Wednesday, August 29, 2018
1918 Clay County Primary Election Results
The Clay County Patriot newspaper on August 22, 1918 reported the results of the county's 1918 primary elections.
Clay Center's Earl Buchtel's 100th Birthday - 1993
Earl Buchtel, long-time Clay Center resident and WWI vet celebrated his 100th birthday in September 1993.
Mr. Buchtel was born September 8, 1893 and died October 15, 1993, a few weeks after this birthday.
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
U. S. O. for Colored Service Men Opens at Harvard Air Base
The military, like much of society, was segregated through most of our history. This article in the Harvard Courier described the U. S. O. for colored service men at Harvard Air Base in 1943.
Executive Order 9981 was issued on July 26, 1948, by President Harry S. Truman. It abolished discrimination "on the basis or race, color, religion or national origin" in the U. S. Armed Forces.
History of Harvard
The Harvard Courier newspaper carried an article on the history of Harvard in their August 29, 1918 issue.
G. J. Thomas can be found identified as Griffith J. Thomas or J. Griffith Thomas. He was born in Wales in 1847 and was living with his wife Anna in Berlin, Green Lake County, Wisconsin in 1880. He listed his profession as Postmaster, formerly printer.
Thomas's first appointment as Harvard Postmaster was in 1898 and he appears to have served in that position through 1923, shortly after Anna died.
In any event, Postmaster Thomas was qualified to write this history of his adopted town. He and his wife are buried in the Harvard Cemetery.
Thursday, August 23, 2018
Sutton Members of the Nebraska Legislature
Nebraska had a two-house legislature until 1937 when the unicameral first met, the first and still the only one-house legislature among the 50 states. This reform was championed by George W. Norris, a U. S. Senator who was impressed by the one-house legislative system he saw in Queensland on a visit to Australia.
Sutton has had eleven members of the legislature as listed on the website: Nebraska Legislators: Past and Present.
We will claim 12 adding Jan J. McKenzie who served our district from 1993-1997 even though the website recognizes her Harvard mailing address.
Sutton's members of the original House of Representatives were:
E. A. McVey 1893-1895
E. E. Hargrove 1895-1897
James Weston 1913-1915
Guy H. Matteson 1915-1917
Jacob Bender 1925-1927
Ralph J. Buck 1929-1931
Member from Sutton who served in the original State Senate were:
Wellington C. Walton 1877-1879
John B. Dinsmore 1881-1883
R. G. Brown 1887-1889
Members of the Unicameral from Sutton, in addition to Jan McKenzie mentioned above, were:
Theodore C. Wenzlaff 1968-1971
Rod Johnson 1983-1992
Yes, this is a product of early research for the Sutton Sesquicentennial Book. There are still openings on the committee for the book including the subcommittees for research, drafting, writing, formatting, editing, proofreading, photos, publishing, donuts and other tasks as required. Contact Jerry Johnson at 402-773-0222 or jjhnsn31@gmail.com or even try suttonnehistory@gmail.com
1918 Clay Co. Primary Election Results
Need a little break from 2018 politics? Take a break with a look at the results from the 1918 primary election in Clay County as reported in The Clay County Patriot newspaper on August 22, 1918.
See any names you recognize? That Vauck with the narrow win in the Democratic race for the Nebraska House of Representatives - 43rd District was Henry Vauck. Apparently unsuccessful in the general. County officials tended to last a while. Henry Vauck was later county judge for a long time, outlasted by his brother-in-law Roy Oakley who served as county clerk from 1922 through 1955.
Yes, this was well before Nebraska went single-house in 1934 (effective 1937) for the state legislature. There were 100 members in the Nebraska House of Representatives from 1875 through 1936 (raised from the original 39). Notice that Clay County had parts of two legislative districts, the 42nd and 43rd.
Friday, August 10, 2018
Clay Co. Court House cornerstone laid August 19, 1918
The Cornerstone of the new Clay County Court House
was laid on August 19, 1918
This photo is from The Clay County Patriot newspaper of August 15, 1918.
Thursday, August 9, 2018
1993 - Back to School in Sutton
Were you in Sutton Schools around 1993? Do you remember your teachers, cooks, janitors, etc.
We have a quiz at the end of the post. Help us out with your memory of how long these people were with Sutton Schools.
