Castner Emmet Rapalee (1884-1976)

From the Geneva Daily Press, November 5, 1947.

    A distinguished business and political figure in the city of Geneva, New York, Castner Emmet Rapalee served as Mayor of that city for one term beginning in the late 1940s. In its century-plus history, this moderately sized city in the Finger Lakes region has elected over thirty persons as its head, and of those individuals, the name of Castner Emmet Rapalee is by far the most interesting.

   Castner E. Rapalee was the son of Hugh and Eva Rapalee and was born in the town of Bath, New York on December 29, 1884. He relocated with his family to the towns of Dundee and Gorham, New York as a child and attended school in both villages, later studying at the Barclay's Business Institute in Geneva. Following the completion of his education, Rapalee settled in Geneva in 1900 and in that year became employed at the Phillips and Clark Stone Co. for a short time. He married in 1908 to Lancaster, Pennsylvania native Elizabeth Williams and later had one son, Castner E. Rapalee Jr. (1910-1975).

  Rapalee later left the employ of the Phillips and Clark Stone Co. and joined another coke distributor, the Empire Coke Co. He was connected with this company for over thirty years and eventually became its sales manager for a number of years. A notice for the Empire Coke Co. and Mr. Rapalee appeared in the April 4, 1921 edition of the Geneva Daily Times and is shown below.

   Castner Rapalee left the Empire Coke Co. in 1934 to stake his own claim in the fuel business, founding the Rapalee Coal and Fuel Corp. He operated this business until it was sold in 1945, whereafter he began a lengthy career as a real estate broker. Through his many business dealings throughout the 1920s, 30s, and 40s Rapalee garnered a reputation as one of Geneva's most prominent business leaders and proved to be a man of many hats when it came to his involvement in Geneva civic affairs. Rapalee was a former President of the Geneva Real Estate Board, a director of the Geneva Chamber of Commerce, a past director and president of the Geneva Industries Inc., as well as a member of the Geneva Board of Public Works from 1928 to 1933. Following his service on the Board of Public Works, Rapalee was elected as Ontario County Supervisor in 1938 and subsequently held this post until 1942.

   As a popular citizen in Geneva, Rapalee's prominence eventually led to his nomination as the Republican candidate for Mayor in 1947. Rapalee became a candidate for that office in mid-1947 and in the lead-up to election day was quoted by the Geneva Daily Times as promising "businesslike methods in City Hall" and made note that he would take "no dictation from any group or individual". His reputation as a distinguished local businessman obviously resonated with voters, as he emerged victorious on election day 1947, besting incumbent four-term Mayor Charles F. Nieder by a vote of 3, 840 to 2, 586.

   Rapalee's term as Mayor lasted from 1948 to 1950 and near the conclusion of his term received praise from Geneva finance committee chairman Franklin Toole, who noted that the average citizen "would never know the full extent of Mayor Rapalee's contribution to the operation of our city."Rapalee had chosen not to be a candidate for reelection during the 1949 election year, and on December 31, 1949 (Rapalee's last official day in office) his name appeared in the following humorous newspaper snippet in the Geneva Daily Times, under the title "Ex-Mayor Wants Job". It obviously shows that Rapalee left the mayor's office with his sense of humor intact!

  Throughout the latter part of his life, Castner Rapalee held memberships in several local fraternal organizations, including the presidency of the Geneva Shrine Club, and was a longstanding member of both the Geneva Elks and Moose Clubs. He was also a distinguished Mason, being a member of the St. Paul Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons and the Geneva Chapter of Royal Arch Masons. Rapalee celebrated his 90th birthday in 1974 and died at age 91 on February 6, 1976, at the Geneva General Hospital. He had outlived both his wife and son and following funeral arrangements was interred at the Glenwood Cemetery in Geneva.

Rapalee in his later years, from the March 27, 1969 Geneva Daily Times.

Rapalee's obituary from the Syracuse Herald American, February 8, 1976.

Ranslure Weld Clarke (1816-1899)

From the Annals of Brattleboro, 1681-1895.

   A native of Massachusetts, Ranslure Weld Clarke later migrated to Windham County, Vermont and for many years was connected with public affairs in that county, being a banker, attorney, state senator, and judge during his residency. Born in Williamstown, Massachusetts on January 27, 1816, Ranslure was the son of Elam and Cynthia Lewis Clarke. His education took place in schools local to Williamstown and also studied at both the Black River Academy and the Orange County Grammar School. Clarke would graduate from Dartmouth College in the class of 1845 and in that same year returned to the Black River Academy to serve as Principal.

   While serving at the Black River Academy Clark began pursuing the study of law with future Vermont Governor Peter Thacher Washburn, and after leaving the position of principal continued his studies with Jonathan Dorr Bradley in Brattleboro. Clarke was admitted to the Vermont bar in 1846 and three years later married to Lucy Chandler Wilder (1826-1864), with whom he had one daughter, Mary Clark Acker (born 1857). Lucy Wilder Clarke died in 1864 and Ranslure remarried in 1868 to Lucy's sister Susan (1835-1886), later having a son, Francis.

   Following his first marriage Clarke established a law practice in Brattleboro and within a short period had become involved in Republican political circles in the area. The party later nominated Clarke to be Windham County Attorney, and he was elected to that office in 1852, 1853, and 1854. Clarke continued his political ascent through the latter part of the decade, being selected as a delegate to the 1857 Vermont Constitutional Convention and in 1858 was elected by the citizens of Windham County to represent them in the State Senate. He was reelected to the Senate the following year and after leaving the Senate became register of probate for Marlboro, Vermont, holding this post from 1861-1862.

   In 1862 Clarke resigned as register of probate to aid in the war effort, becoming an assistant Quartermaster of Volunteers. During a portion of his military service, Clarke was stationed in Brattleboro and is recorded by his Vermont Phoenix obituary as having "bought 4,000 horses for the government" to be used during wartime. He was promoted to major in March 1865 and was honorably discharged from service on October 25th of that year, having attained the rank of Colonel. 

   Shortly after leaving the military Clarke returned to practicing law in Brattleboro and in 1867 formed a partnership with another oddly named man, Kittredge Haskins (1836-1909). Mr. Haskins later went on to distinction as a state representative and senator and served as a U.S. Representative from Vermont from 1901-1909. In 1868 Clarke served as a Republican Presidential elector and two years later Haskins and Clarke's law firm was dissolved, as Clarke had been appointed as the Postmaster for Brattleboro. He served in that capacity until 1879, and around that time began a lengthy connection with the Brattleboro Savings Bank, serving as its President for a number of years.

   Shortly after the conclusion of his tenure as Brattleboro postmaster, Ranslure Clarke was elected as assistant judge of Windham County in 1882. He served on the bench until December 1892 and moved from Vermont in 1893 to reside with his daughter and her husband (New York State Assemblyman Milo Acker) at their home in Hornell, New York. Ranslure Clarke died in Hornell on January 15, 1899, at age 82 and was returned to Vermont for burial at the Prospect Hill Cemetery in Brattleboro. His January 20, 1899 obituary in the Brattleboro Phoenix memorialized Clarke as having "possessed a striking personal presence and bearing" and "a had a courtly manner of the old school".              

                    From the Barre Evening Telegram, January 17, 1899.                  

Galius Lawton Zwick (1876-1961)

From the 1923-24 Official Manual of Missouri.

   A  practicing attorney for over sixty years, Buchanan County, Missouri resident Galius Lawton Zwick was for many decades one of that county's foremost citizens, being involved in many aspects of public life in the city of St. Joseph. I first located Mr. Zwick's name courtesy of the Who Was Who In America 1961-1968 edition several years ago, and in all that time further information on him has proven to be scant. However, in February of last year I stumbled across a 1923-24 edition of the Official Manual of Missouri, and buried in that work was a complete listing of delegates to the State Constitutional Convention which had been held the previous year. Mr. Zwick happened to have served as one of those delegates, and after some searching, I was rewarded with the above portrait of Mr. Zwick, the first of which I've seen.

   Blessed with a curious name, Zwick also lucked into being a centennial baby, being born July 4th, 1876 in Macon City, Missouri. A son of George Wellington and Mary Elizabeth Cantwell Zwick, Galius attended the University of Missouri and graduated with his bachelor of laws degree in the class of 1897. He was admitted to the bar in 1899 and shortly thereafter established his law practice in the city of St. Joseph. In November 1902 Zwick made his first foray into local politics, being the unsuccessful Republican candidate for City Attorney of St. Joseph. Several years later he became a member of the St. Joseph Police Board and would serve as its president from 1908-1910. Zwick married on April 25, 1914, to Helen Elizabeth Cook and had two daughters, Helen Virginia Fleeman (1916-2003) and Mary Gale Zwick Holland (1919-1998).

Galius Zwick, from the 1899 Savitar Yearbook.

   Zwick continued to serve on the St, Joseph Police Board until 1917 and was also a curator of the University of Missouri from 1911 through 1917. During the First World War Zwick held the position of chairman of the local draft board for St. Joseph and in 1922 was elected as a delegate to the Missouri State Constitutional Convention of 1922-23, representing Missouri's second district. Throughout the convention proceedings, Zwick held a seat on the committees on Judiciary and Education. 

   Following the conclusion of his service as a delegate, Zwick returned to the practice of law. In 1924 he was appointed by Governor Arthur Mastick Hyde to a vacancy on the Sixth District Circuit Court of Missouri. This vacancy had been caused by the resignation of Judge Thomas Buford Allen and Zwick served out the remainder of Allen's term. Zwick ran for a term of his own on the court in November 1924 but was ultimately defeated, losing to Democrat Samuel Wilcox by a vote of 15,612 to 18,915. A result from that year's contest appeared in the 1925-26 Official Manual of Missouri and is shown below.

   Despite his losing candidacy, Galius Lawton Zwick continued to serve the Buchanan County area for many decades afterward, including a stint as President of the St. Joseph Safety Board from 1935-38. He was also a longstanding member of the St. Joseph Library Board and in 1940 was part of the Missouri delegation to the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia that nominated Wendell Wilkie for the Presidency. Late in his life, Zwick served as President of the Missouri State Historical Society, serving a one-year term in 1947. He died in St. Joseph on September 22, 1961, at age 85 and was survived by his wife and two daughters. Zwick's death certificate  (filed in October 1961) notes that he succumbed to a "cerebral vascular accident" and was interred at the Memorial Park Cemetery in St. Joseph.

From the September 22, 1961 edition of the Joplin News Herald.

Flagget Henry Trabbic (1866-1919)

From a campaign card in the possession of Mrs. Judy Carr.

   A resident of distinction in Monroe County, Michigan, Flagget Henry Trabbic lived to the age of just 53, and during that short lifespan rose to become one of the aforementioned county's most honored sons, being at various times a farmer, stock-raiser, town supervisor and state representative. Despite his prominence in 19th and early 20th century Michigan, Mr. Trabbic is all but forgotten today, and it is that point that makes me proud to know that there are existing historical and genealogical societies that dedicate much effort to keeping records on the lives of long deceased figures like the man profiled today.

   The following write-up on Flagget Trabbic's came about with the help of the Genealogical Society of Monroe County President Loretta Dunham, who received an e-mail from me a few weeks ago asking for help in tracking down a portrait of Mr. Trabbic. I received an e-mail shortly thereafter from Loretta, who related in her message that there was a GSMC member who was a Trabbic descendant, and with luck, she might have a picture of him. A short while afterward I received a kind e-mail from one Judy Carr, who noted that Flagget Trabbic was her great-great uncle! After relating that I had been unable to locate a portrait of Mr. Trabbic, Judy e-mailed me the above portrait, part of a campaign card dated 1910 that Trabbic used when he ran for register of deeds in Monroe County. The full card is shown below, and this marks the first time I've seen a picture of this elusive Michigan native since locating his name nearly a year ago. I can't thank Judy enough for her help with locating the picture, as well as relating new information on Flagget that I'd previously been unaware of.

   The story of this oddly named legislator begins with his birth in Erie Township, Michigan on February 10, 1866. Flagget H. Trabbic was one of eight children born to Guytani Peter Trabbic (1821-1903) and his second wife Caroline Knaggs (1830-1881). Peter Trabbic, as most references list him, was born near Genoa, Italy in 1821 and immigrated to the United States in the early 1830s. Over the course of his life, he became one of Monroe County's prominent landowners, "owning over 700 acres of Michigan's best soil, all located in Erie and Bedford townships." As Judy Carr related during our correspondence, the Trabbic family name was originally spelled as "Trebbeco", as per old family records, and "the name Flagget was not uncommon amongst the French Canadians" that had settled in the Monroe County area during the first half of the 19th century. Peter Trabbic was also politically active, serving as Erie Township supervisor on two occasions.

  Flagget Trabbic received his education in schools local to Erie township and later attended the St. Mary's Institute in Dayton, Ohio. Following the completion of his schooling, Trabbic returned to Erie to take over the day-to-day operations of the family's 700-acre farm. For many years afterward he was engaged in farming and in June 1892 married Ms. Mattie Lehr (1867-1957), mentioned by the 1913 History of Monroe County as a "musician of talent." The couple would later have two children, a son who died in infancy in 1893 and a daughter Gladys, who died aged one in 1902.

  Trabbic first became active in local political affairs in 1893, when he was elected as Erie township supervisor. He served in this capacity for three years, and during his last year in office served as president of the board of supervisors of Monroe County. He was returned to the office of supervisor a decade later but resigned when he was elected to the legislature. Trabbic became a candidate for the Michigan State House of Representatives in 1906 and in November of that year won the election, defeating Republican Lucien B. Smith by a vote of 3,269 to 3,007. His election as Monroe County's representative in the legislature was later encapsulated by the History of Monroe County in the following passage:

"The citizens of Monroe County were fully aware of the possibilities for either good or evil when they sent Mr. Trabbic to the legislature as their representative, but new absolutely from their lifelong acquaintance with the man that nothing but the strictest justice would ever issue from his hands. They were not mistaken; he preformed his duty to the entire satisfaction of his constituents, and also of his state, which is proud to acknowledge him as one of her sons."

From the 1907 Michigan State Legislative Manual.

   Taking his seat in January 1907, Trabbic served one term as a representative, 1907-1909. Despite serving only one term in the house Mr. Trabbic proved to be a very capable first-term legislator, introducing several bills during his term. Amongst these pieces of legislation was a bill "to establish a township system for maintaining, repairing and cleaning out established ditches, drains, and water-courses in the county of Monroe" and also introduced a petition brought about by Monroe County residents "asking for the passage of a bill to regulate the practice of optometry." In addition to the above Trabbic held a seat on the house committees on Game Laws, Industrial Home for Girls, and Mines and Minerals, during his term. Late in his service Trabbic became a booster for the establishment of a monument to Col. George Custer in Monroe County, and "was instrumental in gaining an appropriation of twenty-five thousand dollars" to fund the project through.

  After a successful first term in the legislature, Trabbic ran for reelection in November 1907 but was defeated by Republican candidate C. Wesley Kemmerling by a vote of 4,018 to 3,655. Following his defeat, Trabbic continued to take an active role in Monroe County political affairs, being the Democratic candidate for Register of Deeds in 1910.

Trabbic's campaign card, from the collection of Judy Carr.

   Little could be found in regards to Trabbic's final years, although notice is given as to his opening a garage in Erie township in 1917. He was the proprietor of this garage for only a few years, as he contracted pneumonia and later pyelitis (an inflammation of the kidney area in the pelvic region) and died aged 53 on April 4, 1919. Trabbic was later interred at the St. Joseph Cemetery in Monroe, Michigan, and was survived by his wife Mattie (also interred at St. Joseph), who died at age 90 in 1957. 

Hanny Clyde Harvley (1887-1946)

From the History of South Carolina, Volume IV, 1920.

  Today's write-up takes us to Greenville, South Carolina, and Hanny Clyde Harvley, a three-term mayor of that city. Despite serving three terms in office, little could be found on Harvely's life, apart from a biographical notice and portrait in the 1920 edition of the History of South Carolina. H. Clyde Harvley (as most sources list him) was born in Modoc, South Carolina December 17, 1887, a son of Jesse Kendrick and Ida Nancy Adkins Harvley. He attended the Coronaca High School and married on March 24, 1906, to Ms. Blanche Barber (1882-1845) and later had three children, Helen (1908-1997), John (1909-1976), and Hanny Clyde Jr. (1910-1977).

  Following his marriage Harvley was engaged in the railroad business for several years, working as a telegraph operator and station agent. In March 1913 he became a "local representative" for the Charleston and Western Carolina Railway and was eventually transferred to Greenville. The 1920 History of South Carolina notes that within some months of relocation Harvley "manifested an interest in politics and public affairs that attracted notice to him." 

  In 1915 Harvley was elected to the Greenville City Council, and during his two years of service here accomplished much good for his new city of residence, helping to push legislation to establish a sinking fund for Greenville to help reduce the city's debt. He is also "given credit for inaugurating the great beautiful white way of Greenville, considered to be the last word in street lighting and the best to be found anywhere in the South." Harvley's ability and ambition as a councilman eventually culminated in his election as Mayor of Greenville in 1917, "being one of the youngest men in the country to fill the mayor's chair in a city the size of Greenville". Harvley's three terms as mayor (1917-1923) brought about changes in the city, being the "first mayor of Greenville to open a municipal coal and wood yard" and "brought about the municipal ownership of the water works", which were also enlarged during his term.

  Both before and after his service as mayor Harvley was affiliated with many local fraternal organizations, holding memberships in the Greenwood Blue Lodge #91 of Free and Accepted Masons, the Cyrus Chapter #22 of the Royal Arch Masons, the Improved Order of Red Men, the United Order of American Mechanics, the Hejaz Temple of the Mystic Shrine and the Poinsett Club. 

  On February 13, 1945, H.C. Harvely's wife of nearly forty years died age sixty-two. A little less than a year after his wife's death, Harvely himself succumbed to an unknown illness on February 4, 1946, at age fifty-nine. Both were later buried at the Springwood Cemetery in Greenville, which is also the resting place of Harvely's mother and two of his children.

Harvely as he looked during his later years, from the greenvillesc.gov website.

Steele Lemoyne Moorhead (1852-1948)

From the August 15, 1900 edition of the Morning Oregonian.

   Oregon political figure Steele Lemoyne Moorhead receives a write-up today, and although he was born a Pennsylvanian, Moorhead became a notable figure in Lane County, Oregon, making a name for himself as a newspaper publisher, city recorder, mayor, and state legislator. During a long life that extended 95 years, Moorhead resided in several different states, and during that time left an imprint in each of them.

  Steele Lemoyne Moorhead's birth occurred in the small town of Indiana, Pennsylvania on May 11, 1852, a son of Joseph McCloud and Margaret MacFarland Moorhead. The Moorhead family later removed from Pennsylvania to Missouri, where Steele began learning the trade of printing at the Atchison County Journal in the village of Rockport. Moorhead rose to become both business manager and editor of the Journal for several years and married in Missouri to May Rebecca Bonham (1864-1930) with whom he would later have the following children: Harriett May (1885-1977), Josephine Bird (1886-), Bishop Thompson (1892-1959), Steele Lemoyne Jr. (1898-1975) and Verneita (born June 1902).

   In 1888 the Moorhead family relocated to Ness City, Kansas, where Steele founded the Ness City Times. He managed the affairs of this paper for three years until removing once again, this time to Junction City, Oregon. Within a short time, Moorhead had established roots in the community and founded the Junction City Times, the first newspaper to be published in the city. In 1892 he won election as recorder for Junction City and in the following year was elected as the city's Mayor "with only three votes against him, and one of those his own." Prior to his tenure as mayor, Moorhead had served as a Junction City Councilman and school director, his dates of service in those offices being unknown at this time.

   Moorhead served a one-year term as Junction City mayor and continued his political ascent in 1894 when he was elected as a Republican to the Oregon State House of Representatives. As one of Lane County's legislators, Moorhead is recorded by the 1895 Official Directory of Oregon as being "a jolly good fellow, ''all wool and 60 inches wide"", and helped to introduce two important pieces of legislation, the first being a measure "providing for a majority verdict of nine on juries in civil cases" as well as a bill "to prevent corporations (especially railroads) from blacklisting employees." Moorhead chaired the house committee on Mileage and Per Diem and was later appointed as chairman of a special committee that was to revise, correct and publish the Oregon Legislature's 18th Biennial Session Journal and Calender. After the conclusion of his term, Moorhead continued to serve the Oregon legislature in a slightly different fashion, holding the post of Chief Clerk of the Oregon Senate for a decade.

   In addition to his involvement in politics and journalism, Moorhead maintained memberships in many local fraternal organizations, being a longstanding member of the Junction City Lodge #58 of Free and Accepted Masons, as well as the Knights of Pythias. While Steele Moorhead gained a reputation as one of Junction City's premier citizens, May Rebecca Moorhead also made a name for herself in local women's groups, being elected as President of the Women's Improvement Club of Junction City in November 1914. A portrait/article on her election appeared in the November 8, 1914 edition of the Morning Oregonian and is shown below.

May Rebecca Moorhead as she appeared in the Nov. 8, 1914 Morning Oregonian.

   After many years of residence in Junction City, the Moorhead family removed to Washington in late 1915, where Steele "assumed the business and editorial management of the Mount St. Helens Mist." After some years of being connected with this paper, Moorhead purchased the Cowlitz County Advocate and resided with his family in the city of Castle Rock. 

  In 1930 May Rebecca Moorhead died in Castle Rock at age 66 and sometime afterward Steele Moorhead moved back to Oregon, settling in Marion County. A 1940 census listing notes that at age 88, Moorhead was residing with his daughter Josephine and her husband Frank Lilburn. Steele Lemoyne Moorhead celebrated his 90th birthday in 1942 and died six years later on February 15, 1948, three months short of his 96th birthday. He and his wife were interred at the Rest Lawn Memorial Park in Junction City, Oregon following their deaths, as were Hattie Moorhead and Steele L. Moorhead Jr. after their respective deaths in 1977 and 1975.

Bottolf Bottolfson (1892-1976)

From the February 16, 1927 edition of the Moorhead Daily News.

   Hailing from Clay County in Minnesota, Dr. Bottolf T. Bottolfson was a prominent public figure in the city of Moorehead for over five decades, being a reputable ophthalmologist and two-term mayor of that city. First elected in the late 1920s Bottolfson was reelected as mayor over thirty years later in November 1961 and served another two-year term.

  Born on December 10, 1892, in Moorehead, Bottolf Thomas Bottolfson was one of four children born to Ole (1859-1915) and Randina Brandon Bottolfson (1860-1944), both natives of Norway. Bottolf began pursuing the study of medicine as a young man and went on to attend the University of Minnesota. During his time here he was a member of the Phi Beta Phi fraternity, the Glee Club, and was the president of the Sophomore Medics. Following his graduation in 1916, Bottolfson married Ms. Jeannette Elizabeth Peterson (1898-1991) and they are recorded as being childless.

                        Bottolf T. Bottolfson's college portrait, from the 1916 Gopher Yearbook.

   Despite having a slim amount of information available on his life online, B.T. Bottolfson was a practicing physician in Moorehead for many decades and was a member of the staff of St. Ansgar's Hospital in Moorhead. In addition to practicing medicine, Bottolfson was involved in other aspects of public life in Clay County. In 1921 Dr. Bottolfson was elected as the President of the Clay-Becker County Medical Society for that year and was later returned to head the society in 1931. Bottolfson also held the position of president of the Moorhead chapter of the University of Minnesota Alumni Association during the mid-1930s.

   As a prominent county figure Dr. Bottolfson was highly regarded throughout Moorhead and elsewhere in the Clay County vicinity, and with his considerable reputation came calls for him to run for public office. In 1929 he was nominated by the local Democratic party for Mayor of Moorhead and in February's election defeated Leo H. Wright by a vote of 1,555 to 714. That year's election was recorded by the Moorhead Daily News as bringing about a record turnout for voting in the city, with 2,295 votes being cast in total (this includes other candidates and ballot measures.) 

  In 1929 Bottolfson ran for reelection against Republican candidate Herman C. Nordlie. In February of that year, Nordlie defeated Bottolfson by "a majority of 91" and took office as Moorhead's new mayor, serving until 1931. Despite his loss at the polls Bottolfson continued to be an esteemed member of the Clay County medical community, and in 1931 was awarded a fellowship in the American College of Surgeons, and in October 1931 visited New York City to "officially receive the honor" at a convocation at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

   Several years after leaving the mayor's office Bottolfson became affiliated with the St. Luke's and St. John's Hospital in Fargo, North Dakota and in mid-1937 both he and his wife left the United States to visit Europe and Asia for medical work. As the State College Spectrum noted in its January 28, 1938 edition, Bottolfson and his wife spent a good majority of their time in India, where he performed "561 eye operations in one week" and later handled "22 cataract operations." This same paper also notes that Bottolfson had been "one of two surgeons chosen to receive this special training" and after returning to the United States in 1938 gave a lecture on his work in India at a meeting of the North Dakota Agricultural College's Zoology Club. 

   In 1961 Bottolf Bottolfson ran once again for mayor, thirty-two years after the completion of his first term. The Moorhead Daily News noted that he ran "on a campaign against construction of a sewage lagoon" that had been proposed to be built, and defeated three challengers, including Robert Schutte, who had been backed by outgoing Moorhead Mayor Ingemund Theodore Stenerson (1899-1989). On election day in November 1961, it was Bottolfson who won out, garnering 2,555 votes to Schutte's 1,332.

  Bottolfson's second mayoral term lasted from 1962-1964 and he later retired from practicing medicine in 1970 at age 78. He had been a practicing physician for over fifty years and passed away on March 27, 1976, at age 84. He was survived by his wife Jeanette, who died in 1991 at age 93, and both were interred at the Prairie Home Cemetery in Moorehead.

Melkeor Urdahl Shelldrup Kjorlaug/Melkeor United States Kjorlaug (1887-1967)

From the Minnesota Alumni Weekly, May 1930.

   Since beginning this site over two years ago I've managed to locate many new oddly named political figures through hours of sometimes tedious research, scouring old state books, registers and election results in the hope that a new name might pop up. A few days ago (while perusing a Harvard Law School catalog) I managed to stumble upon one of those names that left me scratching my head in bewilderment, and I think you'll agree that he possesses a truly fascinating name: Melkeor United States Kjorlaug (see addendum at the end of this article for more information on his name) 

  M.U.S. Kjorlaug parlayed a career as an attorney in Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Texas into a political career, being a three-time Republican aspirant for the U.S. House of Representatives. Despite aspiring to such a lofty office, Mr. Kjorlaug was unsuccessful on all three occasions, and one can wonder if it was his name (and not his politics) that may have scared away potential voters. A good majority of the sources mentioning him abbreviate his rather lengthy name as either "M.U.S. Kjorlaug" or "Melkeor U.S. Kjorlaug". 

  Melkeor U.S. Kjorlaug was born of Norwegian extraction in Boone County, Nebraska on the 8th of October 1887, one of several children born to Peder (1844-1924) and Metta (Fuhr) Kjorlaug (1843-1931). His education took place in the public schools of both Nebraska and Minnesota. Following the completion of high school he enrolled at the Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota and in March 1912 won the Minnesota state oratorical contest for Carleton with an oration entitled "Master or Slave". The Public Speaking Review of 1912 gives note of the enthusiastic reception of Kjorlaug's speech, noting that after the winning oration was announced: "the effect was instantaneous and for about fifteen minutes uproarious pandemonium reigned supreme."

   Following his graduation from Carleton in 1912 Kjorlaug studied at the Harvard Law School in Massachusetts. Following his graduation from the school in 1915, he was admitted to the Massachusetts bar and later settled in Boston. Following his resettlement, the Alumni Magazine of Carleton College notes that Kjorlaug was "connected with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. He is greatly interested in his work and finds excellent opportunity for social service in his new position."

  Kjorlaug later moved back to Minnesota and was admitted to the state bar in 1916. He opened a law practice in Minneapolis and married in the mid-1910s. He and his wife became parents to two children, Clark Riegel Kjorlaug (1917-2012) and Audrey Kjorlaug (1921-2015). During WWI he was connected to the U.S. War Department as a special agent "on training camp activities in community service." Following the war's conclusion, Kjorlaug became affiliated with the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis, where he served as an Instructor in Law for six years (1919-1925). His residency in Minneapolis saw Kjorlaug serve as attorney for the Minneapolis Legal Aid Society and in 1931 was named as Superintendent of the Minneapolis Department of Public Welfare. 

   Melkeor Kjorlaug first entered political life in 1925 when he was elected to the Minneapolis Board of Alderman, representing that city's 13th ward. He served six years on the board and late in his service announced his campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota's 5th Congressional district. His campaign ad in the 1930 Minneapolis Alumni Weekly touted his tenure as a Harvard graduate and former law instructor, noting that as a candidate Kjorlaug was "aggressive, fearless, and honorable." As one of four Republican candidates in that year's primary Kjorlaug came in last, polling only 4,895 votes to former Lieutenant Governor William Ignatius Nolan's winning total of 21,114. Nolan would go on to win election to Congress that November and served two terms, being defeated in 1933. The accompanying electoral result from that year's primary appeared in the 1931 Legislative Manual of Minnesota and is shown below.

From the Minneapolis Star, October 19, 1926.

   Following his congressional primary loss, Kjorlaug returned to his duties as a Minneapolis city councilman and also the practice of law. In 1936 he moved from Minnesota to Texas, settling in Houston where resided for the remainder of his life. Shortly after his resettlement, Kjorlaug established a law practice in that city. Despite being a resident of the Lone Star state for only a few years, Kjorlaug reentered the political arena in 1940, launching another campaign for Congress. In November of that year, he was the Republican candidate from Texas' 7th district, opposing one-term Democratic incumbent Albert Thomas (1898-1966). 

  When the votes were tallied on election day it was Thomas who emerged victorious, besting Kjorlaug by a vote of 89,796 to 4,925. Two years following his defeat, Kjorlaug was once again the Republican nominee against Thomas, and the vote count proved to be just as lopsided as the previous election, with Thomas coasting to victory, 31,038 votes to Kjorlaug's 622. Albert Thomas would go on to serve a total of 29 years in Congress, dying in office in 1966 at age 68. 

  Following those two candidacies, Kjorlaug continued practicing law in Houston, and for several years was a part-time faculty member at the South Texas College of Law. He would subsequently assume the post of assistant to the Dean in the 1950s, retiring from that office in 1958. In 1956 he joined the college as a "full-time faculty member." M.U.S. Kjorlaug died at his home in Houston of "coronary thrombosis" on January 15, 1967, at age 79, and was survived by his wife Ellen and two children. He was later interred at the Forest Park East Cemetery in Houston. Ellen Kjorlaug survived her husband by over a decade, dying in July 1978 at age 91, and was interred in the same cemetery as her husband.

M.U.S. Kjorlaug as he appeared in Volume 19 of the Texas Bar Journal, 1956.

From the Corpus Christi Times, January 16, 1967.

An Addendum

   A few hours after putting the above article online my "You Can Help" segment shown above received a reply from SNIAPH Facebook fan Chris Heffner, who related to me a very interesting discovery.....Melkeor U.S. Kjorlaug's middle name may not have been "United States", at least according to his Texas death certificate. Through Chris's findings, Mr. Kjorlaug's middle name was "Urdahl Shelldrup", and with that information in hand, I can honestly state that I am now thoroughly confused!

  While death certificates have been useful to me in the past (see Nephi U.S.C. Jensen's article for an example) I was unable to find one for Mr. Kjorlaug, that is until Chris related his findings to me. While I usually consider a death certificate or gravestone to be the final arbiter in name discrepancies, I can't quite wrap my head around why exactly a death certificate issued by Texas lists one set of middle names (Urdahl Shelldrup) while the Quinquennial Catalogue of the Law School of Harvard University lists them as "United States", not once but FOUR times throughout the book. If the "United States" listing was a mistake or error on the part of that book's compiler I have a difficult time believing that they'd do it four separate times in the same work. 

  Since being told of the "Urdahl Shelldrup" middle name I've looked to see if I could find any other references to it but have come up empty. The FamilySearch genealogical website (which houses several Texas death certificates) lists "Urdahl Shelldrup" but not "United States", and Ancestry.com lists Kjorlaug by his abbreviated name "M.U.S. Kjorlaug" and "Melkeor Kjorlaug". In light of this new information, I've decided to include both names in the title of Kjorlaug's article here. It is my sincere hope that a relative or descendant will stumble across this page and contribute whatever information they may have and hopefully, someday I'll be able to get a definitive answer as to whether Kjorlaug's middle name is "United States" or "Urdahl Shelldrup". Either way, the man's name is still truly unusual!!

  Aside from making me aware of the middle name situation, Chris also did me a great favor by locating the names of Kjorlaug's parents, siblings, and burial location.....all of which were unknown to me as of the time of this article's publishing late yesterday (August 22nd.) I'd like to offer a hearty thank you to Chris for his response to the "You Can Help" segment and the time he spent doing further research in regard to Mr. Kjorlaug's life. Your help is most appreciated!

Fenelon Frederick Hippee Pope (1844-1935), Fenelon Dobyns Hewitt (1883-1961), Fenelon Arnold (1817-1901)

  Discovered recently via the 1922 work Men of the South: A Work for the Newspaper Reference Library, the interestingly named Fenelon Frederick Hippee Pope has the sort of name that immediately jumps out at you when you see it, and I got quite the laugh when I stumbled across it in the aforementioned book's table of contents. Aside from his funny name, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Pope had fleeting involvement with politics during his life, being a candidate for Republican Presidential elector from Florida in 1920.

  A resident of Ohio for the majority of his life, Fenelon F. H. Pope was born in Delaware County on October 9, 1844, and went on to attend schools in the city of Wooster. He served as a First Sargent with Co. C of the 169th Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War and following his military service began the study of medicine at the Charity Hospital Medical College in Cleveland. After graduating from this school he "practiced medicine and pharmacy at Dalton, Ohio" for over forty years and was a longstanding member of both the Ohio State and American Medical Associations. Pope married in Ohio in October 1870 to Laura Eleanora Clippinger (1841-1927)  and would later have three children, Joseph (birth date unknown), Gertrude Alice (1871-1963), and Edna May (1879-1953).

  In the mid-1900s Pope relocated from Ohio to St. Cloud, Florida, where he would reside for over a decade. During his Florida residency, the Men of South notes that he became a candidate for Presidential Elector "on the Florida State Republican ticket of 1920" but was ultimately unsuccessful. This proved to be Pope's only foray into political affairs, but he made advancement in several other areas, including being the President of the People's Bank of St. Cloud and was a prominent advocate for the construction of the St. Cloud-Melbourne highway.

  In the early 1930s, Pope returned to Ohio and settled in the village of Kent in Portage County. He died there on April 16, 1935, at age 90 and was recorded as being the last Civil War veteran residing there at the time of his death. He was later buried in the Standing Rock Cemetery in the village of Kent.

From the 1917 Official and Statistical Register of Mississippi.

  A lifelong resident of Mississippi, Fenelon Dobyns Hewitt served as a member of the state legislature and late in life held the post of Judge of the Fourth Chancery District of Mississippi. While his name may be unusual, it also has one or two variations in its spelling floating around online. The Official Register of Mississippi records it as "Fenelon Dobyne Hewitt" and a second spelling (via the Find-A-Grave website) lists it as "Fenlon Dobbins Hewitt". However, despite these alternate spellings, several other pieces of period literature give the spelling as it is in the title of this article, and from my vantage point, that looks to be the correct one.

  Born in Amite County Mississippi on February 26, 1883, Fenelon Dobyns Hewitt was one of ten children born to Thomas Jefferson and Emily J. Loftin Hewitt. Fenelon attended the Mars Hill Public School in Amite and later graduated from Millsaps College in the class of 1905. He decided upon a career in law during his adolescence and continued his studies at the University of Mississippi at Oxford, earning his LL.B. degree there in 1907. Hewitt married in 1909 to Ada Virginia Jackson (1884-1973) and had three children, Fenelon Jr. (1910-1997), Billie, and Mary Ellen (1913-1996).

  With the completion of his schooling, Hewitt settled in Pike County and opened a law practice here. In 1909 he was named as a Judge of the Police Court in McComb City and served a total of six years on the bench. His tenure on the court was remarked by the Official Register of Mississippi as one of "sound common sense and excellent legal ability" and through personal popularity was nominated for the Mississippi State House of Representatives in 1915. He won the election that November and during his first term (1916-1920), held seats on the committees on Judiciary, Ways and Means, Railroads, Roads, Ferries and Bridges, and also chaired the committee on the Constitution. Two decades following this term he won a second term in the legislature, and from 1944-48 served on the committees on the Judiciary, Juvenile Delinquency and Child Welfare, Labor, and Registration and Elections.

   Following his two terms in the legislature, Hewitt continued in the practice of law and later served as District Attorney for Pike County in the mid-1920s. In 1952 he was appointed by Mississippi Governor Fielding Wright to a vacancy on Mississippi's Chancery Court. This vacancy occurred with the death of Judge Richard Wiltz Cutrer in July of that year and Hewitt filled out the remainder of Cutrer's term. Hewitt was eventually elected to a term in his own right and served on the bench until being felled by a stroke while conducting court in October 1961. He died one week later on October 29, 1961, at age 78 at a hospital in McComb and was buried at the Hollywood Cemetery in that town.

From the Laurel Leader Call, October 30, 1961.

                                              From the Greenville Delta Democrat Times, October 31, 1961.

Portrait from the "Men of Vermont", 1894.

    Another "Fenelon" that made his name known in politics was Fenelon Arnold of  Westminster, Vermont. A lifelong resident of that town, Arnold was born on January 25, 1817, the son of Ambrose and Priscilla Farnum Arnold. He attended local schools and as a young man purchased a farm along with his brother, and married in 1840 to Amanda Richards, with whom he would have two sons, Charles and George. Following Amanda's death in 1867, Arnold would remarry five years later to Emily Augusta Marsh (1837-1912) and had a third son, Seth Fenelon Arnold.

   A good majority of Fenelon Arnold's life was spent quietly in Westminster, where he worked at brass and silver plating for a time, being the co-owner of the firm of Arnold and Cook. He served in several local offices in his native town, including that of selectman for 13 years. Arnold served in the Vermont State Assembly from 1880-82 and 1884-86 and held a seat on the committees on Elections and Banks and Banking. 

  Fenelon Arnold died nearly two decades after his legislative service on December 4, 1901, at age 84 and was later buried at the Westminster New Cemetery in his native town.