Backstage Pass to North Dakota History

This blog takes you behind the scenes of the State Historical Society of North Dakota. Get a glimpse at a day-in-the-life of the staff, volunteers, and partners who make it all possible. Discover what it takes to preserve North Dakota's natural and cultural history.

This summer, I was hired at the North Dakota State Archives as an intern working on manuscript collections donated by private individuals and organizations. I cataloged and digitized land patents, citizenship certificates, biographies, autobiographies, photographs, and short sketches of men and women from early North Dakota history.

These types of papers contain various elements, which create a comprehensive picture of lives that came and went in very different ways. Yet their stamp on North Dakota history cannot be taken for granted.

One of my favorite collections I worked on included some biographies that were done through the Fargo Forum. Consisting of four pages, these were intended “to obtain accurate knowledge of your life, when news stories justify inclusion of biographical matter pertaining to you.” This biography questionnaire is particularly unique because of the spotlight it shines on participants’ genealogical information.

These questionnaires were meant to inform future North Dakota-related stories. Now they are helping us fill in information about the lives of early North Dakota settlers.

Check out some examples below!

This first form contains information about Michael L. Keeley’s life filled out by his son, Ronald Keely.

black and white image of an older man wearing a white button up shirt, suit jacket, and bowtie

Photo of Michael Keely that appeared with his obituary in the Oct. 31, 1957, Hazen Star.

Michael (Mike) Keeley was born Sept. 24, 1873, in Winnipeg, Canada, to John Keeley and Elizabeth Moran, both originally from Ireland. In 1902, he married Alice Gallagher in Hazen; they had their only son, Ronald Keeley, in 1912. Mike and Elizabeth were pillars in the community, working as ranchers and farmers and later owning and managing a hotel.

Fargo Forum Biography Questionnaire for Michael L. Keeley....Mike Keeley

SHSND SA MSS 90033

A few fun elements of note:

  1. Ronald didn’t know his mother’s birthday because “she won’t tell.”

    Name of Wife - Alice Gallagher. His or her birthplace - Emmetsburg, Iowa. date - Not known (she won't tell). Where married - Hazen, North Dakota. Date - Oct. , 1902. Name of mate's father - John Gallagher. His birthplace - Ireland. Name of mate's mother - Katharine McNulty. Her birthplace - Ireland. Names of Your Children - Ronald Keeley. Birthdate - June 16, 1912. Residence and Occupation - Postmaster, Hazen, N. Dak.

    SHSND SA MSS 90033

  2. Mike “gave the land [for] and solicited to build the” St. Martin’s Catholic Church.

    Religious affiliations: Member of the St. Martin's Catholic Church - Hazen. Offices Held: Gave the land and solicited to build the church. Held the office Trustee.

    SHSND SA MSS 90033

  3. Mike talks about the experiences of his mother, Elizabeth Dunlavey Dolan, working as “head cook” for the Northern Pacific Railway in Dickinson and then Medora. He mentions that Theodore Roosevelt and the Marquis de Morès were “frequent visitors” to her table at that time. But that “no one paid much attention to them then.”

    Miscellaneous. Please use the following space for additional information. Would appreciate here chronological data on your business, professional or other service, including various affiliations, other residences, etc. We would appreciate you using this space, and if necessary, additional space, to give us those facts that do not lend themselves to the straight biographical form. If the information is to be added to some of the items mentioned before. place the number of the item in front of the additional information. Mother whose name was Mrs. Elizabeth Dunlavey at the time was head cook for the N.P. Ry first at Pleasant Valley which is now known as Dickinson. and then at Little Missouri which is now known as Medora. Medora or Little Missouri was then but a tent town for the building of the bridge across the Little Missouri. Marquis de Mores and Teddy Roosevelt were frequent visitors to her N.P.Ry dinning table. Soldiers were then stationed about 1/2 mile from the Railway Bridge to protect the Railway from the indians. Roosevelt was generally referred to at that time as a dude because of his Eastern manner and speach. de mores was mentioned among the men as a rich Frenshman talking about starting a packing plant. No one paid much attention to them then. It was rumored authoritively that when a Mr. Paddock killed section form an Livingston that Marquis de Mores was present at Paddock's ranch where the incident took place. Buffalo hides and meat at that time were piled along the track like cord wood the hides being worth at that time about $2.50 a piece. Buffalo hunters were hired for $50. a month for which they were required to kill and skin 16 buffalo a day. Me and my bother Tom Keeley, and my mother whose name was then Mrs. Elizabeth Dunlavey Dolan came to Mercer County in 1884 and settled four miles East of the present city of Hazen. After North Dakota became a state I homesteaded here at Hazen and the present City of Hazen built on my pasture. I can also speak Indian and German language.

    SHSND SA MSS 90033

This second questionnaire contains information about William Oscar Ward’s life filled out by his daughter, Belle (Ward) Shute.

portrait of a man with a beard and mustache who is wearing a button up shirt, vest, and jacket.

William Oscar Ward. SHSND SA 2016-P-043

William Oscar Ward was born May 3, 1839, in Erie, Pennsylvania, to Jeremiah Ward and Emma Jeannette Loomis, both originally from the East Coast. He married Florence Jane Manley in 1869 and had seven children with her. A self-educated man, William fought in the Civil War and then worked as a rancher, farmer, and dairyman for most of his life.

Fargo Forum Biography Questionnaire for William Oscar Ward

SHSND SA MSS 90062

Some of his more interesting responses include the following:

  1. Asked “Where were you as a child?”, William noted: “In the woods of Northwest Pa.”

    Where were you as a child? In the woods of Northwest Pa.

    SHSND SA MSS 90062

  2. William’s Civil War military record includes participation in Sherman’s March to Sea and the battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg.

    Military record: All of Civil War -- 4th Minn. Volunteers, 2 Reg U.S.V. Place - Albert Lea, Minn. Regiment - 4th Minn. Voluno. Battles - Shermans March to Sea, Gettysburg, Vicksburg

    SHSND SA MSS 90062

  3. A letter from his daughter Belle regarding Jennette, his oldest daughter, notes that she and another girl were “the first students ever graduated from the Bismarck High School.”

    Penney Farms, Fla. Sept. 4, 1851. Mr. Roy P. Johnson, Staff Writer of Fargo Forum. Dear Sir, Your letter of Aug 28 has been received. I hasten to provide the missing information you ask for. Jennette Ward was the eldest child of S Oscar Ward. She was born in 1869, Sept. 8. She and one other girl, were the first students ever graduated from the Bismarck High School. She taught school in Mont. and Wyo. with excellent results. Later she married a ranchman. Her eldest son held, at one time,, the world's record for altitude in the U.S. Air Force, Stephen Callaway. The photograph has arrived. Thanks. Sincerely, Mrs. A Lincoln Shute

    SHSND SA MSS 90062

  4. William’s daughter listed “purposeful occupation, honesty, and justice” as his hobbies.
     

  5. Other interests included “community advancement, a city parking system, and a Protestant cemetery for the city.”

    Hobbies - purposeful occupation, Honesty and Justice. Recreation - hunting wild game. Other interests - community advancement, a city parking system, a protestant cemetery for the city.

    SHSND SA MSS 90062

It has been a joy to explore early North Dakota through the lives and stories people from the past took the time to write down for themselves or future generations. This aspect of history continues to intrigue me and pull me further into the world of archives. A big thanks to Manuscript Archivist Emily Kubischta and the rest of the State Archives and reference team for giving me space to learn and experience the personal side of history through these collections.