bits by betty
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 08, 2026The 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…
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…
March 18, 2026The 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…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianMarch 11, 2026The 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…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianFebruary 25, 2026The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on March 12, 1942. One of the first early Rock county settlers to come here directly from Norway was Halvor C. Jordahl, Luverne, this week’s Diamond Club member. Mr. Jordahl and Ole Sjolseth were the first two men to come directly here from the land of the “midnight sun”; Norwegians who came to the county before they had settled elsewhere for…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianFebruary 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…
By Betty Mann, Bits by BettyFebruary 11, 2026The 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…
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…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianJanuary 21, 2026The 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.…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianJanuary 14, 2026The 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…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianJanuary 07, 2026The 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…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianDecember 30, 2025The 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,…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianDecember 23, 2025The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on Jan. 15, 1942. Although old man winter had his controls turned on “cold” the first ten days of the new year, his grip on the middle west today is not what it was in the latter 1870s when Mrs. C.N. Remme, of this city, first came to Rock county. The temperatures may drop as low now, perhaps, but the average person is better equipped to combat…
You must log in to continue reading. Log in or subscribe today.
