Bits By Betty

1942: William Irwin recalls life from Illinois to Minnesota
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
March 25, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on April, 2 1942. When they talk about Abraham Lincoln, the rail splitter, they talk the language of William D. Irwin, Luverne, this week’s member of the Diamond Club. For it was splitting rails in Illinois, Lincoln’s home state, that Mr. Irwin got his start in life when he was about 15 years old. Although he was young in years, he was able to…
1942: Mrs. Mina Ferdinanda Smith turns 81, recalls life
March 18, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on March 26, 1942. Longevity is inherited. That is the opinion of Mrs. Mina Ferdinanda Smith, of this city, the Star’s Diamond Club member of this week. Mrs. Smith, who lives with her daughter, Mrs. Helen Soutar, observed her 81st birthday on March 17. Her father, a Civil War veteran, died at the age of 91; her mother lived to be 88, and she…
1942: Rollags recall journey to Rock County
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
March 11, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on March 19, 1942. The Rollag story continues from last week. Their faith in Rock county farm land then began to bear fruit. Crops and prices became better, and each year, they managed to improve their farms and “salt” away just a little for future use. Winters were hard, but in those days, the settlers planned in advance for them and managed…
In 1942 Bertha Martin left Norway at age 4
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
February 18, 2026
(continued from Feb. 12) The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on March. 5, 1942. Mrs. Bertha Martin’s story continues from last week. The pioneer settlers were hardened to all types of conditions and were not easily frightened. Mrs. Martin, however, remembers one scare which she and her mother experienced that proved to be as frightening as perhaps all of her other life…
Bits by Betty
By Betty Mann, Bits by Betty
February 11, 2026
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on March 5, 1942. You, the reader of the Diamond Club, no doubt can recall many interesting experiences during your childhood. Perhaps you can recall occurrences while you were attending school. Maybe you remember a few experiences you had before you started school. Incidents most vivid in your memory, however, are no doubt the ones that played…
1942: John Rustad shares early Norwegian history, interest in all things sports
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
January 28, 2026
The following article is part of the Diamond Club Member group and it appeared in The Rock County Herald on Feb. 19, 1942. Having watched the state of Minnesota grow from a population of just a few thousands to its present size, John M. Rustad, Luverne, could tell you quite a bit about changes that have taken place during his lifetime. Although Rustad was born about seven miles from Oslo, Norway…
1942: Gibson recalls traveling by stage coach
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
January 21, 2026
The following article is part of the Diamond Club Member group and it appeared in The Rock County Herald on Feb. 12, 1942. “A stage coach to most people in this day and age is a mode of conveyance which they have seen depicted in motion pictures of the days of the wild west. To Mrs. Elgenie V. Gibson, Beaver Creek, however, it is something real, for she rode in one when she was five years old.…
1942: Threshing became Hocking's first job in county
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
January 14, 2026
The following article is part of the Diamond Club Member group and it appeared in The Rock County Herald on Feb. 5, 1942. “It was a long time ago that I first visited Luverne,” recalls William E. Hocking, of this city, this week’s Diamond Club member. “As a matter of fact, you’d never know it was the same place. The first thing about Luverne that I remember was eating dinner in a hotel which…
1942: Cummings recalls opportunities in Middle West
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
January 07, 2026
The following article is part of the Diamond Club Member group and it appeared in The Rock County Herald on Jan. 29, 1942. “I went to school when hickory sticks were always kept in readiness,” recalls Mrs. Emma Cummings, Beaver Creek, this week’s member of the Diamond Club. Mrs. Cummings attended a country school in Pennsylvania, her native state. School in those days were designed as a means of…
1942: Kiebach relieved to reach New York harbor
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
December 30, 2025
The following article is part of the Diamond Club Member group and it appeared in The Rock County Herald on Jan. 22, 1942. The fear of contracting one of the most dreaded of diseases, human cholera, was one of the many experiences in the life of Ernest Kiebach, Sr., of this city. The fear was even greater under the circumstances, than it would have been under ordinary conditions, for he,…
1942: Anna Remme came to US at 22 years old
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
December 23, 2025
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on Jan. 15, 1942. Although old man winter had his controls turned on “cold” the first ten days of the new year, his grip on the middle west today is not what it was in the latter 1870s when Mrs. C.N. Remme, of this city, first came to Rock county. The temperatures may drop as low now, perhaps, but the average person is better equipped to combat…
1942: Charley Ehlers' Diamond Club story continues
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
December 17, 2025
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on Jan. 1, 1942. Charley Ehlers story continues farming as a boy. Soil conservation, a common byword of modern day farming was practiced in that country when he was a boy, he recalls. He remembers well how land was planted to clover, and later plowed to make it more fertile. He attended the state school, at which religion was taught as one of…
1942: Diamond Club member Charley Ehlers' green thumb fully on display
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
December 09, 2025
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on Jan. 1, 1942. “I’m having some of the fun now that I didn’t have time for when I was a youngster,” declares Charley Ehlers, Luverne, who is this week’s Diamond Club Member. Charley, who reached his 75th birthday in November says that the fact that one has passed the three-quarter century mark does not mean that he is getting old unless he…
1941: Thompson is Lismore's oldest living settler
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
December 03, 2025
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on Dec. 18, 1941. The terrorizing crash of a frail sailing craft against an iceberg in the cold North Atlantic, and the sight of a broad, treeless, unsettled prairie from the open end of an overturned wagon box which served as a home are but two of the many memories in the mind of Mrs. Bertha Thompson, 82, Lismore’s oldest living settler. Mrs.…
McKay is Diamond Club feature from 1800s history
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
November 25, 2025
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on Dec. 11, 1941. A 91-year-old “youngster” who can walk 10 blocks down town and back faster than many people 50 years younger, is this week’s member of the Star’s Diamond Club. He is David Wood McKay, better known as “Dave” among his many acquaintances in Luverne and surrounding community. Born in Scotland on August 15, 1850, and not coming to…
1941: Evert, Eibertje Fiske came from the Netherlands
By Betty Mann, Rock County Historian
November 19, 2025
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on Dec. 4, 1941. Despite the fact that they are 82 and 76 years of age, respectively, Mr. and Mrs. Evert Fikse, Steen, this week’s Diamond Club members, are literally as active as youngsters and enjoy themselves just as much. It’s not at all unusual to see just the two of them get into the family car and drive to the river or a nearby lake for a…