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Family Stories
A potpourri of stories about various family members or events, written by others and edited by me.
The Girl with the White Rose
[This is an item that my grandfather Jesse Hibbard wrote (and typed) in 1971 (age 77). My (Al) role was to first transcribe it, next to add corrections or clarifications [within brackets], and then to add links to people connected to me (that gives more information), links to give more information about places, and for those mentioned but not connected, I sometimes added links to FamilySearch.org.]
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p. 48
Transcription
The Girl with the White Rose 6/4/12
As I stood at the bottom of the steps looking at the Annual published by the graduating class I heard a girl say: "Why, there is Jesse Hibbard; I must go down and congratulate him on the speech he made the other night." She had also been to the Academy Commencement and at [had?] remained in the assembly a few minutes. Anyhow she came down the steps and told me what a great speech I had made the week before at my Commencement Exercises. She had a great deal to say and I was charmed by her manner, but I couldn't remember where I had seen her before. The few people still remaining started to leave and I asked her if she were ready to go home. "What a proposal!" she exclaimed, but came along. We walked up the street aways in company with one of the girl graduates whom she seemed to know and another guy. She carried a white rose which she said she had capped at the graduation. I asked her if she wanted to go downtown. At first she wouldn't, but she did. We discussed the merits of the two schools - the one whose Commencement we had just attended, and the one from which I had just graduated.
Down on the main street we met some young guys who all knew her. We went into Jone's Ice Cream Parlors and sat down at the southeast corner table - the one to which I had gone after my Comm.[encement], the one to which Gazett and I had taken our Normal girls, and - but those are all other stories. When the waiter came around she asked for a "Minnesota". He didn't know what that was, and she told him to bring around anything - "any kind of dope". He finally demanded to know what we really wanted, and I told him any kind of ice cream, as a parting shot she told him to put in plenty of ginger. He brought us around some fancy mixture - raisins and everything.
She had a great deal to say while we we[re] eating. She had recently been in a home talent musical comedy, and she certainly was some sport. We took turns at playing with the white rose. When we had finished, I went out to settle up. "Don't tell my mama I was her so late - you see who I am with," she told Jones. He answered that he never knew anything and discoursed on the purity of the materials he used. When he touched the register for 30 cents she later remarked that she would break me.
While walking up the street later we passed one of my old follies - one of the last, in fact - in company with another guy. My lady friend handed them some "jolly", and I was certainly glad to have my one-time dear Clo se me with such a fairy - for she certainly was some swell kid. We turned up 7th Avenue and walked up some shady street under the stars. I forgot to say that while at Jones she had asked me if I had seen her at the Junior Ball and I said: "as I have never seen you before in my life, I can't very well remember having seen you at the Junior Ball." She said, "What, don't you really remember having met me?" I said no. Then "I bet you have racking your brains all the time to remember. All you wanted me to come down town for was to see me under the lights".
While we stood on the corner at the place where she stayed she had a great deal to say and reminded me of having met her at a card party the past winter. Then I remembered a little.
I asked her for the rose but she wouldn't give it to me - said I wold only throw it away. In the end she gave it to me and I gave her the Annual I had - I understood that she wanted it. She made me promise not to throw away the rose and I did, faithfully. In the end she said we would probably never meet again and I told her that in case we didn't I would have the rose - and I have; but who was she?
Comments: This story occurred at a second graduation for St. Cloud High School, apparently a few days apart. According to this, Jesse had given a speech during his Commencement, called "Academy Commencement" by the gal in the story. Perhaps this is for those going on to higher education? Thoughts?
Published 2025-09-13.
If you find any error(s) in the text, please let me know. Thanks. Contact me with errors or comments using hibbardac@gmail. [Back to the top] [About the author, Al]
Only a "Con"listing of family stories by Jesse Hibbard [Waiting to be written]