‘Tales from Pioneers & Soldiers Cemetery’ Archives
Squire Borden, Tender of first Bridge Across the Mississippi River
by Susan Hunter Weir Squire Borden was born on the Atlantic Ocean on August 25, 1823. Perhaps that explains his life-long attraction to water. For many years, he worked as the bridge-tender on the first two suspension bridges that spanned the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, and since everyone who crossed the bridge encountered him, his was one of the most familiar faces in the city. In 1854, local entrepreneurs paid for the first bridge in the country to span the Mississippi River. The bridge was made of wood, and the cost of operating it was initially covered by tolls (two cents for a pedestrian and 25 cents for a wagon). Twenty years after it was built, the bridge was in poor condition and too narrow to accommodate the number of wagons that needed to cross it. The City contracted with Thomas M. Griffith, a nationally-known engineer, to build a replacement. The second bridge, 675 feet long and 32 feet wide, was constructed of steel and concrete rather than wood. It was [...]
Momentary absence.Flames prevail. Mother burned, and grieving
By Sue Hunter Weir In the early years of the last century the Minneapolis Tribune”'s coverage tended toward the sensational, especially when it came to covering tragedies involving children. But every now and then a reporter captured the sense of loss and grief, like in this excerpt from a story written by an unidentified Tribune reporter on January 14, 1911: A white hearse wound its way between snow-covered mounds and marble shafts at Layman”'s cemetery yesterday and stopped at the door of the vault room. From the three carriages that followed it a little group of people stepped and moved silently toward the vault. A man in a black cassock led. Following close came two old men, each looking straight ahead, their eyes dim with something besides age. Last came a little figure in deepest mourning, toil worn hand clutching the sleeve of the man who walked beside her. The door of the hearse opened and a square white coffin was borne out and carried into the vault [...]
Bartered Health Care Fails in court
by Sue Hunter Weir A word of warning””don”'t write your last will and testament on wallpaper and expect it to stand up in court. That”'s especially true if you don”'t want your relatives to inherit your money. George Strebel may (or may not) have done just that, and it led to what the Minneapolis Tribune called “one of the most unusual inheritance cases ever brought into the Hennepin County Courts.” George Strebel died from heart disease on October 21, 1916. For the next eight months, his body was held in the cemetery”'s vault while county officials attempted to locate his relatives. After eight months of fruitless searching, he was finally buried in Layman”'s Cemetery. Shortly afterward, two women, who claimed to be Strebel”'s sisters, came forward. His body was exhumed and the two sisters identified Strebel”'s remains by a malformation of one of his hands. Neither of the women had seen their brother in over 30 [...]
