MANDAN Historical Society

Working to Preserve & Promote Mandan's Heritage since 2004

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Ag Stn Centennial

History Harvest

TR-Coe Exhibit

WWII Exhibit

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Area History

Book: "Mantani"

The 1870s

The 1880s

Mandan Rodeo / Fair

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The 1890s

The 1900s

1901 Pan Am Expo

1903 TR Visit to NDak

The 1910s

1910 Spring Flood

1911 Fair & Airplane Demo

1912 TR Whistle-Stop

The 1920s

Prohibition in Mandan

Mail Order Kit Homes

The 1930s

FDR Visit August 1936

The 1940s

The 1950s

1958 Lincoln Stamp FDC

Custer Drama / Trail West

The 1960s

The 1970s

The 1980s

The 1990s

1st of the 21st

2010-Present

Area Landmarks

Cary Bldg - Mandan Drug

CCC Camp Chimney

Christ the King Church

Collins Av Civic Bldg

First Lutheran Church

First National Bank Bldg

First Presbyterian Church

Great Plains Academy

Great Plains Expermt Stn

Lewis & Clark Hotel

2nd Liberty Memr'l Bridge

Mandan Hill

Mandan Theatre

MissValley Grocery Warehs

Methodist Church

NP Beanery

NP "Colonial" RR Depot

NPRR Freighthouse

NP Rail High Bridge

Roughrider Statue

St Joseph Church

Whispering Giant Statue

WWar Memorial Bldg

Youth Correctional Center

Gone Forever

Central School

Collins Ave Courthouse

Cummins Building

Deaconess Hospital

Eielson Field

Emerson Inst/Opera House

First St Federal Building

Havana Club

Hotel Nigey

InterOcean Hotel

Mandan Creamery & Produce

Mandan Flour Mill

Merchants Hotel

ND Memorial Bridge

NP "Queen Anne" Depot

Original Passenger Depot

Palace Theatre

Peoples' Hotel

Red Trail / State Route 3

Rock Haven

Topic Theatre

Young's Tavern

Heritage Homes

Altnow-Smith Home

Dunlap-Harris Home

Ellis-Uden Home

Freeburg-Esser Home

Lyon-Weigel Home

McGillic Home

Olson-Brick Home

Parkin-Cooley Home

Stutsman-Wyatt Home

Swanson-Reichman Home

Welch-Ness Home

Endowment Fund

Genealogy Links

Biographies A-C

J D Allen

Franklin Anders

Richard Baron

James Bellows

George Bingenheimer

Margaret Bingenheimer

Philip Blumenthal

Elijah Boley

Frank Briggs

Leo Broderick

William Broderick

Frank Bunting

Lyman Cary

James Clark

Henry Coe

Viola Boley Coe

Daniel Collins

Elizabeth Custer

George Custer

Biographies D-L

Alice Dahners

Henry Dahners

C E V (Charles) Draper

Esther Davis

Tony Dean

Joseph Devine

Ronald Erhardt

John Forbes

Palma Fristad

Gilbert Furness

Aloysius Galowitsch

Frederic Gerard

Zalmon Gilbert

Charles Grantier

James Hanley Jr

James Hanley Sr

Mary Harris

C Edgar Haupt

Elfriede Trinkler Kuhn

Michael Lang

William Langer

Albert Lanterman

William Lanterman

Richard Longfellow

Rolland Lutz

Hiram Lyon

Biographies M-R

George Marback

Gary Miller

Lee Mohr

Margaret Naylor

John Newton

Anton Ness

John Osterhouse

George Peoples

Arthur Peterson

Nels Romer

Hoy Russell

Walton Russell

Antonie Rybnicek

Ervin Rybnicek

Hynek Rybnicek

Biographies S-Z

Margaret Schaaf

Tilden Selmes Jr

George Shafer

Benjamin Shaw

William Simpson

Anna Knox Stark

Mary Stark

Benjamin Stephenson

J O Sullivan

John Sullivan

Era Bell Thompson

Andrew E Thorberg

Ida Thorberg

C L Timmerman

George Toman

Earle Tostevin

Edwin A Tostevin Sr

Edwin D Tostevin Jr

Walter Tostevin

Felix Vinatieri

A B Welch

Levon West

Frank Wetzstein

Harry Wheeler

Philomena Yunck

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What's New

James Bellows (1829-1890)
Born into a prominent family in Pittsford, NY,  he married a wife descended from English nobility and would serve in the Union Army during the Civil War. James Bellows and his company were drawn to Dakota Territory to help with the construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad.

James Bellows was born on December 30, 1829, the oldest son of Ira and Mary (Buck) Bellows. He was named after his grandfather Colonel James Bellows who led Colonial during the Revolutionary War. His father, an attorney in Pittsford, NY, would also served in the NY state militia for decades before retiring as Brigadier-General.

James Bellows married Lavina [sometimes listed as Laura] Amelia Worthington on May 9, 1850 in Homer, Michigan. The couple had three children; a daughter Minnie Amelia Bellows (b. Nov 4 1851 in Pittsford, NY); son Ira Worthington Bellows (b. Jan 11, 1857 in Pittsford NY) and Mary E. born 1852 who died sometime between the ages of 3 and 8 likely in Buffalo, NY.

He served briefly in 1863 in the Civil War in the New York 148th Infantry, Company S, listed with the officer rank of "Surgeon" which equates to a lieutenant's rank.

His father Ira died on January 5, 1855.  As oldest son, the family estate at 109 Plymouth Ave in Rochester, NY was left to him and he moved his family there from Buffalo, NY.  

His wife Lavina died March 16, 1867 at the age of 37.  His sister Jane and brother-in-law James Roswell Chamberlin moved into the family home to care for his 2 remaining children and his mother Mary while James left to direct the construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad across western Dakota Territory.

His company Walker, Bellows and Company (later to become Bellows, Fogarty and Company) was awarded a contract with the railroad on December 27, 1878 to build the westside river dike in support of the Missouri River railroad bridge between Bismarck & Mandan.  The company was later awarded both approaches to the bridge as well as the rail line from Mandan to the east bank of the Yellowstone River at Glendive Montana.

James Bellows would decide to permenantly settle in Mandan. He initially rented a house in downtown. He sent for his children and widowed mother Mary to join him. In 1881 while the NP Railroad bridge was still under construction, James purchased rural property just north of the city; 160 acres in the NE corner of Township 139-Range 81-Section 21 and grew celery he likely learned from his father-in-law while courting his wife in Homer, Michigan.

Bellows also started a farm implement dealership in town.

His son Ira also settled in the area, establishing a ranch near Mandan along the Little Heart River.

1884 Ad Mandan Pioneer Immigrants Edition No.21
He operated Bellows Landing (later known as Rock Haven, which was a steamboat port.  Wood, coal, ice and other provisions were offered. The facility was eventually purchased by the US Corps of Engineers to service its Missouri River snagboat fleet.

In 1881, he helped to establish the First National Bank, the first bank in the city. Initially a Director, we served as its President twice in 1881 and 1884. Other stockholders in the bank included prominent businessmen Hiram Lyon and Charles Edgar Haupt. (Haupt and his brother Herman would later become partners with the Marquis de Mores in his stock ranch and meat packing venture near Medora.)

James gained the respect of his fellow citizens, and in 1882 was the first elected (as opposed to appointed) Mandan village president (i.e., mayor.)

His mother Mary died in Mandan on May 12, 1889.

James died unexpectedly in Mandan on January 7, 1890 after suffering for only a week from lagrippe (i.e., acute pneumonia) at age 62.

He is buried beside his wife in the family plot in Pittsford NY.

The MHSoc's museum and office is located at 3827 30th Avenue NW; Mandan, ND 58554
Contact us at info@mandanhistory.org


Last Updated 05/17
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