History of New Rockford: Feb. 26, 2024

On Sept. 21, 1906, S.O. Lee came in from his farm southeast of town; he had finished threshing his wheat (17 bushels per acre; #1 Northern) and oats (50 bushels per acre; 44 lbs. per bushel). C.E. Blackwell, the manager of the Gull River Lumber Company’s yards, inspected the local yard managed by Ray Erwin and found it in fine shape.

On Sept. 22, the “Gander,” a large hunting wagon, made its initial trip to eastern Eddy County with hunters J.A. McAuley, M.R. Fritz, Dr. G.D. Murphy, and C.J. Maddux aboard, along with their guns and ammunition, food, several hunting dogs, and bedding; they returned with a fine “bunch” of game. Judge E.T. Burke came in to preside over a special session of the district court for issuing citizenship papers, but no applicants appeared. (The “Transcript” commented that all residents of Eddy County were Americans.) J. Harvey Johnson, the Phillips Academy music teacher, arrived from Streeter, Ill. Albert Dix came over from Fessenden and entered Phillips Academy. Miss Amelia Carlson came down from Leeds to visit her parents Mr. and Mrs. John Carlson. Miss Etta Schwoebel arrived from Fountain City, Wisc., to visit her brothers and other relatives. O.W. Johnson came in on business. Mrs. Olof Lundquist, her daughter and her sister-in-law left to visit Mrs. Lundquist’s parents at Valley City; Mrs. Lundquist and her little girl returned on Oct. 1. Miss Evelyn Mattson left to attend UND. That evening, Fred G. Conrad presented the Ernest Stout melodrama, “In A Woman’s Power,” at the Opera House; there was “a good audience.”

From Sept. 22 to 23, attorney Fred Larson was over from Turtle Lake on legal business and to visit.

From Sept. 22 to 24, New Rockford’s hardware contingent, H. Arveskaug, J.M. Mulvey and E.R. Adams, went hunting near Maddock; they returned with nearly 100 ducks.

On Sept. 24, the fall term opened at Phillips Academy. Offerings included Stenography, Bookkeeping, Academic and College Preparatory Branches, Art, Graduating Courses in Piano, Organ, Violin, Voice and Theory of Music. L.J. Aldrich was the Principal. Miss Gertrude Hall arrived from Carrington and entered the Academy.

On that day, James E. Hyde went to Fargo to act as a petit juror in the federal court; he returned on the evening of Oct. 9. B.W. Hersey went to St. Paul to consult with doctors about an illness that had plagued him for three years; the suspicion was that it was cancer; he returned on Oct. 5, “much improved” in health. That evening, Sheriff George F. Fahrer arrested a man who said his name was Dave Burke after he had been surveilling the man for several days; Burke was a suspect in the robbing of a bank at Underwood, N.D., so Fahrer had notified the McLean County authorities, and on the morning of Sept. 24, a deputy sheriff and a bank stockholder came over from Washburn and the arrest was effected. The prisoner was taken to Washburn the next day.

That night, burglars struck five businesses and residences in Barlow, making off “with quite a little money.”

On Sept. 25, Christ Jensen returned from Beach, N.D., where he had filed on a claim. Attorney John A. Layne was over from Fessenden on legal business and to visit. Frank E. Johnson was up from his Barlow farm. George O’Keefe left for Pierre, S.D., where he had filed on a claim and would make it his home; his father Michael O’Keefe and his sister Miss Nellie O’Keefe came in from their farm west of town to say goodbye. Mrs. L.J. Aldrich left to attend the annual conference of the Jamestown Association of Congregational Churches, which convened the next day. That evening, Rev. Theodore Clifton of Chicago, the secretary of the Congregational Educational Society, presented his lecture on “The Making of a Man” at the Congregational Church; the next morning he spoke to the students of Phillips Academy.

On Sept. 26, three of J.W. Rager’s nephews arrived to visit him and his wife Alice. Mrs. F.W. Tompkins and son Ray were down visiting from Oberon. Jack Johnson, a travelling salesman, returned to his work after a week visiting his friends Mr. and Mrs. M.E. Williams. Mrs. L.W. Whittemore left to visit friends at Jamestown and relatives at Lisbon.

On Sept. 27, H.W. Wilson, F.D. Norton, and C.H. Babcock returned from a couple days of hunting on the George Pincott ranch with 110 birds [prairie chickens?], despite the windy weather. O.R. Pomranke and his son Eddie brought in a load of grain. A.E. Hersey was in from the Tiffany area. J.G. Martin came in on business from western Eddy County. Howard McCoy was up from Adel, Iowa, to visit his uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. W.T. Buck, for a month. G.W. Tanner returned from western North Dakota, where he had gone with Marsh Chamberlain to buy sheep; they purchased over a thousand and Chamberlain remained behind to secure rail cars for shipping the animals. Mrs. Asenath Gardner returned to New Auburn, Minn., after a two months’ visit with her son A.G. Gardner and his family. That afternoon, as Guy Thompson worked near the saw in Kennedy’s wood yard, his foot became entangled in the drive belt and was being dragged to the pulley; however, Thompson was able to brace himself against a wall and thus prevented his foot from going around the pulley and avoided a terrible injury. Kennedy shut off the engine, but not before the friction from shoe or boot caused the belt to heat up and begin to shred. Thompson suffered strained tendons. That evening, Rev. S.W. Hover of Jamestown conducted services in the Baptist Church, followed by baptisms.

The Sept. 28, 1906, “Transcript” had “School Notes” by Sarah Johnson, editor. On Sept. 25, Carl Lauch and Frank Riggle started school, and Misses Fena Carlson and Mabel Kennedy entered the high school as second-year students; Mathilda Kuhlneider of Bowdon also joined the high school on that day; Paul Kunkel had returned to school after a week’s illness; Lyle Prader also missed a few days due to sickness; the seventh and eighth graders were writing stories for the “Minneapolis Journal Junior,” hoping to win a prize which was a picture; Miss Millicent Wiche/Weibe taught 39 fourth and fifth graders; Miss Rose Wagner had 31 students in the seventh and eighth grades; 21 students had enrolled in the high school; the freshmen were studying “The Vision of Sir Launfal” in English I; on the evening of Sept. 27, the Hercules Athletic Club met and elected Clifford Carroll as president to succeed Lawrence Fisher; the basketball grounds were being fixed up.

That edition praised the “peace officers” for keeping any “roughness” at a minimum in town that fall.

William Blow had lost a three-month old black and white pup, with black ears, large white feet, black spots on front feet, wearing a collar (chain over leather with red felt pad); large for age. A liberal reward was offered.

George Healey was confined by typhoid fever. Little Florence Couch was very ill with cholera infantum. Mrs. R.M. Kennedy had been ill for some time, but was improving.