There were always men looking for work. Growing up in Houston County during the Great Depression of the late 1920s and 1930s, Anita (Hartman) Palmquist said there was more work on the Hartman farm than the family could handle. They often hired men, who were either bachelors, widowers or younger unmarried men. Regardless of their job skills, they were glad to work for food and … [Read more...]

An orange was a precious Christmas gift, a century ago, for children in southeast Minnesota. In general, however, fruit could be consumed during the winter only if it had been canned after summer or autumn harvests. The transition from canned fruit to fresh fruit was highly anticipated each summer. “There were wild strawberries that were the sweetest and most succulent that I … [Read more...]

Part two During territorial days and the early years of Minnesota statehood, minor legal disputes were most often settled in townships by a justice of the peace, an appointed or elected magistrate. Some handwritten records from the 1860s and 1870s survive from the court of Justice James Kelly in Yucatan Township, Houston County. There was one case of an indelicate nature, but … [Read more...]

In 1887, Judge Flandrau appeared before the Ramsey County, Minn., bar, where he delivered a lecture on the practice of law in the early days after statehood in 1858. “To give the younger members of the bar some idea on the difficulties attending the practice in early days, you must allow me to relate a few instances connected with my own experience. Mr. Brisbin called me down … [Read more...]