Nina Farley and her family were McIntosh County pioneers, having moved from Michigan in 1887. In 1891 she married John Wishek, a lawyer, banker, and politician. He was also a partner in Wishek and Lilly, a land office, which helped pioneers file homesteads. Nina and John came to be known as “Mother” and “Father” Wishek.
Nina was very active in the community as a schoolteacher, local historian, devout Methodist, mother of eight, and membership in various clubs. She was also an artist, poet, and writer, with some of her poems published in anthologies. She had been writing poems since Michigan, but had more time once the children were married and away. She often wrote “on odd pieces of paper, such as envelope backs, letter backs, store paper and scrap paper.” After finding her poetry-filled scraps, her family encouraged her to compile a poetry collection, and so they did. The book, Rose Berries in Autumn, was published in June 1938 in time for the town of Ashley’s Golden Jubilee, marking its 50th year.
The book is divided into three sections. The first, “Pioneer and Western Poems,” details a history of pioneer life and her personal story. The second section, “Poems of Meditation and Sentiment,” shows “quiet musings of a contemplative soul.” In the last section, Nina added fun odd bits. It’s titled, “A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men.”
The family published the book almost entirely themselves, with the printing done at the Ashley Tribune. The family folded, cut, and assembled the book on the long dining room table, which they dubbed “the assembly room.” They bound the books in the town library, calling it the “binding plant.” Throughout the process, “The air was fairly quivering with thrill and excitement.”
On this date in 1938, the Fargo Forum reported on the book and the unique publishing process. Many other North Dakota newspapers also carried the story.
Rose Berries in Autumn was reprinted that September, receiving widespread praise. The Bismarck Tribune called it “One of the most interesting books in the history of North Dakota.” Nina went on to write Along the Trails of Yesterday: A Story of McIntosh County in 1941. With continued demand, both books were reprinted in 1980, more than two decades after her death.
Dakota Datebook by Cody Goehring
Sources:
- Ashley Tribune, June 9, 1938, p5
- Rose Berries in Autumn by Nina Farley Wishek, June and September 1938
- Ashley’s Golden Jubilee Book, June 1938
- Fargo Forum, morning edition, July 24, 1938, p1
- Bismarck Tribune, July 28, 1938, p4
- Grand Forks Herald, March 4, 1939, p4
- Along the Trials of Yesterday: A Story of McIntosh County by Nina Farley Wishek, 1941
- Ashley Centennial Book, 1988
