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Aldrich Family |
Photo: Ben & Maggie Aldrich & children
Page 39 - 41
ALDRICH FAMILY
OF
WRIGHTSTOWN AND
John H. Aldrich filed on a homestead in 1874 in an area that was to
become known as
Robert compiled a fairly comprehensive history of the family of which he is a member. It tends to indicate that the church in Wrightstown was not only the religious center but also the civic center of all activities in that little community.
John H. Aldrich was born in 1830 at
John picked his land for homesteading and in true pioneer fashion immediately erected a set of log buildings by cutting logs from the surrounding woods. For shingles they used birchbark, which the boys had collected and flattened under stones. One shelter was for livestock and the other their home. Upon arriving here there were only three or four families living in this area, so that the territory was almost completely virgin, as these families had been here less than a year. John fixed a room in the front of their house to sell groceries, and later it was also used as a combination store and Post Office, which was to be part of their income. Mr. Aldrich immediately homesteaded eighty acres and later purchased another eighty acres on which to farm.
Shortly after the family had arrived a rider rode up in haste, warning them that the Dakota Indians were killing and scalping the settlers and burning their places to the ground only three miles west. Angenette hurriedly prepared the boys and John collected some food and blankets, and they fled to the swamp and stayed there for three days. The Indians apparently also fled as that was the last of this kind of trouble. One interesting story from this incident has been passed down by the family. Two boys from one of the families which had been massacred, were away from home visiting relatives at the time, so were spared. One of the boys was extremely bitter and as years went by, Indians would vanish now and then, and it was noted that this boy kept adding notches to his rifle, and it was common knowledge that he avenged his family�s killings in his own way.
From the time that the Aldrich's arrived there until 1900 there was an influx of settlers. In a letter dated May 6, 1879, written by John to his two sons Bert and Plyn, who were working at Lake Park, Minnesota, he stated: �There are lots of land lookers here now, there were eight here this morning, the stage has just come, good bye�. On June 21, 1875 a Post Office was set up in the Aldrich Store, and John was appointed Postmaster. At this same time a stage line was set up to haul mail and freight on Mondays and Thursdays of each week between Parkers Prairie and Wadena, and Wrightstown was to be the halfway station to freshen the horses and exchange if necessary.
On January 2, 1877 John and a group of neighbors met in the Aldrich home and signed a petition to form a township, and it was to be called Wrightstown; evidently this petition was rejected, as it was later on in April that the township was officially called Woodside, and officers were elected. The village, however, was called Wrightstown after one of the Wrights who aided greatly with the small pox epidemic. He had been a medic during the war and was familiar with the disease and was credited with saving lives here at this time.
John had a well drilled on the homestead for the purpose of watering livestock and their own use and for the community use also. Due to very few wells in the neighborhood, many neighbors came to get their daily supply, and the stage drivers used it for watering their teams. This well became known as the community well, and it had a historical significance. John�s son, Herbert, told us that when he was a boy, he would spend most of his free time at the well listening to the neighbors, as they would gather while after water and tell yarns, war stories, and play pranks on one another. Bert said he enjoyed the war stories told by Edgar Perkins the most. Edgar later became Bert�s father-in-law.
During all of this building, breaking and organizing, three children were
born to the Aldrich�s. Cora was born September 24, 1875, but lived only about
six months. Clara was born August 25, 1877, and Guy was born February 25, 1879.
Little Guy died September 1 of that year, and four days following his death,
John Aldrich, our subject, died suddenly with pneumonia. They were both buried
north of the house, and a spruce was planted at the head of the grave a lilac at
the foot. The spruce and lilac are still growing today, although the bodies were
later moved to the Wrightstown cemetery, after it had been organized and
plotted. All of this sadness was quite a shock to the family as well as a
financial burden. They had lost a small child while at
The Aldrich boys began to marry and leave home. Edgar married Ella Stone and moved into Bertha, where he started a mercantile business, and later sold out, moved to the town of Aldrich and went into partnership with Charlie Walker in a mercantile business, and remained here until his death.
Plyn married Florence Turner and purchased the farm now owned by Roy Koechel. He later traded his farm for a hotel in Battle Lake, Minnesota and was one of the first to buy shares and organize the first bank there.
Glen married Ida May Turner and went to Almora and started a mercantile business one year before the railroad came through that town. He and his brother Plyn later sold out and went to Brookville, Florida, where they remained until death.
Clara married Alfred Naylor and moved into Bertha where they purchased Edgar�s mercantile business.
Herbert, our next subject, stayed permanently at Wrightstown. I will mention here some of the experiences that he had in his earlier youth. At fourteen years of age he was expected to keep the table in game meat. Henry Goodale, a neighbor who was an expert shot, taught him to be a good hunter. He said wolves were at time a threat to livestock and persons out alone. He barely escaped death on two occasions with wolf packs while working in the woods. He and Dan Cameron usually cut wood together. Dan later on became his brother-in-law. Bert mentioned that he and his brothers would walk fourteen or fifteen miles to Parkers Prairie and back for flour and groceries in the winter when the snow as too deep for the horses. They made snow shoes of a fashion to tread the snow.
Herbert purchased land adjoining John�s and started farming this land and also the land of his mother�s He worked in the woods in the winters. During this time he bought shares in a threshing machine. Herbert married Jennie Cameron in 1883, although this marriage was short in duration as Jennie died four years later, leaving one daughter, Nellie, who was raised alternately by the Cameron�s and Angenette.
Herbert is to be the next generation to step into his father�s shoes at Wrightstown. He purchased the Wrightstown store from Mr. Newel, who had owned it about eleven years. The value of the stock at purchase was $275.00. Bert, as he was always called, sold some of his property and enlarged the store and increased the volume of merchandise, so that in the year of 1914 he grossed $23,000 and had four clerks hired.
Bert continued his interest in farming; he purchased the land his mother owned and, throughout his life, purchased other farms and land, so at one time he owned 760 acres of farmland.
In 1897 a double wedding took place, as Herbert S. Aldrich married Margaret Jane Perkins, and Clara Aldrich married Edgar Naylor. They were the first to be married in the new United Brethren Church by Rev. Vine. Margaret was the daughter of Edgar and Cynthia Perkins, early settlers, who farmed and operated a saw mill east of Wrightstown. To the marriage of Herbert and Margaret, seven children were born: Hazel, Myrtle, Paul, Kenneth, Renold, Laverne, and Stanley. In addition to their own children, they helped raise two of Nellie�s (Bert�s first child) children, Ardith and Arvid. Arvid stayed with the Aldrich�s and worked for his grandfather for years, until he himself purchased the Woodside store.
While Bert was in business in the store, there were many little interesting incidents which are spoken of as years have passed on. In those early days horses were the mode of travel, and cars were coming but very scarce, so that the neighbors stayed pretty close to home. They created their own entertainment, and this little settlement became headquarters for news and get-togethers; many good times where had here. In the evenings the store would be open, and many games of checkers and yarns told around the long heating stove, which was about cordwood length. One evening an old man, nearly blind, and sitting by the stove, spit tobacco juice all evening on the Aldrich�s little white dog lying curled up asleep, as he thought the dog was a spittoon.
When radios first came into the area, they put one in the store, and neighbors would walk quite a distance to listen to Amos and Andy on the radio. One time Bert was swamped with customers and a little lady of much impatience, who couldn�t wait for him to get her groceries, commenced to wait on herself, which wasn�t done in those days. She could not reach the prunes, so climbed up on a flour barrel; the lid flipped and she went right down into the flour. Everyone in the store laughed to tears seeing this white sputtering woman come out of the barrel. Flour was too precious to throw out, so Bert auctioned it to the highest bidder. The man who bought it said , �My wife and seven hungry children won�t know the difference and I�m not fussy.�
Quite frequently someone�s team of horses would run away and come tearing through the village, tearing harnesses and wagons apart before they could be caught. Each summer a band or two of gypsies would stop at the store and would cause much stir. The message would soon spread, and the Aldrich ladies and anyone else around would hurry to the store to help watch them, so they wouldn�t pick up merchandise.
Bert was always known as a horse trader, and every summer traders would
come here for a few days to trade horses. They would come by covered wagon, with
pots and pans, etc, tied to the sides and horses tied behind, with other horses
being driven. At one time Bert had thirty horses in the farm lot.
One
cold night when the temperature was 30 degrees below zero in 932, the old store,
with all the old memories, burned to the ground. It seemed that in those days
most any item needed could bed found here including ladies� hats, dresses, eye
glasses, bolt goods. Even a traveling library was kept.
By this time, Bert had worked Paul and Kenneth into the store business; the boys each were given a third share in the store. To his other children he gave eighty acre farms. After the fire, the three men made a decision to rebuild a new building and continue with the store business. A cream hauling route was started from the store to Bertha, as a creamery had been built there., The first truck they purchased for this job was a Maxwell with solid rubber tires. It couldn�t be driven very fast, as roads were very rough and usually had holes everywhere to dodge. This was the first truck in the area. As far as they knew, there was only one truck in Wadena at the time, owned by Tony Lawrence.
Herbert kept active with his various businesses up until a year prior to his death; he had suffered a heart attack and was bedridden until his death in 1938.
Looking back on Bert�s life, most agreed that he was a natural leader and organizer among the people in the church and community, and was widely respected for his fair dealings throughout his life. He seemed to have the ability to make people feel at ease with his humor and slowness to anger; however, he raised his children with strict discipline. Bert was very conservative as well as a generous man; he saw needs of others less fortunate and responded. During the depression years, he kept many families in food, knowing very well he would never be paid in money.
Bert was an officer for the Minnesota Conference of the United Brethren Church; he was a township treasurer, and on the school board for many years. His 76 years can be summed up as very eventful, active and satisfying for a man with such a limited education. He attended only four years of school and not more than three months in any year.
Margaret was a great aid to her husband. She was a hard worker, and at the same time, enjoyed life and was slow to anger. She, too, worked some in the store and at the one time, designed ladies� hats for sale there. She was a faithful church leader, being very active in the Sunday School and Ladies� Aid. She is now residing in the Rest Home at Bertha and is ninety-four years of age.
Herbert and Margaret�s children generally inherited leadership qualities and business interests of their parents and grandparents. Hazel spent most of her working years with the marine Insurance Company, Myrtle worked with a real estate firm until her death in an auto accident in 1953. Kenneth has worked continually with the Guardian Life Insurance, and for many years, was general manager of the Indianapolis branch. Renold was gone into the mercantile business at Hewitt. Laverne was in the mercantile business for many years at Rose City. Stanley was a salesman with the Peavy Paper Company, until he went into service. He was killed in France in the second World War while a 1st Lt. In the United States Army.
Paul, our next subject, married Marie Triplet in 1924 and stayed with the store business, eventually buying out the shares of his mother and brother, Kenneth.
As time went on the roads and transportation improved, the store business declined. Paul had taken a school course in mechanics in Kansas City, and as a result, became interested in trucking business. Paul purchased a new Willys truck in about the year 1932 and commenced hauling livestock to South St. Paul, to return with a load of freight to this area. This business increased to the point that Paul had very little time to spend with the store, so he sold it to Donald Franklin, who had been working for him. The store is still operating and is now owned by William Johnston. 1970 was the 96th year that the store has been operating at Wrightstown; the Aldriches owning the store business for 67 of them.
After about thirty-six years of trucking, Paul sold his trucking business in 1967. This type of trucking is hard work and very taxing when roads are icy, and rural roads and farm yards were often full of snow. The average trucking life of a man is figured as twenty years. Paul and Marie were presently distributing and selling popcorn. They sell mainly to wholesale houses, schools, and theaters. They make carmel corn and seasoned popped corn which is packaged in addition to the raw corn.
Paul, like his father, had been very active in Church and has been a school board member for about 45 years. Marie had been very active in the Ladies� Aid and Sunday School of our church at Wrightstown. Paul and Marie have two sons, Robert and Norman. Norman took up electronics and is presently employed with General Electric of Phoenix, Arizona. Robert worked with my father until 1953, when he was appointed Postmaster at Hewitt. He married Genevieve Kassube, daughter of Gustav and Mabel Kassube, who farmed east of Wrightstown.
Robert has been active in the church and was treasurer of the township for several years. Genevieve, better known as Gen., attended college at Winona and has taught school both at Henning and Bertha. She has been very active in Sunday school work and is now serving a Regional Office with the State Women�s Missionary Society of our United Methodist Church.
Robert and Genevieve have made their home at Wrightstown and have purchased about 90 acres of land, part of it being the homestead of John H. and Angenette Aldrich. Six children were born to this family: Julie, Jeanne, Douglas, Bryan, Jill and Todd, thus making the fifth generation of Aldriches to live on the Old Homestead at Wrightstown. - By Robert L. Aldrich
EAST OTTER TAIL COUNTY 1977 VOL.
OTTER TAIL COUNTY, MINNESOTA
Page 41
Photo: John & Almedia Aldrich & Family
JOHN ALDRICH FAMILY
John Aldrich was born January 18, 1949. He was married to Amelia Young who was born August 11, 1855. They moved to Richville in 1913, from a farm which is now known as the town of Almora.
John Aldrich was in the Civil War. He was a member of the Mounted Cavalry and was with General Sherman when he made his famous march. Once when he was to take a message from one general to another, he was fleeing from the southern soldiers when his horse got tired and he knew he could not complete the journey without a fresh horse. So, spotting a young pony in a pasture, he quickly exchanged horses and completed his mission.
When John and Amelia moved to Richville, John was 64 years old, so he was retired. They lived in the house that is now known as the William Hughes home.
John and Amelia had five sons and three daughters. His daughters were: Almeda Aldrich Babcock, born December 11, 1879. Amanda Aldrich Chesbrough, born June 19, 1873. Edith Aldrich Shaw, born January 22, 1883.
The five sons were: Jessie Aldrich who died as an infant. Peter Aldrich, born May 17, 1877. John Aldrich, born August 23, 1884. Guy Aldrich, born September 22, 1890. Grover Aldrich, born August 18, 1892. Grover was in the 118th Infantry and was killed in France in 1918.
Amelia Aldrich died on October 11, 1918. John Aldrich died in 1926. The last three are buried in Richville cemetery.