Long lifespans documented in Wing River Township

Correct or incorrect the thought has crossed my mind that we, in Wing River Township, Wadena County, have been blessed with more than our share of high age resident seniors. That is an area only six miles by six miles including most of the small town of Bluegrass. I want to share a bit of this history with you. Some folks are no longer with us; others are still on their own.

Early settlement of the township began in about 1880 following about 150 years of the fur business. Presently we’ve enjoyed about 140 years since the township was first laid out.

Records show our immigrants came from Sweden, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Holland, England, Denmark, southern Minnesota, North Dakota and elsewhere, each family looking for new opportunities.

I’m presenting a little information for your reading enjoyment. If my theory is true, you tell me why we have this many seniors. Is it in the water we drink? Is it this out wash sand we try desperately to grind out an existence from? Is it from the rocks we move to find a few square inches from which plants can grow? Is it because there were four schools in our township and we learned well? If my theory is true - that we have had more folks reach 90 years of age than the average, tell me why? If I’m incorrect, what do your records show?

A bit from Verndale’s fantastic “Pages from History” - Vol. I, page 265, I quote, “Mr. Wells, while attending the 1919 meeting of the Wing River Farmers’ Club (in the still standing Wing River Town Hall) indulged in reminiscences commenting on the fact that the people of the town (township) were gathered together for a most enjoyable social time. When I first came here people told me I was getting into the worst part of the county and when I did get here I thought so myself. I can show you bullet holes in the hall today and at one time a woman confessed to me she drank seven glasses of beer here. Now all this is changed.”  The article mentioned that he went on to picture the great agricultural development of the vicinity and its attendant prosperity. Driving through Wing River Township it’s hard to realize that a little over a hundred years ago, this was mostly wilderness with a sprinkling of hardy settlers, who mostly made their living from logging and sawmilling.

A bit more information. In 1900, in the United States, the average age men lived to was 46.3 years and women was 48.3. By 1998, according to Google, it was 73.8 and 79.5 respectively. Today, in Minnesota, it’s 76.3 for men and 81.9 for women. The first burial recorded in our little Wing River Union Cemetery was Carin Larson, born in Sweden and died during childbirth in 1903. The first person I found reaching 90 years of age and is buried in our cemetery was John Olson in 1948. He was 91 years old and also born in Sweden. Coronary thrombosis claimed him. His marked the 101st grave in our cemetery.

The most common causes of death listed in our cemetery book are; pneumonia, pleurisy, prematurity, old age, cancer, Hodgkin’s, ALS, myocarditis, peritonitis, diabetes and non-communicable.

The following is a list of names of those in our township that are still living or have passed. The numbers indicate their current age or the age they attained.

LIVING

101 Emily Crocker

 96 Ida Anderson

 93 Leona Wiebesick

 92 Barlaam Cole

 91 Betty Goche

 91 Margaret Kern

 90 Romeo Goche

 90 Doris Anderson

DECEASED

103 John Cole

102 Francis Elfstrum

101 Melvina Kraft

101 Saraphine 

           (Windels) Davis

100 Raymond Lee

  99 Elsie Hess

  99 Cliff Anderson

  99 Vera Bounds

  99 Floyd Thompson

  98 Anton Kern

  97 Evelyn Knudson

  97 Macy White

  97 Effie Smith

  97 Elizabeth Shelton

  97 Jennie Nissen 

           Olson

  97 Beda Kasperson

  96 Dave Murdock

  96 Dorothy Peterson 

           Kingsley

  96 Adrian Morton, Sr.

  95 Vida Sorum

  95 Anna Crocker

  95 Gertrude Johnson

  95 Richard Lynn 

           Hess

  95 Maria Breiseth

  94 Anna Robb 

           Fitzsimmons

  94 Clara Hagerman

  94 Percy Hagerman

  94 Margaret Hess

  94 Lauretta Mitchel         

           Lukens

  93 Forrest (Father 

           Goose) Lee

  93 Nick Goche

  93 Joseph Kern, Jr.

  92 Oliver Smith

  92 Don Hess

  92 Arnold Peterson

  92 Esther Peterson

  91 Rachel Morton

  91 Eva Barrett

  91 Elmer Bounds

  91 Esther Olson

  91 Peter Kern, Sr.

  91 John Olson

  91 Erma White

  91 Irene Lee

  90 June Morton

  90 Gail Johnson

  90 Thea Kolstad

  90 Helen Thompson

  90 Hazel Back

  90 Theda Cooper

I’ve been fortunate to have known more the 90 percent of these people. Forgive me if I’ve missed any names.

The turnout to vote has always been high in Wing River Township. It’s our patriotic duty. In 2016, the recorded vote in the U.S. was 58.1 percent . In Wing River, 263 voted a 98.5 percent turnout.