Title
HENRY AND MARY (STRINGER) RAU
Creator
Georgia Gabbert Fisher
Coverage
TOWNSHIP 139N RANGE 96W
Text
HENRY AND MARY (STRINGER) RAU
Henry Rau was born in Germany and was trained there to be a tailor. Before coming to Dickinson his family lived in Eddyville, Iowa. 1886, he came to Dickinson and operated a tobacco and grocery store. He also had a homestead about six miles north of Dickinson.
Henry married Mary Stringer. Mary's parents apparently died early and Mary, being a twin, was separated from her sister, and was taken in and raised by the Aloner McKinley family. Aloner was a brother of President McKinley
A relative remembers visiting Mrs. Mary Rau when she was up in age and lived above the Berringer Store, Dickinson. She was a picturesque and sprightly wisp of a woman. When she dressed to go out she had on a black dress and perky black bonnet tied under her chin.
Henry and Mary were blessed with eight children including Ben, Frank, Fred, Charlie, Del, Myra, Edward and Anna Mae. Only few facts are known about these children.
It is noted that son Fred left the Dickinson area and made his home in Tacoma, Wash. There he was a pioneer poultry breeder. He was a prominent lecturer both for Washington State College and Albers Milling Co., delivering short course lectures. Beside his large poultry and chick business he invented and sold a fireless brooder and made his own incubators which were marvels of success. Later he manufactured and sold the Rau Electric Brooder.
Another child, Edward, sometimes called Pat, perished in a blizzard in the Cave Mountains near Bowman, N.D., 1892. Edward Cranford, about 23 years old, and Edward (Pat) Rau, about 20 years old, had left Dickinson to ride west to look for a job. They spent one night at Alf White's ranch, and the next night at the HT. Although the weather was good when they started out to ride 60 miles across country the next day, they were caught in a snowstorm which by midnight had become a howling blizzard. Although the temperature was not much below zero, the wind made the storm much worse.
The following May of 1892 a group of men from Dickinson went out to search for the two. They found nothing, but two cowboys did find Cranford's body about six miles south and three miles west of Bowman. The cowboys reported to the searchers, who came back to Dickinson so that one could be deputized as coroner to bury the body. Bob Fisher, who was a neighbor of the Rau family, went back with them to bury Cranford. Others in the group were Ben Rau, S. Auld and Harry Butson. They buried the body on Cold Turkey Creek, a few yards from where they found it. Bill Chaloner later scratched the name and date on a flat chocolate colored stone and set it up as a headstone. Somebody rimmed the grave with small stones.
Young Rau's body was never found. The searchers concluded that young Rau, who had been working indoors at the Villard Hotel all winter, while Cranford had worked on ranches, had perished first and Cranford had taken the dead boy's coat to save himself.
Both horses were found. Cranford's was picked up about two miles from where he had been living. The saddle had turned, the cinch worn deep into the horses back. Rau's horse was picked up on the HT roundup, but was not noticed until the round up was over and nobody was sure where it had been found.
A daughter of the Rau's, Anna Mae, married a neighbor boy, Thomas Fisher. They made their home in and around Dickinson and raised their family here. Their family included Edith (Mrs. Frank Kasper), Ruth (Mrs. Jerome Johnson), Florence (Mrs. Chase), Harry, Ethel, Ralph, Grace Roy, Alice (Mrs. Clarence Owens), Mabel (Mrs. Don Radke), Willard Bud” and Verlie (Mrs. Maurice Aird). More is said about the Fisher family elsewhere in this book.
By Georgia Gabbert Fisher
Henry Rau was born in Germany and was trained there to be a tailor. Before coming to Dickinson his family lived in Eddyville, Iowa. 1886, he came to Dickinson and operated a tobacco and grocery store. He also had a homestead about six miles north of Dickinson.
Henry married Mary Stringer. Mary's parents apparently died early and Mary, being a twin, was separated from her sister, and was taken in and raised by the Aloner McKinley family. Aloner was a brother of President McKinley
A relative remembers visiting Mrs. Mary Rau when she was up in age and lived above the Berringer Store, Dickinson. She was a picturesque and sprightly wisp of a woman. When she dressed to go out she had on a black dress and perky black bonnet tied under her chin.
Henry and Mary were blessed with eight children including Ben, Frank, Fred, Charlie, Del, Myra, Edward and Anna Mae. Only few facts are known about these children.
It is noted that son Fred left the Dickinson area and made his home in Tacoma, Wash. There he was a pioneer poultry breeder. He was a prominent lecturer both for Washington State College and Albers Milling Co., delivering short course lectures. Beside his large poultry and chick business he invented and sold a fireless brooder and made his own incubators which were marvels of success. Later he manufactured and sold the Rau Electric Brooder.
Another child, Edward, sometimes called Pat, perished in a blizzard in the Cave Mountains near Bowman, N.D., 1892. Edward Cranford, about 23 years old, and Edward (Pat) Rau, about 20 years old, had left Dickinson to ride west to look for a job. They spent one night at Alf White's ranch, and the next night at the HT. Although the weather was good when they started out to ride 60 miles across country the next day, they were caught in a snowstorm which by midnight had become a howling blizzard. Although the temperature was not much below zero, the wind made the storm much worse.
The following May of 1892 a group of men from Dickinson went out to search for the two. They found nothing, but two cowboys did find Cranford's body about six miles south and three miles west of Bowman. The cowboys reported to the searchers, who came back to Dickinson so that one could be deputized as coroner to bury the body. Bob Fisher, who was a neighbor of the Rau family, went back with them to bury Cranford. Others in the group were Ben Rau, S. Auld and Harry Butson. They buried the body on Cold Turkey Creek, a few yards from where they found it. Bill Chaloner later scratched the name and date on a flat chocolate colored stone and set it up as a headstone. Somebody rimmed the grave with small stones.
Young Rau's body was never found. The searchers concluded that young Rau, who had been working indoors at the Villard Hotel all winter, while Cranford had worked on ranches, had perished first and Cranford had taken the dead boy's coat to save himself.
Both horses were found. Cranford's was picked up about two miles from where he had been living. The saddle had turned, the cinch worn deep into the horses back. Rau's horse was picked up on the HT roundup, but was not noticed until the round up was over and nobody was sure where it had been found.
A daughter of the Rau's, Anna Mae, married a neighbor boy, Thomas Fisher. They made their home in and around Dickinson and raised their family here. Their family included Edith (Mrs. Frank Kasper), Ruth (Mrs. Jerome Johnson), Florence (Mrs. Chase), Harry, Ethel, Ralph, Grace Roy, Alice (Mrs. Clarence Owens), Mabel (Mrs. Don Radke), Willard Bud” and Verlie (Mrs. Maurice Aird). More is said about the Fisher family elsewhere in this book.
By Georgia Gabbert Fisher