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Northfield-Rice County Digital History Collection

Northfield-Rice County Digital History Collection

Category Archives: First National Bank

Fun Finds in the NHC: New Additions to the Collaborative

26 Wednesday Oct 2016

Posted by Stephanie Hess in Businesses, Christdala, First National Bank, History Blog, James-Younger Bank Raid, Northfield Public Library, People, Religion

≈ 1 Comment

The Collaborative has been busy transcribing, interpreting, and uploading a number of documents in the last few months. We’re excited to share some of these new additions with you!

First National Bank of Northfield collection:

  • Excerpts from the first minutes book of the First National Bank. This selection includes digitized records relating to the failed James-Younger Gang bank raid of 1876. You can see when the bank directors decided to get a burglar proof safe with a time lock, how much was left in the bank after the raid attempt, and various tributes to Joseph Lee Heywood, the fallen acting cashier/hero of the day. The book also includes cashier G. M. Phillips’s account of receiving the famous telegram, “Bank Robbed. Heywood Killed. Two Robbers Also Killed.”
Telegram to First National Bank cashier G. M. Phillips with news about the bank raid, Sept. 7, 1876.

Telegram to First National Bank cashier G. M. Phillips with news about the bank raid, Sept. 7, 1876.

 

Northfield Public Library collection:

  • Souvenir program for the city of Northfield’s centennial in 1955. The booklet includes a brief history of Northfield, information about Northfield’s “pioneer families,” and a program for “The Genesis And Rise Of Northfield,” a dramatic pageant presented by the Northfield Centennial Corporation. The program was presented with compliments of local businesses, whose advertisements also appear inside.
Cover of the Northfield Centennial souvenir program

Cover of the Northfield Centennial souvenir program

  • Views of Northfield book. This book features photographs of various houses of prominent citizens in Northfield, MN as well as photographs of the different churches in town. Houses are labeled according to their owners and churches are also labeled. The book is not dated, but we estimate it is from around 1899.
Page 5 from the Views of Northfield book, including the residences of C. A. Drew, C. W. Blodgett, J. F. Revier, as well as Miss Baker's Boarding School.

Page 5 from the Views of Northfield book, including the residences of C. A. Drew, C. W. Blodgett, J. F. Revier, as well as Miss Baker’s Boarding School.

 

Christdala Church Preservation and Cemetery Association collection:

  • Various records (mostly in Swedish) documenting the immigration of members of the Christdala Church, as well as some baptism certificates, confirmation certificates, and letters of dismission. The migration forms include information about the birth dates and places of the individuals named, as well as the date they left Sweden. The NHC has identified the names and dates on these documents, but has not translated the Swedish or transcribed them fully – so if you would like to volunteer your skills as a Swedish transcriber, please let us know!
Migration form for Carl Berndtsson and Stina Berndtsdotter, dated April 25, 1882. View on NHC http://contentdm.carleton.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/CCPCA/id/1124/rec/29

Migration form for Carl Berndtsson and Stina Berndtsdotter, dated April 25, 1882. View on NHC to zoom in.

Look for more uploads in the coming months, including a batch of newly-scanned documents from the history of the Congregational Church in our First United Church of Christ collection.

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Fun Finds in the NHC: Mementoes from the Raid

10 Friday Jun 2016

Posted by Stephanie Hess in First National Bank, History Blog, James-Younger Bank Raid

≈ Leave a Comment

I hope you are enjoying Northfield History Month as much as we are! Today, we will continue our exploration of interesting artifacts on the Northfield History Collaborative with some great souvenirs from the James-Younger Gang’s bank raid in Northfield.

Did you know that the First National Bank in Northfield has in its possession a Colt Single-Action Army Revolver and a spur, both retrieved from Division Street after the failed bank raid on September 7, 1876? You can see photographs of these artifacts – preserved in a case at the bank today – on the NHC.

Gun

Gun picked up on Division Street after bank raid. See details here: http://contentdm.carleton.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/FNBN/id/0/rec/59

Spur

Spur picked up on Division Street after the bank raid. See details here: http://contentdm.carleton.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/FNBN/id/2/rec/115

In order to establish the authenticity of the revolver, the bank hired appraiser R. L. Wilson. His report is also included on the NHC.

According to Wilson,

History records no more celebrated event in the annals of towns of the American West than the James-Younger Raid on the 1st National Bank of Northfield, Minnesota, September 7th 1876. As the outlaws were shot up by the town’s people, leaving two of the gang dead on Division Street, a spur and a Colt Single Action Army revolver were found in their wake.

An article from the Northfield News in 1930 gives even more details on the history of the gun, in particular. Dr. D. J. Whiting, a dentist with an office in the upper story of the Scriver Building, witnessed the bank raid from the outside stairwell landing. The robbers shot at him and his patient and caused them to retreat back into the building. Then,

As soon as the rout was completed and the six survivors had left town on five horses, Dr. Whiting ran down the old wooden stairway and picked up a gun belonging to one of the dead robbers lying at the side of the dead man. This gun is supposed to be a part of the collection of souvenirs of that event, now held by the First National Bank in Northfield. [Northfield News, 7/18/1930, page 7]

The appraisal continues with Wilson’s assessment of the gun’s marks of authenticity, and he provides crucial dates. He concludes his report with these grand statements:

Gun appraisal page 3

Gun appraisal, page 3. See more details here: http://contentdm.carleton.edu/cdm/ref/collection/FNBN/id/48/rec/116

It’s great to know that even if you can’t see these historical mementoes in person, you can see them on the Northfield History Collaborative from all over the world. Explore the rest of the First National Bank collection on the NHC here!

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