Our first stop was in Washburn to visit the county courthouse and change mineral rights from my mother to my brother and I. The stop took hours longer than I expected as I was able to also look through the county land and mineral records.
The county recorder has been on the job since the mid 1970s and is very knowledgeable and helpful. He explained how the information is kept and organized. I spent some time partially tracing a couple quarters of property. It took some time to do so as the history is spread throughout numerous books and it takes time to read the legal documents. I found that there are numerous ways to explain the transfer of property and mineral rights, each lawyer has a different style.
This county seems not to be the "hot" area for oil activity as the main action appears to be north and west of this county. Therefore the room only had three or four other people there researching properties while I was there.
My next stop was to visit relatives on my father's side: Rose and her daughter Ginger. They live on a farm next to the former farm of my dad's parents. Because my brother and I had taken far longer than expected at the courthouse, we arrived at Rose's farm an hour or two after my estimated arrival time.
Ginger took us to the nearby rural cemetery where her father, our great-grandparents, and my grandparents are buried. This was the first time I had been to this cemetery since my grandmother was buried there in the 1970s. Area wise the cemetery is a good size, but there seemed not to be that many people buried there. Still it seems to be a nice cemetery and even has some trees around it.
I found that there is open space next to my grandparents burial spots. A place to later bury my father's ashes.
Earlier this year Ginger adopted two young brothers from the Ukraine, Maxim and Dmitri, and this was my first opportunity to meet them. Being young boys they had energy to spare.
My brother and I had a nice visit with Rose and Ginger and after we left I found they had given my brother some tomatoes from their garden and a jar of homemade pickles Ginger's sister, Monica, had made. I had eaten several slices of those pickles at the supper Ginger had made and they were very delicious. Too bad I don't live near so I could learn from Monica how to make the pickles next time she makes them.
It was well past dark when my brother and I left. A couple deer crossed the county road in front of us. Otherwise not much traffic was on the roads and highway back to Minot. Two large wind generators are along highway 83. The long tri-blades turned steadily. Each tall tower has a red light and they flashed on and off alternately as a warning to any planes flying at night.
Cemetery and ancestors grave sites.
Family farm. The house is in the trees seen center left. The barn is the building seen in front of the trees. I believe the buildings were not used after my grandmother sold the farm.
The one room school my father attended. The small building in the middle is the outhouse. Imagine having to use the outhouse during a North Dakota winter! I believe the third building may have something to do with livestock as I think some kids rode horses to school.
No comments:
Post a Comment