Granted a License to Sell Milk, 1897 Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota

Copyright 2017, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Now and then I find a news article a bit out of the ordinary, no police stuff, no wedding stuff, just well - - 

This is from the November 22, 1897 issue of the Star Tribune, published in Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota.

It is a notice of the granting of licenses for residents of the city of Minneapolis to sell, MILK.  Not booze, no moonshine, MILK!

I'm going out on a limb here to suggest that it may require a milk cow near the property to accomplish this, unless, of course, they go by vehicle to farms outside of the city limits to get their milk, daily??  No matter, the fun part here is:

H. W. Lashbrook, 3114 Morgan avenue north.

Who is in fact, W. H. Lashbrook (slight typo there), Man's great-grandfather, Wallace Henry Lashbrook.

The license appears to be valid for 6 months.

Yes, we researchers DO love our newspapers.

* Clipping courtesy of Newspapers.com. I have a subscription there, which I pay for.  Please see my Disclaimers Page at the top of this blog.

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Wedding Wednesday :: One of My Favorite Marriage Records

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

When I first started my family research, a few moons, OK, many moons ago, most of Man's grandfather's story (my beloved Archie, he has taken me on quite the journey, I do love that man!) was one huge mystery.

Over the months and years I have dug a bit here and there, and unearthed tidbits here and there.  When I started this life changing hobby, we did not even know Archie's real birth name.  We had suspicions, family whisperings that our surname really was not our surname.  Well, those suspicions alone will send any addicted researcher into a tizy, and my tizy is still ongoing, some 20 plus years later.

After a few months of research and the discovery of the real surname, I found 12 pages tucked in the back of a family surname book.  The compiler could not tie the lineage to her main body of work.  I have never found a connection either.  But, that compiler in her one name search had 12 pages of Man's family, briefly stated, but, a wonderful outline to work from.  Yes, I thank her daily, without her, I don't believe I would have put it together in 20 years.  Instead in 20 years I took her 12 pages and it now is well over 800 pages if printed in a narrative style report.  (I am afraid to find out how many, after about 800 pages I stopped running the reports and checking.  LOL)

I then set out to prove the 12 pages, document it, and fill in a tremendous amount of holes.  I am still filling in holes all these years later.

One of the first holes I wanted to fill was to find documentation surrounding the parents of Man's grandfather Archie, Wallace Henry Lashbrook and Letta (Lettie) Amelia Clifford.  On a research trip to Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana I set out to discover their marriage.  I knew she had been living in Floyd County Iowa (thanks to my census research).  My master plan was pull index books for Floyd County and then proceed to surrounding counties.  I hit paydirt on the first try, I found Wallace and Lettie in a Floyd County index compiled book.  I will never forget the thrill, it was HUGE!  Yea, a bit of dancing, and hooting and hollaring went in, in the middle of the library.  Well, quiet hooting and hollaring!

Later I obtained a copy of that marriage record, it is one of my favorites.  Wallace and Lettie were not hiding from me!

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Allen County Research Trip, Just a Few Finds

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

This week I had the opportunity to take a 2 day research trip with the local genie club to Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

I happen to LOVE Allen County Public Library and have been many times.  It is about 2 to 2.5 hours from home, far enough that I don't care to make it a day trip, way too much driving for just a few hours of research, however, a stay over trip is wonderful. Many times Man and I have stayed in a local campground.  He loves to shop techy toys and get trucks worked in Fort Wayne, several of our computers have been purchased there.  So, he has something to entertain himself with while I research.  WIN - WIN.

I mentioned on Google Plus and on Facebook that my research results were less than stellar.  This was due in part to the fact that I am at the point in my research where I have a LOT of brick walls, and the days of making reams of copies in 2 days at Allen County are pretty much behind me.  But, there is that ongoing to do list.  And, I must confess that there are a few items on that to do list that are rather old.  OK, YEARS old, like 10 years old.  These were obviously things that were interesting enough for me to add to the to do list, but, not so important that I wanted them RIGHT now!  Because in all subsequent trips to Ft. Wayne, I have left them for last, or ignored them on the list.

This trip, I decided to address some of these items, once and for all.

Results:  Pretty good, I did not necessarily find mind blowing happy dancing information.  I did address many of the older ones.  I pulled books and read some microfilm, looked good and hard, and decided they just didn't do me any good.  Those to do items will be deleted from the list.  That is a good thing.

Here is a sign of the times, some of the items were resolved not only by the books and sources available at the library, but, by Find A Grave.  I'll not say more about this at this time.

I did have a couple of new items on my to do list, several of these items could not have been done anywhere BUT the library.  One of the finds that was a lot of fun for me was to pull a copy of the work, "Encyclopedia of American Farm Implements & Antiques" by Charles H. Wendel, published in 2004, by Krause Publications.

Man's great grandfather, Wallace H. Lashbrook, who I have mentioned a time or two on this blog, was a traveling salesman, he sold farm machinery, just what types, I am not sure. I have one mention of something very specific.  He exhibited the Plano harvester and binder at the 1886 Michigan State Fair.  I found this image in the Wendel book, and even though it is not a harvester binder, it is a Plano product.

I think it will be a fun graphic to add to his multimedia events, adding some understanding and appreciation to his biography.  I was able to find a number of these graphics, for a number of the companies I believe he worked for over the years.  The names of those companies were derived from old city directories.  Gotta love those directories!

One of our members found this HUGE family chart.  Amazing isn't it??

I spent a bit of time doing some lookups for a genie friend and experimenting with new technology and toys via my tablet.  I'll write about that next.



* You can see and learn more about the Allen County Public Library from my post, Allen County Public Library, A Great Place To Research, August 29, 2010.

** Disclaimer, you know the routine, Facebook, Google Plus, Find A Grave and all other mentions of web sites are put here without any financial considerations back to Reflections.  I use the services, sometimes successfully, others, well, not so successfully.  Sometimes I speak highly of them, other times, well, I rant!
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Wallace, The Traveling Man, err, Salesman

Copyright 2011, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

As I mentioned in yesterday's post on Wallace and the Michigan State Fair, Man's great grandfather was a traveling man, err, a traveling salesman.  He sold farm implements for years, basically for his entire working career, except for a brief stint when he worked as a miller in the earliest years of his marriage.

Imagine my delight when I found the following short mention of Wallace in a newspaper, the St. Paul Daily Globe. (Saint Paul, Minn.) in the May 26, 1888 issue, buried on Page 10.

"THEY WERE ON THE OMAHA
  A Long List of Commercial Travelers Whom "Charlie" Ran Across."
(Down the column several entries, we find:)
"W. H. Lashbrook, of Chicago, put in an appearance at Belle Plaine on Monday."

Even better was this wonderful cartoon graphic that appeared at the top of the column.

So, have to wonder (she asks, with twinkle in eye and tongue in cheek), is Wallace the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd gentleman checking in at the hotel?



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Wallace and the Michigan State Fair

Copyright 2011, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

We have known of and researched Wallace Henry Lashbrook's career in implement sales for some time.  One of our great delights was the discovery that he lived not 45 minutes from our stick built home here in SE Michigan.  You see, Wallace is Man's great grandfather.  He worked for quite a few different companies over his traveling salesman career, including Plano Manufacturing, Wm. Deering Company, the Milwaukee Harvester Company, McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, Kalamazoo Wagon Company, and the list and the mergers go on and on.

Now and then I find another tidbit on Wallace, one great find was a newspaper report from September 16, 1886 where it is reported he represented Plano at the Michigan State Fair.  There was a page long report in the Jackson Citizen Patriot, which is and was published in Jackson, Jackson County, Michigan.  The portion of the article that relates to our Wallace reads thusly:

"THE PLANO HARVESTER AND BINDER - AN

EXHIBIT OF RARE MERIT AND INTEREST,

Never before has there been a greater exhibit of farming implements at a Michigan state fair, and when a machine holds the attention of the multitude, the inference is that its merit is the stronghold. In popularity the Plano harvester and binder has earned an intelligent recognition for its symmetry and lightness of draft, as well as for its durability and beauty in design and finish. Among its many points of excellence we might mention that it balances so perfectly on the main wheel there is no side draft or weight on the horses necks; lodged grain can be picked up and saved; the adjuster will neither work apart, skip or stop; the main wheel is extra wide and strong, etc. The Chicago headquarters of the Plano is corner of Lake and Canal streets. W. H. Lashbrook, general agent of Michigan and northern Indiana, has charge of the exhibit. Brown & Myers are the local agents. Call on them at their office, West Pearl street."

While processing this colorful tidbit, I decided to go searching for any image I could find of the Plano harvester and binder.  Of course, I did not even know what a binder was, but, since when does that stop me?  Never.

I found a newer book, written in 2004, by C H Wendel, ISBN # 0-87349-568-3, "Encyclopedia of American farm implements & antiques", which I found in limited viewing at Google Books. There was an image too! But, due to copyright, I am going to need you go visit the site if you want to see the image.  On the top right hand column of page 179 of that book starts a short discussion of the Plano company and there are several drawings of the equipment.

Back to my GoogleBooks search I found another book, in the public domain, which I downloaded, because it promises to be a great read, "Recollections 1837-1910" by Charles W. Marsh, published 1910 by the Chicago Farm Implement News Company.  I found a drawing between pages 92 and 93 of what they call a "standard harvester and binder", by Deering.

And, so, even tho I have not yet found an image of the Plano machine that Wallace was hocking at the Michigan State Fair in 1886, I now at least have an idea of what it looked like.




* By the way, after speed reading the 9 page Table of Contents of the book by Charles W. Marsh, I find I am going to have to take time to read it at length, seems the first chapter is pretty much a family history, and somewhere in one of the other chapters he refers to arriving in Chicago in 1849.  Richard and Ann Lashbrook, grandparents of Wallace Henry Lashbrook arrived in that area just about 5 to 7 years prior.

**The disclaimers, all product names mentioned are most likely copyrighted by the companies behind same.  I claim no interest.  They pay me nothing to mention them or write my posts here at Reflections.  A huge thanks to GoogleBooks for the books scanned and online that I found during the research of this post.  You will note that I left their water mark on the image I did use, I feel it is within fair use to use one image from a book that was published in 1910 and contains well over 300 pages.  I did not use the image from the book that was published in 2004, but provided you with a link.
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