8.6.2023 [archived ~ originally published 4.19.2018]
Herreid Bros. Hardware May 20, 1932 ~ Henry Jurvelin on the right
There has been at least one Jurvelin walking the floor of the hardware store for over ninety years. As I mentioned in last week’s column, Dick Jurvelin is one of them. While he was in the service, his parents, Henry and Olga, bought the hardware business. When Dick returned home, he went back to his former employer, but before long was lured away by his parents. “Did they pay better,” I asked. Dick couldn’t remember, “but I guess it was where I was meant to be,” he replied with a chuckle.
Manager of Herreid Hardware 1926-1956
Dick’s father, Andrew Henry Wilho Jurvelin was the third child born to Finnish immigrant parents Jacob and Sophia on August 28, 1899. Jacob came to America as a young man and worked hard on the coal docks in Superior, Wisconsin, so he could buy a farm and move his growing family. When Henry was three years of age, the Jurvelins settled in the small community of Floodwood. Other Finnish families in the same neighborhood included the Wuottilas, Kivisaaris, and Hannulas.
If those names sound familiar, it is because some of the Wuottila, Kivisaari, and Hannula families came to Deer River in 1916, establishing a grocery and dry goods store. As was often the case, it didn’t long for friends and relatives to follow. Sometime after 1920, Henry Jurvelin moved to Deer River and was employed at their store. The first mention of Henry in the Itasca News was the announcement in the summer of 1926, that he had resigned from KW & Hannula and started working in the hardware department of the Herreid Bros. store.
It is evident that the Herreid’s (several entrepreneur brothers, who collectively owned over a half-dozen businesses in the village of Deer River) saw Henry as a trustworthy worker. In 1928 he “went to Duluth to attend a four-day institute in effective salesmanship sponsored by the state hardware dealer’ association,” and every couple of months attended a regional meeting of some sort (hardware, Winchester, Majestic radio). Henry was the manager for hardware department of the Herreid Bros. store, and Paul O’Groskie was the manager for the grocery department.
Henry boarded in town and began courting Miss Olga Sjolund. Olga’s father had homesteaded four miles away, and as a young woman, she had moved into town to attend high school. She boarded with the St Peter family, working in their Confectionery and several other stores for many years. Henry and Olga’s names appeared together in the paper’s local news section during the late 1920s until their secret marriage.
Spring Surprise on Friends Here ~ Deer River News 6-5-1930
“When it comes to putting over a real good one, we must hand the palm to Mr. and Mrs. Henry Jurvelin, Deer River’s most newly discovered newlyweds. Mr. Jurvelin and Miss Olga Sjolund were married at the Community church manse in Grand Rapids on Sunday, April 27th. Rev. S.W. Arends was the officiating clergyman, and the ceremony was witnessed by Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Eide.
The happy couple returned here with every avenue of information locked tight. For five weeks they kept their secret, chuckling at their success. Last Sunday they quietly began housekeeping in the King cottage near the Pure Oil filling station. Curious eyes watched, and curious minds wondered. The secret is out.
The bride is one of the Deer River’s most popular young ladies. For years she has been associated with local business firms and is now employed in the M.J. Baker Co. grocery department. The groom holds a similar position in the hardware department at Herreid Bros. A host of friends are extending congratulations and wishing them a long life of success and happiness.”
Dick fondly recalled a story about his mother’s father, “my grandpa came to town, bought a sewing machine, and then he walked all the way through the woods to bring it home.” I had read about this and found it in my files.
Paul O’Groskie provided a few more details in this example of the hardiness of the early settlers. “The packsack was standard equipment for the early settlers, and most of his supplies had to carry on his back to his homestead until roads were available for wheel or sleigh travel. Many a settler carried his tar paper, nails, window, and cook stoves for miles to fix up the first log home that later became a beautiful home. J. Sjolund, who lived four miles northwest of Deer River, had ordered a sewing machine and upon its arrival had it strapped to his back and putting a 50-pound sack of flour on top of that, walked home.” [Deer River – 100 Years]
Henry continued working at Herreid’s, and Olga took up housekeeping and caring for Dick, their young son. Dick started working for the local tailor at Itasca Clothing Store while in high school. He graduated in 1951 with classmates Rodney Davidson, Jerry Dederick, Barbara Geving, Darrow Gibbs, Henry Gregerson, Caroline Howe, Alice Isaacs, Robert Northberg, Gerry Ott, Janis Schedin, Maxine Seater, Jeanne Sprague, Joanne Tibbetts, and Marica Wolfe.
After graduation, Dick enlisted in the Navy and attended the prestigious Naval Hospital Corps School at Great Lakes, Illinois. He spent nearly two years in California. “In San Francisco, I was stationed at an ultra-modern experimental facility. One of my patients, a high-ranking officer, was excited one day because Admiral ‘Nimi’ was coming to visit him, they had been classmates.”
Admiral Chester Nimitz was indeed someone to be excited about; he was an American submarine commander in the United States Navy during World War II and the Korean War, and businessman. He was awarded the Silver Star three times for valor in battle.
His tour of duty completed, Dick returned to Deer River and his position altering clothing at the Itasca store.
Jurvelin Ownership 1956-1967
George Herreid, one of the two brothers who owned the Herreid store where Henry worked, died in 1952. By 1956, his wife Agnes, and the rest of the family decided to sell the hardware portion of the business. Henry and Olga were proud to become the new owners. Henry was a very hard worker and dedicated to his profession. The 1940 census documents that he worked 52 weeks in 1939 and the week before the census had logged 57 hours.
Olga joined in the day-to-day operation of the store, assisting wherever needed. Henry spoke Finnish and was reasonably fluent in Ojibway. Olga had picked up some Ojibway and also spoke Swedish. Dick didn’t think the change in ownership affected sales at all. “There were lots of Finnish people living north of Deer River who spoke only Fin. They depended on my dad, not just for hardware. If they had a problem, they came in to get guidance from him on anything. We had a lot of business from them.” Dick was an integral part of the business as well – at that time there were no other employees. He was also a volunteer fireman and assisted John Carroll on the ambulance.
Two noteworthy events occurred during the early 1960s. In 1963, the changeover to all-number telephone dialing began in Deer River, and Jurvelin Hardware was assigned the number 246-8628. Which is the same number they have today!
In July 1964, there was a fire in the adjoining grocery store, Miller’s Red Owl (formerly Herreid Grocery). The fire reported at 11:45 p.m. was fought by multiple fire departments until the building was leveled six hours later. Dick remembers the night like it was yesterday. “Then there was the fire. I was on the fire department at that time. I spent the night, and so did Bob Lundeen. The two of us just laid in there [west wall in Jurvelin store] all night with a hose – we didn’t know what was going on outside, but we kept enough water on the wall so that we salvaged it. We were able to save our part of the building, but the rest was a total loss.”
The Western Itasca Review published extensive coverage and photographs in the two issues following the fire. “Henry Jurvelin, owner-operator of the neighboring hardware store, said most of his stock was ruined by water and smoke, and gave thanks to the fire-fighting units for saving his building. ‘How they did it, I’ll never know,’ he commented. Jurvelin Hardware, Northwoods Gift Shop, Heneman Insurance and Vienna’s Eat Shop are all a part of the former Herreid building, which comprises about one full city block.
Flames leaped more than 100 feet into the early morning skies while night-clad spectators lined the streets and US Highway 2 as the fire fighters battled to control the blaze from spreading to the adjoining buildings. At one time, about 3 a.m., Deer River’s firefighting equipment lost its water pressure, and it was then that the Grand Rapids auxiliary unit was pressed into service.” 7-16-1964
The Jurvelin family history won’t quite cover a six-part series like the Kennedys, but there is still more to come. Next week we’ll look at several significant events in the late 1960s, the emergence of the Hardware Hank mascot, and the expansion of the home-grown family-owned business.
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