Saturday, October 1, 2016

On This Date in Minnesota History: October 1

October 1, 1912 – John Gammell, of Faribault, Minn., was hit and instantly killed by a streetcar in St. Paul this morning.

The car knocked him to the pavement and then ran over his body severing the head at the neck. Motorman R. D. Moer was at once arrested and charged with manslaughter.

The Bemidji Daily Pioneer; “Head is Cut Off by Car”; October 01, 1912; p. 1.




St. Paul Streetcar 1910
http://forgottenminnesota.com/2011/08/the-rise-of-the-selby-avenue-streetcar-line/

               __________________________________________________________

If you are interested in finding out more about your family history in Minnesota, I specialize in researching  genealogical and historical records in Minn. and western Wis., including:
census records,  birth records,  death certificates, obits, grave site photos, ship passenger lists, marriage records and declarations of intent/naturalization records.  I will visit locations to research local history and county records, as well as take photos. Quick turnaround on MNHS records.  Both short searches and family history reports.

Website: 
TheMemoryQuilt.com > click on Family History

Contact me at:
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Friday, September 30, 2016

On This Date in Minnesota History: September 30

September 30, 1913 - The rumors had swirled around the North Minneapolis neighborhood for months. The local undertaker had heard them, so had the family doctor and the neighbors, who of course where the ones spreading the suspicions: a family who lived at 3206 Second Street North was dying because the mother and wife was poisoning them. But no one told the police.

It wasn’t until Patrolman Frank Brunskill overheard a conversation on a street car that referred to the mysterious deaths of children in the Leckwold home that the police began an investigation, which drew Brunskill closer to the trail of the family as the day went on. Finally convinced that he was on the right track, he called Patrolman Hanson to assist him and the two visited the Leckwold home. The woman’s confession soon followed.

Coerced by a man with whom she had been having an affair, Mrs. Ida Leckwold admitted to Minneapolis Police Chief Martinson and Hennepin County Attorney Robertson this evening to taking the life of one of her children and attempting to take the lives of another child and that of her husband.

She was arrested and held on a charge of murder, pending further investigation, as four of her other children have died under mysterious circumstances, very similar to the death of the one that brought about her arrest.

Godfrey Norman, was arrested later on information furnished by the woman and her husband. Norman was held under suspicion of being the ‘man in the case,’ although he denies vehemently that he is guilty of any crime. The husband is also being held as a witness.

Mrs. Leckwold is a woman of 32, who has been married for 13 years, and who is the mother of eight children, all but two of them having died under circumstances that seem to point to murder. She confessed to the murder of one of the children, but admitted when questioned by the police chief and the county attorney, that she had attempted that of another, Willie, who recovered.


Mrs. Ida Leckwold1

The girl that died, Viola, 9 years old, is said to have succumbed to fly poison administered by her mother. Dr. H. W. Allen, who was called in the last two cases, those of Viola and Walter Laurel, 11 months old, who died about six weeks ago, said this evening when he first called he found the children were not seriously ill.  He prescribed for them, but when he returned the next day he found, in each instance, that the child had died during the night. The cause of death was given as cholera morbus.

Mrs. Leckwold became hysterical when talking to the chief. She said she had become infatuated with a man who had demanded that she kill her children, and she had blindly followed his orders. Her husband corroborated her story, saying that he had been suspicious of her for a long time, but had not for a moment suspected that the death of their children had been caused by her.

“I felt ill myself at the same time that Willie and Viola were taken sick,” he said, “but not for a moment did I suspect that I had been poisoned, which I am firmly convinced of now. Willie and I both recovered, but poor Viola died. I cannot believe, even in the face of her own confession, that my wife is guilty of such a heinous crime.”

Besides Willie, who is 12 years old, Myrtle, 11 years old, also survives. The only ones left of a family of eight children; they are being cared for by neighbors. Those that have passed all died before they had reached the age of one year, with the exception of Viola.

When questioned by the county attorney and the chief of police, Mrs. Leckwold hysterically denied having caused the death of her other children, but it is said by the police that they died under nearly identical circumstances and it is their firm belief that the mother was responsible for their deaths.

A liquid poison, said to contain large quantities of arsenic, is said to have caused the deaths of the last two children. How the woman administered the poison is not known. So cleverly did she do her work that she deceived the family physician, who, in each case, issued a certificate of death caused by cholera-morbus or summer complaint. These certificates were accepted by the undertaker.

Moe and McNameee were the undertakers who had charge of the last two bodies, as well as that of Perry, who died two years ago. All are said to have died from the same cause. The undertakers said this evening that they had received the death certificates in regular form.



Undertakers2

While the police had no positive evidence that the first four children met the same fate as the last two, they know that the cause of their deaths was identical in each case. It is probable that the bodies will be exhumed and investigations made.

Brunskill learned that when Walter died, Mrs. Leckwold ran from the house when she saw the doctor coming to make his morning call. She knew that the boy was dead, but was not present when the doctor found him so. She is said to have hidden in a lumber yard nearby until he had departed.

Mrs. Leckwold collapsed when she was taken into police headquarters and it was necessary to call the police surgeon to revive her. She was able to give her story to the chief clearly, although skirting the features connected with the death of the first four children. It is generally believed that the woman is mentally deranged.


The Minneapolis Morning Tribune
; “Mother Is Held for Murder of Two Children. ‘Eternal Triangle’ Is Held Responsible for Tragedy on North Side. Mrs. Ida Leckwold Arrested on Charge of Double Homicide. Godfrey Norman, ‘Man in the Case,’ Also Is Locked Up. Mysterious Deaths of Four Other children Being Investigated. Woman Is Said to Have Confessed—Man Denies Guilt.”; October 1, 1913; pp. 1-2.


1The Minneapolis Morning Tribune; Oct. 3, 1913; p.1.

21914 Minneapolis City Directory


Ida Leckwold claims husband beats her; says she was mentally affected by abuse and constant motherhood; see Oct. 5, 2016 blog.

Mrs. Ida Leckwold was indicted today on the charge of murder in the first degree for the murder of her daughter, Viola; see Oct. 7, 2016 blog.               __________________________________________________________

If you are interested in finding out more about your family history in Minnesota, I specialize in researching  genealogical and historical records in Minn. and western Wis., including:
census records,  birth records,  death certificates, obits, grave site photos, ship passenger lists, marriage records and declarations of intent/naturalization records.  I will visit locations to research local history and county records, as well as take photos. Quick turnaround on MNHS records.  Both short searches and family history reports.

Website: 
TheMemoryQuilt.com > click on Family History

Contact me at:
pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com 

Thursday, September 29, 2016

On This Date in Minnesota History: September 29

Sept. 29, 1955 – Arctic and Antarctic explorer Ann Bancroft was born in St. Paul on this date. Bancroft “was the first woman to reach the North Pole on foot and by sled.  She was also the first woman to cross both polar ice caps to reach the North and South Poles, as well as the first woman to ski across Greenland.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Bancroft




Ann Bancroft
http://yearofwomen.tumblr.com/post/124488048596/july-19-ann-bancroft-not-to-be-confused-with

               __________________________________________________________

If you are interested in finding out more about your family history in Minnesota, I specialize in researching  genealogical and historical records in Minn. and western Wis., including:
census records,  birth records,  death certificates, obits, grave site photos, ship passenger lists, marriage records and declarations of intent/naturalization records.  I will visit locations to research local history and county records, as well as take photos. Quick turnaround on MNHS records.  Both short searches and family history reports.

Website: 
TheMemoryQuilt.com > click on Family History

Contact me at:
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Wednesday, September 28, 2016

On This Date in Minnesota History: September 28

September 28, 1915 – Andrew E. Fritz, public examiner of Minnesota, his assistant, J. O. Davis, corporate examiner, and J. O. Cedarburg, Municipal expert, today took possession of the municipal books and accounts of Hibbing and began an audit of all departments of the “world’s richest village.” They state that they will not be able to complete their work for several weeks.

The examination is the state official’s response to a petition filed in his office yesterday, signed by 10 property owners of Hibbing. The public examiner has not made public the petitioners’ names, but it is generally believed in Hibbing that the mining company officials or their sympathizers are at the head of this unexpected move in the controversy that has given national prominence to the range village.

Mayor Victor Power of Hibbing expressed pleasure this evening over the public examiner’s move, saying that he hopes a report from the state will prove to the people of Minnesota that Hibbing has been managed on a fair basis.


Hibbing Mayor Victor Power1

Actual work on the books will begin tomorrow, though a hasty glimpse of the records today showed that cash on hand totaled $434.39 in “village orders,” and checks for small amounts. There was not a cent in coin or currency. There is understood to be something over $30,000 balance to the village credit in banks, however, a large share of it is in cash and the balance in village orders.

Hibbing officials this evening were given to understand that it is planned to follow all “leads” in the investigation and to dig as deeply as the public interest seems to require. If it develops that more expert accountants are needed, they will be put to work.

An effort to get the state to take a hand in the controversy have been made from the mining companies failed to pay their June installment of about $750,000 and let it be known that they did not intend to pay because they believed the tax unjust and unequitable, or were confident it would be devoted to what they termed extravagant purposes.

Most of the efforts have been engineered by Mayor Power, who requested State Auditor Preus to seize the ore of the delinquent companies or to cause the cancellation of such leases on state mines as were held by the companies. Preus refused to take such action.


Minnesota State Auditor Jacob Preus2


The mining companies have clarified the situation somewhat by paying almost entirely in Hibbing village orders, such taxes as were due on mining properties leased from the state. This tactical move practically eliminated the state as a tax money claimant.


The Minneapolis Morning Tribune; “Hibbing Books Are Seized By State Officials. Mining Companies Back of Forced Examination, Is Belief.”; Sept. 29, 1915; p. 1.

1http://www.mnhs.org/school/online/communities/web_assets/POWpho1T.jpg

2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._A._O._Preus#/media/File:JacobPreus.jpg

Photo taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain Feb. 7, 2015, 
as long as acknowledgement included.
               __________________________________________________________

If you are interested in finding out more about your family history in Minnesota, I specialize in researching  genealogical and historical records in Minn. and western Wis., including:
census records,  birth records,  death certificates, obits, grave site photos, ship passenger lists, marriage records and declarations of intent/naturalization records.  I will visit locations to research local history and county records, as well as take photos. Quick turnaround on MNHS records.  Both short searches and family history reports.

Website: 
TheMemoryQuilt.com > click on Family History

Contact me at:
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Tuesday, September 27, 2016

On This Date in Minnesota History: September 27

September 27, 1890 – Tommy O’Rourke, a 5-tear-old boy from Montana, disappeared on this date while visiting relatives in Foley, Minn. The men of the family, including his father, were harvesting some fields, and Tommy had tagged along. Once the men realized Tommy was no longer in the area where they had last seen him, they began a search, yelling for him as they walked through the fields, but he had simply disappeared!


Tommy O’Rourke1

Did the boy wonder off and become lost? Could the Indians have taken him? Friends and neighbors assisted in the search; by the third day there were more than 100 men searching for Tommy, including all the workers from the Foley Lumber Miller.1

After he’d been missing a week, the Great Northern Railroad donated the use of a special train to take (125-150) searchers from St. Cloud and Sauk Rapids out to Foley to conduct one last massive search on Sunday, Oct. 5.1
On that last search, it was his cousin Michael O’Rourke, who discovered a scared, crying Tommy sitting on a stump in the woods near Foley station, in Benton County, about a mile and a half from where he was last seen. The boy was in almost famished condition, but with careful nursing would live. For nine days he had subsisted entirely on berries, acorns and water. His recovery brought wild excitement, as the whole surrounding country had followed the story.
Having given up hope of finding him alive, Tommy’s mother and sister had already started for their home in Glendive, Mont., when the good news of his recovery arrived.

1http://wjon.com/5-year-old-missing-for-a-week-on-this-date-in-central-minnesota-history/

The Independent Record; “Tommy O’Rourke Found. Almost famished and Living on Acorns and Water.”; Helena, Montana; Oct. 6, 1890; p. 1.

St. Paul Globe; “Tommy O’Rourke Found. The Little Fellow Lives on Berries a Week.”; Oct. 6, 1890; p. 1.



http://pouchtec.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/foley-tower.jpg

               __________________________________________________________

If you are interested in finding out more about your family history in Minnesota, I specialize in researching  genealogical and historical records in Minn. and western Wis., including:
census records,  birth records,  death certificates, obits, grave site photos, ship passenger lists, marriage records and declarations of intent/naturalization records.  I will visit locations to research local history and county records, as well as take photos. Quick turnaround on MNHS records.  Both short searches and family history reports.

Website: 
TheMemoryQuilt.com > click on Family History

Contact me at:
pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com 

 

Monday, September 26, 2016

On This Date in Minnesota History: September 26

September 26, 1918 – Because of epidemics of Spanish influenza in army camps, Provost Marshal General Crowder tonight cancelled calls for the entrainment between Oct. 7 and 11 of 142,000 draft registrants.



Provost Marshall General Crowder1

Two hundred Minneapolis men, 116 from St. Paul and 49 from Duluth had been summoned for the Oct. 7 draft call.

In canceling the call, General Crowder acted upon instruction from General March, chief of staff. Every state and the District of Columbia had been assigned quotas and the men were to have gone to practically all of the camps in the country.


 
WWI Music Sheet2


The Minneapolis Morning Tribune; “Influenza Spread Results in Draft Call Cancellation. Epidemic Now Prevails in All But 13 Army Camps.”; Sept. 27, 1918; p. 1.

1http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/theworldsmilitaryhistory/images/6/60/EnochCrowder2.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20111225061955

2http://filiopietismprism.blogspot.com/2013/02/military-monday-world-war-i-draft.html
               __________________________________________________________

If you are interested in finding out more about your family history in Minnesota, I specialize in researching  genealogical and historical records in Minn. and western Wis., including:
census records,  birth records,  death certificates, obits, grave site photos, ship passenger lists, marriage records and declarations of intent/naturalization records.  I will visit locations to research local history and county records, as well as take photos. Quick turnaround on MNHS records.  Both short searches and family history reports.

Website: 
TheMemoryQuilt.com > click on Family History

Contact me at:
pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com 

 

Sunday, September 25, 2016

On This Date in Minnesota History: September 25

September 25, 1947 – Model and actress Cheryl Tiegs was born on this date in Breckenridge, Minn. Her second husband, photographer Peter Beard (1981–83), was the great grandson of James J. Hill, founder of the Great Northern Railway.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheryl_Tiegs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Beard



http://hookedonhouses.net/2013/07/17/cheryl-tiegs-balinese-inspired-home-in-bel-air/

               __________________________________________________________

If you are interested in finding out more about your family history in Minnesota, I specialize in researching  genealogical and historical records in Minn. and western Wis., including:
census records,  birth records,  death certificates, obits, grave site photos, ship passenger lists, marriage records and declarations of intent/naturalization records.  I will visit locations to research local history and county records, as well as take photos. Quick turnaround on MNHS records.  Both short searches and family history reports.

Website: 
TheMemoryQuilt.com > click on Family History

Contact me at:
pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com