In January 1887, Dr. John H. Kauffman came to Dassel from Virginia. Andrew Swanberg opened a lumberyard in 1889 and he sold it to John Rudberg in 1891. On July 4, 1891, Charles L. Phifer held a popularity contest to select the four best-liked citizens of the village. The Meeker Co. Cigar Factory then placed a new cigar on the market with the picture of Ben A. Records, Louis M. Norgren, John H. Kauffman, and John Riordan on the box lid which soon proved to be their best seller. They were the four highest in this contest. Fred Rudberg entered the lumber business in 1902 but sold out to Larson Brothers in 1903. In 1893, the Dassel Anchor newspaper began publishing. On October 10, 1896, the people of Dassel gathered at the depot expecting to hear William Jennings Bryan make a speech, but his Great Northern engine No. 131 train went straight through at sixty miles an hour, killing one man, and scattering the citizens in all directions. In 1897, Campion & Wolfenden had a portable gallery (a tent) and he specialized in outside views. They enjoyed a good business for two years, then moved to another location. Iverson & Co. started a lumber yard in 1902 and sold it to Herman Manthei in 1910. Then it was run by W. J. Manthei, under the firm name of Manthei & Manthei.