of planks were hauled from Inkster for tables and benches, and a platform was built from which the fancy
work and aprons were displayed and sold. There was a
lemonade stand, homemade ice cream, layer cake and
confections were sold. Boats were ready for rides on the
river and the hay carrier rope from the haymow was
used for a swing from one of the tall trees. Young and old
came from miles around in buggies, surreys, and
wagons. With horses unhitched, tied in the barns or to a
tree, the day was spent feasting, visiting and enjoying
themselves. The Ladies' Aid netted a tidy sum used in
helping furnish the new church and for benevolences.
Mother baked bread three and four times a week for
our family. The potato water was saved and a sponge
was set in the evening, and then it was well covered with
a blanket to keep it warm. A batch of bread made eight
loaves, baked in two black tin bread pans which filled the
oven of our Majestic range, and a pan of biscuits.
Mother's custard pies with meringue and little golden
beads scattered over them was something special. Carl
says, "No one can make custard pie like Mother's."
Peter, Owen and Elmer farmed in the Fordville
area Peter married Olga Martinson of Viking, Minn.,
had a son, Loren. All are deceased. Owen married Mary
Matthie of Inkster, has a son, Gene, and a daughter,
Betty Ann. Mary died in 1950. Elmer married Jessie
Currie of Forest River, has a son, Harley, and a
daughter, Janice. They have retired and live in Fordville.
skeletons were unearthed, as this had been a former
Indian burying ground. Many interested in archaeology
came to observe and study. Rats were unknown to the
early settlers until the railroad came through.
Dad and his sons made up part of his crew, and each
fall threshed for many of the neighbors and farmers as
far away as Lankin and Dahlen. Dad's first top mounted
Avery was fired with straw. Owen tells me he was the
"straw-monkey" at the age of 10, bucking the straw to
the engine for fuel. The under mounted Avery, purchased
in 1910, burned coal and was in use for 15 falls.
Mother, with the help of us girls, cleaned the cook
and sleeping cars and gathered sufficient bedding for the
hired help. The men filled their own ticks with fresh
straw. When the season was over, the bedding was
laundered in a 50-gallon copper kettle, which had been
brought from Norway by a friend, Ole Hove. A fire was
built under the kettle and the blankets were boiled to kill
any vermin that might be in them.
In the fall of 1905, Dad moved the cook and sleeping
cars to his lots in Medford (Fordville) and served meals
and gave lodging to many of the workers engaged in
building the town.
Dad built a large two story building, renting to
McEwen, Dougherty, and Daily, a company selling farm
machinery. They sold out to a second machine company
in Medford, and Dad went into the machine business
selling the Acme line.
An addition was built to this first building, with
George and Owen helping with the carpentry. This
housed the first telephone office, with Agnes, the late
Mrs. Oscar Johnson of Edinburg, as the first operator.
There was also a photography studio and living quarters.
Dad also built and operated a feed mill for many years,
shipped in, sawed, and sold cordwood, which was used
extensively for heat at that time.
Al Sorg, Inkster, for whom Carl had been working,
built a hardware and furniture store with Carl as
manager. Carl married Mary Ellingson, Dahlen. Their
family of five, Oren, Lenora, Conrad, Ardis and Ella
Marie, all graduated from high school at Fordville. Carl
died in 1952.
George associated with his dad in photography,
worked as teller at the First State Bank of Fordville, and
after a few years, took over the Standard bulk station,
selling gasoline for many years. He built a new home at
I ordville and was married to Nina Lein, Inkster, in 1913.
They moved to California in 1928 with a son, Omer, and
daughter, Glenna. George died there in 1946.
Mother and Dad were charter members of the East
Forest River Church organized in 1885 and held various
offices. They were interested in the Christian welfare of
their family and the community and many Young
People's Society gatherings were held in their home.
Dad's talents ran to carpentry, with the use of a
homemade lathe and spindles, he built the altar and
pulpit with their unique wooden decorations, some
overlaid with gold-leaf, for the new church built in 1896.
As a child, I remember Dad's many curved, polished
chisels with red handles. We must not play with them, for
they were treasured by Dad. Dad was a member of the
building cornmittee of the East Forest River and
Fordville Lutheran Church after the merger in 1919.
The East Forest River Ladies' Aid held their annual
picnic at the Thoe picnic grounds. Much preparation was
made for this event. The grass was cut and raked, a load
The Ole Thoe family, taken in 1910. Back: Owen, Henry,
Agnes, Casper, George. Middle: Carl, Julia, Dad,
Mother, Peter. Front: Elmer, Lila, Ella.
Casper homesteaded in Montana. He loved the
outdoors, worked for the Forestry Service, and spent
many years at lookouts near Troy locating fires and
becoming acquainted with the trees, wild animals and
birds. He died in 1966.
Agnes married Oscar Johnson, Edinburg, had two
sons Orville and Arnold. Oscar died in 1928 and Agnes in
1951.' Both are buried at the Odalen Cemetery, west of
Edinburg.
Henry worked in banks at Ardoch and Lancaster,
Minn. Later, he served as Custom and Immigrations
Officer at Baudette, Minn. He married Sarah Swanson,
Thief River Falls, Minn., and had a son, James. Henry
and Sarah are deceased.
Julia was married to Leland O'Neil, Fordville, had a
son, Jack, and a daughter, Louise. Julia, the youngest
member of the Thoe family, died in 1929.
Lila and Ella taught school several years in the local
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