Front and back of a Ray Gesell political campaign card from 1944.
Collection of the Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County
“It all started as a joke,” Ray said. One day, while talking politics over beers, two of Ray Gesell’s friends told him he should run for office. Ray, jokingly, said he would. Within a few days, his friends were actively campaigning on his behalf. “I tried to back out and I couldn’t.”
Ray Gesell served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1945-1951. Again, he found himself following in the footprints of his grandfather Randolph Probstfield, a poor but respected farmer who served as a Minnesota State Senator.
Probstfield Farm 
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