Fall, 2015 Page 1

North Chisago Historian

North Chisago Historical Society

Chisago County, Minnesota

It’s another issue. Hooray!! What has happened

since the last issue.

The museum has an alarm system! An NCHS mem-

ber couple contracted to have, with the Board’s ap-

proval, a security system installed in the museum

and they paid for the installation and the monthly

charges for one year. Thanks to our members that

donate to the society.

Remember, we are a 501c3 group so get a tax re-

ceipt for any $$ donations you make.

Sign on the side of the museum seen from 4th Street, do-

nated by North Metro Signs, Harris.

Back To The 50s Tea Party

Tuesday, October 27, 2015, 12 noon

Yes, it is another Tea Party, a fun Tea, at the Muse-

um on Tuesday, October 27. The theme is Back to

the 50s. Anyone have their 50s clothing in the

closet? A prize will be awarded to the best 50s out-

fit. Swoon to the music of Elvis in person (Eddie

Pangerl).

Cost is $20.00 with a 50s menu, cheap for what is

planned. Enjoy the tasty treats, the teas, the service

and the fun of the 50s. Come on over!

Reserve your spot by contacting Marian Eklund at

320 396-2676 or marian.eklund@gmail.com or Bev

Heinrich at 320 358-4525. Space is limited.

Fall, 2015 Page 2

Old Rural Schools

The years of the rural school were recalled at a joint

meeting of two Chisago County rural schools locat-

ed near Rush Point, Minnesota. They were District

24 aka Nessel or Deming, and District 26 aka as

Goebel School. The former students and interested

family gathered at the Nessel Town Hall on Satur-

day, September 26, for a noon potluck.

Both schools were officially organized in

1870. District 26 pupils met in homes until a log

cabin one-room structure was built near Lake 30

(Stauffer's Lake); and later moved to the Fred Goe-

bel farm located about a mile north of Rush

Point. In 1894, more than 50 students were enrolled

with one teacher, Herman Berg. A larger structure

was built on the same site in 1889; and in 1904 an

additional room was added. In 1898, with Esther E.

Jackson as teacher, there were 70 students en-

rolled. The school board consisted of John Dahl, M.

Challeen and Fred Goebel. The school remained

open until 1945 when the last of the students were

transported to Braham, MN. Letters to a student in

the hospital tell of there being 11 students in the

"big" room and 22 in the "little" room in 1935. Dis-

trict 24 closed in 1953; and those students were

transported to Rush City, MN

From the "History of the Benson Family in Rush

Point" written by Lyndon Benson, Lowell Benson

read about how the children would place their wet

mittens on the metal shield surrounding the big stove

to dry them until they would set off a smell; and they

better be removed before they were

scorched. Wood supplied the heat in these large

stoves. The wood was usually delivered by Charlie

Eklund; and then the students would line up and pass

the split wood chunks into the woodshed for stack-

ing. Lyndon also spoke of the teachers: Merle

Mattson, Louraine Olson, Doris Johnson, Hilve

Finkelson and Nancy Bjorklund.

Wallace Eklund, a former student, told about his

connection with Louraine Olson in her later years of

life. Louraine was a 1933 graduate of Rush City

One-Room Schools

On August 4 the NCHS presented a program on

One-Room Schools where youth actually attend a

one-room school for 1 or 2 weeks using the curric-

ulum of the day. Teachers and students from three

counties discussed their activities at these schools.

Below Marian Eklund reports on a recent meeting

of former students and their families.

President’s Message

Do you like to meet and greet people? If so, the

NCHS could use some more volunteers to be at the

Museum when it is open, which is 9am– 4pm on

Saturdays (split shifts). The building will be opened

up and closed for you. The duties are to ask visitors

to sign the guest book, hand out brochures, sell

books and answer questions. If you are interested,

call our secretary, Marian, at 320 396-2676. The

museum is also open from 1-4pm on Wednesdays,

which is the time for discussion of local history and

to relate what you know about a certain subject. If

others are also present, an interesting discussion can

occur.

Come and see our new displays. We have an 1890’s

bedroom almost completed; It needs a water pitcher

and bowl set. We also have a farm and trap display

in the process of completion. And a display of Dr.

Holme’s medical instruments.

We thank Dennis Frandsen of Plastech Corporation

for printing and mailing our newsletters.

Written by Carl Heinrich

Goebel School, District 26

Fall, 2015 Page 3

The school children in the center of the picture with

Esther Howard are: Phylis Beaver, Jimmy Norris, Her-

ta Norenberg, the Lomire Twins and Lanney Noyes.

The children on each end were not her students.

Error in the last issue: Esther Howard mentioned a

picture with her children. The picture is below. Her

school was District 60. She paid $12 for room and

board to Mr. and Mrs. Sharp.

North Chisago County Trivia

Where was the “hub of the potato belt”?

What was North Branch named after?

Where was Rush City originally located?

What was the original name for Rush City?

See last page for answers.

High School. She took a year of "normal" training;

and then was hired as a teacher at District 26; and in

1936 a contract shows that she was paid $60 a

month. This contract was signed by Walter

Hochmuth, chairman, John Johnson, treasurer, and

Henry Halverson, clerk.

Students from District 24, related how their teacher,

Miss Alice Stone, was a kind and patient teach-

er. Yvonne Lind recalled how she would write a

Christmas play; and they would present it at the

Nessel Town Hall. Miss Stone would transport the

students to the hall for practice; and the hall would

be filled with parents and family the night of the

presentation. Each student had a piece to learn and

a part in the play. Another student recalled that

when they moved to Rush City that Miss Stone was

again her teacher there. Others related how she was

a much loved teacher.

The great granddaughter of Fred Goebel, Lois Lund

Eaves, spoke of how her mother, Doris Goebel

Lund, and her siblings did the janitorial work at the

school. They would stay after school to do some of

the cleaning and haul in the firewood; and would

return early in the morning to get the fire going so it

would be warm when the teacher arrived.

At Dist. 24 school, Wendell Fridstrom fired the

stove during the middle '40's at $15 a month. He

would either walk the 1 1/2 miles from home or ride

his scooter. Also from Dist. 24 was told the story of

one of the Mell boys who had been naughty in

school; and the teacher sent him home. When he

Old Rural Schools (Continued) got home, his Dad sent him back to school. Finding

him back at school, the teacher said "I thought I sent

you home." He replied, "You did, but Dad sent me

back." The teacher sent him back home again; and

the story goes that he spent most of the day walking

back and forth.

And, so the recollections went on; and a good time

was had by all who gathered (about 40) to recall

those good old days at their rural school.

Written by Marian Eklund

District 24 Town of Nessel school

Fall, 2015 Page 4

Museum Building Update

We need some repairs on the building so we have

asked a painting company to repair the exterior stuc-

co.

We need better interior lighting, some window im-

provements and a new or repaired front door awning.

To help accomplish this, a Rush City official men-

tioned submitting for a Rush City SCDP Downtown

Revitalization Program loan/grant for the needed im-

provements.

Estimates were obtained so a submission was made

on September 14. This is just the proposal stage and

this winter the justification and work quotes are sub-

mitted for approval. It will be May before we really

know anything.

If part or all are approved, it will be a good situation

for the museum and the NCHS.

How do you hear about our monthly meetings?

In a survey taken at a recent meeting, the attendees

mentioned that most read about the meetings in the

Scotsman, the Post Review, the County Star, the

mailed quarterly membership card or by word of

mouth. Other lesser read notices were by posters,

church bulletin board, or Chamber of Commerce

email.

Monthly Meetings

The October 6 meeting at Rushseba Hall is about the

Main Street Businesses in the 30’s—50s. The No-

vember 3 meeting will be a continuation on that

theme with more businesses featured through the

eyes of the business’ family and kids.

The December 1 meeting will be our annual ethnic

dinner and meeting also at Rushseba Town Hall

north of Rush City. Bring your favorite dish to pass.

We are sorry to hear that Marvel Anderson is moving

to the cities; she will be closer to family there. She

has led the effort to put together our monthly pro-

grams for over two years and we will miss her.

Good luck to you, Marvel.

So for 2016, if any of you have program ideas, please

let us know.

Some Items Donated to the Museum

Recently we received a library table, two bookcases,

and two filing cabinets for the library and research

room.

We are about to get two upright showcases for our

artifact.

We continue to have people walk into the museum

and donate items. Recently, a couple donated their

1950s era baby bed.

We also continue to receive family history or geneal-

ogy booklets which are currently placed into our li-

brary.

A comfortable rocking chair is now in the library.

This picture is

Marvel Ander-

son with her

mother’s table

she donated to

the library. —>

Fall, 2015 Page 5

Museum Exhibits Update

Another room has just been put together as a 1890s-

era bedroom. It has a oak bed with wire springs and

3 layers of bedding. Other furniture was placed in

the room also. See picture below.

Dues

Yes, this is a bad word; but this helps keep the organ-

ization going. If you did not pay your $15-20 around

June or since then, please send them in. If you have,

thanks a bunch.

The museum costs around $400 per month to oper-

ate, primarily utilities. So your dues or donation re-

ally helps. We try to be tight in our expenditures.

Send any $$$ to NCHS, PO Box 556, Rush City,

MN 55069. This address is the city hall and we pick

up the mail there. The Treasurer will send a tax re-

ceipt for any donation.

Rush City MusicFest

The NCHS had a tent booth at the Rush City Mu-

sicFest which was sponsored by the Rush City Cham-

ber of Commerce. We were present all Saturday af-

ternoon.

Several other vendors were present and around us but

the event had few attendees in the afternoon. Pic-

tured above are Larry Hendrick and Jan Lind holding

a couple of the publications for sale, a plat book of

Chisago County and a History of Rush City. Not

present as this time are Melanie Hedberg and Marlin

Gregerson.

The item below was brought into the museum. What

is it? It is mounted on a stump of a tree.

Remember the Tea Party.

See page 1 for details.

Fall, 2015 Page 6

Items considered needed

Video projector to project DVDs related to monthly

programs or make Powerpoint presentations as need-

ed.

Extra mannequins or dress forms are needed to dis-

play our uniforms and dresses.

Trivia Answers

1) North Branch

2) The North Branch of the Sunrise River.

3) At Government Road and Blueberry Trail

4) Rushseba

Board of Directors:

Carl Heinrich, Pres, Rushseba

320 358-4525

Larry Hendrick, VP, Rock Creek

320 591-0057

Marian Eklund, Sec., Stanchfield

320 396-2676

Ronnie Hunt, North Branch

651 674-7521

Marlin Gregerson, Rush City

320 358-4556

LaVonne Foster, North Branch

Non-Board – Pat Moulton, Treas, Rush City

320 358-3534

We have openings for 1-2 new Board members.

Librarians - Marian Eklund and Bev Heinrich

Museum Address:

350 South Eliot Avenue, Rush City

Mailing address:

North Chisago Historical Society

PO Box 556

Rush City, MN 55069

Current Museum Email Address:

nchsrc@outlook.com

Issue Editor – Larry Hendrick, redwing-

er04@earthlink.net

NCHS is a member of the Rush City and North

Branch Chambers of Commerce.

Locations for Nessel and Goebel schools.

Nessel #24 school - West of Rush City on County 7

at the “T” intersection of County 8. A driveway

north of the “T” is the location; there is no marker

for the school. Coordinates are:

N45o39’32.0”; W093 03’48.2”

Goebel #26 school - Just north of Rush Point, on

Arbor Avenue beside the driveway with the mailbox

labeled as Olson. Coordinates are:

N45o40’24.3”; W093o06’39.2”