Saturday, March 16, 2019

On This Date in Minnesota History: March 16


March 16, 1903 – Ole G. Olson, the Aitkin County farmer who murdered his daughter last October will be hanged in the Aitkin County jail March 20. Dr. A. F. Kilbourne, superintendent of the Rochester insane hospital, returned from his examination of Olson and reported that the man is and has been entirely sane.

Dr. Kilbourne spent several hours with the prisoner today and examined him thoroughly. After investigating his past history and examining witnesses, Dr. Kilbourne formed this conclusion stated as follows:

“I am of the opinion that the said Ole G. Olson was at the time of the commission  of the crime and now is of sound mind, understanding fully the nature and consequences of the act for which he is under sentence of death.”

In Oct. 1902, Olson stabbed his daughter because she was about to marry and leave him. Rev. Frederick Peterson, a Swedish Lutheran minister, said that Olson had been drinking the day of the murder and had nothing to eat all day, when he went home and found his daughter had prepared nothing. He believed Olson must have been unbalanced.

At 1:50 a. m. the morning of March 20, 1903, Olson was hanged in the Aitkin County jail for the murder of his daughter last Oct. He met his fate unflinchingly and died expressing his faith in God’s forgiveness for his terrible crime.


One of the state's 24 legally-sanctioned hangings took place in the Aitkin County Courthouse and jail1 in 1903 when Ole G. Olson was executed for killing his daughter. 

The Minneapolis Journal
; “Hospital Says Condemned Man Is Sane.”; March 17, 1903; p. 6.

The Minneapolis Journal; Jan. 21, 1903; p. 2.

Little Falls Herald; March 27, 1903; p. 6.

1http://www.mncourts.gov/Find-Courts/Aitkin/CourthouseHistory.aspx
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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 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

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Friday, March 15, 2019

On This Date in Minnesota History: March 15

March 15, 1941 – “A fast-moving and severe blizzard hits North Dakota and Minnesota, killing 151 people, on this day in 1941. Weather forecasting and reporting made important advances following this disaster that would have prevented the loss of life that occurred due to the sudden storm.

The people of North Dakota and northern Minnesota had nearly no warning of the blizzard that swept in suddenly from the west on March 15. In some locations, temperatures dropped 20 degrees in less than 15 minutes. Fifty-mile-per-hour sustained winds (with gusts reaching 85 mph in Grand Forks and 75 mph in Duluth) brought blinding snow and huge 7-foot-high snow drifts across the states.

Most of the victims of the blizzard were traveling in their cars when it hit. Highway 2, running from Duluth, Minnesota, to North Dakota, was shut down, as were Highways 75 and 81. Attempts to rescue those stranded in their cars came too late. In one incident, six-year-old Wilbert Treichel died from exposure to the cold as his parents attempted to carry him through the blizzard to safety.

Two thousand people attending a basketball game in Moorhead, Minnesota, were stranded at the arena overnight when it was wisely decided that travel was too dangerous. Theaters, hotels and stores across the region were also forced to stay open through the night because so many people had visited them, unaware that a major storm was approaching. Although the storm was also severe in Manitoba, Canada, only seven people there died because the population was much better prepared for the storm and for dangerous weather in general.


1


In the aftermath of this blizzard, weathermen in North Dakota and Minnesota--who had been under the control of the Chicago meteorology office, which was more concerned with local weather concerns and paid less attention to events occurring to the north--were allowed autonomy in their reporting. Protected with new technological advances in the wake of the disaster, area residents hoped they would never again be so blind-sided by a winter storm.” 

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/blizzard-unexpectedly-hits-north-dakota-and-minnesota

1
http://www.ci.moorhead.mn.us/Home/Components/News/News/3541/17?backlist=%2F%3Fpromoid%3D5001842%26PID%3Dhp%3Ablog%3Actl%3A5001842%26filter_by%3Dfeaturedfilter_by%3Dreview_highfilter_by%253Dpopularfilter_by%253Dreview_highfilter_by%253Dpopular
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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 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, March 14, 2019

On This Date in Minnesota History: March 14

March 14-16, 1870 – “Blizzard struck northern Iowa and SW Minnesota with up to 16 inches of snowfall.  First use of the term ‘blizzard’ (from boxing, meaning volley of punches) by the Esterville, IA Vindacator newspaper. The term blizzard was not used by the U.S. Signal Corps Weather Service until 1876.”

http://climate.umn.edu/doc/historical/winter_storms.htm




http://kdmanews.com/2019/01/23/blizzard-warning-issued-for-western-minnesota/

__________________________________________________________

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:
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Tuesday, March 12, 2019

On This Date in Minnesota History: March 12

March 12, 1958 – “Cincinnati Royals player Maurice Stokes, in a game against the Lakers at [the] Minneapolis Auditorium, falls hard on a drive to the basket. Days later, Stokes loses consciousness and falls into a coma for weeks. He is left a quadriplegic after being diagnosed with post-traumatic encephalopathy.”1

“Stokes suffered a long-term effects the remainder of his life and succumbed from a heart attack on April 6th, 1970. He was inducted posthumously into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004.”2
1http://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2008/07/part-2-150-minnesota-moments-wed-just-soon-forget

2
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7792486



Maurice Stokes

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7792486
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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 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

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Monday, March 11, 2019

On This Date in Minnesota History: March 11

March 11, 1971 – Butler Square, a brick wholesale warehouse and office building in downtown Minneapolis designed by Harry Wild Jones in Gothic Revival style, was placed on the National Record of Historic Places on this date.1 



Butler Square Building*

“It was originally built [in 1906–08] as a warehouse for Butler Brothers, a mail-order firm. It had rather heavy construction in keeping with its function as a warehouse, featuring thick interior masonry walls with thin, recessed windows topped by corbelled parapets. The interior is built with heavy timber posts and beams, cut from Douglas fir grown near Aitkin, [Minn]. The columns are 24 inches wide at the bottom level, gradually diminishing to 9 inches wide on the top level. The basement included a horse stable, to accommodate deliveries, and the building had three large coal-fired boilers for heating.

"Mechanical elevators were used to move goods throughout the building. The building had a rail spur to facilitate boxcar loading. Gradually, as truck transportation became more competitive with rail transportation, the urban location of the building rendered it inefficient as a warehouse.

"In 1972, real estate developer Charles Coyer purchased the building with plans to rebuild the east half of the building as an office-retail complex. As part of the renovation, a central atrium was built to allow natural light into the building. This made the retail and office space more marketable, since the large floor space and small windows made it difficult to get enough natural light into the interior. James H. Binger purchased the building in 1979 with similar plans to develop the west half of the building. The atrium on that side was built with more of the heavy timber construction exposed, and more efficient mechanical systems were installed. The renovation of the building has served as a catalyst for additional development and preservation within the Minneapolis Warehouse District.”2


1
http://nrhp.mnhs.org/NRDetails.cfm?NPSNum=71000437

2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butler_Brothers_Company_(building)

*Photo taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain March 11, 2013, 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.

                                                         


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


Website:  TheMemoryQuilt.com > click on Family History

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Sunday, March 10, 2019

On This Date in Minnesota History: March 10

March 10, 1917 – Thirty-one cases of cerebrospinal meningitis and 10 deaths in Minnesota cities have been reported to the state board of health, according to Dr. A. J. Chesley, state epidemiologist. Of this number, 15 cases have been reported Minneapolis, six from St. Paul, five from Duluth, and one each from Austin, Albert Lea, Faribault, Blue Earth, Iron Mountain, and Martin Township, Rock County. Of the 10 deaths, seven have occurred in Minneapolis, two in Duluth and one in St. Paul.

One suspected case and one death were reported to the city health department today.

“There are four or five cases in the city at present, I cannot say exactly how many,” said Dr. Guilford, city health commissioner.

1


“Epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis is difficult to control because it is spread by carriers in good health,” said Dr. Chesley. “I have made a study of the history of all 31 cases reported and I could find no association between known cases and any one of these. The situation is general and permits of no control. The only precaution is to quarantine all suspected cases for two weeks and keep them under close surveillance. It is difficult to isolate carriers in a civilian population because movements of persons cannot be controlled.

“Diagnosis can be made by means of lumber puncture and an examination of the spinal fluid. In case of doubt, this should be done immediately. Every case should be removed to a hospital and a trained nurse placed in charge. If the ‘Flexner’s serum’2 is used immediately, the patient has a good chance to recover. Should this be delayed, the chances of recovery are small and in case of recovery, the after effects worse than death. Often special nerves are affected and the patient, if he recovers, is blind or dumb. In many respects, it is worse than infantile paralysis, especially the after effects.

“The disease develops very rapidly because of the short incubation period. Reaction is violent and its onset sudden—there can be no doubt in such instances.

“Every case should be regarded with suspicion and reported at once to the health department.”    


The Minneapolis Morning Tribune
; “32 Cases, 10 Deaths From Spinal Disease in State Reported; Health Board Informed of 15 Cases in City Alone, Says Dr. Chesley. News of One Fatality Given Out Today; ‘Meningitis Difficult to Control Because Spread by Carriers in Good Health.’”; March 11, 1917; p. 22.

1https://www.slideshare.net/EpidAlert/staysafe-alert-points-for-meningococcal-meningitis

2
http://centennial.rucares.org/index.php?page=Meningitis
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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 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