Saturday, August 6, 2016

On This Date in Minnesota History: August 6

August 6, 1915 – Only a miracle saved the passengers on the fast southbound Rock Island train N. 64, known as the Kansas City Flier, which jumped the track one mile south of Hope, Steele County, Minn., this afternoon and went into the ditch. The baggage car, two day coaches, chair car and tender were derailed. The engine and sleeper remained on the track.

Passengers were shaken up, but none seriously injured. The track was torn up for a distance of 600 feet. Some of the coaches were partly buried in the roadbed. The train was in charge of Conductor L. Meakins of Cedar Rapid, IA; A. H. Hanson, engineer of Albert Lea, and John Wohjord of Manly, IA. All trains were detoured over the M. & St. L. road. A wrecking crew from Cedar Rapids arrived this evening and it is hoped to get the roadbed cleared and the track re-laid by tomorrow evening.

The cause of the wreck is not known.

The Minneapolis Morning Tribune; “Rock Island Train Ditched Near Hope; None Killed. Passengers Have Narrow Escape From Death in Derailed Coaches.”; Aug. 7, 1915; p. 1.




http://www.advancedcarepethospital.com/Loss.of.A.Pet.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 

 






Friday, August 5, 2016

On This Date in Minnesota History: August 5

August 5, 1961 – “In the first game in franchise history, the Vikings played the Dallas Cowboys in a preseason game in Sioux Falls, SD, on [this date]. The Cowboys defeated the Vikings, 38- 13.”

http://www.vikings.com/team/history/timeline.html




http://famouslogos.net/vikings-logo/
               __________________________________________________________

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, August 4, 2016

On This Date in Minnesota History: August 4

August 4, 1935 – The decomposing body of John D. “Jack” Kooser, a man well known to Mankato police as a hoodlum, bootlegger and racketeer and wanted there on  a charge of grand larceny, was found early this afternoon by a Washington County farmer in a rutted woodlot road approximately four miles from Stillwater. The head was no longer connected to the body, possibly due to the advanced decomposition. The condition of the body made identification difficult; however, a driver’s license card was found in his clothing with the name John D. Kooser.


Washington County1

Eventually, Kooser was officially identified by his teeth. Authorities believed he was one of two men who had attempted to rob two elderly farmers near Rochester the week before. 

At least a dozen shots were fired into the secluded home of the two elderly Witte brothers. William Witte shot back at the potential robbers with a shotgun after his brother Henry had been wounded by one of their bullets.



 Olmsted County2


Speeding away from the scene of the attempted robbery, the bandits crashed into a shallow ditch and then into a clay bank, wrecking their car, which they abandoned there with the interior stained with blood. The speedometer was locked at 50 miles-per-hour.

It was believed that Kooser was fatally hurt in the crash or killed outright in the high-speed crash, and that he was loaded into another car and hauled to the little-used country road near Stillwater and dumped.

When found, Kooser’s body had three broken ribs, a badly fractured leg and his scalp was badly torn. While no gunshot wounds were visible, Sheriff Cords stated that there may be some slugs in the remains, but difficult to see due to the state of the body.

The Washington County Coroner would later say that he was certain Kooser was not yet dead when he was dumped along the road where he was found, and that the appearance of the grass near the body indicated that he struggled and tossed in pain. The coroner’s verdict was that Kooser’s death was the result of injuries received in a car accident in Olmstead County.


The Mankato Free Press; “Body, Believed Kooser, Found in Woods. Driver’s License Proves Only Clue to Identify Man. Mankato Resident Believed to Have Been Shooting Victim. Sheriff Cords Goes to Aid Identification. Body Found on Back Road by Farmer North of Stillwater.”; Aug. 5, 1935; pp. 1 & 4.

The Mankato Free Press; “Kooser’s Car Found Abandoned Here. Gannon Believed to Have Left It Fleeing Police. Entire Northwest on Watch for Suspected Companion of Slain Man. Linked to Holdup Attempt at Rochester. Sheriff Cords Visits Stillwater and Positively Identifies Kooser’s Body.”; Aug. 6, 1935; pp. 1 & 4.

The Mankato Free Press; “Kooser Left To Die, Stillwater Coroner Testifies. Forsaken By Pals Before His Death, Doctor Declares. Grass Crushed Down, Other Evidences Bear Out This Theory. Verdict Death Due To Crash Injuries. Burial Occurred Here Late Yesterday; Services Held This Morning.”; Aug. 7, 1935; pp. 1 & 4.

1https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/Map_of_Minnesota_highlighting_Washington_County.svg/200px-Map_of_Minnesota_highlighting_Washington_County.svg.png

2
http://usgwarchives.net/mn/olmsted/olmsted.gif

               __________________________________________________________

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 

 

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

On This Date in Minnesota History: August 3

August 3, 1912 – Criminologists all over the U.S. are looking toward Minneapolis for the outcome of the operation today on the skull of John Howard, boy burglar, for the purpose of curing him, if possible, of his uncontrollable desire to steal. The press of New York and Chicago has taken up his case, and several messages were received this evening by Fred H. Ayers, the Minneapolis attorney who first suggested that surgical means be used to cure Howard, asking that the writers be kept in touch with the case.

Late this evening young Howard was reported resting well and feeling greatly relieved. He told relatives who visited him in Asbury Hospital that he felt certain he would be able to live a straightforward life hereafter. “That terrible buzzing sound has completely left me and my head feels so clear this morning,” said Howard.

Dr. Albert H. Parks and Dr. A. E. Wilcox, the surgeons who performed the operation, report that it was not as difficult a case of trepanation as was first expected. As a matter of fact, it was not necessary for the surgeons to employ a trephine to bore a hole into Howard’s skull, say the doctors. The hole was already there and was partially closed by tissue, beneath which was a water cyst about the size of a medium-sized marble that had been pressing against the boy’s brain.


Trepanation*


 After the cyst, or tumor, had been removed, all that remained for the surgeons to do was the insertion of a small silver plate and the stitching together of the edges of the scalp. It was not found necessary to screw the silver plate to Howard’s skull because of the thick tissue that had formed about the fracture. Dr. Parks, instead, used catgut to keep it in place.


Howard will not be able to leave the hospital for two weeks. Mr. Ayers, the boy’s attorney, and the two doctors whose interest in humanity led them to give their services free with the object of making a moral boy of a criminal, firmly believe that it will be a success from the social as well as the surgical standpoint.

Ayers said he is certain the boy was not naturally a criminal. “He was a home-loving youth until he was struck across the head with a tent pole during a storm that wrecked a circus tent,” said Ayers. “That was when he was 10 or 11 years old. Since then he was gradually becoming worse and worse. When he had completed a term in Red Wing training school on the charge of incorrigibility, he was soon arrested for horse stealing. Then he was released from the St. Cloud reformatory only to be arrested this last time on a burglary charge. He doesn’t have the ear marks of a criminal and I feel certain that the operation will cure.

“Furthermore, I have taken up with Warden Wolfer of the Stillwater penitentiary the question of subjecting all criminals, where there is any doubt as to how their crime traits were developed, to an examination at the hands of competent surgeons. The time is here when matters of this character should be treated in a more scientific manner.”

The Minneapolis Morning Tribune; “Surgeons Sure Operation Will Reform Burglar. Removal of a Tumor From John Howard’s Brain Proves Successful. Trepanation Found Unnecessary and Work Is Comparatively Simple. Criminologists Country Over Ask to Be Advised of Results. Young Man Confident He Will Be restored to Usefulness.”; Aug. 4, 1912; p. 1.
*https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/3b/d7/0d/3bd70d6ed39ff187cd8a143dd851079a.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 

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

On This Date in Minnesota History: August 2

August 2, 2003 - A prominent German newspaper, Süddeutsche Zeitung, broke the news on this date that Minnesota native Charles Lindbergh, the famous American Aviator, had a second secret family in Berlin, Germany. According to the report, 55-year-old Lindbergh met and fell in love with Brigitte Hesshaimer, a 31-year-old hat maker, on a visit to Germany in 1957. They had three children together, who discovered their father's identity only after his death in 1974.

“The second child, Astrid Bouteuil, contacted Süddeutsche Zeitung eight months ago and presented what she said were more than 100 letters written by Lindbergh to her mother in the course of his travels. His double life remained a secret from his wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, with whom he had six children.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/02/world/a-newspaper-reports-lindbergh-fathered-3-children-in-germany.html



A picture taken on August 14, 2003, shows Astrid Bouteuil and her brothers Dyrk Hesshaimer (L) and David Hesshaimer

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/30/charles-lindbergh-s-secret-german-mistresses-in-truth-and-fiction.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 

 




Monday, August 1, 2016

On This Date in Minnesota History: August 1

August 1, 1870 – “The original Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad was the first railroad into Duluth. After several years of surveying, preparation and laying track, the first train traveling from St Paul arrived in Duluth 11:30 PM, [on this date].”

http://www.lsmrr.org/history.php




http://www.lsmrr.org/images/logo.png

               __________________________________________________________

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, July 31, 2016

On This Date in Minnesota History: July 31

July 31, 2007 – “The Minnesota Timberwolves reached a deal to trade All-Star Kevin Garnett to the Boston Celtics for Al Jefferson, Theo Ratliff, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Ryan Gomes, two first-round draft picks, and cash considerations. This is the largest combination of players and picks ever traded for a single player in NBA history. Garnett and the Celtics went on to win the 2008 NBA Finals in six games over the Los Angeles Lakers.”

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




Kevin Garnett and wife Brandi

http://nba-family.wikia.com/wiki/File:Kevin-garnett-with-wife-brandi-16th-annual-espys-arrivals-0Uxara.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