B _ a. A Publication of the Ramsey County Historical Society Spring, 1994 Volume 29, Number 1 1 9 4 0 Ramsey County History awarded AASLH Certificate of Commendation, The ‘Fighting Saint’ — The U. S. S. St. Paul and Its Minnesota Connection Page 4 K 2X E "f - : P I : Women from the Yokosuka, Japan, Folk Dance Association perform Japanese folk dances for U. S. S. St. Paul crewmembers as the heavy cruiser prepares to leave Yokosuka for the United States on July 6, 1962. See arti­ cle beginning on page 4. D-Day Remembered By Seven Who Were There RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY Executive Director Priscilla Famham Editor Virginia Brainard Kunz RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY BOARD OF DIRECTORS William S. Fallon CONTENTS Chairman o f the Board Joanne Englund 3 Letters President John M. Lindley 4 The ‘Fighting Saint’— First Vice President The U. S. S. St. Paul and Its Minnesota Connection James Russell Treasurer Tom Bolan Sidney P. Abramson, Arthur H. Baumeister, 9 D-Day Remembered By Seven Who Were There Jr., Thomas Boyd, John Brown, Marshall Hatfield, John Harens, Liz Johnson, Judge 13 The Harlem Renaissance— Margaret M. Marrinan, Dr. Thomas B. Mega, An Age of Miracles, Excess, Satire’ Laurie Murphy, Richard T. Murphy, Sr., Thomond O’Brien, Robert Olsen, Darrell John S. Wright Rooney, Evangeline Schroeder, Mark Stein, Jane Thiele, Richard A. Wilhoit and Laurie 14-15 The Harlem Renaissance Revisited Zenner. 16 Growing Up in St. Paul EDITORIAL BOARD Yankeedom: Goal of the 19th Century Immigrant John M. Lindley, chairman; Thomas H. Boyd, John W. Larson Thomas C. Buckley, Charlton Dietz, Thomas J. Kelley, Arthur McWatt, Laurie M. Murphy, 21 Books, Etc. Dr. Thomas B. Mega. 27 Contributors HONORARY ADVISORY BOARD Elmer L. Andersen, Coleman Bloomfield, A Message from the Editorial Board Olivia I. Dodge, Charlton Dietz, William Finney, Clarence Frame, Otis Godfrey, Jr., The Ramsey County Historical Socie­ Ronald Hachey, Reuel D. Harmon, Robert S. ty recently lost a loyal and long-time sup­ Hess, Ronald M. Hubbs, Fred T. Lanners, Jr., porter when Lester B. LeVesconte, a Don Larson, George Latimer, Lewis Lehr, A David Marsden, Robert B. Mirick, Samuel H, grandson of Heman and Jane Gibbs, died Morgan, Marvin J. Pertzik, J. Jerome in Illinois. In 1849 the Gibbs family es­ n . Plunkett, Peter S. Popovich, James Reagan, tablished the pioneer farmstead that to­ Rosalie E. Wahl, Donald D. Wozniak. day we know as the Gibbs Farm Muse­ um. Lester LeVesconte, whose mother RAMSEY COUNTY COMMISSIONERS was the Gibbs’s daughter, Lillie, was in­ Commissioner Hal Norgard, chairman strumental in working out in 1949 the ar­ Commissioner Diane Ahrens rangements by which the Gibbs farm be­ Commissioner John Finley Commissioner Ruby Hunt came a museum under the auspices of the Commissioner Warren Schaber Ramsey County Historical Society. Commissioner Brenda Thomas Lester LeVesconte Commissioner Richard Wedell The Society’s debt to Lester LeVes­ conte extends beyond the Gibbs Farm sey County history extended to the Socie­ Terry Schütten, manager, Ramsey County. Museum because over many years Mr. ty’s broader plans, which included this Ramsey County History is published quarterly LeVesconte actively promoted the publi­ quarterly magazine, Ramsey County His­ by the Ramsey County Historical Society, 323 cation of historical material about the tory. Landmark Center, 75 W. Fifth Street, St. Paul, Gibbs family and Ramsey County. Thus We honor Lester LeVesconte’s mem­ Minn. 55102. Printed in U.S.A. Copyright, 1994, Ramsey County Historical Society. ISSN he helped support financially the Socie­ ory and his many contributions to the Number 0485-9758. All rights reserved. No ty’s publication of his mother’s book, Lit­ Ramsey County Historical Society. We part of this publication may be reprinted or tle Bird That Was Caught, about Jane are inspired by his example and his vision otherwise reproduced without written permis­ Gibbs’s experiences as a young pioneer in for history. sion from the publisher. The Society assumes no responsibility for statements made by con­ the wilderness that became Minnesota. -John M. Lindley, chairman, tributors. His advocacy of the publication of Ram- Editorial Board 2 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY The Last Shots o f Two Wars The‘Fighting Saint’—the U. S. S. St. Paul and Its Minn Tom Bolan “We were about five miles offshore and t. Paul’s Minnesotans perhaps don’t fully realize the extent of the had been bombarding seaport installa­ historic connection they have to World War If and later conflicts. tions , and the Japanese were shooting back Naval reservists from St. Paul were involved in firing the first shot of thebefore the cease-fire,” Gildersleeve S recalled. “We had taken some hits and the war from the guns of the destroyer, the U. S. S. Ward, and the last shot damage probably caused the communica­ of the war from the guns of the heavy cruiser, the U. S. S. St. Paul (CA- tions lapse.” He said that he was in the fire 73), also known as the “Fighting Saint.” control center plotting range and bearing The story of the Ward is told by Lieu­ mada. for the three main gun turrets at the time of tenant Commander Arnold S. Lott, Chief The St. Pauls shots, the last of World the cease-fire. Hull Technician Robert F. Sumrall (both War II from an American vessel off the “The Number 2 turret didn’t get the now retired) and other Ward veterans in coast of Japan’s northern island of Hokkai­ cease-fire order from the captain or the USS Ward Fires First Shot WWII, pub­ do, were fired on August 9, 1945, at the gunnery officer,” he continued. “I saw lished in St. Paul in 1983 by the First Shot steel mills in the city of Kamaiski. They their red ‘ready’ light come on. That meant Naval Veterans. An account of the Ward’s came five minutes after the cease-fire or­ that the turret crew had loaded the guns and wartime service also was published in the der, ending World War n, was given. had pushed a button, letting us know they Winter, 1991, issue of Ramsey County “I know, because I was the officer who were ready to fire. That’s a dangerous situ­ History in commemoration of the fiftieth relayed the order to fire,” Harry D. Gil- ation. You don’t have much time. Big anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. dersleeve told the author. Now a doctor of sacks of gunpowder are rammed into the Although the Ward was launched in optometry in O’Neill, Nebraska, Gilders- guns behind the projectiles in loading. Be­ 1918, the ship’s entrance into history came leeve was at that time the main battery cause the guns are hot from previous on December 4, 1941, when she was pa­ shore bombardment officer on board the firings, they can explode if too much time trolling the entrance to Pearl Harbor be­ St. Paul. The salvo directed at Japan from is taken before the guns are fired again.” fore the Japanese attack. Many of the crew the cruiser’s eight-inch battery occurred Gildersleeve remembered that “all hell aboard the Ward were reserve sailors from because of a temporary lapse in communi­ broke loose” as the problem was quickly the St. Paul area-young men who were cations between the Number 2 turret and relayed to Admiral Halsey. “Halsey gave destined to fight a long war. The Ward’s the fire control center five decks below. the order to clear the guns by firing any- gunfire destroyed a Japanese midget sub­ marine, inflicting the first casualties on the Japanese strike force an hour before the air attack itself. Some four years later, the name of St. Paul was again enrolled in the history of the war. The city’s namesake, the U. S. S. St. Paul, fired the last naval shot of the war on the main islands of Japan. The heavy cruiser had recently joined Admiral Wil­ liam F. Halsey’s task force off Japan. In what was only her second action, a night shelling of a Japanese steel mill, the St. Paul was accompanied by cruisers U.S.S. Boston, U.S.S. Chicago and U.S.S. Quin­ cy, battleships U.S.S. Indiana, U.S.S. South Dakota and U.S.S. Massachusetts; The U. S. S. St. Paul in Japan’s inland sea, the Naikai Seto, in the early 1950s. All and the British battleship King George V. photos used with this article, including the cover photo, are from the U. S. S. St. Paul Numerous destroyers screened the ar­ Association. 4 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY nnesota Connection l 1 where toward Japan,” Gildersleeve said. “I relayed the order to the turret for ran­ dom firing.” Thus, the last shot of the naval war fired at Japan after the cease-fire by the U.S.S. St. Paul was the result of a miscommuni- cated order. It wasn’t planned, but it served its purpose. The name St. Paul was originally scheduled to be given to another heavy U. S. S. St. Paul commissioning ceremony, February 17, 1945. Left to right: Captain cruiser, which instead was named the Ernest H. von Heimburg, the cruiser’s commanding officer; St. Paul Mayor John J. U. S. S. Quincy The name change was made McDonough; the ship’s sponsor, Mrs. Marie McDonough; Massachusetts Governor on October 16,1942, to honor the memory Maurice J. Tobin; and Rear Admiral Felix X. Gygax, First Naval District commandant. of an earlier U.S.S. Quincy, which was sunk during the August, 1942, Battle of Savo Island.