Old Rail Fence Corners

Lucy Leavenworth Wilder Morris (1865 - 1935)

Old Rail Fence Corners is an historical treasure trove containing the stories of the first significant waves of European-American settlers in the now state of Minnesota (United States of America). This book has direct accounts of mid-19th century lives and experiences on the frontier, recounted by the frontiersmen and women when many of them were in their mid-90s. A group of volunteer women -- the Book Committee -- sought to record these recollections before they were lost with the passing of these remarkable adventurers. Experience a wild, dangerous Minnesota full of mosquitoes, threatening wildlife, difficult roads, dirt floors, food scarcity, and Native American neighbors. Interactions with Native Americans are a major theme throughout the book; settlers relate their experiences in the 1862 U.S.-Dakota War, their outsider accounts of interactions between Minnesota's Native American tribes, and the settlers' impressions of the Native American inhabitants with whom they share the land, which range from outright fear to acceptance to friendship and respect. Listen to the amazing stories of the Minnesota settlers as they come back to life through the voices of our talented readers! These are the stories of Minnesota's adventurous, resourceful, and brave pioneers that you won't soon forget. - Summary by Jill Engle

Genre(s): Memoirs, Modern (19th C)

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 00 Explanatory; The Book Committee; The Reason Jill Engle
00:07:24
Play 01 Mr. Eli Pettijohn Phil Schempf
00:14:38
Play 02 Mrs. Missouri Rose Pratt Denise Nordell
00:11:37
Play 03 Mrs. Gideon Pond; Captain Stephen Hanks Lynne T
00:11:20
Play 04 Mr. Caleb Dorr; Mrs. Mahlon Black Phil Schempf
00:07:42
Play 05 Mr. James McMullen Phil Schempf
00:11:51
Play 06 Mrs. James McMullen; Dr. Lysander P. Foster; Mrs. Silas Farnham Phil Schempf
00:08:46
Play 07 General William G. Le Duc Phil Schempf
00:13:54
Play 08 Mr. Reuben Robinson; Mrs. Samuel B. Dresser; Mrs. Rufus Farnham; Captain John Van der Horck Phil Schempf
00:10:54
Play 09 Mrs. James Pratt Lucretia B.
00:09:42
Play 10 Mrs. Mary Harrison Denise Nordell
00:06:25
Play 11 Mr. William W. Ellison Phil Schempf
00:08:13
Play 12 Mr. D. E. Dow; Mrs. Elizabeth Clifford; Mrs. Richard Chute ReadAllDay
00:10:41
Play 13 Mr. Charles Bohanon; Mr. Austin W. Farnsworth Phil Schempf
00:09:38
Play 14 Mr. Elijah Nutting; Mr. Charles Rye; Mr. James M. Gillespie; Miss Nancy Gillespie; Mr. Isaac Layman Phil Schempf
00:09:29
Play 15 Mrs. Mary Weeks; Mrs. E. A. Merrill; Mrs. Martha Thorne Lynne T
00:10:04
Play 16 Mrs. Nancy Lowell; Mrs. William Dow Jill Engle
00:08:02
Play 17 Mrs. William J. White Andrea Kotzer
00:09:02
Play 18 Mrs. Paulina Starkloff; Mrs. Anna E. Balser; Mrs. Mary E. Dowling; Mrs. Robert Anderson Andrea Kotzer
00:11:51
Play 19 Mrs. Wilder; Mr. Warren Wakefield Greg Giordano
00:09:26
Play 20 Mrs. Leroy Sampson; Mrs. Anna Simmons Apgar; Mrs. Newman Woods; Mr. Chester L. Hopkins ReadAllDay
00:08:49
Play 21 Miss Florinda Hopkins; Mrs. J. W. Ladd; Mrs. C. H. Pettit; Mrs. Anna Hennes Huston; Mr. Henry Favel; Mrs. Rebecca Plummer; Mrs. C. A. Burdick; Mr. Peter Cooper Greg Giordano
00:10:46
Play 22 Mr. Stephen Rochette; Mrs. Stephen Rochette; Mrs. James A. Winter; Mrs. George E. Fisher; Lieut. Governor Gilman; Mrs. Austin W. Farnsworth Greg Giordano
00:10:25
Play 23 Mr. Theodore Curtis; Mrs. Charles M. Godley; Mr. Frank Slocum Lynne T
00:11:32
Play 24 Mrs. T. B. Walker; Mrs. Virginia Jones; Mrs. Georgiana M. Way Greg Giordano
00:08:29
Play 25 Mrs. Duncan Kennedy Greg Giordano
00:07:46
Play 26 Major S. A. Buell Greg Giordano
00:11:02
Play 27 Mrs. Jane Sutherland; Mrs. Mary Robinson Andrea Kotzer
00:08:54
Play 28 Mrs. Margaret A. Snyder; Mrs. Helen Horton; Mrs. Mary Staring Smith Andrea Kotzer
00:10:22
Play 29 Mrs. Mary Massolt; Mrs. Anna Todd; Mr. Edwin Clarke; Captain Isaac Moulton Greg Giordano
00:11:05
Play 30 Mr. George A. Brackett; Mrs. C. A. Smith; Major C. B. Heffelfinger; Mrs. Martha Gilpatrick Lynne T
00:10:51
Play 31 Mrs. Margaret Hern Denise Nordell
00:15:27
Play 32 Mrs. Mary Ingenhutt; Captain L. L. McCormack; Mr. Charles M. Loring; Dr. Stewart Lynne T
00:10:47
Play 33 Mrs. J. M. Paine; Miss Minnesota Neill; Mr. L. L. Lapham Natalya
00:07:06
Play 34 Mrs. Margaret Rathbun Funk ReadAllDay
00:07:08
Play 35 Mrs. Mary Pitcher Kimberly Krause
00:06:13
Play 36 Mrs. J. R. Beatty; Mrs. A. M. Pfeffer Careyanne04
00:10:29
Play 37 Mr. I. A. Pelton; Mr. John A. Jones Phil Schempf
00:09:12
Play 38 Mrs. Clark Keysor; Judge Lorin Cray Greg Giordano
00:07:45
Play 39 Captain Clark Keysor Greg Giordano
00:07:33
Play 40 Miss Carrie Stratton; Mr. Irving A. Dunsmoor Greg Giordano
00:09:58
Play 41 Mrs. Mary Pribble; Mrs. Edmund Kimball Natalya
00:08:58
Play 42 Mr. Frank G. O'Brien; Mr. Michael Teeter Paul Simonin
00:13:57
Play 43 Mrs. W. L. Niemann Greg Giordano
00:08:21
Play 44 Ex-Governor Samuel R. Van Sant Greg Giordano
00:06:20
Play 45 Mrs. Delilah Maxwell ReadAllDay
00:09:30
Play 46 Mr. B. F. Shaver Phil Schempf
00:10:52
Play 47 Colonel A. P. Connolly Doug Sheppard
00:10:03
Play 48 Colonel Levi Longfellow Greg Giordano
00:12:23
Play 49 Mrs. Helen Godfrey Berry ReadAllDay
00:15:17
Play 50 Abner Crossman Godfrey; Major Benjamin Randall; Miss Sara Faribault Greg Giordano
00:10:39
Play 51 Mary Sherrard Phillips Greg Giordano
00:08:15
Play 52 Mr. H. L. Buck; Mrs. Harriet Gleason; Mrs. Bradey Greg Giordano
00:07:17
Play 53 Mr. Oliver K. Jones Marty
00:08:58
Play 54 Mrs. Arabella Merrit Andrea Kotzer
00:13:10
Play 55 Mrs. Gideon Pond TriciaG
00:18:36
Play 56 Mrs. E. R. Pond; Mrs. John Brown Greg Giordano
00:08:48
Play 57 Marion L. Dibble; Mr. M. G. Cobb Greg Giordano
00:04:33
Play 58 Mr. M. R. Van Schaick; Mrs. Conrad Magnus; Mrs. Orin Pike Greg Giordano
00:06:08
Play 59 Judge Lorin Cray Doug Sheppard
00:14:26
Play 60 Mrs. Mary E. Partridge Greg Giordano
00:06:25
Play 61 Judge Loren W. Collins SteveToner
00:16:55
Play 62 Mr. Elijah G. Nutting; Mr. J. Warren Richardson; Mrs. Henry C. Prescott Jill Engle
00:11:12
Play 63 Judge Thomas S. Buckham; Mrs. Rodney A. Mott; Mrs. Kate Davis Batchelder; Mrs. John C. Turner Jill Engle
00:10:38
Play 64 Mr. C. H. Watson; Mrs. Augusta Prehn Bierman; Mrs. Ann Alexander; Mr. J. W. Huckins; Mrs. C. W. Gress Phil Schempf
00:09:46
Play 65 Mr. Alvin M. Olin; Mrs. Pauline Hagen; Mrs. Catherine Meade Greg Giordano
00:07:12
Play 66 Mr. Glass; Mr. John W. Goulding; Mrs. Colbrath Phil Schempf
00:08:48
Play 67 Mrs. Mary B. Aiton; Dr. A. C. Daniels; Mr. Z. S. Gault; Mr. J. C. Bryant; Mrs. Nancy Kiethey Bean; Mrs. Mary Davis Fenton Phil Schempf
00:11:03
Play 68 Mrs. Frederick Penny; Mr. James Clark Phil Schempf
00:09:46
Play 69 Mrs. Nettleton; Mrs. W. S. Woodbridge; Mrs. Martin Jay Clum; Mr. August Larpenteur Phil Schempf
00:09:27