Lewis A. Tolstead (Tolstedt) in the station office at Stanton.
L.A. Tolstead setting on the baggage cart at Stanton.
Lewis A. Tolstead (Tolstedt) served the Chicago Great Western for several years as a station agent/telegrapher. My grandfather Harold told my father how L.A. had taught him Morse Code. One day while L.A. was outside tending the garden that he kept next to the depot in Stanton, Harold heard a call on the telegraph. He answered it for his father and ended up taking a complete train order. L.A.'s brother Joseph was the agent at Welch during the same time that L.A. was in Stanton and then Dennison.
Obituary
In the column titled "Journey's End" of the Nov-Dec 1960 issue of the Safety News the following notice appeared.
"L. A. Tolstead, retired Agent at Stanton and Dennison, Minn. passed away at the age of 91 on August 18 at his California home. Retired sinsce 1939, Mr. Tolstead is survived by a son, Harold, who is Agent at Racine, Minnesota."
