Minnesota Family History Research: 5/1/16

Saturday, May 7, 2016

On This Date in Minnesota History: May 7

May 7, 1881 - Mary C. Weishar, who was incarcerated in the State penitentiary at Stillwater on a life sentence for murdering her husband on April 11, 1880, in Le Sueur County, prematurely gave birth to a still-born child this evening.^1,⁵

In the 1880 Federal Census, dated June 18, 1880, Mary is listed as a prisoner in the Mankato Jail, in Blue Earth County, Minn. She is one of two women prisoners in the jail; the other woman is listed as a prostitute, Mary is listed as housekeeper. There are also four men in the jail: a 35-year-old professional thief, a 60-year-old harness maker, a 43-year-old farmer and a 36-year-old carpenter. The jailer, his wife and children along with a 30-year-old deputy jailer and two female servants also lived in or near the jail building.

After her conviction on Nov. 26, 1880, Mary was taken to Stillwater State Prison by train on Dec. 3. “Until the establishment of the Shakopee State Reformatory for Women (1920) the Stillwater prison received female as well as male convicts.”² Stillwater did have a woman matron at the time of Mary’s incarceration.³

Mary was described by the St. Paul Daily Globe as “below medium height, rather petite, with a good figure, has a soft black eye, fringed with long, handsome lashes, wears her luxurious jet-black hair in a coil, and has a pleasing complexion, as dark as a gypsey’s.”⁴

She appears to have been an attractive woman. So who was the father of her child? Was it a consensual relationship? According to The New Ulm Weekly Review, someone connected with the Mankato jail is said to be the child’s father.
¹Warren Sheaf; Warren, Marshall County, Minn.; May 11, 1881, p. 2.

²http://libguides.mnhs.org/content.php?pid=483891&sid=3966450

³http://stillwatergazette.com/2013/09/06/matrons-female-convicts-part-stillwater-prisons-early-history/

⁴Daily Globe; “Two Lifers. A Man and Woman Each Convicted of Murder in the First Degree—They Pass Through St. Paul En Route to Stillwater—A Call Upon Them at the Depot.”; St. Paul, Minn.; December 04, 1880; p. 4.

⁵Stillwater Messenger; May 7, 1881; p. 4.

The New Ulm Weekly Review; March 2, 1881; p. 2.

Blue Earth County Jail in Mankato, Minn.

http://aytch.mnsu.edu/Minnesota/Mankato/Mankato%20MN/Mankato%20history/B%20E%20County%20Jail.jpg

Murder of Mary Weishar’s husband; see April 11, 2015 blog

Mary Weishar convicted of first degree murder; see Nov. 26, 2015 blog

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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 MHS records. Both short searches and family history reports.

Website: TheMemoryQuilt.com ® click on Family History

Contact me at: pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com

Friday, May 6, 2016

On This Date in Minnesota History: May 6

May 6, 2005 – “Sergeant Gerald [Dennis] Vick was shot and killed at approximately 2:20 a.m. while conducting an undercover vice investigation.

The officer and his partner were working on a prostitution case in several east side bars when they encountered two men near a bar at 7th and Forest Streets. The two men were talking with bar patrons, possibly in an attempt to set up a robbery.

He and his partner spoke with the men and told them to move along. The officers then separated and went to their respective cars. When Sergeant Vick encountered the men near his car, they exchanged a few words before both men fled into a darkened alley. Both officers pursued the suspects into the alley. One of the subjects pulled out a handgun and opened fire, fatally wounding Sergeant Vick.

Both subjects were apprehended later in the day and the man who shot Sergeant Vick was charged with first degree murder. He was subsequently convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in January 2006.

Sergeant Vick had served with the St. Paul Police Department for 16 years and was the agency's only three-time Medal of Valor recipient. He is survived by his wife, two children, parents, brother, and two sisters.”

http://www.odmp.org/officer/17747-sergeant-gerald-dennis-vick

Sergeant Gerald Dennis Vick

http://www.odmp.org/officer/17747-sergeant-gerald-dennis-vick

Thursday, May 5, 2016

On this Date in Minnesota History: May 5

May 5, 1964 - Early this morning farmer Alfred Ernst, of Barnesville, Minn., drove his truck up to his grain drill, when at 8 a.m. he saw a three to four feet long UFO on the ground. It was a glowing oval object approximately 1,500 feet away, according to the former Barnesville mayor.

The witness, in a later telephone conversation with Dr. James E. McDonald, said the object was "like the tub of a washing machine, round-bottomed." There was a bright glow to it and it was "hard to look at."

Ernst saw the object as it was taking off. It rose quickly and disappeared into the clouds in five seconds. The witness said he felt "rather uncomfortable" when the UFO disappeared.

He then drove to the farm of his brother, Leo A. Ernst, and the two men returned to the landing site. There they discovered a crater-like depression about three feet in diameter. At the center of this depression was a hole about three or four inches in diameter. Four other holes approximately one and one-half inches in diameter and two feet apart formed a square around the central hole. The depressed area was unusually dry.

Around the rim of the depression a white substance, later analyzed as alkaline, was found. Ernst said the black soil in that area did not contain alkaline.

Barnsville Crater

http://www.ufoevidence.org/cases/case573.htm

WDAY-TV, of Fargo, N. D., took an unusual interest in the report and sent a man to investigate and obtain photographs of the area. The results of this investigation were made public on Dewey Berquist's weather program.

"The holes are exactly the type I've seen many times and I'm sure they were caused by lightning," Berquist wrote NICAP. "I believe Mr. Ernst saw an uncommon phenomena called 'ball' or 'globe' lightning."

The witness himself does not agree. Nor does Dr. McDonald.

"While I was quizzing [Ernst] about the state of the weather," Dr. McDonald said in a report to NICAP, "he made reference to the ball lightning explanation and said that was quite unreasonable. He pointed out that he and his father and grandfather had farmed in that area (his grandfather homesteaded there) and nobody in the area had ever seen any fireball or ball lightning or anything like that before... . Having heard directly from Ernst his description of the very precise pattern of the holes, which obviously impressed him greatly, and adding that to his description of the weather, I would say that any type of ball lightning hypothesis will not fit the report. I would say that this is a fairly strong case."

The Arizona atmospheric physicist said thunderstorm activity is needed to produce ball lightning, but "there is no mention of any thunderstorm occurring at the time, nor does any of the material indicate lightning activity."

"The descriptions of the geometric pattern of holes in the blown-out area are quite atypical of ball lightning," Dr. McDonald continued. "Ernst mentioned that it was hard to look at the object due to its luminosity. I have never heard of ball lightning so luminous that it would be hard to look at a distance of a quarter of a mile. . . .

"It is true that lightning sometimes makes a hole or tear in the ground and it is also true that when it hits sand it vitrifies the sand, but I would not be satisfied with Berquist's easy explanation of the holes on such a basis, in view of the reported geometric pattern... .

"Ball lightning fairly frequently ends by exploding (occasionally with damaging force, usually just with a loud noise). One might hypothesize that the hole which Ernst reported was due to explosive termination of a lightning ball; however, then one would be left high and dry with respect to accounting for the ascent of the luminous mass. If, alternatively, one argued that the hole was made by an ordinary cloud-to-ground stroke which then generated a lightning ball, it would be unreasonable to think that Ernst could have failed to hear a very loud crash of thunder. No mention of any such thunder is made."

http://www.ufoevidence.org/cases/case573.htm

http://townmapsusa.com/images/maps/map_of_barnesville_mn.jpg

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

On This Date in Minnesota History: May 4

May 4, 1852 – Charles Ely and “his family moved to the Wabasha Prairie on [this date]. Charles’ father, Elder Edward Ely, worked there as a teacher, businessman and minister. Charles is credited with being the first white boy to come to Winona.

“He was an 18 year old store clerk at the time the war broke out. He stood 5' 6" tall, had a dark complexion, hazel colored eyes and brown hair. Enlisting on April 29, 1861, he joined other men from the Winona area who were placed in Company K.

“As the regiment began to move forward during their famous charge at Gettysburg on July 2, 1863, Ely was shot in the side of his right chest area. The ball exited near his back bone. After the battle he was found and carried to a field hospital near the battlefield. There he lay on the ground for four days before he was seen. He lay wrapped in a blanket. His pants were soaked with blood from his wound and were discarded. Once he was attended to, 1st Sgt Mathew Marvin saw a surgeon run a handkerchief through the hole in Charles' body, which the minnie ball had created. The surgeon then declared that he could not survive such a wound. However, it was decided to try to move him to a hospital in the rear in case he might recover.”

Charles did survive, and lived to be 72.

http://www.1stminnesota.net/1st.php?ID=1155

Charles Ely
http://www.1stminnesota.net/1st.php?ID=1155

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

On This Date in Minnesota History: May 3

May 3, 1959 – “Crowds were on the Duluth piers when the merchant vessel Ramon de Larrinaga passed under the Aerial Bridge, the first up-bound ship to traverse the newly opened St. Lawrence Seaway. The British-registered vessel loaded grain at the Peavey and Cargill elevators before departing for Montreal and a voyage across the North Atlantic.”

http://www.thehistorypeople.com/data/docs/timeline-part2.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Duluth_canal.jpg

Monday, May 2, 2016

On This Date in Minnesota History: May 2

May 2, 1967 – A number of Twins games were played in cold weather at Met Stadium, but the coldest start to any game at the Met was 32 degrees on this date when the Twins beat the Yankees 13-4 in front of 8,171 fans in two hours and 29 minutes. The Twins scored six runs in the bottom of the first inning and held on from there.

http://twinstrivia.com/today-in-twins-history/

Met Stadium, Bloomington, Minn.

Sunday, May 1, 2016

On This Date in Minnesota History: May 1

May 1, 1879. As Ramaley’s Lake Shore Refreshment Pavilion opens, the resort era in White Bear begins.

http://www.ci.white-bear-township.mn.us/vertical/sites/%7B801D228F-081F-4123-B371-0DC5894FC6D6%7D/uploads/%7BC459BB85-FE9B-48EF-BD64-4A2FA70A3744%7D.PDF