Churchill Quote
"History will be kind to me for I intend to write it." —Winston Churchill 1874-1965








The Guilty Conscience
(Yet Another Connection Between the Vern Ducklow and Gideon Arneson Families)
[Published January 9, 2011]

This weekend I told my mother about the old postcard I purchased on eBay showing the spoke, stave and heading factory that was located in the “flats” between St. John’s Cemetery and the Eau Galle River in Spring Valley.  We discussed how funny / odd it was that the 1909 postcard was addressed to Mrs. Gideon Arneson—the wife of the man who was in a race of sorts to be married before my Grandfather Vern Ducklow.  To learn the full story of that check my prior posts here and here.

I asked my mother if she recalled what Gideon Arenson did for a living.  At first she couldn’t recall, but then an old memory surfaced that he was once in the mercantile business.  The reason mom remembered was due to a conscience-clearing letter sent from Vern’s daughter Audrey in the 1960s.  



Victor "Vic" Neil Ducklow
Smiling over the  counter of the "new" post office
Son of Vern and  Mina Bowen Ducklow

Circa 1969, age 47



Around 1964 Gideon stopped in the Spring Valley post office to pick-up his mail.  My father, Vic Ducklow, was a mail clerk there.  Dad retrieved his mail as Gideon purchased some stamps. As Vic handed Gideon his mail, he noticed one of Gideon’s letters had a return address of A. Thompson, Phoenix Arizona. He recognized the handwriting as that of his sister Audrey Thompson Ducklow – but had no idea why she would be writing to him.  He kept his professional poise making no note of the letter from his sister.






Audrey Ducklow Thompson
Daughter of Vern and Mina Bowen Ducklow
Circa 1960, age 56

Gideon looked through his mail and was immediately confounded by this letter from “A. Thompson Phoenix.”  He had no idea who this was and why anyone from Phoenix would be writing – so he opened the letter right in front of my father to discover its contents. After reading the letter to himself, he shared it aloud.

The writer said that when she was a girl she had stolen a 3-cent pack of gum from Gideon’s store (likely sometime in the 1920s). As she looked back over her life she had developed guilty conscience about swiping the gum and wanted to make restitution.  Enclosed was a dollar bill.  She did not sign the letter or offer her maiden name.  The only name was on the return address – A. Thompson.  To my mother’s knowledge, Gideon never did discover that A. Thompson was Audrey Ducklow.  My father too kept her identity hidden from Gideon – figuring that if she had wanted to share her complete identity she would have. Hearing this story gave me a better appreciation of the character of my Aunt Audrey.  If stealing a pack of gum was one of the worse sins she committed, and then writing a letter of apology some forty years later, she certainly ranks among the saints in the family!

 ❧
Footnotes:

Like Great Grandfather George Ducklow, Audrey suffered with asthma.  She and her husband Hank Thompson moved to Phoenix in the 1950s for the clear air and dry weather.  She died of complications of asthma in 1967.

So the answer to my original question to my mother was implicitly answered by this story – Gideon was, at least for a few years, a mercantile man in Spring Valley.

Upon receiving the dollar, it appears that Gideon received about 8% return on his 3-cent pack of gum over the 40-some years. 

Dad never brought up the story with anyone in the family, except my my mother.  I had never heard the story before she shared it with me on Jan. 9, 2011.





Bill Holman Passes
Great Grandson of Thomas and Elizabeth Ducklow
(Published January 2, 2011)


Bill Holman, who lived his entire life in Fargo, North Dakota, died on December 29, 2010. Bill was son of Anna Ostenson Holman and was the grandson of Lucinda and Gunder Ostenson.  His obituary follows:


William “Bill” Holman age 76, Fargo, North Dakota, resident of Bethany Towers II Living Center, passed away on December 29, 2010. He was under the care of Hospice of the Red River Valley.  

William Alan Holman was born in Fargo, North Dakota October 26, 1934 to Anna Elizabeth (Ostenson) and Willard William Holman. As a young boy he was very active in sports. Bill played hockey, baseball and football. In the ninth grade Bill and Roger Maris were teammates on the Roosevelt Junior High School football team. Bill was also a teammate of Roger Maris’ on the 1951 American Legion Post #2 baseball team as a pitcher.  Bill graduated from Fargo Central High School in 1952. While attending North Dakota State University, Bill worked at the NDSU experiment station. In January 1955, he joined the United States Army. He took his infantry training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Several months later he left for Europe. He was stationed in Germany and France. He attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. Bill was discharged January 1, 1958. Bill was also a member of the North Dakota Air National Guard 178th Fighter Squadron for two years.

Bill started working for Northern Drug Company in July 1958. He then left Northern Drug Company in March of 1969 to begin working at the NDSU Varsity Mart in April of 1969. He retired from NDSU March 31, 1997.
Bill was a member of the American Legion Post #2, AMVETS, Pheasants Forever, NDSU Team Makers Club, and Gethsemane Cathedral. Bill was an avid pheasant hunter and outdoorsman. Bill enjoyed lake time in the summer with his brothers and spending time with nieces and nephews for birthdays, holidays and special occasions.
Thanks to Dr. Glenn Mastel and Dr. Michael Segal, Sanford Medical Center, Bethany Homes and Hospice of the Red River Valley employees. You were all special to Bill.

Visitation: 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. with prayer service at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, January 3, Boulger Funeral Home, Fargo, ND.  Funeral: 1:00 p.m. Tuesday, January 4 with visitation one hour prior, Boulger Funeral Home, Fargo, ND

Burial: Riverside Cemetery, Fargo, ND