History and Reflections

Compiled by John Mogren

We were chartered April 1, 1978. The purpose was to collect, catalog, and preserve genealogical and historical materials. To promote interest and activity in genealogy, to share knowledge of resources and to exchange information and techniques in research. The membership was $5. single and $7.50 per couple when we started in 1978. We met the first Saturday of the month at 2:00 in the Minot Public Library. Louise Jevne was the “Archivist” for our group when we organized. She provided considerable research for individuals in the early years of our Society. Ariel Williams, our first president said this about the name chosen: “Louise Jevne gave us the name Mouse River Loop Genealogy Society as this was what the region was called in former days. It is not a slick Madison Avenue name, but it is historically correct and therefore appropriate.” By July of 1978 we had 60 members. Mabel Sletting was our first program chairman and lined up the speakers. Mabel followed Louise as the second chairman of the Archives Committee. The name chose for the society’s publication was North Central North Dakota Genealogical Record. The Red River Valley Genealogical Society of Fargo was one of the first entities to donate genealogical materials to us. Since the very beginning of our Society, we have had a wonderful working relationship with the Minot Public Library and have utilized their meeting rooms. It has been our practice to donate a book to the library in memory of deceased members (who passed while holding a membership). We have made financial donations to the library in the past and provided money for the purchase of new bookshelves.

In 1986, we averaged 32 members at each meeting. This was perhaps the highest attendance we have had over the years. We have been individuals gathering to pursue our common interest in family history as well as an opportunity for social interaction. Many wonderful friends have been made over the years at our meetings.

In 1987, Gene Furman was commended for his many hours spent at his faithful computer indexing information for us. Gene was a great asset to our society and frequently informed us that he was “a happy bachelor.”

In May 1988, a “computer users support group” was organized. The group met prior to our regular scheduled meetings and it was a time of education to everyone who was brave enough to tackle internet research. Later at the recommendation of Iona Loken this group was renamed Computer Interest Group. For a time we did pretty well with managing our information on our society’s webpage. Paul Flick was instrumental in getting us set up for a new webpage but when he transferred and left our area we went through a series of members who tried to manage it. We used the free pages until 2017 when James Falcon helped get us set up on the internet with another Website. In 2016 John Mogren created a Facebook page for us.

On May 7, 1988, our Society celebrated the 10th anniversary. Eighteen charter members were present and honored in a special way by receiving a corsage from the May Pole centerpiece. Evelyn Zablotney “keeper of the scrapbook” gave a history of our organization. Margaret Stenberg, Lillian Vannett and Evelyn had organized the special occasion in honor of the anniversary. All those attending received a bookmarker as a remembrance of the day. We also had a special 20th Anniversary with letters of congratulations from other genealogical societies and elected officials printed in issue 75 (June 1998). Several of our charter members wrote their memories of our early years.

We celebrated our 25th Anniversary on May 3, 2003. We passed out a bookmarker with our logo on it; Lillian Vannett assisted by Pam Orth took care of the details for this celebration including arranging an interview of John Mogren and Pam Orth on the CBS Noon Show. We had “a tea with a decorated cake.” I don’t recall that we did anything special for our Society’s 30th anniversary.

The first issue of The North Central North Dakota Genealogical Record “Record” was listed only as Summer 1978 with Kasey Finke as editor and Paula Ward, assistant editor. The RECORD was initially published twice a year. In the early years it was definitely “owned” by the group. In saying that, I mean that several people contributed to it and it did not all rest upon the editor to create the quarterly publication. At that time, the members even assisted with the printing and assembling and mailing. Rev. & Mrs. Glen Dayton provided many hours printing, collating and stapling the RECORD at the Nazarene Church. In November 1981, the RECORD began to be printed at “print shops.” Lillian Vannett was our faithful steward of getting the publication to the printer and then mailing them for us. The largest issue ever printed was #24 with 59 pages (surname index). From time to time, we have had some faithful contributors to the newsletter such as Annette Rockeman who submitted “Annette on the Net” articles on using the internet for genealogical research; Evelyn Zablotney who read through exchanges and found resources for us; Joan Peterson submitted articles of interest for a time. We also had members contributing poems and recipes and other articles to print. In 2012, we decided to print three newsletters a year instead of four. We used the same cover for 36 years which depicted our research area, the Mouse River Loop. In 2015 the cover was changed to a more modern look and that year we returned to being a quarterly publication. John Mogren has maintained the index of our Record articles which makes it easy for locating articles from back issues. The index is printed periodically in the Record. Early on our publication would focus information specific to a particular county. As time went on, there was some duplication so it was decided to focus on one county and one township at a time. This seemed to be most helpful to individuals seeking issues pertaining to the area their ancestors resided. As several of our members did not have access to computers we would print census records, Federal Land Tract indexes, cemetery records, biographies of people from that township (especially the WPA Pioneer Profiles), church records etc. For a time, we had members providing helpful hints on using the internet for research. Prior to accessing information from other genealogy societies on the internet it was our practice to “exchange” newsletters with out-of-state groups. This practice discontinued in 2001 for a number of reasons; some groups didn’t honor the exchange agreement, the exchanges didn’t get distributed to the members for review as well as increased postage costs. We have continued to send gratis copies to the National Archives, the North Dakota State Historical Society, the Minot Public Library and other North Dakota genealogy societies wishing to exchange.

Projects: By the fall of 1979, Wednesday work sessions were being held on a regular basis. We never lacked for projects to work on. Sometimes we copied stats from newspapers and obituaries. Truthfully, we struggled a bit when using the newspapers because we would get distract by reading the articles and sometimes someone would find something that made everyone quit and run to read for themselves the article. I remember just one such article when a member read that (the renown Minot attorney) Ella Van Berkom had eloped and married but her father was so against it that the marriage that it was annulled! But even with stories that stopped us in our tracks… we plugged along and got things done.

In 1982, we began setting a table up at the Hostfest. The volunteers that year to sit at the table were Olga Gryde, Marion Bakken, John Mogren, Edie Vandal and Linda Christianson, Mabel Sletting, Agnes Bierdeman, Evelyn Zablotney, Marilyn Hoffman, Alta Johnson, Darlene Stultz, and Kim Lee. Our society continued this tradition for several years. 1985 was also the first year we had a table at the North Dakota State Fair. Those who sat at the table included Hildor & Doris Nelson, Alta Johnson and Lillian Wilson. This was also the year we had a new society brochure printed. Recently a new display board was purchased by Kathy Holte and this has been available to take to workshops and other events to inform the public of our society’s work. Kathy applied for a grant and received funding to get the board and publish some literature on the MRLGS.

The Ward County Cemetery Records (Vol. 1) were published in 1983 and volume 2 in 1987. In 1985 we were going full force on the marriage records of Ward County with as many as eight people typing and working on these. In 1985 we requested old Bibles be sent to us rather than disposed of and placed in our repository. In 1987, Edward & Virginia Bryans provided us with the cemetery readings from Renville County for publication. Gerald Reynolds compiled information from Douglas, ND and provided to us. Louise Jevne provide considerable amount of information from Renville County, Olga Gryde sent in a vast amount of information from McHenry County. Don Tank and Lillian Vannett worked steadily on indexing records and statistics for our society. Lillian was also instrumental in getting the Springan Funeral Home Index by working with Norlene Tchida in 2001. Other funeral home indexes we had included the Dahle Funeral Home Records compiled by Edward & Virginia Bryans and the Olsen Funeral Home Records and Bodmer & Ringen Funeral Home Records compiled by John Mogren. Bottineau Cemetery Records were published in 1990. McHenry County and Mountrail County Cemetery Records were published in 1992. Rolette County and Pierce County Cemetery Records were published about 1995. In 1993 we raised our dues from $7.50 to $15.00. Lillian Vannett has served many years as our “sales-associate.” She would take the original to a copy machine and make a duplicate of the item and then mail it out to the individual purchasing the items. Our original documents as well as other historical items have always been stored in a variety of places. Some of you may remember the problem that developed when things were stored in our member’s home. Things got ugly between two of our (strong willed) members and after that we recognized the need to have a storage area, which we called “The Archives.” It has been in at least three locations and a variety of people have managed it. At the present time Carol Schwan is in charge and has done an amazing job of organizing and managing the archives.

In 1993, John Mogren representing our organization spearheaded the formation of a North Dakota State Genealogical Society after attending a genealogical workshop in Bismarck. Some of those that assisted in the formation were George Barron (James River Genealogy Club), Don Smith (Bismarck/Mandan Historical & Genealogical Society), Dolores Vyzralek (ND State Historical Society), and Patrice Hartman (SW ND Genealogical Society). There were more involved in the formation but John gave the early records and minutes to ND State Genealogy Society for preservation and can’t consult them for this report. The State Society became a reality in 1996. The Mouse River Loop Genealogical Society played a major role in this by providing funding and representatives (John, Edward and Virginia Lee Bryans). John was our first representative on the State Board and was the first President of that organization. In 2008, Iona Loken agreed to replace John on the board and was elected to serve as our representative at the State meetings and has continued in that capacity. We appreciate her willingness to represent us. Probably the biggest project we as a State organization undertook was to get the Department of Health to allow us to set up an on-line searchable database for North Dakota deaths. We were told “we want to see the money first.” We were able to successfully raise the funds needed to set up this database by donations from the North Dakota Genealogy Societies. This became a reality in 2006 and what a valuable resource this has been to genealogists everywhere.

In 1998 the McLean County Genealogy Society gave us the cemetery readings they had completed and Lillian Vannett typed them so they could be compiled into a book for sale. This was the same year that we asked our members to gather information on local churches that had disbanded or were still active. These were church surveys were printed in our publication. Don Tank’s hearing got poor so he discontinued attending the meeting but her continued indexing at home and finished the every-name index for the Renville County History which he provided to our society to sell.

In the earlier years of our society we would receive handwritten genealogical queries. At every meeting they were read. We had a formal queries committee who volunteered their time and poured their hearts into helping others find answers. Later the queries committee ceased to exist and queries were simply read at the meetings with someone always willing to take on the challenge of finding the information. One member that has been most faithful to researching for others is Iona Loken. While her area of expertise is McHenry County as she is knowledgeable of the resources for research there; she has also taken on research in other counties in our area. Evelyn Zablotney and Lillian Vannett also took on many queries sent to our society. We eventually had to create a queries log to keep track of the letters received and answered. This were always done free of charge but we often received donations to the society for the research.

Tours: We toured the newly opened Family History Center of the L.D.S. Church in Minot in 1985. This was widely used by members until more research could be one at home on the computer. Edward & Virginia Lee Bryans invited us to their home in Donnybrook for several years to look through their vast collection of genealogical materials and walk through Edward’s lovely gardens. We have also enjoyed a couple trips to Fessenden to John Mogren’s home where we ate a picnic by his summer kitchen and then used his genealogical resources. Betty Schlichting and Diane Stevens also hosted us at their homes for a meal in the summer. We have had a tour and picnic at the Scandinavian Heritage Park. We drove to St. John’s to visit the Rolette County Historical Society Museum and return the San Haven Sanatorium books that Sam Kampman and Mary Misek indexed. We have had group tours to the North Dakota State Archives at Bismarck; The Chester Fritz Library (Special Collections) at U.N.D., Grand Forks and the library of the Red River Valley Genealogical Society in Fargo. We had so much fun and got to know each other better. When we went to Grand Forks we stayed in the university dormitory and that night we gathered to visit in the lounge area on the floor we were all staying. We talked genealogy and then someone got the idea we should go on an “ice cream run.” So one member (Evelyn) who was already in her night robe had to go back to her room to change. We laughed about that many times over the years. Our group continues to have summer tours to towns like Kenmare and Rugby to see their museums. We have had many tours in the town of Minot; including the Ward County Court House, Ward County Historical Society, Family History Center, Minot State University Library, Minot Public Library, Soo Line Research and Museum to name a few. In 2012 we toured the Niess Impressions in Minot and learned about printing options for our genealogy.

Fund raising: In the early years fund raising was a big deal and we even had a committee responsible to coming up with ways to fund our projects. How many of you remember the Flea Market on August 14, 1982, when the wind caught our “fund raising” money and sent the members running to recover it? In 1985, we had an afghan raffle. Each member was requested to sell two books of tickets. We had bake sales and Dagwood’s Closet rummage tables. After sometime, the society decided to do the ethnic dinner and progressive auction. We have been fortunate to have Devan Zablotney as our auctioneer for many years. The intent of the annual fundraiser was that everyone would contribute toward the society at that time and then we wouldn’t have to call on members the remainder of the year. Thank you to all who have faithfully supported this plan. We especially appreciate those who (are unable to attend but) send a check to our treasurer each year.

Workshops: The first workshop was held in June 1978 with George Everton being the presenter and there was “standing room only by noon.” We received help from the Bismarck Mandan Historical & Genealogical Society in getting this workshop organized. The second workshop was held the following May with Dr. Gerhard Naeseth from Vesterheim (Norwegian-American Museum) presenting and a full house again! The following year, June 1980, our group and the Germans from Russia, together sponsored a workshop with George Everton returning to us. In Sept. 1981, Phyllis & Floren Preece, professional genealogists from the Utah State University were our featured speakers for a workshop. Our first workshop held with the Family History Center was held in April 1988. The speakers included, Barry Kirk, Greg Dockter, Orlan Jacobson, John Mogren, Leo & Bernedette Vetter, Forrest Daniels, Devan Zablotney, Robert Feist, Gene Furman and Pat Chalcraft. Our Society has continued to hold various workshops over the years. In 1998 we decided to commemorate our 20th anniversary by doing a genealogy/family history workshop. It was well attended. The topics and presenters were:

Family Tree Maker – Mark Hunt
Creative Memories – Marion Askim
Census Research – Mary Misek
Swedish Research – John Mogren
Norwegian Research – Iona Loken
Canadian Research – Marchael Bartloff
Photo Restoration – Reuben Forsberg
Accelerated Indexing System – Barb Ellis
Internet Sources for Genealogists – Jeanne Narum
ND State Historical Society/Archives – Dolores Vyzralek

Another workshop was held in June 2002, however I haven’t been able to find a list of the presenters or topics. There may have been other workshops I have not included.

In our early years of research, we were still writing letters and waiting for a reply. We were still primarily using the microfilm readers to do research. We would sit and wind those reels and look at the reader screens until we got eye strain! Sometimes we’d look for an ancestor in the census records… we’d start with a county and slowly roll the film ahead through each township. What a blessing technology has become to those using the computer to research. More and more newspapers are being made available on-line for research and even have the capability of searching for specific names or words in these newspapers. As I think of newspapers the recent release of chroniclingamerica has been a genealogist dream come true as we can find our ancestors without having to page through stacks of old newspapers. Searching this way is the same with census records and many other documents that genealogists use. Unfortunately, I feel there has been a change in the reception of genealogist at some of our local government offices. Years ago we could show up at the Ward County Court House and ask to see early day records and the auditor would unlock the attic to the court house and we could sit up there copying records until closing time. Now we feel fortunate if we can get someone to even look in their database to see if the record exists, was destroyed or has been transferred to another repository. I specifically recall the early tax records that were done by each township. I remember sitting up there and looking at my great grandfathers records… it was interesting to see when he arrived on the homestead with just a cow and horse and then to watch as time went on and soon he was being taxed for a herd of cattle and several horses. I later asked about these records and discovered they had been transferred to the State Historical Society, however not the entire collection was preserved. The old days of researching, that is looking at the original sources, has given way to those records that have been preserved and are now available on-line. Another thing that I remember about our early years as a group was someone would make an exciting discovery and then bring it to the meeting to share. For example someone learned about ordering the entire homestead file for their ancestor and when it was received, brought the file so we could all look at it. This then created an avalanche of members all filling out the order form to the National Archives so they could get their ancestor’s homestead file. Over the years we have learned so much from one another and have developed some wonderful lasting friendships.