History of New Rockford: Jan. 15, 2024

On Aug. 11, 1906, Mrs. H.R. Campbell went to Minneapolis to order her fall stock of millinery; she would be assisted in her shop by Miss Vera Keime; she returned on Aug. 25.

From Aug. 11 to 15, Miss Josephine O’Connell, who was teaching at Sykeston, came in to visit relatives; she was accompanied by another young lady from Sykeston, Miss Margaret Murphy. On those days, Mrs. S.F. Beer visited her daughter, Miss Dora, at Valley City.

On Sunday, Aug. 12, Mr. and Mrs. J.D. Carroll were in Morris.

On Aug. 13, tinner James Mulvey returned from Esmond, where he had been doing a plumbing job. Mrs. James E. Hyde and Mrs. W.J. Morris went to Minneapolis; Mrs. Hyde returned on Aug. 18. Mrs. E.P. Cosgrove left on a trip to the Twin Cities and to her old home, Sumpter, Minn. Mrs. Inez Gullicks and her assistant Miss Bertha Hopper went to Minneapolis to spend a couple weeks selecting the new styles for Mrs. Gullicks’ millinery; they returned on Aug. 27. Col. D.F. Ellsworth, Erwin Forbes, James Davidson, and George Treffry went to Minneapolis for the G.A.R. encampment; three returned on Aug. 18, but Ellsworth returned on Aug. 20. Rev. and Mrs. F.L. Gehrs left to visit Chicago relatives. Mrs. A.D. Tomlinson, Mrs. J.M. Mulvey, and Mrs. Viola Woodward left on a visit to Minneapolis; Mrs. Woodward returned on Aug. 18 and Mrs. Mulvey on Sept. 19. Band leader Claude Comer and State’s Attorney R.F. Rinker left for a visit to their old Iowa homes; Rinker returned on the evening of Aug. 23, Comer on Sept. 5. That night, former resident O.W. West was in from Bowbells to visit. [He had left Eddy County on Jan. 7, 1902.]

Sealed bids were received until 5 p.m. on Aug. 13 by the county auditor for materials and construction of two bridges: one across the James between Sections 21 and 22, T149, R67 [Munster] and one across the Sheyenne between Sections 15 and 16, T150, R63 [Eddy].

The Eddy County Commissioners (J.G. Dailey and N.C. Gunvaldson; missing: James Dafoe) met on Aug. 13. They voted to rescind their July 20 approval of franchises for the Mutual Telephone Company of Barlow and the Western [or Northwest] Short Line Telephone Company because such approval should come from the Board of Supervisors in each of the newly established townships of Superior, Rosefield and New Rockford. They voted to pay the following: $45, O.E. Nash, grading approaches to the Sheyenne River bridge in T150, R64 [Hillsdale]; $8.50, New Rockford Light & Water Improvement Co. for June and July lights; $499.50, E.M. Stitzel, grading contract; $80, John Collins, janitor’s salary for June and July; $50, State Hospital at Jamestown, admittance of Annie R. Hammer. Bids were opened for the construction of two bridges: Twin City Bridge Co., $3998; Hewitt Bridge Co., $3710; A.Y. Hayne Co., $3690; Security Bridge Company of Minneapolis, $3690; Hennepin Bridge Co., $3673; Fargo Bridge & Iron Co., $3590; the bid was given to the Fargo Bridge & Iron Co.

On Aug. 14, Miss Fena Carlson returned from a visit with her sister Amelia at Leeds, where she had been employed as a dressmaker during the summer; Amelia accompanied her sister and after a visit with the girls’ parents Mr. and Mrs. John Carlson returned to Leeds, where on Aug. 20 she was described as a bookkeeper for a mercantile firm. Albert West returned from Brinsmade, where he had gone the previous week to look over the Northwest Lumber Company’s yards. Franklin D. Beardsley arrived from Painesville, Ohio, to stay with his uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. W.C. Beardsley, during the fall in hopes of improving his health. Mrs. L.E. Weaver left to visit her old home at Algona, Iowa, and other points in that state; she returned on Sept. 28.

On the morning of Aug. 15, a son was born to Mr. and Mrs. D.M. Stegenga. The Congregational Sunday School children had their picnic in Clark’s Grove. Mr. and Mrs. Ned Walsh came in for the First Communion service at St. John’s Catholic Church; there was a large congregation and 32 First Communicants. Halver Halverson was down from the Sheyenne Valley on business. Dr. John Crawford and his father came down from Esmond to visit A.H. Crawford and his family. Mrs. H.F. King of Corry, Pa., arrived to visit her brother P.J. Braman for the rest of the summer; it was her first visit to North Dakota. Miss Vera Tyler of Chicago came in to visit her sister Mrs. John Von Almen and family until she took up her duties as a teacher in the Jamestown city schools. Mrs. A.E. Prouty’s father from Adel, Iowa, came in for a visit. Former resident Hugh Carr arrived from Madrid, N.Y., to look after business matters. Frank Hays went to Carrington to supervise the delivery of a big J.I. Case rig he had sold to farmers in Larrabee. Miss Hazel Henry, a sister of Mrs. J.C. Smith, went to the Valley City State Normal School to visit her sister Miss Beatrice Henry. Dr. and Mrs. Charles MacLachlan left on a trip to his old home in Ontario; he was also going to a meeting of the British Medical Association being held in Toronto. He returned on Sept. 1, while she remained to visit for a while longer. That evening, Louis [Ludwig] Schaefer died at the State Asylum in Jamestown to which he had been committed about two months prior. His body was brought to New Rockford the next day and at 9:30 a.m. Aug. 17, was interred in the Germantown Cemetery west of New Rockford, Father VandenBergh officiating. He left a wife and ten children. [There is a Ludwig Schaefer, July 13, 1854-Aug. 15, 1906, buried in St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery at Bremen.] That night, a small Jersey milch cow strayed from Hawthorne’s pasture; the tip of her left horn was broken off. “Probably has calf by her side.” Notify H.W. Wilson.

At Aug. 16, Misses Katherine and Doris Maddux arrived for a few days visiting Alice (Mrs. J.W.) Rager and other friends. Miss Darlene Dawson came in from Adel, Iowa, to visit Mrs. Fred Utz and family. Veterinary Surgeon F.R. Patterson came over from McHenry on professional business. Elmer Johnson stopped off on his way from San Francisco to Boston to visit his brother Howard Johnson for a few days. Bertha Spillman left for a visit with relatives and friends at Elizabeth, Minn. That evening, Mr. and Mrs. Orley Couch entertained around 16 young people at their Stimson Avenue home in honor of Miss Olive Couch’s 21st birthday; the evening was passed playing “Grand Nulle” and enjoying light refreshments. At 8 p.m., Rev. E.W. Burleson conducted Episcopal services in the Methodist Church.

On Aug. 16 and 17, F.H. Dutee was in town visiting and on business matters.

The Aug. 17, 1906, “Transcript” said a large number of Illinois and Indiana land seekers were in the county that week, looking over prospective acreage. A crew of men were remodeling John Olson’s residence on Dakota Street, just in back of his blacksmith shop.