Sherburne History Center Blog

Electricity in Sherburne County generates a variety of unique stories about living and growing up in the county.   Providing electricity to the entire county stretched, in time, for over forty years.   Electrical power first arrived in Elk River in 1917.   In other areas, isolated farms, in the county, electricity came available in the 1950s.   Stories of electricity and the times before electrical power provide a unique perspective on life in Sherburne County.   The edited oral history of Angela Goenner. of Clear Lake, is one of these unique stories.   Born in Nebraksa, Angela (Eikmeier) Goenner found her way to Minnesota as a child.   Her parents operated a general store in Stearns County before moving to Sherburne County.   Angela married Ernest Goenner in 1933.   She lived on the family farm, in Clear lake, until her death in 2001.   She remembers her family getting electricity in 1948. I can remember a lot about what it wa...

The folklore regarding the settlement of Elk River and Sherburne County carries with it an image of industrious farmers taming the land and creating a home for their families.   Yet, at least one early resident of Sherburne County arrived to invest in community development, sell his investment and leave for more opportunity.   Ard Godfrey was not a farmer, nor a settler in Sherburne County.   He arrived in the area as an investor and quickly left after his investments returned a profit.   An overview of his life might help explain a new interpretation into the settlement or Elk River and Sherburne County. Early in the 1850’s, probably 1851, Ard Godfrey and James Jameson arrived in Sherburne County, at the convergence of the Elk and Mississippi Rivers.   An experienced millwright from Maine, Godfrey recognized the particular course of the Elk River offered a potential mill site. Godfrey set about obtaining the land and building a mill.   His efforts ...

With the lack of a graduation ceremony in 2020, we thought it appropriate to look back at another class of Elk River grads.   Men and women who put their lives on hold as the United states prepared to enter World War Two.   In three years, the world upon the class of 1938 to sacrifice for the war.    And the graduating class from Elk River answered the call.  Look closely on this image you may be able to pick out Jack Bade (second row, fourth from the right) and Charles Nagle (fourth row, second from left), both veterans from Elk River that served during the war (and men we have featured in these blog pages).  Other men and women on this photo collection may also have service records worth noting.

Over the past few years, some blog entries seemed so much fun to research and write.   I wanted to take a moment and share one of these entertaining posts.   This post was originally published July of 2011. Out west, tradition held that stealing a man’s horse was the most despicable and life-threatening action imaginable.   A horse thief was usually hanged without the benefit of a jury trial.   I recently came across the following article in the Sauk Rapids Frontierman on 7 June 1855:   The meanest and most contemptible action we know of, is for a white man to steal a canoe.   It is a common occurrence, for some people who are going to the Falls or St. Paul, and who are either too stingy or mean to pay for a passage down by land or purchase a canoe, to steal the first one they chance to see.   The people residing upon the river have lost a large number during the past two years, and we have lately been made a victim by one of this clas...

Moses Sherburne (1808-1868) A recent search of the index to this blog revealed a significant failure on my part: at no time in the past eight years, since beginning this blog, has an article regarding the county namesake been produced.   So, I will correct that oversight today. Presenting Moses Sherburne:  Through a combination of politics and legal acumen, Moses Sherburne received a unique honor of having a county named in his honor, while still alive.   To quote a biographer of Sherburne, he “was a conspicuous figure in the early days of Minnesota and was largely instrumental in guiding the Territory into statehood.”   His political livelihood, as well as his law practice, shed an interesting light on one of the early settlers of Minnesota and Sherburne County.  Born in 1808, Moses Sherburne spent the first 45 years of his life in Maine.   He studied the law and received admission to the Maine bar in 1831.   While practicing law, his fi...

With the postponement of the baseball opening day, it seemed a good idea to look back, to think about the history baseball.   In Sherburne County, in the spring-time baseball became ubiquitous.   It was everywhere.      So, I invite you to take a look at a few photos from the Sherburne History Center collection and think about baseball in the past.   Take a close look at the uniforms and equipment from earlier generations.   Realize, baseball gloves, 150 years ago, were non- existent.   The glove evolved from a small padded hand covering to the large, webbed baskets of today.   In earlier generations, sharpened spikes gave base runners an advantage in breaking up a double play.      Look at the gloves, look at the shoes, and look at the bats from earlier times.   Think about the evolution of this wonderful sport.   Just wait, opening day will come soon. 

With all of the commentary about pandemics and COVID-19, research revealed the serious amnesia Americans develop regarding the multitude of diseases and infections ravaging the world.   It seemed a good idea to explore these epidemics and the impact upon Sherburne County.   Unfortunately, very little evidence exists about the pandemics and epidemics in Sherburne County.  In the twentieth century, at least six epidemics can be documented in Sherburne County.   Influenza raced through the county in 1918, 1957, and 1968. Lest we all forget, the most recent Influenza Epidemic lasted from April of 2009 until April of 2010.   In the twelve months, there were 60 million cases reported in the United States.   Over 12,000 people died, 67 of them in Minnesota.   Polio, another epidemic, seemed to attack the young children of the United States each year.   Until the late 1950s polio epidemics seriously threatened the population of Minnesota at leas...