RAMSEY COUNTY

NORWEST

A Publication o f the Ramsey County Historical Society To The Nth Degree

Fall, 1995 Volume 30, Number 3 The 108-Year History of Norwest St. Paul Page 4

à imf îf I mr t i ‘iHff RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY Executive Director " ■ ■ RAMSEY COUNTY Priscilla Famham Editor Virginia Brainard Kunz History RAMSEY COUNTY Volume 30, Number 3 Fall, 1995 HISTORICAL SOCIETY

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Joanne A. Englund Chairman of the Board CONTENTS John M. Lindley President 3 Letters Laurie Zenner First Vice President Judge Margaret M. Marrinan 4 After 108 Years a Transformation Second Vice President Norwest Bank St. Paul and its Century-old Heritage Richard A. Wilhoit Secretary James B. Bell James Russell Treasurer 1 8 Banking on Minnesota’s Unfettered Frontier— Arthur Baumeister, Jr., Alexandra Bjorklund, Andrew Boss, Thomas Boyd, Mark Eisen- When Barter Was the Name of the Only Game in Town schenk, John Harens, Marshall Hatfield, Liz James B. Bell Johnson, Richard Long, Laurie Murphy, Richard T. Muiphy, Sr., Thomond O’Brien, Robert Olsen, Vicenta Scarlett, Evangeline 2 2 ‘Cheery, Refined and Comfortable’ Schroeder, Jane Thiele, Anne Cowie Wilson. Episcopal Church Home Begins Its Second Century EDITORIAL BOARD With Its ‘Caring Services’ that Help the Elderly John M. Lindley, chairman; Thomas H. Boyd, Thomas C. Buckley, Laurie M. Marcia Fotsch Murphy, Dr. Thomas B. Mega.

HONORARY ADVISORY BOARD 2 4 Growing Up in St. Paul Elmer L. Andersen, Olivia I. Dodge, A Boyhood Resting on the City’s Seven Hills— Charlton Dietz, William Finney, Clarence Frame, Otis Godfrey, Jr., Ronald Hachey, But Once Upon a Time There Were Eight Reuel D. Harmon, Robert S. Hess, Ronald M. Hubbs, Fred T. Lanners, Jr., Don Larson, John S. Sonnen George Latimer, Lewis Lehr, David Mars- den, Robert B. Mirick, Samuel H. Morgan, Marvin J. Pertzik, J. Jerome Plunkett, Peter 2 6 Books, Etc. S. Popovich, James Reagan, Rosalie E. Wahl, Donald D. Wozniak. 27 What’s Historic About This Site? RAMSEY COUNTY COMMISIONERS The Blair Flats Commissioner Hal Norgard, chairman Commissioner Susan Haigh Commissioner John Finley Commissioner Rafael Ortega Publication of Ramsey County History is supported Commissioner Warren Schaber Commissioner Brenda Thomas in part by a gift from Clara M. Claussen and Frieda H. Claussen Commissioner Richard Wedell in memory of Henry H. Cowie, Jr. Terry Schütten, manager, Ramsey County

Ramsey County History is published quar­ terly by the Ramsey County Historical Soci­ ety, 323 Landmark Center, 75 W. Fifth Ta-coumba Aiken and “The Spirit of St. Paul” Street, St. Paul, Minn. 55102. Printed in U.S.A. Copyright, 1995, Ramsey County t. Paul painter, sculptor and muralist Ta-coumba Aiken painted the mural, a Historical Society. ISSN Number 0485- portion of which graces the cover of this issue of Ramsey County History, 9758. All rights reserved. No part of this pub­ S lication may be reprinted or otherwise repro­ for Norwest Bank St. Paul’s sparkling new retail banking superstore. On page duced without written permission from the 17 he speaks of how he envisioned his work, “The Spirit of St. Paul—Now and publisher. The Society assumes no responsi­ Forever.” bility for statements made by contributors.

2 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY Letters to the Editor

Ma Barker and Her Girls They were living in St. Paul and she re­ In the Winter, 1995, edition, you membered that people wore masks to aroused my interest when you identified try to prevent the spread of the disease. the name of a roadhouse ran by Ma —Harriet Putman, Anoka. Barker during the time of Prohibition. On doing my own research to determine This fearsome epidemic is still recalled the exact time she operated Paradise with dread. As the disease began to Park, I failed to find any direct refer­ spread, St. Paul physician Dr. Egil ences to it. But I came across something Boeckmann, a member o f the state and I would like to see if it could be health board, warned his fellow physi­ verified. cians that this particularly virulent form

In the book Look for the Women by of influenza “spreads like fire, very se­ Jay R. Nash, he’s written a short report vere in onset and very prone to compli­ of Ma Barker. Nash interviewed cations o f Lobar Pneumonia. . . I want “Blackie” Audett, who robbed banks to impress upon the Board that you are with the Barkers in 1932 and ’33 and dealing with the most serious epidemic this is what he said: “ . . . and it was o f any kind you have ever been up [Alvin Karpis’] job to go out through against. ” the Minnesota countryside—the Bark­ ers always hid out in country places up there—and find these poor, dumb farm The Right-to-Vote girls, and bring’em back to ugly old Ma Since we’re observing the seventy-fifth and, God, she would abuse these poor Ma Barker. Minnesota Historical Society anniversary of the passage of the Nine­ girls terribly and then Freddie (her son) photo. teenth Amendment granting women the and Karpis and another gang member right to vote, I’m curious as to when would kill the girls at Ma’s or­ Minnesota ratified the amendment. ders . . . Why, there must be thirty or tion in St. Paul, 1920-1936, and this is —Julia Hill, Lake Elmo. forty bodies of young girls still at the his response: There’s no question that bottom of a half dozen Minnesota lakes Ma Barker despised the girlfriends of On September 8, 1919. St. Paul women to this day!” He interviewed Audett in the gang members. Probably she simply celebrated with a “Jubilee Banquet” at 1979. was jealous. Whether Ma ever ordered the St. Paul Hotel. Is there any record that during that these girls killed is completely contrary time there was a large number of young to anything in the thousands of FBI files Dancing at the Lexington women reported missing and never ac­ I saw. “Blackie” Audett’s story is part My mother once told me that she and counted for? If so, was it ever tied in of the glamorous lore— nostalgia—of my father used to go dancing at the Lex­ with Ma Barker and her gang? All other the crime era, and he evidently was a ington Pavilion back when they were publications I’ve read concerning Ma marvelous storyteller. courting. Where was this located? Barker never mentioned anything like —Georgianna Allen, St. Paul. this. Epidemics Past —Bob Barklow, West St. Paul. and Present At Lexington and University. The Pavil­ The recent outbreaks of meningitis and ion advertised “25,000feet of dancing We’ve consulted Paul Maccabee, au­ Legionnaires disease reminded me of a floor smooth as glass. ” Dances costing thor of the fascinating and just-pub­ long-ago family tragedy, the death of 50 cents for men and 25 cents for lished book, John Dillinger Slept Here: my grandmother’s brother in the great women were held every Saturday, Sun­ A Crooks’ Tour of Crime and Corrup- Spanish influenza epidemic of 1918. day and Wednesday night.

RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY 3 Sister Annette Relf who founded the Episcopal Church Home of Minnesota, now beginning its second century of service. See article beginning on page 22.

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RAMSEY • COUNTY-HISTORICAL-SOCIETY U.S. Postage PAID Published by the Ramsey County Historical Society St. Paul, MN 323 Landmark Center Permit #3989 75 West Fifth Street Saint Paul, Minnesota 55102