Do you know this guy (on the right)? Matt Kapitan was the depot agent in Tenney, sometimes called the “Soo Agent,” from 1910 to 1939. Matt was married to Gertie, a local Tenney girl who is featured in THE TENNEY QUILT. So many of you knew Gertie, but perhaps not her husband, Matt, since he passed away in 1947. I had never seen a photo of Matt at the depot until his daughter, Adeline, provided me with this one a few months ago. I love the uniform; something about a guy dressing up in full uniform and hat, and walking from his sleeping quarters to his working quarters in the same building in the little town of Tenney tickles me. But it also shows the pride and seriousness in which Matt approached his position.
Matt was not a Tenney native, though his and Gertie’s family was certainly one of those Tenney families that anyone living today would think of as being there for their entire memory. Born in 1877 in northeastern Kansas, 32-year-old Matt landed in Tenney in 1909 after attending telegraph school in Wisconsin. He came by himself, and lived in the depot. It wasn’t long before Matt made note of a beautiful young 18-year-old woman, Gertie Reinhard, a school teacher who taught in a small school north of Breckenridge, but came home to Tenney frequently [by horse and buggy, I might add]. Despite a 15-year age difference, Matt and Gertie married in 1912 in the Reinhard farm house, with my grandfather, A.N. Larson, serving as Matt’s best man.
Tenney has always been, and still is, a railroad town. Its very existence is owed to the railroad and today, if not for the tax-paying Wheaton-Dumont elevator facility, Tenney certainly would not be a formal municipality. Though there were settlers in the area prior to the railroad’s arrival, including my own ancestors, the railroad reached Tenney in 1885. The town itself, incorporated in 1902, was named after John Paige Tenney, a lumber company executive in the Twin Cities, who owned the town site and gave right-of-way to the railroad. The main line of the Soo Line Railroad entered the county from the east, with the first Wilkin County stop being Nashua. It then continued to Tenney, then out of the county and into Fairmount, North Dakota. For many, many years, the railroad was the lifeblood of Tenney, carrying its freight, livestock, provisions, mail, and people in and out of the area. Today, the railroad still represents the weakening heartbeat of Tenney.
Tenney was on the Soo Line, but the Soo was not the first railroad in Wilkin County. The first pieces of railroad track in the county were those of the Great Northern, in 1870 (then called the “Minnesota and Pacific”) in Campbell. In a two-year period of time between 1870 and 1872, Campbell was the site of an encampment of railroad workers. Stories of this encampment bring to mind the gold rush days of Colorado and points beyond. Tents of various sizes, shapes, and colors provided sleeping quarters for the laborers, often with campfires burning in front of many tents in the evening. Larger tents were used for the mess hall and for shelter for the horses and mules. Large piles of harnesses could be found piled up outside the horse tents.
Matt was not a Tenney native, though his and Gertie’s family was certainly one of those Tenney families that anyone living today would think of as being there for their entire memory. Born in 1877 in northeastern Kansas, 32-year-old Matt landed in Tenney in 1909 after attending telegraph school in Wisconsin. He came by himself, and lived in the depot. It wasn’t long before Matt made note of a beautiful young 18-year-old woman, Gertie Reinhard, a school teacher who taught in a small school north of Breckenridge, but came home to Tenney frequently [by horse and buggy, I might add]. Despite a 15-year age difference, Matt and Gertie married in 1912 in the Reinhard farm house, with my grandfather, A.N. Larson, serving as Matt’s best man.
Tenney has always been, and still is, a railroad town. Its very existence is owed to the railroad and today, if not for the tax-paying Wheaton-Dumont elevator facility, Tenney certainly would not be a formal municipality. Though there were settlers in the area prior to the railroad’s arrival, including my own ancestors, the railroad reached Tenney in 1885. The town itself, incorporated in 1902, was named after John Paige Tenney, a lumber company executive in the Twin Cities, who owned the town site and gave right-of-way to the railroad. The main line of the Soo Line Railroad entered the county from the east, with the first Wilkin County stop being Nashua. It then continued to Tenney, then out of the county and into Fairmount, North Dakota. For many, many years, the railroad was the lifeblood of Tenney, carrying its freight, livestock, provisions, mail, and people in and out of the area. Today, the railroad still represents the weakening heartbeat of Tenney.
Tenney was on the Soo Line, but the Soo was not the first railroad in Wilkin County. The first pieces of railroad track in the county were those of the Great Northern, in 1870 (then called the “Minnesota and Pacific”) in Campbell. In a two-year period of time between 1870 and 1872, Campbell was the site of an encampment of railroad workers. Stories of this encampment bring to mind the gold rush days of Colorado and points beyond. Tents of various sizes, shapes, and colors provided sleeping quarters for the laborers, often with campfires burning in front of many tents in the evening. Larger tents were used for the mess hall and for shelter for the horses and mules. Large piles of harnesses could be found piled up outside the horse tents.
The encampment, with very little to show in the area of organization, was nestled in the long, wavy grass alongside the Rabbit River, tents spread willy nilly, here and there. It housed nearly 200 men of multiple nationalities speaking many different languages. During this time, Campbell sometimes took on a testosterone-induced, raucous nature, particularly on pay day when the railroad workers had cash for drinking, womanizing, and gambling, topped off with more than a few fist fights. I noted in the Campbell History book that card sharks, whiskey vendors and dice wielders made their way to town on pay day and things got pretty wild.
After two years, the group moved on as the railroad moved on to Doran and then Breckenridge. The trip by rail, fueled by wood-burning engine from St. Paul to Breckenridge, took anywhere from one to two days in the beginning. At times the railroad would be shut down for as long as two or three weeks due to high water or a heavy winter snowstorm.
After two years, the group moved on as the railroad moved on to Doran and then Breckenridge. The trip by rail, fueled by wood-burning engine from St. Paul to Breckenridge, took anywhere from one to two days in the beginning. At times the railroad would be shut down for as long as two or three weeks due to high water or a heavy winter snowstorm.
Many of you familiar with the Tenney area know the very unique site close to Tenney where the north-south and the east-west railroads cross, as well as highways east-west 55 and north-south 9 crossing at the same location. This site has been the cause of many accidents—rail and auto—through the years and is still a bit freaky to me every time I drive through that intersection.
Anyway, back to Matt. He and Gertie raised their family in the railroad depot for many years, until just prior to the birth of their daughter, Adeline. Their children were, in this order, Everett, Warren, Arnold, Gordon, Douglas, Russell, Adeline, and Lowell. Though you would have to be at least 61 years old to personally remember Matt, if you did remember him you would remember a gentle, soft-spoken man; a conscientious, steady worker, a guy very well-liked in Tenney. The account of his marriage in the newspaper referred to Matt as “the obliging and pleasing Soo agent at Tenney.” He was also quite hard of hearing. His wife and children were his pride and joy. According to grandson Kent, Matt was initially unable to pronounce the name of his only daughter, Adeline, so she became “La La.” Matt loved to garden, was a friend to many, and he was truly dedicated to his job. Even though the Kapitans did not have much, they had a very happy and satisfying life in Tenney. Adeline told me that Matt only took one vacation in his life, and that was a train trip with his son Arnold to Kansas to visit his family. Matt’s hearing deficit eventually caused him to have to retire earlier than he otherwise would have. He died in 1947 at the age of 70.
For those of you that arrived on the Tenney scene after 1947, you probably recall Blanche Byrne or Joe Doyle as Tenney’s depot agent. Memories of Tenney’s railroad----standing on the platform waiting for a relative to step off the train; running from the schoolyard to help unload freight in hopes of getting a nickel from storekeeper A.N.Larson; hearing the tap-tap-tap-click-click-click of the telegraph in the depot agent's office; accompanying a cattle shipment to the South St. Paul stockyards; getting a letter written quickly so that it would be ready for the 7 p.m. train to Breckenridge—all of these things were common occurrences in Tenney in the early years. If you have any Tenney railroad stories, please share them with me.
Anyway, back to Matt. He and Gertie raised their family in the railroad depot for many years, until just prior to the birth of their daughter, Adeline. Their children were, in this order, Everett, Warren, Arnold, Gordon, Douglas, Russell, Adeline, and Lowell. Though you would have to be at least 61 years old to personally remember Matt, if you did remember him you would remember a gentle, soft-spoken man; a conscientious, steady worker, a guy very well-liked in Tenney. The account of his marriage in the newspaper referred to Matt as “the obliging and pleasing Soo agent at Tenney.” He was also quite hard of hearing. His wife and children were his pride and joy. According to grandson Kent, Matt was initially unable to pronounce the name of his only daughter, Adeline, so she became “La La.” Matt loved to garden, was a friend to many, and he was truly dedicated to his job. Even though the Kapitans did not have much, they had a very happy and satisfying life in Tenney. Adeline told me that Matt only took one vacation in his life, and that was a train trip with his son Arnold to Kansas to visit his family. Matt’s hearing deficit eventually caused him to have to retire earlier than he otherwise would have. He died in 1947 at the age of 70.
For those of you that arrived on the Tenney scene after 1947, you probably recall Blanche Byrne or Joe Doyle as Tenney’s depot agent. Memories of Tenney’s railroad----standing on the platform waiting for a relative to step off the train; running from the schoolyard to help unload freight in hopes of getting a nickel from storekeeper A.N.Larson; hearing the tap-tap-tap-click-click-click of the telegraph in the depot agent's office; accompanying a cattle shipment to the South St. Paul stockyards; getting a letter written quickly so that it would be ready for the 7 p.m. train to Breckenridge—all of these things were common occurrences in Tenney in the early years. If you have any Tenney railroad stories, please share them with me.
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