| Summary: | cause of increasing business. Other postmasters of Cooperstown have been as follows up to the present: Oscar D. Purinton, appointed February 15,1893 William C. Jimeson, appointed July 5,1893 Percy Trubshaw, appointed June 15,1897 Victor F. Nelson, appointed August 28,1913 Hans Kolstad, appointed September 22,1922 Theodore A. Marquardt, appointed March 13,1927 Clarence Stone, acting postmaster 1950 Oscar Tang, appointed June 27,1952 John Halvorson, officer in charge August 14,1976 Jim Mork, appointed December 31,1977 GRIGGS COUNTY POPULATION 1980 AND 1930 1980 1930 % change TOTAL Griggs Co. 3719 6889 -46% Binford 292 317 - 8% Cooperstown 1306 1053 + 24% Hannaford 201 351 -43% Addie 85 210 -60% Bald Hill 120 260 -54% Bartley 48 221 -78%. Broadview 68 275 -75% Bryan 63 254 -75% Clearfield 94 195 -52% Cooperstown 107 231 -54% Dover 79 260 -70% Greenfield 137 337 -59% Helena 71 253 -72% Kingsley' 100 212 -53%. Lenora 101 239 -58%o Mabel 126 376 -66%o Pilot Mound 88 295 -70%, Romness 72 267 -73%. Rosendal 68 176 -61%. Sverdrup 112 315 -64%o Tyrol 179 325 -45%) Washburn 90 243 -63%> Willow 112 224 -50%o JESSIE POSTOFFICE HAS LONG HISTORY According to the last line of the Lake Jessie Historical Marker, "The mail carriers had a shelter on the east end of Lake Jessie from 1867-1872." At that time the stage from Fort Abercrombie, Dakota Territory to Fort Totten was the mode of transportation, and shelter and horse changes were available there — the remains of a cave just south of the Orville Tweed home immediately south of the NP track marks the spot of the shelter. In the early 1880's, mail was distributed by William T. McCulloch at his farm home. The mail was carried by horse, sled, foot or whatever from end of track to McCulloch's by Knute O. Buxegard. According to Postal records, on October 14, 1884, William T. McCulloch was appointed Postmaster of "Jessie, Griggs County, Dakota Territory." The nearest office on the route was Cooperstown, 11 miles SE and the nearest office, not on this route, was Willow, 7 miles NW. The Jessie Post- office was located on the Southeast corner of Lake Jessie, very near the present home of Jud and Ginger King. The patrons as they then were called (indeed "patrons" was the word until USPO Dept. became USPS July 1,1971) would go to McCulloch's home and pick up and send their mail. The original desk with distribution boxes attached is now in the Griggs County Historical Society Museum at Cooperstown. When the Northern Pacific Branch Line arrived in 1899, Frank Pfeifer sold the southwest corner of his homestead to the Northern Pacific Railroad. NP later sold it to a Mr. and Mrs. J.E. Mellem who planned to name the town "Mellemville." However, early settlers persuaded them to call it "Jessie" after the Lake Jessie which had been so named in 1839 by Lt. John C. Fremont in honor of his fiance, Jessie Benton. Mr. Wilson J. Hummer was named Postmaster on December 8, 1899 and he had the "Postoffice on the line North side of the NP track, 15 feet from track" according to his topographer report. It showed the nearest office "Cottonwood about 5 miles by the traveled road, in a northerly direction." The nearest Postoffice on the same route was Cooperstown, and the nearest office "off the route is Bin- ford." Postmaster Hummer had the dubious honor of having served the shortest time, December 8, 1899 to October 15, 1900 — suppose he couldn't stand another Christmas in the Postoffice? The next Postmaster was Andrew Hjort who was appointed October 15, 1900. The Post office was moved to lot 5 block 13 on Main Street — it is believed Hjort-Thinglestad ran a general store located on the west side of Main where the home of the late Gus Suess stands. Otto E. Back became Postmaster on December 10, 1906, and the Postoffice itself was on the same site. On July 10, 1909, Nels O. Haugen was named Postmaster at Jessie. Haugen owned a two-story hardware store on the Northwest corner of Main Street and Grant Avenue where the Bendicksons later lived. Actually it was the lot west of the house. Oscar M. Rogney, an elevator operator bought the Haugen Hardware and became Postmaster at Jessie October 6, 1913. By the spring of 1918, the United States had become involved in World War I, Jessie town had reached its height and one by one the businesses were beginning to dwindle. The Haugen Hardware was one of the fire victims. Fred Rule had purchased from Herman Hovel the J.E. Baffin Store on the Southwest corner of Main Street and Grant Avenue. The Rules had a confectionery shop and pool table along with the Post Office. Mrs. Grace Rule was appointed Postmaster April 30, 1918. Mrs. Ovidia (Anderson) Dahl became acting Postmaster October 6, 1925. She and C.P. Dahl bought the Rule Store and converted it to a general store. The Post Office remained in the same Northeast corner of Dahl's Cash Store. On March 1, 1948, Reynold (Punch) Hovel, eldest grandson of the late Frank Pfeifer who originally homesteaded -23- Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.
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