Sherburne History Center Blog

View of Fox House in its original condition With May being National Historic Preservation Month, it seems appropriate to talk about one of the five National Register sites in Sherburne County.   The most obscure and underappreciated of the sites must be the Herbert Maximillian Fox House.   So, we need to look at this structure to appreciate the impact and influence the site provides.     The original owner and builder of the Fox House remains unknown.   Before Herbert Fox, Ole Martinson purchased an 80-acre parcel along the St Francis River.   He later sold the parcel to Samuel P. Glidden, who in turn sold it to Fox.   With these transactions, the farm site grew to 160 acres.   Sometime before Fox purchased the property, Glidden or Martinson built the house. The house construction makes the site unique.   All of the original slates on the house were vertical, and load bearing.   There remains very little horizontal construction in th...

Fishing holds a rich and extended history in Sherburne County.   The first resort in the county, Brown’s Hotel, in 1855 advertised Big Lake as a premier fishing spot. In the last 165 years, fishing remains an important sport and pastime in the county.   Stories abound of landing that great catch, that trophy fish.   Yet, a detail of the sport, not often discussed, concerns the creation of that most personal of items, the fishing outfit.    Walter Gohman, in his memoirs, writes of the fishing kit he devised with hard work and a little creativity.   “I made a fishing outfit by selecting a very special willow pole,” he wrote.   “I skinned the bark from this pole and treated it with oil.   I found a wooden fish line spool and fastened this the side of the pole.   I made a crank handle with a bolt and used screw eyes to guide the line.”   Gohman went on to swear by the effectiveness of his outfit.   “We caught many fish of all ...

Paddy wagon in front of St. Cloud Reformatory, circa 1920 Improved roads and new automobiles delivered an unwanted result to Sherburne County in the 1920s.  Crime flourished in the area.  Perhaps the high point of the 1920s county crime spree occurred in 1927.  That year, a bandit gang of five men terrorized communities on the outskirts of Minneapolis.  Led by Frank “Slim” Gibson, the crew included Jack and Lester Northrup, and Ralph and Lester Barge.  In a crime spree expanding beyond Sherburne County, all the way to North Dakota, the men robbed banks and burglarized businesses.  The intrepid police work of Sherburne County officers led to their capture and prison sentences.  Beginning in 1926, the outlaw crew robbed merchants and banks throughout central Minnesota and North Dakota.  In November 1926 the gang robbed the bank in Wheelock, North Dakota.  Frank Gibson murdered bank cashier H. H. Peterson.  Continuing into 1927...

Mercantile of W. L Babcock and Sons, circa 1900.  SHC photo collection 1995.017.004 Highways, roads, streets and avenues play pivotal roles in daily life.   Smooth, comfortable transportation proved important to development of business and commerce in the state.   For Sherburne County, one individual stands out as vital to the growth and development of the county and the highway system running through the state: Charles Babcock.     Born in Orrock in 1871 to Willard and Serepeta Babcock, Charles Babcock grew up on a farm, later worked in his father’s mercantile store and still later became President on the Bank of Elk River.   In his early life no hint was made of his eventual success, or his importance, as Highway Commissioner of Minnesota.      After childhood years in public education, Charlie Babcock attended the University of Minnesota.   The economic crisis of 1893 caused him to drop out and return to work in the ...

In contrast to the recent blog about Charles Babcock and the first automobile in the county, we have reports of the second and third automobiles in the county.  The Sherburne County Star News reported on August 29, 1907: “M. C. Blanchett wasn’t satisfied with the horseless carriage that was sent him and refused to keep it.  He now has a “Buick,” like Charlie Babcock’s machine.”   The citizens of Sherburne County waited another three months to discover the extent of Blanchett’s satisfaction.  November 28, 1907 the Star News reported: “M. C. Blanchett made the run to St. Cloud and back with his auto last Saturday afternoon in three and a half hours.  The home run was made in 85 minutes.  This shows what an expert driver “Mose” is getting to be.”    Citizens of Sherburne County are moving rapidly into the 20 th century.

The cliché tells us that “truth is often stranger than fiction.”  In the case of the Becker Post Office robbery of 1931, the truth reads like fiction.  Here is a story of a woman betrayed and a group of cold hearted men plotting for the promise of easy money.   The story begins with Mr. Berga Glisson.  A resident of St. Cloud, in 1931 he had been spending time with the post mistress of Becker, Miss Gertrude Dyson.  For two years the couple had been together.  In December 1931, according to the Sherburne County Star News Glisson and three cohorts schemed to rob the safe of the Becker Post Office.  Glisson’s part in the crime was to duplicate a house key to the residential portion of the Post Office and deliver it to another of his co-conspirators.   The evening of December 6, 1931, using the key provided by Glisson, three men burst into the home of Miss Dyson.  They took Dyson and Glisson hostage and forced the postmistress to o...