History of New Rockford: May 31, 2021

On Feb. 16, 1904, George William Robinson, born March 16, 1840, near Montreal, Quebec, died at his home in Thief River Falls, Minn. He married Sarah A. Millen on Aug. 5, 1861, and they had seven children, three of whom survived him—William Robinson, St. Paul, Minn.; and Mrs. Jessie Jackson and Mrs. Anna Shea, both of Thief River Falls—as did his widow. [The Robinsons had come to Eddy County in 1883 (Foster County then) and they moved to Thief River Falls on May 10, 1901.] H. Peoples left on a business trip to the Twin Cities; he returned on March 8.

On Feb. 16 and 17, merchant Peter Prader attended the Retail Merchants Association of North Dakota’s convention in Grand Forks; he was elected to the executive committee.

Dr. E.L. Goss of Carrington came up to visit his brother, John F. Goss, between trains. John Anderson went to Barlow to do some wallpaper hanging. Joseph Maxwell left on a visit to the Canadian Northwest, where he would visit Nathan Flater and family, and some other former Eddy County folks; he was back around the first week of March, saying the rains were “something fierce” near Stavely, where the Flaters lived. That evening, the Methodist Ladies’ Aid hosted a social at the home of Mr. and Mrs. D.Y. Stanton; admission was 15 cents for a single and 25 cents for a couple. It was well attended; music, games, and refreshments pleased the guests. The Commercial Association met that evening and discussed city incorporation; no action was taken.

Feb. 17 and 18 saw “a terrific cold snap.” Charles Culp and S.M. Hylton visited in Carrington.

On Feb. 18, J.M. Deeter from northeast of town, W.G. Carter and Martin Walsh from Tiffany, and Hans Tuffli of the Guler district were in on business, as was Barlow blacksmith Fred Hanson, that evening. Thomas Bollingberg from the Twist neighborhood in Wells County came in on business and to visit; his young son’s health was much improved. On Feb. 18-20 and 22, F.W. Soule, the eyesight specialist, was at Babcock & Bucklin’s drug store.

The Feb. 19, 1904, the “Transcript” mentioned the “Medina Citizen,” “Havana Herald,” “Emmons County Record,” “Kulm Messenger,” “Fargo Call,” and the “Minot Optic.” The “Barlow Recorder” had closed down.

A.M. Greely had a short Letter to the Editor agreeing with the stand the “Transcript” had taken in the Feb. 12 edition against incorporation of New Rockford as a city. Greely thought any changes and/or improvements could be made through the committees of the Commercial Association. P.A. Riggle, an auctioneer with ten years of experience, was offering his services to the New Rockford area.

A note said that a literary society and “an old-fashioned spelling school organization” met every Thursday evening at the Columbia School.

In School Notes, many students had missed on Feb. 15 because of the weather. Edna Stanton and Robert Maxwell had been absent due to illness. May Young had recovered from her illness and was back teaching. The first and second primaries were learning songs and poems for Washington’s Birthday. The seventh graders were writing compositions on Washington. The following fifth and sixth graders had 100% in arithmetic: Elwin Beardsley, Maggie Ford, Elmer Gronvold, George Hawthorn, Harry Hawthorn, Maude Hersey, Lydia Hylton, Edna Stanton, Earl Syftestad, Karl Zehrfeldt, and Millo [Milo?] Zehrfeldt. Celestia Kellington had 100% in drawing in January. The botany class had begun using the microscope and slides.

Earl Starks had set aside every Tuesday afternoon as Ladies’ Day at his bowling alley.

Sgt. T.P. Morris, who had been confined to his home most of the winter, was finally able to get downtown and visit with his friends; Feb. 2 marked the 52nd anniversary of his enlistment in the U.S. Army. Daniel Labhardt, who had been sick for some time, had recovered enough to be out. Mrs. G.W. Johnston was recovering northeast of New Rockford from a severe stomach problem. Mrs. F.L. Kermott, Mrs. C.C. Manning, N.B. Garnaas, B. Garnaas (quinsy), and Theo. Quam had all been sick that week in Sheyenne.

A.C. Buck spent the week in the drug store in Barlow because Dr. McNamara was visiting in Duluth. J.V.N. Sundberg was running the Anderson Lumber Yard in Sheyenne. Peter Gunderson had returned to Sheyenne from the Pacific Coast.

The big Russell Snow Plow had been keeping the branch line open for the previous ten days; on Feb. 13, the southbound train was composed of the snow plow, three locomotives, three coaches, and a caboose.

That afternoon, the West Side Kindergarten Whist Club met at the home of Mrs. W.C. Beardsley on Stimson Avenue West. Also that afternoon, Mesdames Wilson and Schwoebel attended the George Washington exercises in the second primary room.

On Feb. 20, Rev. Neander went to Linsburg, Kan., to represent Sheyenne at the funeral of Dr. Carl Aaron Swenson, treasurer of the Norwegian Lutheran United Church of America. That evening, section foreman Hanson discovered that a rail had been placed on a high embankment and across the mainline of the Northern Pacific near Medina, in an apparent attempt to derail and rob the North Coast Limited. Several men attacked Hanson, but he was able to fight them off and rush back to the station to signal the oncoming train to stop. Sheriff Eddy of Stutsman County was notified and he organized a posse to look for the would-be train wreckers.

On Feb. 20 and 21, Harry Campbell was in New Rockford with his family; on Feb. 22, he returned to his school teaching job in the Greenfield District. On Feb. 20 to 22, Rev. E.T. Quam of Sheyenne was at Kvernes.

On the evening of Sunday, Feb. 21, a report came in to New Rockford that the would-be train robbers had been seen in the vicinity of Twist post office in eastern Wells County. Eddy County Sheriff J.E. Bennett and F.C. Davies left in pursuit, but when they got near Twist they were told that the men who had been seen were some neighborhood farmers returning home from visiting.

On Feb. 22, Mrs. G.W. Manning, who had been visiting her sister Mrs. D.F. Ellsworth, went to Park River to visit her daughter before returning to Fergus Falls, Minn. Mrs. W.G. Carter and her daughter left for Grand Forks, where they would visit and consult a specialist about the young girl’s eyes. John Cockerill left to live in his home state of New York after nearly a year in New Rockford. Revs. T.E. Green of Valley City, Allen of Cathay, and F.M. McCoy of Carrington assisted Rev. Sewrey with special Evangelistic services in the Methodist Church that evening and the rest of the week. At 7:30 p.m., Rev. E.W. Burleson of Jamestown held Episcopal services in the Baptist Church. That night there was “a beautiful fall of snow.”