Bits By Betty

1942: Elizabeth Spitz has 100 living descendants
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
May 13, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on May 7, 1942. One of Lismore’s best known residents is Mrs. Elizabeth Spitz, 91, this week’s Diamond Club member. For over one-third of a century, she has lived in the village. Prior to that time, she lived on a farm near Wilmont. Mrs. Spitz was born in Alsace-Lorraine province on Nov. 2, 1850, the daughter of Ignatz and Mary Hahlar Metz. Her…
1942: Esther Hansen recalls life of nursing on the frontier
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
May 06, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on April 30, 1942. Perhaps no other living person in the southeastern part of Rock county is better known for her services as a practical nurse than is Mrs. Ole Hansen, pioneer settler of the Ashcreek vicinity. Having learned some of the important fundamentals of home nursing from her mother, Mrs. Hansen found them very useful in this sparsely…
1942: John B. Obele recalls life and Minnesota history
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
April 29, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on April 23, 1942. One of Rock county’s older “old timers,” John B. Obele, Beaver Creek, says that he’s repairing more harnesses now than he did during the “horse and buggy” era. The harness season is over now—and although he is 84 years old, he feels that he did as much work during the two months he was on the job this spring as he did when he…
1942: A long life of farming
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
April 22, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on April 16, 1942. Although he has retired from actual farming Matt Ryan, Luverne, this week’s Diamond Club member, still likes to think of himself as a farmer. “I was born and reared on a farm,” Mr. Ryan says, “and farming has been my business all my life.” Mr. Ryan was born in Benton county, Iowa, June 28, 1860, the son of Mr. and Mrs.…
1942: August Hamann recalls hard work, moving to Rock County
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
April 08, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on Feb. 9, 1942. Walking, an almost forgotten art, destined to return in months to come because of the rubber shortage and the “freezing” of bicycles, was the surest way of getting someplace when he was a boy, says August Hamann, Luverne, this week’s Diamond Club member. Nowadays, he states the average person rides to work if he has only 11…
1942: William Irwin on moving to Rock County
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
April 01, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on April, 2 1942. The story of William Irwin is continued from last week. Residents in the community where Mr. and Mrs. Irwin lived became interested, and in the spring of 1885, an immigrant train came west, with families settling all along the line from Adrian to Valley Springs. Mr. Irwin, who came ahead in February, had rented a farm from L…
1942: William Irwin recalls life from Illinois to Minnesota
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
March 25, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on April, 2 1942. When they talk about Abraham Lincoln, the rail splitter, they talk the language of William D. Irwin, Luverne, this week’s member of the Diamond Club. For it was splitting rails in Illinois, Lincoln’s home state, that Mr. Irwin got his start in life when he was about 15 years old. Although he was young in years, he was able to…
1942: Mrs. Mina Ferdinanda Smith turns 81, recalls life
March 18, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on March 26, 1942. Longevity is inherited. That is the opinion of Mrs. Mina Ferdinanda Smith, of this city, the Star’s Diamond Club member of this week. Mrs. Smith, who lives with her daughter, Mrs. Helen Soutar, observed her 81st birthday on March 17. Her father, a Civil War veteran, died at the age of 91; her mother lived to be 88, and she…
1942: Rollags recall journey to Rock County
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
March 11, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on March 19, 1942. The Rollag story continues from last week. Their faith in Rock county farm land then began to bear fruit. Crops and prices became better, and each year, they managed to improve their farms and “salt” away just a little for future use. Winters were hard, but in those days, the settlers planned in advance for them and managed…
In 1942 Bertha Martin left Norway at age 4
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
February 18, 2026
(continued from Feb. 12) The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on March. 5, 1942. Mrs. Bertha Martin’s story continues from last week. The pioneer settlers were hardened to all types of conditions and were not easily frightened. Mrs. Martin, however, remembers one scare which she and her mother experienced that proved to be as frightening as perhaps all of her other life…
Bits by Betty
By Betty Mann, Bits by Betty
February 11, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on March 5, 1942. You, the reader of the Diamond Club, no doubt can recall many interesting experiences during your childhood. Perhaps you can recall occurrences while you were attending school. Maybe you remember a few experiences you had before you started school. Incidents most vivid in your memory, however, are no doubt the ones that played…
1942: John Rustad shares early Norwegian history, interest in all things sports
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
January 28, 2026
The following article is part of the Diamond Club Member group and it appeared in The Rock County Herald on Feb. 19, 1942. Having watched the state of Minnesota grow from a population of just a few thousands to its present size, John M. Rustad, Luverne, could tell you quite a bit about changes that have taken place during his lifetime. Although Rustad was born about seven miles from Oslo, Norway…
1942: Gibson recalls traveling by stage coach
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
January 21, 2026
The following article is part of the Diamond Club Member group and it appeared in The Rock County Herald on Feb. 12, 1942. “A stage coach to most people in this day and age is a mode of conveyance which they have seen depicted in motion pictures of the days of the wild west. To Mrs. Elgenie V. Gibson, Beaver Creek, however, it is something real, for she rode in one when she was five years old.…
1942: Threshing became Hocking's first job in county
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
January 14, 2026
The following article is part of the Diamond Club Member group and it appeared in The Rock County Herald on Feb. 5, 1942. “It was a long time ago that I first visited Luverne,” recalls William E. Hocking, of this city, this week’s Diamond Club member. “As a matter of fact, you’d never know it was the same place. The first thing about Luverne that I remember was eating dinner in a hotel which…
1942: Cummings recalls opportunities in Middle West
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
January 07, 2026
The following article is part of the Diamond Club Member group and it appeared in The Rock County Herald on Jan. 29, 1942. “I went to school when hickory sticks were always kept in readiness,” recalls Mrs. Emma Cummings, Beaver Creek, this week’s member of the Diamond Club. Mrs. Cummings attended a country school in Pennsylvania, her native state. School in those days were designed as a means of…
1942: Kiebach relieved to reach New York harbor
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
December 30, 2025
The following article is part of the Diamond Club Member group and it appeared in The Rock County Herald on Jan. 22, 1942. The fear of contracting one of the most dreaded of diseases, human cholera, was one of the many experiences in the life of Ernest Kiebach, Sr., of this city. The fear was even greater under the circumstances, than it would have been under ordinary conditions, for he,…