History of New Rockford: August 19, 2024

On Feb. 27, 1907, Gilbert Bymoen came in from northwest of town on a social and business call. Veterinary surgeon F.W. Tompkins was down from Oberon.

Considerable snow fell on February 27 and 28.

On February 28, John “Jake” Schaefer came down from his farm near Sherwood to visit; he stayed with Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Maxwell and returned on March 6. Attorney P.M. Mattson went to Bismarck; he returned on March 5. That evening, Fred Davies joined the Woodmen Lodge.

The March 1, 1907, “Transcript” carried the following: “WANTED – A good home for an infant girl with privilege of adoption. – Jerry Van Heizen or see W.G. Carter, New Rockford, for particulars.” [On January 19, Mary (Mrs. Jerry [or John]) Van Heizen (Huizen) had died in childbirth at her farm home northeast of town.]

Mrs. A.E. Swanson of Barlow had spent the week visiting Mrs. E.S. Severtson.

On the morning of March 1, Miss Anna Haskell assumed the duties of Assistant Cashier at the First National Bank in the absence of Mrs. James E. Hyde, who left on a trip to Minneapolis and then to the Pacific Coast. Rev. J.R. Beebe and Rev. G.J. Powell visited Phillips Academy, with the latter speaking to the students at chapel. O.T. Peterson, a real estate man from Sheyenne, was in town; he had just returned from an extensive eastern trip. Mrs. Connolly came up from Barlow to visit her daughter Ella, a student at Phillips Academy. The Lowell Literary Society of NRHS met. That evening, W.B. Whetham came in from the Morris area.

On March 2, Mrs. J.A. Cully’s parents arrived from Larimore for a visit. W.R. Erwin and his new bride R. Delle McCloud Erwin arrived from their honeymoon and were greeted at the station by friends and “a couple of barrels of rice”; her sister accompanied the couple. C.J. Maddux returned [from the Twin Cities?] after a lengthy absence. Hardwareman Earl Adams went to the Twin Cities on business; he returned on March 13. J.W. Perry left for Mountain Home, Idaho, where he would be looking after his real estate; he returned on May 6, with much improved health. Herbert Treffry left for Boise, Idaho, where his father and brother already resided; the train also carried some household goods and his father’s thoroughbred stallion. William Farley went to Minneapolis on business. Alfred Hobbs went to Minneapolis for an appendectomy.

On March 2 and 3, Phillips Academy student Marie Roush visited her sister Hazel. From March 2 to March 6, Sumner Engberg was up visiting friends.

On Sunday, March 3, a daughter was born to Prof. E.S. and Mrs. Youngdahl. Mr. and Mrs. Silas Hylton hosted a dinner for four guests, the occasion being their son Asa’s 20th birthday. In the morning, Baptist minister Rev. J.C. Burkholder preached on “What Is a Church and What Does It Stand For?”; in the evening his topic was “A Recipe for Soul Hunger.” Fred Grandstaff returned from Ward County, where he had lived for about a year, to work on the Ed Stitzel farm.

At 3:30 a.m. March 4, Mrs. M.K. Williams, 21, died in the Swedish Hospital in Minneapolis from blood poisoning, following an operation which she had undergone in late January and from which she never recovered. She was the wife of New Rockford druggist Mark E. Williams and the mother of their little son Emerson. The funeral was on March 6 at the old family home in Delano, Minn., with burial in the family plot in the cemetery there. Jack Johnson, who worked at the Bucklin and Williams drug store, attended; he returned on March 14.

Two of the three Eddy County Commissioners (Gunvaldson and Dailey; James B. Dafoe was with his wife, who was in a Rochester, Minn., hospital) met on March 4. They voted to pay the following: $70.32, Farmers’ Elevator Co., coal to court house; $35.45, Powers Elevator Co., coal to court house; $42.25, J.C. Smith, coal to court house; $45, Ruth Gronvold, treasurer’s clerk, Feb.; $45, Mrs. A.G. Gardner, register of deeds’ clerk, Feb.; $45. Mrs. W.C. Schwoebel, auditor’s clerk, Feb.; $89.40 New Rockford Light and Water Co., lights to March 1; $6, H.W. Wilson, telephone rent for Jan., Feb., Mar.; $80, John Collins, janitor’s salary for Jan. and Feb.; Dr. G.D. Murphy, professional services: Eugene Corry’s family, $20; William Anderson’s family, $10; Jerry Finly’s [Finley’s?] wife, $30. They appointed J.B. Dutee as road supervisor for District #2, as Austin Randolph refused to qualify.

On that day, John O’Keefe was in on business. F.O. Getchell was in visiting. Pat O’Connor came in from west of town. George W. Johnston sold his Independent Dray Line to his son G. Wayne Johnston and Went Magee, who took over immediately. The rotary plow went north through New Rockford, then came back on March 6, followed by the southbound train that evening. John Herlihy took that train to Jamestown to begin work for the railroad.

On the evening of March 4, the New Rockford Improvement Society hosted an entertainment with local talent at the Opera House. Part I consisted of “Dew Drops” by the Orchestra directed by Prof. J. Harvey Johnson; Vocal Solo with Violin Obligato, “Sing Me To Sleep,” Miss Sarah West; Character Impersonations, Jack Johnson; “The Glory of His Name,” Male Quartet (tenors, Messrs. Thompson and Hill; basses, Messrs. Hill and Beebe); Violin Solo, “Sweet Spirit, Hear My Prayer,” Prof. J. Harvey Johnson; Part II included “Streator Club March,” Orchestra; Vocal Solo, Dr. Charles MacLachlan; Cornet Quartet (Messrs. Comer, Erickson, Johnson and Biggs); Vocal Trio, “Sweet Memory,” Misses Lillian Lund, Carolyn Waters, Anna Haskell; One-Act Farce, “The Fool of the Family” with Fena Carlson, Sarah Johnson, Jack Johnson, Clifford Carroll and Verne Norton. The large crowd rewarded the performers with loud applause.

On March 5, Rev. E.T. Quam came down from Sheyenne on a social visit.