The first 100: Sykeston, North Dakota, centennial and all-school reunion, July 2,3,4, 1983

• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: North Dakota State Library
• Subjects: Atkinson; Bird Island; Bismarck; Carroll; Hayes; Homestead; Josephine; Kyle; Pacific
• Online Access: http://cdm16921.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/ndsl-books/id/37816

■r Wswm their land at Van Hook for the Garrison Dam. Ben Speldrich was born at Elrosa, Mn. Sept. 23, 1892, the first of thirteen children, to Frank and Helen (Schriever) Speldrich. Ben moved to Van Hook in 1916 as a young man and took out a homestead. On May 25, 1918, he was inducted into the U.S. Army as a private. He was discharged from WW I on May 3, 1919. Ben Speldrich and Anna Gruman were married on July 9, 1919, at Fingal, N.D. Anna Gruman was the first of eight children born to John and Veronica Gruman. As a young girl, she was a doctor's assistant around Valley City and Fingal. Ben and Anna moved to Van Hook in 1919. They were a foster home for several children in the Van Hook and Sykeston area. Ben and Anna had two sons: Lyle, now deceased, and Eugene of Fairfield, N.D. Ben passed away on Jan. 13, 1977. Anna passed away on Aug. 9, 1975. t t t Lyle and Lucille (Anton) Speldrich Lyle and Lucille Speldrich moved to Sykeston from Van Hook, N.D., now known as New Town, in May of 1948. They farmed at Van Hook until the government bought their land. They settled on a farm east of Sykeston. Lyle purchased the farm from his folks in April of 1959. Lucille and her son, Steve, and his family still reside on the farm. Lyle was born and raised at Van Hook, N.D., and was the first of two children born to Ben and Anna Speldrich. Lucille was born and raised at Van Hook and was the eleventh child of a family of fourteen children, born to Frank and Amalia Anton. Lyle and Lucille were married at St. Anthony's Catholic Church of Van Hook, on Feb. 11, 1947. They had four children: Steven, married to Connie Semmens, Sykeston; Mrs. Lawrence Hetle (Amelia), Sykeston; Ardella and Celine, both at home in Sykeston. Lyle passed away on May 15, 1979. ttt Henry and Elizabeth (Huber)St. Jacque Henry St. Jacque and Elizabeth Huber were both born and raised in Minnesota. They attended the same school and were married on April 6, 1880. They moved to Wells Co. in 1892 and bought a farm six miles west of Sykeston, farming there until 1900, when Henry was elected sheriff and held that job for two terms. After that, he had a meat market and then did road grading contract work. Henry and Elizabeth were the parents of three children: Harry, William and Phillip. t t t Pros. St. Jacque Born in Wabash Co., Mn., on Dec. 22, 1864, Pros. St. Jacque came to Wells Co. in 1882. He later homesteaded west of Sykeston. He was married and their children were Charles, Elizabeth, Hazel, Catherine, Phyllis and Josephine. ttt Xavier St. Jacque Born at Wabasha, Mn. on Jan. 16, 1859, Xavier St. Jacque came with his father from Montreal in 1857. His mother was a native of Prairie du Chien and bore the maiden name of Phisis Lapoint. He attended school at LaCrosse, Wi. for several years. In 1882, he came to Bismarck where he worked on the Hayes farm, a section of land given Pres. R. Hayes by the Northern Pacific Railway. That fall he joined a party of trappers and hunters going to the Knife River country and spent six weeks on the trip. On Nov. 20, 1882, he went to work for the Northern Pacific RR Co. on the section at Knife River Siding, where he spent that winter. There were several nationalities represented in their crew and they termed it the "All Nations Crew." In 1883, Mr. St. Jacque came to Carrington and later to Sykeston, where he engaged in the livery and dray business. In the spring of 1884, he located on a pre-emption six miles west of Sykeston and after making final proof, took up a homestead in the same locality, where he lived for many years. Some of his first contract work in Wells Co. was the cutting of 320 acres of wheat for the Sykes & Hughes ranch. He later worked for Daniel F. Horigan when Mr. Horigan was doing the first threshing in the county and still later owned and operated a threshing outfit of his own for many years. Mr. St. Jacque served as a county commissioner and a district assessor of Wells Co. in the early days. On Jan. 18, 1893 he was united in marriage with Miss Libbie Ringuette of Jamestown and they are the parents of four children- three girls and one son. t t t Frank and Ruth (Minner) Stahl Frank Stahl was born Oct. 7, 1917 and grew up in the Sykeston area. He served in the Merchant Marines from 1941 to 1945. After that, he resided in San Francisco, Ca. and worked as a cook. In 1952, Frank married Ruth Minner. Frank worked as a cook until 1963 when he started work for the City of San Francisco as a gardener and nursery man until retiring in 1978. I i .-T 1 kk. ' "*' Bi'TflP*™^ $1 31 ' fr Mm Ruth is very active in community activities. Frank and Ruth are the parents of two children, Robert, 27 and Andrea, 22. t t t Gerald and Jeanne (Swenson) Stahl Gerald Stahl was born Aug. 10, 1947 to Joe and Mary Stahl and grew up at Sykeston. Jeanne Swenson moved to Sykeston in 1961 with her parents, Emil and Laura Swenson. Jerry and Jeanne were married on April 8, 1967 at Sykeston. They reside on a farm west of Sykeston and are the parents of three children: Kenneth, Kyle and Kristi. t t t Joe and Mary (Riesnour) Stahl Joe Stahl was born March 3, 1909 at Sykeston. He is the son of Matthew and Mary Stahl. Matthew Stahl came to the U.S. from Bohemia in1890, settling in Sykeston in 1904. Mary Lang came from Hungary to Sykeston in 1904. They were married in 1905. Mary Riesnour was born Sept. 1918 at Dickinson, N.D. to Mr. and Mrs. Alex Riesnour. The Riesnour's came from South Russia in 1912. Joe and Mary were married on Aug. 11, 1936 at St. Elizabeth's Church in Sykeston. Joe had started farming in 1932, and he and his family farmed until 1967. Joe and Mary are the parents of seven children: Eugene of Las Vegas, Nv. is an air traffic controller. He and his wife, Mary, have one son, Curtis; Florence Calhoun lives at Pinole, Ca. with her two children, Vicki, 22, and Brian, 18. She does office work for Cer- tainteed; Richard, of Sykeston, is married and he and his wife, Marcia, have three children: Lisa, 15, Jodi, 13, and Greg, 10; Jerry lives on the home farm with his wife, Jeanne and their three children: Kenny, 15, Kyle, 13, and Kristi 9; Betty is married to Gary Schumaker. They farm at Wing, N.D. with their two children, Jennifer, 10, and James, 7; Connie Stahl lives in Fargo, N.D., where she does office work; Tom of Sykeston does construction work. t t t Jacob and Mary Staudenmeyer Jacob and Mary Staudenmeyer came to Sykeston in 1905 from Bird Island, Mn. Jacob started a harness business with M. Atkinson and also did shoe repair and bought cream from farmers. He was also the janitor at the school and church for many years. Jacob and Mary were the parents of seven children: Matilda and Margaret, who were born in Minnesota; Josephine, William, twins Tony and Carroll, and Rosella. Matilda of Haver, Mt. and Josephine of Casselton, N.D. are the only ones still living. 149 Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.