History of New Rockford: July 29, 2019

The July 25, 1902, edition of the “New Rockford Transcript” said sealed bids would be received until Aug. 9 for the erection of a pile bridge over the James River on the section line between 32 and 3, T148, R65 [Pleasant Prairie].

That issue had a Card of Thanks from John Weimals and family to friends and neighbors for their help during their “recent affliction.”

Prader & Goss had just received a carload of Diamond, Valley Queen, and Belle flour. Elmer Dinnetz was selling “a good line of remedies.” Mrs. L.J. Brown had Point Lace Protection Collars for sale.

C.F. Clure was selling five work horses, a cow, two calves, a drill, a gang plow, one Boss harrow, one Acme Harrow, one hand plow, and a buggy.

A $2,000 German Lutheran Church was being constructed by Fred Sonnenberg on Gregory Ave. East. The excavation for the $3,000 addition to the Catholic Church had been started. The excavation for George A. Brown’s new opera house had begun. Mr. and Mrs. B.C. Larkin’s new home, costing over $2,000, was going up on the east side. E.H. Martin was building a 28x34 barn with 16-foot posts on his east side property. A.J. Richter was hauling lumber for a 44x56 barn on his farm southeast of New Rockford. Richard Baker was building a barn on his farm south of A.J. Richter’s. Louis Martinson [Lewis Mortensen?] was building a large barn on his farm near Barlow. Peter Dodds was building a large barn on his farm southeast of New Rockford. H.G. Hudson had just installed a large horizontal ice cream freezer which held 30 quarts at a time in his confectionary and restaurant.

Father W.A. Gallahue, an assistant priest in Jamestown, had been appointed to the New Rockford parish. The members of the Jamestown parish gave him $103 on July 24 and the next day he left for his new parish.

Early in the week J.D. Carroll came in from Washington Lake and George Pincott was in from eastern Eddy County. Nels Farr was in on business.

On July 25, A.H. Crawford and son Morrison of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, arrived in New Rockford to visit. Martin Walsh and August Kiehlow were in town, the latter on business. Frank Ponto was down from the Sheyenne Valley. Miss Mary Bronson was down from Oberon to visit Mrs. E.R. Davidson; she returned on Aug. 5. That evening Mrs. Sophia Grubb, national WCTU speaker, was at the Methodist Church.

On July 26, Gus Anderson and Perry and Charles Blomquist were up from Barlow. Sheyenne druggist F.L. Kermott was down on business. Fred Zimmerman, Jr., and Fred Allmaras were in on business. William Erdelbrock came in from west of town. Dan Ducke was in New Rockford. Harry Campbell came in from Oshkosh, Wis.; he would stay for the summer and fall. That evening Howard Eidemiller rode his bicycle to Barlow; he returned the next day.

On July 26 and 27, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Culp visited relatives near Carrington. On those days Mrs. Sophia Grubb, the national WCTU lecturer and organizer, was in Tiffany. She gave a talk and the gospel sermon on July 27 and organized a WCTU chapter, which met for the first time on the evening of July 30 in the Clark School. Rev. Nordmore spoke on “Christian Citizenship,” the Johnston girls sang as a trio, Miss Carnie Parker recited “Too Late,” the president Mrs. Frederick Skidmore gave a short talk, which was followed by a social hour and light refreshments.

From July 26 to July 30, Mrs. M.P. Burns, wife of Methodist District Presiding Elder Rev. Burns, and their two sons visited Rev. and Mrs. C.F. Sewrey.

On the afternoon of Sunday, July 27, the Blues and the Grays were supposed to play for a $25 purse. The teams had played to a 4-4 tie on the evening of July 24 in a game called by darkness. However, there weren’t enough Blues, so the Grays defeated a “pickup team” 25-9 [no mention of the purse].

At 2:30 p.m. on July 28 in baseball it was Carrington 6; at New Rockford 4. The season series had been tied at 1-1. J.F. Ronish of Carrington hit the first home run on the New Rockford diamond. For some reason New Rockford batted in the top half of the innings while the visiting team Carrington did so in the bottom half. Owens and Stickney were the New Rockford battery. William Bucklin was the umpire, and H.C. Johnson acted as the scorer.

On that day George Lovell was in from eastern Eddy County. Herb Losee of Tiffany was in town. Mrs. H.G. Lathrop of Tiffany came in to shop. J.R. Engberg came up from Barlow on real estate matters. Dan Larson was in on business. Railroad mail clerk E.G. Allison, completely recovered from his injuries of April 14, visited his parents Mr. and Mrs. R.P. Allison between trains. Chris Fahrner came in from the Superior district. A.H. Crawford and his son Morrison went to Esmond to visit Dr. John Crawford, their son and brother. Bandmaster and barber Lou Smith went to Harvey for a few days. J.T. Wiltsie, manager of the Great Western Elevator, went to Devils Lake for the damage suit trial against the elevator by Mrs. P.W. Hammer. [After the verdict against the Great Western, Wiltsie was let go and became the manager of an elevator in Barlow in August.] That evening there was a hail storm with very heavy rain in eastern Eddy County; the damage was slight. Northeast of New Rockford there was a “fair amount” of rain, but just a little hail. Judson Gilbreath was over from McHenry to visit.

From July 28 to July 30, elevatorman H.G. Gage was in Devils Lake on business.

On July 29, Andrew Cotter came in from Tiffany on business. D.D. Dailey was in from eastern Eddy County; he had a 50 percent crop loss in the previous night’s storm. Jack Griffith came in from the Marsh Chamberlain farm to visit. Mr. and Mrs. D.H. Keyton were in shopping. John Welsh was in from his farm northeast of town. Charles Albright and Nick Majerus came in on business. Mrs. Fred Hanson of Barlow was visiting. That night while H.G. Gage was in Devils Lake, someone broke into the Andrews & Gage elevator, opened the loading spout, and around a hundred bushels of wheat spilled out onto the railroad tracks.

On July 30, the members of the Mason’s Way Down South Coon Minstrels show arrived by train, as had been promised by several “ratty” posters that had been hung up around town. In the opinion of the “Transcript,” the music “was terrible,” as was the singing; the entire performance was a “fake” without “a redeeming feature.” Only a few New Rockford residents would admit they had attended.

On that day David Geiger and his mother came in to shop. Col. Seth Bailey came in from the Gudgell Ranch on business; Charles Hutchinson was also in on business. Frank E. Deimer was in from Barnesville, Minn., for a visit; he returned on Aug. 6. Walter and Frank Treffry arrived from Marshalltown, Iowa, to spend the summer with their father George Treffry on his farm southeast of town. Frank Parker went to Barlow on business. That evening Barney Engberg came up from Barlow.

On July 31, O.O. Wolden of the Hotel Wolden in Sheyenne was in New Rockford. George D. Setz and Isaac Sanderson of Tiffany, Dr. John “Jack” Crawford of Esmond, Jacob Roffler, J.R. Craig, Thomas Adam, Tom Bollingberg, and D.B. Wellman were in town on business. Mrs. Alec McAcre visited between trains. Miss Mary Ohrner of Melville visited her brother Andrew Ohrner and his family between trains. F.G. Haver returned from Knox, where he had been superintending the construction of a grain elevator. Peter Michel was in from the Guler district. David Twist finished cutting his barley on his farm northwest of New Rockford and was in town the next day. Mr. and Mrs. John F. Goss left on a two-week visit to the Twin Cities, Chicago, some Eastern cities, and his former home, Marseilles, Ill. Mrs. Peter Prader and children left on a Wisconsin visit; they returned on Aug. 16. Dr. MacLachlan’s mother returned to her home in Chatham, Ontario, Canada, after a couple weeks’ visit.