PROFILE: Captain John A. Vanstrum

I present to you, one of St. Vincent's early pioneers - John A. Vanstrum. A veteran of the Civil War, he became very civic-minded, serving the town and later Kittson County, in many positions. One of his longest-held was as Sheriff.  Serving at roughly the same time, he was Sheriff Charley Brown's counterpart across the river!

Captain John A. Vanstrum, register of deeds for Kittson county for the past decade, a pioneer citizen of the great northwest and a valiant soldier of the Civil War, is now a resident of Hallock, Minnesota, where he enjoys the esteem and confidence of a wide circle of friends and admirers. His portrait [seen here on right], will be appreciated by his host of friends. Captain Vanstrum was born in the province Gustaf and Elizabeth Vanstrum. The parents died in Sweden, their native land. Captain Vanstrum received but a limited education in his boyhood, having to assist his father in a paper mill from his tenth to his sixteenth year. On June 22, 1855, in company with about two hundred emigrants, he left his native land, sailing from Gutenberg on the vessel Ann Washburn, commanded by Captain Winchell. The vessel was heavily laden with Swedish iron for Boston merchants. He arrived in Boston harbor August 6, 1855, and proceeded to Chicago, thence to Batavia, Illinois, where he spent the winter of 1855-6, working for his board and attending school. In September, 1856, he went to Minnesota, via Dunleith, now East Dubuque, Illinois, thence up the Mississippi river, and located at Redwing. Minnesota, where he engaged as clerk in a store.

At the breaking out of the Civil war Captain Vanstrum was residing at Redwing, Minnesota. He immediately offered his services and assisted the late Colonel H. Mattson in recruiting Company D, Third Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered into service in October, 1861 at Fort Snelling. The Captain went to Chisago county, Minnesota. where he raised some thirty volunteers (Swedish) for Company D. These men he transported in wagons all the way from what was then known as Center City via Taylor's Falls, Marine Mills and Stillwater, through St. Paul to Fort Snelling, where they arrived October 18, 1861, and on the following day were mustered into service. Captain Vanstrum was appointed sergeant of Company D in October 1861, was promoted to second lieutenant March 30, 1862, first lieutenant May 30. 1862, and Captain of Company D August 2. 1862. He re-enlisted with the same company as a veteran, under the veteran enlistment act, at Little Rock, Arkansas, early in January, 1864. He was honorably discharged with his regiment at Fort Snelling September 17, 1865. His record in war, as it has continued to be, is that of a brave and fearless defender of the Union and the old flag. In 1879 Captain Vanstrum went to Kittson county, Minnesota, and located at St. Vincent, where he was postmaster from 1879 until 1885. In the latter year he resigned his office and during that period the post office at St. Vincent was of more than ordinary importance. It was the international exchange office for all registered mail matter passing between the United States and the northwest Canadian provinces. All registered letters are re-registered at the St. Vincent office. From 1879 to 1885 this office ranked third in volume of registered mail from Minnesota.

Captain Vanstrum was sheriff of Kittson county from the date of its organization, April 8, 1879, to January, 1889, and is at present register of deeds of said county, having held that position continuously since the fall of 1891. Politically the Captain is an uncompromising Republican. He is a member of the I.O.O.F., and is one of the representative men and pioneers of the northwest. (International Order of Odd Fellows)

Source:  Collections of the State Historical Society of North Dakota, Vol. IV (1913)

The Beaver Club

The Beaver Club was instituted at Montreal in the year 1785, by the merchants then carrying on the Indian trade of Canada. Originally the club consisted of but nineteen members, all vovageurs, having wintered in the Indian Country, and having been in the trade from their youth...The object of the meetings (as set forth in the rules) was “to bring together, at stated periods, during the winter season, a set of men highly respectable in society, who had passed their best days in a savage country and had encountered the difficulties and dangers incident to a pursuit of the fur trade of Canada.”

The members recounted the perils they had passed through and after passing around the Indian emblem of peace (the calumet), the officer appointed for the purpose, made a suitable harangue."

Who were these men?

Area pioneers Peter Grant, Alexander Henry, Charles Chaboillez were all charter members of the club...

Freemasonry in Pembina: The Northern Light Lodge

The first Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons to organise in what is now the Province of Manitoba was authorised by M. W. A. T. C. Pierson, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota, under a Dispensation dated September 13, 1863. It reached Canada by way of Pembina, Dakota Territory, and Fort Garry, now Winnipeg, in what was then known as the Red River Settlement in the Canadian Northwest. In his address to the Grand Lodge of Minnesota at the eleventh Annual Communication held at St. Paul on October 2, 1863, M. W. Bro. Pierson, Grand Master of Minnesota, made the following statement: "About the middle of last month I received an Application signed by W. Bro. C. W. Nash, Bro. J. L. Armington, Bro. A. T. Chamblin, Bro. Charles H. Mix, and eight others, who were en route for Pembina, Dakota Territory, for a Dispensation authorising them to open and Work a Lodge.

Pembina is the most northern point in the territory of the United States, a great central point where concentrates a large amount of emigration and of travel between the two oceans. The want of a Lodge at that place has been long felt and often expressed; and as the Brethren named were active, well informed, and discreet Masons, the first two, former Masters, and the latter, Wardens of Lodges within this jurisdiction, and as they expected to remain in that hyperborean region for at least two years, I granted a Dispensation to establish a Lodge at Pembina." Prior to holding the first meeting, it was discovered, however, that no name had been given the Lodge in the Dispensation. "How it was settled," says M. W. Bro. William G. Scott, Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Manitoba, in his article " Early Masonry in Manitoba," " I will leave Bro. Nash to describe." The following description was then given " I wrote to the Grand Master calling his attention to the omission, and took occasion to suggest what I thought would be a proper and very appropriate name, and in case it met with his approval to so advise me and direct that I insert it in the Dispensation. The name that was suggested met with his cordial approval and was thus named. It came about in this way: It was at night that I was writing the Grand Master, and going out of my quarters I observed the grandest display above me that it was ever my pleasure to behold. I never witnessed such grandeur of this character before, and I never expect to again. It was an exhibition of Northern Lights. The celestial globe was grand and beautiful in the extreme, and for a long time my eyes feasted upon the sight with delight. It was witnessed by many in our cantonment. On returning to my quarters to complete my letter to the Grand Master, I narrated the circumstances; hence the name, Northern Light Lodge, was given." The Lodge held its first meeting about the middle of January 1864. During the few months that it remained active in Pembina, several residents of Fort Garry and the vicinity made applications for membership, were accepted, and received the Three Degrees of Freemasonry. Among those who became members at that time were Bro. A. G. B. Bannatyne, Bro. W. B. Hall, and Bro. William Inkster. Then, in the early part of that year, application was made to M. W. Bro. Pierson, Grand Master of Minnesota, for a continuance of the Dispensation and for authority to transfer it to Fort Garry. This request was granted. In his address to the Grand Lodge at the twelfth Annual Communication held in St. Paul on October 12, 1864, the M. W. the Grand Master reported as follows: " I also renewed the Dispensation of Northern Light Lodge, removing it to the Red River Settlement." The first meeting of the Lodge in Fort Garry was held on November 8, 1864, in a room over the trading‑house of Bro. A. G. B. Bannatyne. In a letter to the Grand Lodge of Manitoba, written in 1895, W. Bro. Schultz described that meeting in the following words And a novelty it was, indeed, in this country at that time! It was spoken of far and wide, and the descriptions, which did not decrease in detail or increase in accuracy, as to what was done therein were listened to with much curiosity, and in some cases, with awesome wonder, which was enhanced by the jocoseness of Bro. Bannatyne's clerks, who spoke knowingly of the whereabouts and propulsive propensities of the goat, and who pointed out from the room below (to wit, the trading‑house), exactly in what part of the upstairs room the W. M. hung his hat while the Lodge was at Work. The Lodge Room itself was made as tasteful as the circumstances of that day would admit, and it may interest the curious to know the exact cost of some of its furniture, as given in a memorandum which I happen to have near me, in the sterling money of the day, namely: tables, 19/6; inner door, 15/; altar, 19/6; wall‑paper, 39/, 24 black beads, 1 /6; 24 white beads, i /; 100 copies of the by‑laws, 40 /. And it may be inferred that the Craft were not always at Work, for I find the following on the same list: 15 tin plates, 15 iron tablespoons, 15 teaspoons, 12 cups and saucers, 1 tin pan, 4 cans of pickled oysters, 1 pound of butter, 1 pound of coffee, and 2 pounds of sugar. This would seem to show that there were intervals for refreshment. The jewels were borrowed ones from the Pembina Lodge; they were used until the following January, the Lodge having commenced Work in November 1864. They were then replaced by finer ones from Chicago, through the good offices of N. W. Kittson.

Sources:  Manitoba Historical Society, Gould's History of Freemasonry Throughout the World Vol. 4 (1936), Northern Light Lodge history (Red River Valley website), and Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota at its Grand Annual Communications in the City of St. Paul (1869)