gown which came ready made from Chicago.
"A thrifty wedding guest (I have forgotten his name) finding, in ad- dition to the proverbial "Time, place and girl," a minister in marrying mood, grasped the opportunity, and drawing his blushing fiancee to the altar, was married also.
"D. W. C. Towne, who, before coming west had been a druggist, failed to make a success of farming, and after a few years of pioneering, removed his family to Grand Island, Nebraska.
"To me their going was a bitter tragedy, and even after these many years it hurts to recall the poignant grief and sense of utter desolation which overwhelmed me as I stood watching the prairie schooner moving slowly down the road carrying my dearly loved little friend out of my life forever. I never saw Crissie again, and I shall never forget her. She died four or five years later.
"To return to the early school days-our second term was held in the new Ticeville schoolhouse. We were fortunate in having as teacher, Fred Sinclair, a man of culture and vision.
"The custom of 'boarding 'round,' inaugurated that year, was discontin- ued afterward, much to the relief, undoubtedly, of Mr. Sinclair's successors.
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"We had two or three excellent teachers among whom charming Julia Graham, fresh from normal school, stands out conspicuously. We thought her beautiful and her clothes, from the bustle of fashionably ample dimen- sions, to the rich, red velvet cuffs and collar which adorned her green broad- cloth dress-perfect.
15
F
First Schoolhouse built in Ludden by W. H. Caldwell, fall of 1887
"But it was during the year I was able to attend the Ludden school that I came in contact with that teacher, Mrs. Karten, a woman of vision and talent, who made the school room a place of delight. While it is true that her methods met with much adverse criticism, I believe her pupils all found her teaching inspiring. She was a purist and spoke delightful English. She stressed proper pronunciation and at least tried to teach us to enunciate distinctly.
"Our first Fourth of July celebration was memorable. It was held in the sandhills. Miss Minnie Nearsh, dressed in white, with a crown upon her head, her long hair streaming, made a charming goddess of Liberty. She stood at the front of the hay rack, surrounded by as many states of the Union as there was room for the young girls representing them. Driving to the hills was great fun. We had a community picnic dinner, followed of course, by the reading of the Declaration of Independence. We listened to many warmly patriotic speeches, and May Towne carried on a delightful flirtation with Charles Brown. A few of us who were homesick for the sight of a trec, spent much time wistfully gazing off toward the east, at the dark spots on the distant hills which were said to be small forests.
"There was much tender pathos in our efforts to honor the soldier dead
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who were buried on their claims and on Decoration Day we drove for miles in lumber wagons, stopping at each lonely mound to reverently lay upon it a few of the wild flowers we had gathered.
"Sunday school, and when a minister was available, preaching services, were held at the school house. To the delight of the young people who sat on the grass outside and listened, there was much controversy-I think that all those who at that time contended so bitterly, grew later to realize how little difference it made whether the flock was shepherded by a Baptist, a Methodist or a Presbyterian. My father who so literally interpreted the injuction to, "Believe and be baptised," found his views broadening with the years.
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