By Meredith Stanton Vaselaar
It’s winter – winter in Minnesota – and you know what that means? People start running out of things to do and, by February, are pretty much going stir crazy with cabin fever. I am no different. (If you recall, four years ago the Library had a just-for-fun Crime Spree that began at this time….and, since I don’t want to repeat myself, I need to come up with something new!)
So – why not some “History Mystery” items to think about? For the past year, I’ve been going through historical things that I’ve collected over the years, or people have dropped off, or research that has been completed. After going through more than twenty-five years of things as well as information, some of it will stay at the Adrian Branch Library, but most will be cataloged, archived, and preserved at the Nobles County Historical Society (NCHS) main office, which is located in the basement of the Nobles County Library in Worthington (407 12th Street). It has been quite a job – easier for me, as I just have to sort, the volunteers at the NCHS are doing a lot of work, getting everything into their searchable database.
The NCHS and the Adrian Branch Library share A LOT of information and photos. When I dropped in a couple of weeks ago, Roger Zarn showed me a picture postcard that the NCHS had recently received. On the front was a photo of the interior of the St. Adrian Catholic Church, likely taken at the time of its dedication in 1901. While the picture is pretty cool, I admit that I was more interested in the back of the postcard.
“Is there anything written on the back?” I asked Mr. Zarn, who then graciously showed me the back. There was a note on the postcard, which had been mailed to Mrs. L. Robey, Pipestone, Minn. This is what was written:
“Dear Mrs. Robey, This is the alter (sic) in our church at Adrian. Rose E. graduates to night. Baby is real good. Yours, Nellie E.”
I got pretty excited by this! The postcard was mailed from the Adrian Post Office on “June 3, at 4:00 p.m.” The year was difficult to read; was it 1903? 1905? 1906? 1908? There was no indication as to who “Nellie E.” could be. MY KIND OF MYSTERY!
I offered to do some sleuthing for the NCHS and see if I could determine who wrote the postcard, who “Rose E.” was, and find out who “Baby” was, and what was Nellie’s connection to “Mrs. L. Robey”?
Mr. Zarn emailed me a scan of the postcard. The next day, before work, I took a look at the historical files at the Adrian Branch Library and found some answers. Later in the evening, I did more searching on FREE genealogy websites like www.familysearch.org and www.findagrave.com and found out more information. I searched Ancestry.com at the Library, which has a subscription that patrons can use for FREE, and I even found a photo of “Rose E.” in her graduation dress!
So, now I extend this challenge: can YOU figure out who wrote the postcard and/or who “Rose E.” and “Baby” are? ANYONE who finds out the answer will get their name in next week’s newspaper, when I do the “reveal.” The first person to “crack the code” will receive a pre-2018 Winter Reading Mug, and BRAGGING RIGHTS, in this History Mystery. I encourage one and all to stop by the Adrian Branch Library, and look through our historical information. There will be a copy of the postcard (front in back) on display at the Library.
Where would YOU start? What glimmer of information in the postcard would send you on the correct path as a histo-
ry mystery detective? Ask us questions – we are happy to show you our genealogy section. We won’t tell you in which archive to search, but if you ask for archives, we will gladly hand them over; from there, you WILL be able to find the answers, too. Stop in at the Library and do some detective work, or stop in and give us your guess (tell us how you knew). If you do find out/know the answer, after you tell us, help us with the mystery by not telling anyone. You will get “credit” for your awesome detective skills!
Each week we will have more mysteries for you (with the reveal the following week).
Adrian Branch Library, 214 Maine Avenue, Adrian, MN, 56110; 507 483-2541; mvaselaar@co.nobles.mn.us
