Those Were the Days

Louis Osterlund, coming from Sweden in 1881, became the assistant postmaster in 1882 and a clerk in the store. Peter Wicklund bought an interest in the company and became a member of the firm December 1, 1882. The store was operated for three years and with a big closing out sale, it went out of business; the building was then used for Dassel's roller skating rink. In 1887, the property was sold to J. Norgren & Co., and used by them in the general merchandise business until it was destroyed in the big fire of January 12, 1900.

Other prosperous stores in this period were S. W. Maxson, Otto Marr, J. J. Sundquist, E. Braun, Jr., Asp & Wills, and E. E. Edminster & Co.

John Osborn started the first lumber yard in 1874 and in 1881 sold out to John, J. J., and Louis Rudberg, who added furniture and undertaking. John Osborn died January 23. 1916, age 76.

At the death of Louis Rudberg, January 10, 1884, and J. J. in 1885, John Rudberg paid off their heirs and continued in this line of business until 1896 when he retired and sold out to B. Bresden with L. E. Larson as its able and progressive manager. In a few years it was bought by Larson Bros.; farm machinery, wagons, buggies and bicycles were also sold. It is now owned by the Central Lumber Company.

L. E. Larson was born September 14. 1871 and died January 14, 1938. Malmer Larson died August 21, 1940, his age was 66.

Peter Johnson opened the second lumber yard in 1885 and sold it to John Rudberg in 1887. John Rudberg died April 15, 1903; he was 67 years old.

Andrew Swanberg opened a yard in 1889 and he also disposed of it to John Rudberg in 1891. Fred Rudberg entered the lumber business in 1902 but sold out to Larson Bros. in 1903.

Iverson & Co. established a lumber yard in 1902, which was sold to Herman Manthei in 1910. This is now operated by W. J. Manthei, under the firm name of Manthei & Manthei. Herman Manthei died February 20. 1936. at the age of 69.

In 1869 Ralph Peters erected a building for a hotel which was operated by him until the Dassel House was built in 1872 by George Brower, who was its landlord until 1873 when he sold the property to Samuel A. Bunting. After Sam Bunting died in 1875, his widow operated the hotel until 1877, when J. H. Remick became its landlord. On February 3, 1883 it was destroyed, together with some other buildings in Block 7. This was Dassel's first big-fire.

There, Ray F. Case came near losing his life. He was wedged in between the Dassel House on fire and a small office building which an attempt was being made to move out on rollers, but it slipped off and there he was. But not long, for L. A. Whittemore, Jack Riordan and Ben Records got a rope around him and' they hauled him out, badly bruised and burned but saved, in time to escape death.

A new Dassel House was then built by J. H. Remick, Wm. Galiger, and John S. Larson. After it was completed, Larson sold his interest in the hotel and received in payment the east 25 feet of the property which has since that time been used in various lines of business.

These three prominent citizens of Dassel lived here until their death: J. H. Remick. September 21, 1911, age 81; Wm. Galiger, June 11, 1917, age 63, and John S. Larson, November 19, 1933, age 77.

From 1883 to 1904, the years of this historical review, it has had as its managers, Wm. Galiger, L. H. Rawson, William S. Coburn. H, W. Fearer, Frank H. Waterman, Emma Adlerbjelke, Rhoda A. Rawson, Carrie L. Rawson, and John Thompson, all running it with success and giving the best of service to its many customers.

It is now known as the Park Hotel and still giving the same good service.

The G. A. R, House was built in 1879 by R. T. Eiliott, who gave excellent service to the public and enjoyed a good business for many years. He died November 22, 1912, at the age of 73.

The Grand Hotel was built by Peter Johnson in 1887 and its first landlord was Ed. Taylor who gave a satisfactory service to the traveling public. It was destroyed by fire in 1903 and not rebuilt.

Country villages seldom had restaurants; the hotels served meals at the regular hours and confectionery stores had a lunch counter where you could get a bite anytime during the day and late at night.

The early liquor dealers of Dassel were among our foremost and most enterprising citizens. They owned their own homes and were always willing to help the needy and advance the interests of our community. From 1870 to 1878 the license was from $40 to $100 and as the village gained in population, it was increased to two, three, four, then five hundred dollars, at which figure it remained for many years. Of this five hundred, the Dassel Public Schools, by a special act of the Minnesota Legislature in 1891, received one-half.

The pioneers in this line were:

The Dassel Brass Band was organized in 1878 with the following members, nearly all of them leading business men of Dassel:

W. L. VanEman; Director; Louis Rudberg. John S. Larson. Nels Chelgren. Douglas Martin, J. J. Rudberg. Oliver Bacon. Charles H. Morris, H. L. Babst, J. W. Norgren, George Norton, John E. Bunker, and Guy Breed. And since that time we have seldom been without a good band. It is now called the Dassel Concert Band, one of the best in the state.

For over sixty years Dassel has generally had a baseball club, with the champion team of central Minnesota in 1887 and 1903. The team of 1887 consisted of Watson, catcher; Herkimer, pitcher; O. Nash, first base; G. Nash, second base; McNulty, third base: Miller, short-stop; Kearns, left field; C. H. Nash, center field; and Records, right field. Three of these players were formerly with the Haymakers of Forest City and four from the Lyndales of Minneapolis.

The baseball batter in 1887 had four strikes and five balls, and fouls were fouls and not strikes.

Dassel's baseball line-up in 1903 was as follows: Lee Wright, catcher; Tom Riffe, pitcher: Louis Boyer, first base: Arthur Nelson, second base: Chas. Gibney, third base; Wm. A. Linquist, short stop; Albert Colberg, left field; Chas. W. Henke, center field: and Fred F. Spath, right field.

In 1872 the Pioneer Drug Store was opened for business by Louis Rudberg and Charles A. Morris. In 1875 Rudberg sold his one-half of the store to Morris and in 1880 he sold out to Dr. C. A. McCollom and Geo. B. Breed. They sold it to Rudberg Bros, in 1883.

On his way to Sweden for a vacation in 1885, J. J. Rudberg died in Philadelphia on February 8th, age 42, and the business was then sold to Ray F. Case who was their druggist. He operated it with success until he sold out to McCoy & Co. in 1898, who had started the second store of this kind in 1894. This is now the W. J. Busch Drug Store.

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Meeker County