Road West

The road a mile west of us is  under construction.  We took a tour last weekend...just to see what was going on.  No one was working.

 an old corner

All the corners will be different and the road a bit taller so the snow blows off.

Last year my cousins construction company worked on the first four miles this time he was outbid on the five miles. 

Downtown Ponsford progress can be messy!

We are going east now to recycle instead of west.  We had been using the recycle bins just beyond the Firehall (the red building on the left).

Yesterday was another quiet day.  I worked on my milk can project.  I sprayed some weeds in and around the greenhouse/workshop.  I angered many ants near the sauna and in the wild gardens.  I sprayed Poison Ivy around the perimeter of the lawn.  I carved two Christmas Ornaments...Far Guy woodcarved and used that new trimmer to trim around trees and buildings! 

Far Side

Wistful Wednesday: Nunn’s Store

Years ago J.W. Nunn had a store in Ponsford Minnesota.

Far Guy’s Mom wrote “I remember the large J.W. Nunn store and my mother bringing several cases of eggs to the store every week to buy groceries.  Those were during my childhood years.  Also riding to Sunday School by horse and wagon to the Baptist Church in Ponsford.”

I think the Nunn store was on the North side of the street on the East side of town and it  opened in 1902.

Here is a very old photo that Jim Mack (J.W. Nunn’s grandson) shared with me. J. W. Nunn and an unknown child are in the photo.

Family Genealogy Info: Alfred and Elezebeth Nunn lived near William and Martha Abbott in Wellington County Eramosa Township Ontario Canada, they came together to the (Lake Eunice) Detroit Lakes area and then to Carsonville Township/Ponsford Minnesota around 1889.

Wistful Wednesday: Ponsford Minnesota

I have an old postcard of Ponsford Minnesota.

Indian Camp Ponsford Minnesota

I wrote about the bad spelling of the Ponsford sign yesterday.  Ponsford is seven miles from where we live.   Ponsford used to be one of “the” places on the map with a bank, two boarding houses, grocery stores, Post Office, gas stations and even a movie theater. Then a new highway was built and Ponsford became one of those forgotten towns.

Ponsford and Pine Point Indian Reservation are one mile apart. Once a year on the 4th of July there would be a big gathering and a party in Ponsford…everyone would come.  Far Guy’s Mother remembered going there as a child.  There would be a Pow Wow and a parade.  The Ojibwe; Ottertail Pillager Band settled at Pine Point.  Some Indians were traditional hunters, gatherers…and some adopted white mans practices and built homes and sent their children to school…and some mixed part of the two cultures. The whites lived at Ponsford and the Indians at Pine Point.

The Mission:  When I was growing up we always called it “The Mission”…not Pine Point and not the RES.  Long ago they had a Mission School and a Episcopal Mission Church, and a Catholic Mission Church on the reservation. 

One of the first teachers at the mission school in 1890 was Orville D. Ponsford.  He taught for two years and then went back to farming.  The school had troubles and was taken over by the Government…then it was called the Government School and it boarded the students there during the school year.

In 1890-1891 the residents wanted their own Post Office so names were sent in…Pine Point was one possibility but it was rejected because another place was using that name. The petitioners sent in their own names and as it happened Mr. Nunn underlined Ponsford’s name so the Post Office became Ponsford. The Nunns remained in the area for years and still have descendants in the area…and Mr. Ponsford well he visited Ponsford twice before he died.

Spelling

Remember those spelling tests in school.  I pretty much memorized the words.

I have the most problems with definately/definitely, diahreah/diarrhea, glamerous/glamorous…sometimes I think I should write them 100 times on a sheet of paper just like in the old days…thank goodness for spell check.

This sign has bugged me for years.  This is on Hwy 44 heading west.

This is near Hwy 44 headed east. 

Of course we all know they are the same town.  But someone besides me should know about this spelling error…so now you all know.  The 20 people or so who live in Ponsford probably don’t care.

Day Off?

Appointments and meetings filled the day off.  I did get about an hour nap to help recharge..and then was interrupted by a phone call..bummer.

I have another busy week, appointments, tours for first grade students and a pile of “stuff” sitting on my desk at work.

My other day off was filled with doing the necessities, laundry, cleaning bathrooms, grocery shopping, cooking a decent meal and having a long nap.

This would be a great shot if that darned Forsythia would bloom.  I swear it has only bloomed one year out of twelve.  I should rip it out by it’s roots and compost the darn thing.  I know I have said that before..but this time I could be serious.

Our first Historical Museum program is now behind us…we had 45 guests..quite a group!  It was an interesting program..at least I thought so.  We had 1953 film footage of a celebration in nearby Ponsford.  That was the year that a local resident and first Trading  Post owner was inducted into the Chippewa Tribe along with the Park Rapids High School Marching Band.  It all happened sixty years ago…some of the band members were there..it was a fun evening.  Many of the people that showed up were Ponsford residents..or former Ponsford residents so I knew many of them personally.

When I have long board meetings and a program on my day off it really doesn’t seem like a day off:(

Colgrove Quilt

I live in Becker County, however I work in Hubbard County.  I know much more about Becker County History since I was born and raised in the county.   I did go to High School in Hubbard County..for what it is worth.

Sometimes the county lines are crossed..since we live so close to Hubbard County the lines are easily blurred. 

Such is the case with a number of items in the museum.  Today I will  address the Colgrove Quilt.

The quilt hangs in the Heritage Room at the museum.  It is one of two items that is “on loan” to the museum.  “On Loan” so that all people may enjoy it.

During WWII local residents of the Ponsford Minnesota area brought things into the Red Owl store in Ponsford to sell.  The store was owned by Ted and Mary Colgrove.  They sold the store in 1949 to Ray and Bev Masog ( who I remember at the store).

Mrs. Clark’s quilt was not sold.  It’s original price was $10.00 but she offered it to the Colgroves for $7.50.  The Colgrove children remember the quilt being stored in a trunk..and on really cold nights it was brought out and put on a bed.  The children felt special to sleep in the bed with the Indian Quilt.

So this is a bit of Becker County history that resides in the neighboring Hubbard County Historical Museum.

Last winter it was taken out for appraisal.  I did not hear the evaluation.  This spring I called Joyce..because the wall was so bare..and she brought it back into the museum.

It is a beautiful piece of art!  The room where it is displayed has UV filters on the windows and on the light fixtures.  I would like to see this quilt  have a sleeve hand sewn at the top so that it can be secured to the board through the sleeve and not through the quilt itself.   It would require approval by the family and someone to do the hand sewing. 

Light and dust are the worst for quilts..and gravity.  Quilts that are folded in cases must be refolded every once in awhile or their folds will become creased.  All the quilts in the museum that are in cases need to be refolded.  I put it on my “to do” list.

I recently read an article that said cedar chests are bad places to store quilts long term..that the wood should be sealed for proper storage of heirloom quilts. 

Personally I have three quilts..well four..but three that I store in a Rubbermaid tote..I wonder how that rates for storage?:)

Museum: Old Maps

I worked on the Historical Museums Newsletter yesterday again..it is finally ready to mail.  I am all done with newsletters until May when I am back in my office.

I am working on several H.U.G.E. projects…it all takes time. If I would stop making suggestions and having ideas I would be less stressed and in charge of less projects.  Ground work and making the road maps for an organization to follow is not an easy job. Attracting new members, raising funds, seeing that things get repaired and keeping one hand on the pulse of an organization is not exactly a walk in the park or a stroll down the road either. The board members assured me that they would send articles for the newsletter..three did and the other four dropped the ball. I filled in the blanks so I could get the newsletter off of my desk.  I did not think I would feel burned out during the winter..but after yesterday and the day before..I sure was.  I have to give them one more day this week..and then I can get all my ducks in a row on the next project. Most everything is in place. I just need to set the wheels in motion.  I hope the map I made is a good one. I do not want to crash and burn after all the effort.  Don’t worry I will tell you all about it sooner or later.

I thought that this was a cool map to share today.  The map is all folded up inside this folder.

 

I wanted to see what 1924-1925 looked like in my neck of the woods.  So I took a photo!

I was thrilled to find that Detroit Lakes was still called Detroit ( Later in 1926 it was changed to Detroit Lakes so that it would not be confused with Detroit, Michigan.)

Highway 34 went right past the farm I grew up on and very near where we live now. The stair step highway which we live near was featured in the opening chapter of Red Earth White Earth..which was written by a local farm kid and eventually became a movie.

Highway 34 was realigned in the 1940’s..and the booming town of Ponsford was no longer on the main route to Detroit. A new road was built, and the old part of Highway 34 that included Ponsford became known as Highway 225.  Old roads were often the life blood of a community..that and railroad tracks..if you were missed by either of them your town was going to struggle before it eventually died.

I wonder did the powers that be ever wonder if their new road map was the way to go? Did they feel guilty..or was it all in the name of progress?

Yesterday I took one of my volunteers out to lunch..and one of these days I will take my other wonderful volunteer (Far Guy) out for breakfast..both of them are ready to hit the ground running in the spring and are looking forward to the Museum opening..me not so much..at least not today..perhaps tomorrow:)

Early Settlers

I was reading some of Far Guy’s family history on his Mothers side of the family.

March 13, 1890 Zack Lemon gets in with the stage before dark.  (He must have been busy in Detroit ( Detroit Lakes) that day.)  He purchased the mail route between Osage and Detroit. (The stage went out one day and returned the next day.)

Zackary Taylor Lemon was seven years older than his brother Robert ..Robert was Far Guys Great Grandfather. They were both born in Monroe, Wisconsin.  Sometime after 1857 they moved to Deerfield Township, Chickasaw County, Iowa.

For now I am just going to talk about Zack. Zackary Taylor Lemon was born September 27, 1848.  He married Sarah Jane ( Aunt Janie) on December 29, 1875.  They moved to this area in October of 1880. Zack would have been 32 years old. Aunt Janie would have been 24.  ( If you ask me, October would be one of the last choices I would make for a  move to Minnesota) They were one of the first three white families to settle in the Ponsford area.  The others were Mart Stephens and John Snyder ( John a Civil War Veteran was married to Phoebe Lemon.. a sister to Zack and Robert.)

Counting babies and all there were twelve people in three wagons that were loaded with their household goods.

There was four feet of snow on the ground when they got here.

They built two shanties, with the Stephens and Lemon family sharing.

Their flour was stolen when they were near Osage..so they lived on biscuits made of horse feed.  ( ground oats and corn)

They finally went to Verndale ( as the crow flies 41 miles) on homemade snowshoes and brought back 100 pounds of flour on their backs.

Wild game provided their meat, Deer and even a Moose were on their table that first winter.

In the spring Zack traded in his team for a yoke of oxen and began to clear the land.

In Iowa, they couldn’t afford land. In Minnesota homestead land was free…it cost you 2.50 to file your claim.

Zack said “ The first winter we were snowed in and after that so short of money that we were not able to get out of the country anymore.”

I have heard that Zach and Aunt Janie used to sit around and talk about the early days and that they were quite the story tellers. Ohhh..what it would have been like to be a mouse in the corner and listen!

Martha and Aunt Janie.

Martha was married to Robert..Aunt Janie was married to Zack.  They were sister in laws.

Robert and Martha must have joined Zack and Janie at some time…but I am not sure how that all came about. More than likely they followed because of the lure of free land.  I only know of two people who are alive that would know..I will have to go and pick their brains again.

Zack and Aunt Janie had one son Clarence, he married Inga.

I do not remember Clarence, but I remember Inga. She was a single lady for a long time..so long that even my Grandfather Y  took a shine to her. When he showed up at our place all slicked up sometimes he was going to visit “one of his lady friends.”  He courted quite a few widowed women…Inga was just one of them.

Inga lived at the edge of Ponsford for years in a little house near the road..

This is all that is left..trees.

Zack and Aunt Janie had a few grandchildren Ray, Zachary and Florence..but their family tree has all but disappeared over the years. There might be a relative or two out there..you never can tell:) 

Four Million People in Ponsford

A long time ago, on Saturday nights when my parents wanted to go out..my Dad would take off and go fetch Margaret Million to babysit my baby brother and I.

I adored Margaret, she was a kind woman, always dressed in a floral house dress with a sweater..her brown heavy stockings and black shoes were part of her little old lady uniform.  Her long grey hair was braided and then formed into a bun, it was always neat as a pin.  More often than not she would bring freshly baked cookies with her..after the cookies were gone, I would sit next to her in the overstuffed rocking chair in our living room and she would tell me stories as we rocked back and forth.  I would settle in,  comforted by her closeness and her voice would gently lull me to sleep.  Margaret wasn’t plump but she was ample in all the right places, so that a small child’s head would find a soft pillow like resting spot.

 

Jack and Margaret’s place was way back behind the tallest pine tree.

Every once in awhile..for some reason we would have to go up to Jack and Margaret's house in Ponsford to get babysat. Their house was back in the woods behind the old Longfors Garage.  It was a tiny little house with not very tall ceilings, and a couch that was hard as a rock..it was a sad place.

 

Sunset over the South West part of Ponsford.

Jack and Margaret had two grown girls..one was named Sally.  One morning or night..whatever..Sally stepped too close to the wood stove and her nightgown caught on fire. ( I seem to recall that Sally was getting up to feed her new baby..but maybe that isn’t correct.)  Sally died after a few days in the hospital.

Now why do I remember this story?  Sometimes in the wintertime I remember that almost everyone had a woodstove in their house..not a fancy potbellied stove either..sometimes just a crude barrel stove in the living room and a cook stove in the kitchen.  In the houses we would visit that had a woodstove ..we would always be reminded “Don’t get your clothing too close to the stove.” Then someone would tell the sad story about Sally.

I always wondered what Jack did for a living. It turns out that Jack could fire a Steam Engine, he worked at the Sawmill in Ponsford for a time before taking a job at the Pine Point School firing their boilers.

On a side note:  Dick Taylor had the sawmill in Ponsford..there were even Rail Road Tracks behind Nunns house.  This all makes sense to me now..it never did when I was a kid…there were large humps in the landscape back there..and the brush grew up and us kids were told to stay out of there.

Ponsford was a boom town back in the 1920’s until the highway to Detroit Lakes was re routed in 1942..then Ponsford lost most all of it’s businesses one by one..no it never had four million people but four people by the name of Million lived there:)

Wistful Wednesday: A Long Time Ago

In 1889 Far Guys Maternal Grandpa Curt Abbott was one year old, he and his family lived in Wellington County Ontario, Canada.  His parents were unhappy living in Canada ( they did not like the crowns taxes).  They decided to move to Minnesota.

Their next door neighbors in Canada were the Nunns.  They had a young boy, JW Nunn who was sickly.  The Doctors in Canada told them that he wouldn’t live long in the Canadian climate.  When they heard that the Abbotts were coming to Minnesota..they decided to go too.  They all ended up in Lake Eunice Township over by Detroit, which later became known as Detroit Lakes.

Exactly what year they homesteaded in Carsonville Township is in my records someplace..for now I will just say in the mid 1890’s .

Logging Camp Near Ponsford, Minnesota unknown year.

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Back to JW Nunn and his story as told to me by his Grandson Jim : My Grandpa JW was so little all his life, even as an adult he never weighed more than 100 pounds.  One winter he went into a logging camp with a tote team, you had to make your own bed from spruce boughs, he borrowed a blanket.  He felt better after sleeping on those boughs.  He felt so much better that he went back and asked for a job at the logging camp.  The boss said “Well what can you do here?  You don’t even weigh a hundred pounds?”  JW replied, “I can keep a good set of books.”  The boss gave him two weeks to prove himself, the team would be back in two weeks.  He felt stronger than he had in his whole life.  He said the the Spruce and Pine Trees saved his life.  He did see a Doctor again..just two weeks before he died, when he was 96 years and six months old.

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I am reminded again that this area that we live in now was big timber before it became farm land.  A friend of mine shared a few old photos that she got from the Nunn family..thanks Shirley!

Ponsford Minnesota Logging Photo unknown year.

** Note this is just one interesting story that was shared with us recently  during a visit with Jim and Irene.  Neighbors that were born and raised in this area:) 

Ponsford Fire

Tuesday evening as I was all stretched out on the couch watching American Idol ( I like Crystal Bowersox and Casey James).  Far Guys pager went off, the report was "The old feed store next to the Fire Hall in Ponsford is on fire."  Well there is no feed store, but there is an old grocery store.  I lept up and said "Can I go too?  I will get some photos! "

 The Ponsford Grocery Store  in  2009

Granted the old grocery store was a pile of falling down building, but in my mind it is still the grocery store of my childhood.  We could see the flames from the end of our driveway..five miles away cross country.

I was too little to see over the top of the counter..Ray or Bev would lean over and say Hi..they called everyone by name.  We went there once a week, just for the necessities that a farm family needed..sugar, flour, toilet paper, soap, sometimes bananas, oranges and apples, on a really good day..Ice Cream!!

Ray and Bev lived in the back of the store, they had sons much older than me, they were in the upper grades in school when I was little.  On Halloween you had to stop by their back door..for a full size candy bar. I thought I had died and gone to candy heaven with an entire candy bar that I did not have to share with my baby brother, or one that did not have to be sliced into four equal sections and put on a plate on the kitchen table and shared with everyone.

The floors were wooden, they were warped..they had a mind of their own with their hills and valleys.  The aisles were narrow, I do not remember a shopping cart, but there were shopping baskets.  Sometimes I would be in charge of taking something up to the counter, if anything strange was added..my Mother would know. Sometimes she would be short of money..One time she was short and I told her "Just write a check"  Thinking of course that the checkbook was an endless supply of money.  How could you be broke when you have a checkbook??  Sometimes things would have to be put on account..and paid for later when the milk check came.  My Mother never liked putting anything on her account.

The shelves were stocked practically to the ceiling, full of wondrous things that I had never eaten.  Things that I never learned to eat..so therefore I still don't eat them..like boxed breakfast cereal and pancake syrup.

Going to the store was an event, that is where you heard who was sick and on their death bed, who was getting married and who was having a new baby.  News..a side effect from needing a few groceries. 

Sometime in the mid 1960's Ray and Bev sold the store and moved to Frazee.  I believe they moved after their youngest son graduated from high school.   New people by the name of Cullen purchased the store.  They had a girl named Sheila who was a year older than me, we rode the same bus until the route was split. She later became the Homecoming Queen her senior year, not only because she was beautiful..she was friendly too.

There were lots of memories in the flames that rendered this old store into a pile of ash.  No doubt this was Arson..the Natives are restless.

April 06, 2010 

Carsonville Firefighters 

Far Guy 

The local papers reported nothing on this fire..apparently it was not news worthy:(

Update from Holly Anderson about the old store: 

My parents (Dale & Linda Anderson) bought the store from Cullens and ran a grain cleaning business out of it. That's why they called it the feed store in the fire call. When I was little, that is what I remember; climbing on top of piles of brown sacks of wheat seed ready for sale and the sound of the cleaner. The store has sat empty since the early 80s and the last time anyone used it was for the Ponsford Centennial in 1990.

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Update from Chuck Masog: 

I can add some history about the Red Owl store in Ponsford. My name is Chuck Masog. My folks were Bev and Ray Masog and the four of us including my brother John lived behind the store. They purchased it the winter of 1947-48 from Mr Colgrove and ran it until we moved to Frazee in the summer of 1958. John and I went to school at Linnell grade school 3 miles east on MN Highway 225 and Park Rapids High School.
It was primarily a grocery store but we also sold feed, tires, firewood, drugs, Lee jeans, and oil and gas. We sold and delivered bulk gas and fuel oil to farmers, resorts and households. Dad had a 400 gallon tank and pump specifically made to fit our 1952 Ford F3 pickup by Marvin Longforce who owned the garage. We bought and candled eggs from the farmers and sold them to Pederson-Biddick in Wadena

There were five grocery carts and one checkout counter which gives you some idea of the size of the store. The clientele were predominately Indians and farmers but with a nice influx of tourists in the summer from Iowa and Illinois. We also supplied the scout camp on Many Point Lake and I recall making 800 minute steaks which was part of their weekly order and was an all day job for our small meat equipment. Some of the unique items we sold in the store were bulk lutefisk and herring which came in wooden 25 pound pails, and bulk vinegar which came in 50 gallon wood barrels. Popular items in the meat counter were bacon squares (smoked pig jowl) which sat on top of the meat counter unrefrigerated and sold for 19 cents/pound, and pork neck bones. Our entire frozen food section was one open topped freezer that was about 3x4 ft and stocked predominately with frozen juice and meat pies. We also sold a lot of Mennen skin bracer as that was the drink of choice after the 5 beer joints were closed about 1954 because of a shooting that resulted in death.
My folks were good hearted and one could pay cash or charge it. This is not a business model I would recommend to anyone as not everyone paid up.
Dad remodeled the front of the store in the mid-50s and used vertical redwood siding. I saw the store in 2005 and was impressed with how well the redwood stood up over the years. I was also impressed with the how modern the front of the building and signage were, even to this date.
My dad also bought furs and wild rice. Ricing season, which started in last August, was the busiest and most exciting time of the year, with long hours. In the early years, the rice was sold to a processor in Aitkin, MN and in later years my Dad processed the majority of the rice himself on a 40 acre farm about a mile west of town.