 From the MCHENRY COUNTY, Its History and Its People, 1885-1985: "Richard H. and Emma (McGinnis) Gaines By Viola Hanks".
Richard H. Gaines was born at Sweet Springs, Missouri in 1865. He died in the Veterans Administration Services Hospital, Fargo, August 1942 at the age of 77.
Richard married Emma McGinnis at Witchita, Kansas in May 1887 [18 May, Sedgwick, Kansas]. They moved to Indiana in 1889 then returned to Sweet Springs, Missouri in 1894. Intensely patriotic, Mr. Gaines in 1898 volunteered and served his country's cause in the Spanish
American Conflict. He was discharged with the rank of Sergeant at Camp Wetheril, South Carolina in 1899.
As a member of the original Saline County, Missouri Colony, Mr. and Mrs. Gaines, together with his mother, came to this section in 1900, homesteading in Saline Township where they built a fine home, farmed and raised cattle, where they lived
until 1929. They then moved to Granville where Mrs. Gaines died in 1932.
As a staunch Republican Mr. Gaines interest in political and economic events continued active through his mature life. He was a lover of nature and took great pride in raising fine livestock while actively engaged in farming. At that time a local unit of the Future Farmers of America was named for him. In 1937 he married Mrs. Mary Smith and they continued to make their home in Granville."
Richard was born on 16 August 1865. He had, at least, a sister Martha E. and a brother George A. Richard enlisted on 25 April 1898. He served in Company L, 4th Regiment, Missouri Volunteer Infantry and was discharged on 10 February 1899. He was receiving a pension for his service. This writer was unable to find the exact death date and burial place for Emma. Richard's mother was born in April 1829 in Missouri and is referenced in documents as Leanne, Luann, and Lurron and is believed to be the Lee A. Gaines who filed a homestead next to Richard's. Her exact death date and burial place could not be located. Richard's second marriage, Mary, was to the widow of his neighbor William F. Smith. Mary was born on 26 April 1861 and died on 16 June 1952 and is buried with William. Richard died on 28 August 1942.
Burial, Tombstone Photo.
Article from Compendium of History and Biography of North Dakota, Page 1136:
GUSTAV C. GETZLAFF. This well-known
pioneer of McHenry county, North Dakota, owns
a very complete farm in township 159 north, and
range 76 west. He is of German nativity, and was
born November 5, 1860, in a little German hamlet
close to the famous city of Stettin. Here his father,
August Getzlaff, was the owner of a small farm
and was a carpenter by trade.
Our subject was the third in a family of five children
reared in the village. His father died when
he was only five years old, and his mother brought
her little flock to America in 1871, and made a
home for them on a farm in Olmsted county,
Minnesota. Here with the children of school
house he received an English education, and
grew up as his "mother's right hand man."
When he was nineteen he left home and
struck out for himself. He learned the brewing
business in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He was there
four years, and spent two years in Minneapolis in
the same line. Meanwhile he learned engineering.
In 1886 he came to North Dakota, and in McHenry
county on his present farm he put up a shanty
12x14 feet and prepared himself in the simple fashion
of the times for homestead farming. He had
one hundred dollars with which to begin operations,
and it was counted quite a fortune. In 1886 he
did little but workout and the next year bought oxen,
wagon and other necessities. That year he harvested
two hundred bushels of wheat, and the next
year four hundred and fifty bushels. In 1888 he
bought a threshing machine with complete outfit
and has followed it every year since. His present
outfit consists of a twenty-two-horse power engine
and a magnificent separator. In 1889 and 1890 his
farming operations were not satisfactory, but in 1890
he harvested two thousand four hundred bushels
of grain from eighty acres. In 1895 he had
his greatest year. He had eleven thousand
bushels of wheat, running thirty-five bushels
to the acre, two thousand bushels of oats, and
four hundred of barley. In 1896 he had six thousand
bushels ; in 1897, one thousand six hundred and
fifty bushels; in 1898, two thousand two hundred
bushels, and in 1899, four thousand one hundred
bushels. He now owns three hundred and thirty
acres. He did have two hundred acres more, but
sold them in 1896. His is a well equipped farm with
everything, house, barn, outbuildings and stock that
is needed by its operators for success and comfort.
His house is 18x28, with an addition of 18x32; his
barn, 48x44, with attached sheds ; a wagon shed,
16x24; machine shed, 18x36 feet, ample granaries,
and other smaller buildings. He had an acre of
forest trees, and a very good start towards an invaluable
supply of small fruit.
Mr. Getzlaff is a Democrat, and is keenly alive
to everything that concerns the common welfare.
He is a member of the German Lutheran church.
Since 1896 he has done considerable traveling
throughout the Northwest and to the Pacific coast.
He means to enjoy himself, now that the stress and
strain of pioneering is over, and to see and know
something of the country in which he lives.
Alfred was born to A. C. and Lisette Felthusen Gieseler in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin on 12 June 1878.
Alfred served three enlistments in the Wisconsin Army. The first he entered at the time of the Spanish-American war as a Private in Company M, 1st Wisconsin Infantry on 21 April 1898 until the unit was mustered out on 19 October 1898. On 26 September 1899 he joined Company D, 45th U. S. Volunteer Infantry until 27 Mar 1901 serving in the Philippines and then became employed by the government in Nueva Caceres, Philippine Islands as a clerk. He later joined Company D again from 18 June 1917 until 8 March 1919. He started drawing a pension for his service on 30 September 1932.
By 1904 he returned to the states and married Bertha E. Lang in St. Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota on 14 June 1904. There were three children from that marriage; Eleanor, Elizabeth and Constance Lang (1916-2002) Gregory.
After the children were born, and in 1922, the family moved from Minnesota to McHenry County where Alfred became a store owner in Towner.
Alfred and Bertha were forced to sell their business and home because of health and move to Florida in 1943. Bertha died there in 1948. Alfred then moved to the home of a daughter, Constance, in Georgia where he died in 1949.
Bertha's Burial, Tombstone Photo, Obituary There is a lot of information on this family contained in the McHenry County history and especially a vivid article written by Anne Gilbertson recalling her recollections of many experiences in McHenry County.
From the "MCHENRY COUNTY: Its History and Its People 1885-1985" publication by M. T. Jorgenson:
"The Honorable Ole Gilbertson, a pioneer settler of the Mouse River Valley in Dakota Territory and homesteaded twelve miles north of Towner where he continued to develop and improve the property until 1892 when he was elected county treasurer and
moved his family to Towner. He served two terms as treasurer, then opened a lumber and hardware business in Towner and in the fall of 1898 was elected a member of the state legislature where he served one term. He continued to operate his store until 1901 when he sold the property and devoted himself to farming and the sale of farm land. He owned 1680 acres of land in McHenry County and 460 acres in Montana by that time. [Note: This page, second row, has a picture of one of the Gilbertson's residences and he is listed as a resident on this page].
Mr. and Mrs. Gilbertson were the parents of six children: Carl, a farmer in Montana; Alice, court reporter for Judge A. M. Christensen and for five years the
postmistress at Towner; Clarence, cashier of the Bantry State Bank; and Effie, Owen, and Sherman.
The family are members of the Lutheran Church and Ole was a stalwart Republican. He served on the first board of county commissioners and was a member of the Towner school board. He was a delegate to county and state conventions for several years and was a dominate factor in Republican circles in North Dakota."
Ole was born in on 18 October 1854 in Norway the son of Gulbrand and Anne Gilbertson Lunde. Anne was born in Voss, Norway on 8 October 1855 the daughter of Knut and Syneva Hermanson Lohn. They were married in St. Ansgar, Mitchell County, Iowa on 27 February 1880.
Ole died in Burleigh County on 7 October 1921. Anne then moved to Montana to live with her daughter Alice where she died on 26 May 1951. Obituary. They are both buried in Towner's Union Cemetery.
It is quite possible another resident of McHenry, Andrew Gilbertson, and Ole are related as the early background information is similar.Anne's Burial, Tombstone Photo, Links to Some Family Members Article from Compendium of History and Biography of North Dakota [1900], Page 1211:
"ROBERT GORMAN, county sheriff of McHenry county, and a resident of Towner, is one of the substantial and honored citizens of that locality. He is a pioneer settler of North Dakota, and has witnessed the growth and advancement of the community in which he has made his home and is truly entitled to credit for the share he has taken in the same. 
He is proprietor of a fine farm near Towner, and engages extensively in stock raising with unbounded success.
Our subject was born in western Ontario, Canada, on a farm in 1860. His father, George Gorman [1811 Ireland - 1880 Canada], was born in Ireland and came to America when a young man. The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Margaret Craiton [1821 Ireland - 14 Sep 1900 Canada, possibly surname Creighton], and was born in Ireland and came to America when young. The parents were married in Canada, and of the eight children our subject was the seventh in order of birth. Mr. Gorman received limited school advantages, and assisted with the farm work. He went to Manitoba in 1881 where he entered claim to land and began farming. He built a small shanty and lived alone on the farm, and spent five years in an attempt to raise a crop, but failure met his every effort, and in 1886 he came to McHenry county, North Dakota, and located near the Mouse river, one-half mile east of the town of Towner. He had a limited start and built a small shanty and lived there alone two years, and his first crop was good. Crops failed in 1889 and 1890, and Mr. Gorman worked on the Great Northern Railroad west of Havre and into the Rocky mountains, spending two summers at this line of work. He engaged in grain raising and also stock raising to some extent. He now has a farm of four hundred and eighty acres under cultivation and one hundred and eighty acres devoted to stock raising. On his home farm he has a complete set of farm buildings, and has one of the best equipped farms of that region.
Our subject was married, in May, 1888, to Miss Amelia Hutton, a native of Minnesota, and a daughter of Robert Hutton, a farmer and early settler of North Dakota. She is of Scotch descent, her parents being natives of Scotland. One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Gorman, named Samuel, who was born in 1889. Mr. Gorman was elected sheriff
in the fall of 1892, and re-elected in 1896, and in 1898, and is now [1900] serving his third term in that office. He is an active member of the Republican party, and is firm in his convictions. He holds membership in the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. Gorman has experienced pioneer life in North Dakota, and has faced many of the storms of that region. In 1895, with his wife and son, he was overtaken by a blizzard, and after a long search through the storm succeeded in finding the court house in Towner and was there sheltered from the storm. He has remained in McHenry county despite his experiences, and is now one of the solid men of that
locality and is deservedly popular as a citizen."
Amelia's Burial, Tombstone Photos, Links to Some Family Roy's Burial, Tombstone Photos, Links to Some Family Picture saved from Ancestry.com. Click on it for larger view. North Dakota History Of Cities, Towns, And Places William F. Fortune III September 17, 2019 Elizabeth Bodine (1898–1986) was an American humanitarian who was given the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award in July 1979 in recognition of the International Year of the Child. She was honored as Mother of the Year for both the state of North Dakota, and the entire country, in 1968.
Education played an important role in Bodine's life. All 18 of the Bodine children received post-high school education. Her ten sons received college degrees. Six of her daughters attended college and the other two daughters received business training.
For 26 years, including ten summer sessions, one or more of her family was enrolled at Minot State College.
Bodine was active in church, civic and community projects for many years. Assisting the Indian population in the Belcourt area, contributing clothing and food to her relatives in Poland during World War II and sending boxes of clothing to Vietnam are but a few of the many projects to which she has contributed her time and energy.
Burial, Tombstone Photo, Links To Some Family Members
Portrait painted by Vern Skaug |
