Whirlwind geneaology trip leads Minneapolis man to Brantford farm, train depot

Jim Shetler of Minneapolis, Minn. is like so many of us. He has a desire to know from where he came, and he has conducted research into his ancestry on both his mother and father's side. However, the journey he embarked upon this spring is rather out of the ordinary- he is on a genealogy trip on steroids if you will, visiting the very places where his grandparents had been exactly 100 years ago, in 1918.

Along the way, he is sharing his experiences and telling his family's story via a blog entitled Jay and the Great War. It is an endeavor that led him to Eddy County this past week, where he wandered down gravel roads, searched the Eddy County Museum collection's database and spent time on the farm and in the train depot that his grandmother occupied during her short time here.

Shetler's grandmother, Rinda Marie Johnson (Shetler), arrived in Brantford, N.D. via the Great Northern Railroad on July 18, 1918. From there she went to work on the George W. Crandall farm, approximately 3 miles north and 3 miles west of Brantford, N.D. In tow was her 2-year-old son, Raymond, who would one day be Jim's father.

Rinda spent just four months in Eddy County on the Crandall farm, and they would be her last four months alive. She died of pneumonia, a complication of influenza, on November 29, 1918. Her father, John T. Johnson, had arrived just in time to sit at her bedside as she died. Son Raymond accompanied his grandfather back on the train later that day, and he went to live with Rinda's sister, Gertrude (Gertie) Upham, in Minneapolis.

Last Tuesday and Wednesday, Shetler spent time in New Rockford and Brantford, where his grandmother Rinda and father Raymond would have been a century ago. He drove out to the now-abandoned Crandall farm southeast of New Rockford, which is now owned by Gary and Greg Anderson. Interestingly enough, when Jim went to the Eddy County Courthouse to find out who the current landowner was, he was assisted by Kathy Anderson, Gary's wife. When he showed her the section of interest, she said "well, we own that land!"

Shetler also spent time inside the former Brantford depot train depot, which is now located at the Eddy County Museum on First Avenue North in New Rockford. The Great Northern Railroad ceased operation of the Brantford depot in 1969, and the building was moved to New Rockford in 1973. When Shetler emailed museum board members earlier this year about his planned trip, he was surprised to learn that the depot was still standing and accessible to the public.

In one of his first blog entries, Shetler outlines the background of each of his grandparents, shares how they met and gives details about what their lives were like. He learned much of the information by reading 170 letters Jay sent to Rinda between 1913 and 1919. He describes how Jay E. Shetler was born on October 9, 1887 in Brandon Gardens, Mich. and was raised in the town of Gaylord, located in northern Michigan. Jay's father, Edwin Shetler was a farmer; his mother Mary was a descendant of early settlers of Plymouth Colony. Jay had one brother, Dell to whom he was very close.

Rinda Marie Johnson was born December 14, 1887 in the township of Lodi in far southern Minnesota. Her father was a Norwegian immigrant, her mother a descendant of Scottish immigrants. Rinda, her parents and three siblings settled in LeRoy, a small town on the Minnesota/Iowa border. As was in Jay's case, her father was a farmer.

Jay and Rinda met in 1915, when Rinda was working as a housekeeper in Waterloo, Iowa. Jay was managing a local restaurant and hotel at the time. Before long Jay and Rinda had moved to the Minnesota Northwoods, where they operated restaurants and Jay got into the lumber business. Then, on May 23, 1916, their son Raymond Jay Shetler was born in the town of Black Duck, Beltrami County, Minnesota.

Rinda was often ill with lung problems including pneumonia. Jay had written later in life that he had been very worried that Rinda wouldn't survive her illnesses. She was admitted to a hospital in Bemidji, Minn. on several occasions.

Eventually the cold winters and tough economics got the better of the family. They pulled up stakes and moved back to southern Minnesota, closer to Rinda's family. Jay hit the road as a salesman, his territory including Minnesota and Iowa, and he wrote many letters home to Rinda and Raymond. In many of Jay's letters, he recalls the good times they had in the north.

Then came the war and everything changed.

Jay registered for the draft in his hometown of Gaylord on June 5, 1917, the first National Registration Day when all men then between the ages of 21 and 30 were required to register.

He was drafted into the U.S. Army on March 10, 1918. He then completed months of training, boarded a ship overseas on July 14, 1918, and served in World War I until his discharge on June 12, 1919. He served as a Mess Sergeant with the 301st Engineers in Flirey, France and in Germany with the Army of Occupation.

Shetler's blog chronicles Jay's time in World War I by posting transcripts of the letters he wrote to Rinda and other family members. Shetler's genealogical journey has also led him to Camp Devens and Fort Devens Museum near Ayre, Mass., where Jay trained; the Kautz Family YMCA Archives at the University of Minnesota, where copies of the Trench and Camp newspaper Jay likely read are archived; and he even spent time in France and Germany, where Jay was stationed during the war.

Just days before he drove to New Rockford, Shetler was in New York to mark another 100-year anniversary. He traveled to Bush Terminal Piers Park in Brooklyn, N.Y. which was, as he wrote, "the site from which, at this hour, 100 years ago today, on July 14, 1918, the troopship Katoomba, laden with my grandfather and the 301st Engineers was towed into New York Bay to start its journey across the Atlantic."

The Shetler family story is demonstrative of the time, and Jim's blog is rife with history and context of what life was like for his grandparents and others who lived during the Great War. Follow his journey online at https://jayinthegreatwar.com.

The Eddy County Museum's digital collections database is available to search at the Eddy-New Rockford Public Library during normal business hours. Anyone who desires to conduct geneaology research or see what items the museum has in its collection related to a specific topic should contact librarian Susie Sharp at (701) 947-5540 to schedule an appointment.