President Grover Cleveland was the only President to serve two, non-consecutive terms in office – 1885 to 1889 and 1893 to 1897. President Cleveland was the leader of the pro-business “Bourbon Democrats” who opposed high tariffs, Free Silver, inflation, imperialism, and subsidies to business, farmers or veterans. With that said, poet, Aaron L. Sleyster, took pen to hand and … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past Medical men and midwives made house calls in early Houston County
In 1897, Houston-based physician Dr. Lewis K. Onsgard and two companions perilously oared through a swift, unpredictable current to reach a patient who was accessible only by boat after floodwaters washed out a bridge. In Houston County and southeast Minnesota, both providing and receiving medical care in the 1800s were as challenging as most other aspects of pioneer … [Read more...]
Real Bites
Village Square of Fountain Some of you may have heard that the Village Square of Fountain in Fountain, Minn., recently won the Fillmore County Journal 2020 Reader’s Choice Award for Best of the Best in the “Pizza” category. Year after year, that particular award bounces back and forth between the Village Square of Fountain, The Pizza Place in Spring Valley, Minn., or The … [Read more...]
A Goodly Heritage
Here on the farm, business has been very steady as this season comes to a close. The garden is the business to which I refer. It has been a challenge, too, since there has been a shortage of canning lids. Many stores tell me that they have not been able to get lids all year. Regardless, I kept busy. My supply of well-loved dill pickles was replenished. Tomatoes have been … [Read more...]
Living to serve
How do you find a few ducks that weigh a single pound full grown? Well, I didn’t know the answer to that until I asked a friendly neighbor for help. I had been raising poultry for a few years, and I wanted to raise call ducks – a breed of ducks that weighs 16 ounces full-grown. Darrell Ray, our neighbor, gave me the contact information for a man named Chuck Rector, who raised … [Read more...]
The contents had burned but the structure was unharmed
I remember it being the year after all the needles had fallen off the tree three days before Christmas. I was at a family reunion smaller than Rhode Island. They were talking of past glitter and petty schemes. They were my family’s elders. I’d guess their average age had been about 104 years. Judging by their wild and weedy eyebrows, none of them were narcissists. I enjoyed … [Read more...]
Historic memories of Fillmore County A lovely Methodist Church once stood on a hill in Preston, but where?
“Farewell To The Old Church” by Aaron L. Sleyster, 1893 When we think of the church on the corner, With a spire that points to the sky, And a bell that will send forth its music, With peals through the clear Sabbath sky,— Our hearts are rebounding with gladness; And we peer in the future, and see A modern and beautiful structure, That is—or so shortly … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past Winnebago removal “the most spectacular sight ever witnessed in this area”
Second of a two-part series For tribal elders, this migration was unpleasant but nothing new. More than a century later, local historian Percival Narveson termed “this uneasy procession” to be “the most colorful and spectacular sight ever witnessed” in what became western Houston County. In the summer of 1848, about 2,500 Winnebago (Ho-Chunk) Indians, 90 soldiers, about … [Read more...]
The power of an internship
It’s a common story: schools close down, office employees work from home, and internships are canceled. Last spring, most plans went out the window. As a college student, I was preparing to intern either at an orphanage in Mexico or with a policy group in Washington D.C. The last thing that I expected to spend my summer doing was live in a trailer and work on a potato farm in … [Read more...]
Matt and Brenda Stier: Sharing life — and the gift of music — together
Steve and Eydie. Sonny and Cher. Johnny and June. Let’s add John and Yoko, too. Who are these people and what do they have in common? Depending on your birthday and generation, you recognize them as married couples who became well-known for singing together. If you’re from Spring Valley, Harmony, Lanesboro, Preston, St. Charles, or Chatfield, anywhere in southeast Minnesota, … [Read more...]