Charles G. Bangert Papers

Collection

Identifier: Mss 1204

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Charles Bangert Papers document the legal and political career of a prominent North Dakotan from the 1900s to the 1950s. His papers have been organized into six series: Correspondence, Enderlin Independent (Ransom County Farmers Press), Land Finance Company (Langer vs. Lemke), Nonpartisan League, North Dakota 1941 State Legislature, and Subject Files. The Correspondence Series is arranged chronologically, and according to subject. There is correspondence from the Minnesota Moline Plow Company to L.B. Hanson and M.G. Evenson regarding money owed on the purchase of some machinery (1900-1901). In the Enderlin Independent, correspondence there are letters between L.B. Hanson and Mr. Bangert over money owed by Charles Potter of the Independent to Mr. Hanson, and later concerning the purchase of the paper by the Publishers National Service Bureau, forming the Ransom County Farmers Press for the Nonpartisan League until its sale in 1925 to J. M. Hanson. The Nonpartisan League correspondence covers its political activities and later the split in the League, from 1935 to 1942. Included are letters of Mr. Bangert to and from William Langer, William Lemke, W.P. Hoopes, Usher Burdick, Milton Young, Governor John Moses, Math Dahl, Elwood Eck, and many others. Many of the letters concern requests for jobs under the Langer administration, and others cover the 1941 Legislature at which Mr. Bangert represented the creamery industry. Concerning the long legal fight over the Land Finance Company in which Bangert served as William Lemke’s lawyer in three successful court cases, there is much correspondence with the Lemkes, with Langer, and various other lawyers and judges, and covers the final sale of the land (1947-1955). There is also material from the divorce case of Robert and Anna Lemke (1940-1952). The Enderlin Independent (Ransom County Farmers Press) Series includes financial papers such as accounts, business statements, notes, bills, receipts, and insurance policies (1914-1925). There is also a list of equipment, and a subscription list at the time of the sale (1919), also chattel mortgages, quit claim deeds, and a stock certificate (1909). Included are papers from the lawsuit against the Lisbon Free Press, and from the Publishers National Service Bureau, with contracts, articles on county newspapers, and notes. Concerning stockholders in the paper are minutes of meeting, proxy votes, and a list of the stockholder’s names (1920-1922). The Land Finance Company (Langer vs. Lemke) Series includes papers from the two court trials (1947, 1950) and a Supreme Court appeal (1951). Includes complaints and answers, memos, notes, a transcript with corrections, various orders and stipulations, the jury’s verdict and judge’s opinions, appellant’s and respondent’s briefs. The Nonpartisan League Series contains material from county and state conventions. It includes information on delegates, platforms, resolutions, proposals, meetings, and petitions, with much material from Ransom County; such as precinct workers, poll lists, subscribers to the Leader, convention minutes, new residents, a map and notes (1935-1939). The 1941 North Dakota State Legislature Series has a variety of material including various proposals concerning agriculture (posting of creamery prices, elimination of the Poultry Improvement Board), an F.C.A.A. 1941 bulletin about using grain alcohol for fuel, hail insurance reports (1919-1937), the U.S. Sugar Act and Farm Loan Act of 1937 and farm cooperatives. Concerning motor vehicles, there are proposals for licenses and insurance, regulations to limit size, weight loads and fees of trucks, also regulations concerning “common” and “special” carriers. Also included are proposals on valuation of public utilities, and bills to establish the rule making powers of the Supreme Court as well as rules of practice for Administrative Agencies. There are proposals to establish a tax-exempt gasoline, so-called “blue gas”, and an attempt to limit excessive taxes by the North Dakota Taxpayer’s Association. Also included are bills to amend the Unemployment Compensation Act and the Workman’s Compensation Act. Among miscellaneous material is a proposed investigation of the Fargo Gazette allegations of corruption, regulations for benevolent societies, procedures for municipal ordinances, creation of a “4 C’s” Commission, an act to open bowling alleys on Sunday, licensing of stores, regulation of beer and liquor sales, and a new Food and Drug Act. The Subject Files Series contain papers from the divorce case of Robert and Anna Lemke, including financial and legal papers (1940-1945). Also found are the financial and legal papers of the Minnesota Moline Plow Company vs. L.B. Hanson and M.G. Evenson (1900-1901). There are clippings of a newspaper column, “View Along Hi-way 46” by Lois Trapp of Enderlin (1966), and political material including the Repeal of the Presidential Primary (1935), amendments of the election law, (1935), and a copy of the 1932 North Dakota Publicity Pamphlet. Other miscellaneous material includes papers from the Workers Alliance (1935-1937), proposed sales tax refund coupons, a piece on Langer’s insincerity and others. There is also the work record from railroad car men covering pay increases, lay-offs, and work periods, etc. from 1939 to 1941.

Dates

1900-1966

Creator

Bangert, Charles G., 1879-1969. (Person)

Access

The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the Institute.

Copyrights

The copyright is not held by the Institute for Regional Studies.

Biography

Charles G. Bangert was born March 3, 1879, at Sabula, Iowa. After graduating from Westmar College at LaMars, Iowa, with a degree in business administration, he went to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he worked as a law clerk, later going to Sheldon, South Dakota, where he was a bank clerk and learned court reporting while also reading law. A year later he went to Rock Rapids, Iowa, where he worked in a bank abstract and law office for two years, then moved to Morris, Minnesota as an office manager and abstractor for the Iowa and Minnesota Land Company. Having met Ed Pierce, he came in 1904 to Sheldon, North Dakota to do some abstracting for him and stayed on with Pierce’s organization for six years. During that time he studied law by correspondence at the University of North Dakota, passing his bar exams in 1906. In 1910 Mr. Bangert opened his own law office at Enderlin, North Dakota. He served for twenty years as attorney for the Soo Railroad and for forty years as City Attorney for Enderlin. He helped organize the Peoples Bank of Enderlin and was president for five years. He was secretary of the Enderlin Farmers Elevator and of the Ransom County Farmer Press which took over the Enderlin Independent for the Nonpartisan League from 1919 to 1925. He was a state senator from Ransom County in 1933 and was associated for many years with the Nonpartisan League. He was also director and organizer with his son, Harold, in the American Life and Casualty Insurance Company of Fargo, and assistant Attorney General of North Dakota. On March 4, 1903, at Rock Rapids, Iowa, Mr. Bangert was married to an elocutionist, Sarah Wallace, born September 4, 1879, at Grace Hill, Iowa. They had three children, Harold, Constance, and Dorothy. Mrs. Bangert died in 1967, and Mr. Bangert died in Fargo on June 10, 1969. He belonged to the Masons and El Zagal Shrine, and the Elks Club of Fargo. He was also a member of the Kiwanis Club, Golf Club, and Chamber of Commerce of Enderlin.

Extent

2.4 Linear Feet (2.4 linear feet)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Iowa native who received his law degree through correspondence courses and served as city attorney of Enderlin, ND for 40 years as well as being active with the Enderlin Independent, the local paper, and serving as a state senator.

Provenance

Donated by Charles G. Bangert, Enderlin, North Dakota, 1962; 1966.

Separation Record

The following item has been removed from the Charles G. Bangert papers and sent to the section indicated. Map (Institute map collection, consult card catalog) North Dakota State Highway System - North Dakota State Highway Planning Survey, January 1, 1938.