Ramsey County History – Summer 2003: “The Story of Minnie Dassel: Was She a Mysterious ‘Countess’ Who Settled in St. Paul?”

The Story of Minnie Dassel: Was She a Mysterious ‘Countess’ Who Settled in St. Paul?
Author: Paul Johnson

This is the story of a woman who worked in St. Paul for fifty-five years in the late nineteenth century. Some people thought that Minnie Dassel was secretly a German countess and that her parents had given up their title for political reasons. She came to Minnesota around 1870 with her brother. Her obituary said she once “had money” and moved in high social circles, but she claimed that her brother lost all their money in bad investments. So she mastered shorthand to earn money and often gave it away to charities. Minnie was the partner of a German military officer, but they never married.
PDF of Johnson article