9/15/2006:
Though Teddy Roosevelt is the former president most associated with North Dakota, there was another president who had connections with this state. Rutherford B. Hayes once owned 930 acres of land north of Bismarck, and today in 1882, it was attracting attention from the Bismarck Tribune. That year, crops had been planted on 525 acres and the manager, C.M. Cushman expected to harvest 20,000 bushels of Number 1 grain.
Bismarck settler Lynn Sperry said the farm was located on Section 3 of Range 80 in Hay Creek Township. The farm, he said, was given to Hayes as a gift from the Northern Pacific Railroad Company when he was elected president in 1877. The Tribune reported that the farm was worth $25 dollars an acre and praised its productivity, though the buildings were not much to brag about. The Tribune reported, “The buildings on the Hayes’ farm are inferior, excepting the granary, which is a model of strength if not of beauty.” Regardless, the farm was considered one of the finest in the Missouri River Valley, and although Hayes never visited the farm, he did keep track of its progress.
The farm did not only attract area interest, but also reached Columbus, Ohio. Joseph Guitner of Columbus had visited the farm, and was impressed with the quality of the land. An Ohio newspaper said Guitner believed the land to be the richest he ever saw and though the climate is cold, he told the paper that “The atmosphere is dry and the country is as good for the health and growth of people as for crops.”
Guitner purchased the property in December 1885. The Chicago Inter-Ocean reported that the farm was sold for $21,000, twice as much as Hayes’ got for his farm in Nebraska. The Inter-Ocean did report, however, that Hayes “wouldn’t have sold the Omaha farm if he hadn’t heard it was being used for liquor purposes for the past eight years.”
The Ohio newspaper printed a contradictory story to the Chicago Inter-Ocean’s, however. Rather than being sold, the Ohio newspaper reported that the Bismarck farm was traded for twenty acres of land adjoining North Columbus, Ohio. Regardless of the means of acquiring the land, the Ohio newspaper reported that Guitner was indeed “stuck” on the country and Guitner, along with his son and Major William A. Neil of London, Ohio, began spring’s work that March.
Guitner only held onto the property for one year, however, when he sold it to Luke Byrne of Columbus, Ohio. The farm remained in the family until at least September 28, 1889 when a sale for the stock and machinery was held. The reason for the sale was not stated, but on the day of the sale, it was reported that John Byrne, then owner of the farm, was confined to his home in Columbus, Ohio because of illness, but would try to return to the farm later that fall.
Thereafter, the land passed through many farmers, including Arthur Kinnischtzke in 1963. Sperry believes the land was also once owned by J.E. Davis, the father of the former governor John Davis. Today that section is now split into many parcels, most of which are still being farmed.
By Tessa Sandstrom
Sources:
“Browing Around with Jack Case,” Bismarck Tribune. March 28, 1963: 1.
Bismarck Tribune, Sept. 28, 1889: 3.
Bismarck Tribune, Sept. 27, 1889: 3.
Bismarck Tribune, Dec. 8, 1886.
Bismarck Tribune, April 6, 1886: 3.
Bismarck Tribune, March 3, 1886: 1.
Bismarck Tribune, Jan. 10, 1886: 4.
Bismarck Tribune, Jan. 5, 1886: 1.
Bismarck Tribune, Dec. 17, 1885: 3.
Bismarck Tribune, Nov. 14, 1885: 3.