Sherburne History Center Blog

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline was a recent topic of the Sherburne History Center Book Club.  As the conversation evolved several questions came up: Were there many orphan train children in Sherburne County?  Were there other sources in Minnesota for families wanting to adopt or bring children into their families?  (Yes, I know, if you read the book, I am phrasing this very delicately). Well, I can’t answer the first question.  But an announcement in the Sherburne County Star News from March 1, 1900 helps answer the second question.  The announcement read: Mr Lewis of the state school, Owatonna, came into town last week, bringing with him a school girl for Mrs. Colbeck.  As we peruse the columns of the county newspapers, we are finding similar announcements.  It appears the state school in Owatonna served as a source for children.  The official name for the orphanage was: The Minnesota State Public School for Dependent and Ne...

John Putnam deserves sainthood.   Okay, that may be an overstatement, yet, here is a man that devoted his entire life to the development and improvement of Sherburne County.  His contributions to Sherburne County need to be recognized.  Born 10 November 1826, he moved to Big Lake, Sherburne County in 1855 where he lived until his death on 3 October 1899.   Putnam was one of the first settlers around Humboldt, the community known today as Big Lake.   In the forty four years he lived in Big Lake he held just about every possible elected office and public servant station in the county.  He was county clerk, Register of Deeds, County Auditor, first Clerk of the Court, Probate Judge, and County Commissioner.  He also served in a variety of offices in the City of Big Lake and for the local School District.  As a staunch supporter of the Republican Party, he was appointed Postmaster in 1861 and held the job almost continuously until 1898....

We recently wrote about the devastating fire in Elk River in 1898.  We also mentioned the efforts towards fire prevention with brick construction in the business district.  The Star News on August 3, 1899 reported a new, advanced, method of fire suppression: The Houlton Block building installed a “system water works” running through the building with the help of a “hydraulic ram.”  Added benefits to this new system, the Riverside Hotel connected to the system to provide water to the rooms, and “free watering trough” in front of the hotel would also be fed by this system.   The Elk River fire of 1898 devastated the city.  Like a phoenix rising out of the ashes, Elk River in the post fire days emerged greater and stronger than ever.  Just a few years later, another fire in the city inspired the creation of public utilities and construction of the first Elk River water tower.  Lessons learned from these tragedies were quickly applied to the ...

An interesting statement published in the Sherburne County Star News  on 3 December 1896: Cheap tooth brushes are responsible for many obscure throat, stomach and intestinal ailments. The bristles are only glued o and come off by the half dozens when wet and come into contact with the teeth.   Yet, another healthful tip from the industrious reporters and editors in Sherburne County.

We have written about the William Marsh family in the past.  Longtime residents of Blue Hill Township, they lived in the township from 1877 until about 1903.  Overtime the Marsh family suffered a number of misfortunes.  Mrs. Marsh, Elizabeth Ann Hull, gave birth to twelve children, one survived to adulthood.  Of those children, five of them died during a diphtheria crisis in October and November of 1880.  A few years later, another child was killed in a horse riding accident.  Still later, another died from pneumonia and another died from appendicitis.   During these horrific episodes in the Marsh family, William Marsh served the roll of sexton for the Blue Mound, also known known as the Blue Hill, Cemetery.  Given his proximity to the cemetery, it seems logical his family would be buried there.  The obituary for Elizabeth Marsh notes that she is buried at Blue Hill. Unfortunately, there are no grave markers for the Marsh family....

Fire swept through Elk River in April 1898.  Although great news, more important than the fire was the rebuilding of the business district.  Newspapers reported half of the district destroyed. The event that “everybody in Elk River has been momentarily expecting for the past twenty years” devastated the community.  The town and most of its buildings consisted of wood.  When the fire started in the back of S. C. Brown dry goods store, it swept through the town causing $50,000 in damages.  Originally, railroad tracks split through the middle of the business center of Elk River. Immediately after the fire many merchants expressed regret over the division of the Elk River business district.  In the days after the fire, plans were developed to move downtown center of Elk River to the south side of the railroad tracks.  The businessmen also determined the entire downtown would be built of brick.   The results of the plans to move Elk R...

I received this challenging question several times while discussing post World War Two Sherburne County.  Answering the question is important because Highway 10 provides perspective on events around the county.  The Highway also remains an emotional scar on the psyche of Sherburne County. The direct answer about construction of Highway 10:  the project began in 1929 and expanded in 1952.  At first glance the road seemed a great gift, connecting two major cities with small Sherburne County towns.  Yet, expansion in 1950 caused major upset.  Charles Babcock promoted Highway 10 during his tenure as Highway Commissioner.  The two lane highway through Sherburne County opened in 1929.  Some of the road was paved, other sections were dirt or gravel.  It stretched from Anoka through Sherburne County to North Dakota.   The greatest impact to Sherburne County and the road came in 1950.  The Highway Department announced the wideni...

As a former newspaper reporter, I know firsthand the long hours and challenges demanded by the job of collecting news.  Local news columns from the Sherburne County Star News reveal the difficulties and dangers of the occupation of newspaper correspondent. Early in 1897 the newspaper published appeals for news and reports from around the county.  “We would be glad to have anyone residing in town or county send in news items,” the editors wrote.  “It is not necessary that the items be startling ones, for instance a murder, or a house burning up with all its inmates,” the paper published.  “Any little pleasant social occurrence is always interesting: an entertainment you may have given; a trip you are taking; a friend who is visiting you; … as well as the stand-bys; births, deaths, and marriages.”  Both the editors and the correspondents often found news detecting difficult.  In a local news column from Becker published on January 1, 1897, the Star ...

June 25 and June 26 were not good days in the history of Becker, Minnesota.  In only 12 hours, disaster stacked up on disaster for the small community.  Near catastrophe set the entire town on edge like an over caffeinated speed freak.  In midafternoon, June 25, 3 pm to be exact, fire alarms rang out throughout the town.  The landmark potato warehouse, the storage facility of the Knutson and Gongoll store, began to burn. Becker did not have any type of firefighting equipment at the time.  Men fought the conflagration as a bucket brigade until responders from Big Lake and Clear Lake arrived.  While the neighboring firefighters fought the flames on the warehouse, the bucket brigade turned their attention to nearby homes and other buildings.  The gas pumps at the Hy-Way Inn were drenched with water to prevent explosion.  The shingles of the A. G. Stevens building smoldered and extinguished four separate times.  And, the flames reached the M...

The Klondike strain of Gold Fever infected Sherburne County in 1897.  The Sherburne County Star News noted the particular disease in August and began offering best advice for those afflicted with the virus and those contemplating an adventure into the Alaska gold fields.                In the summer months of 1897, the newspaper advised it was already too late to begin the trek to the Klondike.  Adventurous Sherburnites might reach Alaska when the goldfields would be snowed covered.  The paper calculated eight months to reach Juneau, the jumping off point for the Klondike goldfields.  The newspaper suggested adventurers time their journey so that they reach Alaska in the summer months and make the final trek to the interior during the easier summer months.              “Those who penetrate into the ice and snow must be rugged and hardy...

August 5 is National Underwear Day.  It seemed like a good time to expose a portion of the Sherburne History Center collection.  We all have seen them. Most of us wear them.  Yet, undergarments rarely occupy exhibit space. Undergarments don't receive much attention in the fashion magazines much less the ivory tower journals of history.  Yet, here they are: the garments that keep you warm and keep you dry.  Garments that serve a very important function in our daily lives.  Here are two examples of underwear from the SHC collection. Happy National Underwear Day!!

On the SHC website we offer “look ups” for both obituaries and death notices.   Requests for these look ups arrived in the past few weeks.  Concerned that researchers do not make the distinction between obits and death notices, maybe we need to note the difference.  When you search for death information, you know the difference and anticipate results.   Content provides a distinction between obits and death notices.  A death notice is a straight forward announcement of death.  Printed details include the name, date of death, and possibly some distinguishing feature of the individual.  In the early newspapers of Sherburne County, death notices can be found anywhere in the pages.  Often, small paragraphs are printed in the local news columns.   In contrast to the death notice, surviving family members help write obituaries.  They are longer than death notes, and they are much more personalized.  Date of birth; date of de...

A conservationist described the Sand Dunes State Forest as “A green dream come true.”  An area recovered from desolate, sandy soil to “a nature lover’s dream.”  An area in Orrock Township, at one time regarded as decent farmland.  With the coming drought in the 1930s the land became a farmer’s nightmare.  By 1940, farmers and Sherburne County residents described the land in Orrock Township as a wasteland, the epicenter of the poison ivy capital of the world, and the home of Zimmerman sand.  The land was so bad “the jack rabbits carried lunch bags as they hopped over the area.” Beginning in 1943, a transformation took hold and the resurrection of tillable land came about.  In no small part, this dramatic change resulted from efforts by Ray Clement, the Minnesota Forest Service and County conservationist Ella Kringland.    Farmers abandoned land or surrendered to tax forfeiture.   Clement petitioned the state legislature to set a...

Working in the Archival collections this morning, I came across this postcard from the Davis Brothers store in Elk River.  From the collection, it appears Davis Brothers issued a series of postcards for each month in 1911 and 1912.  No doubt mass produced, the post cards highlight the efforts of local businesses to promote themselves.  Unfortunately, we do not have a great deal of information about Davis Brothers in Elk River.  Andrew Davis created the mercantile.  He first worked with H. H. Wheaton.  Later he joined partnership with H. J. Heebner.  The fire of 1902 destroyed the company.  Out of the ashes, Davis built the mercantile that became Davis Bros.  He led the company until his death in 1922. In addition to the promotional cards, two undated photos in the collection illustrate business growth for Davis Bros.  The first is the actual store, the photo most likely is dated around 1910.  The second photo shows Davis ...

Fire is always a frightening threat in Minnesota.   The Hinckley Fire in 1894 and the Cloquet Fire in 1918 devastated land and destroyed lives in North Central Minnesota.  Just these two fires killed nearly 1000 people and caused property losses in the millions of dollars.  Fire also threatened small, isolated farms throughout Minnesota.  The newspaper columns carried numbers of reports on devastating farm fires.  April 1895, Sherburne County newspapers reported a significant fire at the farm of Chris Leider, Livonia Township.  “His house and nearly all of its contents,” were destroyed by fire.  “A granary and about 300 bushels of wheat which was kept over from the crop of three years ago were also destroyed.  The insurance had just run out, and as a consequence the loss is total.”  A few months later fire destroyed a second Livonia farm site.  The newspapers printed the terrible final news “no insurance.” Unfortunately, th...

Commentary on the news coverage in Becker, published in the Sherburne County Star News , 6 August 1896: Miss Grace, looking over our shoulder, remarked, “I know why all your items don’t appear.  The editor can’t read your writing.” An interesting explanation in the columns of the Sherburne County Times 23 March, 1899.  I am not sure if this is the writing of a frustrated editor, or a need to fill space. Newspaper men are blamed for a lot of things they can’t help, such as partiality in mentioning visitors, giving news about some folks and leaving others out, etc.  The newspaper man cannot help this.  He simple prints the news he can find.  Some people inform him about such things and others do not.—Ed.  An interesting perspective to contemplate as we search for news of our ancestors in the newspapers.  Maybe our kin are simply not that informative.

Memoirs and Biographies from Sherburne County provide fascinating reading.  If we all took pen and paper to record our memoirs, imagine the excitement we would generate.   Imagine the information and knowledge we could share with the world.  Two books, a memoir and edited letters provide examples of the great value of written, personal history.  Rod Hunt’s book A Boy’s Guide to Big Lake, Minnesota and Other Stuff and Herb and Corinne Murphy’s They Called Her Maria make the history come alive.  Rod Hunt describes fishing at the confluence of the Elk and St. Francis Rivers, you understand his hopes, desires, and prayers to catch a Northern Pike.  And, you dread reeling in the Rock Bass.  The nasty, gritty taste of a Rock Bass permeates your mouth as Hunt remembers “they are called Rock Bass because they taste like the bottom of a rock.” Straight forward, serious history comes alive in the pages of Herb and Corinne Murphy’s book They Called He...

The sky was black, dark, almost like a coming storm.  But as the clouds moved closer a shrill hum seemed to accompany the storm.  Only when the cloud finally arrived was it apparent: this was no rainfall, no simple burst of water from the sky.  Instead, the heavens dropped an invading horde of grasshoppers, more specifically Rocky Mountain Locusts, upon the farm lands of Minnesota.  Arriving first in 1873, and for the next five years, in a seeming random pattern a plague of locusts returned to devour the crops of farmers throughout the state. Various descriptions of this five year plague contain consistent themes.  The grasshoppers came, devouring everything in their path.  First chewing and destroying the grain crops, then any green plants that might remain.  In an effort to fight the destruction, some farmers tried covering plants with blankets and other cloth.  The grasshoppers ate the fabric.  Other reports describe the grasshoppers ...

As you research the history of Sherburne County, or Minnesota for that matter, a collection of documents you might want to consider viewing are the Public Safety Commission Alien Registration and Declaration of Holdings Forms, from 1918.  The records are held by the Minnesota Historical Society.  Microfilm copies of the Sherburne County records are available at SHC These records, the alien registration forms, contain a wealth of information.  They were collected in the early days of World War I.  The Public Safety Commission set out to identify and document the individuals and the property holdings of every alien living in Minnesota. The Commission was created by the State of Minnesota, a board of seven members: including the Governor, the State Attorney General and five members appointed by the Governor.  Early in 1918, the Commission issued “Proclamation and Order No. 25” designating the week of February 25 to March 1 as Alien Registration Days. ...

What’s In A Name?  Actually, quite a bit.  I want you to meet Andrew A. Dahl, from Danetown, Santiago Township, Sherburne County, Minnesota.  He was born in Denmark, in 1857.  His father was Anders Jorgenson Dahl.  As was the custom in Denmark, Andrew’s last name then became Anderson.  Andrew immigrated to the United States in 1879 and quickly settled in Sherburne County. All of this back story is important because Andrew and his wife Mary settled in Danetown.  There was an abundance of Andersons living in the area.  So much so, that produce checks from the Minneapolis markets to the farmers often got mixed up and delivery became very confused. The story goes: Andrew, in an effort to simplify his life and insure that he received his produce checks, legally changed his name to Dahl.  This name change occurred sometime after 1900.  The court record continues for a generation when at least one of his four surviving children had to agai...

            An article published in the Big Lake Herald and reprinted in the Sherburne County Star News reinforces what we have been documenting for some time: tourism was intended as a major industry in Sherburne County going back to the original settlement of the county.  The article printed in 1907 reports: Henry Ferguson, a resident of Wright county over forty years, at present of Big Lake, Sherburne County, dined at Brown’s Hotel in Big Lake May 7, 1855, and at the same hotel May 7, 1907, 52 years after only.  Mr. Ferguson is in the eighty-second year and enjoying good health for which he is thankful.  Brown’s hotel was located by Joseph Brown in June, 1847, and continued by his son, N. D. Brown, up to the present time, 60 years only.               Advertisement for Brown’s Hotel, as a place for fine fishing and a nice spot to get away from the hustle and bustle...

Every discussion regarding cemetery markers and gravestones, inevitably evolves into the question: how do you extract information from those old stones?  How do you decipher the worn ones; the stones with almost no visible engraving left on the surface.  Some people suggest cleaning the stones, take some shaving cream or mild soap and scrap off the moss and lichen that has attached to the stone.  Unfortunately, THIS IS BAD.  I can guarantee that you will damage the stone beyond repair if you try to clean it.   Leave the cleaning to the professionals. Probably the best alternative I have found to extract information from a worn stone is through the use of aluminum foil   Wrap the surface of the stone with aluminum foil.  Then take a soft sponge and gently press against the surface of the stone.  DO NOT RUB THE STONE.  Gently press the aluminum foil into every tiny crevice of the stone surface.   Gradually the original i...

I was reviewing the oral history collection at SHC.  This particular passage from the Carl Aubol Oral History reminded me of how far society has come.  In just 80 years, electricity has given the United States an abundance of luxury items and made life so much simpler.  I wanted to share some of that with you. Aubol TV and Appliance has been operating in Big Lake, MN since the 1930s.   Even before the opening of the store, dating back to the early 1920s, Harold Aubol was working on radios in his home to give isolated farmers greater access to news and information.  The entire oral history is fascinating. “My dad started a store in 1934.  Dad started out building radios because people didn't have access to the news and things in their homes at that time except with battery pack radios.  As electricity come in, then they replaced the battery type radios with electric.  That made quite a change.  Then also with the appliances, ...

Recently, this photograph was donated to the Sherburne History Center.  We have very little information to go with it.  We know that it was given to the Becker VFW many years ago.  That is about all!  We think this might be the Minnesota National Guard unit posing in front of a barracks at Camp Ripley.  But that is a guess.  Anyone with any skill at identifying photographs, your help or suggestions to identify this photo or the men in it would be appreciated.

The following two announcements reinforce the idea of “trust but verify” in family history. They also suggest why family history research can be so much fun yet so challenging. The two announcements were published in the Sherburne County Star News on 6 February and 13 February 1896 in the “Becker News” column on page 5.  Even the most intrepid of news reporters and correspondents can get the facts wrong.  So, in family history we have the responsibility to “trust but verify.” 6 February 1896   13 February 1896 And special thanks to my colleague, Phyllis Scroggins, who found these two announcements and brought them to my attention.  While reading the microfilm newspapers, Phyllis manages to find the most interesting information.

Here, in about 1909, is a young, supposedly happy family.  You really can’t tell because there are very few smiles on these five people.  But, the lack of smiles may be a result of sitting for the camera.  In 1909, photos were somewhat pricey and you wanted to get the image as quickly and as inexpensively as possible.  So, “don’t smile and ruin the picture.”  This is Edward Cox, Jr, his wife Lillian and three of their children.  We can pretty closely date the photo because baby Edward was born in 1908 and died in a fire in 1911. The styles in clothing also give some hints to dating the photo.  More importantly, it says something that the Cox family gave close attention to style.  They appear to be a young, hardworking family destined to enter the middle class of the United States. Edward is up to date with his style of ties, with the half Windsor knot, or possibly a four-in-hand knot.  Mrs. Cox is also keyed into Edwardian style dress wi...

In a trial in Becker in 1895, an interesting bit of local law proceedings were reported in the Sherburne County Star News: Thomas Parento accused Fred Specovious of stealing hay valued at eight dollars.  After two hours of testimony and five hours of jury deliberation, no conclusion was reached.  We had a “hung jury.”  The local magistrate, Judge Shephardson suggested that if the two parties could settle on the matter, jury costs would be reduced.  At this point, the court costs amounted to $20.  A cost of more than twice the value of the missing hay.  Parento and Specovious agreed to drop the case and split a $7 fee for court costs. I am not sure if this reveals the wisdom of the court, or the two farmers saw the economic advantages to a settlement.   Regardless of the underlying “moral of the story,” the report does highlight the pragmatic approach often displayed in the court room in small towns in the Midwest.

“One trouble with Elk River,” exclaimed one of our citizens, “is that we are too quiet, we don’t blow enough about the town and its advantages.”   The Sherburne County Star News published this comment on 12 September 1895.  It served to introduce a number of columns promoting the value of land and living in Elk River.  The publication in the pages of the local newspaper is an interesting bit of boosterism. The articles something akin to “preaching to the choir.”  Although, the newspaper will reach areas outside of Elk River, the bulk of the membership already knows about the “value of land” in the area.   Yet, the paper goes on to promote Elk River land and living: “Many of our business men are possessing themselves of small tracts of land convenient to town, as they are offered for sale,” the paper reported.  “This does not mean, necessarily, that they contemplate abandoning the business they are engaged in and go to farming for a living, b...

An interesting collection in the Archives of the Sherburne History Center consists, in part, of letters from Clarence McNeil to his wife Laura Keasling, the third daughter of George Keasling.  Clarence McNeil grew up in Livonia Township in the 1870s and 1880s.  He was born in Lake City, Minnesota.  His family moved to Sherburne County when he was only 15 months.  He was an intelligent young man, after his education in the public schools, he trained to be a civil engineer.  All of this led up to his travel to Alaska in 1898.  McNeil found himself in the midst of the Klondike Gold Rush.  Some of his letters describe the excitement and hard work in Alaska. On March 7, 1898, he wrote to his wife both exciting news and details of struggle and hard work.  “…by the way I am no ordinary Engineer anymore.  I am now Chief Eng. Of the Chilcoot Railway and Transportation Co.  What do you think of that(?) …Herb and Lester are hauling fre...

If anyone is out there, I realize it has been almost three years since I last posted.  Well, I have made it a goal to publish more in the coming year, 2015.  So stay tuned.  I hope to post information at least once a week in the coming year.  In the meantime, here is a photo from our collection.  I am sending it because the baseball season is about to start and that makes life more complete!  This photo of the Big Lake Baseball team is dated around 1915.