History of New Rockford: Oct. 31, 2022

From noon June 19 until noon June 20, 1905, A.J. Miller substituted for D.D. Sullivan, the Fargo eye specialist, at Kunkel’s Jewelry with eye exams and the fitting of glasses. On June 19 and 20, Dewey Alexander was in from eastern Eddy County on business.

On June 20, David Twist was down from Twist Post Office, buying goods for stocking up his store. Mr. and Mrs. Will VanHorn were in shopping. Mrs. W.C. Dresser’s mother and sister came in from Devils Lake to visit. A.F. Prouty and his little daughter were in town. A.J. Richter was in from Plainview on business and to visit. Mr. and Mrs. George Treffry left on a visit to Portland, Oregon; Washington, California, Colorado, and then home via Iowa; they would be looking for a new home which had weather more conducive to Mr. Treffry’s health. In the school election, George M. Pike was re-elected to a three-year term and W.C. Dresser was elected to a one-year term on the school board. At 8 p.m., Rev. E.W. Burleson of the Grace Church in Jamestown conducted Episcopal services in the Methodist Church.

On June 20 and 21, B.G. Arbogast was in from Duluth.

On June 21, O.R. Pomranke bought the quarter section known as the Cosgrove homestead from A.D. Tomlinson for a little over $2,000; the land adjoined Pomranke’s on the east. J.R. Craig, John Topp of the McHenry country, Joe Dutee, and B.W. Hersey of Tiffany came in on business. Daniel O’Connell came up from Minneapolis to visit relatives; he left on June 27. Ollie Row of Tiffany was in town. Morris postmaster, D.D. Daley, was in on his first visit since early March to do some business and to talk with his friends. Misses Laura and Mamie Pomranke were in shopping. Miss Edythe Smith was up from Jamestown to attend the Early Settlers’ picnic the next day. Mrs. Annie Ohrner and two children went to South Dakota to visit; they returned on August 15.

On June 21 and 22, H.W. Wilson and Albert Fairbanks were at McHenry determining what work they would need to do on the telephone line which they would be erecting in the near future.

On June 22, W.C. Schwoebel caught his right hand in the cog wheels of his windmill, resulting in some badly lacerated fingers and the loss of the first joint of his index finger. Charles Blomquist and Frank Greitl of Barlow left for the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland. The Early Settlers’ picnic was held; more than 3,000 people attended. The Knights of Pythias Band from Minnewaukan provided the music. There was also a short program and some sports contests. All New Rockford businesses were closed for the day. Elected as officers were A.M. Greely, president; F.O. Getchell, vice president; H.J. Mitchell, secretary; Joseph Maxwell, treasurer; and an executive committee: J.W. Richter and O.B. Stedman, Sheyenne; W.G. Carter and Went Mcgee, Tiffany; W.C. Dresser and Dr. Charles MacLachlan, New Rockford; and E.B. Thomson, at-large.

The June 23, 1905, “Transcript” stated that A.W. Spencer would run a bus and steamboat line from Oberon to the Chautauqua grounds again.

The Prader & Goss general store was being painted. A new telephone line, the Bremen line, was being built west of New Rockford by former subscribers of the Eddy-Wells line. The Northwestern Telephone Line had been extended four miles from the Nils Gunvaldson farm so that the farms of James Renfrew, John Gardner, and Philip Hammer could be connected to it. Telephone proprietor H.W. Wilson had the contract to extend a telephone line from the end of the Superior line at the farm home of James Hobbs to McHenry, making a continuous line from New Rockford to that town.

Attorney J.A. Layne was thinking of opening a law office in Fessenden around September 1.

On June 23, Mr. and Mrs. Sylvanus Marriage were in New Rockford. Mike Mulligan came in on business. Merchant Thomas Turner came up from Barlow. Prof. L.J. Aldrich of Phillips Academy returned from Indiana without his beard. Mrs. C.J. Stickney and children and Mrs. William Bucklin and children left for the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland; Mrs. Stickney and family would also visit her father and sisters there; the Bucklins returned on July 22 and the Stickneys on August 17. Mrs. P.J. Butler left to join her husband in Portland, where they might live; they returned to New Rockford on July 25.

On the morning of June 24, S.W. Lyman came over from the McHenry vicinity to do some business and to visit. That evening, Miss Carolyn Waters hosted a number of young ladies at a party in honor of Miss Olive Brown at the residence of Judge C.W. Hall; there were cards, music, and light refreshments at midnight. That evening, a daughter was born to Dr. and Mrs. Charles Culver in Sioux Falls, S.D.; Culver was a former Eddy County resident.

On Sunday, June 25, B.G. Arbogast and his brother L.A. Arbogast and family left on a visit to the Great Lakes, New York, and their old home in Virginia; B.J. Arbogast returned on August 3. That evening, R.M. Kennedy left for the Northwestern Fuel Dealers’ Convention in Duluth; he returned on June 29.

On June 26, Dr. John Crawford came down from Esmond to assist Dr. Charles MacLachlan with a serious surgery; he returned on June 28. J.B. Steele, who had resigned as baggageman at the depot, left for Jamestown. That evening, there was a dance in the Opera House which a large number of young people attended; Miss May Hennesy, Miss Gullickson, Miss Hallberg, George Norman, and Will F. Steinweg, all from Carrington, were in attendance.

On June 27, twin sons were born to Mr. and Mrs. Charles Brolin; Mrs. Brolin was the former Martha Pomranke. Mrs. S.F. Beer came down from Oberon for a short visit with her husband. Mrs. Blanche West arrived from Bushnell, Illinois, to visit her sister Mrs. G.D. Murphy and family. Miss Viola Woodward went to Grand Forks for the Grand Lodge of the Eastern Star as a delegate from the local Lodge. Miss Ida Kersten arrived from Minneapolis to take the stenographer position at the Maddux Law Office, formerly held by Miss Dora (Dorothea) Yegen for two years. Miss Edith Schmidt left for her Jamestown home after a week visiting Miss Carolyn Trainor and Miss Jessie Treffry. At 8 p.m., a social and entertainment was held on the J.R. Craig farm near the Sheldon School. Nearly 100 people, including two carriage-loads from New Rockford, were in “the spacious house.” Musical exercises and recitations were held in the barn loft: a duet by Miss West and Miss Hendry; song by the Johnson sisters; solo by Miss West; Scottish songs by Miss Hendry and by Mr. Craig; recitations by Misses Hall, Carter, and Johnson. The guests enjoyed ice cream, “an auction of dainty goods,” a sale of peanuts, and “a dime museum” which brought in about $25, all for an unspecified “good cause.”

On June 28, a band of gypsies came to New Rockford to tell people’s fortunes; quite a few residents wanted to know theirs.