By Duane Stanley
With this edition of History Matters, we introduce our spotlight on Kimball area families, particularly those with deep roots on Maine Prairie, Fair Haven, Kingston, and Kimball Prairie. If yours is a multi-generational family rooted in this area, we would like to add you to our series. We can only accomplish this if you will provide the information. We need names, dates, family stories, and a photo or two that we can use. You can write the article yourself, or we will write it from the information you send us.
Pope Family
Five generations of Popes have been at home on the prairie, beginning with Henry August Pope and his wife Eliza (Boggs) who came from Ohio in the 1870s. Henry (Poppe) was born in Germany in 1844, and came to America at age 7 with his parents August and Louisa (Rettberg) Poppe. They settled in southeastern Ohio, at Patriot. There Henry grew to manhood, enlisting with the 173rd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and serving until he was mustered out in 1865. He married Eliza Boggs that year and she gave birth to their nine children. (Two died in infancy.)
Ten years after being discharged, Henry joined with others from the area (including his Boggs in-laws) to follow their dreams. He drove a team of Morgan horses, weighing “but little more than two thousand pounds.” Arriving on Maine Prairie, he established a farm that touches on Beaver (Block) Lake. One hundred and twenty five years later, that same farm is still worked by his great-great-grandsons.
It is interesting to note that, despite military discharge papers in 1865 clearly using the surname “Pope,” plat maps in Stearns
County into the 20th century identify the farms in the names of
“H. Poppe” and “August Poppe.”
The lake-dotted prairie contrasted sharply with the hilly terrain the pioneers left in Ohio. In one of his letters back to his parents, Henry wrote about the lake he lived near, stating that his sons “can kill fish everyday.” Little did he know that his grandsons and great-grandsons all would become avid fishermen.
Two of Henry’s children remained in the Kimball area: Henry Clay “Sonny” Pope was just four years old when he came with his parents to Minnesota, and he would continue his father’s farming efforts at the homestead. Clifford Pope also lived in the area while brother Gus and sister Sara Knower both moved on to North Dakota. Ida Zeller moved to Hillman, Minn.
Two other siblings died relatively young. Sonny married Lena Zutz, and they had a daughter Hulda (who died young) and three sons, with farming in their blood and an attraction in their respective hearts for three Scheeler sisters.
Frank, Dan and Wheeler Pope married Marie, Elsie and Laura Scheeler. Frank and Marie gained a farm adjacent to the family homestead; they had no children.
At first, Dan Pope gave indication that his path would be away from the farm. He joined the Army Air Corps following high school, and returned to the service when the Second World War broke out. He returned to work at the
St. Cloud airport but, just before marrying Elsie, he announced he had purchased a farm just east of Kimball as an investment. They moved to that farm (mostly east of Highway 55, south of the implement dealer) and lived there until Dan’s death in 2000. There they raised four children: Dana, Elsa, Ross and Dan. Only the youngest, Dan and his family, remain in the Kimball area, on the farm.
Wheeler and Laura farmed the original homestead. Three children blessed their marriage: Gale, Audrey and Wayne. Wayne has passed away, but his sons Travis and Justin now farm the historic home place.
Frank and Dan Pope have both passed on. Marie Pope along with Wheeler and Laura Pope live with Wheeler’s daughter Audrey in
St. Cloud. Elsie lives with her daughter Elsa in Mendota Heights. Son Ross and his family live in Maple Grove. The Gale Pope family lives in St. Cloud. Dana (Pope) Thul of Princeton is working with her aunt Marie, now 99 years old, her aunt Laura, and her mother Elsie on a history of the Scheeler family, who also have a long history in the Pearl Lake area. The family gave the land for the original Catholic Church (St. Lawrence) just west of Pearl Lake. That church was badly damaged by a tornado, referred to by old settlers as “the devil’s cyclone,” as it seemed to target a number of churches in its destructive fury.
The Popes maintain ties with distant relatives who remained in the area of Patriot, Ohio. Each year a family reunion is held at the church August and Louisa Poppe helped establish when they arrived in America more than 150 years ago. In Ohio, a grand-nephew, Henry Myers, honors Corporal Henry August Pope in Civil War re-enactments. Henry himself died in 1924, and he is buried in the Maine Prairie Cemetery.
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Perhaps you noticed that we are privileged to have Duane Stanley’s great contributions for stories in this column, for which we are grateful.
While Maureen Galvin has been the curator for Wright County History Center, and is now for Sherburne County History Center, one of the many passions she has studied and developed is architectural history and “Sears Roebuck Catalog Homes” is one specialty. Her debut in Kimball will include “Show and Tell” with earliest homes reaching “historic” status of 100 year old. So bring others and join the program, fun and refreshments. It’s free and open to the public. Remember, it’s 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 26, at Kimball’s Historic City Hall.
Tuesday, Nov. 16 Ð Holiday Pot-Luck from 6:30-8 p.m. in City Hall. Come join us for this fourth annual social gathering, discuss these past summer months and relax. Bring any ideas you have for program and event topics you’d enjoy in 2011 or beyond. Bring a dish to pass, family and friends, all are welcome. Beverage and eating utensils will be provided. Free of charge. See you there.
Today in history: In 1797, the United States Navy frigate Constitution, also known as “Old Ironsides,” was launched in Boston Harbor.
In 1879: Thomas Edison invented a workable electric light at his laboratory in Menlo Park, N.J.
In 1945: Women in France were allowed to vote for the first time.
For more information, tax-deductible donations, membership, your family history, help for your genealogy or volunteering opportunities, contact the Kimball Area Historical Society, PO Box 100, Kimball MN 55353, or call (320) 398-5743 or 398-5250, or e-mail cnewman@meltel.net.
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We are legendary! R U?
History will write the story
Rooted on the prairie: The Popes
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