DICKEY County was settled by a people who came here to make their homes, so they early gave attention to schools, churches and fraternal organizations. The first school in Ellendale was a private enterprise. On August 26^th, 1882 a meeting of the citizens was called in the Milwaukee depot for the purpose of arranging for the organization of a school. It was voted not to form an organized district but to raise money by popular subscription. A committee for this purpose was appointed and the following week this committee reported that they had secured one hundred thirty-two dollars. This money was turned over to Mr. Samuel B. Meacham for the purpose of repairing his building for school and engaging a teacher. The teacher hired was his wife, Mrs. May Meacham, who opened the school on September 25^th, in the building now used (1929) as the office of the Northern Power and Light Company. Mrs. Meacham was to furnish the building and teach for three months for one hundred dollars and one ton of coal.  Twenty pupils were enrolled the first day but a total of thirty-one pupils were admitted during the three months' term and the average attendance was sixteen. Books from all over the United States were used with scarcely two alike. The only piano in town, belonging to Miss Blanche Davis, was in the school room to help in the opening exercises. Mr. and Mrs. Meacham lived in the same building and did their cooking in the school room for several weeks, until the room in the rear was completed. This was the first school in Dickey County.

A common school district three miles square was organized by the new county superintendent, Mrs. F. F. Bergendahl. The first organized school in Ellendale was located in the south part of town and Mrs. E. J. Herbert was the teacher. The attendance grew rapidly and more room had to be provided so bonds were issued and a new building erected.

A school was organized in Keystone in the summer of 1883 with Mrs.  W. A. Caldwell as teacher. This school was held in the "tabernacle" which was built by Haggerty and used for a hotel, a large building with seven foot posts and a flat roof. There were tiers of bunks along the walls for the accommodation of guests. The school furniture consisted of little plank tables at which the students sat in chairs, two at a table. The next school was held in the upstairs of the Wilson house, and then a place was provided for it in the original Caldwell store. When the town was moved over to Monango the children went to school in a little school house a mile or two west of the town. Mrs. Mary Crabtree Morrison was the teacher, and after this one winter in that location the school was moved to Monango.

The first schools were usually held in the sod houses or tar paper shack homes of the pioneers.   The furniture was pretty apt to be hand made.  Books were procured from the publishing houses and the subjects studied were very much the same as those of the older states, for the pioneers came from places where schools were appreciated.   The teachers were graded according as to whether they held a first, second or third grade certificate. The prevailing salary seems to have been six dollars a week, and in some places the teacher "boarded around".  In the country schools the term was from two to four months in length according to the amount of money available.   In towns the terms were longer, sometimes as long as eight months.  The children of foreign parents usually attended school through the third and sometimes the fourth grade.  Those of American parentage often went as far as they could in their home school and then went back to the old home or some good high school and completed their education. Most of the schools in the rural districts were attempting to do work up to and including the ninth grade, and that with one teacher.  In one town school in 1887 an exceptionally good man teacher received $30.00 a month, and had sixty pupils. After some years the wages advanced and a first grade teacher received $32.00 per month, a second grade $30.00 and a third grade, $28.00. Country board for teachers was $2.00 a week and in town $3.00.

An interesting account of those early school days is given by a former pupil of the Ticeville school. Emily Kennedy relates rather a typical story of these early day experiences. "Our first term of school was held in a small claim shanty belonging to Grandma Woodward, and was taught by tiny, merry, seventeen year-old May Towne. While the discipline was not all that might have been desired it at least was as good as could have been expected in so small a room. A perpetual feud existed between the boys and girls, who sat on opposite sides of the room. We studied aloud, stopping occasionally to hurl a book or an epithet at an enemy across the not more than six feet of intervening space. Cool days found us spending recess periods twisting hay to be burned in the little air-tight stove. We were exceedingly fond of our little teacher, and attested our loyalty by being model students for one afternoon, during the dread visit of the county superintendent.

"Our second term was held in the new Ticeville school house. We were fortunate in having as teacher Fred Sinclair, a man of culture and vision. The custom of "boarding round" inaugurated that year, was discontinued afterward, much to the relief undoubtedly of Mr. Sinclair's successors. We had two or three excellent teachers, among whom charming Julia Graham fresh from normal school, stands out conspicuously.   We thought her beautiful and her clothes, from the bustle of fashionably ample dimensions to the rich, red velvet cuffs and collar which adorned her green broadcloth dress, perfect.

"But it was during the year I was able to attend the Ludden school that I came in contact with that teacher, Mrs. Karten,-a woman of vision and talent, who made the school room a place of delight. While it is true that her methods met with adverse criticism, I believe her pupils all found her teaching inspiring. She was a purist and spoke delightful English. She stressed proper pronunciation and at least tried to teach us to enunciate distinctly."

The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway was for a few years the only railroad into Dickey County, but with the great influx of settlers the one station was not accessible to the great majority of the people. As one of the pioneers says, "It was a favorite pastime to lay out a railroad and locate a town site." It was the era of railroad expansion and all of the new towns were expecting to be on an important line. The Milwaukee had taken up the rails for the two mites or more that they reached past the new town of Ellendale and had used the right of way for the storage of material for bridges and ties. The final survey passed between Keystone and Merricourt and extended to a place in LaMoure county where Edgeley a new town was located. The new town of Monango was located and the buildings from Keystone moved over to the new site. Two flag stations and Monango were the only places added by the Milwaukee extension.

Seeing the possibilities in the new country a group of enterprising business men of Ellendale organized a railroad project in 1882, the first summer of the new city. This was projected to run from a point on the Missouri river nearly east to Ellendale then continuing in a nearly easterly direction to the Dakota-Minnesota line just north of Fairmount. The fact that it did not reach or pass through any large towns seems to have been a small matter; in fact it would be a great advantage to the promoters to be able to lay out and control the town sites. The town of Hudson was laid out by this company. The question of terminals seems not to have bothered much as the west end was to be on the Missouri and at the Minnesota line it was hoped some other road would be willing to go on with the project.  This project was first known as the Ellendale and Wahpeton Railroad. On May 1^st, 1883 it was rechristened the Ellendale and West, and on March 14^th, 1884 it was given the name of Dakota Midland Railroad. A good part of the survey was made and in many places actual grading was undertaken, and remnants of the work on the line to-be can still be found in Dickey, Sargent and Richland counties. It seems to have been the hope of the promoters to make the new- line sufficiently attractive so that one of the roads looking for an extension through this region would buy out the company and complete the road. James J. Hill was interested in railroading in this part of the country and the Northern Pacific people on their trade with Hill by which they secured the grade from Wahpeton to Milnor had rather a pretentious plan in mind in laying out their Northern Pacific, Fergus Falls and Black Hills Railway. A line shows on some old maps but it never be-came a reality beyond the city of Oakes. Finally, the St. Paul and Pacific which came to be known as the Soo Line bought out the rights of the old Dakota Midland but chose a different route for the actual construction of their road, giving the ambitious town of Hudson its second disappointment in regard to a railroad.

From the time when the first settlers had come up the James River to find homes there had been the expectation of a railroad up that stream.  Columbia to the south and Jamestown to the north afforded excellent terminals and there was a rich country between these two towns awaiting development. The Northern Pacific quickly appreciated this opportunity and began construction from the north. The settlers of eastern Dickey County looked to the south for the new road and persistent rumors told them it was coming. Eaton, Port Emma and Hudson were all located on the west side of the James, Old Ludden on the east but close to Port Emma. Nothing more natural than that the railroad would come up the west side of the James. The preliminary survey left the matter in doubt and every town was willing to furnish inducements for the line to come to them. Says Wm. Wattula, one of the pioneers, "On one occasion in the early days a meeting was called in Eaton to raise funds to provide a bonus to the railroad to build through the country. After every one was pumped full of propaganda and they were about to take $100.00 subscriptions from each of the farmers a little old man got up on the table and told them they had better keep their money, that the railroad would come anyhow as long as there were so many people living in the country. The people cooled off, kept their money and the railroad soon came along from Columbia anyway."

This was the Northwestern which was looking for a place for a terminal at which to meet a line or lines from the north. The survey came up the east side of the river and reached the neighborhood of Port Emma in the afternoon. To humor the people of Port Emma the surveyor ran a line into Port Emma, and that night was one of great rejoicing and celebration, but the next morning the survey continued on its northerly direction and passed Port Emma a mile and a half to the east. At first it was thought the terminal might be across the river from Hudson but the survey took the track three miles further north, where the city of Oakes was later built. The construction of this line brought Ludden out to the track and removed Hudson to the new town of Oakes. while three towns ceased to exist, Eaton, Ludden of the old days and Hudson. The business part of Port Emma was removed to Ludden and Oakes.  The Northwestern was constructed in 1886.

Meanwhile the Great Northern was building westward through this tier of counties.  At this time it is difficult to say what Mr. Hill had in mind for this region but he was scouting for a line to the west, as he himself spent two weeks with his engineers in camp at the home of Mr. T. R. Shimmin, while looking around in the hills and had bought section thirty-one in town-ship one hundred thirty, range sixty-six for a town site.   His plans for that time were suspended by an agreement with the Milwaukee that he would not build west of them for twenty years.   So the Great Northern was built into Ellendale and the new stations of Crescent Hill (the old Hillsdale), Newton, Port Emma, Guelph, and later Silverleaf, were located on the new-line.   Port Emma inherited the name of the old town but never developed more than a flag stop and for some years an elevator for the handling of grain.  This new line passed a mile and a half to the north of the new town of Ludden but the people of that town wanted it so a mass meeting of its citizens was called in April, 1887, to discuss the best method of inducing the Manitoba (as it was called then) to run nearer . All the citizens were enthusiastic in supporting the attempt to get the railroad into Ludden and a committee consisting of F. E. Randall, I. J. Kemmerer and W.  H. Ellis was appointed to go to St. Paul and wait upon President Hill; at the same time this committee was to interview Messers, Monango and Washburn of the Minneapolis and Pacific Railway (Soo Line).. Information does not tell how well this committee was received but its mission was not accomplished.   Hope was not abandoned as the chronicle of the times states that the following resolutions were drawn at a mass meeting of the citizens of Ludden and sent to the officials of the Manitoba railroad headquarters at St. Paul, Minnesota, November 19, 1887;  "Resolved,-that the citizens of Ludden, Dakota, who being desirous of having a track from the main line of the Minneapolis and Manitoba railroad run into the town; and the removal of the Riverdale (now Newton) depot to this point, do hereby agree to give five hundred dollars in work on the grade, and at least an equal portion of our freight rates being equal to that of other roads which are or may be built to this point, provided that said railway company shall establish a depot on the east side of the C. & N. W.. railroad track, and within eighty rods of the C. & N. W. depot at Ludden; and run all regular trains over said line into town of Ludden," The Newton depot was later removed to the crossing of the two tracks but no nearer the city of Ludden.

Through these years the Soo Line was pushing westward from Hankinson. This line built into Oakes and west from there to where the Milwaukee had built across the county. Here construction stopped for some years a the station known as Boynton. This is about a mile east of the Milwaukee crossing and the steel had not been laid that last mile. The ties were down but the}- made such handy timber for the farmers and others passing through that they were disappearing so the company hired Frank Northrop for five dollars to pick them up and take them back to Boynton. He had a helper but he reports it the hardest work he ever did for that money.  Besides Oakes and Boynton a new town, Fullerton and a flag stop at Clementwere located by this line. Later Norway Spur and the Baldwin elevator were made freight stops.

This new line went right through the town site of Yorktown but did not establish a station, a story told in another place. Also it should have gone into the new town of Monango instead of running south a mile, but the Company felt that Monango was too high in its terms and since it wanted to control its town site it missed this town. A few years later the Soo was built to Merricourt and then up the hills to a new town at Kulm, where it had its terminal for several years. On this new extension a good depot was built at Kilbernie two miles west of Monango from which place the station agent could look after Boynton and Merricourt as well as his own station. A little later this depot was removed to Merricourt and old Boynton has become just a passing track.

In 1905 the Great Northern built fourteen miles west of Ellendale to establish the new town of Forbes. It is also interesting to note that another Midland was scouted across Dickey County, for when the Midland Continental Railway was projected some years ago from Winnipeg to the Gulf the map line showed the course from Jamestown to Edgeley, south through Merricourt and on to Forbes and then south across the intervening states to Galveston, Texas.

In the late eighties and early nineties a new group of settlers were hunting homes in the^ new northwest. This was the movement of the German-Russians. They were descendents of people who had migrated to South Russia in the eighteenth century who under the new slogan of Russia for the Russians were unwilling to be oppressed and came to America. They had been coming to parts of the west for some years, but the first migration to this part of Dakota was about 1889, when a number settled in Mcintosh and Dickey counties. They are a thrifty and substantial people who by in-heritance and training are well fitted for pioneering. With education and the inspiration coming from contact with American ideals they make excellent citizens and have contributed much to the up building of Dickey County.

Dakota Territory was authorized to form two new states in 1889 and for delegates to the Constitutional Convention for North Dakota Dickey County with a part of LaMoure was constituted the 8^th delegate district.

The nomination of these delegates meant their election in this district and the convention for this purpose was held at the courthouse at Ellendale. Three delegates were to be selected and while the district was strongly Republican there were already quite well developed factions. In the convention Mr. Alexander D. Flemington was chosen early and soon after that Mr. L. D. Bartlett got a majority vote, but it was not so easy to determine the third place and many votes left it still undecided. The meeting lasted into the night and some of the friends of the candidates did not dare go home for supper, so meals were brought into the hall for many of them and finally at about two o'clock in the morning Mr. W. H. Rowe of Monango was nominated. These three were later elected and they formed a strong delegation in the Convention that met at Bismarck on July 4^th, 1889. At this convention an industrial school and school for manual training was located at Ellendale.

At the election in the autumn of 1889 a full set of county officers was elected but the change to statehood was so little real change that a citizen could tell the difference largely by a change in the name of the higher authority only. For legislative purposes Dickey County was made the Twenty-fifth Legislative District and has continued so to be. Mr. M. E.  Randall was elected State Senator and this county being an odd numbered district drew the short term of two years for the senator. W. B. Allen and A. T. Cole were the first representatives in the First Legislative Assembly.

The early nineties were years of severe drought and many of the settlers became discouraged. Some sold their claims and left the country, but those who remained won a competence and saw better times. In the dry years a new weed spread over the country that proved troublesome. This was the Russian thistle a species of cactus. Ordinarily this is not a troublesome weed in a region with the moisture that this county has, but with a series of dry years it flourished. It not only took up space and moisture but would

roll up in the wind in great windrows along the fence and wrapping a great roll around the wires would tangle them up and tumble over taking fencing. This thistle was so bad in many fields that farmers often had to put leather leggings on the legs of their horses in order to cut the grain.

The winter of 1896-1897 was a severe one with several great blizzards.  The people were better prepared to withstand the rigors of such storms than in 1888, but a little hardship was experienced by those who had to get out for groceries or to care for stock.   An experience of one of the pioneers is somewhat typical.  James Glenn had been running a big threshing rig in the neighborhood of Monango and on Thanksgiving day of 1896 he and Beriah Magoffin started from Monango to his farm in the Merricourt neighborhood and were caught on the road by the storm. They wandered for miles and finally got into a shack which had recently been abandoned. They had no food with them and had to stay there for three days and nights till the storm abated.   Fortunately they found some chickens in the little barn at the place and roasted them over a little open fire which they made in an old pan on the floor of the shanty.  They burned the partitions for fuel, but were so cold they did not dare both sleep at once so changed off.   The horses were in the barn and there was plenty of hay so they were all right.   After the storm they walked five miles across the snow to get home, leaving the team for the men to get later.  The big storm had drifted over the roof of Mr. Glenn's barn while he was lost and had broken down the roof.  The horses had been rescued by some neighbors and sheltered in the kitchen of the house. This Thanksgiving Day storm was the first of seven big blizzards.   Buildings were drifted under and the roads were lost.   The railroads were blocked and the mail delayed.   The Great Northern train did not come into Ellendale for several months, and the Milwaukee had to stop its train soon after the holidays.   The mail for Ellendale was brought up to Frederick in some overland conveyance and taken on horseback from there to Ellendale.   Many towns were without mail for weeks at a time. By this time the people had built quite comfort-able houses and with good crops the two preceding years were provided with food so there was little actual suffering by those who could remain near home.

When the Spanish War broke out in 1898 Dickey County had no military organization, but a few of the young men got into the service. The quota called to service from North Dakota was small and there were probably three times as many men wanting to enlist as the state was to furnish the Army. With this as an example of what might be happening and to be ready to take their part in such an event a company of militia was organized at Ellendale. This became a part of the National Guard of the State as Company M and was kept up until about 1907, when there being no immediate need for such an organization it was disbanded.

The opening of the Industrial School and School for Manual Training at Ellendale in 1899 brought the history of the county to a close for the period included in the old century.

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