CELEBRATING
RURAL LIFE IN MINER COUNTY, SOUTH DAKOTA
Painting by John C. Green
Main Street circa 1930, Howard, South Dakota
Used with permission of the artist
Main Street circa 1930, Howard, South Dakota
Used with permission of the artist
Miner County Historical Society
The Miner County Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization under the Internal Revenue Code. Together with the Miner County Rural Life Museum, MCHS focuses on the history of Howard, South Dakota and adjacent areas in Miner County. It is particularly interested in acquiring documents, letters, reports, newspapers, books, pictures, and relics pertaining to the narratives of pioneers in the county.
Keeping in mind that history is an ever-changing subject and that the events of today are the history of tomorrow, MCHS works to obtain and safeguard a gallery of portraiture and a record of the events of the past as well as a record of current events.
Keeping in mind that history is an ever-changing subject and that the events of today are the history of tomorrow, MCHS works to obtain and safeguard a gallery of portraiture and a record of the events of the past as well as a record of current events.
Upcoming Events
October-November-December 2024
- October 27, 4-5 p.m. Trunk and Treat candy give-away
- November 10, 2 p.m.: Attracting Birds to Backyard with Irene Colling (revised date; initially scheduled for October 27) Irene Colling will present a program on feeding birds in your backyard this winter. Not sure how much or how often or what to feed your backyard birds during the winter? Irene Colling will answer those questions for you. The program is open to the public, at no charge. Enter your name for a drawing of the premium bird seed recommended by Irene.
- November 17, 2 p.m.: Annual meeting at the museum As required by MCHS bylaws, the Miner County Historical Society annual meeting is scheduled for Sunday, November 17th at 2 p.m. in the Rural Life Museum. At the annual meeting, MCHS and Rural Life Museum activities from the last year will be reviewed and goals for 2024-2025 will be presented. Members in attendance will vote on new / renewing board members. Membership dues ($35) for FY2024-2025 will also be collected.
- December 6: Tour of Homes tickets available at Hometown Holidays
- December 7, 1-4 p.m.: Tour of Homes; Snacks and gift baskets at museum after tour; Wine tasting 4-6 p.m. The Miner County Historical Society / Rural Life Museum will host its second annual Tour of Homes on Saturday, December 7 from 1-4 p.m. After the tour, you can return to the museum for snacks and also for a wine tasting / education event. Tickets will be available at High Maintenance, at the museum and at Hometown Holidays. Watch for additional information on the homes included on the tour and also for the wine tasting / education program at the museum after the tour.
2024 Annual Meeting
As required by our bylaws, we hold an annual meeting each year in November to talk to our membership about accomplishments of the previous year and goals for next year. The 2024 annual meeting is scheduled for Sunday, November 17, 2024 at 2 p.m. in the Rural Life Museum. An agenda for the 2024 meeting and minutes from the 2023 meeting will be posted here prior to the 2024 meeting.
The agenda and the financial report for the 2023 meeting are available for download below.
The agenda and the financial report for the 2023 meeting are available for download below.
| Annual Meeting Agenda November 2023 |
| Annual Meeting Financial Report November 2023 |
Rural Life Museum
The Miner County Rural Life Museum, operated by the Miner County Historical Society, houses a collection of primary documents with historical significance to Miner County and the communities within the county. Exhibits in the museum include the military history of Miner County; retail establishments and related memorabilia; medical history, including the initial presence of doctors, nurses and dentists in the region; agricultural life and family farming; the religious history of the area; memorabilia from youth organizations; collections of Native American arrowheads and artifacts; and a library filled with historical documents including yearbooks, newspapers going back to the turn of the century, family genealogy books, sports memorabilia and scrapbooks that document local history through the years.
Together with the Miner County Historical Society, the museum publishes a monthly column in the Miner County Pioneer newspaper.
Together with the Miner County Historical Society, the museum publishes a monthly column in the Miner County Pioneer newspaper.
Donations to Rural Life Museum: To donate an item to our collection, please send an email to us at [email protected] or contact one of our board members (listed below). We ask that a Donation / Disposition Form accompany donations. The downloadable form is available below.
| Rural Life Museum Donation Form (Word) |
| Rural Life Museum Donation Form (.pdf) |
2024 South Dakota One Book:
"Little and Often" by Trent Preszler
Miner County Historical Society and the Rural Life Museum hosted two events tied to the 2024 South Dakota One Book celebration. On June 8, 2024 at 2 p.m., the museum hosted a book discussion of "Little and Often," led by Nancy Sabbe, retired librarian from Madison. Then, on June 26, 2024 at 7 p.m., Trent visited the Rural Life Museum to give a reading, answer questions and sign books. His book can be ordered on Amazon or purchased at Barnes and Noble.
The book is a memoir, his attempt to reconcile his relationship with his father and his grief after his father's death by using his father's woodworking tools to build a wooden canoe. Trent is a South Dakota native, from the Lemmon / Menno / Athboy area in northwestern South Dakota. He's currently a "Professor of Practice" at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
The book is a memoir, his attempt to reconcile his relationship with his father and his grief after his father's death by using his father's woodworking tools to build a wooden canoe. Trent is a South Dakota native, from the Lemmon / Menno / Athboy area in northwestern South Dakota. He's currently a "Professor of Practice" at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
The Mystery has been Solved --
For A Second Time!
When we were packing for the move to the old Rivers Edge Bank building, we found this photo in a box of donations from the Sid Davison family. Obviously, it was the cast of a play, produced in the old Legion Hall building, but we don't know anything about the play or the cast. We were flummoxed, until we got an email message from Kathy Phillips. Her mother (Dorothy Sabatka), her uncle (Gene Sabatka) and her grandparents (Carl and Frances Sabatka) lived in Howard, and she found a copy of the same photo and the list of actors in her grandfather’s memorabilia.
Kathy identified the photo as the cast for a musical comedy, “Circus Sally”, that was given under the auspices of the American Legion Auxiliary on Thursday and Fridy evenings, April 21-22, 1927.
Her grandfather, Carl Sabatka, lived in Howard for a short time, then moved to Jackson MN where he worked for the extension office. Later, he returned to Howard and worked at the local creamery. In 1927, when the play was presented, he was still single and the family assumes participating in the play was his way of getting to know people in Howard after he moved back. What surprised her the most: the play was a musical and she can’t remember her grandfather ever singing.
Here's the cast list for “Circus Sally”. Some of the names are difficult to read, so we may not have interpreted them correctly.
First row (front), from left to right: Rob. Maley, V. Bensen, Eilers Grimme, Geo Christianson, Rob. Trebble.
Second row, from left to right: Anna Erickson, Irma Fitzgerald, Virginia O’Meara, Mabel Johnson, Ester Tripp, Elmer Bakke, Jessie Johnson, Lucille Beschta, Audrey Tystad, Louise White.
Third row, from left to right: Mrs. Barnett, Dorothy Brewer, Mrs. Geo Christianson, Ellen Widel.
Fourth row, from left to right: Mrs. L. Hanson, Helen Heiser, Rosamond Kaveney, Hans Stove, Mrs. J A Lehnert, Carl Sabatha, Margarette Brewer, William Clark, Ada Moench, Mrs. J. Lowrie, Marjorie Brewer.
Fifth row, from left to right: Vivian Hetland, Joe Schueller, Mrs. T A Klinkhammer.
The director, Mrs. Doris Wilhraus is the insert at the bottom right of the photo.
The family has a second photo, also of a play cast and also in the old American Legion building. They’re searching for additional information for that play and, when they uncover it, they’ll send it along to us and we’ll share it with you.
And an update:
The information we had identified the play as “Circus Sally”. However, we’ve since found a Miner County Pioneer article, which identifies the play as “Circus Solly”. The article also provided a more complete cast list.
From the newspaper article:
“At the auditorium in this city on Thursday and Friday nights of last week, was given a musical comedy under the auspices of the American Legion Auxiliary, entitled “Circus Solly”, a Frederick B. Ingram production directed by Miss Doris Withrow of Missouri Valley, Iowa. A great deal of the success of this splendid home talent play is due to the untiring efforts of Mrs. W.H. Keegan, president of the auxiliary and the committee headed by Mrs. C.E. Davison as chair. (As an aside: that explains why the photo was part of the collection given to us by the Sid Davison family.)
A full house greeted each performance and it was the general verdict that it was one of the best home talent comedies ever produced in Howard. It would be almost impossible to pick out any particular member of the cast as the “star”, as they all did spendidly, and we will leave those of the audience who were there to decide this question for themselves.
Mrs. Edith Fitzgerald acted as accompanist and, after the play on Friday night, members of the show and their friends enjoyed a short session of dancing.
We must also give the female impersonators of the ballet their due credit. They were Vic Benson, George Christianson, Will Keegan, Robert Trebble, Bob Maley and Eilers Grimme. To say they were “immense” is but putting it mildly.
The cast included:
The chorus included: Ada Moenck, Anna Erickson, Lucille Beschta, Virginia O’Meara, Marjorie Brewer, Audrey Tystad, Louise Barnett, Edna Lowrie, Mable Johnson, Helen Heiser, Sylvia Hanson, Louise White, Irma Fitzgerald, Rosamond Kavaney, Ellen Widel, Dorothy Brewer, Jessie Johnson, Agnes Christianson. "
Kathy identified the photo as the cast for a musical comedy, “Circus Sally”, that was given under the auspices of the American Legion Auxiliary on Thursday and Fridy evenings, April 21-22, 1927.
Her grandfather, Carl Sabatka, lived in Howard for a short time, then moved to Jackson MN where he worked for the extension office. Later, he returned to Howard and worked at the local creamery. In 1927, when the play was presented, he was still single and the family assumes participating in the play was his way of getting to know people in Howard after he moved back. What surprised her the most: the play was a musical and she can’t remember her grandfather ever singing.
Here's the cast list for “Circus Sally”. Some of the names are difficult to read, so we may not have interpreted them correctly.
First row (front), from left to right: Rob. Maley, V. Bensen, Eilers Grimme, Geo Christianson, Rob. Trebble.
Second row, from left to right: Anna Erickson, Irma Fitzgerald, Virginia O’Meara, Mabel Johnson, Ester Tripp, Elmer Bakke, Jessie Johnson, Lucille Beschta, Audrey Tystad, Louise White.
Third row, from left to right: Mrs. Barnett, Dorothy Brewer, Mrs. Geo Christianson, Ellen Widel.
Fourth row, from left to right: Mrs. L. Hanson, Helen Heiser, Rosamond Kaveney, Hans Stove, Mrs. J A Lehnert, Carl Sabatha, Margarette Brewer, William Clark, Ada Moench, Mrs. J. Lowrie, Marjorie Brewer.
Fifth row, from left to right: Vivian Hetland, Joe Schueller, Mrs. T A Klinkhammer.
The director, Mrs. Doris Wilhraus is the insert at the bottom right of the photo.
The family has a second photo, also of a play cast and also in the old American Legion building. They’re searching for additional information for that play and, when they uncover it, they’ll send it along to us and we’ll share it with you.
And an update:
The information we had identified the play as “Circus Sally”. However, we’ve since found a Miner County Pioneer article, which identifies the play as “Circus Solly”. The article also provided a more complete cast list.
From the newspaper article:
“At the auditorium in this city on Thursday and Friday nights of last week, was given a musical comedy under the auspices of the American Legion Auxiliary, entitled “Circus Solly”, a Frederick B. Ingram production directed by Miss Doris Withrow of Missouri Valley, Iowa. A great deal of the success of this splendid home talent play is due to the untiring efforts of Mrs. W.H. Keegan, president of the auxiliary and the committee headed by Mrs. C.E. Davison as chair. (As an aside: that explains why the photo was part of the collection given to us by the Sid Davison family.)
A full house greeted each performance and it was the general verdict that it was one of the best home talent comedies ever produced in Howard. It would be almost impossible to pick out any particular member of the cast as the “star”, as they all did spendidly, and we will leave those of the audience who were there to decide this question for themselves.
Mrs. Edith Fitzgerald acted as accompanist and, after the play on Friday night, members of the show and their friends enjoyed a short session of dancing.
We must also give the female impersonators of the ballet their due credit. They were Vic Benson, George Christianson, Will Keegan, Robert Trebble, Bob Maley and Eilers Grimme. To say they were “immense” is but putting it mildly.
The cast included:
- Jane Brown, who sells Candy: Vivian Hetland
- Circus Solly, a circus clown: Joe Shueller
- Betty Wood, cigar counter girl: Mrs. Tony Klinkhammer
- Red Berry, a slicker with the circus: William Clark
- McGinty, the town barber: Hans Stove
- Widow Willow, who mourns her departed Clarence: Mrs. John Lehnert
- Simon Rotosky, a balloon vendor: Elmer Bakke
- Annie, a town character: Esther Tripp
- Tina, a circus girl: Margarette Brewer
- Hickory Bender, the town constable: Carl Sabatka
The chorus included: Ada Moenck, Anna Erickson, Lucille Beschta, Virginia O’Meara, Marjorie Brewer, Audrey Tystad, Louise Barnett, Edna Lowrie, Mable Johnson, Helen Heiser, Sylvia Hanson, Louise White, Irma Fitzgerald, Rosamond Kavaney, Ellen Widel, Dorothy Brewer, Jessie Johnson, Agnes Christianson. "
