Several old stories tell that Hans and his family had a long journey to haul their grain to Bismarck, three or four days, and that often they brought supplies back for the stores in Washburn. It seems a logical step that as log as they had to haul grain one way, that they would start their own store. The Holtans in North Dakota ran stores, in Washburn, Turtle Lake and Ryder. We’re still looking for photos of the store in Turtle Lake that Gilbert ran, and more information about the Ryder store that Henry operated, but here are stories of the Holtan store in Washburn and the Holtan/Peterson store in Ryder.
Washburn Herald Newspaper, Diamond Jubilee Edition, 1957 HOLTANS–56 Years of Service to Washburn and McLean County.
The history and growth of the Holtan Mercantile Co., closely parallels the life of the late Martin Hotan, who with his father. Hans Holtan and brother. Henry, founded the “Hans Holtan and Sons” store in 1901. The first site of the store was the building now occupied by Howard Lewis and later expanded to cover the property now occupied by the Red Owl Agency. The first stock was brought in by river boat. (Newspaper article is cut off and resumes here.
George Yackey ran the grocery department and Herman Bolter joined firm to work in the dry goods and men’s wear sections. George Schoenecker, E. E. Sampsel and George Battey joined the firm soon after the move to its new location. John Carstens was instrumental in starting the hardware section. Many, many people have joined the ranks of the employees of the store and have gone… (Story resumes on another page, with some loss of text)
… decide between licorice and jelly beans at the grocery or walking out with a new outfit from the clothing department. Some can even remember having lived in the apartments over the store, or they may have visited the dentist or lawyer who had his office upstairs.
The building served businesses before and after Holtan’s, but it still is remembered as the Holtan building. After serving the Holtan store for 56 years, the name just stuck.
The Holtan building was built by T. J. Haugeberg, who operated a business in the frame part of the building for many years. In 1907, the frame building was moved and replaced by a new two-story brick building.
Hans Holtan established “Hans Holtan and Sons” with his sons Martin and Henry in 1901. Their store was located across the street from the Haugeberg business, which the Holtans bought out in 1914. Another key date is 1912, when the firm incorporated into Holtan Mercantile Company, with Martin as president and manager, a capacity he served until his death in October of 1966.
Henry left the firm in 1913 to establish a business in Ryder.
THE YEAR 1934 saw the Holtan store in Washburn building remodeled, and the Holtans were able to purchase the store building from Haugeberg’s son-in-law, Hans Nelson, in 1946.
Hans Holtan had come to the Washburn area to buy a farm. His son, Martin, became a school teacher, but teaching wasn’t really what he wanted to do so he took a job in the general store on the present site of the Washburn Hotel, having experience in the business as a former employee in the George M. Robinson-Lawrence Casselman general store for a year after completing grade school. Martin went on to school in Iowa before taking up teaching at Forest City and rural Wilton.
He eventually came to manage the Holtan store, which truly became a family affair with his sons, Howard, Earl, Orville and daughter, Blanche. They remember when operating a grocery meant carrying many bulk products. The store had a coffee mill and sold its ground coffee for 25 cents a pound at one time, Orville recalls. Orville started in the business as a lad, counting eggs brought for exchange by the farmers. Blanche’s earliest memories are of herself as a little girl, marking items for sale.
They also remember stories about how a barrel of dill pickles overturned during the moving process from the building across the street.
The first merchandise of the store arrived by steamboat, but railroads soon took over and by the 1940s, deliveries were made by truck. Holtan’s Store also made grocery deliveries for customers who called in their orders. At one time, the deliveries were made with a small wagon, and the Holtans tell of the several times when their cousin, Martin Grothe, had the misfortune of tipping the wagon in making deliveries. The deliveries were made easier in later years when one could do it with automobiles. However, there were years in the early 1950s when even automobiles weren’t good transportation.
Herb Brenneise, who worked in the grocery department for five and a half years, explains that one winter when there was so much snow that he and Orville had to shovel out the green panel truck that was used for deliveries and the Army cleared the roads to allow them to get through. Orville added that snow removal was all manual labor, and it was piled so high that one couldn’t see the building across the street. Because people couldn’t get into town, deliveries were frequent. “We sold more groceries that winter and saw fewer people,” Herb said.
Cliff Beeks flew his plane out to bring in the farmers’ eggs and cream. Holtan’s sold the eggs and sent the cream cans to the depot.
Herb recalled one regular customer, recalls the impatience of the clerks who waited sometimes until after 11 p.m. for the people to return for their groceries.
The Holtan store was the gathering space for the women who came to town. Ferol said she often worked late as the store stayed open for the women who were waiting for their husbands to return from their visitation location at the bar. She credits this with helping her to get to know people from all over the county.
“To this day, I have had people say ‘Oh, I knew you when you worked at the store,” she said. “When I quit working, that is what I missed I really did miss the contact with the public.”
Ferol adds that she couldn’t have asked for a better employer or a more compassionate one than Martin Holtan. On one occasion, she hurt her back while pulling out a dresser drawer at home, and while at work the next morning, her husband came and asked how her back was. Martin overheard him and urged Ferol to take the day off to go to the chiropractor for treatment, even suggesting a chiropractor. Ferol remembers on Saturday night on which Martin offered to take her home rather than have her husband come since there was a tremendous amount of snow.
Unaccustomed to the roads, Martin got stuck and Russell Anderson had to come anyway and help shovel him out. Holtan’s was a major employer, hiring from 10-12 people. One long-time employee was George Schoenecker, who ran the grocery department. His wife was the milliner and designed hats for customers. When it came to husband-and-wife teams, the store not only featured the Holtan’s but also the Schoeneckers, Schaeffers and Sampsels.
In 1951, Holtan’s sold out the grocery, which had been a Fairway affiliate, and put in men’s wear. Blanche took an active role in the dry goods department, which included well over 50 bolts of different materials and was affiliated with Butler Bros., the country’s largest wholesale distributor of general merchandise. The price for a yard of percale at one time was 49 cents.
The Holtan Store also operated the first gas pump in Washburn, later selling kerosene from it. Some of the professionals who established offices upstairs were the Williams and Lindell law firm, attorney Nuessle, dentists Dr. Klein and Babcock and medical doctor Skarshaug.
Holtan’s also sold caskets for a time, and Blanche remembers how she and other children would be afraid to go upstairs because of the caskets. It was an unfounded fear, quite unlike the fear of the dentist’s grinder, Blanche said, recalling the days when her mother would drag her, sobbing, upstairs to the dentist.
The apartments were rented right up to the last days of the building. Due to the changed business climate, the Holtans’ decided to sell in 1970. From 1972-83, Maxine’s Department Store, established by Richard and Maxine Schmit, operated out of the building. Kut & Kurl was located in part of the brick section of the building prior to demolition.
Orville and Blanche said they kept few souvenirs as antique hunters claimed all the old memorabilia. Some former customers may still possess the souvenir cups and saucers or calendars that the store gave away for patronage. Both Orville and Blanche hate to see the building go. Once one of the finest stores in the county, Holtan Mercantile building became a landmark. Now it is quickly becoming rubble to be carted away to make room for a new generation of business people.
Here is another article about Martin Holtan and how the Holtan store in Washburn came to be, and lasted from 1901 to 1970
“Martin attended school in Iowa and then in Washburn’s first school, where St. Edwin’s Catholic Church now stands. He took a job in the George M. Robinson- Lawrence Casselman general store because there was no high school nearby.
After a year he went to Iowa, where he took up a business course. Later he taught school near Forest City and in 1895 returned to Washburn to teach in the Montefiore rural school district. Because he never really wanted to be a teacher, he took a job in another general store on the present site of the Washburn Hotel, a store owned by August Wahl.
THE WASHBURN (ND) LEADER, Wednesday, June 30, 1982, (at the time the store was being demolished. Here the story is told again, but with a bit more detail. PEH)
Mr. and Mrs. Martin Holtan and their children operated a dry goods, clothing, grocery and hardware store for many years.
In 1901, Hans opened a general store, operated by Martin and Henry. The store was on the site of the former Jack and Jill Store, with first stock brought in by riverboat and later by rail. In 1912 the business was incorporated into the Holtan Mercantile co, with Martin leading the concern. Henry left the firm in 1913 to establish a business in Ryder.
In 1914 it was moved across the street to its present location, now Maxine’s.
The Martin Holtan children -Howard, Earl, Blanche and Orville, joined their father in operating the store until his death in 1956 and continued managing it until 1970. The building served businesses before and after Holtan’s, but it still is remembered as the Holtan building. After serving the Holtan store for 56 years, the name just stuck.
The Holtan building was built by T. J. Haugeberg, who operated a business in the frame part of the building for many years. In 1907, the frame building was moved and replaced by a new two-story brick building.
Hans Holtan established “Hans Holtan and Sons” with his sons Martin and Henry in 1901. Their store was located across the street from the Haugeberg business, which the Holtans bought out in 1914. Another key date is 1912, when the firm incorporated into Holtan Mercantile Company, with Martin as president and manager, a capacity he served until his death in October of 1966.
THE YEAR 1934 saw the building remodeled, and the Holtans were able to purchase the store building from Haugeberg’s son-in-law, Hans Nelson, in 1946.
Hans Holtan had come to the Washburn area to buy a farm. His son, Martin, became a school teacher, but teaching wasn’t really what he wanted to do so he took a job in the general store on the present site of the Washburn Hotel, having experience in the business as a former employee in the George M. Robinson-Lawrence Casselman general store for a year after completing grade school. Martin went on to school in Iowa before taking up teaching at Forest City and rural Wilton.
He eventually came to manage the Holtan store, which truly became a family affair with his sons, Howard, Earl, Orville and daughter, Blanche. They remember when operating a grocery meant carrying many bulk products. The store had a coffee mill and sold its ground coffee for 25 cents a pound at one time, Orville recalls. Orville started in the business as a lad, counting eggs brought for exchange by the farmers. Blanche’s earliest memories are of herself as a little girl, marking items for sale.
They also remember stories about how a barrel of dill pickles overturned during the moving process from the building across the street.
The first merchandise of the store arrived by steamboat, but railroads soon took over and by the 1940s, deliveries were made by truck. Holtan’s Store also made grocery deliveries for customers who called in their orders. At one time, the deliveries were made with a small wagon, and the Holtans tell of the several times when their cousin, Martin Grothe, had the misfortune of tipping the wagon in making deliveries. The deliveries were made easier in later years when one could do it with automobiles. However, there were years in the early 1950s when even automobiles weren’t good transportation.
Herb Brenneise, who worked in the grocery department for five and a half years, explains that one winter when there was so much snow that he and Orville had to shovel out the green panel truck that was used for deliveries and the Army cleared the roads to allow them to get through. Orville added that snow removal was all manual labor, and it was piled so high that one couldn’t see the building across the street. Because people couldn’t get into town, deliveries were frequent. “We sold more groceries that winter and saw fewer people,” Herb said.
Cliff Beeks flew his plane out to bring in the farmers’ eggs and cream. Holtan’s sold the eggs and sent the cream cans to the depot.
Herb recalled one regular customer, recalls the impatience of the clerks who waited sometimes until after 11 p.m. for the people to return for their groceries.
The Holtan store was the gathering space for the women who came to town. Ferol said she often worked late as the store stayed open for the women who were waiting for their husbands to return from their visitation location at the bar. She credits this with helping her to get to know people from all over the county.
“To this day, I have had people say ‘Oh, I knew you when you worked at the store,” she said. “When I quit working, that is what I missed I really did miss the contact with the public.”
Ferol adds that she couldn’t have asked for a better employer or a more compassionate one than Martin Holtan. On one occasion, she hurt her back while pulling out a dresser drawer at home, and while at work the next morning, her husband came and asked how her back was. Martin overheard him and urged Ferol to take the day off to go to the chiropractor for treatment, even suggesting a chiropractor. Ferol remembers on Saturday night on which Martin offered to take her home rather than have her husband come since there was a tremendous amount of snow.
Unaccustomed to the roads, Martin got stuck and Russell Anderson had to come anyway and help shovel him out. Holtan’s was a major employer, hiring from 10-12 people. One long-time employee was George Schoenecker, who ran the grocery department. His wife was the milliner and designed hats for customers. When it came to husband-and-wife teams, the store not only featured the Holtan’s but also the Schoeneckers, Schaeffers and Sampsels.
In 1951, Holtan’s sold out the grocery, which had been a Fairway affiliate, and put in men’s wear. Blanche took an active role in the dry goods department, which included well over 50 bolts of different materials and was affiliated with Butler Bros., the country’s largest wholesale distributor of general merchandise. The price for a yard of percale at one time was 49 cents.
The Holtan Store also operated the first gas pump in Washburn, later selling kerosene from it. Some of the professionals who established offices upstairs were the Williams and Lindell law firm, attorney Nuessle, dentists Dr. Klein and Babcock and medical doctor Skarshaug.
Holtan’s also sold caskets for a time, and Blanche remembers how she and other children would be afraid to go upstairs because of the caskets. It was an unfounded fear, quite unlike the fear of the dentist’s grinder, Blanche said, recalling the days when her mother would drag her, sobbing, upstairs to the dentist.
The apartments were rented right up to the last days of the building. Due to the changed business climate, the Holtans’ decided to sell in 1970. From 1972-83, Maxine’s Department Store, established by Richard and Maxine Schmit, operated out of the building. Kut & Kurl was located in part of the brick section of the building prior to demolition.
Orville and Blanche said they kept few souvenirs as antique hunters claimed all the old memorabilia. Some former customers may still possess the souvenir cups and saucers or calendars that the store gave away for patronage. Both Orville and Blanche hate to see the building go. Once one of the finest stores in the county, Holtan Mercantile building became a landmark. Now it is quickly becoming rubble to be carted away to make room for a new generation of business people.
Henry Holtan and the Holtan Hardware and Furniture in Ryder, ND.
Henry partnered with his father and Martin, then just Martin, and then in 1913 he left the Washburn area, and with his father-in-law, J. P. Peterson, one of the founders of the Hudson Colony, they started a store in Ryder. Ryder was a newer town on the edge of the recently opened Fort Berthold Reservation. His brother, Engebrigt Holtan, also moved to the area to farm on the reservation south of Parshall, ND.
(Phil Holtan writes: As a young pastor in Makoti, next door to Ryder, I remember the day a parishioner brought a yardstick and asked if I was related to Ingebrigt Holtan. “See, his name is on the yardstick advertising the Ingebrigt Holtan Lumber Company.” No one else seems to have information that corroborated my memory, but it is certainly reasonable that he and Henry teamed up to supply the growing area. We will tell more of Henry and Engebrigt’s stories in their own pages on this website.)
