Portrait of attendee at 1914 railroad depot banquet donated to Colfax Railroad Museum
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MABEL BUFFINGTON HONES — Connie Johnson Kees, the great-granddaughter of Mabel Buffington Hones, has donated a portrait of her great-grandmother to the Colfax Railroad Museum. Herb Sakalaucks Jr., curator of the museum, is pictured accepting the portrait. Mabel Hones was one of the attendees at the banquet when the stone depot was dedicated in 1914. This photograph was taken inside of the stone depot in front of one of the displays of railroad China. —photo by LeAnn R. Ralph
By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — The portrait of a woman who attended the dedication banquet at the stone railroad depot in Colfax in 1914 has been donated to the Colfax Railroad Museum.
Connie (Johnson) Kees, great-granddaughter of Mabel Buffington Hones, donated the portrait of Mabel to the Colfax Railroad Museum on Friday, October 18.
The Colfax Railroad Museum has on display the menu and guest list from the February 19, 1914, banquet to dedicate the stone railroad depot in Colfax.
F.J. Hones, Mabel’s husband, was the toastmaster for the event.
Connie Kees says she recalls playing in the haymow with her cousins on the Hones farm in the 1950s.
Kees inherited the portrait of Mabel Hones, and after learning of Mabel’s connection to the Colfax Railroad Museum — which was the depot dedicated in 1914 — she decided to donate the portrait to the museum.
Herb Sakalaucks Jr., curator of the museum, said he was pleased to accept the portrait.
The portrait of Mabel makes a connection between the museum, the dedication of the stone depot when it was built and the community of Colfax, he said.
Scott Kingzett, one of the tour guides for the museum, always appreciates being able to add to the museum’s story with information that connects the depot and the museum to local history, Sakalaucks said.
According to information Kees provided to the Colfax Messenger, “Frank J. Hones, son of Thomas and Mary Hones, married Mabel E. Buffington, daughter of Edwin and Nancy Crockett Buffington, on September 14, 1889, in Eau Claire.
“Frank and Mabel had one son, Kenneth. Frank bought 320 acres in Section 1, Town of Colfax, and moved there in 1916. Frank was well known in the town and Colfax and served as the Toastmaster for the dedication of the Colfax Railroad Depot. When Frank’s health began to decay, Kenneth took over running the farm.
“Kenneth married Ragna Roe, and they had five children, June, Roger, Mabel, Don and Dean. Kenneth turned his farm over to his oldest son, Roger, and became President of the Wisconsin Farmer’s Union for 25 years. During that time, Kenneth became the namesake of the Farmer’s Union Camp on Lake Wissota, Camp Kenwood.
“Connie (Johnson) Kees is the daughter of Keith and Mabel (Hones) Johnson of Chippewa Falls and Great-granddaughter of Mabel Buffington Hones.”
Longtime residents of the Colfax area will remember Roger Hones and his wife, Arlene.
Roger passed away in May of 2013, and after Roger’s death, Arlene moved from their farm to Bloomer.
Roger Hones served on the Colfax Town Board and on the Dunn County Board, where he also served as chair of the county board for eight years. Roger also was an officer on the Equity Livestock board and chair of the Dunn County unit of the Wisconsin Towns Association for nine years. He also served on the church council for North Running Valley Lutheran Church for decades.
Menu
The menu for the stone depot banquet includes information about Colfax, a list of the guests and the food served at the event.
The stone depot — now the Colfax Railroad Museum — is located on Railroad Avenue in Colfax. Roughly half of the depot was destroyed in the June 4, 1958, Colfax tornado.
According to the menu, the banquet was held February 19, 1914.
One section of the menu includes “Facts About Colfax. — Colfax, a thriving village situated on the Chicago Division of the Soo Line, 80 miles east of Saint Paul, has a population of about 1,000, according to recent estimates, and is located ini the center of a prosperous, agricultural community, and has a market conceded to be one of the best in northern Wisconsin.
“The principal shipments are potatoes, hay, grain, live stock, tobacco and building stone.
“During the past ten years the record of receipts and shipments to and from Colfax has been constantly on the increase, until now, over 2,000 full car lots are handled by the Soo Line at our station every year, while the smaller shipments will total hundreds of tons more.
“Two large elevators and seven warehouses take care of the ever increasing agricultural products of Colfax and the surrounding territory.”
Guests
The menu for the banquet includes a list of “guests of honor” as well as a list of “local guests.”
The “guests of honor” listed included 26 names from Minneapolis, St. Paul, Stevens Point, Chippewa Falls, Menomonie (J.T. Flint and wife, Dunn County News; Theo Sexhauer, Dunn County Agricultural School; Miss Margaret Baker, Dunn County Agricultural School), Glenwood City (C.J. Augustin and wife, Tribune); Chippewa Falls (C.J. Cunningham and lady, Daily Independent).
The local guests included Messrs and Mesdames: E.B. Hill, H.H. Monteith, A.A. Owen, G.W. Emmerton, Geo. T. Vorland, E.B. Rosenberg, Robert Morrison, N.A. Lee, A.T. Thompson, A.C. Chase, J.B. Viets, Gerhard Hammer, Dr. G.A. Ribenack, H. Gunderson, G.F. Martin, Albert Hovland, G.A. Harsh, Ed C. Davey, O.J. Tilleson, A.J. Running, Tom Braaten, Ole Noer, E.P. Madison, J.D. Burns, J.L. Smith, W.H. Ryan, W.E. Van Brunt, O.G. Kinney, Wilson Mathews, S.K. Sivertson, Dr. L.A. Larsen, Dr. W.R. Brooks, C.A. Kinney, S. Fjelstad, W.A. Hurd, J.A. Freestone, K.A.S. Swenson, Oscar Stockland, T.E. Thompson, C.O. Larson, F.J. Hones, W.E. Raven, Henry B. Anderson, John Jacobson, Frank Pooler, E.O. Larson, E.P. Rosenberg, Ole Olson, A.W. Hagenah. Misses Olga Kinney, Jessie Tilleson, Mabel Harrington, Mrs. Anna O. Wike. Messrs P.C. Anderson, Victor Noer, Lewis Rowe, Thomas Fimrite, C.J. Johnson, Melvin B. Larson, Jacob Thompson, Oluf Olson, Fred Hovland, L. Friesem, Wesley Larson. F.J. Hones — Toastmaster.
“The above list was necessarily published a few days in advance of the Banquet and therefore may not be correct,” the document notes.
The food served at the banquet included oyster cocktail, crisp crackers, olives and salted nuts; fried chicken, gravy, mashed potatoes, glazed sweet potatoes, hot rolls, butter, celery and cranberry jelly; green pepper and neufchatel salad; nut brown bread sandwiches; orange sherbet, macaroons, coffee and mints.
The banquet was served by the Dunn County Agricultural School of Menomonie under the direction of Miss Margaret Baker, Director.
LeAnn Ralph has done a wonderful job of reporting on this event. The background material will bring back memories of those early times to Colfax folks that been around for a while. I feel my Great-Grandmother would have been proud to have her portrait hanging in the museum.