Looking Back: Farmington family escaped injury in car-train accident 100 years ago

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50 years ago

From the Sept. 27, 1962

edition of the

Dakota County Tribune

Pre-trial exam asked in Knott shooting case

Attorneys for Mrs. Andre Knott, 49, of Farmington, have requested a psychiatric examination for their client to determine if she is capable of facing a first degree murder indictment in the alleged .22-rifle slaying of her only son Dana, 10, late in December of 1961....

We understand Judge Roy Nelsen is agreeable to having Mrs. Knott have a psychiatric examination by a psychiatrist selected by her attorneys, Wm. Esling and Thomas Malone of St. Paul. An order for the exam is being prepared at this writing, Wednesday.

County Attorney Jerome Kluck indicated he is ready for the district court jury trial on grounds of first degree murder. He said he may want to ask a few mental tests from the state before proceeding, however.

Local 16-year-old escapes from Red Wing School

A police bulletin is out since Tuesday night for the 16-year-old Farmington boy, who was with a 13-year-old boy last week when they stole 5 cars in two days.

The 16-year-old was working in the kitchen of the Red Wing Training School Tuesday night when he escaped wearing white kitchen garments.

The 13 year-old was released to his parents last week when the two boys were caught loitering in an alley in Owatonna on Saturday night.

Hospital appeal office moves; total $371,335

Farmington’s highly-successful hospital drive reached $371,335 as of Wednesday of this week in a campaign for the Central Dakota 50-bed, $1,200,000 hospital.

The drive was well over the top, passing the goal of $350,000 as the local area share.

Financiers agree the more money pledged, the better debt-reduction schedule the hospital can have.

New student council names officers here

At the September 7 meeting of the Farmington High School student council the following officers were elected: vice president, Donald Feely; secretary, Linda Wood; treasurer, Mary Ellen Feely; and historian, Kathleen Corrigan.

Richard Beyer, the vice president last year, automatically takes over the position as president of the council for 1962-63.

The council’s first big project in the fall is homecoming festivities.

75 years ago

From the Oct. 1, 1937

edition of the

Dakota County Tribune

1st R.E.A. pole set this week

After considerable delay two carloads of poles finally arrived at Coates for the Langford Electric company of Minneapolis to be used for construction of the Dakota County R.E.A. lines.

C.H. Gelder, project superintendent for the Dakota County Electric Co-Operative, reports that actual construction commenced on Tuesday and that poles are going up as fast as possible. At this writing (Wednesday), the crew is on the German Road in Inver Grove township.

Staking by the engineers is now being carried on in Eureka Township along the old Jefferson Highway.

Many farms are being wired up in the eastern part of our county where staking has been completed. Many farmers are wiring now because of anticipation that wiremen will be hard to get in the near future.

The word of Mr. Gelder and the contractor is that construction of the total project will be completed by Dec. 1 and farmers can have electric lights on their Christmas trees.

Local confectionery closes doors here

Whittier’s confectionary which has been operating here 26 years was closed this week by Lloyd Whittier, Jr., who has accepted a position with the Campbell Dairy company. The fixtures will be sold.

The confectionary was started 26 years ago by L.A. Whittier in the building now operated by the Gamble Store. Six years later in 1917 the business was moved to the north section of the new Masonic Temple. A year ago the business was purchased by Lloyd Whittier, Jr. We understand the quarters will be rented but nothing definite has been decided.

Castle Rock shipped 135 carloads since Aug. 19

Castle Rock, truck garden center of the state, ships out more than 20 carloads of onions a month, as was stated in last week’s issue.

Greg McGinn, once a local boy, now railway station agent of Castle Rock, informs the Tribune that from Aug. 19 to Sept. 27 that little village shipped out – 78 carloads of onions, 57 carloads of potatoes.

Greg says that by the second week in October, when shipping ends, 70 carloads of potatoes will have been shipped out in addition to 10 carloads of carrots.

The products are all graded at Castle Rock and shipped east and south. Shipment of spuds and onions to points all over the nation has made this the biggest year in railroad history at the Castle Rock station.

Turek & Company here 25 years

J.L. Turek & Company will celebrate their 25th anniversary in the meat business in Farmington, Saturday, Oct. 2 with an anniversary sale. The meat market, a continuation of the L.R. Lieske market, has been operated by J.L. Turek and J.N. Stegmaier since Oct. 4, 1912.

Mr. Turek, a native of Montgomery, began working for the late Mr. Leiske in 1909 and continued there part of the next year.

On Jan. 7, 1910 he was married to Rose Stegmaier at Madison Lake. That same year they moved to Red Wing when Mr. Turek was employed by Dick Wilkins, meat dealer.

On Oct. 4, 1912 Mr. Turek formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, J.N Stegmaier of Madison Lake, and they purchased the Lieske meat market here, then located in the Mike Moes building north of E.M. Gerster’s.

Two years later on Thanksgiving day, Nov. 26, 1914 Mr. Stegmaier was united in marriage with Anna Lommel of Farmington.

In 1919 the meat dealers erected their present building, a 28x90 structure with a brick front and tile walls, moving in on Jan. 10, 1920. They added the grocery department 10 years ago.

100 years ago

From the Sept. 27, 1912

edition of the

Dakota County Tribune

An auto accident

Another automobile accident occurred to Farmington people last week and owing to rush of work we were unable to give the details in our last issue.

John Hoffman with his wife, son and daughter, were crossing the railroad a mile south of Castle Rock when they were hit by a northbound Rock Island passenger train due here at 3:50 p.m. They were running late and were to pass the southbound Rock Island then standing partly on the siding, and a part of one coach on the main line, and were making 45 miles an hour.

The Hoffman car was approaching the crossing from the east and they were watching the southbound train and did not see the northbound until within a few rods of the track when it was too late to stop.

They applied the brake and locked the wheels but they were also going at a lively speed and the momentum carried them to the track, the front wheels being about over the first rail when the engine struck them.

This crossing is in an open country and a train can be seen for some distance on either side, but as the engineer did not whistle for the crossing and their attention was attracted by the train on the siding the cause for the accident was a reasonable one.

The front part of the auto, including the engine, was torn away and the occupants escaped without injury, which is nothing short of a miracle that all were not instantly killed. The train was stopped and the unfortunate taken to the station.

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