MOUNDS at Mound Cemetery

Mound Cemetery was founded in 1862 presumedly on a mound. The records do not include any debate about the name. The story is that it was the site of ancient Indian mounds, but there are many stories about the cemetery that are not based on evidence.  When one enters the cemetery, there is an incline but it is hard to imagine that it once looked like the mounds pictured here of Indian Mounds Park in St. Paul.

I was thrilled to find this newspaper article about an exploration of the mounds "near Palmer Lake" in Brooklyn Township...not that I approve of the invasive exploratory actions, but it does confirm the presence of ancient Indian mounds.

Star Tribune October 22, 1874, p. 3

Brooklyn Good Templars

 

Right before Christmas in 1874, a group was inspired by the impassioned General J. A. Kellogg on the subject of temperance. [ KZ4W-HGF ]  Their "enthusiasm was awakened" and they organized a "Lodge of Good Templars.(1)  At first, they met at the "Bohannon Grange Hall #445" , but five years later, they moved to the upper level of the Howe Store. (2)

Star Tribune 12 Aug 1879, Tue · Page 4

The abbreviations are a bit challenging. I.O.G.T. is Independent Order of Good Templars. The W.s signify a Worthy position. Future blogs will continue to explore the individual officers starting from the top down.

The Worthy Chief Templar was Fred M. Libby and his wife, Nancy Buckley, was The Worthy Vice Templar. They had married in 1872 and migrated to Brooklyn Township from Maine in 1875. Fred continued being a leader in the community. According to his obituary he had been the treasurer of the Market Garden Association for 30 years, was a member of the Masonic Lodge in Osseo, and Scottish Rite and Zuhrah Temple of Minneapolis. (3)

Note that Mrs Libby's female leadership role was the norm in I.O.G.T. As described at a Scottish Rite blog:

"Founded in 1852, with a Grand Lodge of North America organized in 1855, the Independent Order of Good Templars (IOGT) was a total abstinence temperance organization. From its inception, the group accepted men and women equally as members. Women frequently held elected office within the organization. The temperance movement in the United States in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries - with much of its leadership and organization comprised of women - was also aligned with the women's suffrage movement." (4)

The Libbys were both active in Brooklyn Methodist Church and are buried at Mound Cemetery. 

(1)   Star Tribune 22 Dec 1874, Tue · Page 4

(2)   History of Hennepin County p. 287 https://archive.org/details/historyofhennepi00warn/page/286/

(3) The Minneapolis Journal 03 Sep 1933, Sun · Page 27

(4)   https://nationalheritagemuseum.typepad.com/library_and_archives/independent-order-of-good-templars/

Brooklyn Township Family: Searching Connection with the Eidems

My mother had a cousin who married an Eidem so I was checking out the Eidem family; I knew the City of Brooklyn Park had restored the Eidem Farm and so I was curious if there were more connections.  I subscribe to newspaper archives of the Star Tribune (1) and hit on this announcement:

Transcribed: Golden Wedding is Celebrated on Farm Home of Many Years

On the same farm where they settled nearly half a century ago, Mr. and Mrs. John H Eidem of Brooklyn Township, Hennepin County, celebrated the golden anniversary of their wedding last week.  Mr. and Mrs. Eidem were married at Selby, Norway, on June 21st 1864. Two years later they emigrated to America, traveled overland to reach the fertile farming regions of Minnesota and settled at once at the place now known as Brooklyn Township. They have made their home on a farm at that place ever since.  8 children, all but one of them came all the way from Montana for the occasion, several grandchildren and Mr. Eidem’s brother and three sisters, two of whom live in North Dakota, attended the celebration. There were also a large number of other relatives and friends.  Mr. Eidem is 72 years old and, with the exception of failing eyesight, is enjoying good health.  His wife, who is 68, is in good health and works daily as actively as she did in her younger days.  They have 14 children, eight of whom are living.  There are 16 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. [ed. Selbu is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. Star Tribune 28 Jun 1914, Sunday Page 15]

So, referring to our reference map from 1873....I am not seeing it right off the bat; referring to our reference township directory from 1881...it says 100 acres in section 4; I am looking at section 4 and it does not show him on the map. Maybe he was renting in 1873.

Referring to the Hennepin County wiki I will look at other maps; first to the table of contents so I can get directly to the maps; I am choosing the 1887 Map of Ramsey and Washington counties : with adjacent portions of Anoka, Dakota & Hennepin counties, Minnesota, and parts of St. Croix & Pierce counties, Minnesota at Library of Congress. And here he is on the 1887 map of section 4; the section aligns Champlin Township.

Some of the Eidems are buried in Champlin, but most are in Mound Cemetery, Brooklyn Center.  Looking at findagrave.com....whoa: seven 'John Eidem' have memorials at this site.  He is memorial ID 44247965.  Sometimes I make suggestions to expand or correct the information at findagrave.com, but, my first priority is to check information posted at familysearch.org. John Eidem is ID G9XL-79N at familysearch.org. That is where I like to do my genealogy work and post results; like a puzzle I love making connections with the records and finding a story. 

For the genealogy of John Eidem, I added information gathered from the Minneapolis City Directories that are online at Hennepin County Public Library.  John did not live on the farm during the last ten years of his life. in 1918 the couple moved to 2423 Aldrich Ave North Minneapolis; Christian, Julius, and granddaughter Alice also lived with them. [today this is a vacant lot] When John died, on November 30, 1928,  he was staying with his daughter at 3323 Dupont Ave N. His obituary, published on December 2, 1928 in the Minneapolis Journal, contains multiple clues (in addition to the anniversary notice) of John's ancestors and descendants. Here it is:

This blog is focused on Brooklyn Township, so rather than explore John's genealogy here [that work will be on familysearch.org] my next step is going to be life on the Eidem Farm, a historical site preserved by the City of Brooklyn Park.  That step will another blog post. 

I did discover that the cousin aforementioned at the start of this blog, had married Julius Eidem,[LRD8-X86 at familysearch.org] they had a daughter 5 months later, and were divorce after 3 years. Julius was the son of John and Ingeborg, and he came to an unfortunate death at age 50: a train accident in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[Mound Cemetery register; personal collection]

(1)  

There is no need to have a subscription for articles prior to 1930 as they are free online at the Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub via the MN Historical Society's website; 1867 - 1930.  My cost for the Star-Tribune full subscription is $29.95 for 6 months.