HAMPTON, Minn. — Bryan Frandrup is a bit of a historian – and there is a lot of history to discover in his parents’ house.
Frandrup grew up on a farm off Highway 52 near Hampton that has been in his family for over 150 years. He has found antique tools, Prohibition-era moonshine jars and even an inscription behind a shed dating to 1923 – but what has really piqued his interest in recent years is a photograph of his great aunts Susie and Florence Freiermuth.
“Many of my relatives have it hanging in their homes,” he said.
You may recognize it. The photo was taken on a neighboring farm during a federal raid on their moonshine operation on August 14, 1924. The sisters posed for the photo at the request of federal officials, smiling and holding rifles.
“I’m sure they never imagined how long this photograph would survive and remain in circulation,” Frandrup said.
It wasn’t her first or last brush with the law, but it was certainly her most famous. The photo was printed in newspapers across the country and even in Canada.
“Her father was the moonshine king of Dakota County,” Frandup said.
Today, the photo can be seen in books and exhibitions about Prohibition, in the Mob Museum in Las Vegas, and on the walls of Susie and Florence’s ancestors’ homes.
“I think the photo just shows how they viewed moonshine during Prohibition,” Frandrup said. “‘Yeah, we got caught, but you know what, we’re going to keep doing it!’ And they did.”
A hundred years later, Franrup’s family farm looks a little different. The adjacent farm where the attack took place no longer exists – but its place in history will endure the test of time.
“Prohibition was such a pivotal time in American history and this farm was right in the middle of it,” Frandrup said.
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