Cora Anderson Nertrost has the distinction of being the first child born in Manfred Township.  Cora Anderson was born on the P. B. Anderson homestead one and one-half miles west of Manfred, then just beginning to emerge as a small country town and as the Soo Line Railway was in the process of being laid.

 

She shared with her family both joys and hardships of the pioneer child and an interesting anecdote is related of her when a small baby. This tells of her two-mile ride in a baby buggy, with two hens as companions.  Her mother, whose heart was of the giving and sharing kind, walked the entire distance pushing her precious cargo, that beautiful summer day in 1893. The hens were given to a pioneer neighbor as a start for a flock, which meant so much for the sustenance of the pioneer families. Cora relates many humorous and interesting incidents of her early childhood.

 

Wearing apparel was expensive and hard to get, and money was almost an unknown quantity. So her unusually ingenious mother resorted to the manufacture of clothing for the ten children of the home, not an easy task. For instance, gophers were trapped and their pelts tanned and fashioned into fur caps. A pretty set of furs, Cora relates, was made for her out of the skins of two white cats. Sheep were raised on the farm furnishing both meat and wool converted into yarn. The mother spun sufficient yarn to knit hosiery, and some clothing for the entire family. She taught the three eldest sons to knit, and as an incentive to pursue the art, she made "wonderballs" of yarn, each ball containing some sweet meat, penny or trinket. The boys knit eagerly so as to use up enough yarn to uncover the coveted prize.

 

To take the place of shoes, moccasins from the pelts of sheep were made, the soft wooly side turned in and fitted and stitched for the dozen pairs of feet in need of a warm covering.

 

In her early school years, Cora attended a one-room school in Manfred and later the grade school. From there, her education was procured in the Fessenden High School and later she attended the State Teachers College in Valley City.

 

She taught school for several years and was married to Nels Nertrost in June 1918. They had one daughter, Dorothy Ann.

 

Mrs. Nertrost has been affiliated with the Vang Church and Aid for almost four decades; she was chosen president of the latter in 1947, for a period of two years. She is ever ready to reach out a helping hand at all times and has done much for the betterment of church projects.

 

She lived with her family on the Nertrost homestead, in the township where she was born and grew to maturity. Her hobbies are flowers, gardening and turkeys.

 

Cora Nertrost was born May 27, 1893 and died March 30, 1963 in Minot, ND. She was laid to rest at the Vang Lutheran Cemetery.  Nels died in 1972 and was buried beside her.

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Written by Sennev Nertrost Whipple

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