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The community of Crary is located in Stevens Township.

Crary, ND Business Section Fire, Feb 1907

Posted October 29th, 2008 by Stu Beitler

 

FIRE AT CRARY.

FULLY HALF THE TOWN WAS BURNED YESTERDAY INCLUDING MANY OF THE LARGEST BUSINESS HOUSES, HOTEL AND OPERA HOUSE.

Representative Miller of Crary received two messages yesterday telling him of the destruction of half his home town by fire. From these messages it appears the fire started at 8 o'clock in the morning in the opera house block and in a trice the entire building was in flames making the only protection the town has against fire, a chemical engine, practically useless. Before the fire burned itself out the following places of business were destroyed, together with their contents:
The Opera House.
S. M. ALLEN'S butcher shop.
LaDUKE'S livery stable.
SOUTH & Bros. general store.
McLEOD & CAVANAUGH'S hardware store.
WALT WALK'S general store.
WILLIAM PITT'S confectionery store.
CAVANAUGH & Co's. drug store.
The City Hotel.
The above covered about two blocks, which were cleaned up slick and completely. Mr. Miller has no idea of the amount of the losses nor of the insurance and says the only good thing about it is the fact that undoubtedly the enterprising people who are the sufferers, will undoubtedly rebuild better than before.

Bismarck Daily Tribune North Dakota 1907-02-14

Early Settlers

HORACE E. STEVENS, residing on section 34, in Stevens township, is one of the substantial men of Ramsey county. He was born in Berlin, Wisconsin, March 8, 1858. At the age of seven years he removed with his parents to Laporte county, Indiana and then removed to Cerro Gordo county, Iowa, and settled on a farm eight miles from Mason City, where he grew to manhood and resided until March, 1882. He then went to Ramsey county, North Dakota, and in June of that year settled on the farm where he now resides. He was in the employ of the Minneapolis & Northern Elevator Company in Minnesota about four years. He now owns a well improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres.
Mr. Stevens was married, in Cerro Gordo county, Iowa, to Miss Mary J. Holden, who was born in Green county, Wisconsin, February 12, 1859. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens are the parents of five children, named as follows: Jessie M., Thomas G., Harvey H., Arthur J. and Roscoe L. Mr. Stevens was a member of the first board of overseers of Stevens township, and chairman of the board for several years. Stevens township was named in his honor. He has also served as assessor and township clerk and school director, and for a shirt time was deputy county treasurer of Ramsey county. [Source: Compendium of History and Biography of North Dakota, Publ. 1900 - Tr. By Debbie Gibson]

William A Crary, for whom the thriving town of Crary was named, is one of the influential citizens of that locality, and has been closely identified with its history and development. He came to North Dakota in the early days, and has aided in extending its financial interests to a marked degree, and has a pleasant estate and comfortable home in Crary, Ramsey county, at which place he conducted farming successfully for several years.
Our subject was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, July 4, 1858, and when he was two years of age removed with his parents to St. Lawrence county, New York, where he was reared to manhood and received a common school education, and also took a course at the state normal at Potsdam, New York. He went to Floyd county, Iowa, in 1879, and worked on a farm there until the spring of 1880, when he went to Ottertail county, Minnesota, and was there engaged in teaching two years. In the spring of 1883 he went to Ramsey county, North Dakota, and located where the town of Crary now stands in Stevens township, where he entered claim to one hundred and sixty acres of land and resided on section 17. He laid out the town site of Crary, in 1875, and has since held his residence there, and for two years operated a meat market in the town. He is well to do and has gained his possessions by honest work and judicious management.

Our subject was married, at Lakota, Nelson county, North Dakota, to Miss Mary M. McDonald, a native of Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Crary are the parents of three children, named as follows Ethel M., Earl H. and James B. Mr. Crary is an active member of the Congregational church with which denomination he has been identified since 1897. He is prominent in public affairs, having held numerous township offices, including supervisor and justice of the peace, and he gives his hearty support to any enterprise which tends to the development of the resources of that region. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. [Source: Compendium of History and Biography of North Dakota, Publ. 1900 - Tr. By Debbie Gibson]

John H Crary, residing in Crary, Ramsey County, is proprietor of an extensive farm in Stevens Township, and until recently was one of the business men of Crary. He was a pioneer settler of that region, and has accumulated a good competence in North Dakota, and is one of the few early settlers of that locality you stayed through the discouragements and hardships which meet the early settlers of a country.
Our subject was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin May 22, 1856. When he was four years of age he removed to St. Lawrence County, New York, where he was reared to manhood and received a common school education. He was employed on his father's farm until 1878, when he went to Floyd County, Iowa, and operated a creamery there four years during the summer seasons. He went to Ramsey County, North Dakota, in the spring of 1883, and at once located a claim in Stevens Township. He spent one year on the farm, and since that time has resided in the town of Crary. He engaged in the hotel business there until the spring of 1900, and while thus engaged entertained many noted persons and proved himself a royal host. His land interests amount to four hundred eighty acres, and this is located in Stevens Township, and furnishes a good income. Mr. Crary has been successful in North Dakota, and is one of the substantial men of Ramsey County. He erected the hotel known as the North Star Hotel, which he still owns and leases to others, and is retired from active pursuits, after serving the people of North Dakota many years as a hotel man.

In his life work Mr. Crary has had an able help-meet in the person of his wife, who bore the maiden name of Mina Montague, and to whom he was married in St. Lawrence county, New York. Mrs. Crary was a native of that county, and she was the first woman to settle in Crary, arriving there in May, 1884. During the years of hardships which followed she proved a loving and helpful companion, enduring patiently whatever came to their lot and guiding and cheering her husband to success. She aided in entertaining many prominent persons while her husband conducted the hotel, and is a lady of rare attainments and culture. Three children have been born to bless the home of Mr. and Mrs. Crary, who are named as follows: Asil W., Margaret and Ulysses E. Mr. Crary is prominent in public affairs of his township, and has served many years as township clerk, and also school clerk, and a member of the township board and school treasurer, and his popularity and success are well merited. [Source: Compendium of History and Biography of North Dakota, Publ. 1900 - Tr. By Debbie Gibson]

E. Milton Crary, editor and publisher of the "Ramsey County Courier" published in Crary, North Dakota, is one of the well know newspaper men of the county. He was born on a farm in St. Lawrence county, New York, September 30, 1868, and was reared in that county and educated in the common schools and at the State Normal at Potsdam, New York. After leaving the normal school he was engaged in teaching in St. Lawrence county two year and then went to Crary, North Dakota in the fall of 1889. He was engaged in teaching in North Dakota from 1889 to 1897. He established the "Ramsey County Courier" in 1894. This is a Republican paper and has a circulation of about five hundred copies each issue. Mr. Cray established the "Williston Herald" at Williston, North Dakota in 1899, which as a circulation of five hundred copies and his is sole owner of both papers and personally edits the former. He engaged in the real estate and farm loans business in 1897 to which he devotes most of his attention and has made a success of his work. Our subject was married in Grand Forks, North Dakota to Miss Frances McDonald, a native of Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Crary are the parents of one son, named Clayton G. Our subject has held numerous local offices in Stevens township and has served as county justice. During the legislative session of 1896 he was appointed by the speaker of the house as clerk of the supply and expenditure committee and filled the position during that session. He is a member of the Knight of Pythias, Knights of the Maccabees and Modern Woodmen of America. (Compendium of History and Biography of North Dakota)

Peder Paulson Dahl arrived in the United States in 1882. He and his family moved from Dalton in Otter Tail County Minnesota to Crary in 1883. He acquired two tracks of land in Ramsey County in 1889.

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