Saturday, December 10, 2016

On This Date in Minnesota History: December 10

December 10, 1986 – “Barbara Cheester [was] named the first executive director of the Minnesota Center for Torture Victims. The center was established in 1985 with a volunteer staff and was recently awarded a $300,000 grant from the Northwest Area Foundation. The grant allows the center to make its first permanent staffing appointments.”

St. Paul Pioneer Press; “Torture Center Director Named”; December 11, 1986; p. 2C.



Center for Victims of Torture Healing Center Entrance, St. Paul, MN
https://minnesotahumphrey.wordpress.com/2015/06/15/damir-utrzan-hope/

               __________________________________________________________

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 available.

Website: 
TheMemoryQuilt.com > click on Family History

Contact me at:
pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com 

 



Friday, December 9, 2016

On This Date in Minnesota History: December 9

December 9, 1941 – Faribault, Minn. native Bruce Smith, Minnesota Gopher halfback, was awarded the seventh Heisman Trophy on this date.

“The marquis triple-threat tailback of his era, Smith epitomized the single-wing offense and could seemingly do it all. Although well over 200 pounds, he was one of the Big Ten Conference's fastest men. In 1941, the team captain led the Gophers to their second consecutive undefeated season and national championship. For his efforts, Smith beat out Notre Dame's Angelo Bertelli for the Heisman.”1



Bruce Smith2


“After graduating, the All-American halfback went on to garner MVP honors in the College All-Star game against the Chicago Bears that summer. That next year, before going off to fight in WWII, Smith first went to Hollywood, where he starred in the movie "Smith of Minnesota," about a small-town family whose son becomes and All-American halfback.

“Smith went on to become a Navy fighter pilot, and also played service football for the Great Lake Navy team. He returned home in 1945, and signed on with the Green Bay Packers and later with the Los Angeles Rams. He played for four years in the NFL, mostly on defense, but injuries prevented him from performing up to his unbelievable collegiate standards.”1

“Smith was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1972, and in 1977, he became the first Minnesota player to have his number (54) retired.

“[He] was diagnosed with cancer in the spring of 1967 and succumbed to the disease on Aug. 28 of that year.”1

1http://heisman.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=8

2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Smith

               __________________________________________________________

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 available.

Website: 
TheMemoryQuilt.com > click on Family History

Contact me at:
pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com 

 

Thursday, December 8, 2016

On This Date in Minnesota History: December 8

December 8, 1905 – Mary G. Reichel, formerly of Waverly, but now of St. Paul, who entered suit against J. J. Mooney of Waverly for a breach of promise, was today given a verdict for $5,500. She had sued for $10,000. The trial drew a large crowd, this being the first suite of the kind in Wright County. The plaintiff produced 36 letters she had received from the defendant during their courtship.

The Minneapolis Morning Tribune; “St. Paul Woman Wins Suit. Awarded $5,500 Damages Against Former Suitor.”; December 9, 1905; p. 1.


Photo taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain Dec. 8, 2016, 
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 available.

Website: 
TheMemoryQuilt.com > click on Family History

Contact me at:
pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com 

 

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

On This Date in Minnesota History: December 7

December 7, 1918 – Eleven machine gun bullet wounds in one leg and a bayonet wound in a hand stand as testimony of the part that Private Francis Lequier, Deer River, Minn., former member of the Twenty-eighth infantry, and a full-blooded Chippewa Indian, played in helping Uncle Sam defeat the armies of the German war lords.

Private Lequier is one of 60 soldiers returned to the reconstruction hospital in Fort Des Moines, Ia., today for treatment.

It was early on the morning of July 18, when General Pershing ordered the advance at Chateau-Thierry, which ended in a defeat of the Kaiser’s army, that Private Lequier received his wounds.



Gen. Pershing1

With seven other Yanks he attacked a German machine gun nest.

“It was just kill or be killed,” Lequier says. “Some Germans may have given up without fighting but these weren’t that kind.”

One after another of his comrades went down under the rain of bullets from the German gun until only Lequier and one other were left. Of the 12 Germans who manned the machine gun, nine were lying prostrate. 

“I was on one side and my comrade on the other,” Lequier says. “They turned the gun on me and I felt my right leg give away, only the German operating the gun was left. He turned it on the other fellow and I finished him off with my pistol.”

Private Lequier enlisted May 20, 1917, while a student in school at Wahpeton, N. D.  His wounds have healed sufficiently so he can hobble around on crutches.

____________________________________

Did You Know…

Native Americans were not recognized as U.S. citizens until 1924 by an act of Congress. Many Native Americans joined the U.S. Armed Forces to serve and defend America during World War I. Native American veterans of WWI were allowed to apply for U.S. citizenship.


The Minneapolis Morning Tribune
; “Minnesota Indian Sustains Dozen Wounds Fighting Hun. Private Francis Lequier of Deer River Put a Machine Gun Out of Action at Chateau-Thierry.”; Dec. 8, 1918; p. 2.

https://www.glifwc.org/publications/pdf/MilleLacs_Supplement.pdf

1https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/General_John_Joseph_Pershing_head_on_shoulders.jpg/220px-General_John_Joseph_Pershing_head_on_shoulders.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 available.

Website: 
TheMemoryQuilt.com > click on Family History

Contact me at:
pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com 

 


Tuesday, December 6, 2016

On This Date in Minnesota History: December 6

December 6, 1914 – With Minnehaha Falls dwindled to a silvery cascade in preparation for its winter’s rest and the gorge enveloped in a cloudy Dec. mist, the “laughing waters” were visited today for the first time by Mrs. Richard Henry Dana of Cambridge, Mass., daughter of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, author of the Indian sentiment poem, “Hiawatha.”

She made the trip to the falls by automobile with her husband, president of the National Civil Service Reform League; her son, Edmund T. Dana, instructor in philosophy at the University of Minnesota and Mr. and Mrs. T. H. Winter of Minneapolis. The Danas left Minneapolis this evening.

Longfellow never saw Minnehaha Falls, but wrote the love story of Hiawatha and Minnehaha from knowledge of the Minnesota Ojibway Indians gained from Henry Schoolcraft, the explorer and historian.

The Minneapolis Morning Tribune; “Daughter of Longfellow Visits Laughing Waters Immortalized by Poem”; Dec. 7, 1914; p. 1.




Frozen Minnehaha Falls

https://www.minneapolisparks.org/_asset/ytd6wv/minnehaha_falls_frozen.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 available.

Website: 
TheMemoryQuilt.com > click on Family History

Contact me at:
pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com 

 


Monday, December 5, 2016

On This Date in Minnesota History: December 5

December 5, 2007 – “A man clearing snow off the glass roof of the IDS Center skyscraper's atrium slipped, crashed through the roof, and fell about five or six stories to his death.”

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/12/05/ids_accident/



IDS Crystal Court
Photo taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain Aug. 6, 2012,
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 available.

Website: 
TheMemoryQuilt.com > click on Family History

Contact me at:
pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com 

 

Sunday, December 4, 2016

On This Date in Minnesota History: December 4

December 4, 1911 - The Minneapolis Park Board voted unanimously this afternoon to designate Fair Oaks, the William Drew Washburn property, for park purposes.





Today’s Washburn Fair Oaks Park

Mr. Washburn’s offer to sell the property, which is bounded by Twenty-second Street on the north, Twenty-fourth Street on the south, Third Avenue on the east and Stevens Avenue on the west, to the park board for $200,000 was read. M. B. Koon said that when the property for the art museum (now the Minnesota Institute of Arts) was given to the city and the funds were yet to be raised for the building, several interested citizens thought of securing Fair Oakes as a suitable approach for the museum. Steps taken last winter by individuals and later in the spring by the Civic Commission brought about the offer to sell the Washburn tract to the city as an approach to the museum, he said.


One of the provisions of Mr. Washburn’s offer was that the residence be retained for the use of Mr. and Mrs. Washburn during their lifetime. Mr. Washburn died July 29, 1912; his wife Elizabeth died April 28, 1916. The mansion was demolished by the park board in 1924.

The Minneapolis Morning Tribune; “Famed Old Homestead to Be Bought for Park. Board Unanimously Votes to Accept W. D. Washburn’s Offer of Fair Oaks. Purchase on Terms Proposed by Owner $200,000 and Life Tenure. Resolution Offered to Acquire Block Fronting Municipal Building.”; Dec. 5, 1911; p. 1.

The Minneapolis Morning Tribune; “Mrs. W. D. Washburn Dies in New Jersey; Was Pioneer Here. Widow of Late United States Senator Came to Minneapolis in 1859.”; April 29, 1916; p. 1.



 Historical Marker 

Text


Fair Oaks
A Mansion for a Park


Did you know that ‘Washburn Fair Oakes’ was originally the name of the mansion that once stood here?


One of the largest homes in Minneapolis in the 1880s, it was built by William D. Washburn. His brother Cadwallader Washburn founded the Washburn Crosby Mill, which later became General Mills, the home of Gold medal Flour.

William, an early parks advocate, donated land for Minnehaha Parkway. He later sold his estate to the Park Board in 1911 for $250,000, the value of the land alone. The buildings themselves were worth $400,000 at the time. In 1915, after both Washburns passed away, the Park Board took control of the buildings as well as the park.

Though the castle-like three-story mansion was once considered for use as the Park Board’s offices, how to put it to good use as a park structure was never resolved. The board denied the first petition to raze the house in 1916. Several community and civic groups used the house into the 1920a, but one by one, buildings were removed. First the greenhouse, then the barn, and finally the mansion itself was razed in 1924, against the protests of many. The last significant element of the estate to go was the wrought iron fence that once surrounded the site. It was sold for scrap iron to support the war in 1942.

Though several grand plans for the park have been developed over the year, it has changed little since the buildings were removed. It remains one of the few parks in Minneapolis to retain a quiet pastoral feel in the style of late nineteenth-century parks. Of the entire estate, the oaks themselves have proven to be…”the fairest of them all.



Enlarged photo of Washburns’ Fair Oaks Mansion from historical marker



Photos taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain Dec. 4, 2016, 

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 available.

Website: 
TheMemoryQuilt.com > click on Family History

Contact me at:
pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com