betty mann
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianJuly 22, 2026The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on June 25, 1942. Having lived in Rock county since Luverne was just a “burg” and Ashcreek was so small that he walked right through it without knowing he had, William Lemka, of this city, can tell you a lot of good stories about Rock county’s prairie days. Lemka came to Rock county at the age of 21 after having circled his way here by way of…
By Betty MannJuly 15, 2026The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on June 18, 1942. There’s a lot of difference between Luverne’s streets now as compared to when I was city street commissioner,” recalls Martin Connell, Luverne, this week’s Diamond Club member. Mr. Connell served as commissioner of streets here for 22 years, after he moved to Luverne from the farm. “In those days,” Connell states, “there was no…- By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianJuly 08, 2026The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on June 11, 1942. The story of Mrs. Catherine Gilfoy continues from last week. Mrs. Gilfoy stayed at home with the children and took care of the stock, living in constant dread of blizzards, and prairie fires which seemed to be so frequent during that period. Hay and flax straw, used as fuel, also added to the fire hazard. Mrs. Gilfoy recalls…
- July 01, 2026The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on June 11, 1942. They could ration every article of food on the market today, and the public would have more to eat than did pioneer families on many occasions, according to Mrs. Catherine Gilfoy, former Luverne resident, who now resides in Lismore. Mrs. Gilfoy remembers when the main course of their meal was “stone soup,” made by boiling water…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianJune 24, 2026The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on June 4, 1942. I saw my brother leave for the Civil War; my nephew was in the Spanish- American war, then came the World War, worse than ever,” declared Mrs. Lucy Howard Hunter, of this city, one of the last if not the only living Civil War widow living in Rock County. Mrs. Hunter was a girl of 15 when the Civil War broke out. Her oldest…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianJune 17, 2026The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on May 28, 1942. “I’m glad I’m living in this country now and not in Germany,” declares Christ Carstens, of this city, who came to the United States because he could earn more in a day here than he could in a month in his home land. “If I hadn’t come to this country, I’d either have been a dead man or a poor man. I’m still not rich, but I’ve…
June 10, 2026The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on May 21, 1942. The story of William Schneekloth continues this week. At the age of 16, he began working with threshing crews, his first job being to feed one of the old type horsepower threshers. After that, the steam engine was introduced, and for two years, he served as “water monkey.” He then went back to feeding he said. All the grain was…
May 27, 2026The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on May 14, 1942. John Wulf’s story continues from last week. Mr. Wulf was one of 11 children, of which five died while children. He grew to manhood on his father’s farm, and with the exception of three months, all of his life was spent on a farm until he retired to move to Luverne, 15 years ago. He recalls the first field work he did was…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianMay 20, 2026The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on May 14, 1942. “There’s nothing I’d like to do better right now than fire a steam threshing rig for four days,” declares John Wulf, this week’s Diamond Club member, Mr. Wulf had one of the first steam rigs in Davenport, Ia., vicinity before he moved to Rock county, and for 42 years operated his own threshing outfit. Although he has given up…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianMay 06, 2026The 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…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianApril 29, 2026The 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…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianApril 15, 2026The story of Diamond Club member August Hamaan, originally published Feb. 9, 1942, continues from last week. He recalls telling a man in Remsen, Iowa, about this purchase of a farm in Rock county. “The fellow thought I was crazy. He couldn’t figure out why I’d want to leave Plymouth county to go to a place where the ground was all rocks. It took me quite a while to straighten him out of the…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianApril 01, 2026The 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…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianMarch 25, 2026The 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…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianFebruary 04, 2026The following article is part of the Diamond Club Member group and it appeared in The Rock County Herald on Feb. 26, 1942. Of all Luverne residents, there is perhaps no one who can tell you more about building and construction than Frank Soutar, early day contractor and builder, who is this week’s Diamond Club member. Mr. Soutar lives in a home which he built at 218 W. Warren street. He retired…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianJanuary 28, 2026The 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…
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