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Jun 01, 2023

Vos: Hardware store’s history

Thomas O’Donnell emigrated from Ireland to Virginia and applied for his American citizenship on May 22, 1838. He married Brigit Kennedy, an Irish girl. Thomas and Bridget raised three boys: John

Thomas O’Donnell emigrated from Ireland to Virginia and applied for his American citizenship on May 22, 1838. He married Brigit Kennedy, an Irish girl. Thomas and Bridget raised three boys: John (Jack), James and Patrick.

Since they lived in Virginia, Thomas fought for the South during the Civil War. Several times during the Civil War, the property of Thomas was taken and retaken by both sides during the Civil War.

When the war ended, Thomas was hired to be a section foreman with the railroad and moved to Holyoke, MA, and his boys worked in a basket weaving factory. Eventually the railroad job brought the family to Minnesota and to Iowa in 1881. He had saved some money, so he was able to buy 80 acres northwest of Sheldon for $5.50 an acre. He had enough money left to buy a team of horses, a set of harness, and a wood beam walking plow. With his remaining money, he built a four-room house.

After a short while in Sheldon, Patrick and James headed west and worked for the railroad, but Jack stayed home and worked on the farm with his father.

Jack married Sarah Jane Carroll, daughter of Patrick Carroll, an O’Brien County Pioneer. Carroll Township was named after Patrick Carroll. Jack and Sarah raised five children: Bernard, Emmet, Hubert, Mary and Margaret. In 1894, they borrowed $450 at 6 percent interest for five years, but they had to mortgage their 80 acres to get the loan.

Jack and Sarah retired and moved into Sheldon in 1918 at 626 8th Ave. Their son, Bernard and his wife Adela, took over the farm, and later they moved to California in 1950.

Dominick and John O’Donnell, Jack’s sons, went to the Black Hills for the Gold Rush. One night a man galloped his horse into their camp close to the O’Donnells, shot, and killed one of the campers, and quickly galloped away. A few years after, O’Donnell told the story that he witnessed and it was this testimony in Yankton, SD, that convicted the killer.

Jack’s sons, Dominick and John, returned to Sheldon after the Gold Rush fever reached its peak and built a building called the Sheldon Iron Works on the lot where the Downtown Hardware is now located. On Oct. 22, 1875, an advertisement appeared in the Sheldon Mail that two blacksmiths were opening a blacksmith business and they were able to do all kinds of repair work and build carriages and wagons.

The Sheldon Prairie Museum has the cast iron plate that was built for the first Grey Shop entrance and it has their logo, Sheldon Iron Works, on it. It took six men to carry it to the museum, where it remains today.

John, Jack’s son, and George Pohlen took an iron mining wagon to Boise, ID, and then built an iron foundry in Billings, MT.

When the O’Donnells closed the Iron Works in Sheldon, Miller & Manning Implement opened a business in the building. The implement dealer sold International equipment. They had a garage door on the right side of the building where tractors and other implements could drive inside for repairs. A two-inch thick wooden floor was placed in the building to withstand the weight of the heavy equipment. Various oil stains from machinery were prevalent on the wooden floor.

Earl Washer bought the O’Donnell’s building in 1924, tore it down in 1935, and rebuilt a new building there.

In 1977, an advertisement for the sale of this building appeared in the newspaper. Instead of buying the building from Earl Washer, Montgomery Ward rented it from Earl Washer. Montgomery Ward remodeled the front window areas which brought a new look to the building. Dale Hatfield was the first manager of Montgomery Ward.

After two years of operating the Sheldon Montgomery Ward Store, the company celebrated its 67th year in business. At this time, Glen Dodge managed the Montgomery Ward store. It employed 17 people and carried a complete line of furniture, stoves, rugs, sporting goods, electrical appliances, radios, refrigerators, auto accessories, tires, plumbing, hardware supplies, farm supplies, kitchen ware, etc.

Montgomery Ward started as mail-order business in 1872 and added retail stores in 1926. “Monkey Ward” was the nickname given to Montgomery Ward. They competed with Sears, but Montgomery Ward started losing ground in the middle of the 20th Century. Montgomery Ward operated about three decades in the Third Street business. By 1970, Montgomery Ward started closing their retail and catalog locations and returning to only catalog stores.

Then the Sheldon Montgomery Ward franchise moved out of the Third Avenue building and moved into a smaller store in Sheldon and operated as a catalog store for several more years, until it closed.

Otto and Harvey Lawson, two brothers, purchased Richter’s Tru-Value Hardware in 1973 in Sheldon. They owned hardware stores in Renwick for 13 years and in Luverne, MN, for nine years. They disposed of them and moved their families to Sheldon. Harvey and Charlene had five children and Otto and Darlene only had a son. Otto and Harvey added plumbing, heating, wiring, and air conditioning services.

After about three years in the 318 Ninth St. Tru-Value Hardware Store, which is now the Mastbergen Jewelry Store, the Lawsons purchased the Montgomery Ward Store from Earl Washer. Now four families were involved in the stores’ operation: Harvey, Otto, and Bill Lawson and the Leslie La Rue family. They added two new lines, Frigidaire and Radio Shack.

Evidently Harvey and Otto Lawson bought out Bill Lawson and Leslie LaRue because Harvey and Otto were the sole owners in the 1990s. Harvey retired in the 1990s and Otto and his wife, Darlene, ran the business.

Brad and Jo Hindt bought Lawson’s Hardware business and the building at 816 Third Ave. from Otto and Darlene Lawson on Jan. 1, 1998. Brad was one of the Lawson’s employees and took market management classes from Northwest Iowa Community College in Sheldon in the morning and worked at the store in the afternoon. ”Going from employment to co-owner was a good experience,” Hindt said.

”It was good for both Brad and me,” Lawson said. Otto remarried after the death of Darlene. Today Otto and his wife maintain a home in Sheldon and spend their winters in south Texas.

Hindt employs five part-time employees and his wife, Jo, does the accounting for the store. Service and quality items have helped this hardware business remain successful.

Above the Downtown Hardware Store there are six apartments — two two-bedroom apartments, two one-bedroom apartments and two studio apartments. The building is in good condition and has stood for more than eight decades.

However, one of the front windows had to be replaced for the second time due to vehicles smashing into the window, but the best part was the hardware store remained open for business during the installation of the new window.

The Downtown Hardware is maintained by customer service projects. Brad and his employees help customers solve their problems. Paint, plumbing, and housewares are the hardware’s bestsellers. The hardware has two sales areas, the main floor and the basement, plus Brad offers plumbing, heating and electrical services in the community and the Sheldon Fire Co. chief.

Millie Vos is the secretary/treasurer of the Sheldon Historical Society and the museum director and a board member of the Sheldon Prairie Museum. This is part of a series of historical articles about Sheldon. Members of the Sheldon Historical Society receive a yearly newsletter with articles like this. To join the society, call her at 712-324-3235.

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