A New Bank for Clontarf!

John Conroy submitted this clipping from the Hancock Recorder…

The new building was scheduled to be built “as soon as the weather permitted” in the Spring of 1912. The bank was Mystery Photo #3 back in July of 2010. Take a look at the post and the comments to learn more about the bank.

Bank - Clontarf, MN

Recently Gretchen, who lived in the bank building as a child, told us about when the nearby elevator burned down, the building grew so hot they were actually able to fry an egg on the floor! I would love to hear any other memories you have of living in the old bank, Gretchen…please feel free to leave another comment!

My last post Remembering Julia was very popular and that got me thinking. Wouldn’t it be great to feature residents of Clontarf, to remember them on their birthday, wedding, or the day they died? The problem is, I don’t know much about the personalities who have called Clontarf home (other than my relatives, and you may be tiring of reading about them!)

Here’s what I propose:

If your grandma, great-grandparent, aunt, or father (you get the picture) was born in or lived in the Clontarf/Tara area and has a special day coming up and you would like to remember her or him, let me know. You can either write a short essay telling us all about your family member from Clontarf, send it on to me, and I will publish it on the blog,  or if writing is not your thing, simply fill out the form below with the details and I will write the tribute. Of course, photographs always make the stories special.

Remembering a common relative is a great way of reaching out to family members scattered all over the country. Think about it…

If you would like me to write the essay, I will need a little bit of notice. But if you send me one ready for publication, I will post it right away.

I can’t wait to see learn more about the people who made Clontarf their home! Use the form below, add a comment to this post, or email me directly clontarfhistory@gmail.com.

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Thanksgiving Memories & Looking Forward to December

Let’s take a look back at Thursday November 29, 1883 — Thanksgiving Day. Should have done this a couple of weeks ago…better late than never!

McDermott Store Ledger - November 29, 1883

Well, I suppose Thanksgiving Day is as good a day as any to buy a new pair of overalls, Patrick Langan.

I wonder what Thanksgiving was like for the pioneer settlers of Clontarf in 1883? Would they have killed a wild turkey for dinner? I don’t think I saw any turkeys being purchased at McDermott’s leading up to the big day. Maybe they had pheasant instead?

Alas, Thanksgiving is but a memory to us now. Time to look forward to December and the Christmas holiday. I wonder how soon the residents of Clontarf begin their Christmas shopping?

McDermott Store Ledger - December 1, 1883

Looks like Mr. McDermott is paying bills on this first day of the month. Rent is $5 per month. It could take him a few days to make that back in any given month!

What is the final entry for James Flynn all about? I can’t quite make it out.

On a sad note, Austin McGeary of Danvers passed away last Thursday, December 1st. I met Austin and his wife several years ago. My mom and I learned that Austin had boarded with my great-grandfather Neil Regan in Clontarf while he worked at Perrizo’s store in the late 1930s. Austin shared his memories of the time he spent at Neil’s as a young man, and for that we are very grateful.

Read Austin’s obituary here: http://www.wctrib.com/event/obituary/id/87235/. Our thoughts are with the entire McGeary family.

July @ McDermott General Store

Come on…somebody’s got to have something to say about Mystery Photo #6!  Here is a hint: this tiled floor appeared in a much-beloved and sorely missed Clontarf establishment.  Leave a comment and let me know your answer!  The first correct answer wins a Clontarf Prairie Pub T-shirt.  What are you waiting for?

It has been a while since we have taken a look at Mr. McDermott’s ledger.  I wonder what the folks of Clontarf were buying in the Summer of 1883?

On July 4th James Shea outfitted himself with a new pair of overalls for 90-cents, two pair socks for 35-cents, and a pair of suspenders for 40-cents.  John Schinnick was also in the market for new togs, picking up a linen shirt for $1.

A descendant of Timothy Galvin commented on the blog recently.  Her great-great-grandfather stopped in on July 13th for a few supplies: 1/2 gallon lard oil, yeast cakes, matches, and one fence board – all for 90-cents.

I hope that Mrs. James McGary (McGeary?) was O.K. with a 55-cent charge on her account July 30th.  One pound of chewing tobacco went “to her boy”.

We will check back with the ledger in August…

 

 

 

Wonder who the “dry” votes were?

Hancock Record (compliments of Anne Schirmer)

Judging from some of the stories I have heard about Clontarf, it comes as no surprise that a wet-dry vote would have this outcome!  Readers contributed comments to my post earlier this year on the Clontarf Club referencing the days of bootleg whiskey in Clontarf – click here to read the post and comments.  I am a little confused as to when Prohibition was repealed – I thought it was later in 1933.  This autumn there will be a new Ken Burns documentary on PBS, Prohibition.  I guess I will learn more about it then!

This clipping is from 1933, the year my grandpa John Regan graduated high school.  After graduation, he worked behind the bar at Bruno Perrizo’s in Clontarf.  This photo was taken some time during his tenure at Perrizo’s (the apron and the train in the background tipped my grandma off to the time-frame and place.)

Leo Molony and John Regan (1933-35)

Leo Molony (in the hat) and my grandpa grew up in Clontarf together.  When I met Kit Molony Doherty in 2004, one of the first things she told me was the story of how my grandpa saved her brother Leo’s life.

When the boys were about ten-years-old, they were playing “cowboys” with several other boys from town in McDermott’s pasture.  We can imagine them having a grand old time – riding the cattle and doing tricks.  The fun ended when Leo Molony was poked in the eye by a horn.  Scared of the blood and the prospect of being caught goofing around where they ought not be, the boys quickly scattered.  Leo and John were left alone in the pasture.

Kit said she remembers the howl let out by her mother when she saw John with one arm propping Leo up and his other hand pressed to Leo’s face.  There was blood everywhere, and my grandpa was holding Leo’s eye in place in the socket.

Leo lost vision in the eye, but a doctor was able to perform surgery so he didn’t lose the eye itself.  Kit said how grateful her family was to my grandpa for taking care of Leo that day.  She said his presence of mind not only saved Leo’s eye, but probably saved his life.

Somehow I don’t think John received a hero’s welcome when he returned home to his mother after his cowboy adventures!  I wonder if the boys learned their lesson about trespassing in McDermott’s pasture?

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A couple of notes…

• The winner of the June drawing is…Mary D’Agati! I will send you an email to get your address for your Official Clontarf Prairie Pub T-shirt.  Congratulations and thanks for the comments!
• Speaking of t-shirts…any ideas about a design for a new Clontarf t-shirt?  Let me know what you think (leave a comment.)
• St. Malachy Summerfest is this Sunday July 10th.  This is a fundraiser for the Church.  Anne Schirmer has donated some lovely photographs of area farm places that will be for sale.
• Monday July 11th is the Annual Meeting for Swift County HIstorical Society.  This year’s meeting and dinner will be held in DeGraff, Minnesota, and museum director Marlys Gallagher will present a program on the Catholic Colonization Bureau settlements in Swift County.

Spring at McDermott’s

It’s been awhile since we’ve taken a peek at the McDermott General Store Ledger.  The month of May saw many of the typical purchases: tea, tobacco, soap, coffee, nails, sugar, and yeast cakes.  There was much building and a quite a bit of sewing going on in the Clontarf area during the Spring of 1883 as well.

One transaction that caught my eye came on May 18, 1883 when Frank McMahon bought 1 pkg envelopes and some letter paper (10-cents each.)  This stood out to me because Frank (my great-great-grandfather) was unable to read and write.  The paper and envelopes must have been for his wife!

Albert Hilla purchased 3 cigars, some ginger snaps, and a can of oysters for a grand total of 45-cents on June 7th.  Michael O’Neil spent 80-cents on a brand new manure rake.  I would bet that Mr. Hilla enjoyed his purchases more than Mr. O’Neil!

Maybe those of you who know something about construction could help me figure out what Frank McMahon was building with these supplies (I can’t even decipher some of Mr. McDermott’s script):

• 904 ft. Dimension (?)
• 1100 ft.  Shapers (?)
• 1200 ft. Siding
• 800 ft. Flooring
• 7 X Shingles

All of that for $119.23…I can’t read the second item on the list, and I don’t understand the first one.  Any ideas what he was building?  Leave a comment!

 

Don’t forget about Eileen McCormack’s talk at Swift County Historical Society this Thursday (6/23) @ 7:30pm.  She will be discussing her latest project, a biography of Louis W. Hill, son James J. Hill.  Copies of the book,  The Dutiful Son Louis W. Hill: Life in the Shadow of the Empire Builder James J. Hill, will be available for purchase or order at Thursday’s event.  Please attend if you are able.

 

McDermott General Store Ledger

I recently obtained the complete first volume of the McDermott General Store ledger.  Three volumes of this ledger, covering 1884-1887,  are housed in the West Central Minnesota Historical Research Center at the University of Minnesota Morris.  This is a fantastic collection: oral histories, business records, personal papers, government documents and more.  The materials come from Big Stone, Chippewa, Douglas, Grant, Pope, Stevens, Swift, and Traverse counties in West-Central Minnesota.  We were tickled when Archivist Steve Gross made the scanned ledger available to us.

The scans are fairly light, so I am not sure how they will appear on the blog.  Please let me know if you can make them out.  Volume I begins on May 1, 1884.  Here are the first few pages…tell me what you think.  Click on the images to enlarge.  And if you are using a laptop to view, tilt your screen back which will darken the image and make it easier to see.

McDermott General Store Ledger -- Clontarf, MN (WCMHRC, UofM-Morris)

McDermott General Store Ledger -- Clontarf, MN (WCMHRC, UofM-Morris)

McDermott General Store Ledger -- Clontarf, MN (WCMHRC, UofM-Morris)

Ledger can be found at the West Central Minnesota Historical Research Center, University of Minnesota Morris.

In like a lion…or maybe it was a lamb?

March is known as a month of weather extremes in Minnesota.  Blizzards, tornadoes, ice storms, flooding, and mild sunny days are all common occurrences in March.  I am not sure what March 1884 was like in Clontarf, but odds are there was a little bit of everything in the weather department.

There wasn’t much going on in March 1884 at the McDermott General Store.  The only clue as to the weather is that a number of pairs of boots and rubbers were sold.  The regular customers came in for the staples – sugar, tobacco, and oil – but it looked like several residents were busy sewing new Spring clothes.  The spools of thread, pins, and gingham fabric were flying off the shelves – well, that might be an exaggeration, but indeed many customers came in for these items.

My great-great-grandfather Francis McMahon was a loyal customer of Mr. McDermott.  I may have mentioned before the frequency with which he visited the store.  Even in the middle of winter, Grandpa Bushy (as he was known) managed a shopping trip at least once a week.  The McMahon family lived in section 22 of Tara Township, and in 1884 the family consisted of five children under the age of seven.  Most of the pioneer families of the Clontarf area would have had similar young, growing families.  That translates into lots of sewing to keep everyone in clothes, diapers, bed-clothes, etc.

On March 17th, Francis McMahon came to the store and this was his tab:

.50     5 yards gingham

.50    2 yards ticking

.38    3 yards towling

.38     3 yards shirting

.05     Pins

.25     1 potato dish

.60     1# tea

.25     2 tin cups

.10     candy

Grandpa Bushy returned to the store the next day for a pair of boots for $2.75 and 50 cents worth of sugar.

What would be the use for 1/2# of sulfur?  John Ledwidge paid 10 cents for it, and Michael Donovan sold Mr. McDermott 5 and 28/60 potatoes @ .25.  I wonder how they measured potatoes and had Mr. Donovan been saving them in his root cellar all winter?  Maybe he realized he had more potatoes than he was going to use and unloaded them…any ideas?  Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment!

Do you have any stories to share?

Since we were talking about March 17th, are there any stories out there about St. Patrick’s Day in Clontarf?  Let me know what your memories of the day are, or if you recall any stories passed down about the early days.

What about baseball in Clontarf?  Does anyone have a photograph of a Clontarf baseball team or any information or history?

Tara Township Roots: The Shea-Dailey Family

I received a comment a couple of weeks ago from Ian, who is a descendant of Margaret Shea and Thomas Dailey.  He was curious if I had any information on these families.  Here’s an excerpt from his comment:

I was wondering if in your research you have come across any information on residents in Clontarf by the name of Shea or Dailey.

I am a descendant of Thomas E. Dailey, (born July 1, 1854 ?; died in December 1925 in Great Falls, Montana), married Margaret Shea at Clontarf, Swift county, MN in 1882.

I do not know however if my ancestors lived in Clontarf or in Benson (or somewhere in between). We have an album of photos dating from the end of the 19th century. Many are studio photos from the R. E. Brandmo photo studio in Benson. Judging by the quality, number and their clothing, they were relatively well to do.

It appears that Thomas and Margaret had a number of children in Benson/Clontarf area before moving to Montana; Francis Veronica (my great grandmother, married Patrick Kenny and moved to Montana as a school teacher), as well as Agnes, Michael, Thomas, Alice and Mary Ellen.

I recognize the Shea family name from the plat maps in Tara Township, and I’ve encountered Michael Shea in a couple of places – notably the Clontarf Township records and the McDermott General Store Ledger.  The 1880 US Federal Census indicates that Maggie Shea, age 21, is living with her parents (Michael and Alice) and siblings (James-20, Thomas-19, Nancy-16, John-15, Mary-13, and Alice-9.)

The first six of the Shea children were born in Wisconsin, and in 1860, the young Shea family was living in Alto, Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin.  The family includes James Shea, aged 70 – presumably Michael’s father (Ian – your great-great-great grandfather?)

In 1880 Thomas Dailey lived in Marysland Township (south of Tara) with his younger sister Julia; Thomas farmed and Julia kept house.  Margaret Shea and Thomas Dailey were married at St. Malachy Catholic Church on August 30, 1882.  The witnesses were John Cahill and Mary Dailey.  In 1900 the Dailey family lived in Benson, Minnesota where Thomas Dailey’s occupation is listed as “fire insurance.”  By 1910, the family has moved to Great Falls, Montana.

On the 1886 Tara plat map, , the Shea family owned the south half of section 32.  Michael, the father had 80 acres, son James another 80, and son Thomas, 160.  On the 1902 map, no Shea names are found, but Margaret Dailey’s name appears on the 80 acres once belonging to her father.

Please share any information you might have on these families…feel free to leave a comment or contact me directly by sending  an email to clontarfhistory@gmail.com.

A couple of messages:

• Ian – I would check with the Swift County Museum for more information on the Dailey family.  Let me know if you would like copies of census showing the Shea and Dailey families – I can send them to you if you don’t have them.
• Margo – remember when you asked me about the Shea family and possible connections to the McGeary family…were they in Fon du Lac county in Wisconsin?

It’s 1884 at the McDermott General Store

Judging from the records I have, business was anything but brisk in January 1884 at the McDermott General Store in Clontarf.  It stands to reason…January on the prairie could be (and is) brutal.  Most people came in to pick up the essentials: coffee, tea, oil, and tobacco.  There were a few purchases that stood out to me…

January 8th

• James Flynn bought a buffalo robe ($4.50) and a cap ($3.30)
• One pair overshoes ($1.75) was charged to Frank McMahon’s account by Tim. Cain

January 29th

• Rev. Anatole Oster purchased 4# F.G. tobacco ($1.00)
• William Purcell picked up 1 candy pail (.20)

January 31st

• Frank McMahon parted with .60 for 1# wax candles
• Charles Maguire purchased 1 bottle peppernuts (.25) and 1/2# tobacco (.15)

There were a couple of interesting transactions that could relate to some type of building or works project in Tara Township.  Patrick Foley, who was Tara Township clerk, was given $40.00 by a Swift County order.  On the same day, James Conaty was given $40.00 cash.  I know that Simon Conaty was responsible for building the current  St. Malachy’s in the 1890s, but I don’t know anything about James.  Any ideas?

 

On January 24th Tom and Jackie Doherty left the following comment.  I wanted to post it here to make sure everyone saw it, even if you don’t read the comments.  Enjoy!

In the 50′s and 60′s, everyone in attendance eagerly awaited the big event. It usually happened about midnight. Earl Gilbertson and Otto Sluter (sp?) would dance cheek to cheek on the dance floor. Any newcomer’s would really “gawk” at the scene. Afterwards, the two men would get lots of grins, laughs and applause. Earl’s wife was Jeannie Christopherson (Ma Pete’s daughter).
Also regarding the Clontarf Club – Before George Gilbertson sold to Lyle Kesting, there was a card room in the back part of the club. They had poker games that would last for days non stop. Some players would go for a day or two and then take a break and then come back. George was said to have played 4 straight days before he bit the dust one time.
Also – George used to tell me about the time my uncle Andy Doherty, went broke playing poker there. George then gave Andy some money to go and get him and the rest of the players something to eat. Andy took the $20.00 and drank most of the money up. He returned to the game with the food that he had enough money to buy – a box of animal crackers. George used to laugh so hard telling the story, he would be crying.

Thanks for a great story, Tom and Jackie!

Roy Perrizo: 41 years as Clontarf Postmaster

Since we are on the topic of the Perrizo family, let’s take a look at Roy Perrizo’s (son of Bruno and Melinda) story from the 100th anniversary booklet:

Prior to entering the U.S. Army in 1918, Roy Perrizo was a rural mail carrier at Clontarf. After he retired from service. he was employed at the Farmers State Bank of Clontarf. In 1925 he purchased the McDermott General Store and operated it until May of 1964 when he sold it to Victor Haroldstad who sold the business to Robert Fennell in 1965.  Roy Perrizo and Winifred McDermott were married in 1926 and in 1928 Winifred McDermott Perrizo died. Roy Perrizo was postmaster of Clontarf from 1926 until 1963 when he retired. He was a charter member of the American Legion, the V.F.W. organization, and the Benson Golf Club. He became a member of the Knights of Columbus in 1916.

In 1931 he married Rose Hughes of Tara Township. They had three sons, Richard, Burton, and Robert. Mrs. Rose Perrizo lives in Clontarf at the present time (1978).

Mark Becker, who so generously shared some Perrizo family photographs (click here to view the photographs), told me that his mother (Winifred Fiala Becker) was particularly fond of Uncle Roy and Aunt Rose and has warm memories of her Perrizo cousins.  Mark recalled many trips to Clontarf to visit Aunt Rose.

Next time we will take a look at Mr. McDermott’s ledger…