On This Date in Minnesota History: January 16

January 16, 1903 – After drugging his wife and placing her in a hospital while she was unconscious, Ernest B. Rollins, a druggist at Vesta, Minn., Redwood County, locked his drug store and came to St. Paul Sunday night. He was arrested on Third Street this morning, the warrant for his arrest being sworn out by his wife, who came to St. Paul in search of him as she recovered consciousness.

Rollins was too drunk to be given his freedom today, and upon the suggestion of City Prosecutor Keller, he was placed in the county jail to remain overnight, and will be allowed to return to Vesta with his wife tomorrow morning. Mrs. Rollins refused to prosecute her husband for having drugged her, preferring to have him punished for drunkenness.

Rollins was at one time a well-known and prosperous druggist in St. Paul. Some time ago he entered into the drug business in Vesta, where he and his wife were living happily until the present affair. Mrs. Rollins said her husband until the present affair. Mrs. Rollins said her husband came home Sunday night and offered her a drug to relieve a headache she had complained of. After taking it, she lapsed into unconsciousness and knew nothing more until she found herself in the hospital the following day. When she went to the drug store, she found the place locked and her husband gone. An investigation revealed the fact that he had taken with him all the money at his command, leaving his business to care for itself.

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Mrs. Rollins came to St. Paul in search of her husband, and today had a warrant sworn out for his arrest, Rollins having been located in a disreputable resort on Third Street.

Upon refusal of the wife to prosecute the charge of drugging, which is an assault in the second degree and punishable by confinement in the penitentiary, City Prosecutor Keller granted the request of the woman that she be allowed to take her husband home that he might attend to his drug business, the store having been closed since Rollins’ departure. Keller agreed to allow Rollins to return home with his wife, upon a promise that he would stop drinking and would remain away from St. Paul one year.

Rollins was given to understand that if he returned to St. Paul within a year he would be sent to the workhouse.


The Saint Paul Globe; “Drugs His Wife and Starts Out on Jamboree. E. B. Rollins, of Vesta, Is Charged by His Spouse With Drugging and Sending Her to Hospital While He Came to St. Paul—She Forgives Him.”; Jan. 17, 1903; p. 2.

¹http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/58367938.jpg

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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.

                                                         

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On This Date in Minnesota History: January 15

January 15, 1904 – Minnesota’s Lieut. Gov. Ray W. Jones returned to Minneapolis from Kansas today nursing a pair of broken ribs. He denies the stories circulated by his enemies that he went to the Sunflower State in order to secure political pointers from Carrie Nation, and he asserts that his ribs were not broken because he came in contact with the joint raider’s famous hatchet.

Sunday morning Jones started to drive to the station. The team ran away and he jumped from the wagon and landed in a ditch. He carried a steel spectacle case in his pocket, and hit the ground with such force that two ribs were fractured.

The Saint Paul Globe; “Ray Jones Breaks His Ribs. Lieutenant Governor Is Victim of Runaway in Kansas.”; Jan. 16, 1904; p. 3.

Lieut. Gov. Ray W. Jones

http://collections.mnhs.org/cms/web5/media.php?irn=10225629&width=640&height=640

               __________________________________________________________

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.

                                                         

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On This Date in Minnesota History: January 14

January 14, 1920 – Jack Burke, 27 years old, former boxer and St. Paul taxicab driver, who was shot in the head last evening during a pistol battle between the police and a gang of alleged liquor thieves taking whiskey from a boxcar in the Soo yards in St. Paul, died tonight at the St. Paul City Hospital.

Jack Burke¹

Eddie Holton, manager of the H & H Taxicab Company and Harry Rabinovitch, Winnipeg merchant, are under arrest following the gun duel with police and Soo watchmen in the Soo railroad yards at lower Seventh Street yesterday, where Burke was killed.

The gun fight resulted from an attempt by railroad agents and police to capture the men as they looted a box car containing 1,595 cases of whiskey consigned to Rabinovitch at Winnipeg.

More than 20 shots were fired at the bandits, with the battle lasting five minutes. The thieves returned the detectives’ fire almost shot for shot.

Burke was shot between the eyes by Special Agent D. L. Webb when the former boxer jumped from the box car and attempted to escape.
The liquor is alleged to have been sold to Charles Couplin, St. Paul jewelry merchant, convicted of robbing the Wicks Fur Company in Minneapolis; W. J. Uber, saloon proprietor; Mike Weisman and Ben and Harry Rosenberg of Minneapolis. Weisman is complaining witness in the trial of H. A. Gulliford, tried in Minneapolis on an extortion charge. They were named in a confession made to the police yesterday, according to Detective Captain George W. Welis.

In a statement issued by C. B. Reinardy, chief special of the Soo railroad, after an hour’s conference with Eddie Holten at police headquarters, he said that there probably would be ten or 15 arrests today.

It is believed that several merchants in St. Paul and Minneapolis and several persons well known in the underworld, who have made up the “liquor running trust” in the Twin Cities, will be implicated, according to Reinardy, who asserted this case may mean breaking up the ring.

Burke is alleged to have paid $700 on the deal; Uber a larger sum, and Twin City merchants still more in the purchase of the entire 1,595 cases, according to Soo officials.

Rabinovitch was arrested at The St. Paul Hotel an hour after the shooting by Detectives Judd Kelly and Hans Fabian, who, with Sergeant Fred McAlpin and Martin Farre, had been called to the yards by Webb when the men were discovered.

The box car carrying the whiskey, valued at $25,000, has been watched since it left Chicago several days ago, according to Chief Special Agent Reinardy. It was consigned to the Soo road for shipment to Winnipeg. But at Minneapolis it was redirected over the Great Northern and transferred to St. Paul where it was hauled to the Soo line loading tracks, according to police.

It is known that $13,000 has been deposited at a St. Paul bank as part payment of the liquor. Police are also investigating the report that the car containing the whiskey was switched to the loading siding with authority.

According to the confession, Rabinovitch met Holton early Tuesday night and went with him to the yards where he pointed out the box car in which the whiskey was held, and then returned to the hotel. Rabinovitch has registered with his wife and child at the Hotel Radisson in Minneapolis, police assert.

Rabinovitch, who denies any connection with the robbery, refused, police say, to open his door at the hotel when the detectives arrived and called several phone numbers, one of which police declare was the number of the Charles Couplin jewelry store.

¹The Minneapolis Morning Tribune; “Jack Burke Dies Due to Wounds in Liquor Fight. Harry Rabinovitch Is Arraigned on Charge of Conspiracy to Rob Car.”; Jan. 15, 1920; pp 1 & 6.

The Daily People’s Press; “Jack Burke Shot in Raid on Liquor Car. Former Pugilist Dying at City Hospital in St. Paul From Bullet in Head. Two Others Are Held at Jail. Group Caught While Unloading Car of Whiskey in Railway Yards.”; Owatonna, Minn.; Jan. 15, 1920; p. 1.

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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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On This Date in Minnesota History: January 13

January 13, 1893 - THE DULUTH ST. LOUIS HOTEL FIRE.

The Belief that Many Persons Were Cremated Almost Positively Confirmed.

At 7 o’clock this evening there was no reason to doubt that two lives had been lost in the fire that entirely destroyed Duluth’s St. Louis Hotel at noon today. The two missing men are Baggageman Baudre and Brakeman Preston, of Marquette, who came in from the South Shore train this morning. The men registered at the hotel, and when the fire broke out at 10:30 p.m. both were asleep. Conductor James, of the same train crew, was only a few doors from them. He barely made his escape, but tried to arouse the two men. The smoke was terrible, and though he did his best, he could not warn them. They were probably already overcome with the smoke and gas. The night clerk also made an attempt to awaken them, but without success.

After the middle of the building was burned out and there was no means of going from one side to the other, Chief of Police Horgan saw a number of people at windows on Michigan Street, who he is certain did not escape from that side; he thinks they must have perished in the flames.

The servants scattered after the fire and it is impossible to find who is missing. A bell boy named Saunders and a scrub woman named Oleson are among those who are missing.

The building was a brick veneer and burned like paper. The fire started from a gas explosion in the sub-basement, and in a moment burned up through the elevator shaft and the wooden partitions. Nearly everyone on the upper floors had to be taken out of the windows, so quickly was escape shutoff. In the offices of the city ticket agent of the Omaha Railroad and of the American Express Co., on the ground floor, there was not even time to remove the money from the cash drawers. The express company lost 200 undelivered packages. Their value is estimated at $3,000.

The fire threatened the Brighton Hotel for a time, but was confined to the St. Louis. Both buildings were owned by the Boston Realty Co. The total loss of property is estimated at $185,000; insurance $98,000.

Decatur Daily Republican; Decatur, IL; 14 Jan 1893

http://www3.gendisasters.com/minnesota/7123/duluth-mn-st-louis-hotel-fire-jan-1893

http://www.lakesnwoods.com/images/Duluth4.jpg

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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.

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On This Date in Minnesota History: January 12

January 12, 1900 – The most destructive fire in the history of Dassel, Minn., broke out about 12:30 this morning in a barber shop, located in the center of the main business block on Front Street. The flames spread rapidly to the adjoining property, while citizens stood helplessly by, the water works department being found to be absolutely useless. Aid was asked from Litchfield, but before a special train and firemen arrived from that town, a large section of property had been laid to waste.

During the progress of the fire there was a terrific explosion, either from powder in the hardware store or alcohol in the saloons, which scattered the burning fire brands over a wide area, and caused injury to four persons, although none of the injuries were serious.

At 2 a.m., the post office building took fire and was destroyed.

Dassel is a thriving village in Meeker County on the line of the Great northern railway, 12 miles from Litchfield, the county seat, and 56 miles from Minneapolis. It has three elevators, steam flouring and wool carding mills, a bank, a newspaper and a fine school. It was incorporated in 1878, and a few years ago a fire department was organized and equipped. Why the facilities for fighting fire proved inadequate this morning is not known.

The Minneapolis Tribune; “Big Blaze At Dassel. Thriving Village in Meeker County Threatened With Destruction. A Large Portion of Its Business Center Laid Waste by Flame. Facilities for Fighting the Fire Prove Worthless When Needed.”; Jan. 12, 1900; p. 1.

Photo taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain Nov. 5, 2016,
as long as acknowledgement included.  

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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.

                                                         

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On This Date in Minnesota History: January 11

January 11, 1916 – Half a carload of British mail enroute to Australia, via San Francisco, passed through Mankato, Minn., today. Since the submarines have made navigation dangerous in the Mediterranean, much mail that formerly went by way of the Suez Canal is being sent across the Atlantic, across the U. S. and to its destination from San Francisco.

The Bemidji Daily Pioneer; “British Mail Crosses U. S. For Antipodes”; Jan. 11, 1916; p. 1.

http://www.mankato-mn.gov/Community/Page.aspx

               __________________________________________________________

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.

                                                         

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On This Date in Minnesota History: January 10

January 10, 1914 – David Craig, 57 years old, and Sandy Rogers, aged 60, both farmers, were shot and killed early today by Harry Reely, aged 35, a farmer who then committed suicide. This is the conclusion of the authorities who found the three bodies this afternoon near Paupores, St. Louis County, Minn.

Reely was said to have been infatuated with a 16-year-old school girl, and objected to the attentions paid her by Craig and Rogers, who were single and lived together. A few days ago, the authorities claim, Reely, in a letter to the girl, threatened to kill Craig and Rogers unless she stopped associating with them.

The young girl alleges she visited the two bachelors occasionally simply to cheer them up. They were old men, she thought, who appreciated a young visitor once in a while. Reely’s parents reside near Paupores.

The bodies of the bachelors were found at their home, while Reely’s body was found near another neighboring farm house.

http://townmapsusa.com/images/maps/map_of_paupores_mn.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