1942: Catherine Gilfoy recalls bank robberies, life in Rock County
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on June 11, 1942. The story of Mrs. Catherine Gilfoy continues from last week.
Bits By Betty
May 27, 2026The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on May 14, 1942. John Wulf’s story continues from last week. Mr. Wulf was one of 11 children, of which five died while children. He grew to manhood on his father’s farm, and with the exception of three months, all of his life was spent on a farm until he retired to move to Luverne, 15 years ago. He recalls the first field work he did was…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianMay 20, 2026The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on May 14, 1942. “There’s nothing I’d like to do better right now than fire a steam threshing rig for four days,” declares John Wulf, this week’s Diamond Club member, Mr. Wulf had one of the first steam rigs in Davenport, Ia., vicinity before he moved to Rock county, and for 42 years operated his own threshing outfit. Although he has given up…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianMay 13, 2026The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on May 7, 1942. One of Lismore’s best known residents is Mrs. Elizabeth Spitz, 91, this week’s Diamond Club member. For over one-third of a century, she has lived in the village. Prior to that time, she lived on a farm near Wilmont. Mrs. Spitz was born in Alsace-Lorraine province on Nov. 2, 1850, the daughter of Ignatz and Mary Hahlar Metz. Her…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianMay 06, 2026The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on April 30, 1942. Perhaps no other living person in the southeastern part of Rock county is better known for her services as a practical nurse than is Mrs. Ole Hansen, pioneer settler of the Ashcreek vicinity. Having learned some of the important fundamentals of home nursing from her mother, Mrs. Hansen found them very useful in this sparsely…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianApril 29, 2026The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on April 23, 1942. One of Rock county’s older “old timers,” John B. Obele, Beaver Creek, says that he’s repairing more harnesses now than he did during the “horse and buggy” era. The harness season is over now—and although he is 84 years old, he feels that he did as much work during the two months he was on the job this spring as he did when he…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianApril 22, 2026The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on April 16, 1942. Although he has retired from actual farming Matt Ryan, Luverne, this week’s Diamond Club member, still likes to think of himself as a farmer. “I was born and reared on a farm,” Mr. Ryan says, “and farming has been my business all my life.” Mr. Ryan was born in Benton county, Iowa, June 28, 1860, the son of Mr. and Mrs.…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianApril 08, 2026The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on Feb. 9, 1942. Walking, an almost forgotten art, destined to return in months to come because of the rubber shortage and the “freezing” of bicycles, was the surest way of getting someplace when he was a boy, says August Hamann, Luverne, this week’s Diamond Club member. Nowadays, he states the average person rides to work if he has only 11…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianApril 01, 2026The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on April, 2 1942. The story of William Irwin is continued from last week. Residents in the community where Mr. and Mrs. Irwin lived became interested, and in the spring of 1885, an immigrant train came west, with families settling all along the line from Adrian to Valley Springs. Mr. Irwin, who came ahead in February, had rented a farm from L…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianMarch 25, 2026The 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…
March 18, 2026The 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…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianMarch 11, 2026The 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…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianFebruary 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…
By Betty Mann, Bits by BettyFebruary 11, 2026The 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…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianJanuary 28, 2026The 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…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianJanuary 21, 2026The 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.…
By Betty Mann, Rock County HistorianJanuary 14, 2026The 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…
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