 In 1901, the Brown Hardware Co., with C. D. Brown as its manager, opened a hardware store which they sold to Fred Rudberg in 1903, who operated it in connection with his furniture and undertaking business until his death on June 29, 1905.Then it became the Holm Brothers store.Pehr Ekstrom, ex-lawman, came in 1886 and partnered with Peter Johnson of Litchfield in the real estate business.