holidays

100 years ago... Happy Holidays from Scott County!

Happy Holidays!

Below are a selection of illustrations and advertisements from Scott County newspapers celebrating Christmas 100 years ago in 1920. Scanning through these papers, it is remarkable how little has changed. Christmastime was still heralded as a season for children and family, and jolly images of Santa were out in full force - often coupled with the suggestion that you buy this toy or that appliance.

Enjoy! We at SCHS hope that you have a fantastic holiday!

Shakopee Argus, December 17, 1920

Shakopee Argus, December 17, 1920

Jordan Independent, December 9th, 1920

Jordan Independent, December 9th, 1920

New Prague Times. December 16, 1920

New Prague Times. December 16, 1920

New Prague Times, December 9th, 1920

New Prague Times, December 9th, 1920

Belle Plaine Herald, December 9th, 1920

Belle Plaine Herald, December 9th, 1920

New Prague Times, December 16th, 1920

New Prague Times, December 16th, 1920

Shakopee Argus. December 24th, 1920

Shakopee Argus. December 24th, 1920

Belle Plaine Herald, December 23, 1920

Belle Plaine Herald, December 23, 1920

New Prague Times, December 16th, 1920

New Prague Times, December 16th, 1920

Shakopee Argus. December 24th, 1920

Shakopee Argus. December 24th, 1920

New Prague Times. December 16th, 1920

New Prague Times. December 16th, 1920

Shakopee Argus, December 24th, 1920

Shakopee Argus, December 24th, 1920

New Prague Times. December 2nd, 1920

New Prague Times. December 2nd, 1920

Shakopee Argus. December 24th, 1920

Shakopee Argus. December 24th, 1920

New Prague Times. December 16th, 1920

New Prague Times. December 16th, 1920

New Prague Times., December 9th, 1920

New Prague Times., December 9th, 1920

An Irishman in Scott County

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day from the Scott County Historical Society! Today we had the pleasure of visiting ProAct-New Options in Shakopee to share a little Scott County Irish history and help them celebrate the holiday. We would also like to celebrate with a blog post by profiling one of Scott County’s  early Irish citizens.

The 1800s were a rough time for Irish farmers. Few families actually owned their land, instead owing money and crops to British landlords. In the case that a family did own their plot, a law of subdivision was in place requiring that all land was required to be divided equally between living sons at the time of a parent’s death. This led to increasingly small plots, often insufficient for a family to earn a living. Many Irish farmers eked out their lives in abject poverty.

The response to these conditions was potatoes. Potatoes packed a lot of calories into a small package, required minimal upkeep, could be grown in small areas, and could be stored throughout the winter. Growing potatoes allowed a family with limited time and resources a hearty food source. By 1840, roughly half the population of Ireland lived almost entirely on potatoes.

Unfortunately, this extensive cultivation of a single crop left Ireland’s potatoes vulnerable to Phytophthora infestans, commonly known as “blight”. In 1844, Irish newspapers began mentioning concern due to a disease that had attacked potatoes in the United States and elsewhere in Europe. By 1846, three-quarters of the potato harvest was lost to blight. Ireland’s level of dependence on the potato was such that by 1849, the potato blight left over 1 million people dead from starvation, or related illnesses.

The response of the English government to the famine was lackluster, and many Irish began looking for a way out. Thus began a period of mass migration from Ireland to the United States. It is estimated that between 1820 and 1930 around 4.5 million Irish arrived in America.

Jeremiah Hayes

One of these Irish immigrants was Jeremiah Hayes. He was born around 1830 on a farm on the outskirts of the village of Milltown, in County Kerry Ireland, 30 years after Ireland officially became a British state. In January. He recalled his childhood in Ireland in an article published by the Belle Plaine Herald on January 14th, 1926, noting a storm that had hit his family’s farm when he was “a pretty small lad”

“I remember that wind all right. There has never been anything like it since. It would blow the hair right off your head. I can remember my father and mother propping the door, and a terrible time they had of it too. No one was killed in  in our neighborhood, but a good many cows and pigs were lost, and there was a lot of property damage”

Hayes also recalled living through the potato famine

“The potato crop had been good in ’45, but the next year when the crop failed and the pits containing last year’s harvest were opened, the walls of the pits caved in and it was found that dry rot had ruined them. They didn’t have any relief organizations in those days. Little aid could be obtained from England and from famine and disease people died like flies”

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Hayes held on through the potato famine, and grew to adulthood. Along the way he met and married Ellen Hayes and the two tried to make a living on the family farm. In 1860 he decided that his prospects on the farm were “none too bright” and he decided to come to the United States.

Following two cousins, Hayes settled in Faxton, then a flourishing village not far from Belle Plaine. Jeremiah Hayes described life in Faxton:

“There were great times in that community in those days. They worked hard but they enjoyed themselves. There were several saloons and most of the stores had a whiskey barrel where drinks could be bought for five cents. There were dances in which Irish jigs were features, and sometimes there were fights. The boys were full of life and fun and naturally a little rough at times, but beyond a few black eyes and bruised noses little damage was done”

For three years, Jeremiah worked digging drainage ditches and saved his money. Eventually, he was able to bring his wife from Ireland to join him in the United States. The two settled on a small farm in St. John’s parish.

Jeremiah Hayes took pride in what he saw his is rough-and-tumble Irish roots. A huge fan of boxing, Hayes told the Belle Plaine Herald on January 24th, 1926 that “There was always a lot of good Irish names to be found among the boys at the prize ring”, and said of his youth “You see, they boys fought it out and shook hands afterwards. There was no long arguments and no sidestepping like we have nowadays. A man had to be able to stand up and take care of himself and it was the making of lots of them”.

Ellen Hayes passed away in 1891 from consumption. Jeremiah Continued to farm until 1921, when he moved in with his daughter in Belle Plaine. In his old age, Jeremiah Hayes was known for his jigging ability. He performed at American Legion meetings, and for the Twin City Auto Show, with favorite tunes including the Fisherman’s Hornpipe, Liverpool Hornpipe, and the Scottish Reel. He did not think much of Jazz, what he called “modern music”.

In his old age, Jeremiah Hayes left some advice behind for future generations on the pages of the Belle Plaine Herald “Young folks have too good of a time nowadays. A little hard work would do ‘em good”.

Hayes passed away on August 27, 1927 in Belle Plaine. Though his story, like all stories, is unique, he represents one of the largest mass-migrations of refugees in American history. Today, we celebrate those stories on St. Patrick’s day.

Written by Rose James, SCHS Program Manager

Why is the New Year in January?

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If you have ever wondered why the New Year starts in the freezing cold of January, you can thank Caesar. That’s right, Julius Caesar, leader of the Roman Empire. Before Caesar took power the length of a year was somewhat subjective. Politicians in Rome might add days, or subtract days to increase terms in the Senate; and it was based around the phases of the moon, but kept falling out of line with the seasons. Enter Caesar, who sought to set the calendar into a more predictable cycle, except he did so starting most of the way through the year, 45 B.C.E. As such, the Julian calendar began on January 1st instead of in March as was tradition.

By the time of the Middle Ages, the holiday had fallen into obscurity. Everyone knew the year started on January 1st, but the celebration of it went unobserved. The reason was because January 1st kept moving. Caesar did not calculate that a year is about 365.24 days long; instead he calculated at 365.25. After about a thousand years of adding a few minutes every year the calendar ended up having 376 days and kept adding. So in 1582 the Gregorian calendar came along and instituted the idea of the leap year to balance things back out. Since then, the first has been consistent, and thus people began to celebrate the New Year with regularity.

Happy New Year for all of us at the SCHS!

Written by Dave Nichols, Curator of Collections

New Years: 1919

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One hundred years ago Scott County was recovering from the Great War. International affairs, influenza, and global food supplies dominated newspaper headlines, pushing aside the local interest stories that had held the front pages prior to the outbreak of war. New Years 1919 was a chance for people to reflect on the violence of the past year and to envision a future free from war. As we leave 2018 behind, take a moment to explore the fears and dreams of Scott County as published in the new years editions of  newspapers from 100 years ago.

Belle Plaine Herald
January 2nd, 1919

The front page new of the Herald was the Great War and the flu. Prominently featured were the obituaries of two Belle Plain citizens, William Gomoll and the young soldier Frank Strandcutter, who had fallen victim to the 1918 flu epidemic. The paper’s featured article was “Some War Experiences”, a tribute to soldiers from Belle Plaine who had fought in the Great War. In local news, the paper praised Belle Plaine for growth in the face of wartime shortages.

Images below are from the Belle Plaine Herald, January 2nd, 1919

 Jordan Independant
January 2nd, 1919

The 1918 flu was also featured prominently on the front page of the Jordan Independent, as were wartime recollections. The headlining article was a wartime letter home from a soldier, published in its entirety.  Local front- page news highlighted the need for year-round county roads in order to keep communities growing and expand access to goods. Inside the paper, international affairs took the spotlight, with special attention on global food shortages.

Images below are from the Jordan Independent, January 2nd 1919

 Shakopee Tribune 
January 3rd, 1919

Like the rest of the county papers, the front page of the Tribune featured war news and sad news of county deaths due to flu and a train accident. The Tribune also inserted some levity with a piece on British naval nicknames, and an article on proper floral arrangement in vases- an odd choice for the flower-free month of January. Finally, the front page declared 1918 to be a year of steady progress in Shakopee.

Inside, the Tribune dedicated a full page to the joyous formation of the peace-keeping League of Nations. An article also outlined tensions in Syria, a piece that sadly would not have seemed out of place today.

Images below are from the Shakopee Tribune, January 3rd, 1919

New Prague Times
January 2nd, 1919

New Prague used their front page to pay tribute to many who had lost their lives in the previous year, including many flu victims,  in a New Years edition of the regular column entitled “Brief Neighborhood News”  Oddly, the column ended by highlighting the purchase of a turkey. The font page also outline the terms of the Great War peace treaty, and urged New Prague residents to join the Red Cross.

International news dominated the inside of the paper, with headlines such as “Russians In Sad Plight”, and “Puerto Rico Requires Food”.

Images below are from the New Prague Times. January 2nd, 1919


Scott County Argus 
January 2nd, 1919

The Argus’s headlining New Year story praised Minnesotans for their war efforts, bearing the headline “Food Administration Proud of State Record”. Like most county newspapers of the times, those that lost their lives were honored on the front page of the paper, including the influenza death of Gilbert Vierling. The front page also announced plans to build a reformatory for women in Shakopee.

The Argus was dominated by a timeline of events of 1918, organized into the cheery categories “World War”, “Domestic”, “Necrology” and “Disasters” Recent war news was highlighted with the headlines “Chaos in Russia”. “Why Polish Statehood Should Rise”, and “Martial Law in Polish Streets”.

Images below are from the Scott County Argus, January 2nd, 1919

 

Written by Rose James, SCHS Program Manager