Mrs. A. A. Warfield, widow of a pioneer Bemidji banker, died on Jan 11, 1957 at her home at 711 Lake Boulevard after a prolonged illness. She was 84 and had lived in Bemidji since 1899.
Her husband, the late Andrew A. Warfield, built the power dam on the Mississippi river below Bemidji and served as president of the First National Bank from 1927 until 1954. Both Mr. and Mrs. Warfield were long time members of the First Presbyterian church.
They were married at Duluth in 1894 and were survived by a son, H. C. Warfield of Bemidji, and two grandchildren, James Warfield, of Bemidji, and Mrs. F.L. Morse of Champlin, Mn. (Bemidji Daily Pioneer, January 11, 1957)
Mrs. Warfield had taken an active interest in civic affairs from the time she first came to Bemidji in 1899.
She was cited by the American Red Cross following World War I for her work to organize the preparation of bandages and other supplies here. She served for many years as a member of the Bemidji Public Library board, and was a charter member of the Bemidji chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
For 25 years she was organist for the Presbyterian church, and for 20 years, the treasurer. At the time of her death she was church historian and she had long been active in the Women’s Association.
Born in Government House at Duluth Feb. 19, 1873, Grace A. Jefferson was a daughter of Ernest Jefferson, the first keeper of the Duluth lighthouse and builder of that city’s first hotel. She was educated at Duluth Central High School and taught school at Duluth before her marriage to Andrew Warfield.
They came to Bemidji in 1899 where, as she later told her grandchildren, there were only 800 people in the village and three graves in the cemetery. From those days when pioneering families worked together for the good of the town, she retained an active interest in history. She was, until her death, an ardent worker for the Beltrami County History Society.
She was also an enthusiastic traveler and had visited nearly every part of the United States and Canada and also toured Europe. (Bemidji Daily Pioneer, Jan 12, 1957)