Carolyn Ackermann Doll Collection

The historical society will soon be able to proudly display the extensive doll collection of the late Carolyn Ackermann of Geneva and of the Sutton Ackermann and Scheiermann families.

Carolyn's family recently offered the collection to the Sutton Museum as a means to meet Carolyn's wish that her collection remain intact and not be sold.

Members of the historical society are making plans about the best ways to display and to honor the collection and the pride of the collector.

Sutton History TIDBIT - the Bemis Cow

Mrs. George Bemis (Ada Augusta Gray) told this story in her "Reminiscences of a Sutton Pioneer" in the October 19, 1933 issue of the Sutton Register when she was living in York. The story probably took place about 1871 or '72, soon after they had settled in Sutton. The "spouse" in the story is George Bemis, one of the early attorneys in Sutton.

"We bought a cow, and it was brought home one night and milked with great ceremony. The next morning when my spouse made no move to repeat, I finally asked him if it was not time to milk, and to my great amazement, he said, 'Why, are you out of milk already?' Heretofore, he had owned only driving horses and the care of other domestic animals was a mystery to him."

1880 Sutton Advertisers - Clay County Globe

We have received a dandy little scrap book titled "The History of Clay and Fillmore Counties" from the Sheridan family, another of Betty Sheridan's gems.

The book contained a clipping from the Sutton Register in 1931 in which they quote from a copy of The Clay County Globe that was printed in Sutton on Friday, November 5, 1880. It was Vol. 6, No. 20 implying that the Globe had been in publication for some time. The issue included the news that Garfield had defeated Hancock for the presidency. But a very interesting piece was the list of advertising in that issue of the Globe. This was not an extensive list of Sutton businesses in 1880 but just the list of advertisers in one issue of a weekly newspaper.

Attorneys:  H. W. Gray, R. G. Brown, Bagley & Bemis, Stone & Stone, A. A. McCoy and J. S. LeHew

Doctors:  A. O. Kendall, M. V. Clark and A. H. Keller

Druggists:  W. J. Keller and H. H. Keller

General Merchandise:  M. Wittenberg, Merrill & Co. and John Honey & Sons

Dry Goods & Clothing:  Stein & Kramer

Hardware:  I. N. Clark & Co. and Way & Hoerger

Implements:  Thompson & Bros. and A. C. Clyde

Bakery and Confectionery:  W. W. Wieden

Dentist:  J. H. Johnson

Masons and Plasterers:  H. B. Batteshill and C. M.& W. A. Heusel

Wells & Pumps:  J. S. Lewis & Son

Harness: John A. Ling and Jos. Grice

Jeweler:  Paul Braitsch

Hotels: Clark House and French Hotel

Groceries:  Roberts Bros.

Photographer and Tin Types:  W. A. Fowler

Millinery: Mrs. C. Braun

Livery: Hawkins & Torrey and Moon & Roberts

Wagon Maker:  K. T. Jones

Blacksmith:  Lehrman & Nagel

Meat Market: Bemis & Barnhart

Tailor:  Geo. H. Sporl

Flour and Feed:  J. W. Heusel

The Cast of the 1892 Sutton Performance of the Chimes of Normandy

The Cast of "The Chimes of Normandy" from a Sutton performance in 1892

We are grateful to the Sheridan family for this photo, one of dozens, maybe over a hundred that they donated. We are further grateful that most of the photos included identification of the subjects.

Some of the names are illegible but we'll make a best guess here and continue to research the identification of each actor.

The long row of girls and women is identified as (Mrs. Dr. Vradenberg), Gertrude Merrill, Lila Brown, Grace Walton, Rose Merrill, (Mrs. Dr. J. M. Birkrier), Mrs. J. B. Frederick, Minnie Clift, Edith Braitsch, Eva Meyer, Ada Gray, Irene Honey, Mayme Wieden.

Seated in the front: P. Sodeberg (a rare instance of Sutton's photographer on that side of the camera) and Mrs. L. (Murtz) pianist.

Standing Center: Professor J. Henri Seacrest of Lincoln with  J. B. Frederick reclining.

Back row: Gus Neuman, Fred Scott, j. H. Towns, Gaul Rice and Fred Keller.

I'm sure I've misread several of the names. Any help or new guesses are welcome.

The Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War Sutton Performance

The Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) were a welcome and major addition to Sutton's 2012 Dugout Days celebration. We thank the men and women who came to Sutton, camped for two nights and gave us a look at the sights of Civil War units.

Confederate Cavalry officer putting his steed through its paces at the Sutton Civil War Reeneactment

A Civil War reenactment was held in Sutton during Dugout Days on June 30th and July 1. We had a small group of gents and gals and they put on two fine little shows. 


We had small units representing Union and Confederate infantry plus seven Confederate cavalry troops from Missouri led by this officer, with a Sutton connection.

The band of Union infantry marching towards the field of battle.

A couple of our local scouts joined the camp and participated in the action.


The Chamber of Commerce and several Sutton folks contributed (straw, food, water, etc.) to help make the visit go smoothly.


During the preparations for the event the story of Sutton's local hero, Orion P. Howe came up prompting the reenactment planners to include a piece of that story in the action of the battle. Howe's story took place at the Battle of Vicksburg and the general flow of the reenactment followed the  action of that battle.

Howe starts his ammo run under fire.

The incident at the Battle of Vicksburg that earned Howe his Medal of Honor involved his successful run through confederate lines to tell General Sherman that the 55th Illinois Infantry was trapped and running out of ammunition. 

The little piece of that story in the action by the reenactment group was a touch of class for the local crowd.,

The crowds both days enjoyed the performance. The Saturday afternoon actions were especially enjoyable as a solid could cover held temperatures down after days of serious heat.

A bit of smoke and mayhem as the cavalry pins down a couple of infantry troops.

The event illustrated to the Sutton folks that these men have taken a hobby to a very serious level. The realism of the uniforms and the equipment have a certain beauty that emphasizes and connects the spectator to the soldiers of 150 years ago.

A big part of the SUVCW mission is to identify and document the graves of Civil War veterans and the monument throughout the country that have been erected to the memory of the Civil War. At noon on Saturday a small group of SUVCW members met at the Civil War monument at the west side of Sutton's City Park to perform a solemn ceremony dedicating the monument.

This band the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War were impressive in their quiet, private celebration of Sutton's monument to the Civil War Veterans.

A single honor guard and the Sutton monument.