Reflections of Regent: Features family histories, maps and photographs

Talk about it

The Regent centennial celebration is over, but the history of the region has been preserved in a newly released book titled “Regent Reflections.”

“It’s a compilation of history of the community and how it got settled and how it has survived,” said coordinator-writer Marlene Kouba.

She compiled more than 500 histories of families — those who once lived here or who call Regent their home — into the 430-page hard-cover book.

“Regent Reflections” was an attempt to update previous Regent histories — “Our Fifty years” printed in 1961 and “Regent Reviews” printed in 1985, she said.

Kouba was assisted by a friend and neighbor, Carol Witte, who served as the proofreader.

“Why did I help? Well, I just enjoy proofing things,” she said.

She has an eye for misspelled words, but relied on her dictionary for validation. Now that it’s published she said, “You’re going to have some mistakes. You can’t catch them all.”

In addition to family histories, the book contains township and city maps, photographs and categories of military records and excerpts from obituaries. Graduates of Regent High School from 1913 to 2010 were added as a supplement.

“It is a valuable tool for genealogical research for anyone in the area,” said Kouba.

Kouba took on the job of coordinator-writer because of her interest in genealogy and because of her experiences in compiling Regent’s 75th anniversary book.

“I started advertising for stories in February 2008,” she said. “News articles really started coming in last fall. I interviewed 20 or so people who couldn’t write their own stories.”

The stories came by e-mail and mail, typed, handwritten — some illegible, she said.

“My husband passed away five years ago so I had time of my own,” she said. “I could stay at my computer as long as I wanted and didn’t have to worry about meals,” she said.

She and her husband, Richard, farmed northwest of Regent. The farm is now operated by their son. Her family includes nine children, 20 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

She had a vision for what the book should look like before getting started.

“I guess I’m a writer by background and with my experience of the 75th, I knew what to expect and what I wanted,” she said.

She included historical facts as fillers. The fillers were taken from a book titled “Prairie Rose State” that she wrote 20 years ago for fourth graders. That book included 250 questions and answers about North Dakota.

Her research reveals histories of the railroads, coal mines, churches and early towns in the region.

“The first town in the area was Horswill, located four miles north of Regent,” she wrote. “The stage brought mail from Gladstone to the area and stopped at Graber (north of Regent) on to Edton and Alden (south of Regent), then Coalbank (west of Regent) and back to Gladstone with all the mail going to Regent when they closed.”

She wrote about the Homestead Act of 1862, land surveys, schools and businesses.

She has a section related to the governors of North Dakota and the nation’s presidents. There’s even sections related to the U.S. mail and aviation.

“I’m happy with it,” she said.

The book is available at the Hettinger County Historical Society Museum in Regent or by contacting Kouba at 1-701-563-4560.

Tags: lifestyle, regent