A History of Dickey County, North Dakota BY THE DICKEY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY Edited by R. M. BLACK President, State Normal and Industrial School Published by THE DIC~EY COU~TY HISTORICAL SOCIETY ELLEXDALE, XORTH DAKOTA 1930 COPYRIGHT 1930 By the Dickey County Historical Society To the Pioneers of Dickey County and their successors-- the fathers, mothers and children of today-- this book is affectionately dedicated . by its compilers and authors Preface The history of a people is interesting not only as a record of events but more particularly a record of the aspirations, struggles and idea.ls of those ·who have made it possible for those of the present generation to make happy home~ and to enjoy the privileges and opportunities which are to be had by those who seek them. Dickey County, North Dakotc:1, is relatively young, but a whole generation of people have grown up within its borders since it was first settled. At the same time there are, at ·the time this history is written many of the original pioneers still living, and in fact taking an active part in the civic, social and business activities in the communities of this county. These pioneers did a splendid work, and they more than any one else know and appreciate the hardships, toils and hopes of the early days. To preserve the records of what they attempted and achieved and hand on something of the vision that guided them, the Dickey County Historical Society was organized. That Society is now attempting to collect and preserve the incidents and implements of the early settlers. It was early suggested that a record in historical form would be of general interest to all the citizens. A meeting was called at Fullerton in the summer of 1924, and at that meeting Mr. Alex Alin, Mr. T. R. Shimmin, Mrs. T. R. Shimmin, Mr. Ira A. Barnes, Mr. E. F. Stevens, Mrs. E. F. Stevens, Mrs. Katherine Pollock Goddard, Mrs. Mary Flemington Strand and Mr. R. M. Black were present. General plans were considered and a committee of five were selected to give the matter further consideration. This committee consisted of Mr. Ira A. Barnes, Mr. Alex Alin, Mrs. Frances Folsom, Mr. T. R. Shimmin and Mrs. Amy Northrop Magoffin. A meeting of all citizens of the county who were interested in a historical society was called at the Court House on the second day of the County Fair of 1924. From this meeting a permanent organization of the Society was effected, and the sentiment was very favorable to publishing a history from material to be collected. The following officers were elected: President, l\1r. Ira Barnes; Vice-President, Mr. T. R. Shimmin; Secretary-Treasurer, Miss Blanche Stevens. The official board then named consisted of the following people, Mr. Ira Barnes, Mr. T. R. Shimmin, Mr. E. F. Stevens, Mr. Alex Alin, Mrs. Florence Folson, Mrs. Eb Magoffin and Mrs. Gertrude Linville. The Executive Committee employed Mr. Dana Wright of James­ to\vn as field man and he spent twenty-four days in the county collecting material from old settlers in which work he was helped by members of the committee. This 1naterial and other as collected was turned over to Presi­ dent R. M. Black of the State Normal and Industrial School who was selected by the Historical Society as an editor for the purpose of drawing out a logical and consecutive account of the historical events of the county. The book now offered to the public is the result of editing these stories and incidents. The plan of the book is to give a general story of the county as a unit in the first nine chapters. Then each township and the two cities of Ellendale and Oakes each have a chapter, after which a brief story of the part the county took in the World War is given in the last chapter. Neither the his­ tory nor the list of pioneers mentioned in the text is complete, as in many cases it has been impossible to find the records and also the size of the volume has made it necessary to condense and abridge frequently. The at­ tempt has been made to include ~any characteristic stories to give the ac­ count the flavor of the early times. It is to be regretted that all the stories of the pioneers cannot be included. Much credit is due to Major Dana Wright for his careful and pains­ taking work in getting the narratives, and to Miss Blanche Stevens for making possible the publication of the history through her ,vise business management. Mr. Barnes has rendered constant aid, and the memory of many of the pioneers has been drawn upon to complete the record. Acknow­ ledgement is rnade in the heading of each chapter. Mistakes have probably crept in, and for such the editor and committee ask your indulgence. It is hoped the book will be found interesting, and from the stimulus it may give, that all who can do so will contribute their stories and relics to the museum and repository that the Society is building at the County Court House. Ellendale, North Dakota, January, 1929. Table of Contents Page List of Illustrations _________________ .. _________________ . ___________________________________________________________ 8 Maps. ________________ ·____________ ------- --· -- ----- -- ---------------------- ------- -- -- ------------ --- ---------- _____________ 9 Chapter I-The Land and its early people ________________________________________________________ 13 Chapter II-Early Explorations ________________________________________________________________________ l 9 Chapter ·III-Whitestone Hill. ____________________ ----------------- ______________________________________ 25 Chapter IV-The Beginnings of Dickey County _____________________________________________ .31 Chapter V-Pioneer Experiences_____________________________________ -------------------------------- ___ 39 Chapter VI-Transportation and Mail Service ________________________________________________ 4 7 Chapter VII-A P. eriod of Development ____________________________________________________________ 5 5 Chapter VIII-The State Normal and Industrial School. _______________________________ 63 Chapter IX-Later Events and Some Political Comment ________________________________ 69 Chapter X-The City of Ellendale ______________________________________________________________________ 77 Chapter XI-The City of Oakes _________________________________________________________________ _________ 97 Chapter XII-Ellendale Township __________________________________________________________________ l 15 Chapter XIII-The Township of Yan .Llleter __________________________________________________ l23 Chapter XIV-Ada Towns hiP------------------ ------------------------------------------------ ·_______ l 29 Chapter XV-Kentner Township ______ -------------------------------------------------------------- 13 7 Chapter XVI-Elden Townsh i P-- -- ---------~--------------------------------------------------------143 Chapter XVII-Elm Towns hiP------------------------------------------------------------------------ 14 7 Chapter XVIII-Albion Township _________________________________________________________________ 15 3 Chapter XIX-Bear Creek Township _______________________________________________________________ 159 Chapter XX-James River Y alley Towns hip ________________________________________________ l63 Chapter XXI-Divide Towns hiP-- __________________________________________________________________ l 67 Chapter XXII-Wright Township __________________________________________________________________ l 75 Chapter XXIII-Clement Township ________________________________________________________________ l 81 Chapter XXIV-Keystone Township ___________________________________________________________ _: __ l 89 Chapter XXV-Yorktown Towns hiP-- ____________________________________________________________ l 99 Chapter XXVI-Maple Township __________________________________________________________________ 205 Chapter XXVII-Porter Towns hiP-- _____________________________________________________________ _215 Chapter XXVIII-/7alley Towns hiP-- ____________________________________________________________ 225 Chapter XXIV-Kent Township ---------------------- ______________________________________________ 2 31 Chapter XXX-Port Emma Towns hiP-- ________________________________________________________ 23 7 Chapter XXXI-The Township of Hudson ______ ____________________________________________ 245 Chapter XXXII-Lovell and Ludden ______________________________________________________________ 25 3 Chapter XXXIII-The Township of Riverdale______________________________________________ 26 I Chapter XXXIV- Hamburg Towns hiP----------------------------------------------------------265 Chapter XXXV-Th.e Township of Whitestone ____ _________________________________________ 269 Chapter XXXVI-Young Towns hiP-- ____________________________________________________________ 2 75 Chapter XXXVII-The Township of Northwest.. __ ______________________________________ 281 Chapter XXXVIII-The Township of Potsdam ____________________________________________ 285 Chapter XXXIX-Lorraine and Forbes ________________________________________________________ __ 28 7 Chapter XL-Albertha Towns hiP--------- ___________________________________________________________ 29 5 Chapter XL I-Grand /7 alley Township ___ . ______________________________________________________ 303 Chapter XLI I-Spring Y alley Towns hiP------------------------------------- ___________________ 309 Chapter XLI I I-German Towns hiP-- ________________ ------------------------------------ _________ _317 Chapter XLIV-Dickey County in the World W ar________________________________________ 321 List of