Pope County Museum – Museum Musings

We had a wonderful team of students from Minnewaska Area Schools volunteer to help us prepare to open the buildings. They swept the cabins and school house, washed windows, and moved the desks and shelves back into the school house.

The outside buildings have been closed for a year for restoration and we are excited to open them to the public again later this spring after the finishing touches are complete.

Have you found pottery sherds or projectile points (arrowheads) in Pope County? Want to learn more about them?

Please bring them to the Pope County Museum ASAP. We have experts visiting in April to examine our collection and any pieces we have on loan from the public. (We are open 10-5 Tuesday – Saturday)

By lending us your finds, you will contribute to this valuable research project and learn about your items. Your collection will be returned to you when the analysis is complete.

Note – This is not a public presentation or discussion at this time. We are simply gathering materials and making the items available to researchers. Once the report is finished, we will have more information and will develop public programming.

The primary researcher is George Holley, professor emeritus, Department of Anthropology & Earth Science, Minnesota State University Moorhead.

In observance of Christmas weekend, the Pope County Museum will be closed Saturday, December 23.

Otherwise, we will continue to be open our regular hours: Tuesday-Saturday 10-5.

Please join us at the Pope County Museum on Saturday, December 2nd from 1-4 pm for our Holiday Open House.
Local Author and retired Minnewaska Kindergarten teacher Debbie Hoven will read her book “Light Up the Year” and talk about the process of self publishing.

“Light up the Year!” Don’t put the holiday lights back in the box! Watch what happens  when they take off on an adventure that leads them through the calendar year.

After forty years of encouraging her students to use their imaginations, retired preschool and kindergarten teacher Debbie Hoven followed her own advice. Her books will delight young children with their colorful pictures and whimsical prose. Debbie enjoys the lakes of beautiful Alexandria, Minnesota, where she lives with her husband, Brad, and their black lab, Norman.

Join author Carolyn Mankell Sowinski Wednesday October 18^th at 6:30 pm at the Pope County Museum for a book talk about The Great Storm:  Minnesota’s Victims in the Blizzard of January 7, 1873.

On January 7-9, 1873, Minnesota residents experienced a violent blizzard when dozens of people died primarily on the flat, tree-less prairies.  Kandiyohi County native, Carolyn Mankell Sowinski will take you back 150 years and tell the stories of these victims using primary documents and secondary sources.  She has identified 84 people from 31 western and southern counties who died in this storm:  men and women; children and babies; Civil War veterans and recent immigrants; homesteaders and villagers; residents and visitors. Friends died together; neighbors died together; family members died together.  Many died alone–suffering for one, two, or all three days.  

Her recent book The Great Storm:  Minnesota’s Victims in the Blizzard of January 7, 1873 gives the biography of each victim with genealogical information, immigration story, place of residence, journey in the storm, and burial location.  Each biography also includes a section titled “Adventures in Research” where Sowinski provides other information about the victim, local history, or her research process in identifying these victims. The reader will also learn about the State’s Native American population who were removed from their historic lands, making room for the homesteaders.

Born and raised in Kandiyohi County, Carolyn Mankell Sowinski graduated from the New London-Spicer school district and St. Olaf College in Northfield.  She received Masters Degrees in Library Science and American History from the University of Wisconsin—Madison.  An archivist and historian, Sowinski has written several non-fiction books about her ancestors and the farming community where she grew up in Lake Andrew Township.  

We have attempted in the four previous articles and their introduction to present to our readers the extensive history of the Fremad Association and its founders, the Wollan Family. Our journey with you has taken us all back to the 1860’s and up to today. We have travelled up the Red River Oxcart Trail and the Wadsworth Trail, by horseback, ox driven carts and wagons and even on foot. We have given you a brief biography of the early White Bear Center pioneers and their accomplishments and how one family looked into the future and saw the opportunity to enter into the mercantile business, and how they evolved into a full-service general store, grocery and clothing enterprise. And later they found themselves in the banking business. Yes, they were Pope County’s own “Wollan-Mart”.

We have enjoyed the countless hours spent in researching and sharing this all-important information. It has allowed us and you to return deep into the history of a very key part of the area’s formation. Afte rall it covered over 150 years of detailed history not only about the Wollans and their extended family, but the many other entrepreneurs that followed.

For some of us, this brought back memories of our own “formative” years and the stories we heard from our grandparents and mentors. Yes, there have been many changes and quite an evolution to the downtown business district. The economy has evolved as well and key industries and employers have filled in during that transformation. As Elvin Gandrud was quoted, “there are not as many businesses, but the new ones are bigger and more attractive.” Therein debate might arise.

“Progress” and being “new” does not, in some eyes, mean better. However, “change” is sometimes a necessity. We will leave that debate for another time. But for some of us who enjoy a look back into the past, we remember what was once on that block. For example, during the 1960’s these buildings and business entities were all on the block where Tom’s Market, the Fremad Block, the (PCSB) Law Building and Eagle Bank now stand: They were the Ten Pin Inn bowling alley, the Sinclair Full Service Gas Station, Builders Lumber Yard, Ogdahl Construction, the Glenwood Post Office, The Minton Hotel (which housed a hotel, Corner Drug, an accounting office and the Municipal Liquor store, the Glenwood Theatre, The “old” Pope County State Bank and the Fremad (with its many businesses) – All on that block and all gone by September 2023. And as was stated in our series introduction, the Fremad and the Pope County State Bank are on the National Register of Historic Places.

From oxcart and horse drawn wagons, sending orders and cash by suspended wire baskets and now to online shopping and internet banking – What will the future bring? We will just have to wait and see. The next generation is waiting to show us!

Time marches on and the next generations will take up the duty to record our past and decide how best to preserve it. History is being made every day and how we reflect it, preserve and share it is always transforming. Mistakes are made and some we learn from. It has long been said that ignorance of history can lead to repeating mistakes made in the past. Living and learning need be passed on to those who will shape the future.

Learn more about Pope County and its citizens, businesses and organizations. Please stop into the Pope County Historical Society, open Tuesday-Saturday from 10am- 5pm. Personal files and all the rest are there for your perusing and research. Be a part of history. We have much to share.

We would like to thank the Steve Nestor for writing this series of articles about the history of the Fremad building, and the Pope County Tribune for initially publishing the articles.

The Wollan Brothers were confronted with a business challenge in the 1870’s. They were operating a general mercantile store in a rural community selling groceries and general merchandise. Down the street in 1872, Emmet Lytle opened the Bank of Glenwood in a small wood frame office. This bank building did not appear to be very substantial nor secure. As patrons of the Fremad Association accumulated more cash than they wished to keep either on their person or at home, they asked the folks at the Fremad store to keep their money for them. Because the store had a large safe and they trusted the storekeepers, the Wollans, they started placing their funds in their hands. A form of savings and checking grew and this became a cause for concern.

Adding to that, in 1876 the James and Younger gang had attempted the well-known bank raid in Northfield, Mn. As a precaution, M.A. Wollan packed up all the cash in a bag and took it to the Scandinavian American Bank in Minneapolis. The Minneapolis bankers told him he was in the banking business and should be following more formal bank procedures. M.A. Wollan then began operating a bank, the Fremad Association Bank. It had used other names prior to that, the Wollan Bank, The Glenwood Bank or the Fremad Bank. But now it was official.

On April 4, 1894, the Fremad Association amended its articles of incorporation to include “to carry on the banking business…” However, during the 1880’s and 1890’s, although they had relationships with the major banks in the Twin Cities, the fact was they were not operating as a full-fledged bank with any formal organization. On Dec. 2, 1901, the Fremad Association formally organized a private bank known as the “Pope County Bank.” All of the banking department assets and liabilities were transferred from the Fremad Association to the newly formed Pope County Bank.

They continued to operate the bank in the Fremad Building, but the Association business was growing so much that they no longer had room for the banking offices. In 1906 they built a beautiful new bank building north of the Fremad Store. By 1908 the private bank filled to be a state-chartered bank, and it became the Pope County State Bank. The PCSB remained in that location until October 11, 1971.

M.A. (Michael) Wollan was the first president of the newly formed Pope County State Bank. He had been the cashier for the Fremad Association and had developed the banking business for that organization. Although he managed the bank, he kept the title of cashier until 1906 when he became president. As described in an article in the Glenwood Herald, “he was a man of the strictest integrity, of untiring energy and enterprise, he is today one of the most influential citizens of this part of the state.” He remained president of the bank until 1925.

In the new bank building, which will be demolished later this summer, there was not only a fully certified state bank, but other occupants as well. The second floor was fitted for a medical and dental office. Dr. E.A. Eberlin, physician and surgeon, and Dr. J. Jeffers, dentist, became tenants, Jeffers until 1926. “Doc” Eberlin was there until 1964! In 1946 Dr. Jim Gilman, dentist, joined with Eberlin and was there until 1970. On the second floor? Yes, on the second floor. No elevator, no escalator! In fact, at that time, second floor offices were the standard for all dentists and private doctor’s offices throughout the entire community.

M.A. Wollan turned over the banking reins to Andrew Lund in 1925 and he was president until 1931. Lund was on the board from 1926-1933. Like the Wollans, he was born in Norway and at age 20 came to Minneapolis. There he was in construction until 1881 when he joined the Gold Rush in the Black Hills in Dakota Territory. In 1881 he was in the mercantile business in Norcross, Mn., and later he was in banking in Wheaton. By 1905 Andrew Lund had opened a bank in Norcross. He joined the PCSB board of directors in 1926 and succeeded M.A. Wollan as its president in 1931. Because of failing health, he resigned as president but remained on the board of directors until 1933.

Oluf Gandrud stepped in and filled the presidency in 1931. He had invested in the PCSB in 1926 and was its cashier until 1931. He and his brother Gustav had purchased their home farm and later Oluf sold out to Gustav and purchased an interest in the I.S. Selleseth Mercantile in Glenwood and later managed a sash and door company in Fergus Falls. In 1926, Oluf Gandrud invested in the PCSB, and now realizing a life’s ambition was made cashier. In 1932 he left PCSB to be named president of the Swift County Bank in Benson.

Succeeding Olaf in 1932, another local lad, Elvin A. Gandrud, became president of the PCSB. Like the others, E.A. Gandrud was raised on a Pope County farm. He served as the bank’s president from 1932 until 1977 and was a director until his passing in 1979. One of his recollections and certainly his most vivid memory was of the depression days and especially the famous “bank holiday” in March 1933 when the government froze the assets of all banks in the country for a few days. But, as difficult as those years were, the bank survived and prospered.

Born Feb. 3, 1891, Elvin Gandrud was raised on a farm and attended the Glenwood Academy and graduated from Park Region College in Fergus Falls. He taught school for two years in Yellow Medicine County and entered the banking business in Hazel Run, Mn. That was interrupted by army service in World War I. In 1918 he joined the Farmers and Merchants Bank in Fergus, where he was assistant cashier until 1926. He was promoted to cashier and chief executive officer of their F & M Bank of Dalton. In March 1931 he became the vice president of the PCSB and by January 1932 was the president.

In 1932 the total assets of the PCSB were $350,000.00. In those days all ledgers and transactions were done by hand – no machines or photo copiers. Elvin was quoted in a Pope County Tribune biography as saying “I enjoyed great satisfaction in helping others and seeing them progress” and knowing that he
had assisted them. He saw the streetlights installed in Glenwood, and as time went on, “fewer stores, but now larger and more attractive.” One of the major changes E.A. Gandrud saw was the “decline in the Soo Line payroll” which effected bank deposits. In the 1960’s over 200 Glenwood families were supported by Soo Line Railroad salaries. Gandrud also noted that “tourism increased and new industries were developed” to offset the decline in railroad jobs.

E.A. Gandrud was an active member in the Glenwood Chamber of Commerce, Glenwood Lutheran Church, Glenwood Public School Board Director, Minnewaska Golf Club president, a Mason and a World War I veteran.

The minutes of the 1937 annual meeting of the PCSB show E.A. Gandrud as president with directors T.R. Thompson, Oluf Gandrud, and Magnus Troen. T.R. (Ted) Thompson was cashier, his wife Leonora teller, Allan Peterson asst. cashier, & H.K. (Harold) Vegoe stenographer and bookkeeper.
T.R. Thompson joined PCSB in June 1926, promoted to cashier 1931-1958, vice president 1958-69 and director 1931-69. Ted’s first job was at the First National Bank of Glenwood in 1922. He worked there for “three months for nothing.” They told him they were not hiring but if he wanted to learn the business they would try to teach him but could not pay him anything. After the three month “internship” they paid him $25.00 per month. The First National Bank building still stands as Theresa’s Turn Bakery. This bank was officially organized on April 16, 1904. But by 1926 was put into receivership and closed on Oct. 31, 1926. Not unique by any means – 496 state and private banks failed in Minnesota! In 1926 there were 15 banks in Pope County and by 1986 there were five, two of which had branch banks in Villard. T.R. Thompson moved down the block and joined the staff at PCSB. He was a combination janitor, bookkeeper and teller. Two years later he was assistant cashier, by 1931 a director, and by 1958 Thompson was vice president of the PCSB. Ted’s father was a Soo Line employee and Ted was born in Enderlin, ND. They moved to Glenwood when he was 7. A Glenwood High School graduate, one of his first jobs was driving a passenger bus down the Soo Hill from the depot. Eighteen passenger trains went through Glenwood each day and folks and freight were hauled downtown daily. Thompson was a member of the Glenwood City Hospital board, member of the Pope County Bankers Assoc., a Mason, Chamber of Commerce Director and Glenwood Lutheran Church member.

Allan Peterson was an employee of the PCSB from April of 1936 – August of 1977, a 41-year career with a three-year service to our country in World War II.

H.K. (Harold) Vegoe graduated on a Friday night from Glenwood H.S. in June 1936. The following Monday he started work at the PCSB. Like Allan, H.K. retired in 1977 as a vice president and was quoted as saying “the banking business has been good to me. It is the only job I ever had other than caddying at the Minnewaska Golf course in high school.” He was the banks fifth employee in 1936.
E.A. Gandrud passed away in 1979 at the age of 88. He was one of three founders of the Glenwood Retirement Home, the last survivor of the Glenwood City Charter Commission that established the present-day form of city government here in Glenwood. He worked diligently on the improvements of State Hwy 28 between Glenwood and Sauk Centre which for years had been a narrow, dipping and turning, winter hazardous road for autos and trucks, not to mention school buses.

Earlier we mentioned the two offices and waiting room on the second floor occupied by Drs. Jeffers and Eberlin, then Gilman. There were other tenants in the building as well in the early years – in the basement. From 1912- 1936 Andrew Eliason had, of all things, a cigar factory below the bank! Andrew was born in1878 in Norway Lake Township in Kandiyohi County. His family farmed there on a 160 acre homestead farm that had been abandoned by a Civil War veteran. Andrew stayed on the farm until he was 17 when he went to Willmar to learn the cigar maker trade. After seven years in the trade in Willmar and Morris, his former boss asked him to help open a cigar factory in Glenwood. They started it
in 1903 and the following year Andrew bought it. The factory was in the building that stood where presently the Village patio garden is. It burned to the ground along with half of the block in 1905. Eliason’s insurance policy had expired the day before! Whoa! A substantial setback.

Andrew became frustrated with the cigar business and in 1908 joined the Fremad Association in their lumber department. He worked there until leaving for North Dakota to work with his brother in law in a restaurant. In 1910 he was back to Glenwood and purchased a cigar factory from “a Jew,” Mickelson. (This was the term used in his biography, a sign of the times). This cigar factory had four employees and was located in the McCauley Building. He moved the equipment and business to the north side of Minnesota Avenue where Ace Hardware is located, and once was the site of the Glenwood Creamery. For the next few years he stayed there and had six employees, and at times was 10,000 cigars behind in orders. In 1912 he moved the factory to the basement of the Pope County State Bank. After World War I the cigar trade began to slip due to modern cigar rolling machinery. By April 1936 he had quit business and retired to his home library where he had some books dating back to the 8th and 9th Century.

From 1921-22 the Voss sisters’ Glenwood Film Shop was in the basement and in 1933 Lindquist’s Glendale Studio. From 1936-1944 Clarence Torguson and Ben Erickson had a barber shop on that lower level. From 1948-49 Ben Cole and Leo Moe had their real estate business there. And from 1953-58 John Dieltz had his insurance and real estate office there. (During those days there was an exterior stairway entrance on Franklin Avenue at the front of the building where customers entered from the sidewalk and down to the basement businesses. You can see the railing on the older photos of the Bank.)

In 1957, Elvin Gandrud’s son, Richard, returned to Glenwood and began his career at the PCSB. Dick was a Glenwood High School and Luther College graduate. He served two years in the army and taught school for one year. He spent two years in St. Paul in banking and another year in Montevideo. He was also a graduate of the Wisconsin School of Banking, a lifetime member of the American Legion, Sons of Norway, Chamber of Commerce, Minnewaska Golf Club, District Boy Scouts, Glenwood JCs, choir director at Glenwood Lutheran for 22 years, and first president of the Glacial Ridge Hospital District. He has been with the PCSB for over 57 years, was named vice president in 1958 and president in 1979. He has always supported the state banking association and its continuing education program. Today at age 95, Dick still resides in his beloved Glenwood with his wife Loraine.

In the late 1950’s it was common for area banks to be open M-F from 9-3 PM and Friday nights from 7-9 PM. However, when perusing the local newspaper, it appears there was some pressure by local retailers to have different hours. Some back and forth went on and in one ad they announced “the PCSB would not be open on Saturdays.” By the late 60’s they announced they would be open on Friday evenings from 6:30 – 8:30 PM. Afterall, Friday was the “shopping night.”

In 1969 the PCSB bought the Minton Hotel which sat on the SW corner of Franklin St. and Minnesota Ave. The Minton was built in 1884 and was at one time owned by the Fremad Assoc. Having gone through various owners it was purchased and managed by John and Gladys Thieke from 1916 – 1965. In 1965 Jim Stradtman and Walt Chapman purchased the hotel. It then housed the Minton Hotel and Corner Drug Store, as well as the Municipal Liquor Store and Lund Accounting. At the time of the PCSB purchase in 1969, the Minton was the oldest standing building in Glenwood that had been used for the same purpose since its construction. At one time there were five hotels in downtown Glenwood used by the thousands of passenger and tourists that came into this area. Hundreds of wealthy southerners flocked to the Lake Minnewaska area in the summer time.

In 1970 the Minton was razed and construction of the new PCSB building began. The grand opening was held in October 1971. The new Pope County State Bank had the first drive up teller window in Pope County. The scrolling message and temperature sign was added by 1976. The bank had a common wall with the Glenwood Theatre. An alley separated the theater from the 1906 bank building. Yes, Glenwood had a movie theatre. It had 625 seats on the main floor and 220 seats in the balcony, the largest screen in West Central Minnesota and the first stereo equipment. The McCauley Opera House opened in December of 1919 as a vaudeville and silent movie house and was built by J.H McCauley. In 1930 McCauley leased the theater to the Harry Longaker family who purchased it in 1936. The Longakers ran it until 1972 when it was purchased by Branstock Productions, Inc. owned by Steven Nestor. He sold in 1977 to Merlin Adolphson. The theater was purchased and razed by the PCSB in 1995 for an addition to the 1971 bank.

The banking business started by the Wollan Brothers in 1873 in a wooden storefront continues in business today under the direction of another Pope County family. Erick Gandrud is president of Eagle Bank and represents the third generation of the Gandrud family to operate the bank following father Richard and grandfather Elvin Gandrud. Erick’s brother, John, oversees operations in their branch banks. In the past few years the fourth generation of the family, Elvin’s great grandson Ryan Gandrud, has joined the business. Eagle Bank continues to grow and now has branch locations in Villard, Starbuck, Wendell and Elbow Lake. “Seeing you into the Future,” they now operate under the corporate name, The Eagle Banks.

We would like to thank the Steve Nestor for writing this series of articles about the history of the Fremad building, and the Pope County Tribune for initially publishing the articles.

The Fremad Association and its founders, Casper, Michael and Ben Wollan brought with them a very successful business plan and concept as they entered the 20^th Century. They outgrew the two story wood frame “Johnston” building they purchased in 1874, and moved it to construct the nearly block long brick veneer two story store in 1893. By 1906 they built the Pope County State Bank. In 1919 they extended the brick store building and placed a new veneer on it as well. They now found themselves in the later years of their lives. Casper age 71, Michael age 75, and Ben age 67, looked forward to retirement. It was evident that “new blood” was needed to lead the operation into the future.

When looking at the minutes of the board meetings, it becomes obvious that the next generation was slowly being assimilated into the process. Keeping in mind, the founders had placed the business into a cooperative venture, due to legislation that promoted and motivated the Grange template throughout rural America. Although nearly 170 stock holders were involved, most had just one or two shares. The Wollan brothers and their relatives held the majority of the stock and, up until this time, all of the board positions.

Times had been good. There was little effect from the national economic depressions of the 1880’s, nor did the bank difficulties of 1893 cause them any significant problems. However, the grasshopper invasions of that era caused great losses to area farmers. But the Fremad remained profitable and stable through it all.

During the 1880’s there was little competition for the Fremad Association in Glenwood. The handful of other stores in town were a furniture store, shoe store, drug store & mercantile, and a grocery & supply store. By the 1890’s there was an additional mercantile store (which stayed in operation until the 1940’s). In 1907 along came another shoe store and in 1911 another dry goods & grocery was added. In 1918 came yet another grocery.  

But the 20^th Century brought new and greater challenges. World War I, which the United States entered into in April 1917, brought many changes even to Pope County residents. For example, 20 young men from Cyrus volunteered to go “over there” that month. Later that spring others from Glenwood and Villard joined the effort. And by August, 75 more had volunteered. Many additional men were drafted by October and a photo in the Glenwood Herald. October 4, 1917, shows 40 Glenwood men that had been drafted and were at the train depot departing for Fort Dodge, Iowa, and then to France. 

Armistice came the following year. The 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month, November 11, 1918. An item in the October 7, 1920 Glenwood Herald recorded that 26 young men from Pope County had been lost in World War I. Not a great number to some, but to their families a great loss. What effect that had on the local economy and or businesses cannot be calculated, but surely having so many young men from a rural county at war, had a great effect on the psyche of the entire community. One family was noted as having four sons “over there” at the same time. All four came home.

In 1921 the Fremad Association board did not pay stock holders a dividend. It had been the practice to share annual profits of the business with stock holders through a yearly dividend – typically from $5 – $7.00 per share owned. A nice return on an original $25.00 investment.

In 1922, Ben O. Wollan passed away at the age of 69. In 1924, Casper Wollan died at the age of 76. Neither was present when the stock market crashed in October 1929. However, Michael passed a year later in 1930 at the age of 86. None of them lived to experience the “dirty 30’s.” Nor did they ever know the hardships that were brought to so many. Farmers were devastated and so were the businesses that depended on them. Money was tight. Credit was extended. Loans became hard to come by and many went “without.” Many more were dependent on new government programs. Without those, many would have perished. But like so often, rural culture and mores, Christian principles and just good ‘ol neighborly compassion brought our county through it all. One good example: a local dentist accepted a chicken or home grown produce as payment for necessary dental work.  

Yes, the years that followed the Great War were quite difficult. In 1919 the Fremad board of directors decide to sell residential property they held in the Prospect Park addition. By 1921 they offered to sell a lot across the street to the Masonic Lodge for a new hall. That did not come to fruition. By 1925 they refinanced the store property at 6% interest. At this time new board members started to appear in the minutes. In 1926, following the recovery boom after WWI, national loan organizations called in their loans and county banks found their assets “frozen.” A temporary bank closing “holiday” was called. The Pope County State Bank was then reorganized and new leadership installed. By 1929 the Fremad store sought new department heads, and the store manager’s position was more difficult to fill. Some of the second-floor offices were vacant. 1930-32 found more board member changes.

The 1930’s brought more businesses to the downtown Glenwood: A variety & Jr. department store, a J.C. Penney was added (1936 until 1962). Also in 1936 another hardware store and a Ben Franklin 5 & 10. Meanwhile the professional offices on the Fremad second floor had consistent renters: In the 1920’s T.T Ofstun and E.R. Selnes, attorneys at law rented offices. From 1931-1953, Frank Zima maintained his attorney’s office on the second floor. H.A. Seneka, also an attorney, was there from 1936-1941. A.E Kvam kept his office there from 1949-1977. In 1932 the Fremad Opera Hall was redone as The Masonic Temple and Eastern Star Hall. This remained their home until 1980.

The “Great Depression” most widely known for the October Stock Market “Crash” did not affect the rural Midwest as rapidly as in the major cities. It arrived more slowly but precipitated a series of drastic changes in the lives of many Minnesotans. Farmers throughout the state faced huge drops in crop and commodities values while city workers saw their wages decline continuously. The actual peak of the Great Depression was from 1929-1933. Average family incomes dropped by 40% during this time. By 1931 however, rising unemployment and shrinking farm incomes were generating considerable alarm and by 1932 the region was suffering the severest economic contraction in its history. Yes, farm prices were at an all-time low and farm income had plummeted 60%.

Over the next seven years political reforms brought very elusive recovery. Then, if this was not enough hardship, came the most severe drought in history: The “Dirty 30’s.” The years of 1934 and 1936 were the driest that the area had known since records had been kept. Adding to the rural economic misery were seared and withered crops, scorching temperatures, starving livestock, and “black blizzards” that eroded the landscapes and left dust inches thick on almost everything. In the Dakotas not only were some farms abandoned, but towns as well. For the better part of two decades Minnesota’s economic, social, and natural landscapes were greatly affected. Farm fields turned to dust and small ponds and lakes turned muddy overnight. Many dried up completely. Some even became tillable acreage! The parched soil was easily taken up by the strong winds, the thick dust in the air often turning day into night. Temperatures in the summer of 1936 set records that still stand today. crop from bottom for panorama effect.

Here in the state of Minnesota reform coalitions were formed and political “new deals” were produced. Moratoria on farm debts, new welfare benefits and bans on unfair wage and employer practices were put in to place. Minnesota led the way with these reforms under newly elected Governor Floyd B. Olson. Does that name “ring a bell”? Yes, Highway 55 is named for him: The Floyd B. Olson Memorial Highway.  

Men that served on the Fremad board at this time were: N.W. Webber 1925-29, experienced in the grocery business and Glenwood resident since 1903. Others serving through the decade include; G.C. Wollan, Casper’s youngest son just 27 years old; Anton Wollan, Nels Wollan’s son and an area farmer; E.M. Wollan, Michael’s son and the local postmaster; Lars Larson, brother-in-law to Wollans; Clarence Wollan, Fremad store manager in 1929; A.K. Gandrud, a local farmer; A.M. Wollan; W.H. Engebretson, also a local farmer and bank director; Peter Larson, Lars’ brother; T.T. Ofstun, attorney; and A.P. Branae, Pope County Treasurer for 30 years. These men were confronted with trying to hold the whole conglomerate together. Yes, times were a changing and a major adjustments were needed and soon!

Discussion began in 1932 to sell the store and or business. In 1933 a buyer was found and a deal was consummated to sell the business and rent the first floor and support spaces elsewhere in the building to the William and JoeOgard of Dupree, South Dakota.

In 1934 board meetings were being held if only necessary. By 1937 the board voted to sell all outstanding assets. In 1938 A.E. Kvam was appointed to the Board and in 1939 B.K Savre replaced A.P. Branae. The Fremad Association annual meeting minutes in the museum collection end in 1942. After this date the Fremad functioned as a property holding and management company for which annual meetings may not have been held. 

The Ogard Brothers took over soon after the deal was closed and ran the store as it had been for the previous years. In 1937 the store was remodeled, back walls were removed and the smaller rooms that had been there before now became the ladies wear area, the shoe department was moved to the north end. There are numerous newspaper ads in the files at the Pope County Museum showing the full line of dry goods, groceries, men’s and women’s wear, general merchandise and goods available. It was a full department store featuring local farmers’ produce and more. Also, by 1939 they became a member of the V-Store buying group and kept that connection until 1960.

In 1940 a Red Owl grocery opened on Minnesota Ave. In 1941 another grocery, and in 1942 a Coast to Coast Hardware and in ‘43 a furniture store, in ’46 a men’s clothing store, ’52 a shoe and department store, ’54 a women’s wear and in ’53 another drug store.

And of course on Dec. 7, 1941 – Pearl Harbor. And we were in another World War.

During 1941 Ogards changed their operations to mainly general merchandise and a men’s and women’s wear outlet. A wall was rebuilt separating the southeast third of the store and grocery operations resumed there. And for the next 15 years, from 1941-1956, six different operators operated the grocery. Hintze’s Family Market, Andy’s Market, Bakken Family Market, Hartz Super Market, Marty’s Super Value, and Drager’s Market.

In 1959 Ogards moved their entire operation to West Minnesota Ave., where Ace Hardware now stands. In 1960 they sold out the entire business and inventory to Wayne Haanstad who rebranded it “Haanstad’s Skogmo Store.” He had been the manager of the J.C. Penney store on East Minnesota Ave. for two years prior.

As the Ogard Store vacated the Fremad building, the following businesses occupied that southeast corner area: Northwestern Bell Telephone (1958-1961), Luger American-Northland Mfg., a predecessor to Ruhr American (1961-1962), Gordon’s Photo (1962-1964), Sears & Roebuck catalog store (1964-1978). In the middle area were: Dr. A.P. Troness, optometrist, (1964-1990), Mr. Thomas House of Styles,(1964-1966), House of Styles by Gay Torguson & Pat Gloege and later Kathy Koubsky (1966-1990), and Uptown Hair, Patty Ross (1990-1997.)

Under Mr. Kvam’s ownership of the Fremad Building the following were at the north entrance shared with the stairs to second floor offices: Wilson Automotive wholesale parts (1960-1967), National Bushing & Parts (1967-1974), and Ron’s Plumbing and Heating (1976.) At the First Avenue / Green Street entrance was Matt’s Lock-n-Key for one year in 1976. For many years The Minneapolis Star and Tribune Newspapers were dropped off there for local distribution by area paperboys.

A.E. Kvam had accumulated majority control of the Fremad stock by 1949. He would later own all shares of the Fremad Association. Mr. Kvam was a very interesting and unique individual. Anfin E. Kvam was born in Norway in 1889. He came to America at age 17, originally to Decorah, Iowa as did so many other Norwegian immigrants. He worked on a farm for two years and then moved on to Spring Valley, Mn., another Norwegian stronghold. With two years of carpentry work under his belt there, he started his own construction company employing as many as 35 men. He moved on to St. Paul in 1914 where he worked for a real estate company which relocated him to Glenwood. He continued in real estate and 1923 he took over an Overland car agency, later adding Hudson, Packard, Studebaker and Ford. In 1945 he combined the Ford agency with an Allis-Chalmers farm equipment company. In 1954 he built the Post Office building that stands west of the Fremad and will be demolished along with the Fremad and Pope County State Bank buildings. He sold the Ford dealership to Dave Finke in 1957 and the Allis-Chalmers to Orville Quenemoen. For the next 20 years until the time of his death in November 1977, he kept his real estate and insurance office as well as managing the Fremad Association, its building and other properties. A World War I veteran, A.E. was active in the Masons and Shriners, Chamber of Commerce, City Commission, Lions Club, Glenwood State Bank, was justice of the peace for 40 years, and a member of Glenwood Lutheran Church. A.E. said he went broke twice in his life, during the Great Depression and in his early years. He said “it took years to pay off my uncle for the steamship ticket to America from Norway.” Once a creditor asked for “the ring on his finger” for payment. “No, nothing I have today was handed to me,” he said.  

After A.E. Kvam’s passing in 1977, the Fremad Building was sold in 1978 to Lester Ogdahl. Les owned a local construction company and the Builders Lumber Company in Glenwood, the lumber yard was on the Southwest Corner of Green Street (First Ave. SW) on the same block, west of the Fremad. Les remodeled  the Fremad second floor into nine apartments, and rented the first floor to various businesses. They included in the southeast area (Sears catalog store location) The Pop Shop (1978-1983), D.J’s Pizza (1983-1985), Phillipe’s Pizza (1985-1995), and Rural Pet Supply. At the north entrance on the first floor were several more businesses: Ron’s TV (1980-1981,) Dr. Steve Evelhoch- dentist (1984-1985), Rygg Denistry (1985), Dr. Harris (1986), later joined by Dr. Scott Ringdahl who was there from 1991-2000. Back over at the Green St. entrance were Mom’s Place, a game room for area kids (1982-1984), Youth for Christ, and a woodworking shop in later years.

In one of the final years of Mr. Ogdahl’s ownership, the main steam boiler which heated the entire building “konked out.” A major disaster was prevented when a distress call was put out on the local radio station and folks from all over the county brought in portable heaters of all sizes and shapes. First, two main support posts in the basement had to be removed to get the ol’ monster out. For years it was said that the building was slowly “falling apart.” Wrong. The posts that had been removed were not properly replaced and the two floors above were sagging because of it.   

By the time Les Ogdahl sold the Fremad Building in 1995, he had reached the age of 76. For 17 years he had maintained a vibrant and diversified downtown building and contributor to the Glenwood business district and economy. Les was born in Pope County in 1919 and was raised on the family farm. He enlisted in 1942 and was in the Army Air Corp and served in the Asia Pacific in World War II. He returned to Glenwood in 1945 where he built his construction business buying the Lampert Lumber Co. in 1957. He was a member of the Glenwood Jaycees, the VFW and Glenwood American Legion as well as a Glenwood Lions Club member, where he celebrated 50 years of perfect attendance! Les also was active with Waterama and Boy Scouts. 

There had some thought of having the Senior Citizens take over the building, using the first floor for various meeting, craft and game rooms and having senior apartments on the second floor. However, that idea never came to fruition. The Seniors rented the old post office built by A.E. Kvam from the fall of 1977 until 1998. It is adjacent to the Fremad. It was a Post Office (1954-1965) and an ASCS office (1965-1975.) It will soon be demolished along with the Fremad and Pope County State Bank building.

In 1995 the Fremad building was sold to Ken & Vicki Sawdon. Ken was in the process of enlarging the apartments and renovating the upstairs. Vicki ran a “Dance studio and Fitness Center” in the S.E. corner space from 1995-2004. From 2002-2003 Stella Bella’s Café was in the middle section and from 2004 – 2008 it was occupied by Le Café Paris.

In 2006 the property was bought by Phillip Serrin. He was in the process of completing the apartment renovation.  He owned the building until 2014 when the property went into tax delinquency and in 2019 was taken over by Pope County.

So today the once vibrant, active, center of activity will be demolished and like other historic landmarks will soon be forgotten along with the visionary drive of the Wollan Brothers that it represents. 

In next week’s article we will highlight the banking business originated by the Wollans and its growth into the Pope County State Bank.    

We would like to thank the Steve Nestor for writing this series of articles about the history of the Fremad building, and the Pope County Tribune for initially publishing the articles.

“Although the Fremad Association is one of the oldest business establishments in Glenwood, considerable ignorance of its history, methods and character have been manifested by numerous queries, which it is hoped a brief history of the Association will answer at least in part.” from the Glenwood Herald January 1^st, 1897. And, today, as this edifice of a once vibrant center of activity, business, economic stimulus and stability is about to be razed, we offer some answers to these “queries” and take you back to its origins in 1874.

As stated in last week’s article, the Wollan family were the primary founders and operators of the Fremad Association. Brothers Nels, Michael and Casper Wollan opened a mercantile store in Nel’s home in White Bear Lake Township near the Wadsworth Trail in 1870. Known as White Bear Center.  (The population of Pope County in 1870 was 2691.) In 1872 they moved the merchandise to Glenwood into a store on Franklin Street S. where the Village Inn garden area lies today. The new location was named Wollan Brothers Hardware Store. In 1874 they purchased the Sam Johnston Store on the opposite side of street and on the corner of Franklin and Green Streets (1^st Ave SW) where the present Fremad Building stands. Nels continued to run a grocery, general mercantile store in his home in White Bear Lake Township.

The Glenwood Fremad Association was primarily run by brothers, Casper and Michael, and nephew Ben from 1872 – 1922.

There was talk in the early 1870s of rural co-operatives. The brothers realized that they had already made the move to start a business of this type so they formalized a stock company and incorporated it under the name Fremad Association. “Fremad” is a Norwegian word meaning “onward” or “forward.” Shares of stock were sold at $25.00 each and every shareholder, no matter how many shares they held, had one vote. A stock of general merchandise was purchased and the Fremad Association was on its way. In the late 1870’s they reorganized and incorporated under new legislation. The capital stock was increased and a vote was given for each share owned. Though a controlling interest was retained by Wollan family members, most of the stock was owned by Pope County farmers. A seven member board of directors, mostly family members, oversaw company operations and set an annual dividend to shareholders. The company also owned city lots in the Prospect Park area of Glenwood, and several farms.

The store at the Nels Wollan home continued until 1882. When the Northern Pacific Railroad reached Starbuck, the Fremad Association moved his store into the new village. It was the first business in town. Nels continued to operate the store as part of the Fremad Association until 1887 when he exchanged his Fremad shares for sole ownership of the Starbuck store.

A lumber yard was added as a department of the Fremad Association in 1884. The Fremad’s Standard Lumber Co. was sold to Glenwood Lumber Co., Carl Ettesvold, in 1917. The Glenwood Lumber Company was razed in 2004 and the entire property paved for parking.

A banking business including savings and loans grew gradually.  In 1889 the banking office was separated into its own exclusive space within the Fremad building. One of the underlying reasons for the growth of the banking operation was the infamous 1876 James & Younger gang’s attempted bank heist in Northfield, Mn.  Fremad customers started bringing in their cash to be safely kept in the Fremad vault. The Fremad Bank had several names over the years: Wollan Bank, Glenwood Bank, the Fremad Bank and then officially after 1906, Pope County State Bank. (More about this next week.)

Let’s note a few other 1876 happenings: The United States was celebrating its 100^th birthday, Mark Twain published “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”, Alexander Graham Bell received the first patent for the telephone and made his first call, Rutherford B. Hayes became president (succeeding U.S. Grant.) Wyatt Earp became sheriff of Dodge City, Kansas. Wild Bill Hickok was killed during a poker game in Deadwood, South Dakota. And at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Lt. Col. George A. Custer made his “Last Stand.” Yes, this was all going on as there were but a couple dozen buildings in Glenwood, and which was celebrating, along with Pope County, its 10^th birthday! Alexandria photographer, N.J. Trenham, took a wonderful series of photographs of Glenwood in July 1876 which can be seen at the Pope County Museum.

The Wollan Brothers had purchased the Sam Johnston Store in 1873. It was a two-story wood frame structure with a south entrance, and there the Wollans carried on their business until 1893. They gradually acquired adjacent businesses and contemplated a new building. In 1893 they constructed an elegant, brick veneered block which stands within the present building. It had a basement below, a vault on the first floor, and a hall with stage and fittings on the second floor, including three office rooms and three dressing rooms on the south end. These rooms by 1897 were being used for storage and for offices. A regional insurance company occupied one office, and an attorney and insurance agent occupied another. The wooden two-story “Johnston” building was moved to the lot west of the newly constructed brick building and served as a storehouse.

In 1897 the Fremad Board of Directors were Casper T. Wollan, president and general manager, Mike A. Wollan, treasurer and cashier, Ben O. Wollan, secretary, also J.M. Aal, P.P. Johnson, A.C. Schey and Ben Troen. Mr. Aal was an employee of the Fremad beginning in 1882. P.P. Johnson came to Glenwood in 1882 and was a respected photographer and shoe store owner. Mr. Schey came to White Bear Center with the 1867 wagon train and farmed until 1884 when he became manager of the Fremad lumber yard. Ben Troen came to the Wollan settlement with his parents, Peter and Martha (Wollan) Troen, walking from Benson in 1871. The Troen family lived in a hole in the ground during their first year in Pope County.

By 1900 the population of Glenwood had grown to 1,116, and Pope County to 12,577! This great increase was due to two railroads crossing the county – the Northern Pacific in 1882 and the Soo Line in 1886.

The Fremad Association was instrumental in financing the construction of the Minnewaska Hotel in 1883. The Fremad had complete ownership of the hotel from 1886- 1889 when they sold it to Frank Minton, who had been managing it for several years. His name remained on the Minton Hotel through successive owners until the hotel was razed in 1970.

From 1893-1932 the Opera Hall was in operation on the second floor. All sorts of entertainment and functions were held regularly: club dances, minstrels, leap year masquerades, trios, quartets, Swiss bell ringers, phonograph concerts, social dances, Old Setters’ Ball, benefits and on and on. And we do mean on and on! From the late 1890’s – Governors, Explorers and Civil War vets and other veterans’ groups filled the Opera Hall night after night. In 1932 it became the meeting hall for both the Valley Lodge of Masons and the Minnewaska Order of the Eastern Star.

The Fremad, from pioneer days and for over a half century, was the main store in Glenwood. It was a department store, a bank, a grocery, a lumber yard, a hardware store, an opera hall and more. It was Pope County’s “Wollan-Mart!”

In 1907, when the bank moved to its new building, the wall between bank and store was removed and that area fitted for a shoe department. The 1907 Bank building was sold to the Pope County State Bank to more clearly separate the two corporations. As for the banking business, we will cover the Pope County Bank’s evolution and growth in a future article. But the Fremad bank was not in total compliance with state standards and regulations. The Pope County State Bank was formed and it grew necessary to construct a new building which was completed in 1906. It received its charter in 1908. The new bank was on the lot next to the alley with the tin shop standing between it and the Fremad building until 1919. Fremad’s Pope County State Bank will also be demolished this summer.

A former clerk recollected how he started working at The Fremad in the grocery department in 1908 at the age of 18. He and two others typically worked 16 hour days, opening each morning at 7 am and often working until 10 or 11 o’clock at night. He was paid $25.00 per month. The going price for room rent in those days was $12.00 per month. ($25.00 ?? Well that would be around $835.00 today. Still not much per hour.) He also commented that the grocery business was very different in those days. Farmers came in with long lists of grocery and other items to be filled. There were no paper bags. When you bought sugar it was placed on a big sheet of paper spread out over the scale and the sugar was scooped into a pile. The ends of the paper were brought up and tied in a manner that the sugar would not leak out. Most groceries came in bulk barrels. Farmers delivered eggs to the store in pails with oats poured around them to keep them from “bursting” during the wagon ride to town. The eggs were purchased with Fremad store tokens rather than cash.

Payment for goods purchased at the Fremad was unlike today! A cashier sat in a “cage” on the main floor. A clerk making a sale would put the sales slip and the currency (obviously no checks or credit cards) in a container operated on a wire, gave the carrier a little jerk and off it went to the central office cage. The cashier in the cage would document the sale, put the proper change in the container and send it back to the department that it came from. Wires ran all over to the various departments throughout the store.

The corporate minutes of March 1909 noted changes to the equivalent of a personnel policy: “Employees are allowed one week of paid vacation each year.” And also noted “Resolved that frequent visiting of saloons by employees of the Fremad Association shall be sufficient grounds for dismissal.”

A 1914 Glenwood Herald ad highlighted the full service store that was known as “Pope County’s Greatest Store.” It featured men’s summer hats: straw, tycoons, Nile side wheelers, all purpose and Fedoras, ranging from 10 to 75 cents. Also ties, bows, string and neckties from 5 to 50 cents. Shirts, socks, fancy hose, collars and women’s wear, such as three-tucked Chambray waists in pink and blue or black velvet ribbon with new elbow sleeve for just $2.00. A 1927 Easter ad offered men’s topcoats, spring ties, shirts, hats, footwear, and women’s coats and dresses. “Excellent quality and at a very reasonable price.”

In 1919 the building was extended and remodeled to its present appearance. The wood frame Tin Smith shop was removed and a two-story concrete and brick building filled the space between the 1893 Fremad Association store and the 1906 Pope County State Bank building.

Also in 1919 the store was divided into 4 departments; groceries, dry goods, men’s furnishings and shoes to keep separate accounts for each. By 1922 they leased out the upstairs offices to various tenants. (More about tenants in the next article.) The population of Glenwood in 1920 was 2,187.

As the founders Casper, Michael and Ben O. Wollan grew older, the Board of Directors saw name changes and a new variety of decisions – all necessary in a growing and diverse world. Land and outside investments were divested and as the founders passed on so too their stock holdings.  Ben O. died in 1922, Casper in 1924 and Michael in 1930. It was time for a new generation of management. A new direction was taking shape as the Fremad entered a whole new era.

As we stated earlier the offices upstairs were occupied by various insurance agents. In 1897 E.A. Taylor, the General Manager of the Park Region Mutual Hail Insurance Assoc. and Northwestern Mutual Fire Insurance Co. leased one office and L.E. Utley, attorney at law and general agent and manager of the Commercial Life Insurance Company another. From 1906-1911 the Southern Alberta & Minnesota Land Co.  had an office.

An 1898 Christmas advertisement in the Glenwood Herald touted, “The Fremad Corner…. The Busiest Corner in town!” Many other snapshots of the Fremad can be seen in the files at the Pope County Museum. Newspaper clippings and ads for well over a half century give a great sampling of the overall significance of this major treasure in our local history.

Now we must tell you that the Fremad was a conservative, seriously run business venture, more than a family store. It was the life blood of the entire area. Remember when the Wollans started in business, the closest railroad was in St. Cloud. When the legislature acted to promote rural co-operatives, the Wollan family secured their business and insured its future by forming a community owned company themselves. When the Northern Pacific railroad was surveyed on a route several miles south of the Wollan’s White Bear Center store, they moved the building and business to the new village of Starbuck.

Some family members had walked on foot to White Bear Lake Township from Sauk Centre. The Dakota Conflict had ended just five years before some of the family arrived in 1867. The trail they drove with their ox and horse drawn wagons was a military route, and before that a native trail that was little more than a deer, elk and buffalo trail. The Wollans brought the first threshing machine to the area. The county and city were organized in 1866. (Keep in mind, Minnesota had been granted Statehood in 1858). The Wollan family through their successful co-op business and other community work, brought Glenwood and Pope County into the 20^th Century.

In next week’s article we will highlight the evolution of the entire building as it opens to many rental tenants throughout the entire structure. Yes, times were a changing and the Great Depression was just around the corner.

We would like to thank the Steve Nestor for writing this series of articles about the history of the Fremad building, and the Pope County Tribune for initially publishing the articles.