Saturday, June 30, 2018

On This Date In Minnesota History: June 30

June 30, 1914 – Minneapolis police and deputy sheriffs are watching every highway and railroad into Minneapolis today for a band of desperados who slugged the city clerk of Brainerd, Minn., Monday night, and escaped with $1,388.40 from the cash vault of the city hall.

Virgil N. Rodrick, the city clerk, was badly beaten in a fight with the men in a pitch black room. He was struck over the head and face repeatedly with a heavy instrument and finally clubbed into unconsciousness. He was not fatally injured.

All Minn. towns have been notified by the Brainerd authorities. The men, of whom there are believed to have been three, are thought to have a high-powered automobile and it was believed that the car was headed for the Twin Cities.

Roderick is 30 years old and has been city clerk for six years. Because of the meetings of the board of equalization Monday, the clerk was unable to perform his regular duties of the day and worked overtime.

The city clerk’s office is on the second floor of the municipal building in the most central part of Brainerd. It is a small room with a counter between Roderick’s desks and the door. Among his other duties, Roderick counted the cash on hand and made a bank deposit slip for it intending to make a deposit the first thing in the morning.

The deposit slip showed that there was $1,130 in currency, $220 in gold and $38.40 in silver and small change. The clerk put this money back in the cash drawer in the vault and was about to close and lock the vault door for the night when he remembered he had not quite finished his work.


1



He was almost done at 10:45 p. m. when he heard someone come up the stairs to the second floor. He paid no attention to that because the policeman on the beat often came upstairs at night to see that everything was secure.

Only when the light went out did he become alarmed. The light switch is near the door and the robbers evidently were familiar with the layout of the office before the robbery.

It was only a matter of seconds after the light went out, Roderick said he was struck a vicious blow on the head that toppled him backward from his chair and stunned him, but he was on his feet in a minute and battling with two men in a furious fight in the dark. One of the robbers used a club, and finally Roderick was knocked out.

He said he remembered nothing more until he regained consciousness, probably at about 11:45, when he telephoned for the police, and again fell back unconscious, which is how the police found him. His face was swollen and bloody and his head was cut and swollen and his clothing torn.

The telephone operator said Roderick was moaning in pain when he called her. After she got the message, she heard the phone crash to the floor. The lights in the office were out when the police arrived.

Roderick was taken home and regained consciousness two hours later, giving his story of the robbery.

The Minneapolis Morning Tribune; “Brainerd City Clerk Held Up, $1,388 Gone. Police Asked to Watch for Men Who Slugged Brainerd Official. Virgil Roderick Is Found Unconscious, With Safe Looted.”; July 1, 1914; p. 9.
1https://www.pinterest.com/pin/559783428665204823/?lp=true




http://mapio.net/pic/p-33499468/

               __________________________________________________________

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.

                                                         


Discover your roots, and watch the branches of your family tree begin to grow.


Website:  TheMemoryQuilt.com > click on Family History

Contact me at:
pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com





Friday, June 29, 2018

On This Date In Minnesota History: June 29


June 29, 1837 – Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, widow of founding father Alexander Hamilton, visited Ft. Snelling and viewed other Minnesota points of interest, including Lake Calhoun, Minnehaha Falls and the Falls of St. Anthony. She was one of the first female tourists of the area.




Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton1 

Alexander Hamilton died in a duel with Aaron Burr in 1804, and Elizabeth never remarried.

The first tour of the musical Hamilton to the Twin Cities will take place Sept. through Oct. 2018.

http://www.mnopedia.org/thisday

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

1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Schuyler_Hamilton#/media/File:Mrs._Elizabeth_Schuyler_Hamilton.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.

                                                         


Discover your roots, and watch the branches of your family tree begin to grow.


Website:  TheMemoryQuilt.com > click on Family History

Contact me at:
pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com




Thursday, June 28, 2018

On This Date in Minnesota History: June 28

June 28, 1956 – “An impressive granite monument to John Lyman Wilson, the proclaimed “Father of St. Cloud” was unveiled and dedicated [on this date] in Eastman Park.”

John Lyman Wilson born Maine Feb. 24, 1820 came to this area as a sawmill builder in 1853. Purchasing a squatters rights to the middle town land which is now largely the St. Cloud business district. Through gifts of property and by personal promotion, he fostered settlement and trade in his townsite. He named and platted the town, saw it incorporated in 1836, remained a resident until his death, Jan. 4, 1910.


 http://wjon.com/monument-honor-st-cloud-founder-dedicated-on-this-date-in-central-minnesota-history/



http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/wjon.com/files/2011/06/Wilson-Monument.jpg?w=300&h=200&zc=1&s=0&a=t&q=89
               __________________________________________________________

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.

                                                         


Discover your roots, and watch the branches of your family tree begin to grow.


Website:  TheMemoryQuilt.com > click on Family History

Contact me at:
pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com




Wednesday, June 27, 2018

On This Date in Minnesota History: June 27


June 27, 1995 –Three-year-old Jessica “Swanson was reported missing [this] morning [in Cannon Falls, Minn.]. An extensive search for her continued throughout that summer but was fruitless.

Although Jessica’s mother Michelle Swanson and her boyfriend Dale Jenson were considered suspects in the case, no conclusive leads were found until March 1999. In August, Swanson and Jenson were arrested and Dale Jenson confessed to killing Jessica and led police to her skeletal remains. He said he became enraged when she had wet the bed and that she hit her head on a table – he then took her body to the marsh area and covered it with a sheet and went to work. Dale Jenson [was] sentenced to 4 years in jail, Swanson [was] charged with abetting a crime.”

http://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/f4bdb8_c1be996d99c0c4590a7e1903665b37e9.pdf

http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/200004/24_newsroom_ruralcrime-m/moraloutrage.shtml


Jacob Wetterling and Jessica Swanson

https://www.republican-eagle.com/news/crime-and-courts/4112184-local-law-enforcement-officials-discuss-changes-child-safety

               __________________________________________________________

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.

                                                        


Discover your roots, and watch the branches of your family tree begin to grow.


Website:  TheMemoryQuilt.com > click on Family History

Contact me at:
pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com



Tuesday, June 26, 2018

On This Date in Minnesota History: June 26

June 26, 1985 – “After a constitutional amendment allowing pari-mutuel wagering on horse racing was approved by Minnesota voters in 1982,” Canterbury Downs opened in Shakopee on this date.

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




http://www.canterburypark.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/85programcoverb26w.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.

                                                         


Discover your roots, and watch the branches of your family tree begin to grow.


Website:  TheMemoryQuilt.com > click on Family History

Contact me at:
pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com




Monday, June 25, 2018

On This Date in Minnesota History: June 25

June 25, 1910 – While riding in an automobile on Grand Ave. in Duluth, Mrs. David Graham, wife of Dr. Graham, was struck in the head by a stone thrown from the street and was rendered unconscious for more than an hour.

The boy who threw the stone was playing in the street a short distance from his home. Mrs. Graham was hurried to her home, where she was given medical attention. Delirious for a time, she was resting easier this evening.

The stone inflicted an ugly wound on the side of her head.

Had the driver been hit instead of the woman, a more serious accident would have occurred, as the vehicle would have undoubtedly run wild until it smashed into something.

The Minneapolis Morning Journal; “Riding in Auto, Hit by Stone. Deed of Street Urchin Renders Duluth Woman Unconscious for Over an Hour.”; June 26, 1910; p. 1.



http://www.health.umn.edu/about/living-minnesota/duluth
               __________________________________________________________

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.

                                                 


Discover your roots, and watch the branches of your family tree begin to grow.


Website: 
TheMemoryQuilt.com > click on Family History




Sunday, June 24, 2018

On This Date in Minnesota History: June 24

June 24, 1921 – Miss Florence Blomster, the first woman to serve on a petit jury* in Minnesota, conducted herself as if it were an every day matter with her in St. Paul court today. She was one of the 12 who hears the case of assault and battery against Fred Kraft. Miss Blomstar was “forelady” of the jury that deliberated an hour and then acquitted the defendant.

“I don’t like the job.” Miss Blomster declared after the verdict was returned and the jury excused. “Of course it was an interesting experience, but I do not care to serve on a jury again.

The usual profane talk accompanied the assault, but attorneys sought to avoid repetition of this although some of it necessarily came before the jury.

The case grew out of trouble with the metal strikers May 4, when Kraft, who was a special officer, was charged with having struck James J. Hammer, a striker, with a blackjack.

Miss Blomstar is bookkeeper.

The Minneapolis Morning Tribune; “Minnesota’s first Woman Petit Juror Doesn’t Like Job”; June 25, 1921; p. 1.

*A jury of 12 persons impaneled to try and to decide finally upon the facts at issue in causes for trial in a court - https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/petit%20jury



http://ffbmco.com/rob-schneider-is-a-courtroom-gavel/
__________________________________________________________

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.

                                                         



Discover your roots, and watch the branches of your family tree begin to grow.


Website:  TheMemoryQuilt.com > click on Family History

Contact me at:
pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com