“I sold train tickets by the hundreds and steamship tickets to all over the world,” Carroll told the Stillwater Gazette in 1965. “I got so just by looking at someone, I could tell what they wanted. He was stationed in Carlton, Duluth, Cloquet, Rutledge, Hinckley, Rush City and White Bear Lake before landing in Stillwater in 1903. Within a year, however, he was working as a telegraph operator for the Northern Pacific Railroad. exUbDTtaR2Ĭarroll was laid off in 1896 and returned to the Twin Cities to work at a sawmill. Executive Director Brent Peterson demonstrated how it works on Thursday, Aug. The family of longtime Stillwater telegraph operator Joseph “Papa Joe” Carroll recently donated Carroll’s equipment to the Washington County Historical Society. He later worked as a telegraph operator for the Great Northern Railroad in Stanley, N.D., Fort Benton, Mont., and Butte, Mont. bag factory and delivering messages on bicycle for Western Union.Īfter returning to Quebec, he learned telegraphy at the railroad station near his home. When he was 12, he was sent to Minneapolis to visit an uncle - a visit that lasted three years, according to Peterson.ĭuring that time, he attended school, learned to speak English and worked part time at the Bemis Bros.

LEFT CANADA AT 12īorn in 1873 in Sainte-Flavie, Quebec, Carroll grew up speaking only French. There is even a rooftop restaurant – Papa’s – named after him at the Water Street Inn in downtown Stillwater, Peterson said. “Receiving these (gifts) is keeping his memory alive for another generation.” Carroll, whom everyone knew as “Papa Joe,” was one of those individuals “who just grab the heart of the entire community,” said Brent Peterson, the historical society’s executive director.

Ticktick reddot