Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920
Biography of Millie Schmockel Logan Holbrook, 1883-1980
By Carson T. Graham, Undergraduate, University of North Dakota, and Trista Raezer-Stursa, Archivist, North Dakota State University
Millie Schmockel, was born in Wausau, Wisconsin on August 9, 1883 to Albert and Julia Schmockel. The family moved to Ipswich, Dakota Territory in 1885 (now in South Dakota). Holbrook moved to Grand Forks, ND by 1902. Holbrook married William H. Logan on December 10, 1902 in Grand Forks County, ND and they made their home in Devils Lake, ND. William died on their first wedding anniversary. On her 21st birthday in 1904, she purchased the Rugby Steam Laundry. She then operated a confectionary store, which she sold in 1921 for $4,000.
On January 22, 1907, Millie married Welcome J. Holbrook, a widower with 12 children and a partner in the temperance cause. He was originally a farmer and grain buyer, but also owned a furniture store and was an undertaker in Rugby.
Holbrook took an active part in the women's suffrage movement. She was the first woman to drive a car in Rugby, and would drive suffrage speakers to various small towns for political meetings, picnics, auction sales, and church suppers. They used a cowbell to bring attention to their cause, and used a kettle for collections. Holbrook was a founding member of the North Dakota Votes for Women League and served on the Pierce County Jubilee Committee.
Holbrook was widowed in 1942 and died on March 26, 1980 in Devils Lake, ND. She was interred at Persilla Watts Cemetery in Rugby, ND.
Sources:
A History of Pierce County, Rugby: 1961, 83, 105-106.
"Confectionary Store for Sale." Grand Forks Herald, 22 Feb. 1921, p. 9
"Rugby People Wed." Grand Forks Herald, 22 Jan. 1907, p. 8
Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2014.
"Obituaries," Pierce County Tribune (Rugby, ND), April 2, 1980.
WPA Historical Data Project, Biographies
Ancestry.com. North Dakota, Marriage Records, 1872-2017 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.
"The Local Field," Devils Lake Inter-Ocean (Devils Lake, ND), December 18, 1903.