Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
This sewing machine once belonged to Mary Roaldson, who passed away in the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic. Over 100 years later, it still offers a glimpse into history for Judy (Valer) Dinkins and her family.
From October 4, 1918 to January 3, 1919, the pages of the "New Rockford Transcript" were filled with news of Spanish influenza. At the time, it must have been difficult to understand how New Rockford had become so inundated by disease.
It is believed that 3,000 individuals perished throughout the state, though estimates vary. The first documented case of Spanish Influenza in North Dakota was reportedly in New Rockford.
In late September of 1918, a U.S. Marine by the name of WM Geokail got off of the train in New Rockford and the rest was history. Geokail passed away on Sept 26, 1918 from influenza and in less than a week, there were more than a hundred cases of the flu and two more deaths in New Rockford, leaving the entire fabric of the community shaken.
The Great Northern Railroad conductor Ole Kirkebon and 33-year-old A.E. Gowenlock both passed away in those first weeks of the outbreak. The following week reported 11 dead due to the virus including young men, women, small children and adult couples.
During the week of Oct. 18, just as many deaths ensued, including 30-year-old pharmacist Donald Miller who was dedicating his time to provide patients medicine until he could no longer do so. Many others of the same age and even younger fell victim at this time: Guy Enheberg (30), Anna Flynn (28), Sumner Stitzel (23), Idal Olson (21), Rudolf Mazahn (19) and Martin Connolly (18).
On October 25, the "Transcript" reported that influenza was abating. Mrs. Olaf Myhre passed away that week, after being ill for 10 days. Her husband passed the following week.
The November 1 issue reported 12 deaths from pneumonia. The Andrew Johnson family mourned the loss of their three children in the course of three days. Others, including Verne Longenecker, lost the battle with the disease after a three-week ordeal.
The reports of deaths in the newspaper slowed in the second half of November. In fact, the November 15 issue made mention only of Mrs. Charles E. Carlson, who died after being ill only a short time, and Robert Lies, who had passed at the home of John Hartl.
On January 3, 1919, the newspaper published a lone death notice. The lady who died was Mary Roaldson. Mary was the great-aunt to former New Rockford resident Judy (Valer) Dinkins. Dinkins, who now lives in Hazen, contacted the Transcript in mid March to share the emerging story of her aunt.
In a interview with the "Transcript," Dinkins shared that she did not know her great-aunt, but that she had heard stories from her mother, who had inherited Mary's beloved sewing machine.
"It is a portable sewing machine," explained Dinkins, "It is the machine I learned to sew in- my mother inherited it and she also sewed with it. It does take some coordination because you have to guide the fabric with your left hand and turn the crank on the handle with your right hand."
The machine now takes up permanent residence in Dinkin's living room, a place where it easily became the topic of conversation when Dinkin's family visited several weeks ago. It was one of Dinkin's sons who harnessed a conversation regarding COVID-19 to ask about the sewing machine's original owner.
According to Dinkins, Mary worked as a traveling seamstress and spent her summers visiting the towns along the shores of Devils Lake. She was also a school teacher and a homesteader. She took out a land patented in June 1901 at the age of 23.
Mary also owned an automobile: a rarity in those days. But even more, she drove her car all the way to the west coast. Mary was in California when she received word that her mother had fallen ill and returned home. She spent time caring for her mother and soon opened her home to care for the sick.
By the end of the year, Mary had contracted influenza, and she later died as a result of the pneumonia that followed.
Dinkins' cousin Dale Rosenberg still lives south of New Rockford, yet another connection to the lives lost in the devastating pandemic of 1918.
We share these stories to personalize an illness that claimed the lives of so many Eddy County residents. This was a illness that reshaped the community in which we lived in many ways.
Readers who have information about others who perished due to complications of the Spanish flu are encouraged to contact the Transcript. Call (701) 947-2417 or email [email protected]
