History of New Rockford: Feb. 7, 2022

On Oct. 10 and 11, 1904, Bessie Phillips was in from eastern Eddy County to shop and visit.

On Oct. 11, Frank Parker was in from the Tiffany Flats for supplies. George Curtis was in on business from eastern Eddy County. John Haley came in from Tiffany. Fred Zimmerman, Jr., came in from his farm and John Weipert was up from Carrington on business and to visit. Mrs. R.P. Allison of Gullicks and Allison took a line of millinery to Barlow for the women of that community to peruse. Mrs. William Bucklin visited in Lakota. George Treffry went to Park River as a delegate to the annual Methodist Church Conference held there during the week; he returned on Oct. 20. Rev. C.F. Sewrey also attended the conference. Mrs. A.J. Clure and children left for Minneapolis, where they would meet Mr. and Mrs. Charles Clure, visit some friends and relatives there and in Hastings, and then all of them would go to southern California on Oct. 13 for the winter. That evening, Mrs. Frances Wilson and Mrs. Sarah Bacon hosted a whist party in honor of Mrs. H.L. Lewis of New York City at the home of J.W. and Alice Rager; over 30 ladies, including the West Side Kindergarten Whist Club, attended.

On Oct. 11 and 12, Mrs. William Wilson of Jamestown visited in town.

On Oct. 12, Peter Michel of the Guler district came in with a load of wheat and also did some business. That evening, Sankey Newberry of the First National Bank and machineryman Joe Doyle, both of Carrington, and the Oberon hotel owner, J.D. Faxon, were in town on business.

On Oct. 13, Matt Mattson came down from the Sheyenne Valley on business and to visit. William Cornish and B.W. Hersey of Tiffany and Michael Taverna were in on business. George Fields came in from Tiffany. Mr. and Mrs. S.N. Putnam went to the Twin Cities; she returned on Oct. 19.

The Oct. 14, 1904 “Transcript” contained a letter from James A. Manly, saying the press of his legal business compelled him to withdraw as a candidate for State’s Attorney for Eddy County on the Democratic ticket.

A notice from S.N. Putnam, secretary of the Farmers’ Elevator Co., said that notes given for shares in the company were due on Sept. 15; anyone who hadn’t paid could do so at the Bank of New Rockford, with no interest if paid right away.

Prof. J.N. Moore and his wife, well-known in New Rockford, informed the “Transcript” via letter that they had moved to the Pacific Coast to live. John Weimals had an Art Garland hard coal heater for sale. Charles Culp had a business property and lots on Villard Avenue East, a half-block from the depot, for sale.

The previous week, I.F. Hartman of Cando had taken a job at H.J. Radtke’s cigar manufactory. It was noted that Mr. and Mrs. E.B. Thomson were preparing for a month at the World’s Fair and their daughter Miss Frances, a teacher, had obtained a leave of absence from the Dickinson School Board and would join them. After the fair, she would return to teaching and they would go on to their old home in Ohio to visit.

NP depot agent and Mrs. C.N. Hendrix were preparing to leave for a warmer climate (Hot Springs, Ark.; Texas; or California) to help alleviate her rheumatism which had confined her to bed for almost two months; the railroad had granted him an indefinite leave of absence. Albert Fairbanks, manager of the local telephone exchange, had been confined by illness a couple days.

On the morning of Oct. 14, a daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. John Olson. That evening, May M. Keime entertained the faculty and students of Phillips Academy at a reception in her Villard Avenue West home; there was music, games, and refreshments.

It rained all day on Oct. 14 and continued until the night of Oct. 16, halting threshing until the morning of Oct. 20. A large number of harvestmen left for the East, leaving many crews shorthanded.

On Oct. 14 and 15, R.P. Allison was in Jamestown. From Oct. 14 to 16, Myron Leslie, a student at Phillips Academy, visited his parents in Carrington.

On Oct. 15, John T. West was in from eastern Eddy County, where he said thousands of acres of grain were still unthreshed. Mrs. James Hackney left for a winter in southern California. At 8 p.m., the Tiffany Ladies’ Aid (Mrs. Peter Crain, president; Mrs. S.H. Bailey, secretary) sponsored a supper, followed by a social and a “Box Bazaar” in the school. They cleared $45, which made their bank account $325. That evening, the musical comedy “Pretty Polly” was presented at the Opera House with the “Australian Nightingale,” Ada Palmer Walker, as “Pretty Polly.”

On Oct. 15 and 16, J.H. Olsen and Clarke Thompson were up from Carrington to visit their brother and cousin, A.C. Olsen.

On Sunday, Oct. 16, due to the absence of the pastor, there were no services at the Methodist Church, but the Sunday School and the Epworth League met as usual. A daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. Martin Walsh. G.A. Prior came in from eastern Eddy County to do a few days of business. Dr. John Crawford was down from Esmond to visit. John Renfrew, 80, died at the home of his son, S.S. Renfrew at Harvey; he left four sons and one daughter: S.S. Renfrew, John Renfrew, and Sam Renfrew of Harvey; James Renfrew and Mrs. George Crossen of New Rockford.

 That night, Nellie “Nell” Belle Streeter, the daughter of James and Jennie McClure Davidson, died at her home. The cause was given as “convulsions following complications following child birth.” Her first attack rendered her unconscious, a state in which she remained until her death twelve hours later. Nellie Davidson had married George W. Streeter on Jan. 26, 1904, in Hamline, Minn. Her funeral was held in the Congregational Church on the afternoon of Oct. 18, Rev. L.J. Aldrich. “The edifice was packed to the very doors….” The Royal Neighbors and the Eastern Star members escorted the “mortal remains” to the cemetery, where the ladies of the Ionic Chapter of the Eastern Star had charge of the committal service. She had lived in New Rockford from her infancy. [Her tall, gray gravestone with the carving of a plant near the top in Prairie Home Cemetery reads “NELLIE B. WIFE OF GEO. W. STREETER DIED OCT. 16, 1904. 21 YRS. 2 MOS. 12 DAYS.” She was born Aug. 5, 1883, at Eastman, Wisc. Her siblings were Clark McClure Davidson, 1870-1886; Sarah E. Davidson, 1872-1878; Elmer Roy Davidson, 1874-1928; Cora Ethel (Joseph T.) Medlicott, 1881-1933; Edith Jennie Davidson, 1885-1886; Harriet “Hattie” Mae (George) Kottke, 1887-1952; Elizabeth “Beth” Helen DeArmond, and maybe Laura Davidson (sources differ).]

Among the mourners were Mesdames A.H. Johnson, O.B. Stedman, William Bartley, C.C. Manning, and Miss Jet Richter, all of Sheyenne; and Dr. Charles McNamara and A.E. Swanson of Barlow.