Pope County Arcana

The area that became Pope County was acquired by the US in the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux in 1851. Traverse des Sioux was a trading post on the Minnesota River near St. Peter.


A large chunk of what is now west-central Minnesota was transferred to the whites excepting a 10 mile strip of land on either side of the Minnesota river, another in a long line of treaty travesties.


The land was opened for settlement by whites in 1854.

General Pope (Napolean pose)

I had always been proud of the name "Pope", after General John Pope, although I confess to envying Grant County residents. As a kid, I was under the impression that Pope was a hero of the Civil War on the Union side. In fact, he Civil War service is mostly remembered for his role in the Union debacle of the 2nd Battle of Bull Run where his attack on the Confederate center was repulsed by General Jackson's forces, winning Thomas Jackson the moniker "Stonewall" Jackson. Pope, not watching his flanks, was attacked by other Confederate forces and the rout was on. General Pope was then banished to the far west of Minnesota where in 1862 a Dakota Indian uprising needed suppressing. Pope was familiar with this western outpost, having participated in 1849 as Captain Pope in a mission of exploration from Fort Snelling west to the Red River and north to Pembina, passing through what would become Pope County on the "Plains Trail" to the Red River. This trail passed just north of Lake Minnewaska. His post-Civil War military career through the 1880's was spent fighting Indian wars against the Apaches and the Sioux.

I now live in Dakota County.

The boundaries of Pope County were established in 1862 and Stockholm (yes Stockholm) in Gilchrist township was designated as the county seat. In 1866 a convention held in Stockholm petitioned the Governor for the organization of Pope County. In 1867, the county seat was moved to Glenwood.

The only trace of a Stockholm in Pope County I could find is a cemetery east of #104 between Sedan and Sunburg.

If anyone has more info, please comment.

The original log cabin which served as the first courthouse in Stockholm is on display at the Pope County Museum. The current courthouse (#4) was constructed in 1930 at the cost of $153,000. This was at the start of the Great Depression. My great-uncle famously stated that ".. if that courthouse ever gets built, I'll be first in line for a marriage license." He remained a life-long bachelor claiming he proposed to every eligible girl in Pope County and was turned down every time. (See Uncle Dave post)

Glenwood was named in 1866 by Kirk J Kinney and Alfred W Lathrop and named for Kinney's former home of Glenwood, NY. The town was platted on the Kinney homestead. The first building was the Kinney & Lathrop General Store.

The first school was established in 1869. In 1894 a private Norwegian Lutheran School, Glenwood Academy was formed. In 1910 this academy consolidated with Park Academy in Fergus Falls, a trend well ahead of its time.

The Carnegie endowed library was opened in 1908. Although it is called "Glenwood Public Library", the by-laws were graciously changed to allow use by all residents of Pope County. This is one of 65 libraries in Minnesota built via Carnegie endowments and one of 24 still operating as a library. (18 have been razed).

Fron

Starbuck, at the west end of Lake Minnewaska, was named for William H Starbuck, a New Yorker, who financed the Little Falls and Dakota Railroad and was an official of the Northern Pacific Railway, which was completed through Pope County in 1881. A counter-claim states the city was named after Stabekk, Norway, a community just west of Oslo. Given the preponderance of railroad tycoon named villages in Pope County, I think that's a long-shot, but I'm going with it. The village was platted in 1882 and the first building was a boarding house for the railway workers.

Fron Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church dates from 1888.

Cyrus abt 1920

Cyrus was originally established in 1881 as "Scandiaville". In 1882 , a Northern Pacific branch line from Morris to Little Falls was built which gave the town a depot and spurred development. In 1888 the town's name was changed to Cyrus to avoid confusion with another Minnesota village - Scandia. Apparently the name was taken from Lake Cyrus, south of the town. (For detailed Cyrus history, see here.)

Lowry circa 1910 (MNHS)

Lowry was founded in 1886 (or 87) when the Minneapols, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie railway was extended to what is now the Village of Lowry. Lowry was named for the railroad baron, Thomas Lowry, then president of the "Soo Line" and the man behind the extensive Minneapolis/St. Paul street car system. For early Lowry history see earlier posts. (see Lowry Pioneers and The Town),

Sedan circa 1910 (MNHS)

The village of Sedan was originally called "Fowlds", after James Fowlds, an early settler, but in 1893 the name was changed to Sedan, purportedly for Sedan, France and the battle fought there in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. Seems far-fetched, but I found it on the internet.

Farwell was a stop on the "Soo Line" in 1886, platted as a village in 1887 and incorporated in 1905 with businesses including a hardware, general store and a hotel. The name possibly stems from the Norwegian word "farvel" which translates to "farewell" in English. Seems far-fetched, but I found it on the internet.

Originally Chippewa Falls, the name was changed to Terrace to avoid confusion with Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. The name presumably stems from the terrain of Chippewa Falls township. It was the site of a sawmill in 1871 and as a rare example of a town developing around a mill. Terrace is listed on the National Registry of Historic Sites as the Terrace Mill Historic District .



Villard was established in 1883 and named for Henry Villard, president of the Northern Pacific Railway at the time.

Westport & Grove Lake are too far east to be in Pope County.

Martin Heggestad promised me that he would take me to the metropolis of New Prairie one day and I would be astonished. Never got there tho. It's still on my bucket list.

The most notable landmark in Pope County is Lake Minnewaska: "minne=Water, waska=Good". However, the original Indian name for the lake translated to "Dish Lake", reflecting its basin-like quality. Opinions differ on which side of the lake is more beautiful and whose residents are nicer or more intelligent. Lake Minnewaska's name was changed to White Bear Lake when the Chief was buried on an Indian Mound on the lake's north shore and then to Lake Whipple - after Bishop Whipple of Faribault - and happily back to Minnewaska in 1883 by legislative decree.

Copyright © 2017 Dave Hoplin 

On Reaching a Certain Age

“It takes about 10 years to get used to how old you are.” Raymond Michel

”.. it’s not really a fact that you grow old at all.”  Maurice Goudet

My wife & I both turned 70 this year. Each time I reach a number that ends in 0, it causes me to ponder. Not at 20, you will live forever. At 30, you realize it’s time to grow up. At 40, you realize you won’t win that Nobel Prize. At 50, you view the empty nest and wonder how they grew up so fast. At 60, you look ahead with trepidation and anticipation to life after work. (Don’t retire. The word suggests interment. Think of it as “life phase III”, free from the demands of a job. It should not mean you are ready to roll over and die in front of the TV. And consider gratitude if your life offers this opportunity. Life after work is not an option for many Americans.)

But  70  - well  now. An intimidating number.  Perhaps it’s the shock of Psalm 90 v 10 KJV  “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” (For you non-math majors: 3x20 + 10 = 70.)

Uffda. But, on the brighter side, once having reached this august age, life expectancy tables say you have a decade or more left. But 70 inevitably stirs contemplation of death. Like - wow - my children are going to need a really huge dumpster.

And a review your past. I suggest you clear away the bad stuff and embrace the good. Apply that early onset “sometimers” forgetfulness disease you are experiencing. And share those good memories with those you love.

And the present. Unlike China, 70 year olds are not so revered in the good-ol' USA. Don’t concede to irrelevancy. I am still young inside my head even though my body creaks and objects.

Of course, there are concessions. Dinner out at 5:00 to beat the rush and home by 8:00 yawning. I avoid ladders and night driving. But, on the other hand, I can still form a complete sentence, do a 20 mile bike ride, answer half the Jeopardy clues. My wife still has the energizer bunny in harness and can walk me into the ground. Best of all, our grandchildren still seem to tolerate us.

And one last thing. When that fact or face you know you should know does not appear, comfort yourself that data retrieval times are inevitably slower due to the incredible amount of data that must be searched.
 

Sorry to go all preachy on you. 70 also triggers the illusion of wisdom. We’re doing pretty well.

Merry Christmas.
Happy New Year

Copyright © 2017 Dave Hoplin

I leave you with the words from the good Lord Tennyson from his poem, Ulysses, which I hope will encourage and inspire you'all of a certain age.

... Come, my friends, 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world. ...

Tho' much is taken, much abides; 

and tho' We are not now that strength which in old days 

Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are; 

One equal temper of heroic hearts, 

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will 

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. 

The Case of the Three Bakers

Over a year ago, I posted - Fageras To Brandon.  This post chronicles the journey of my great-grandparents' - the Nelsons - immigration from Fageras, Sweden to Brandon, MN aboard the steamship Bothnia in 1886. The family's immigration journey started in Fageras on June 24, 1886 arriving in Boston July 9, 1886 by way of Gothenburg-Hull-Liverpool. From Boston, the family went by rail to Chicago, St. Paul and on to Brandon, MN, arriving on July 12, 1886. [See also: My People - The Journey]

Cunard Steamship Bothnia

Recently, I received a startling note from a relative of one of the crew-members on board that 1886 steamer..

"This is SO exciting to me for several reasons ! My great grandfather, Edward Alcock , was a baker on this ship as a merchant seaman. He jumped or was pushed overboard, and my grandfather was raised in Scotland by his mother’s people."

Whoa!  Surprise doesn't quite seem strong enough to express my reaction.  Could this be true? Based on the dates, this incident was on the self-same passage as the Nelsons.

But imagine my amazement when a newspaper search verified the story - and more.

Not only did this fellow jump (or was pushed) overboard, but 2 other bakers took the same fatal jump that year. The short blurb is a bit confusing. I take it to mean that Edward's "suicide" occurred on July 5th and that 2 other bakers on other? steamships also committed suicide by drowning in 1886.  This seems extraordinarily bizarre and highly suspicious.

A mystery!  I would love to know the full story. Arthur Conan Doyle is dead so perhaps I should make it up :-)  A "Baker" Street mystery.

Copyright © 2017 Dave Hoplin

Minnesota Not So Nice

StarTribune image

"Minnesota Nice" is a bit of a cliche, dontcha think. You betcha. Minnesotans get regularly panned, as if being "nice" is something to be ashamed of. But we mild-mannered folk simply smile back and take the abuse - while we silently seethe.

But Minnesota has and has had its unsavory side. I'm here to debunk a bit of the stereotype. Here's some Minnesota - not so nice.



Back in the prohibition days in Lowry, Howard Lysen sold a lot of pure vanilla extract at McIver's store. And it wasn't used to make sugar cookies. [Editor note: the "pure" vanilla label requires 35% alcohol content]. And rumor has it, there might have been a still in the basement of an east side business establishment.  (Full disclosure: my genealogy research has shown I have 1930's bootleggers in my family tree - not in Lowry however. Grandma Esther's W.C.T.U. would have kiboshed that. See my WCTU post). However, it was Stearns County's Holdingford that was Minnesota's moonshine epicenter, home of a thriving bootleg corn liquor operation during Prohibition. "Minnesota 13" was a highly regarded brew - twice distilled and aged - purported to taste remarkably like Canadian Club. The name "Minnesota 13" was derived from the new 13 week corn developed by the University of Minnesota. If you stop by Holdingford or bike the Lake Wobegon Trail from Albany, you can buy a bottle of Minnesota 13 non-alcoholic water.


In the 1920's and early 30's, St. Paul was known as "crooks haven". There was an agreement - the "Layover Agreement" - between gangsters and the St. Paul Chief of Police John O'Connor that the gangsters would "check in" when they arrived in St. Paul; that they would commit no crimes within St. Paul city limits (Minneapolis was fair game); that the police department would get a portion of their ill-gotten gains. In turn, the police department would turn a blind-eye to racketeering, gambling & liquor operations - and tip-off the gangsters of any FBI raids. John Dillinger, Al Capone & Clyde Barrow/Bonnie Parker are known to have spent some sanctuary time in St. Paul. In 1932, 20% of the nation's bank robberies occurred in Minnesota. Baby Face Nelson robbed a Brainerd bank. There is a lovely lake home on Bemidji's Lake Beltrami that features a watch tower and secret escape passage-ways which rumor has it was a gangster hideaway. See Chad Lewis' book, Minnesota Road Guide to Gangster Hot Spots.

The 1934 kidnapping and ransom of William Hamm (Hamm's Beer mogul) signaled the breakdown of the O'Connor system. And also in 1934, a police and FBI shootout with John Dillinger occurred in his Lexington Ave apartment. Dillinger was wounded but escaped in a high speed car chase on the rural roads of Hastings. See the 1934 St. Paul Daily Press story "Machine Guns Blaze as Jury Whitewashes Police". This press coverage drove a major corruption cleanup with St. Paul politicians and police officials ousted.


Another unsavory era in Minneapolis history centers on that city's discriminatory practices during the 30's and 40's. At that time Minneapolis was known as the most anti-semitic city in the country. Jews were banned from country clubs, service organizations,  and even the AAA auto club. Employment ads regularly stated "Gentiles Only". Most neighborhoods had housing covenants prohibiting sales to Jews. The roughly 16,000 Jewish families were concentrated on Minneapolis' north side. This discrimination was so wide-spread that it led to the establishment of Mt. Sinai Hospital to provide medical care to the city's Jewish population. The ugly 1938 Minnesota governor's race between Harold Stassen and Elmer Benson featured Stassen painting Benson as under the control of the Jews. Stassen won the election handily.

This time period of course corresponded with the rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany and anti-semitism was fed by the likes of Father Coughlin's popular radio broadcasts and Charles Lindbergh's "America First Committee". The University of Minnesota has an exhibit "A Campus Divided" exposing the discriminatory practices of the U of M during this time period. [Editor note: the exhibit is at the Elmer L Anderson library and ends Nov 30, 2017]  

It was not until 1946 and the election of Hubert H Humphrey as mayor of Minneapolis that the tide turned. Anti-semites were ousted from city government and anti-discrimination ordinances were put in place.

At midnight May 14, 1948, the new state of Israel declared its independence.

Copyright © 2017 Dave Hoplin

Lowry's Best

Lowry's Best - 100 lb flour sack

No, "Lowry's Best" is not about creating a Lowry "Who's Who". Lowry's Best, in fact, does not refer to any person or persons. I suspect the label was "borrowed" from the world famous "Pillsbury's Best". Yes, "Lowry's Best" was a flour sack.


From the Glenwood Herald 1917:
One of the busiest business institutions of the village is the Lowry Roller Mills. During a large part of the year they work both day and night shifts. Their flour and other products find a ready market throughout this section of the state. The mill is owned by Misensol and Leslie, two of Lowry's most substantial and progressive business men. [Editor note: The mill was originally established by Martin Bartos about 1900]

Lowry Roller Mill at the north end of Main Street (Pope County Historical photo)

1912 ad from The American Miller

Looking south (Pope County Historical photo)

Perhaps the biggest fire in the history of Lowry occurred Feb. 27, 1937, when the well-known Lowry Roller Mills burned to the ground

1937 ashes with lumber yard and elevator in the background
(author's collection)

".. That certainly was a tough break that the mill burned. I’d like to be home and see the wreckage." [find more insightful comments in 'The Oliver Letters' post]





The mill burned to the ground in 1937 (well before my time by the way). Flour mills with their floating mist of explosive flour dust are notorious fire hazards. In 1878, Minneapolis' "Washburn A Mill", the largest flour mill in the world at the time, spectacularly exploded, the flour dust ignited by a spark from grinding millstones. This triggered a series of explosions causing the death of 18 workers. (see mnopedia article)

Mill City Museum home page

Minneapolis' "Mill City Museum", which opened in 2003, incorporates the ruins of the A Mill. It is right next to the Guthrie Theater. Worth a visit.

Lowry Mill interior (Minnesota History Center photo)

It is highly likely that a flour dust explosion, though on a smaller scale, happened that winter day at the Lowry Roller Mill.  The mill was not rebuilt. I've wondered why, but this happened during the depths of the Great Depression, so perhaps it is not so surprising.

Mill Fire Memories

Lowry Depot [author's collection]

[Editor note: What follows are Roy Robieson's eyewitness memories of the Lowry Roller Mill fire, transcribed from the Dec 2, 1982 issue of the Pope County Tribune. Roy passed away in 2014. In 1937, Roy was a 10 year old living in the Lowry Train Depot where his father Jim was depot agent. The depot was roughly 100 yards north of the mill site next to the Soo Line tracks. This article is also available on lowrymn.com site - submitted by Doris Robieson Hoplin.] 





The Lowry Roller Mills was a regionally famous institution during the early part of the 20th century. I don't know when it was built, perhaps before the turn of the century, but it was a formidable, white, wood frame structure, located in the northern part of town, not far from the railroad depot.

The mill was about 50 feet high and counting lean-tos and outbuildings, it must have covered nearly an acre of ground. It housed unbelievable machinery; shafts, pulleys, belts, flywheels, grain sifters, elevating buckets and whatnot, all driven by a master diesel engine. More than once that engine scared the devil out of me when it backfired during its start-up process. Diesels were hard to start in those days and a backfire, followed by a huge cloud of smoke, could be heard and seen from all around the town.


I recall that the floors of the mill were polished smooth, no doubt from the friction of the countless, heavy bags of grain that were dragged over them year after year.
Lowry Roller Mills brought choice, locally-grown wheat and refined it into excellent flour that became widely renowned for its quality. The flour was shipped by rail to many far-flung distribution centers and was trucked by the mill's big "White" truck to regional areas in central Minnesota. I am told that the Glenwood Bakery used 30 sacks of white, Lowry Roller Mills four every day during the 1920s.

The "Mill Truck" with its green-painted, wooden box was garaged overnight in a lean-to on the north side of the mill. The truck was always backed into the garage. I suppose the truck being so long for its day, it would create a traffic hazard if it were backed out of the garage into the Main street of Lowry. Strange though, I don't recall any fast and heavy traffic on Lowry's pot-holed, graveled, main street, vintage 1937. More than likely, backing the truck into the garage posed a challenge to the driver that could not be resisted or was it done so that a quick get-away would be possible in case of fire?

The mill directly supported four prominent families in Lowry and provided a market for thousands of bushels of red wheat grown in the nearby area. Double-boxes of wheat, pulled by teams of horses, were often seen lined up at the mill, waiting to be off-loaded.

Someone returning to Lowry after attending, perhaps a dance, at Kensington on a cold Friday night in Feb. 1937, noted a fire in the lower reaches of the mill. He sounded the fire alarm and the Lowry volunteer fire fighters responded, but by that time the fire had jumped to the upper part of the structure. The water tower and modern fire-fighting equipment were still just a gleam in the eye of the village council then and the old town hall fire pumper wouldn't throw a great volume of water 50 feet height.

An emergency call for help was rushed to the Glenwood fire fighters but when they arrived the fire was out of control (new highway 55 was not completed at that time). Fortunately, the wind that night was light -- northwest about 10 miles per hour. It was strong enough, though, to carry flaming embers, generated by the fire and hurled aloft by the vicious thermal currents, more than one-half mile.

The whole town was quickly aroused to the specter. The mill was a goner, that was sure, but could any of the nearby wood structures be saved? Two restaurants across main street from the mill were in peril and no hope was held for a 4-plex apartment house just 100 feet downwind. The families living within quickly moved all their possessions outside.

The two fire-fighting groups, united under the direction of the Glenwood fire chief, knowing that the mill was lost, re-directed their efforts toward saving nearby structures. Unbelievable! They were 100 per cent successful in that effort. Except for the mill and its adjacent machine shop, no other structure was lost. A fire did start in the basement of Kasper's store nearby but Bob Kasper was alert to the possible danger and quickly extinguished the fire.

I was nearly 10 years old when this event took place The railroad depot, where we lived, was upwind so it was not threatened. we, (my mother, my younger sisters and I), watched the fire in awe from our kitchen window. Two of my older brothers were busy, stationed on downwind roofs, throwing off burning embers carried there by the wind. My oldest brother faced real trouble. His wood-framed  restaurant (and combined apartment home) was just across the main street from the mill. He claimed that water, sprayed onto his building from the fire hoses, sizzled because the sheet metal facing of the building was so hot, and candy bars in the showcase near the front of the building melted from the heat of the fire. The plate glass windows on the front of his restaurant were cracked by the heat. Had my brother's restaurant burned, without doubt, the adjacent post office, meat market and hardware store would have followed. I don't remember what happened to the old "Mill Truck."


Roy Robieson


Copyright © 2017 Dave Hoplin

Doris the Riveter

Doris Robieson Hoplin - A "Rosie the Riveter" Story

4 Rosies in Sacramento 

Those of a certain age will find this story familiar, but there are fewer and fewer of those of a certain age.  It is a story that should not be forgotten.

In 1941, America entered WWII with a drastically under-manned military, less than 1/2 million men in uniform vs 8 million in the Wehrmacht and 2 million in the Japanese Imperial Army. A rapid military ramp-up coinciding with a massive industrial effort led to a severe shortage of workers in America's factories. This marked the beginning of the "Rosie the Riveter" phenomenon. Between 1940 and 1945, nearly 20 million American women went to work in various war-related jobs. By 1944, 475,000 women worked in the aircraft industry, 65% of that sector's workforce. 

Public domain image

The iconic "Rosie the Riveter" image was coined in a song of the same name written by Red Evans & John Loeb and popularized by the big band of Kay Kyser. The inspiration for the song is disputed. It may have been Rosalind Walter, who worked the night shift building F4U Corsair fighters, or Rosie Bonavita in San Diego, but the iconic red kerchiefed Rosie posters became most closely associated with Rose Monroe, who worked at Michigan's Willow Run factory building B-24's. Rosie was also the subject of a documentary film, "The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter" and a Hollywood drama, "Rosie the Riveter". 

Norman Rockwell put Rosie on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post in 1943. It proved so popular that the War Department used it during War Bond Drives. [Editor note: the original Rosie the Riveter Rockwell painting sold for ~$5 million in 2002]. And Rosie was featured in other propaganda posters, the most famous being the "We Can Do It" poster. 

[Editor note: there was also a lesser known "Wendy the Welder" by Norman Rockwell.]  

"You came out to California, put on your pants, and took your lunch pail to a man’s job. This was the beginning of women’s feeling that they could be something more."

SYBIL LEWIS, RIVETER FOR LOCKHEED

[Editor note: Even if you read no further, take a look at a WWII Rosie photo album in colorized on mashable.com.]

In addition to the civilian workers, nearly 400,000 women served in the U.S. armed forces, including 60,000 nurses. [see my series of 8 posts on WWII Army nurse, Othelia Rosten's Story of the 95th Evac Division]

Doris in Lowry next to a war bond poster

My aunt Doris was Lowry's "Rosie". During WWII, she worked for the U. S. Army Air Force in the manufacturing department in Sacramento and San Bernadino, California. "Doris the Riveter" doesn't have the alliteration of Rosie ... and she didn't drive rivets, but hers is real and specific case of the contribution the women of America made to the war effort. 









Editor note: The following account is edited from Robieson family stories.

Doris worked making parts to repair the shot up planes that came in to McClellan Army Air Force Base in Sacramento, CA., a maintenance, repair and training facility. [Editor note: Jimmy Doolittle's B-24 bombers were retrofitted at McClellan to be "carrier based" planes for his raid on Tokyo in 1942]

She never actually worked on airplane construction – rather making the parts. At times she was asked to hold a part that was likely on a wing, where they needed someone with very small hands. She might hold a rivet while someone pounded it in place. It was a dirty job, sometimes the planes came in all blood spattered.

But her story didn’t start on the West Coast. When she was seventeen she went by train to Portsmouth, Virginia with Uncle Jim and Aunt Verona to help take care of Jane and Joan while Verona got the house set up. Doris said she did a lot of caring for Jane and Joan. She remembers that she turned eighteen while in Virginia and fully intended to get a job on the East Coast.

But Grandma Ellen came down with encephalitis (sleeping sickness) and Grandpa asked Doris to come home to help out. Doris came back to Lowry where she got the twins off to school, made Grandpa’s breakfast, milked the cow, etc. She also worked at the Lowry Implement office and helped put machinery together. There were no men around to work with the war so they asked if Doris could please help out. The farmers couldn’t get new machinery because of the war, so they had to fix used machines and got parts wherever they could. 

Then Claude Middents, the Lowry Druggist, asked if Doris could please come over at noon to cover the shop so the druggist could go home to eat lunch. Uncle Francis worked at the drug store some too. So she had three jobs.

One day, Grandpa Jim told her that a guy would come talk to her and that she should listen to him. Apparently Grandpa knew who and what this was about. The man explained that they were looking for girls to train for the war effort in a six week course in Glenwood. They could take classes in radio, sheet metal, etc. Doris chose sheet metal. She still has some of the things she made in class. She made two dustpans with long handles and gave one to Grandpa Jim that he used in his office in the depot. The other one was used upstairs in the living quarters. They were well built and will last forever.

After the training in Glenwood, about ten girls went by train to McClellan Field in Sacramento, California where they worked making plane parts. There was a call for people to go work in Hawaii. But some guys told the girls that they didn’t want to work in Hawaii because of the blackouts – there would be no movies, no nightlife after work. So they transferred to San Bernadino Air Depot, which became Norton Air Force Base in 1948. Here she was closer to Uncle Clarence who occasionally took her out for dinner. While there, the girls had easy access to Los Angeles and San Diego that had parks and things to do on weekends, which they always had off.

As the war was wrapping up, Doris and four others quit their job and planned to take the bus home the next day. But after thinking harder, she knew her dad would have a fit if she took a bus. So she decided to take the train instead. Uncle Clarence and a friend popped in and Doris said the girls were all packed and planned to take the bus, but Doris would take the train the next day. Uncle Clarence asked ‘What’s wrong with taking the train today?” So they went shopping for some bread and things to make sandwiches for the trip and when they got to the train station with just half an hour to spare. She got on and left just like that.

She talked about the beautiful train trip through the mountains. Many years later she and Uncle Bud flew to Denver and took the Amtrak train to the Emeryville stop, near San Francisco. From there they rented a car and drove to LA. She had researched the Thomas Gainsborough painting ‘The Blue Boy’ and finding it wasn’t in Great Britain where she had thought, rather it was in a private museum in Los

Angeles, one of the reasons for the trip. She got to see the painting and they flew home from there.

When Doris quit her Rosie job, she went to Minneapolis where it was easy to get jobs in the city.  Jeanne Robieson Bennett was working at Abbott Hospital and had a davenport that opened up to a bed, so she could move in with Jeanne and help pay rent. Ruby Robieson Bennett lived on the same block as Northwestern Hospital across 26th street. There were a lot of old houses that had lots of rooms rented out to working girls. One room opened up and Doris lived with Ruby for a while. Doris went to work for Ewald Brothers' Dairy of "Golden Guernsey" fame and was one of the Ewald girls featured in their advertising. 

Doris was glad they finally gave Rosie the recognition she deserved. A few years ago, she was asked to write up what she remembered and sent it in. She believes the information collected was used for a Rosie the Riveter display in Burlington, Washington. And Ken Burns was coming to either St. Cloud or Luverne, Minnesota collect personal accounts of the war for a seven part, 14-hour long documentary called ‘The War’ that aired in 2007 on public TV and premiered in Luverne, Minnesota.  Luverne along with Sacramento, Mobile & Waterbury were the 4 towns featured in the series. Doris wasn’t interviewed for that but the documentary is available on Netflix. 

Doris passed away on Feb 16, 2019, age 95.
Copyright © 2017 Dave Hoplin

Sources:
Robieson's "Doris' Rosie the Riveter" story
History.com http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/rosie-the-riveter
Ken Burns "The War" Sacramento http://www.pbs.org/thewar/the_witnesses_towns_sacramento.htm

Lowry Pioneers

Minnesota Historical Society photo

The water tower says 1886, but other sources say 1887. So, we'll go with the water tower.

In any case, in 1887, Lowry, for a brief time, became the western terminus of the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Ste. Sault Marie railway, known by it's english pronunciation "Soo". The date probably doesn't matter that much except for centennial celebrations, but either '86 or '87 marked the beginnings of the Village of Lowry.





Ben Wade, as it was then known, became a railway branch point, had a roundhouse and railroad shop. This eventually moved to Glenwood. The Village of Lowry was named for the then president of the "Soo Line", Thomas Lowry, who went on to Minneapolis streetcar fame and wealth.

1960's Soo Line Railway map

The village was sited on portions of the farms of Hugh Bryce and Thomas Hume. Lowry was initially part of the town of Ben Wade and did not incorporate as a village until 1896.

ancestry.com photo

ancestry.com photo

Both Hugh Bryce and Thomas Hume were Scotsmen, moving to Pope County from Canada about 1870. Hugh Bryce farmed but also had a freighting business, delivering goods on the "Red River Trail" to Fort Gary (Winnipeg) and other military outposts in the northwest.  The current Soo Line railway parallels that early pioneer oxcart trail.

ancestry.com record

Another Scotsman, August Lysen, appointed in 1899, was the Lowry postmaster for nearly 30 years.



So, Lowry has deep Scottish roots.


However, the first town council president was Martin Bartos, a Bohemian.

Martin Bartos
ancestry.com photo

Martin partnered in the creation of the Lowry Roller Mills flour milling company. The mill was later purchased by Leslie & Misenol who operated until it burned to the ground in 1937.

Minnesota Historical Society photo

Mill ashes. Author's collection

Hugh Bryce, E.R. Benson and Palmer Cox were on the original town council. According to census records, E.R. (Ed) Benson was the son of Swedish immigrants and worked as a cattle buyer and in 1930 had a radio set.

Palmer Cox
ancestry.com photo

As far as I can tell, Palmer Cox was the first hardware merchant in Lowry. The hardware dates from 1897 but its history, at least through 1916 is fuzzy.  It was owned by Palmer Cox in 1897. And then became Cox & Shermack.  I don't know what "Shermack" that might be.



From the 1897 "Age of Steel", hardware news.



The Lowry Hardware, Furniture & Machinery Company came into existence in 1904 with directors Wencel Bisek, John J Hagstrom, Fred E Robinson, Iver M Engebretson and Luther L Gibbon.

From the 1904 "Hardware Magazine".






At some point, ownership or management passed to "Stark & Anderson". I know this because of a purchase agreement in 1916 between them and my grandfather, Ole Hoplin, and great uncle, David Nelson, when the business became Hoplin & Nelson Hardware, Furniture and Machinery Co. (see my posts "A Good Place To Trade" and "Hoplin & Nelson Hardware").

William McIver, another Scot and progenitor of a number of Lowry notables, was an early merchant, partnering with Thomas Hume to establish a mercantile which operated for 70+ years, and came to be known as "McIver's Store" in my day. [see the interesting McIver Family History]

John J Hagstrom was the village's first implement dealer. Lowry residents of a certain age will remember "Happy" Hagstrom. [correction: "Happy" was John's son]

Pope County Historical Museum photo
Rebuilt after the 1911 fire

James Simpson, an Irishman by way of Canada, operated one of the first cooperative creameries in the state of Minnesota.

Pope County Historical Museum photo

Dr. L.L. (Luther Llewelyn) Gibbon, a beloved local physician, came to Lowry in 1897. Doc Gibbon graduated from the University of Minnesota, College of Medicine and Surgery in 1896 and practiced in Lowry from 1897 to his death in 1930. Doc Gibbon served as a surgeon in the medical corps in France in WWI. His surgery skills were so renowned that Starbuck Hospital drew patients from as far as South Dakota. My uncle Donald L. Hoplin shared his middle name in honor of the good doctor. When Doc Gibbon died of a stroke in 1930, this as the Great Depression was making for difficult times, his wife Anna, "allowed" my grandfather to buy Doc's old mammoth Hudson for $400. I don't believe that vehicle was ever driven in that decade. Cost prohibitive.

From the 1908 Minnesota Who's Who:

GIBBON, Luther, physician; born at Norwood, N. Y., March 29. 1875; son of Alfred Henry and Mary Jane (Gant) Gibbon: came to Minnesota. 1882; educated in public schools of Minneapolis: Minneapolis Academy; University of Minnesota. College of Medicine and Surgery, graduating, degree of M.D., 1896. In practice at Lowry since Nov. 8, 1897. Unmarried. Address: Lowry, Minn. 
[Editor note: Dr. Gibbon married Anna about 1912] 

There were a few Scandinavians around. The bank that was to become "Lowry State Bank" was established in 1899 and chartered in 1907 with Andrew Jacobson as president, succeeded by Iver Engebretson in 1926 who served as cashier until assuming the presidency. Iver was certainly "involved" in the Village of Lowry.

From the 1908 Minnesota Who's Who:

ENGEBRETSON, Iver Martin, banking; born at Ben Wade, Minn., March 11, 1877; son of Pedor and Anna (Ronning) Engebretson; educated in district schools of Pope Co., Minn., and state high schools of Glenwood, Alexandria and St. Cloud. Unmarried. Began in banking business Oct., 1899 and is cashier of Bank of Lowry; director and treasurer Lowry Telephone Co.; director Lowry Hardware, Furniture and Machine Co., Northwestern Mortgage Security Co. of Fargo. Was first Sargt. Co. M, 13th Minn. Vol. Inf., Spanish-American war and in the Philippines; treasurer village of Lowry; ex-president village council. Member Norwegian Lutheran Synod, M. W. A., Court of Honor. Address: Lowry, Minn. 
[Editor note: Iver married Sarah Jane Andrew in 1910]

Natural Disasters

Per the Glenwood Herald: In July 1897, Lowry was struck by a tornado, destroying the northern part of the town killing Samuel Morrow and his daughter and injuring several people and sweeping away the depot, lumber yard and the elevator. Damages estimated at $50,000.

Per the Glenwood Herald: In November 1911, the east side of main street was completely destroyed by fire. Destroyed were the Mercantile, Drug Store & JJ Hagstrom's Implement. Damages estimated in excess of $40,000. (Note: This is why all the east side buildings are brick and the west side mostly wooden structures.)
See my posts ("Main Street - West Side" and "Main Street - East Side" ).

And an unnatural disaster in 1915.  See Sid Stivland's post "Mayhem in Ben Wade Township".


Copyright © 2017 Dave Hoplin


Note:  Additions and corrections are welcome.  Please comment.

Sources:
Builders of Pope County - Daisy Ellen Hughes
Pope County Museum
www.mnopedia.com
wikimedia commons  - wikimedia.org
ancestry.com (public genealogy trees)
Minnesota History Center - mnhs.org
Lowry Centennial 1886-1986
Lowry Group website - lowrymn.com
Glenwood Herald
1897 Age of Steel (Google books)
1904 Hardware magazine (Google books)
1908 Minnesota Who's Who (Google books)