Saturday, December 14, 2013

On This Date in Minnesota History: December 14

December 14, 1900 - William Foelsen, one of the leading contractors in St. Paul and a member of the board of police commissioners, was discovered to be in New Ulm today after last being seen Tuesday evening, Dec. 11, at the Brenck and Krent saloon, Ninth and Wabasha. His friends and family had suspected foul play.

Foelsen was engaged on a contract to enlarge the Hamm Brewery company. On Tuesday at 5 p.m., he paid his 90 employees their wages for the preceding two weeks, and then went to the saloon. His friend Henry F. Koenig, the last person to see Foelsen, said Foelsen appeared to be his normal self when he left for home late Tuesday evening.

Foelsen learned of the concern over his welfare while reading a Dec. 14 article on his disappearance in the St. Paul Globe. He was very much startled by the news, and immediately telephoned his family, the police, his lodge brethren and friends to tell them where he was and that he was okay.


Seriously? The guy is missing for a little over two days, doesn't tell his wife he’s going somewhere other than home, and is surprised to learn everyone thinks he has met with foul play? Me thinks the guy was up to no good.


St. Paul Globe; “Friends Fear Foul Play; Absence of William Foelsen is Causing Much Alarm; He Was Last Seen Tuesday; Henry Koenig, Who Saw Him Last, Says He Was on His Way Home—Had Large Sum of Money.”; Dec. 14, 1900; p.1

St. Paul Globe; “Paid New Ulm A Visit; Absence of Police Commissioner William Foelsen is Accounted For; Called Away By Business; He Did Not Have Time to Notify His Family and Friends of His Hurried Departure.”; Dec. 15, 1900; p. 2.



Photo taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain July 25, 2012,
as long as acknowledgement included.
 



Friday, December 13, 2013

On This Date in Minnesota History: December 13

December 13, 1998 – “Gary Anderson (Minnesota Vikings) kicked six field goals against Baltimore. In the game Anderson set a National Football League (NFL) record for 34 straight field goals without a miss.”

http://www.on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/dec13.htm




Gary Anderson

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/428693-top-10-most-memorable-plays-in-nfl-history#/articles/428693-top-10-most-memorable-plays-in-nfl-history/page/4




 

Thursday, December 12, 2013

On This Date in Minnesota History: December 12

December 12, 1977 – The Hutchinson Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on this date.

Asa Hutchinson is credited with beginning the Hutchinson Public Library in 1874 when he donated two volumes and a half a lot of land for a library site. In 1903, voters in Hutchinson were eager to accept the $10,000 gift Andrew Carnegie offered for a building. A new library was dedicated in 1904, and in 1977, it was selected as a historic site listed in the National Registry of Historic Places. In 1985, a bond referendum for $750,000 allowed for the enlargement of the Carnegie Library. The new addition was designed by local architect John Korngiebel and successfully merged the old with the new.”

http://www.explorehutchinson.com/downloads/Historic_Tour.pdf


Hutchinson Carnegie Library

Photo taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain Dec. 12, 2013,
as long as acknowledgement included.
 

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

On This Date in Minnesota History: December 11

December 11, 1858 – Born on this date in Oak Grove Township, Anoka County, Henry Gilbert Leathers “was one of the first white children to be born in that township. He lived the pioneer days of the county, remembered the Indian outbreak, of the women being sent hurriedly to Fort Snelling for protection [from] the Indians coming down the Rum River. He
attended school in the county school and his high school in Anoka and attended Carleton College [where he] graduated as a pharmacist. In 1882 he first opened a general store selling everything from soup to blasting powder and later cars. This store was on the west side of the river and south of the bridge (the garage for the cars is still there today as the
Bridge Street Market).”

Leathers’ beautiful Victorian style home in St. Francis was named to the National Register of Historic Places on December 26, 1979.

Steinke, Ray; “History of St. Francis, Anoka County, Minnesota”; St. Francis Area Chamber of Commerce; 2005.







Leathers’ Home in St. Francis, Minn.
Photos taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain Dec. 11, 2013,
as long as acknowledgement included.
 




Tuesday, December 10, 2013

On This Date in Minnesota History: December 10

December 10, 19301 – Secretary of State and former Minnesota U.S. Senator, Frank B. Kellogg, was awarded the 1929 Nobel Peace Prize on this date for “having been one of the initiators of the [Kellogg-Briand] Pact of 1928.”2

“The Kellogg-Briand Pact was signed by Germany, France and the United States on August 27, 1928. The Kellogg-Briand Pact [was] an international agreement in which signatory states promised not to use war to resolve "disputes or conflicts of whatever nature or of whatever origin they may be, which may arise among them". Parties failing to abide by this promise ‘should be denied the benefits furnished by this treaty’.”3

“During the selection process in 1929, the Norwegian Nobel Committee decided that none of the year's nominations met the criteria as outlined in the will of Alfred Nobel. According to the Nobel Foundation's statutes, the Nobel Prize can in such a case be reserved until the following year, and this statute was then applied. Frank B. Kellogg therefore received his Nobel Prize for 1929 one year later, in 1930.”4




Frank B. Kellogg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FrankKellogg.jpg


1http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1929/press.html

2http://nobelpeaceprize.org/en_GB/laureates/laureates-1929/kellogg-bio/

3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kellogg%E2%80%93Briand_Pact

4http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1929/

Monday, December 9, 2013

On This Date in Minnesota History: December 9

December 9, 1924 – The last surviving member of Minnesota’s (Civil War) Company K, David Archibald, died on this date. He was only 16 when he enlisted, but told the recruiting officer he was 17-years-old.

“Archibald was severely wounded by a gun shot in his left thigh at the Battle of Cold Harbor, Virginia, on June 4, 1864. The minnie ball passed through the fleshy part of his inner thigh, cut through muscle and exited through the rear. Archibald was taken to the hospital and remained there until Dec 30, 1864. He was discharged on Jan 2, 1865. The wound left him lame for the rest of his life, though he was able to walk without the need for a cane.”

http://www.1stminnesota.net/1st.php?ID=1308


David Archibaldhttp://www.1stminnesota.net/1st.php?ID=1308


Sunday, December 8, 2013

On This Date in Minnesota History: December 8

December 8, 1904 – “After having danced a jig on the topmost girder of Duluth’s new aerial ferry bridge, 155 feet from the ground, W. G. Ellis, a Minneapolis workman employed on the structure, met death today while lowering himself to the ground to go to the aid of [his] injured brother.

Ray Ellis had descended from the structure only a moment before, sliding down a cable. The wire was icy and he was unable to check his speed, striking a block, a short distance from the ground. When W. G. Ellis learned that his brother was hurt he rushed to the rescue, using the same cable in his descent. He, too, lost control of himself and struck the ground with terrific force, breathing his back and right leg. He died fifty minutes later without recovering consciousness.”

St. Paul Globe; Dances and Falls; Workman is Killed on Duluth Aerial Bridge”; Dec. 9, 1904; p.1



Aerial Bridge Over Ship Canal, Duluth, Minn.

Second of its kind in the world.  Clear span 400 feet; clear height 136 feet; total height above water, 186 feet.   (Postmark Superior Wisc Oct 14, 1909)

http://www.cityhistory.us/duluth/photos/photos07.htm