George A. Totten

George A. Totten Sr. (1870 – 1955) was an American minister, newspaper publisher, and politician. He served on the now-defunct North Dakota Board of Regents (1917-1919) and the North Dakota Board of Administration (1919-1921).

Early life, education, and early career

Early years George A. Totten Sr. was born in England in 1870. His parents were Rev. Matthew J. Totten and Clara (Parker) Totten. In 1884, the family immigrated to Ontario, Canada. Totten received a mix of private and public education in England and Canada. He was also educated for the ministry, following in his father's footsteps. In 1899, he immigrated to the United States. He was then involved in missionary work in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. In 1906, Totten moved to North Dakota and was ordained a Congregational minister in 1907. He served several churches in the state, particularly in Nelson County.

Bowman newspaper Totten then moved to Bowman, North Dakota. After serving a couple of years as a minister in Bowman, Totten resigned. After his brother, Edward Totten, stepped down as editor of the Bowman Citizen, George took over the newspaper. The Tottens' newspaper was critical of the wealthy Phelan, who earned his money through entrepreneurship and working for the railroad. In the 1910s, he became active in state politics. In 1914, he was featured on the "F. O. Hellstrom ticket" as a recommended candidate for the state's Railroad Commission. Totten became active in the Nonpartisan League (NPL) in the late 1910s. Totten was then employed by the NPL to help publish newspapers, editorials, and political cartoons.

Totten served on the Board of Regents from 1917 to 1919.

In early 1919, there were rumors, prior to the start of the regular legislative session, that Governor Frazier and the NPL would push to overhaul the state's education system. On January 8, 1919, this speculation was confirmed when Gov. Frazier addressed the legislature and recommended the Board of Regents and Board of Education be abolished. He also recommended the responsibilities of these boards and certain powers from the state superintendent be transferred to a new, consolidated board consisting of five or fewer members.

Heeding the governor's recommendation, the legislature created the Board of Administration. The board would consist of five members: the Commissioner of Agriculture and Labor, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and three members appointed by the governor. However, others, like the opponents of the NPL, viewed the board as a political power grab. Upon its creation, a majority of the board, four of the five members, had ties to the NPL. Only Nielson did not. As chair, the controversies surrounding him continued:

1920 cartoon from "The Red Flame" magazine portraying George A. Totten and the North Dakota Board of Administration excluding Minnie J. Nielson, Superintendent of Public Instruction, from meetings.

The exclusion of Minnie Nielson, Superintendent of Public Instruction and the only non-NPL member of the board, from official meetings When Nielson protested the board meeting without her, Totten reportedly replied, "We're not going to chase after you every time there's a meeting. If you want to attend the meetings, you'll have to do the chasing." The hiring of Charles Emil Stangeland to serve as a consultant to provide a review of the state library, which resulted in a number of books being added to the library's collections that were deemed provocative by the NPL's opponents The attempt to remove Thomas F. Kane as the president of the University of North Dakota.

In October 1921, the NPL's opposition, the Independent Voters Association (IVA), struck a blow by initiating a special election that successfully recalled Lynn Frazier (Governor), William Lemke (Attorney General), and John N. Hagan (Commissioner of Agriculture and Labor). All three were prominent members of the NPL and served on the state's Industrial Commission.

In early February 1922, recently elected Governor R. A. Nestos, a member of the IVA, demanded Totten's resignation from the Board of Administration on charges of misconduct and incompetency. Initially, it was reported that Totten would refuse to quit, but he ultimately complied with the governor's request within two weeks.

Later years Totten later moved to Fargo and lived there for several years. He became an active minister again, serving parishes in Minnesota, including Graceville and Ortonville, until his retirement in the 1930s. Totten died in Minneapolis in 1955.

He continued his work for the NPL, serving as a secretary for the organization and business manager of the Courier-News in Fargo, which was a newspaper backed by the NPL.

He became involved in the political infighting plaguing the NPL and was fired as business manager of the newspaper in July 1921. He was fired for his role in publishing a statement claiming NPL leaders in the state, especially state senator A. A. Liederbach, had squandered money intended for the fall 1921 recall election. Liederbach and his NPL followers, blaming the incident on disgruntled employees, confiscated 4,000 to 5,000 copies of the paper and burned them. They also took control of the newspaper. George Jr. and C. K. Gummerson were quickly fired, charged with libel, and arrested. George Jr. was also charged on a federal warrant alleging he transported liquor. The incident caused a scandal for the NPL, but a few days later, the issue was resolved. Gummerson and Totten retracted their statements, and the libel charges against them were dropped.

In addition to these troubles and the earlier troubles for the building of a house in Fargo by the NPL's Home Building Association, which had significant cost overruns,

George Jr. later moved to Minneapolis. He was elected treasurer of Hennepin County.

George Jr. died in Minneapolis in 1966, and he was buried in the catholic cemetery in Verona, North Dakota.

Brother Edward Totten, the brother of George A. Totten Sr., was a prominent citizen of Bowman, moving to the town almost as soon as it was founded. He and his wife left Bowman in 1920 and moved to Alabama.

At the same time, James E. Phelan wrote to his ally, U.S. Senator Porter J. McCumber of North Dakota. He pleaded for help to "suppress sedition and disloyalty toward the government." His letter, dated July 18, 1917, quoted some of O'Hare's speech, but it also indirectly put much blame on the Tottens. Phelan claimed in his letter that the "present postmistress" (Lillian Totten) had dined with O'hare, and she is planning to resign and the "frame up" is to have a "nephew of her husband appointed in her place" (referring to George A. Totten Jr.). Top NPL officials, Governor Lynn J. Frazier and Attorney General William Langer, defended the Tottens, claiming the charges from McCumber were purely political.

O'Hare continued on her tour in the state, stopping in Garrison and Devils Lake. Meanwhile, Phelan took to the courts, and a federal grand jury in Fargo indicted O'Hare. A bench warrant was issued and O'Hare was arrested by U. S. Deputy Marshal C. R. Wattles in Devils Lake before she could give her lecture. She appeared before Judge Charles F. Amidon, pleaded not guilty, and was released on bond.

The O'Hare case began in early December 1917 in Bismarck with Judge Martin Wade of Davenport, Iowa, presiding. After several witnesses, including the Tottens, testified over a couple of days, the jury found O'Hare guilty of violating the Espionage Act of 1917. She was sentenced to five years in the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City. A national campaign to secure her release ensued, which included the support from some Bowman residents and Gov. Frazier. O'Hare received a pardon in 1920.

Lillian Totten's career as postmaster of Bowman did not survive the scandal, and she and her husband moved to Alabama in 1920.