Sutton Nebraska Museum

Honey Furniture Ad - 1912

2012-01-01T10:03:00.001-06:00

Advertisement from the Sutton Register - 1912

Between Lincoln & Denver!

It was common on the frontier for the furniture store guy to also take on the undertaker business - Geo. Honey followed that model.

Honey built this large store building on the southeast corner of Saunders Avenue and Grove Street. The building was later purchased by the school district and served as the high school auditorium for several years until the school moved "up the hill" to the north end of town.

The building burned while serving as a blacksmith shop. The Sutton Community Center now occupies this site.

George Honey also operated a hardware store for a time along with his furniture store and undertaking business.

The Sutton Museum has a bedroom set that came from Honey's Furniture Store.

Bender & Sons Ad - 1912

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1912 Bender & Sons Ad

from the Sutton Register

Staff Sergeant Ralph Wenz - WWII Casualty

2011-12-31T22:19:00.000-06:00

StaffSergeant Ralph Wenz became the sixth war casualty of World War II when he diedin the crash of a B-24 Liberator bomber on a hilltop in the Yukon-Charley RiverNational Preserve in Alaska on December 21, 1943. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. L.C. Wenz were initially informed that the aircraft and their son were missingafter departing the base at Fairbanks.

SSgt.Wenz remained in “missing” status for some time.

Staff Sergeant Ralph Wenz - killed in aircraft
crash in Alaska December 21, 1943

Themission of the flight was to test a procedure to feather the propeller. Onlyfive men were on board for this flight including an officer who was listed as apropeller specialist.

Thecrew encountered a thick fog that restricted their horizontal visibility justas their instruments failed. The plane went into two spins which the pilotswere able to correct but as a third spin began the pilot called for the crew tobail out. Only the co-pilot 2^nd Lieutenant Leon Crane and the CrewChief Master Sergeant Richard Pompeo were able to get out of the plane beforeit crashed.

Crane and Pompeo made it out of the plane through the bomb bay doors. Lt. Cranesaw Pompeo drift over a ridge but he was never seen again. Crane had coldweather gear but did not have gloves as he landed in the mountains of Alaska,in December. He found a series of trapper cabins where he found more coldweather gear and food. It took him weeks to cover 75 miles where he found an inhabitedhome where he was given a dog sled ride to a settlement where a mail planebrought him back to his home base in mid-March of 1944, almost three monthsafter take-off.

Lt.Crane led rescue workers back to the plane where the bodies of the propellerspecialist 1^st Lt. James Siebert and the radio operator S/Sgt. RalphWenz of Sutton were found in the plane. There was no sign of MSgt Pompeo or thepilot 2^nd Lt. Hrold Hoskins.

StaffSergeant Ralph Wenz’s body was recovered and he was buried in Alaska.

Wenzwas an experience flyer having flown mail in Alaska starting in 1939. He joinedthe marines after the Japanese attacked Dutch Harbor and was assigned toinstruct army pilots in the hazards of flying in sub-zero weather in the North.His last visit to Sutton was in mid-August of 1943 when he had ferried a B-29to California after test flights in Alaska.

AnAir Force historian at Elemendorf Air Force Base in Alaska had previouslyworked as the park historian for Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve and hadvisited the crash site first in 1994. He became interested in the site and on alater visit he found metal objects in the burned wreckage of the plane. Heinstigated further research and in 2006 searchers found human remains near thewreckage. A DNA test with Lt. Hoskin’s brother led to positive identificationof the pilot’s remains.

SSgt.Wenz’s pilot, 2^nd Lt. Harold Hoskin was buried at Arlington Cemeteryon September 7^th, 2007.

Paul M. Hofmann - Sutton's 10th WWII Fatality

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PaulM. Hofmann graduated from Sutton High School in the spring of 1942 where he wasan impressive student and representative of the school and the community.

Hofmannheld three minor offices in the Future Farmers of America of Nebraska before beingelected president of the state organization for 1942-1943. He was selected toBoys’ State and was a winner of a prestigious Union Pacific scholarship. He wasthe state’s representative at the National Youth Foundation Camp at Shelby,Michigan for the F. F. A.

Paul M. Hofmann - February 3, 1924 - December 15, 1944

Heheaded off to the University of Nebraska Agricultural College where he was amember of the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity and was active in campus activities.He signed up for officers’ training with the campus ROTC program but wasinducted into the armed forces on March 27, 1943 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

DuringHofmann’s early army training he was selected to attend a cadet program at theUniversity of Indiana and the University of Cincinnati but that program wasdiscontinued. He was soon at Camp Campbell, Kentucky driving tanks.

Hewas assigned to the Third Army where he was believed to have been with Patton’stank corps at Bastogone, France. His letters home indicated he had been inMarseilles, Lyon and Dijon France before his tank unit became engaged in actionon the western front.

PrivateFirst Class Paul Hofmann, son of Mr. and Mrs. Karl F. Hofmann, became the tenth of Sutton’s sons to give his life inWorld War II when he was killed in action on December 15, 1944 at the age of20.

1912 Sutton Business

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1912 Sutton Business

John Roberts grocery and hardware

Sutton Register advertisement

1912 Sutton Business - Schwarz Ladies' store

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1912 Sutton Business Advertisement

CHRIS. SCHWARZ ladies' clothing store

Sutton Register - 1912

Sutton's First WWII Casualty - Marine Sgt. Merritt C. Walton

2011-11-25T10:37:00.001-06:00

MerrittC. Walton's Biography and the Unique Honor for Sutton’s First WWII Casualty

Areanewspapers reported in January, 1943 the posthumously awarding of the NavyCross to Sutton’s first casualty of World War II, Marine Platoon SergeantMerritt C. Walton, sometimes known to his family as Cecil Merritt. He received the awardfor valor displayed on August 7, 1942 on Gavutu, Solomon Islands when he led anattack on a Japanese machine gun position that threatened his platoon’s rightflank. The attack was successful but Sgt. Walton was fatally wounded.

Marine Platoon Sergeant Merrill C. Walton
(18 Dec 1916-7 Aug 1942)

TheNavy Cross was only one of two honors, the lesser one I believe, that the Navybestowed on this Marine with Sutton connections. More on that other award in amoment.

Sgt.Walton was born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1916 and lived there until 1933 whenhe and his mother moved to Sutton to be near relatives. He lived in Suttonuntil joining the Marines in early 1937 after spending the prior summer workingon the Fort Peck Dam at Ft. Peck, Montana.

Thefirst active duty assignment for Sgt. Walton was a three year hitch with themarine garrison in Shanghai, China. He spent much of 1940 at Mare Island on thenorth edge of San Francisco Bay before duty at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thebeginning of World War II brought him to parachute training at Quantico,Virginia, a short tour in North Carolina and then off to the South Pacific andthe battle for the Solomon Islands.

Sgt.Walton visited his mother and relatives in Sutton during Christmas, 1941. Arearelatives included his mother, Mrs. Clara Olson, a sister Mrs. Floyd Schwab inCalifornia and his grandmother Mrs. Zenah Walton of Edgar. Sgt. MerrittWalton’s family connection to Clay County comes from his father Cecil Cullen Waltonwho was raised on the Marshall Township homestead of his father, also named MerrittWalton. The older Merritt Walton’s own father, Isaiah Walton was the familypatriarch, born in Maine, lived in Indiana and came to Edgar late in life. Heis buried in the Marshall Union Cemetery about a mile north of Merritt Walton’shomestead. A number of Isaiah Walton’s descendants lived in Nuckolls, Fillmoreand Clay Counties and do still today – your author among them.

Sgt.Merritt Walton’s fatal encounter on Gavutu occurred just seven months afterthat Christmas visit to Sutton on the Allies’ first offensive on the island.The award of the Navy Cross was an appropriate recognition of the bravery ofhis actions that day. The Cross is a highly ranked medal in the hierarchy ofNavy medals. But that “other” award is truly noteworthy.

Itmay require some personal military experience to fully appreciate the honorthat the U. S. Navy granted to Sgt. Walton. The United States Navy saw fit toname a ship, a World War II John C. Butler-class destroyer-escort, the USSWalton after Sutton’s first World War II casualty, Marine Sergeant Merritt C.Walton. Yes, the Navy named one of their ships after a Marine. Sure, theMarines are part of the Department of the Navy, but, personal experiencespeaking here; it often takes a soldier or an airman to remind seamen andmarines that they are parts of the same organization.

Isthe USS Walton the only Navy ship, or the only ship overall, to have a Suttonconnection? I can’t think of another.

TheWalton was launched on 20 May 1944 in Orange, Texas with Sgt. Walton’s motherpresent and sponsoring the ship. The destroyer was commissioned on 4 September1944. The ship served briefly as a school ship at Hampton Roads, Virginiabefore heading to Bora Bora and the Solomon Islands. Her first active wartimeduty was in late January, 1945 as escort to merchantmen ships bound for thePhilippines. Escort duty continued through the end of the war. After the end ofthe war, the Walton had the honor or transporting discharge-bound veterans homearriving in San Pedro, California nine days before Christmas, 1945.

She was decommissioned until the Korean War when she was re-activated and wasassigned to Pearl Harbor for a second career as destroyer-escort throughoutthat war. The Walton became a school house again after the Korean War, thistime for Naval Reserve personnel.

Finaldecommissioning came on 20 September 1968. In her final act of service to thecountry, this time as a target ship she was sunk on 7 August 1969, the 27^thanniversary of the death of Sergeant Merritt C. Walton.

Wasit a pure coincidence that the ship was sunk on the anniversary day of thedeath of her namesake? Perhaps, and I’m sure that official Navy archives wouldnot indicate anything to the contrary. But I also can’t help but speculate thatsome Navy Lieutenant with a sense of history, and maybe a sense of humor too,tweaked the gunnery practice schedule so that the hull of the USS Walton wouldbe the target on August 7^th. As one who was an Air Force Lieutenantthat day in August, 1969, I hope something like that really happened and Isalute that Lieutenant, real or imagined.

Thecomplete story of the USS Walton can be found at several online locations. Trythese first: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Walton_(DE-361) and http://www.navsource.org/archives/06/361.htm

Then through the wonder of 1940's home movies, check out the USS Walton and its crew on youtube.com ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtLqe70FW6M&feature=related

And for a better and extensive look at the men who served on the USS Walton, visit the ship's web site at http://usswalton.com/ where you will find dozens, no hundreds of photos taken by crew members during the life of "our" destroyer.

Asa distant relative of Merritt Walton, I was very familiar with the story that the USS Walton hadbeen named after Merritt Cecil Walton but I’d associated him with Minnesota andFillmore County. It came as something of a surprise to find local papersdescribing Walton as Sutton’s first casualty of World War II. I am proud toinclude the story of my distant cousin in our collection of Sutton’s veterans,especially as we can make the connection with the destroyer – that definitelyadds to this story.

Sgt.Walton’s citation for the Navy Cross reads as follows:

“Forextraordinary heroism as member of the First Parachute Battalion, First MarineDivision, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Gavutu, Solomon Islands August7, 1942. Although fully aware of his extreme personal danger, Platoon SergeantWalton voluntarily proceeded toreconnoiter the position of a hostile machine gun which threatened his platoon’sright flank. After skillfully spotting the weapon’s location, he courageouslyparticipated in a daring attack and realized success in silencing this deadly menacebefore he died of fatal wounds.

“PlatoonSergeant Walton’s unflinching determination and unconquerable fighting spiritwere in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.He gallantly gave his life for his country.”

USS Walton, DE-361, John C. Butler Class Destroyer-Escort named for Sutton's First WWII Casualty, Sgt. Merritt C. Walton here pictured in San Francisco Bay on 7 May 1967 as the flagship for the annual blessing of the Fleet.

Sutton High Yearbook Collection

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Display of Sutton High School yearbooks from 1912-1981 - not complete.
You can help us meet our goal of a Bigger Collection.

Growth of the Sutton Museum's yearbook collection has stalled with 28 books. The museum would like to offer a near-as-possible complete collection for public display and use. Such a collection is good for remembering classmates, finding Mom and Dad or grandparents and settling bar bets.

The museum has annuals from Sutton High School for the following years: 1912, 1917, 1922 (senior pictures), 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1935, 1937, 1946, 1947, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1968, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980 and 1981.

These are available at the museum for your enjoyment. We would appreciate donations to fill in the gaps and to add annuals from the most recent 30 years. If you have copies gathering dust that you would like to see begin a new life in the public eye, please contact us or stop by the museum on Sunday afternoon.

Yes, we know that the war years of the early 1940's precluded printing actual yearbooks. The last issue of The Mustang newspapers those years featured pictures of the senior class - the closest those classes came to a yearbook. The Class of '46 made up for those years with one of the most ambitious yearbooks from Sutton High - right up there with the 1912 yearbook, probably my favorite. That 1912 was dedicated to the new high school building built that year which that graduating class just missed.

Biography of HALL GRAY CARNEY

2011-11-11T12:02:00.001-06:00

Itwas a short war for Lt. Hall Gray Carney. His unit arrived at Attlebridge Airfieldnorthwest of Norwich in Norfolk, England in March, 1944 and flew its firstmission on March 22^nd, an assault on Berlin which was the longestinitial assault by any unit in the European Theater.

First Lieutenant Hall Gray Carney, B-24H Bombardier

Fivedays later on the 27^thday of March, Bombardier Carney was againin the nose of a B-24H on his second mission of World War II. The pilot of crewN-405 was Prosper F. Pinto with B-24H aircraft 42-52562. The other pilot was RobertJ. Mogford with crew N-514 and aircraft 41-29364 – Stardust. I have not foundthe “name” of the first aircraft and numerous “Stardust’s” flew in the war.

Thesetwo aircraft were about tenth in the take-off sequence. When they reached theassembly point about ten miles off the end of the runway, in the midst of the jostling to get in formation, the two aircraft collided with the loss of all 20airmen.

I’venot determined which of the two aircraft Lt. Carney was in, nor have Idocumented with certainty that he died in this crash. He did die on that dayand the unit did experience the loss of those two aircraft and 20 men on thatday. Updates to follow as we learn more.

Lt.Carney’s crew had trained for months and months in Mississippi, Texas, Colorado,Kansas and New Mexico. They were members of the 784^th BombardmentSquadron, the Red Squadron of the 466^th Bombardment Group (Heavy) inthe 8^th Air Force. The group took the nickname of the “Flying Deck” withthe 784^th being the Clubs. They began their move to Attlebridge inFebruary with the 62 aircraft flying the southern route with the loss of onecrew en route. The ground echelon wastransported to England on the Queen Mary.

Thereis another potentially important detail about the crew of “Stardust” on the 27^th.The regular pilot and one of his crew were sick that day and Mogford’s crew wasassigned to Stardust for the mission. We can surmise that the crews had trainedtogether for all of these months, likely mostly in their assigned aircraft.They had certainly developed a level of cohesion working together that gavethem confidence in flying the aircraft and operating the numerous systemsonboard. They certainly had learned a lot more five days earlier in that firstlong combat mission. On take-off for their second mission these men could havebeen at the peak of the ratio between confidence and actual skill. They weretrained, “experienced” and confident they could face any flying challenge. Theywere not. They were trained. They were not experienced; they had only seendozens of flying challenges that first mission compared to hundreds a crewwould face over time.

Whether the confidence and skill levels of these new crews played a factor inthe mid-air collision, we certainly cannot say. But understanding somethingabout how these 20 men came to be at that point over the English countrysidethat morning helps us to visualize Lt. Carney’s last moments.

This is NOT Lt. Carney's crew and he is not in this picture. We would like
to have that picture though. The B-24H had ten crew members: Pilot, Co- Pilot
two Bombardier - Navigators, Engineer, Radio Operator, Nose Gunner, Tail
Gunner and two Waist Gunners. This is Crew #651 of the 466th Group with
Paul "Red" Evans - Pilot and Aircraft Commander.

Lt.Carney was the bombardier sitting in the nose of the plane surrounded bywindows and a clear view of the airspace before and around him. That vantagepoint had to provide a spectacular view, the best of any crew member’s. But everyoneknew that if the plane ever encountered a problem, the bombardier would be thefirst one there.

Theloss of these two crews only compounded the tragedy of the month. The 466^thhad lost two aircraft and crews in that first Berlin assault, again to amid-air collision. Those four losses plus the earlier loss in transit cost theunit five planes and 57 men.

The466^th Bombardment Group had four squadrons, the 784^th –Lt. Carney’s, the 785^th, 786^th and the 787^th.Squadron aircraft carried a distinctive two character identifier – the 784^thaircraft were marked with “2U.” The Group Commander was Col. Arthur Pierce.

FirstLieutenant Hall Gray Carney carried the name of two of Sutton’s foundingfamilies. He was born in August, 1919 to Samuel C. and Margaret Carney. ThisSam Carney had grown up in Sutton but lived in Evanston, Illinois for a timewhere he had met his wife. Sam Carney was back in Sutton in 1930 and a bankpresident

ThatSam Carney was the son of Samuel and Eugenia Carney. The older Samuel Carneywas an early arrival in Sutton and took over a hardware business from Isaac N.Clark. Eugenia was the daughter of Hosea and Ann Gray. Hosea and Eugenia’solder brother John M. Gray were the very early arrivals in Sutton. John M. Grayand his wife Emma were Hall Gray Carney’s uncle and aunt. The Sutton HistoricalSociety can claim the connection in that John and Emma built both houses oftoday’s museum.

TheSutton Historical Society asks the town and residents of Sutton, past andpresent, to join us in recognizing the life and the death of First LieutenantHall Gray Carney, a brave son of our town.

Wealso invite comments, corrections or additions to the story of Lt. Carney.Together we can ensure that present and future Suttonites will know andremember this fallen hero and others as we add to this collection.

- Written with respect and admiration on Veterans Day, 2011 by Lt. Col. Jerrell R. Johnson, USAF, ret.

Nebraska's Fallen Heroes Marsh

2011-11-09T12:55:00.000-06:00

CITIZENS OF CLAY COUNTY INVITE YOU TO VISIT AND REFLECT

The Nebraska Memorial to the service men and women from Nebraska killed in the Southwest Asian wars.

TheFallen Heroes Marsh memorial to Nebraskans killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan Warsis at the Duck’s Unlimited Verona Complex southwest of Sutton. The memorial wasdedicated in September, 2009.

Names of Nebraska's Fallen Heroes of recent conflicts.

Thememorial is six miles west of Sutton on Highway 6 then two miles south on RoadR to Road 315 and then ¼ mile west of the intersection of Road R and Road 315.The memorial is in an austere setting at a hunting location recognizing the interestsof Adam Herold, the inspiration for the memorial.

Backgroundinformation and the story of the dedication can be found at:

http://www.ducks.org/news-media/fallen-heroes-marsh-dedicated

http://journalstar.com/news/article_2baf8a54-9a7b-11de-9a37-001cc4c03286.html

The Memorial is 1/4 mile west of the intersection of Road R and Road 315, in a graveled area north of the road.

Walter Wellman - Sutton's Explorer

2011-11-03T12:42:00.000-05:00

Have you ever associated Sutton, Nebraska with North Pole explorations? No? Come along with us as we peek through the haze of Sutton Past.

Among the more obscure heroes of Sutton Past is the near-forgotten Walter Wellman. Never heard of him? Well, you are in for a treat.

Walter Wellman (November 3, 1858 - January 31, 1934) was born in Ohio. His pappy brought the family west to York County, Nebraska after the Civil War to settle down on a farm on the frontier. Walter must have been dis-inclined toward farming as he slipped off to Sutton where he started his own weekly newspaper, very likely the town's first. Sutton was the age of a toddler that year, and Walter was only 14. Wellman published his first issue of the Sutton Times on Friday, June 20, 1873 - a "five column quarto" with nine columns of advertising and eleven of local reading matter according to a contemporary account by Dr. M. V. B. Clark.

But Walter soon outgrew our town, for seven years later he'd moved on to the Cincinnati Evening Post and later to the Chicago Herald. Then he decided that he should make the news rather than just report it.

Screen capture of the video at http://wn.com/walter_wellman

In the 19-zero's, Walter and his Wellman Chicago Record-Herald Polar Expedition made a couple of attempts to fly airships to the North Pole. These efforts did not work out so well but were relative successes when compared to his next project to fly airships across the Atlantic. His airship America only suffered engine failure requiring rescue near Bermuda but the Akron exploded on a test flight and killed the crew of five, including one poor fellow who'd survived the America debacle.

The screen shot at the right is of a video at http://wn.com/walter_wellman which shows our local hero visiting the memorial to S. A. Andree, a Swedish balloonist with similar ideas who failed, badly in 1897 in his attempt to reach the North Pole.

Wellman's Biography which has been summarized here is also at that "World News" link, though a challenge to locate your first time. You'll see it under "Biography" among other selections The video itself will be the top selection of videos at that link.

http://sundaymagazine.org/tag/walter-wellman/

Walter Wellman wrote a few books on his adventures, three of which seem to available in used condition at amazon.com from individual peddlers. Let me know what you learned if you succumb to that temptation.

Other references to our man Walter show up deep in the recesses of the Internet. New York's Sunday Magazine of February 5, 1911 had an article written by the man himself. No, no. Don't try to read the picture at the left. Better to follow the link, better, but not by much, actually.

But here is our pièce de résistance: a photograph - if only a picture of a picture of a picture in a newspaper - of our hero's Exploration Machine. Is this cool, or what? Kind of looks like a prop out of a 1960's comedic movie with Jack Lemmon.

Walter Wellman's airship America taken from aboard a ship somewhere out in the Atlantic.

Bringing you back to earth here, we're talking Sutton History. It's a tenuous connection, but it is a well documented connection.

This last illustration is of the flight deck of the machine named America. It had two engines, a primary and a backup. Good plan there.

Flight deck of the America. Note the brave aeronaut at his command position and the crew out climbing around there in the distance. Do we still have opportunities for such adventures in today's world? I think not.

There is sometimes merit to the saying that, "History is only dry gossip" but that need not be so. There is often real, measurable entertainment value.

by Jerry Johnson
Sutton Historical Society
Comments welcome.

Park flooding - once a common thing.

2011-10-28T14:41:00.000-05:00

Sutton Park entrance. Notice how close the water came to the eaves of the pavilion. This was before the city did some work on the School Creek channel.

Do you remember when this used to happen a lot? Not sure when this was taken. Any guesses?

Herbert Johnson - Sutton's Political Cartoonist

2011-10-26T20:03:00.000-05:00

WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH SUTTON?

One of the magazine covers from Sutton's own, Herbert Johnson

Didja know that Sutton produced a national known political cartoonist?

Herbert Johnson was born in Sutton in 1878 and attended the University of Nebraska. Not sure where he went to high school - doesn't appear to have been here.

Don't believe me? Check out these two references. A little Googling will turn up some of his work.

http://www.unl.edu/scarlet/archive/2005/03/24/

http://www.askart.com/AskART/artists/biography.aspx?searchtype=BIO&artist=8347

Herbert Johnson - Sutton kid to the Big Time in Philadelphia

He worked as a clerk, a stenographer and a bookkeeper before getting his big gig as a cartoonist for the Saturday Evening Post and its sister publication, The Country Gentleman.

Johnson fit in well politically with the adamantly right-wing Post offering works in support of presidents Harding, Coolidge and Hoover. He was an unyielding critic of FDR and the New Deal.

Herbert Johnson died in Philadelphia in 1946 at the age of 68, barely outliving the object of his ire.

Another of Sutton's lost, but not (now, anyhow) forgotten native sons.

by Jerry Johnson

Wolfe School Museum - Clay County District #55

2011-10-26T19:21:00.000-05:00

by Jerry Johnson

The Sutton Historical Society's rural school museum came from Lone Tree Township in Clay County, Nebraska about four miles southwest of Clay Center and two miles north of Fairfield. The school house was the Wolfe School in District #55 and operated until the 1962-1963 school year; Dorothy Shaw was the last teacher in the Wolfe school when there were six students.

The Wolfe School from the door looking toward the front of the room.

The school came to us complete with piano, stove, books and teacher and student desks. The blackboard extends across the front wall and there is the classic elevated stage at the front of the room.

The ceiling was dropped sometime in the history of the building leaving a four or five foot tall space between the new and old levels.

We have added one school desk to the arrangement of the school. This desk of a distinctive design has been in the basement of a house in Sutton for many years. It came from a rural school about five miles north of Sutton, District #8, one of the two schools in School Creek Township that were designated as "Nuss Schools," the other being District #16, my own school through the fifth grade.

The desk from the original District #8 in northeast Clay County.

District #8 was in the middle of a large tract of land that was settled by the Germans from Russia who found a home in the Sutton area after 1873. They built their first school furnishing it with desks of this design, a design that they were familiar with in Russia, and probably earlier in Germany.

When they built their second school they furnished that school with desks of the much more common design for American schools, the design of the rest of the desks in the room and for most of us.

We had a visit by a graduate student from the University of Freiberg in Germany in the spring of 2011. Emily Jordaning is originally from Fall City, Nebraska and a graduate of Doane College in Crete. Her graduate thesis was on German immigrants to Nebraska and Sutton became a center for her research. She told us that this desk design was a common school desk arrangement in Europe, a piece of information that makes this treasure even more interesting and appropriate.

The Wolfe School has two rooms in the corners beside the front door. Those were the old "utility" rooms used as coat closets, storage and for drinking water, etc. Rural schools did not have indoor plumbing. Two outhouses "out back" served for toilet facilities. We had an outhouse behind our school museum but the building suffered considerable damage when we used it in a parade - it was not in good shape anyhow. We are in the market for one, or two, outhouses to complete our museum and add a bit of authenticity. Early rural school houses also often had a barn where the kids and teachers could keep their horses during the day, especially harsh winter days on the Nebraska prairies. Yes, youngsters often rode horseback to school or maybe more commonly, had a small buggy that could carry several kids from a family or neighboring families.

We have desks of a variety of sizes and designs including these "double-wides."

There were at at least 67 rural schools in Clay County, more earlier before the Hastings Naval Ammunition Depot took a big bite out of the western part of the county. A typical school district was from seven to nine square miles putting about four or five schools in each of the six mile by six mile townships. The arrangement meant that few children were more than two miles from a school.

The districts were chartered as state corporations. The farmers in each district organized themselves electing three board members who were charged with the affairs of the school. The school board recruited and hired teachers and were responsible for the official and proper conduct of a state corporation. The board was furnished with templates and instructions for filing the necessary reports and documentation for their corporation. Historians have found that the reports were typically submitted in compliance, no strict compliance with the templates and guidelines furnished. Those families placed a high value on the education of their children though late spring and early fall field work sometimes took priority for the older boys.

The school board also had responsibility for fuel, generally coal and other maintenance functions. The teacher had responsibilities beyond the book-learning. She (generally "she") had to get to school early and get the fire going in the winter to warm up the building before the kids arrived. Teachers often maintained flower gardens and took pride in the appearance of their charge.

Teacher training was called "Normal Training" either in the local high school or in a separate school specifically for teacher training. Normal training often occurred in lieu of the upper classes of high school such that teachers were often working not much past their 16th birthday.

Imagine a sixteen year old girl running her own school in all kinds of weather a half a mile, or more from the nearest farm house. Imagine her level of responsibility as storm clouds built up in January threatening a snow storm, maybe a major blizzard. Imagine that situation before weather forecasts, radios, telephones or motorized transportation. Imagine the level of trust and confidence farm families put into the judgment and performance of their teachers, often teenagers or very young adults.

The academic guidance for a county's wide spread educational system came under the County Superintendent. The County Super directed and looked after the course work and the teaching performance of all of the county's teachers. Clay County had 67 or more schools over the period of rural education. The superintendent made periodic visits to the schools. It seems unlikely that they could visit more than four or five schools in a full day plus there certainly would have been work in the office. It'seems unlikely that a school received more than three or four visits in a school year, if that.

A visit from the county superintendent was a big deal at the school. This was a performance evaluation for the teacher. As a young fellow in a country school, I recall that we picked up onthe teacher's apprehension and sense of urgency about the visit. The superintendent, in our case, Mrs. Rippeteau watched as the teacher conducted classes. She inspected the building and the grounds. Our county superintendent had a weekly column in each of the county papers. Her assessment of the school appearance and the teacher's performance made the papers for all to see. Those reports make fascinating reading. Good marks weren't gimmies.

The rural school system was an important part of the settling of the Great Plains. One of the histories of the rural system points out that it was largely a feature of the British colonies. The idea that kids in even the most remotest settled areas were entitled to a free education led to rural schools in the United States, Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand to a greater extent than elsewhere.

The Sutton Museums are open on Sunday's from 2 - 5 pm or by appointment by calling 402-773-0222 or at jjhnsn@windstream.net. We like to show off our Wolfe School. Stop and see us. There is a diminishing number of us who remember, first hand, what country schools, the rural schools were really like. We enjoy hearing your stories too.

Nellie Stevens: Pioneer & Fictional Heroine

2011-10-24T22:10:00.000-05:00

Hawaiihas James Michener; Red Cloud, Nebraska has Willa Cather and Grafton, Nebraskahas Alida Curtiss.

AlidaCurtiss wrote “Mother Wanted a Son – A Prairie Tale” in 1964. In her historicalnovel, Captain Xerxes Stevens brought his wife Elisabeth and young daughterNellie to a homestead near Grafton not long after the Civil War. Nellie’slittle brother was born there, the son Mother wanted, but the story isNellie’s.

Theauthor tells us that all the characters in her book are fictional exceptXerxes, Elisabeth and Nellie plus Ora Keepers who we meet later in the book.The actual Stevens homestead was about two or three miles southwest of town andNellie really did grow up to become the school teacher.

Ora Keepers (1881–1905) and Nellie Stevens (1866-1926)

Xerxesdied before establishing the farm and Elisabeth moved her family to town whereshe became the postmistress – we’re in the novel now, pay attention.

Nellie’sfinds a male role model when her father’s war buddy when Rev. Hiram Curtisscomes to Grafton with his wife Hannah and brood of little Curtiss’s includingHorace, a boy about Nellie’s age. That’s the fiction of the novel; however,there was a real Rev. Hiram Curtiss, a Methodist preacher in Grafton and in Suttonabout that time with a son named Horrice though the real Hiram’s wife wasFanny. The real Curtiss family also included a daughter seventeen years youngerthan Nellie named Alida – the author of the novel. Are you paying attention?

AlidaCurtiss chose Nellie Stevens as her protagonist and through her, we learn aboutthe Stevens homestead, living in Grafton and growing up on the frontier. Thecharacters appear real - they were real and the relationships are believable.This was the first and only novel by Alida Curtiss so don’t expect fineliterature. But for an enjoyable picture of the early days of our area, thisbook fits the bill quite well.

FictionalNellie’s mother sent her to Vermont to school and she returned to become theGrafton school teacher, just as the real Nellie did. Ora Keepers, the fourth“official” real person in the book is one of Nellie’s students. Ora becomes anorphan and Nellie raised her. The fictional Ora is only a few years youngerthan Nellie. The real Ora was much younger, closer to the same age as Alida.

SpoilerAlert: The novel moves on with Nellie and Ora enjoying a life together, movingto Colorado to a “happily-ever-aftering” kind of conclusion. The real life story of Nellie, Ora and Alidawent in a different direction.

This photo, likely from about 1920 shows a millinery shop on the
extreme right at the location we'd determined to be where the
Curtiss & Stevens shop was locate. The next door "Lyric" was
the town theater still operating through the '60's.

OraKeepers, the real one, died in 1905 at 23 of tuberculosis as her fictionalmother had and maybe as her real mother did. The real Nellie Stevens and AlidaCurtiss were the long-term companions. Alida gave Ora the gift of a long lifein her book inserting Ora into her own place in Nellie Stevens’ story.

Rev.Stevens’s family moved to St. Joseph but by 1910 Alida was back in Suttonliving with Nellie Stevens on Maple Street and partners with Nellie in amillinery shop about where Bill Bottorf’s office is now located. Then Nellieand Alida moved to Colorado where Nellie returned to teaching just as Nellieand Ora do in the novel.

The1920 census lists a Grafton household of Nellie Stevens, age 56; Lida Curtis,37 and Fannie B. Curtis, 70. Nellie’s business was “poultry and dairy farm.” Donot know how that happened. Was it onthe Stevens homestead?

Ad in 1912 Sutton High School Annual for
Curtiss & Stevens Millinery Shop.

NellieStevens died in 1926. Alida Curtiss moved back to Rocky Ford, Colorado andprobably lived much of her remaining life there. She left a few tracks in thepublic record, attending weddings of nieces and other relatives, returning froma European trip in October, 1947 and other Google hits.

Alidaanswered a surprise letter from Sutton, Nebraska on the day after Christmas in1969. She remembered Eva Weikum who had worked for their next door neighbors,the Luebbens. Eva’s son Lawrence Trautman had tracked Alida down in Oxnard,California. Alida’s sister Victoria Schell was helping with the letter – Alidahad suffered a stroke – and she was remembering Sutton, sixty yearsearlier.

AlidaCurtiss died in Ventura, California on May 11, 1972. Nellie Stevens is buried nextto her parents in the Grafton Cemetery. Ora Keepers’ parents are not far awayand records show that young Ora Keepers should also be in the Grafton Cemetery.I did not see a marker.

Alida Curtiss (1883-1972) with Nellie (1866-1926), her friend and main character in her novel.

Ithank Lawrence Trautman for bringing this story to my attention and lending Alida’sbook to me. The novel tells a good story about Nellie and Ora but the realstory of Nellie and Alida could have been a better book with more drama,tragedy and pathos.

TheSutton museum has a copy of “Mother Wanted a Son – A Prairie Tale” and Iordered a copy from amazon.com that is now in the Sutton Library. I may needanother copy for my own library.

Thanksto Diana Thompson and Cherie Baudrand, genealogists of the Stevens and Curtissfamilies on ancestry.com for the photos of Nellie, Alida and Ora.

byJerry Johnson and the Sutton Historical Society

Thisarticle appeared first in September, 2011 issue of Sutton Life Magazine. Forinformation about this local Sutton publication, please contact Jarod Griess atneighborhoodlife@yahoo.com orat 402-984-4203 or at 501 West Cedar St., Sutton, NE 68979.

Grave of Nellie Stevens in the Grafton Cemetery

Stevens Family plot: Xerxes and Elizabeth (Harvey) Stevens on the left;
Nellie Stevens on the right - Grafton Cemetery.

Sutton in the Census

2011-10-24T18:41:00.000-05:00

From the U. S. Constitution, Article I, Section 2: “The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the

United States

, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.” That is the only specific tasking the founders gave us and it is time for the Twenty-Third Census of the United States.

The purpose of the census is to provide population statistics to adjust the boundaries of Congressional districts but data collection has grown as has the usefulness of the information.

Sutton’s first appeared in the 1880 census having just missed the prior edition. Enumerator James E. Marsh found 1631 people in Sutton Township. Mr. Jacob Steinmetz counted noses in School Creek Township.

Each census has asked a different set of questions beginning with early years when little more than the name of the head of the household and the number of persons was asked. By the beginning of the twentieth century the census bureau was collecting a wealth of information including age, place of birth, immigration date, number of years married, parents’ birthplace, literacy, occupation, etc. Recent forms have shrunk. The 2010 form has only 10 questions asking for name, sex, age, date of birth, racial and home ownership information.

Analysts use census data to learn how the country has grown and developed but no group has benefited from this resource more than genealogists. Great-grandparents seem to come to life as you see their family listed in the census and imagine the interview with the local enumerator. There are surprises lurking in these records: children who died young and were not remembered, in-laws who lived in the house, servants, boarders and gaps – people who should be there but aren’t.

We can’t fully trust everything found in the census. My great-grandparent’s family appears on the first page of the 1880 School Creek census where we’re led to believe that Anna Johnson gave birth to twins in Sweden at the age of 14. Possible, but her achievement probably would have been part of our family folklore. Family records indicate Anna was born in 1841 and would have been 38 years old when she met with the census taker, not 28 as he recorded. Curiously, he also listed his own wife as being 28 years old that year with 18 and 13 year old daughters. He might have had trouble with arithmetic, or maybe he was married twice – the census provides clues, not always complete answers.

Mr. Steinmetz illustrated another point in his own entry. He tried to record his wife’s birthplace and that of her parents but he re-wrote it a couple of times making a mess of the page. It appears he wrote “Prussia” and he clearly wrote “Hesser Castle”, probably meaning the Prussian province of Hesse-Kassel. Again, clues, not always complete answers.

I learned two things about my great-grandmother in the 1900 census. It reports that she had seven children but only six were living. My grandfather must have had a brother or sister who likely died in Sweden before the family emigrated. Also, the enumerator recorded that Anna could read and write, but did not speak English. Quite a number of older people, especially women were getting along just fine in their native language according to the 1900 and 1910 census.

Did you notice that I skipped over the 1890 census? If you research census records, you will too. That census was lost in a fire. So our Sutton research begins in 1880, then skips twenty whole years to the 1900 records followed by 1910, 1920 and you are finished at 1930, for now. Census records are “closed” for 72 years as a privacy consideration. The 1940 census will become public in just a couple more years. I am anticipating that one as my father was the School Creek enumerator starting the task on April 2^nd and finishing on April 17^th. It will be in his handwriting – and a good hand it was. That was not always the case.

Just a few years ago census records were only available on microfilm at Mormon libraries at temples and in the largest stakes. Many of us spent hours and hours in darkened rooms at the library just west of Temple Square in Salt Lake City poring over film after film. Now, it is almost too easy. Census records are online and indexed. What used to take multiple sessions can be done in minutes. The genealogy web site www.ancestry.com is a robust and easily accessible repository. There is a modest subscription fee, but when compared to traveling to spend hours or days in a library, it’s a fair price.

This article appeared in the January, 2010 Sutton Life Magazine. Information about the magazine is available at neighborhoodlife@yahoo.com or Mustang, Inc., 510 West Cedar, Sutton, NE 68979.

Who Was Woodruff?

2011-10-24T13:56:00.000-05:00

Activity in one of the store buildings on the west side of the north end of Sutton prompted the question, “Who was Woodruff?”

The Woodruff nameplate - edward Woodruff's lasting legacy in Sutton.

The name Woodruff appears high up on the face of the building along with the date “1891.” Several of the old and historic buildings on the west side of both ends of town are marked with the names: Clark, Carney, and M. T. Burke on the north end and Merrill, Griess, Hoerger, Honey and R. G. Brown on the south end. We’ve mentioned some of these fellows in the past but Woodruff was an unfamiliar name and needing research.

Turns out the fellow was once mayor. E. W. Woodruff is listed in George Burr and O. O. Buck’s History of Hamilton and Clay Counties as the second ward councilman in 1888, 1889 and 1890 and mayor in 1891, the same year as appears on the building. William Griess and J. C. Merrill succeeded him as mayor, both fellows immortalized on west side buildings. Let’s guess that E. W. Woodruff is who the building was named after. But can we be sure.

Edward W. Woodruff is listed on the county land records for downtown lots in Block 23 of Sutton Original Town in 1890, 1905 and 1908. That certainly is good supporting evidence for our hypothesis.

E. W. Woodruff appeared in Sutton records in the 1880 census at age 21 and as boarder at the hotel run by J. T. Mollyneaux, probably the Oakland Hotel although Mr. Mollyneaux also owned and operated the Occidental for a time. Woodruff listed his place of birth as Vermont. That census listed his father as being born in Connecticut and his mother in Rhode Island.

Edward Woodruff next shows up in the 1885 state census where he had mysteriously aged nine years in the prior five listing his age as 30. Perhaps he was hiding his youth from his 31-year old wife Emma. They had a two year old girl, Lena M. He listed his occupation as “Loans Money” and had decided that he had been born in Illinois and both parents were born in Massachusetts.

If we were working with a larger community, we would be suspicious that the E. W. Woodruff of 1880 was not the same man as Edward Woodruff in 1885 due to the age and birthplace discrepancies. But such discrepancies really are common in these records and in small town Sutton our confidence approaches certitude. Sometimes people thought they had a reason to hide some detail in their past.

Emma Catherine Barnhart and Edward William Woodruff were married in 1881 in Sutton. Emma Barnhart was the daughter of Jacob and Mary Barnhart. Jacob Barnhart listed his occupation as “butchering” in the 1880 census. The Barnhart family was from Pennsylvania. Emma was 25 in 1880 and had a three year old brother, Harry, born in Pennsylvania indicating the Barnhart’s came to Sutton between 1877 and 1880.

Five year old Fred Woodruff was buried in the Sutton cemetery in 1890. He could be Edward and Emma’s son and would have been born after the 1885 census taker visited.

The 1910 Census found Edward W. Woodruff, age 55 in Washington, D.C. listing his occupation as “Clerk” in the Public Debt Treasury. He still listed his birthplace as Illinois and parents as Massachusetts. Emma C., age 55 and Lena M., age 27 were still living with him.

An item in a 1911 Sutton Register newspaper tells us that Edward Woodruff had written to F. M. Brown changing his mailing address for the Register to Portland, Oregon.

In 1920 Edward W. Woodruff, age 65 was retired and living in Pasadena, California with his wife Emma and daughter Lena, single, age 37 and a stenographer at a school. Edward was still in Pasadena in 1930, the last census that has been made public. Lena was then a stenographer at City Hall.

There was a second Woodruff in Sutton early on. John Woodruff appears in the 1900 census at age 72, a widower, born January, 1828 in Illinois. John Woodruff listed his occupation as “Capitalist.” He may have been Edward Woodruff’s father or uncle or other relative. There are some John/Edward father/son pairs in earlier Illinois census records but the ages don’t match.

It seems almost certain the Mayor Edward W. Woodruff is the namesake of the “Woodruff Building” on the north end of Sutton.

Our heritage represented in these old, almost stately, buildings is a priceless record of the early days and growth of the town. For the most part, these buildings are solid and in reasonably good condition. We owe it to ourselves, kids and grandkids to see that they continue to cast afternoon shadows across Saunders Avenue.

A few citizens and members of the Sutton Historical Society are discussing innovative ways to preserve and protect these treasures. One big project is probably beyond our capabilities, but a series of small projects could do a lot. A proposed start is to replace the missing “pinnacles” on the tops of several of these buildings. Our pinnacles are a real feature of architecture dating back to medieval times.

Many nearby towns and others throughout the country are well ahead of us in preserving their unique architecture. Any effort would be a cooperative effort between owners, the city, civic organizations and citizens. Do you have any ideas? Call Jerry Johnson at 773-0222 and let’s talk.

Brown's Automatic Base Ball Score Keeper - Clay Center invention

2011-10-24T13:53:00.000-05:00

This photo is from the May 12, 1911 edition of the Clay County Patriot newspaper. The device was invented and patented by L. A. Brown of Clay Center that had just gone on the market. He called it Brown’s Automatic Base Ball Score Keeper. Arrows on the front side tracked balls and strikes with provisions to track innings, outs and scores. The line-ups were written on the back and the current batter tracked in movable windows. A player's runs, hits, outs, assists and errors were also tallied on the backside.

100 Year Flashback

2011-10-17T22:35:00.000-05:00

This item appeared in the October 20, 1911 issue of the Sutton News:

Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Gray of this city celebrated their 36th wedding anniversary on Thursday last, Oct. 19th, the entire family being present. About ten people were seated for a six o'clock dinner after which they all repaired to the parlor where instrumental music was interspersed with songs, etc. The rooms were all elaborately decorated with a profusion of vines and flowers. It has been some time since the family were all together.

I read the piece in an image of that paper while writing my weekly column for the Clay County News while sitting at the Gray's table on one of the Gray's chairs in that very dining room of their house mentioned in the article. Kind of a cool moment. Dorothy Rabbe can confirm the story.

I often work on the column while baby-sitting the museum during our Sunday open hours. The dining room set was returned to the Gray house by a great, granddaughter in Texas representing the family in their wish to see the set back in its original home.

Very little effort needed to look up from the 100 year old news article and imagine the scene at this table in this room that Thursday evening exactly a century ago.

New Brick Order Soon

2011-10-12T15:26:00.001-05:00

We will be making a new order of commemorative bricks in the very near future. Contact us if you have been delaying your order. Get Grandma's name in stone for all time.

Sidewalk Repair & Commemorative Brick Project is Underway

2011-10-12T15:25:00.000-05:00

The broken sidewalk from the Historic House to the street is gone. Thanks to the City of Sutton for making quick work of that sidewalk and the concrete immediately in front of the house. Next, the new sidewalk will be poured and space made for display of the commemorative bricks on both sides of the new walkway.

Repair of the sidewalk across the property to the next door museum will have to wait until next year pending working it into our budget.

You are welcome to stop by, inspect and kibitz at your leisure.

New Sidewalk and Handicap Access Ramp at the School House

2011-10-12T15:21:00.000-05:00

Our new access ramp to the Wolfe Rural School Museum is complete. We replaced our four-year old temporary steps with a four-foot wide ramp with robust railings providing handicap access and a new look. The sidewalk and ramp allows easy access from Way Street right into the front door of the school.

Thanks to our low-bid contractors, Todd Rath and Kenny Chandler for a job well-done.

Sutton Businesses - 1894

2011-09-27T14:19:00.000-05:00

The Sutton Register newspaper carried a retrospective column entitled, “Items from the Register of forty-two years ago.” Why 42 years? I don’t know.

The October 1, 1936 column asked readers how many business men and places they remembered from the ads in the Register in October, 1894. We don’t remember them ourselves but how many have you ever heard of?

Attorneys – L. P. Crouch, E. E. Hairgrove, M. C. King, F. R. Hawk.

Banks – First National, G. W. Clawson, president; Sutton National, J. R. Dinsmore, President; Sutton Exchange Bank, J. C. Merrill, president.

Barbers – A. E. Meyer, Chas. Gossman.

Blacksmith – Fred Nicolai.

Clothing – L. P. Wentz & Co.

Dentist – J. H. Johnson.

Drugs – Toland & Nelson, H. A. Fosselman, Carl Held.

Dry Goods and Groceries – William Griess, M. Wittenberg, Benerman & Son, Ochsner & Schwarz, L. H. Schaaf, A. C. Burlingame.

Farm Machinery – Bender & Zimbelman, H. Grosshans & Co.

Flour and Feed – Henry Schleiger.

Furniture – George Honey, E. W. Ihrig.

Groceries – John Roberts, Tessler & Son, Speich & Co.

Hardware – S. Carney, F. J. Hoerger.

Harness – Wm. Reuter, Joseph Grice.

Ice Dealer – A. W. Clark.

Livery – Rolland & Van Patten, Wm. Grosshans.

Lumber – Sutton Lumber Co., J. M. Gray.

Millinery – Mrs. E. D. Goodrich, Mrs. Dorah Braitach.

Meat Market – Henry Brehm, John Cook.

Photographer – Pont Soderberg.

Physicians – J. M. Birkner, H. L. Vradenburg, J. V. Lewis, M. V. Clark.

Real Estate – Thompson Bros., I. N. Clark.

Shoemaker – William Bauer.

Wagon Maker – Schneider & Son.

Comments:

Attorneys - By 1894 all of the attorneys around at founding of Sutton had disappeared - R. G. Brown (whose brother was the publisher of the Register), Homer Gray, A. McCoy, J. S. Lehew, Lamont and George Bemis.

Blacksmiths - The Nicolai family later lived in at 309 N. Way Ave. - the current Historic House that was built by J. M. Gray - listed here for his lumber yard that was on that property. The yard covered the west side of Way from Gray's residence at the time, 311 N. Way south to the Maple Street corner.

Clothing - suspect that the numerous "Dry Goods" stores carried clothing.

Dentist - Multiple dentists appeared in ads in later years.

Dry Goods and Groceries - this list includes three grocery stores plus six "Dry Goods and Groceries" so we are left with some ambiguity about the extent of grocery sales in Sutton in 1894, but it surely was a lot.

Farm Machinery - Zimbelman was a partner of Jacob Bender in1894. He would leave the business and it became Jacob Bender & Sons lasting for over 125 years.

Furniture - George Honey built the big brick building at the south end of downtown where today's Community Center stands. Honey operated his furniture store plus a hardware store and mortuary in that building. The building was purchased by the Sutton Schools in 1936 and became the high school auditorium into the '60's.

Hardware - S. Carney was Sam Carney Sr. at that time. The business was on the north end, west side and was started by I. N. Clark. Sam Sr. took over for Clark, Sam Jr. from his dad and Les Bauer from Sam Jr.

Harness - this list has only two harness shops plus a wagon maker. The sources describing early Sutton businesses give the impression that there were more than a few of these at any one time. I suspect that some may not have advertised extensively and missed this list.

Ice Dealer - A. W. Clark was Albert (Bertie), I. N. Clark's son. He married Mayme Wieden. Bertie and Mayme appear to have played the roles of second-generation Sutton Movers & Shakers. They built the large home (Plettner's) west of Clark's Pond. (Though they modestly called it Glen Lake at the time.)

Lumber - J. M. Gray built both of the houses now used by the Historical Society.

Millinery - seems to be a word not much used but these were lady's clothing stores - hats and lingerie especially.

Photographer - Soderberg Studios cranked out the bulk of the early portraits in Sutton. His photos populate attics, closets and basements throughout the area still.

Physicians & Real Estate - M. V. Clark (actually M. V. B. for Martin Van Buren Clark was the brother of I. N. (Isaac Newton) Clark. The Clark brothers developed the west section of Sutton along Cedar Avenue. They also donated the four square blocks for the City Park.

Sutton and Its Veterans

2011-08-31T23:34:00.000-05:00

A part of the history of every town is the story of its veterans and the town’s connection to the nation’s military. Sutton is no exception.

Sutton was settled shortly after the end of the Civil War with a number of the settlers coming from the ranks of Grand Army of the Republic. Among those settlers were G. A. R. veterans with names of Brown, Dinsmore, Gray, Van Patten, Bemis, Schwab, Clark and almost fifty more. Leonard Jarrett is a unique vet at the Sutton cemetery with the “Stars and Bars” of the Confederate Flag flying over his grave. Jarrett enlisted in November, 1863 in Company E, Virginia 14^th Cavalry Regiment at the age of 17. Jarrett’s youngest daughter Sibyl was the long-time city librarian.

Markers at the cemetery identify the hundreds of later men and women of Sutton who answered the nation’s call. Two with Sutton connections earned the nation’s highest award. Jacob Volz was born in Sutton in 1889 and was awarded the Medal of Honor for service in the Philippines in 1911.

Sutton’s other medal of honor winner was local dentist Orion P. Howe who was awarded his medal in the 1890’s. He earned the award years earlier in May, 1863 at Vicksburg as a fourteen-year old drummer boy thrown into a mission that killed three others and severely injured him.

Almost ninety Sutton vets served in the World War I and over 150 in the Second World War. Later generations likely do not fully appreciate the extent to which the entire nation was intimately involved in World War II and how that war was brought home to every city and town. The local impact to this area included the relocating all farmers from a large section of western Clay County for the Hastings Naval Ammunition Depot. The Harvard and Fairmont Air Bases were two of eleven Nebraska bases supporting flight crew training with waves of B-17, B-24 and B-29 bomber formations flying over area almost daily. These military facilities employed thousands of local people and brought thousands more to the area, many of them finding wives and settling here.

Fewer local soldiers served in the Korean and Vietnam Wars but for each individual, a full 100% of their time and energy was asked, for years. The elimination of the Selective Service draft produced the all-volunteer military that has served in the two Middle East wars.

Others from this area gave far more than just their time and energy to the nation’s defense; they gave their lives. The community remembers.

It has been just one year since the Fallen Heroes Marsh was dedicated southwest of Sutton, a stark reminder of the sacrifices of Nebraskans in the Gulf Wars. The setting is austere and a bit of a surprise on one’s first visit. It is peaceful, perhaps serene. Allow your imagination to absorb the symbolism of the memorial and the surroundings; you will remember that visit.

We do not have battlefields as are found in the east and south from the Revolutionary and Civil wars but our area was the scene of Indian Wars until a few years before Sutton’s founding. And there is one remarkable chapter when in November, 1878 “Sutton’s sons whose proclivities bent in the direction of the chivalrous and heroic…” formed Company B of the First Regiment of the State Guard. Captain W. J. Keller commanded Company B in two activations, once in 1880 and again in early 1882, both times with missions to maintain order in Omaha labor disputes.

Most who have worn the uniform did not serve in combat zones. National security involves a large, wide-ranging and varied collection of organizations, some with unusual missions. Some of us were “warriors” of the Cold War maintaining a nuclear deterrent force designed to prevent war. After more than 45 years of preparedness and acute readiness, our “war” slowly faded away. In our case “Mission Accomplished” was “Nothing Happened”. That story is better told at the SAC Museum on the west side of the Platte River just off I-80.

The Sutton American Legion houses more than a restaurant and is more than a venue for meetings. Next time you are in the building, take a moment to look around and join the Legion in recognizing those who have worn the uniform.

This article first appeared in the November, 2010 issue of Sutton Life Magazine. For information about this local Sutton publication, please contact Jarod Griess at neighborhoodlife@yahoo.com or at 402-984-4203 or at 510 West Cedar St., Sutton, NE 68979.

The Small Town Newspaper, News, Opinion, Culture & Power

2011-08-31T23:17:00.000-05:00

A short list of occupations defined a new town on the frontier. There were developers and speculators who divided the open land into individual properties. Lawyers recorded deeds and resolved disputes. Merchants, saloon-keepers, doctors and dentists met various needs of settlers. And very early, there was the newspaperman.

A newspaper was important to fledgling communities on the frontier. A weekly newspaper confirmed a town’s existence and verified its prospects.

There have been at least eight newspapers in Sutton and over forty in Clay County. Most were short-lived, maybe only a few months while others lasted sixty to ninety years.

Sutton had the Sutton Times, Advertiser-news, Globe, Clay County Herald, the Democrat, Sutton News (twice), Sutton Register and today’s Clay County News. The Harvard Courier served that town for ninety-one years following earlier sheets called The Harvard, Champion, The Leader, Advocate, Sentinel, The Harvard Free Lance and Clay County Journal. There was a Fairfield News, Fairfield Herald, Fairfield Tribune and the Independent before the Fairfield Auxiliary began in 1911 becoming what may have been the county’s best paper for much of its fifty-four years. Edgar had the Edgar Review, Edgar Weekly Times, Edgar Times, Leader, News Journal, Edgar Post, Post-World, World, the Sun and the Edgar Sun. Clay Center had the Clay County Patriot, Clay County Progress, Call, Gazette, Clay County Republican and the Clay County Sun. Even Ong seems to have had the Weekly Visitor, the Ong Times, Sentinel, Deacon and the Weekly News.

Is that a complete list? Probably not. I expect I’ll run across references to more county newspapers. I’d be surprised if there weren’t local news sheets distributed in Glenvil, Inland, Eldorado, or maybe even Saronville, Spring Ranch(e) or Verona.

So what was the big deal with newspapers? Consider that from the early 1870’s into the 1920’s, newspapers were the primary source of news, comment, advertising, entertainment and literary exposure. There was no radio, TV, internet; there were a few distant newspapers and some magazines but at prices many couldn’t justify. A year’s subscription to the local paper was only about a buck.

What did the early paper offer? All covered the local community extensively. Newspapers were avid boosters for their community pointing out business changes, civic improvements, accomplishments of successful residents and any other favorable items that would make locals feel good or attract outsiders who might come across an issue.

Sutton had multiple stores in each category and competition was fierce. The News and especially the Register carried quarter and half page and even full page ads that were repeated week to week.

Each paper had extensive social news coverage like today, only much more so. Each community (Saronville, Verona, Eldorado, etc.), township (Sheridan, Marshall, School Creek) or parts of a township (Excelsoir) had a correspondent who filled eight to twelve column inches each week of “who visited whom” notes. My grandmother’s uncle, A. G. Israelson was the Saronville reporter for newspapers in Clay Center, Harvard and Sutton where the weekly activities of her Aspegren and Israelson families were carefully chronicled.

Papers serialized books with chapters appearing week after week for several months, non-fiction as well as lots of fiction. Editors promoted the local theater, clubs, literary guilds and other cultural endeavors that cast a favorable light on the town. Small town papers had access to the products of major papers and carried lengthy articles on current events world-wide. They offered detailed analysis of political and economic issues, either their own or acquired elsewhere.

Early papers had an overt political slant and aggressively advocated for their favored party in editorials as well as news articles. Two papers in the same town almost always divided along political lines. Nearly all papers had a regular column by the publisher who attempted to persuade his readers to his and his party’s position. No one else held that kind of sway over the public in towns on the plains.

School news was big. The progress of rural students made its way to the paper. The Edgar Sun had high school students as regular contributors to a section called “The Huskie”. The town’s baseball team was always a favorite story. The Sutton Register carried a poultry column for years and seemed to have something to say about raising chickens every week.

The lasting impact of those newspapers from one hundred years or more ago is that they give us a picture of the day-to-day life of the town, its founders and of our grandparents. We find the specific facts from the beginning as we read but after a period of time reading and absorbing the images, a more general picture appears that tells about the overall lifestyle, the mood and the flow of human activity during those times.

Many old newspapers have been microfilmed and are on file with the Nebraska Historical Society. Reels are available for a fee through member libraries including the Sutton Library. However, it takes time to get the one or two reels available at a time, it’s for a limited period and microfilm is not the most user friendly medium. Members of the Sutton Historical Society have begun a small pilot project to copy, to digitize, images of the of papers owned by the Clay County News. If it’s feasible, we’ll have DVD’s available at the Sutton Library and elsewhere with files of past issues of the Sutton News, the Sutton Register and The Clay County News.

This work is simple enough, but very labor intensive. If you would like more information about this project, or would like to help, please contact Jerry Johnson at jjhnsn@windstream.net or 773-0222.

This article first appeared in the October, 2010 issue of Sutton Life Magazine. For more information about this magazine please contact Jarod Griess at neighborhoodlife@yahoo.com or at Sutton Life Magazine, 510 West Cedar Street, Sutton, NE 68979 or at 402-984-4203.

Who Was Woodruff?

2011-08-31T23:01:00.000-05:00

Activity in one of the store buildings on the west side of the north end of Sutton prompted the question, “Who was Woodruff?” And why is his name on that building?

The Woodruff legacy etched in stone in downtown Sutton

Edward W. Woodruff is listed on the county land records for downtown lots in Block 23 of Sutton Original Town in 1890, 1905 and 1908. That certainly is good supporting evidence for our hypothesis.

Five year old Fred Woodruff was buried in the Sutton cemetery in 1890. He could be Edward and Emma’s son and would have been born after the 1885 census taker visited.

An item in a 1911 Sutton Register newspaper tells us that Edward Woodruff had written to F. M. Brown changing his mailing address for the Register to Portland, Oregon.

It seems almost certain the Mayor Edward W. Woodruff is the namesake of the “Woodruff Building” on the north end of Sutton.

This article first appeared in the June, 2011 issue of Sutton Life Magazine. For information about the magazine contact Jarod Griess at 510 West Cedar Street, Sutton, NE 68979 or at 402-984-4203 or neighborhoodlife@yahoo.com

Ebert Sisters - Sutton's Artists

2011-07-17T17:19:00.000-05:00

The Ebert Sisters gave music and art classes in their home on South Maltby Street to numerous Sutton children and adults. The historic society has acquired a number of their paintings and the paintings of their students.

Anna Ebert entered this painting in the Clay County Fair.

Several of the Ebert Sisters' paintings are on display in the historic house.

Nuss Accordian

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The Kenneth Nuss family donated this accordion that is believed to have come with their immigrant ancestors. It is on display in the historic house.

Sutton Depot Cart

2011-07-16T16:47:00.000-05:00

This well-worn cart served the Sutton Depot for many years. We understand that Paul Bender acquired the cart when depot items were disposed of. He kept the cart upstairs in the implement dealership until the demise of that business. It then passed to the Wach family where it was garaged until their sale about two years ago when Regina Leininger ensured it found a home with the Sutton Historical Society.

The two immigrant trunks have Swedish origins. The one on the right came from the Hultman family. The left trunk was addressed: Nils Persson; Sutton, Clay, County, Nebraska, North Amerika. Nils Persson immigrated in 1883 and homesteaded in the SW corner of Fillmore County. It too was in the possession of the Wach family.

The Persson trunk is in excellent condition, especially the wood that was used some 128 years ago.

I claim the Persson trunk rode on this cart from the train into the Sutton depot in 1883 - counter-arguments welcomed.

The cart is often in the front yard of the museum on Sunday afternoons, otherwise visit the garage to "Touch Sutton History."

1923 in Sutton, Nebraska

2011-06-30T22:48:00.000-05:00

What was Sutton, Nebraska like in 1923? And why 1923? No reason. It could have been any year.

Our source of information is The Sutton News, one of two Sutton newspapers at the time. The News was published by Simon A. Fischer, a bachelor who lived with his parents August, a one-time preacher and Auguste. His father claimed to have been born in Pomerania and his mother in Brandenburg, again reminding us that Germany is only a few months older than Sutton, both created in 1871.

The paper was a six-page, five-column publication, no photos, a modest number of ads and mainly local news. There is some indication of a feeling of prosperity we’ve come to think of in the country after World War I and before the depression. Women’s clothing ads give a hint of the styles of the flapper era.

The major local ads were by Yost Auto Company and Phelps Sisters’ clothing store. The banks, Rosenbaum’s Store in Harvard, Hastings businesses and the Lyric Theater were other common advertisers.

1923 Suttonites had an appetite for entertainment. The Lyric Theater featured a steady stream of current movies, as long as 7-reelers but silent and black and white, of course. The Lyric added a new player piano during the summer and not a simple one either. This player had two rollers and mimicked a violin, piano, flute, mandolin and drums; it was a one-person orchestra. The Opera House hosted several traveling vaudeville shows during the year as well as a variety of other performances though owner W. J. Ochsner apologized for the condition of the 40-year old landmark promising forthcoming repairs.

Club membership and civic activities must have occupied a very high percentage of spare time. One issue of the paper included meeting information for The Walking Club, J. U. T., the Bay View Club, the Pennant Club, P. E. O., Stratton-Sutton Club, I. O. O. F and Rebekahs, Farm Bureau, Fortnightly Club and missionary support groups in two churches. The Masons weren’t mentioned as well as a couple of others that could have been.

High school and town team sports added to the entertainment schedule. This was the year following Sutton’s state championship basketball team. The 1923 team did not quite live up to its predecessor but they were playing big-city competition. Omaha Tech made the trip to Sutton and the local team had one three-day trip playing Beatrice, Seward and Hastings, going 2-1 before returning home.

Baseball was a popular sport and the local team was coached by Johnny (Chief) Bender. This was after he had coached football, basketball and baseball at Washington State, Haskell Institute, Saint Louis, Kansas State, Tennessee and if a recent phone caller is to be believed, University of Houston.

Sutton had a golf team of Burke, Lilliedoll, Pscherer and Stenson competing in the South Central Golf Association including York, Friend, Edgar, Clay Center and other towns often to large galleries.

The Sutton swimming pool was three years old and in 1923 claimed its second drowning victim, fifteen-year old Ora Salmon.

City officials elected in the spring included councilmen Henry Bauer and Carl Held, the druggist; city treasurer A. W. Burlingame and engineer Ed J. Griess. The local county commissioners were O. B. Percival and C. A. Anderson.

The look of the north end of downtown changed a little in 1923 as Anderson Studio built a new one-story stucco building and Reger Confectionary shared a new building with the Sutton Barber Shop.

One item from June, 1923 was especially exciting for historical society members. It described a new radio outfit at Harry Stevens’ Nebraska-Iowa grain elevator that gave Mr. Stevens direct contact with daily market quotations and a jump on his competitors. The Stevens family recently donated several items to our museum including Harry’s radio. For perspective, KDKA in Pittsburg began broadcasting as the first commercial radio station in the world in November 1920, just 2 ½ years earlier.

Two spring stories told of trips west by Sutton folk. The families of Fred J. Griess and Samuel Ullman departed for Lodi, California via a meandering 2,300 mile route of visits with friends. They reported back that the trip consumed 160 gallons of gas and that they found vineyards and fruit orchards priced at $2,000 to $3,000 per acre. Their intention was to become fruit growers. The Sutton – Lodi connection for Germans continues today as does the Saronville – Turlock connection for Swedes.

The same week a party of eight Sutton men left for Cody, Wyoming ranch land where they intended to “prove up” several tracts of Carey Act irrigated land with about 20 acres cultivated on each tract. The eight were W. H. Ebert, Jr., Henry Vauck, J. C. Catterson and son Harry, H. J. Bauer, Frank Levander, Ezra Elwood and S. A. Fischer the Sutton News editor. The Fischer family had a ranch in the area which appears to have been the connection to Cody. Letters back to Sutton during the summer told of the work but mainly about camping trips to Yellowstone and other scenic environs.

The route of the Potash Highway from Spearfish, South Dakota to Wichita, Kansas was announced in the summer showing the highway coming into Hastings from the north, passing through Sutton and south from Fairmont.

The year of 1923 was not an especially memorable year for Sutton, all the more reason to peruse the year’s newspaper for items of possible interest. It’s been fun; we’ll do it again sometime.

This article first appeared in the May, 2011 issue of Sutton Life Magazine. For information about the magazine call Jarod Griess at 402-984-4203.

SUTTON FIRSTS

2011-06-30T22:42:00.000-05:00

Sutton is a young town, barely 140 years old and as a consequence, its early history is quite well documented. Diaries of settlers, the Andreas History of Nebraska and other sources describe how the town started and who pioneered many activities.

The Luther French story as Sutton’s first settler in 1870 is well-known. The “first married white woman” to settle in, or near Sutton was Mrs. W. Cunning who arrived with the Gray party on May 4, 1871. One wonders why the writer qualified her as “married” as though some single woman preceded her. But we’ll ignore that.

Sutton’s first business appeared later in the month of May in Mr. McTyge’s “shanty” store next to the house that Homer Gray had already built. Two gents, Kearney and Kelley started a saloon in a tent followed quickly by the second saloon of P. H. Curran and Mart Higgins in a building constructed by Henry Potter, the town’s first builder. A third saloon popped up next. The first “violence” in Sutton occurred when one saloon keeper, Mr. Flynn shot his partner, Mr. Mullen in the face – though it was not a serious injury. Andreas explained, “These fellows were fascinated by the charms of an Omaha belle.” The saloons were only one month earlier than the town’s first church services held by Rev. Mr. Jones in the “grove”, probably today’s park.

The first businesses were along Main Avenue north of the railroad tracks and on Maple Street. The area picked up the nickname of “Whiskey Row” somehow.

The first craftsman was Andrew Sherwood whose forge was in a sod shop just below the French dugout which would put it along School Creek just south of the bridge on Ash Street though today’s School Creek is not quite where it used to be.

Luther French’s dugout served as the first Post Office starting in the summer of 1871 and until A. Burlingame assumed the duties on New Year’s, 1872 at a salary increased from $12 to $400 annually.

John Maltby arrived in the area in June. He talked Luther French into dividing his homestead into town lots and suggested using the name Sutton after his home town in Massachusetts. The town was laid out on August 12, 1871 the same day the railroad arrived. The first train on a regular run rolled into Sutton six days later. Swedish bride Betsy Swanson was the first woman to arrive by train when she came from Lincoln to join her homesteader husband and becoming the township’s first homemaker in a board house.

The first lumber yard(s) in Sutton provide a favorite story. Thurlow Weed brought a car load of lumber from Lincoln on the new tracks on August 23, 1871 and gets credit for the first lumber yard. John Gray’s lumber arrived one day later making his yard the second in town.

The first town caucus was in the fall of 1871 in French’s dugout and on October 14, 1871 an election at a farmhouse near Harvard named Sutton the first county seat for Clay County. The court house started in the offices of R. G. Brown, Sutton’s first attorney. Brown’s first case, argued before Probate Judge Maltby, involved a well. Plaintiff James Schermerhorn won the suit over defendant David Jayne. Brown received a $10 fee.

Gray (probably Homer) & Bemis (George) started a nursery on November 1, 1871 with fruit trees, shrubs and ornamental trees.

C. M. Turner opened a general merchandise business and took delivery of the first carload of flour in town on December 9^th, 1871. Thompson & Young’s implement company appeared around New Year’s, 1872, again, the first in town and the county.

William Weed began the first school around the 20^th of January in 1872 with about fourteen students.

The Central Hotel was built in February, 1872 and was located
at the site of today's Cornerstone Bank.

The first hotel was opened in February, 1872 by William Shirley and later expanded into the Central Hotel. It was on the west side of Saunders, north of the depot.

Isaac Newton Clark and his brother Martin Van Buren Clark arrived in Sutton in November, 1871 and purchased all of the unsold town lots from Luther French’s 80 acre homestead for $4000. They built the Clark House, a two-story frame structure on the west side of Saunders Avenue near the north end. Martin Clark was a physician, the county’s first, starting practice on November 1, 1871, and he was a druggist. He and Isaac stocked a drug store and a hardware store in the building in February, 1872; both were the first such enterprises along the Burlington west of Crete.

The Lincoln firm of Houston & Street published the first directory of the town and county in February, 1872 listing three dry goods and grocery stores, two flour and feed stores, a hardware store, a drug store, two lumber yards, a hotel, one implement dealer, a nursery, a livery stable, one store with fur and hides, a meat market, two real estate offices, one doctor, one attorney a Notary Public and one shoemaker. Ten months earlier there had been one wheat farmer in a dugout by the creek.

William Woolman was the shoemaker listed in the directory and was also the first resident minister.

The first birth in Sutton was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. F. A. Gross born on February 15, 1872. The girl died before the 1880 census. The first death was of another little girl, Maude Tracy, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Asa Tracy on April 21, 1872. Accounts of this death indicate that the new, small community was also closely-knit and quite attached to little Maude.

The Sutton Times began publication on Friday, June 20, 1873. L. L. Grimes and J. B. Dinsmore started the Pioneer Bank of Sutton in 1877, both firsts.

I. N. Clark’s Sutton Brick Co. was founded on June 1, 1876 as the town’s first manufacturing endeavor producing 120,000 bricks its first year.

As we’ve mentioned before, Sutton popped up quickly, growing from a single homestead to a thriving community in less than a year. The record of “who got there first” expands our image of those early days in Sutton.

This article first appeared in the April 2011 issue of Sutton Life Magazine. For more information about the magazine contact Jarod Griess at 402-984-4203.

It's Not Just an Old World War I Helmet

2011-06-30T22:36:00.000-05:00

William Zimbelman's WWI helmet and the Clay County
book of 1917 registrations for the selective service.

The mission of the Sutton Historical Society is to collect and preserve the artifacts and the information about the history of the Sutton community. A substantial collection of items has been contributed to the museum. It is a challenge to catalogue, analyze and display the collected material. How can we add to information we know about Sutton’s history?

The great source of information about the Sutton community is the newspaper archives of the Clay County News. This series of Sutton Life articles and the society’s weekly newspaper column have been the rationale, maybe excuse for a nearly systematic study of those old yellowed newspapers.

The fastest growing resource for historical study is the online world. Huge databases are indexed and easily located which recently were only in libraries and other remote repositories.

Let’s look at a couple of donated items and see how we learn more about them.

One item in our Veteran’s Room is a World War I doughboy’s helmet donated by Sarah Easterly with the name “Zimbleman” painted under the brim. First question: “Doughboy?” We know that was the common name for a U.S. WWI soldier, but where did the name come from? (Your assignment: check out: http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/origindb.htm.)

Did you ever hear the little ditty that was popular at the time?

Kaiser Bill went up the hill to take a look at France;

Kaiser Bill came down the hill with bullets in his pants.

O.K., back to the topic. Another donated item was a small booklet entitled “Complete List of Clay County men Registered for Military Draft” printed in Clay Center on August 17, 1917 containing the names 1237 county men. A little research discloses that there were three registrations efforts, one in 1917 on June 5^th for all men between the ages of 21 and 31. Our little book gives the name and home town of each. The 363^rd name is “Wm. Zimbelman, Sutton.” A little hiccup here; the registration is for “Zimbelman” with an “el” and the name painted in the helmet is “le.” Same guy? Probably, but we can look further.

The genealogy web site, “ancestry.com” (sponsor of the NBC program, “Who do You Think You Are?”) is a worthwhile resource. One of the literally thousands of sections of the site contains the scanned images of those millions of WWI draft registration cards where we find the handwriting of Mr. William Zimbelman, age 23 of Sutton, Nebraska, a farmer in School Creek Precinct. He described himself as a single Caucasian of medium height and medium build with blue eyes and light brown hair. The form is dated 6/5/17.

A quick check of census records finds eight-year old William in Bennett Township of Fillmore County in 1900 with his parents John and Christina and sister Edna. Both parents listed Russia as place of birth. Later censuses show the family in School Creek in 1910 and 1920 and in 1930, William and his bride of six years, Vera were renting a farm in Grafton Township in Fillmore County. Fun fact: In 1910 he was Zimblemann, later Zimbelman.

John, Christina and William are all buried in the Sutton Cemetery, William with a date of death of April 13, 1943.

So, with a little curiosity, a wee bit of know-how and a small effort, we’ve found some background of our helmet. Aren’t you just a little curious about the places where William wore his hat and what he was doing there? I have a suggestion: Give us a call at the Sutton Historical Society (402-773-0222) and help us look for that story and the background stories of other Sutton artifacts and information. Do you enjoy solving puzzles? Are detective stories intriguing? Dig into real puzzles and mysteries with us.

How could we learn more? Among the Clay County News archives is The Sutton News of 1918. Almost weekly, Editor S. A. Fischer printed a letter he’d received from a soldier. On January 4^th, George Barnell described working with the Red Cross and Y.M.C.A. at the Great Lakes training center near Chicago. Niles Miles wrote to his sister in Grafton describing, without telling where, the countryside around him, and that Charlie Chaplin was the American most admired by a local barber.

Zimbelman's draft card completed in 1917

A letter in February described the trip from New York to France with an account of escort ships dropping depth charges nearby as U-boats stalked the convoy and torpedoed a nearby English vessel. John Stertz wrote home about air raids and the wooden shoes he was buying in town to send home to friends. In March, Fischer’s brother Ralph wrote of enjoying letters from home and that he really missed eggs. He later compared an artillery barrage to a Nebraska thunderstorm.

The Sutton News printed the names of local men as they left for service. A late June list was 62 names long and included Suttonites Arthur Hornbacher, Henry Pope, John Peterson, Ernest Salmen, Leo Hughes, Clarence Dahlgren, Jake Kissler, George Stenggle, Frank Ryan, Jacob Roemich, Fred Heinz, Geo. Ioby and William Fleming.

Is that all we know? Not at all, but you get the idea. Now, how should we organize this information and present it so that visitors to the museum can enjoy it and appreciate the service of William Zimbelman and others? We would greatly appreciate your thoughts and assistance. It just might even be fun. (402-773-0222)

This article first appeared in Sutton Life Magazine in the March 2011 issue. Call 402-984-4203 for information about the magazine.

1986 article on Deweese centennial

2011-06-19T23:04:00.000-05:00

This article appeared in the June 26, 1986 issue of the Clay County News in observance of the centennial of the village of Deweese.

Plat Maps of Clay County - 1925

2011-05-02T18:55:00.000-05:00

1925 Plat Maps for Clay County Townships School Creek and Sutton are posted on the blog. The Sutton Historical Society has similar images for all 16 Clay County Townships that can be made available upon request. We also have plat maps for 1886 (posted online elsewhere), 1907, and several later versions (post 1950)

1925 Plat map of Sutton Township

2011-05-02T18:53:00.000-05:00

1925 Plat Map of Sutton Township - Range 7 - Township 5

From a wall poster produced by The Farmers State Bank of Saronville in 1925

1925 Plat Map of School Creek Township

2011-05-02T18:50:00.000-05:00

School Creek Township - Range 8 - Township 5

From a wall poster produced by The Farmers State Bank of Saronville in 1925

The Squawker

2011-03-31T20:38:00.000-05:00

The Squawker was one of Sutton’s gifts to the town of York. It was the product of Eugene Henry Bemis who was born in Sutton on either the 4^th or the 5^th of July in 1880 – there’s reasonably good evidence for either date. His family moved to York where he was the editor of the weekly York New Teller newspaper for many years. There he entertained himself and his readers with a column that he called “The Squawker” which appeared, as he described it, “any darn time we please or oftener.”

Bemis was from one of Sutton’s founding families. His parents were George W. Bemis and his wife Ada of the Gray family. George Bemis was with his father-in-law Hosea Gray and brother-in-law John Gray on May 4^th, 1871when they approached School Creek from the east and looked down the hill to where Luther French was all alone “holed-up” in his dugout looking forward to a second year of wheat on his homestead.

The Grey-Bemis party filed for homesteads but saw the prospects for a town. Four months later George’s wife Ada (Hosea’s daughter) and John Gray’s wife Emma joined them. George Bemis studied law under his father-in-law and the two of them were among the first attorneys in town. Bemis may have been the town’s best known early poet for a single effort, “Grafton to Sutton” about the shenanigans that went on with the town depot.

Members of the Sutton Historical Society have a special interest in this family as it was Gene’s Uncle John and Aunt Emma (yes, there really was an “Aunt Emma”) who built the two houses on Way Avenue north of the railroad tracks where our museum lives and where Emma was honored in Aunt Emma’s Tea House for nine years.

The children of the Bemis family made a name for themselves after they left Sutton. Sgt. George W. Bemis, Jr. was one of the first ten soldiers into Manila when the Americans took the city. He was editor of J. Sterling Morton’s publication “Conservative” and later was the first editor of the Lincoln Star.

Gene’s sister Anna Gray Bemis graduated from York College and had a long list of articles and poems published. She was active in the social whirl of York and after a couple of marriages accumulated the name of Anna Gray Bemis Palmer and was the benefactor of the Anna Bemis Palmer Museum in downtown York. An exhibit to the right of the museum entrance recognizes her Sutton connection.

Then there is Gene. His column in the York New Teller attracted a following throughout the state and beyond. His style was folksy, to say the least, and was layered with satire and obscure references that challenged his readers. His friend John Benley of the Lincoln Journal quoted a letter from Bemis in his own column on August 20, 1939 that illustrates the Bemis writing style well:

“With footbawl next on the sports programmy, we’re on the lookout for dope. We can roll our own on the local situation but we’ve been wondering about the Cornhusker prospects and are looking for enlightenment from friend John Bentley of the Journal. Firstly, dear John, we want to know what kind of a band the uni will have this season and what kindda music it will play. As we had it from the experts last year the band played us out of the win column by playing swing – if it goes in for the jitterbug stuff this season, all is lost. How big is it gonna be, and what kind of uniforms? Will it be able to put on a class A performance at half time or will it fumble its drills? How is it fixed for drum majors – got any reserve strength there?”

Gene Bemis published a book of his columns and his poems in 1919 under the title of “The Squawker Book” with a subtitle of “Made with scissors and paste from the files of The World’s Poorest Newspaper.” The dedication line reads, “We ain’t mad at nobody.”

The Squawker columns touched on a wide variety of subjects. Several columns described Bemis’ attempt to raise chickens and economic and personal challenges of that effort. He must have had friends in the fire department as they came in for occasional mention, not always in a good light. There are complaints about the weather, prices and the behavior of people in general. A number of his poems appear in the book. Some reflected his humorous side:

Nellie had a little bell –

She rang it ‘til, goodness sake!

Pa got excited and said, “Nell,

You’ll make that Belly ache.

Others carried little pearls of wisdom:

You may travel all around the earth –

Seek pleasure and renoun –

But the way to get your money’s worth

Is to boost your own home town.

Gene Bemis died in October 17, 1955 and is buried in York’s Greenwood Cemetery (Shout-out to findagrave.com). Perhaps he contributed to the journalism culture of York that today supports the York News-Times, Nebraska’s smallest daily newspaper.

Members of the historical society are grateful to the Houston family for our own prized copy of the Bemis book, hand-tied “binding” and all. There is an amazon.com entry for The Squawker with the note, “Out of Print – Limited Availability.” The entry refers to “Unknown binding” and doesn’t have an image of the book but maybe we can fix that.

The historical society’s major fundraiser is the sale of bricks commemorating Suttonites, especially the early folks. The Gray family was among the more important founding families and like many early families, there aren’t descendants around to ensure they are remembered in our brick walk. Volunteers have come forward to commemorate John and Emma but other Gray and Bemis families remain orphaned. Anyone interested in helping to sponsor a commemorative brick for these folks can contact us for information.

This article first appeared in the February, 2011 issue of Sutton Life Magazine. You can contact the magazine at 510 West Cedar, Sutton, NE 68979 or neighborhoodlife@yahoo.com

Historical Research Made Easy: Just Stumble onto Something

2011-03-31T20:28:00.000-05:00

There was a time in the distant past, say, about ten years ago, when serious historical research involved a finely developed skill set, some travel, plus lots of time and effort. Today, maybe not so much. We can stumble onto more pertinent material accidently online any random evening than we used to be able to dig up in months.

The results of one recent study illustrate how information of local interests can pop up for us.

Two researchers, Dr. William G. Thomas III of the University of Nebraska and Dr, Kurt Kinbacher of Spokane Falls Community College produced a publication called “Shaping Nebraska: An Analysis of Railroad and Land Sales, 1870-1880.”⁽¹⁾ These fellows were interested in the role that railroads played in the settlement of the Great Plains, particularly Nebraska. It is impractical to study a huge region in any detail and even if one could there would likely be too much stuff to look at in any timely manner. So the answer is to pick a smaller sample and study it well.

Thomas and Kinbacher chose to concentrate on three specific townships in two Nebraska counties and to extrapolate their conclusions to the region in general. The townships were Olive Branch Township in southwest Lancaster County and Lynn and School Creek townships in Clay County.

It is our good fortune that they chose Clay County as we gain the benefit of their efforts.

The study looked at railroad land sales. The Burlington Railroad came into the state at Plattsmouth in 1869 and connected with the Union Pacific near Kearney. Sutton and Harvard were the early developing communities between Lincoln and Kearney making Clay a candidate for the study. The Burlington received alternate sections of land from the government for ten miles either side of the tracks for each mile of track they laid. That is, 6,400 acres for each 5,280 feet of track for a total of 2,450,000 acres – 5% of the state. Development of the Great Plains was government policy and the 1864 Pacific Railroad act was one of two large 19^th Century “stimulus packages” to further that policy. The other stimulus program was the Homestead Act two years earlier. Both were successful. Nebraska’s population grew from 120,000 in 1870 to 453,000 in 1880 and over one million by 1890.

The railroad needed revenue from freight and passenger service to sustain its operations. Railroads actively recruited settlers. The Burlington spent $500,000 recruiting potential settlers in Europe between April, 1870 and December, 1872. That would have been the gross proceeds from sales of 143 square miles at the average price of $5.47 per acre. They focused on Germans, Czechs and Scandinavians plus two agents worked Great Britain exclusively. But their greater successes came from folks “back east” as large populations, often second generation immigrants came to Nebraska from Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania and Indiana.

There was a high level of sophistication in the recruitment literature. Material aimed at English speaking prospects used maps and timetables to illustrate the maturity of the rail system. The focus was on business prospects with graphs charting growth in commodity production and income levels. Materials aimed at non-English speaking immigrants were much more textural. Europeans were worried about water and wood so brochures told of rivers and streams with abundant flowing water. Wood represented more of a problem for the advertisers who had to acknowledge the near complete absence of trees, but instead told of ready access to cheap coal and the advantage of easily clearing land with no trees.

Settlements often developed into ethic islands or clusters of like-immigrants. German language literature pointed out the numerous German communities on the plains. Meanwhile, English language material told of honest, hard-working English, Scots and Scandinavians. The Burlington claimed that one half of southern Lancaster County was made up of German communities. The actual figures were between one-fourth and a third. Close. Few immigrants self-identified as Germans as Germany had only became a nation in 1871. They were more likely to call themselves Prussians or Bavarians or Hanoverians, etc. Olive Branch Township “Germans” self-identified with at least nineteen different principalities.

Lynn Township in Clay County illustrated another aspect of settlement. Seventy-eight percent of Nebraskans in the 1880 census were native born. Forty percent of Lynn Township sales of railroad land went to Ohioans with early arrivals from the town of Newburgh near Cleveland.

School Creek Township hosted the closest to an actual “colony” of any area in the study. Black Sea Germans from Russia with the Grosshans, Griess & Company purchased 5 ¾ sections of railroad land in School Creek Township on September 4^th, 1873.

There were several considerations when settlers had to choose between homesteading and purchase of railroad land. Homesteaders filed a claim, spent five years developing the land then took title. Railroad land was purchased but ownership was immediate. Homesteaders stuck it out for the five years forty percent of the time. A total of 270 million acres passed into private hands under the Homestead Act. Railroad land lent itself to speculators to a greater degree. But other factors seemed to play into longevity.

Olive Branch and Lynn township purchasers of railroad land tended to move on within a few years. The School Creek Township settlement of Germans from Russia was far more stable. Forty of the fifty-nine sales contracts to Germans from Russia in the county were in School Creek with the other nineteen, primarily from the Volga region, in the three adjacent townships. As land came available, members of the Germans from Russia community purchased that land sustaining the community.

This study of railroad land sales was good for our selfish needs here in Sutton in that it tells us something about local settlement. If there is a flaw in the study it may be that it did concentrate on railroad land sales. Railroad land was only one half of the story. Interspersed between sections of railroad land were sections of homesteads often settled by different groups with significantly different motivations.

But overall, this study is a good illustration of the type of scholarly work that was largely inaccessible to us just a few years ago. We are fortunate that the researchers choose Clay County for their study giving us further insight to what happened here, back then.

(1) The study is at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1044&context=historyfacpub

This article first appeared in Sutton Life Magazine, December 2010 issue. Contact Sutton Life Magazine at 510 West Cedar, Sutton, NE 68979 or at neighborhoodlife@yahoo.com

Researching the West with Light Reading

2011-03-31T20:21:00.000-05:00

Historical research produces two types of information. First, we learn a bunch of specific facts about our topic, in our case, what happened in Sutton, who did what and when. Quite different from that we find either general information or specific things about other places which give us some idea of what kind of the world our predecessors lived in and a clue as to the kinds of things that might have happened here.

Years ago Time-Life Corporation produced a series of 26 books in its “The Old West” series. There are such titles as “The Cowboys”, “The Indians”, “The Miners”, “The Women”, and of interest here, “The Townsmen” written by Keith Wheeler. I don’t believe Sutton is ever mentioned in any of the 26 volumes, but these books provide a feel for life in “The Old West” that early folks of Sutton shared with other westerners.

Well before Sutton’s birth Congress passed the Townsite Act in 1844 enabling westerners to stake out 320 acres, define lots of 125 by 25 feet and peddle those lots for whatever the market would bear. Speculators were quick to call their site a city. A New York Tribune correspondent visiting Colorado in 1866 complained, “I only wish that the vulgar, snobbish custom of attaching ‘City’ to every place with more than three houses could be stopped.”

One such group of fast-talking speculators in 1857 persuaded 30 settlers in Davenport, Iowa, mostly Germans, to come to their newly formed town of Grand Island on the banks of the Platte River. One enticement was a suggestion that someday the nation’s capital would be moved from Washington to Grand Island’s more central location. The financial panic of 1857 cost the Grand Island promoters dearly and two years later a fellow heading to the gold fields set fire to Grand Island burning down all but one house. His reason was that he hated Germans. The town was quickly rebuilt but in 1866 the Union Pacific railroad came through Hall County, two miles from Grand Island. The townspeople moved the buildings to trackside and the town was off and running.

Towns were quick to start schools, seen as a necessary step to credibility. Finding a school teacher was often difficult as wages of $35 a month were common. The practice of having the school teacher, nearly always a single, young woman, “board around” was common. She lived for a period of time with each of the families with school children. It seemed fair that the families with the most children in school should bear the brunt of this school support. Of course, that meant the teacher was always living in the most crowded houses in town. Many teachers saw this job as a stepping stone to someplace else or to a different line of work.

Early townspeople were quick to demonstrate their cultural sophistication. Lecture circuits, traveling acting troupes, circuses and the like prospered. Shakespearian Theater was very popular with Junius Brutus Booth Jr. and his brother Edwin among the actors who made their names in the west. Edwin Booth earned as much as $25,000 a month with his portrayal of Hamlet. The third Booth brother, John also made his name in the theater though in a much different context.

Clay County towns sported their own Opera Houses which were busy with some form of entertainment most evenings. Swedish dialect comedies were especially popular with different ones making the rounds every month or so. Sutton had numerous lodges and other social and cultural groups and found excuses for festivals and other celebrations throughout the year. Boxing and wrestling were popular throughout the west including in Sutton and Clay County.

In “The Townsmen” Mr. Wheeler included dozens of stories of western towns. Guthrie, Oklahoma had a claim as the fastest town, going from a railroad watering stop to 10,000 residents in 24 hours. Hastings, Nebraska must have won some kind of award for attracting five major and minor railroads while running up municipal debt of over $250,000. Ottawa, Kansas and Ottawa College received those names as partial payment to the Ottawa Indians from the notorious confidence man Isaac Kallock for 20,000 acres.

Time-Life’s book business ended with the AOL purchase of Time but not before 177 series of books had been published with such titles as Collector’s Library of the Civil War, Cookery Around the World, Home Repair and Improvement, The Great Cities, etc. Sales were by subscription, a book a month for from about five to nine dollars each. Series had as few as three or as many as 109 books. Yours truly has all or parts of five of those series (only 77 of those 109 in the “Reading Program”) but my favorites are “The Old West” and “Classics of the Old West” (26 of the 31 printed on the shelf). The web site http://www.volumelists.com/ has the inventory. There is an active secondary market for individual books and complete sets.

Are the Time-Life books definitive and authoritative historical texts? Definitely not. They are interesting and entertaining but not even decent secondary sources with no footnotes or references at all. But did I mention they are interesting and entertaining? The Sutton Library has the complete set of “The Old West”, north wall, bottom shelf. Take a look.

Fairfield's Carnegie Library

2010-12-11T21:25:00.000-06:00

The Fairfield Auxiliary newspaper carried this story about the town's Carnegie Library in the December 19th, 1935 issue. The library was dedicated in January 1914.

History of Fairfield Schools

2010-11-14T19:41:00.000-06:00

This history of the Fairfield schools appeared in the Fairfield Auxiliary newspaper on November 21, 1935.

Sutton Park Story

2010-10-31T19:54:00.000-05:00

The Sutton Park has always been an important part of the community, even before there was a community. Today’s park ground was part of the Luther French homestead in March, 1870, the town’s first real estate. The site of French’s first home, his dugout on the banks of School Creek is within the park. Though we credit French as Sutton’s founder, it is unlikely the prospect of a town was involved in Mr. French’s land decisions, much less the prospect of a park. He appears to have been a farmer just looking for a place to plant wheat.

John Maltby arrived early the next year to claim a homestead to the south of French’s and soon convinced Luther to subdivide his homestead into 600 lots for the town of Sutton which French immediately began to sell off to newly arriving townspeople. In the fall of 1871, French sold the last 400 un-sold lots to the Clark brothers, moved further down School Creek into Fillmore County acquiring another plot of ground for his wheat and resumed farming.

French’s sale of his homestead became central to the dispute that Sutton had with the Burlington Railroad when French fumbled the proper legal sequence involving recording land sales negating a deal railroad officials believed they’d completed.

The park site was the venue for an early patriotic gathering in response to the governor’s call for every Nebraska town to recognize the nation’s centennial on July 4, 1876. Dr. Martin Clark was in charge bringing in the town’s largest wagon for a stage and a crowd gathered for the occasion on the south banks of School Creek north of today’s Maple Street between Maltby and Way.

A band of Omaha Indians made the future park grounds their semi-annual campground as they traded with their favorite merchant and store: I. N. Clark and his hardware store. Dr. Martin Clark once offended one Indian gathering when he refused to sell their sick chief “medicinal” whiskey.

Sutton's Movers & Shakers at the gazebo about 1902.

Martin Clark was practicing medicine and I.N. Clark was operated a store and a boarding house when they became Sutton’s first serious developers with the original lots from French’s homestead and their additions to the west. But from the very beginning they had identified four blocks along School Creek as the location for a city park, a feature no self-respecting town could do without.

Martin and I.N. entered serious negotiations to donate this prize four square blocks to the city of Sutton for the park – negotiating not with the city, but with Mary Clark, Mrs. Martin V.B. Clark. Mary Clark and the other Mary Clark (both Mrs. Clarks were named Mary) were co-owners of the park property with their husbands. Mary (Mrs. I.N.) signed the documents along with the two men but Mrs. Martin dearly loved the trees along School Creek and could not bear to give them up refusing to sign.

The donation Sutton City Park property began in 1873 then dragged on and on. The town was using the property as a park; the trees shaded picnics, Indian encampments and other normal park activities. The pressure from both of the Clark gentlemen and sister-in-law Mary could not convince Mrs. Martin Clark to sign off on the property transfer for ten long years.

“Along the County Line” written by Rita Haviland and Jeanette Motichka and compiled by Nellie and Anne Sheridan tells the story of Mary Clark’s resistance. Finally in 1883 and because of her husband the deed was done and the deed for the park was transferred to the City of Sutton recognizing the first conveyance to the public in 1873..

Meandering School Creek carried on a lengthy battle with the city of Sutton by flooding the park every few years until town officials fought back straightening the channel. The new banks obliterated the precise location of the original French dugout site but it did orphan the southeast corner of the park which the city graciously enabled the Sutton Historical Society to acquire for the Wolfe School Museum.

Sutton’s City Park is one of the fine assets of the town with open spaces, a well-used pavilion and a fine feature-filled swimming pool. And it enjoys a long and interesting history.

This article first appeared in the July, 2010 issue of Sutton Life Magazine. For information about the magazine contact neighborhoodlife@yahoo.com or Mustang, Inc., 510 W. Cedar, Sutton, NE 68979.

Sutton's Population & Business Story

2010-10-31T19:23:00.000-05:00

Sutton is an agricultural community. No surprise there. The dependence of our community on the surrounding farming activity dictated how the town grew and then declined and the nature of the town over its 140 years.

Sutton blossomed quickly after 1871 to about 1000 people in just ten years and to a peak population of near 2000 around 1900. Then a decline in population began that has stabilized at just less than 1500.

The population trends of the area are better illustrated by the population of Clay County as shown in census figures:

1860 - 165

1870 - 54

1880 – 11294

1890 – 16310

1900 – 15735

1910 – 15729

1920 – 14486

1930 – 13571

1940 – 10445

1950 – 8700

1960 – 8717

1970 – 8266

1980 – 8106

1990 – 7123

2000 – 7039

The current county population is about 43% of the peak population while Sutton has declined to about 75% of its peak. Other county communities have also generally declined at a rate closer to the Sutton rate than the county as a whole confirming our suspicion that the loss of farm population has been the driving factor in the decline. Farms got bigger; people got fewer.

My common comment when describing this area while I was living elsewhere was that it took twice as much farmland to raise a family each generation. That’s probably understated. It may be closer to two and a half to three times as much land to raise a family each succeeding generation. It was not unusual for five or six farm families to live in a section at one time. What’s that number today? One?

The peak farm population required robust communities to provide goods and services locally and county towns grew accordingly. Travel to Hastings or Grand Island to buy shoes and groceries wasn’t practical by horse and buggy or by Model A.

Fortunately we have two comprehensive lists of businesses in Sutton to help understand the business activity of our community. The Nebraska State Gazetteer of 1890 - 91 (found at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~neclay/claybus.html) gives us a list of the town’s businesses in 1891. Dale Stough’s History of Hamilton and Clay Counties has a similar list for 1921.

From the 1891 list we learn that Sutton had five general merchandise stores, six dry goods and clothing stores, four grocery stores, four confectionaries, three meat markets, three druggists, two shoemakers, a jeweler and a tailor. There were four livery stables, three ag implement stores, four blacksmiths, two grain elevators and a lumber yard. There were two hotels, three banks, four attorneys, four physicians and a dentist.

These statistics are a little suspicious. From newspaper ads it seems that generally there were more than the single dentist or barber and more than just two saloons. But generally, we have an idea that Sutton was a thriving commercial center. Overall, there were almost 75 businesses in town.

By 1921 the business profile had shifted some. There were still eight stores of various kinds, still three meat markets, four grain elevators, six physicians, two dentists, two mills and two lumber yards. The livery stables had been transformed in to six garages. Sutton was down to a single confectionary shop and one hotel at that time. There was still a harness maker and three creameries were on the list.

Many of us remember well the creamery business. Most farmers milked cows and kept a sizable flock of laying hens. Saturday nights found farmers lined up at the creameries delivering their five-gallon cans of cream and those 15 and 30 dozen egg crates. After an appropriate wait in the car for the cream to be tested and the eggs counted, they returned to the creamery to collect their payment, maybe six to eight dollars but enough to buy the week’s groceries.

Filling stations are another indicator of past activity. We believe there were 17 locations of stations in Sutton with as many as a dozen operating at one time.

These businesses provided employment for a sizable work force of town’s people including many single men besides local families. Boarders were listed in several homes with various occupations. The 1880 census includes one of the hotels in which more than 40 people were listed as residents, only a few of which were members of families. Most were listed as laborers but specific occupations included saloon keeper, painter, tailor, and furniture dealer. The hotel itself provided employment for the manager, his wife, four resident servants and a clerk.

The town of Sutton was a robust community in its day, as were most of the neighboring towns. Sutton is holding its own today - much of those neighboring towns, not so much.

This article appeared in the June, 2010 issue of Sutton Life Magazine. For information about the magazine contact neighborhoodlife@yahoo.com or Mustang Inc., 510 West Cedar, Sutton, NE 68979.

Sutton's Pioneer Gray Family

2010-10-31T19:18:00.000-05:00

Emma Gray

Visitors to the Sutton Museum are familiar with the Gray family. Displays include Emma’s dress from 1871 and a calendar picture from the J. M. Gray Lumber and Building Material business. Both houses at the museum were built by John and Emma Gray and their dining room set has returned. Emma inspired the name of Aunt Emma’s Tea House.

So who were the Gray’s?

Hosea Gray, his son John M., son-in-law George W. Bemis, Wilson Cunning and his wife came by covered wagon to School Creek on May 4, 1871 where only Luther French lived in his dugout.

P. McTighe built a shanty for a store next to the Gray’s first dwelling within a few days and Curran, Higgins and Kearney & Kelley opened their saloons. The School Creek settlement was underway.

Hosea Gray was born in Pennsylvania in 1816, lived in Indiana and Illinois and made it to Iowa in 1839. He served as Linn County sheriff for four terms, practiced law, and was Clerk of the District Court retiring in 1850. He then bought a 640 acre stock farm and in 1856 was a member of the state’s Constitutional Convention. In April, 1861 he formed a company in the Sixth Iowa Infantry serving two years before a serious illness forced him from the front lines. He finished the war as a Lieutenant Colonel recruiting and training troops.

Col. Gray returned from the war to his farm and family. His wife died in 1869 and two years later he headed west to the banks of School Creek.

Hosea and John started a lumber yard on August 24^th of 1871 the day after Thurlow Weed’s carload of lumber arrived from Lincoln. The Gray lumber yard was on the west side of Way Avenue, north of the tracks.

John’s wife Emma and Ada Augusta Bemis joined their husbands early that summer. Emma Wolcott was born in 1850 in Elizabeth, Illinois. Her father died of injuries in the Civil War.

Ada Bemis was the daughter of Hosea Gray and wife of George W. Bemis. Her accounts of pioneer days in Sutton can be found online. A search using “Ada Bemis Sutton Nebraska” returns “Nebraska Trailblazer #5” and “The Easter Blizzard” at nebraskahistory.org. Hers was the first piano in the area and her performances were in great demand.

George and Ada Bemis moved their family to York where she helped organize the first branch of the WCTU west of Lincoln. Daughter Anna Gray Bemis married first a Mr. Cutler and later a Mr. Palmer. She contributed her name and funding for the Anna Bemis Palmer Museum in York. A display honoring Anna is to the right of the door as you enter.

Two sons of George and Ada Bemis entered the publishing business. George Jr. edited J. Sterling Morton’s “Conservative” and was the first editor of the Lincoln Star. As a member of the First Nebraska Infantry in the Spanish-American War, George Bemis, Jr. was one of the first ten men into Manila after it was taken. His brother Eugene was editor and columnist with “The New Teller” in York from 1911 until 1949. The family of his wife, Kate Houston generously contributed a copy of Eugene’s book, “The Squawker Book” to the Sutton Museum. The book is a collection of the humorist’s poems and columns and gets off to a great start with the dedication: “We ain’t mad at nobody”.

Back in Sutton, Eugenia Maria Gray, another daughter of Homer Gray married Samuel Carney in 1878. Carney came to Sutton from Pennsylvania and worked in I. N. Clark’s hardware store. He purchased the business from I. N. and later passed it on to his son Samuel Gray Carney. The younger Sam Carney hired a young fellow named Les Bauer to work in the hardware store. Les carried that lineage of Sutton hardware businesses into the memory of many of us.

Many of the Sutton pioneers played their part and moved on with little trace of the families remaining. The Gray family name may have faded but the extended Gray family left some distinguished tracks.

This article appeared in the May, 2010 issue of Sutton Life Magazine. For information about the magazine contact neighborhoodlife@yahoo.com or Mustang Inc., 510 West Cedar, Sutton, NE 68979.

Sutton Street Names or "Why Saunders Avenue?"

2010-06-30T21:10:00.000-05:00

The first settlers on the Great Plains faced open territory and a blank map. One of their chores as they filled the territory was to also fill the map with names for physical features they found and created. Sutton has about 40 named streets and avenues. Where did those names come from; that is, who or what is a Saunders?

Our east-west thoroughfares are streets and avenues run north and south. We can account for most of the streets very quickly with the “Tree Theme”. From the township line north of the park we have an almost alphabetical list of tree-related names to the south: Ash, Beech, Cedar, Maple (Wrong! Why not Dogwood?), Elm, Forest and Grove (not kinds of trees, but OK), Hickory, Ivy (once was “Joy Street”), Laurel and Myrtle. (No “K”. Can you think of one?).

But why trees? If there was one thing early explorers, Oregon Trail Diarists and settlers all agreed upon, it was that THERE WERE NO TREES. The township southwest of Clay Center is even named “Lone Tree”.

South of the tree section are three streets between Myrtle and Highway 6. A banker by the name of Fowler developed that addition and named Helen, Anna and George streets. Betty and Roger Sheridan gave the historical society several photos collected over the years and one is labeled “Fowler girls, Helen, Anna, Madge, Geo. Fowler” - Madge didn’t get her street.

Crossing back to the north of the park the first little street north of Ash Street is Lake Street. Let’s call names like this a “descriptive name.” Such descriptive names are the second major category and reflect some feature that struck the founder’s fancy. Was there a lake or a pond north of Ash where the little creek comes from the west? Don’t know. Just north of Lake is Ridge Street. Sounds like another descriptive name and barring discovering a Mr. Lake or a Mr. Ridge somewhere in Sutton’s past, let’s picture a ridge over a lake here, or someone’s imagination of them.

Next is Lincoln Street. Perhaps more time and effort would uncover whether this street is officially named for President Lincoln or the state capitol city. A research projects like this is a “work in progress.” Suggestions welcome. The west end of Lincoln Street becomes Crestridge Circle Drive – another descriptive name.

Next is North Street and it is “in the north part of town”, yet another descriptive name. Then we have Ada Street. This section of town was once owned by Hosea Gray and George Bemis. Col. Gray’s daughter Ada was married to George Bemis. Ada was a gracious host and a fine musician with Sutton’s first piano. And with her own street.

North of the school and in line with the entrance to the cemetery is N. Silver Street Richard S. Silver arrived in Sutton in April, 1878 and owned 400 acres on the north edge of town. Silver was an important name in early Sutton but that name disappeared with the death of Cessna Silver in 1966.

That’s the streets; now for the avenues.

To the east of the middle of town are Maltby, Way, Main and French Avenues. Main Avenue was supposed to be the “main” street of Sutton and the first businesses were built on Main Avenue north of the Burlington tracks. Within just a few months, businesses began to migrate three blocks west to build on Saunders Avenue leading to the ambiguity and confusion that we are still dealing with today. Luther French, John Maltby and William Way were the three homesteaders of the three eighties that make up Sutton Original Town and the First Addition (about Ash to Helen and James to French).

Our project here takes an “incomplete” east of Route 6. Calvert, Phillips, Dorr, Owen and Dennis Avenues all appear to be named after people. Thomas Calvert was a Burlington railroad engineer in 1871 who worked on the Crete-Kearney section of track just as it was built. The state historical society has a story about him in its web site. That might be where this name came from – might be.

Dr. Charles Phillips was a dentist in Sutton but only from about 1905 until 1908. He is unlikely to be the source of this name, but possible – raise your hand if you know better.

There were Dorr’s in early Nebraska but none appear to have a any Sutton Connection, likewise Owen’s, though Mr. Owen Miles built the first school house and it was to the east of the main part of town, but that isn’t likely either. We can do better with Dennis Street. The Dennis family owned property to the east of town in the vicinity of Dennis Street (should have been an avenue). There is a Burlington Avenue out on the east edge of town – did you know that?

Two descriptive names complete the east end of town, Terrace and Crestview Drives and Commercial Avenue is appropriate for its role along the highway to the southeast.

Near the north end of town is the one-block Gray Avenue – clearly named for the Gray family which owned this property. Horseshoe Avenue is recent and someone surely remembers the rationale for it. Was it descriptive of the intended shape or to recognize a horse pasture or something else?

Now, back downtown where we come to the governors. Alvin Saunders was Nebraska’s last territorial Governor serving from 1861-1867 and was later a senator from the state. Our founders saw fit to recognize the gentleman though they did not intend for the honor to be associated with the “main street” of the town. To the west are Butler and James Avenues named for David Christy Butler and William Hartford James, the first two governors of the State of Nebraska.

The west end of Sutton was developed by a very early businessman, I. N. Clark and his brother Dr. Martin V. B. Clark, the first doctor in town. Immediately west of James Avenue is …. Clark Avenue – no mystery there. Next is Glen Avenue. Clark’s Pond was first named Glen Lake, hence the name Glen Avenue. O.K., that begs the question of where did “Glen” come from? There doesn’t seem to have been anyone in the Clark family by that name. Perhaps the area of the lake/pond reminded someone of a little glen, suppose?

The rest of the avenues to the west are Park, Myra, Grand, Roy and Euclid. Park Avenue is on the west side of the Clark’s Pond and looks like a park even today. And the Clark’s must have thought that the town should have a Grand Avenue. Myra and Roy were two of I. N. Clark’s children so we only have Euclid left.

Why is an avenue in Sutton named after a Greek mathematician from 300 BCE? This is my favorite guess in the project. Euclid Avenue is in the Clark Additions so one of the brothers probably named it avenue. Isaac named two avenues after his kids so Euclid may be brother Martin’s contribution.

The Clark’s grew up in Parma, Ohio, now a south suburb of Cleveland. Off to the east is another suburb, Euclid. But what would be the connection? Dr. Martin Clark went to medical school at Western Reserve University, now Case Western. The main street of the Case Western University campus is also the major street that connects downtown Cleveland to the distant suburb of Euclid and is called ... Euclid Avenue. This guess is that Dr. Clark must have had some fond memories of that street that bisected his medical college. Maybe he lived on that street, or someone special did.

Dr. Clark also had a reputation as a serious student of science. He organized a local science club and once engaged in early “C.S.I.-type” work in a criminal investigation. It fits that he might recognize a man of science from over 2,000 years ago given the chance.

That concludes our mental trip across town north and south, east and west. There may be some literature buried about town where someone indentified all of the sources of street and avenue names and they may have found better answers that these. But until that literature surfaces we’ll declare this a first draft of a continuing effort. We’ll continue to look for Dorr and Phillips and the rest. Suggestions welcome.

This article appeared in the March and April issues of Sutton Life Magazine. For information about the magazine contact neighborhoodlife@yahoo.com or Mustang Inc., 510 West Cedar, Sutton, NE 68979.

Sutton in the Census

2010-06-30T21:03:00.000-05:00

From the U. S. Constitution, Article I, Section 2: “The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the

United States

The purpose of the census is to provide population statistics to adjust the boundaries of Congressional districts but data collection has grown as has the usefulness of the information.

Just a few years ago census records were available on microfilm at Mormon libraries at temples and in the largest stakes. Many of us spent hours and hours in darkened rooms at the library just west of Temple Square in Salt Lake City poring over film after film. Now, it is almost too easy. Census records are online and indexed. What used to take multiple sessions can be done in minutes. The genealogy web site www.ancestry.com is a robust and easily accessible repository. There is a modest subscription fee, but when compared to traveling to spend hours or days in a library, it’s a fair price.

This article appeared in the February, 2010 issue of Sutton Life Magazine. For information about Sutton Life contact neighborhoodlife@yahoo.com or Mustang, Inc., 510 West Cedar, Sutton, NE 68979.

Betsy Swanson - A Little Story Behind a Small Gravestone

2010-06-30T20:46:00.000-05:00

Her name was Betsy and a gravestone in the Saronville Lutheran Cemetery tells us she died in 1944 at the age of 90. Odds are that few people today know anything of this woman. Oh, there may be a relative or two who lists her in their family tree, or maybe her name would trigger a long lost memory for someone. But for the most part, Betsy, like so many others left few tracks as clues to lives lived, either well or ill.

For many of us History is the story of people and a small item stumbled upon, a little perseverance and some luck just might uncover a story worth telling.

A photo of Betsy and her spinning wheel appeared in the Hastings Tribune and Sutton Register in 1935 with an article about her demonstration of spinning skills at a Hastings College craft exhibit. Fortunately for us, the author saw fit to tell some of Betsy’s story.

Many of the immigrants to Sutton came as groups who shared a common story. Others arrived as the main character in their own little story. Betsy was in the second category. She remembered her childhood home in Sweden and leaving with her parents and others to seek the land of Zion described by an agent of Brigham Young.

They crossed the Atlantic and a third of the continent to St. Louis. A riverboat took them up the Missouri River to the village of Florence just north of Omaha. They left Florence by ox cart in June, 1863 concluding this long trek in the desert village of Salt Lake City in October. But life in Zion did not match the promises made in Sweden.

Betsy began as a “nurse girl” and at age 13 was earning $1.50 a week carding wool and spinning from 5 a.m. until 11 p.m. Four years of autocratic life wore thin on the Hakanson family. They joined a wagon train bound east to Julesburg, Colorado at the west end of the Union Pacific railroad. This wagon train was attacked by Indians with one man in their party killed and another injured. A much safer train ride brought Betsy and her parents to Council Bluffs, Iowa where her father became a railroad section foreman and Betsy a domestic servant in a private home.

Betsy married Oscar Swanson in 1870 and the newly-weds moved to their eighty acre homestead on School Creek. The 17-year-old bride found herself the Lady of the House in the first lumber dwelling built in the Sutton precinct. There were few settlers in the area and the town at the time featured three saloons but no stores.

This young lady had packed a lot of living into her first 17 years. The very next year she became a small footnote to our local history when she boarded the Burlington train in Lincoln at 6 a.m. one October morning in 1871 and became the first woman to ride the train from Lincoln to Sutton – a ten-hour trip.

Oscar and Betsy lived on the homestead until 1900 when they moved to Sutton for four years before building a new home in Saronville. They raised two sons, Charles and John who farmed in the Sutton area. A short biography of Oscar appeared in the History of Hamilton and Clay Counties published in 1921.

Betsy’s spinning wheel traveled with her on this adventure that was her life. She resurrected it out of her attic after Oscar died as she became active in reviving interest in handcraft work. That interest led to the small item in the paper preserving her story for us.

Betsy Hakanson Swanson is only one of the thousands of pioneers and settlers whose stories are steadily dimming as time goes by. Is it critically important that we save each and every one of these stories? Probably not critically important, but our lives seem much richer if we include them in our collective memory. And Betsy, like so many others, deserves no less.

This article appeared in the January, 2010 Sutton Life Magazine. Information about the magazine is available at neighborhoodlife@yahoo.com or Mustang, Inc., 510 West Cedar, Sutton, NE 68979.

Sutton's War with the Burlington Railroad

2010-01-31T22:38:00.000-06:00

The railroad was important on the prairie, probably critical to the success of every settlement that tried to become a town. Sutton’s fight to secure its railroad and a station is almost a classic tale.

The Burlington & Missouri Railroad laid its first rail in Sutton on August 12^th, 1871. Mr. Wilsey, an attorney from Crete representing the railroad met with Luther French in his dugout and negotiated a contract deeding a right-of-way through town to the railroad in exchange for the promise of a Sutton depot.

The railroad parked a boxcar in Sutton and called it a depot. It was known as “124” and that number was painted on a bleached buffalo skull nailed to one end of the car.

Shortly after that, Mr. French sold his interests in Sutton to the Clark brothers. This deed was filed before the French-railroad deed voiding the agreement for the depot and apparently upsetting railroad officials.

These officials denied the existence of the town of Sutton and certainly of any station. The fact that Sutton had a number of saloons seemed troublesome too. And the claim dispute between homesteader Vroman and alleged claim jumpers, Maltby and Way was a complication as well.

In December, the railroad moved the boxcar depot with the buffalo skull to a new town 4 miles east called Grafton, site of four houses and a general store of Marthis & Robbins.

The town citizens deputized Mr. T. Weed in January, 1872 to go to Crete offering the railroad one-half of the unsold Clark, Maltby and Way eighties plus Maltby and Way threw in twenty acres of their best land for the depot: Col. Doane representing the railroad wanted two-thirds of the unsold lots and the depot land. The deal fell through.

I. N. Clark was negotiating with other railroad representatives at the same time with no better success. Winter was setting in and the settlers were dependent on the railroad for fuel and food. The town’s love-hate relationship with the railroad was well underway.

Accounts of this story often include another “issue”. Railroad officials had a “call system” in mind for naming stations alphabetically as they moved west – Ashland, Berkes, Crete, Dorchester, Exeter, Fairmont, Grafton, etc. No Sutton.

An important revenue source for the railroad was the U.S. Mails. But train crews would not stop to pick up and leave mail at Sutton as stopping would enable passengers to get off and on the train making the stop a “station”. Mail car workers and postmaster A. C. Burlingame worked out a system in which mail was thrown from the moving train and mail bags were grabbed from Burlingame’s hands. Soon Burlingame tired of this dangerous procedure and just left the mail in his post office, as was his right.

Burlingame reported all this to the Postal Department and the government ordered that the railroad was responsible for getting mail from Burlingame’s post office to their station in Grafton at a cost of $400 a year.

The railroad response was to put up a crane opposite Gray’s lumber yard expecting the postmaster to hang his mail bag so they could grab it as the train went by. A few days later the mail car worker spotted the first bag on the crane and grabbed it only to be nearly pulled from the car by the weight – of a dead dog in the bag.

Next, the railroad’s watering tank near Harvard was dry and the company offered to stop at a tank near Sutton and have the mail exchanged there. This required the Post Office to provide the mail carrier to the water tank under the rules.

Sutton settlers’ patience finally ran out. One night they took teams to Grafton where they had previously purchased every building including the general store. The next morning the train crews found just one company-owned building at the Grafton site, not even old “124”.

George Bemis memorialized that night’s work with a poem, “Grafton to Sutton”. Visit www.suttonhistoricalsociety.blogspot.com to read the poem.

Sutton got its depot in 1873. The buffalo skull from “124” was preserved by the Sheridan family. Max and Regina Leininger promised “Aunt Nellie Sheridan” that some day it would become a Sutton Artifact in a museum. You can visit the skull in the front porch at the Historic House at 309 N. Way Ave. just a few dozen yards north of where that first mail bag surprised the fellow in the mail car.

This posting first appeared as an article by Jerry Johnson in the December 2009 issue of Sutton Life Magazine, 510 West Cedar, Sutton NE 68979

I. N. Clark, Mr. Sutton

2010-01-31T22:35:00.000-06:00

In downtown Sutton, north of the tracks and on the west side of Saunders Avenue, in the midst of row of red brick buildings sits a single gray, almost white building. High on the face of the building is the inscription “I N CLARK” referring to Isaac Newton Clark.

Few individuals get to face the challenges and opportunities of building a town. A long list of skills, knowledge, experience and talent were needed to develop a new town. Legal expertise was needed to formalize land ownership and to create and organize the town and its government. Brokers were needed to handle property exchanges. Merchants had to build stores, find sources of goods and create a business. Some products had to be manufactured locally. New towns needed all kinds of people. Sutton got I. N. Clark.

Isaac Newton Clark was born near Cleveland, Ohio on June 18, 1836. He left the farm to attend a Teachers’ Institute at Hiram College where he received his certificate from James Garfield, President of the college, and later President of the United States. Clark taught school and farmed in Ohio and Illinois until June, 1861 when he enlisted and was mustered into the Twenty-fifth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Within a few months, an inflammation seriously limited the vision in his left eye and he was honorably discharged.

He returned to Ohio and in September, 1863 married Miss Mary Miner, a twenty-five year old teacher with eleven years experience. The young couple moved to Champaign, Illinois where he farmed and helped form Hensley Township where he was Town Clerk, Assessor and Collector. Clark farmed until 1871 when he and a younger brother Martin, a physician, headed west to find a new location for a business. At the end of the Burlington & Missouri Railroad in Nebraska they found Sutton.

I. N. & Dr. Martin Clark also found Luther French in Sutton who’d recently formed the town on his homestead. French had 400 unsold lots which Clark brothers purchased for $4000. On November 1, 1871 they opened the first store on the railroad west of Crete. They then built a building 20X60 feet in which Dr. Clark opened a drug store and ten days later, Isaac opened a hardware store. This building was called the Clark House and later became a hotel and rooming house. By the fall of 1872 the hardware business had grown to warrant yet another building.

The drug and hardware businesses were vital to the early development of the town with customers from throughout the surrounding areas. Among those customers were the Omaha Indians. A band of about 400 Indians camped on School Creek on their annual hunt and traded with the Clark hardware store for ammunition, hunter’s and trapper’s outfits and supplies. This roving band returned annually for several years afterwards camping near town for days and trading. The Indians campsite was in a popular picnic area for Sutton. It sat on about twelve acres of the French/Clark property where School Creek made a horseshoe bend. Negotiations began as early as 1872 to donate this area to the city for a park. The legal transfer of the park did not occur until 1883 but that’s another story, but a good one involving the railroad and a stubborn lady who loved trees. A monument in the center of the City Park commemorates the Clark brothers’ generosity to their adopted town.

As Sutton developed, Isaac Clark took on additional roles. He was elected a member of the Board of Village Trustees in 1876. Later that year when Sutton became a town, he was the first mayor and was reelected in 1878.

The Methodist Episcopal Church decided to build a new church in 1876 and chose Mr. Clark as Chairman of their Board of Trustees. He organized the Sutton Brick Company manufacturing bricks for that structure and others in the area. The kiln factory remains a Sutton attraction today, though fairly well hidden out on the north edge of town.

Dr. Martin Clark and I. N. Clark’s property was quickly sold off to new arrivals in town. I. N. Clark pursued the real estate business vigorously developing the Clark Addition to the west and later a Second Clark Addition. His modestly named Glen Lake development on a branch of School Creek was used for boating and fishing and yielded hundreds of tons of ice annually, the primary source for the town. Glen Lake was later more properly named Clark’s Pond.

I. N. and Mary Clark had five children. Twins Harry and Davie were born in Illinois though Davie died in their first year. Myra and Albert (Bertie) were also born in Illinois and Roy was born in Sutton. Myra graduated in Sutton High’s first class in 1884 and Bertie graduated two years later. The Chancellor of the State University attended Myra’s graduation and a special test that was given to her to determine if local graduates qualified for higher education. She was the first to enter the State University with no further examination. Bertie continued in business in Sutton including operating the ice business for twenty years. He identified his occupation in the 1910 census as “ice dealer”. He married Mayme Wieden, perhaps the most interesting woman of early Sutton. She became deputy postmaster immediately upon high school graduation in 1894. There was almost no religious, social, civic or educational activity that she wasn’t deeply involved in.

The Clark residences became Sutton landmarks. Isaac and Bertie’s houses still grace West Cedar Street. Isaac’s, the more modest, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as an example of Gothic Revival architecture. Bertie’s house is a somewhat more substantial structure across the pond which looks down on that pond where Bertie collected and marketed his ice each winter.

All frontier towns need a variety of skilled and talented people. They needed merchants, developers, entrepreneurs, realtors, builders, politicians and visionaries. Sutton had a number of people who fit into some of those roles. But in Isaac Newton Clark, Sutton had all of those in one guy.

Mary Minor Clark died in 1916 at the age of 78. Dr. Martin Clark and Bertie Clark both died in 1922. Isaac Newton Clark died in 1927 at the age of 90. Mayme Wieden Clark lived to be 88 and died in 1963.

The Sutton Historical Society is honoring the founders and early settlers of Sutton with a sidewalk of inscribed commemorative bricks at the Historic House on Way Avenue. Everyone is invited to honor their own family members, especially those of the pioneer era by joining the society in this program. You are also invited to “adopt” or help to honor our important founders, like the Clarks, who have no descendants still living. The program is the major museum fundraiser and will provide much-needed repair of the sidewalk. Bricks are one hundred dollars each or three for $225.

This posting first appeared as an article by Jerry Johnson in the October, 2009 issue of Sutton Life Magazine, 510 West Cedar, Sutton, NE 68979

Sutton, the Sudden Settlement

2010-01-31T22:31:00.000-06:00

The early settlement of the Sutton community burst onto the prairie much like a coiled spring. When Luther French located his homestead as the north half of the northwest quarter of Section 2, Township 7, Range 5 on March 14^th, 1870, a lengthy prologue had already been written.

The Platte and the Blue Rivers had been thoroughfares for westward travelers for decades. As early as 1843, as many as 1000 emigrants passed through present-day Clay County on the way to Oregon, a stream of migration that continued until 1869. A surge of gold prospectors dashing across the plains beginning in 1849 turned into a steady migration of California settlers. Over 40,000 Mormons used a trail north of the Platte River between 1847 and 1860 on their trek to Salt Lake City. And the Central Pacific railroad was completed in 1869. Military posts and way stations were positioned along the trails and rails providing protection and support. Transportation and communication links through south-central Nebraska were robust and active.

The uprising of plains Indians in 1864 along the Big Blue and Republican Rivers marked their last desperate effort to stem the tide of settlers. The U.S. Army was able concentrate on securing the West after the end of the Civil War in 1865. The end of the war also released thousands of soldiers who had just learned that there was life beyond Dad’s farm back East. Statehood came to Nebraska in 1867 and the stage was set for a major population explosion on the plains.

Luther French lit the fuse for the town of Sutton. His claim became the site of the town and we recognize him as our first settler. The area of the claim is bounded on the north by Ash Street and on the west by James. The south side slices the north downtown business district a bit north of Cornerstone bank and the east end of this “80” is just past highway 6.

Did you think homesteads were 160 acres? You’re right, generally. An exception was for claims within “railroad land”. Railroads received an incentive from the government for building on the frontier. Alternating sections for 10 miles on either side of the track were deeded to the railroad which could sell that land to fund the enterprise. So the government gave the railroads ten square miles of land for each mile of track laid. Or 1.21 acres per foot of track, a tenth of an acre for each inch…, you get the idea. Within each strip of railroad land, homesteads were 80 acres.

The second homesteader in Sutton was James C. Vroman who filed for the 160 acres just south of French’s claim. Vroman’s claim stretches from the north business district to a bit south of Myrtle Street. “What?” you ask. “How did Vroman get 160 acres?” Well, the first exception had a second exception. Veterans could claim 160 acre homesteads even within the railroad strip. Got it? Well, Vroman didn’t, but more on that later.

We’re now into the spring of 1871. Luther French sowed some wheat on his claim. Hosea W. Gray, his son John, son-in-law George Bemis and W. Cunning and his wife arrived and settled in. A few days later Mr. P. McTighe put up a board shanty and sold groceries and whiskey, the community’s first business. Kearney & Kelly, P. H. Curran and Martin Higgins quickly opened their businesses too, three saloons. These first businesses were on Main Avenue where downtown Sutton was originally intended to be located. The particular nature of this neighborhood led to its unofficial name of “Whiskey Row” and to a subsequent effort by the more upstanding town’s folk to relocate downtown to Saunders Avenue. The Burlington railroad had a hand in the move, but that’s another story.

Other business commenced but we need to return to our soldier-homesteader. Vroman was short of money so after filing his claim he went to work on the railroad further west. Homestead rules allowed a six month lag between filing a claim and when the claim must be occupied. However, John R. Maltby and William A. Way came from Crete and each filed their own 80 acre claim on Vroman’s quarter, or they “jumped the claim” as it was then called. Maltby and Way contested Vroman’s claim in Lincoln and in Washington. Vroman didn’t know of this action, didn’t show up and his claim was canceled. Hence, today Sutton has a Maltby Avenue and a Way Avenue but no Vroman Avenue.

The Burlington and Missouri River Railroad arrived in School Creek, as the community was first named, on August 1, 1871. On August 10^th John Maltby suggested that Luther French survey his claim into a town site of 600 lots and name the new town “Sutton” after Sutton, Massachusetts, Matlby’s back-east home.

On August 23, 1871, Thurlow Weed brought a carload of lumber from Lincoln to start the first lumber yard. John Gray’s load of lumber arrived a day later to become the second yard. R.G. Brown built a small building on Saunders Avenue on November 1, 1871 beginning the move of the business district from Main Avenue. This building was used as the first court house for the newly organized Clay County.

Luther French arrived on the banks of School Creek in March, 1870 to raise some wheat. Settlers began arriving early in 1871 and by that November French’s homestead had become a rapidly growing town and the county seat. It had a railroad and a booming business district and the coiled spring had been unleashed.

This posting first appeared as an article by Jerry Johnson in the September, 2009 issue of Sutton Life Magazine, 510 West Cedar, Sutton NE 68979

Sutton: Small Town, Large Story

2010-01-31T22:26:00.000-06:00

The story of Sutton, Nebraska began less than 140 years ago, just three years after Nebraska entered the union. The story of Sutton is a pioneer story, an agricultural story, a business story and a success story. But mainly it is a people story. There have been visionaries, entrepreneurs, immigrants, opportunists, and even a scoundrel or two. But mainly the story is about hundreds of hard-working merchants and farmers, their employees and their families.

The early days of Sutton’s history was surprisingly well documented. The governor asked that a Centennial History be compiled for the Fourth of July in 1876. Dr. Martin Clark contributed Sutton’s six-year story to that history and read it at the town’s own July 4^th celebration. Just six years later, A. T. Andreas published a History of the State of Nebraska telling the stories of each county and town in the state. The Sutton section is full of details and contains biographies of several of the pioneers in town.

A huge two-volume History of Hamilton and Clay Counties appeared in 1921. One volume is a fine history of the two-county area. The second volume contains almost 250 biographies of early settlers and the “movers and shakers”.

The next several decades did not enjoy quite the attention at those first years. In 1968 Anne and Nellie Sheridan compiled the pioneer story of John and Ellen Sheridan. “Along the County Line” was written by Rita Joyce Haviland and Jeanette Joyce Motichka from that work. That story of a pioneer family that settled along the Clay-Fillmore county line includes a wealth of material about Sutton filling in some of the information void of those decades.

Many Sutton area pioneers came from the Eastern part of the state, neighboring states and points further east. European immigrants played a big part in the local settlements. Germans, Swedes, Danes, Bohemians, Czechs and Irish concentrated in certain towns and villages throughout the plains. The largest single immigrant group to Sutton was the Germans from Russia. Their story in Sutton has been well documented by Theodore C. Wenzlaff and James R. Griess. Jim Griess published “The German-Russians: Those Who Came to Sutton” in 1968. Ted Wenzlaff followed in 1974 with “Pioneers on Two Continents, The Ochsner-Griess History and Genealogy”. Just last year, Jim Griess updated his book producing an ambitious volume of well over 300 large-format pages. These works distinguish Sutton as an important location in the story of this particular immigrant group which settled from the Dakotas into Kansas and Colorado.

Don Russell and the Clay County News published a Pictorial History of Sutton in 1977. This volume of almost 100 pages of early photos gives us a visual history of early Sutton.

As many as five or six newspapers have been published in Sutton which provides a week-by-week chronicle of details about Sutton happenings. Then there are the many unpublished diaries, letters, family histories, etc. that add much to our understanding.

Early citizens of the town of Sutton were intensely social creatures. Numerous lodges thrived in the small town. The people were far more mobile that you might suspect. Four or five trains stopped in Sutton, each way, daily, and people hopped aboard for Lincoln, Omaha, Chicago, St. Joe, Denver, the coasts, even Europe on a near regular basis.

The townsfolk receive good coverage in the old newspapers, the farmers – not as much. We need to dig a bit deeper to learn the story of that crucial element of Sutton’s history. But it is worth it.

This posting first appeared as part of an article by Jerry Johnson in the August, 2009 issue of Sutton Life Magazine, 510 West Cedar, Sutton, NE 68979.

George Bemis's poem, "Grafton to Sutton"

2009-12-12T17:41:00.000-06:00

Sutton’s first struggle to survive was a struggle against the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad. The story ended when a few Sutton settlers quietly purchased all but one of the buildings in Grafton, the railroad’s choice for the local town, and towed the depot to Sutton one night with a couple of teams.. This Grafton was just four miles east of Sutton; the present town of Grafton was settled later further to the east.

George W. Bemis celebrated this event in 1872 with a poem that was published in the State Journal the next year.

GRAFTON TO SUTTON.

"What a clanking of hammers and ringing of saws;

How they sound through the valleys and ring in the draws;

Oh! Sutton is growing, in the midst of the fray,

With the city of Grafton only four miles away.

"How the B. & M. engines shriek, whistle and squall,

And send forth the order that Sutton must fall;

How they thunder and mutter and groan night and day,

With the city of Grafton only three miles away.

"Then came Mr. Marthis, and thus he did say,

'I am tried of Grafton; if only I may,

I'll come down to Sutton, without delay.'

Soon Grafton will be only two miles away.

"Then started the wagons and horses and men,

The steeds, how they foamed, as a whip now and then,

Came down on their sides, near the close of the day,

With the city of Grafton only one mile away.

"Then rushed down the hill the black and the gray,

Close followed the crowd to have sport on the way,

And the shout that went up at the end of the fray,

Said 'The city of Grafton is in Sutton to-day.'"

Sutton Museum on Twitter

2009-11-15T14:33:00.000-06:00

Check out Suttonnehistory on twitter.com

When Sutton had an Army

2009-09-29T23:42:00.000-05:00

The Andreas’ History of the State of Nebraska by A. T. Andreas in 1882 is a great source for information about the early days of Sutton. The book was published but 12 years after Luther French dug his hole in the bank on School Creek making Sutton’s first decade perhaps its best documented.

Deep in the chapters on Clay County and Sutton is Part 8 including “Orders and Societies”. Here we learn that the early Sutton folk, at least the town folk, were a clubby bunch. There were several lawyers, doctors and businessmen (yes, mostly men) who came from established communities in the east where they had been active in the “orders and societies” so they naturally created new chapters of old, familiar organizations.

Andreas lists the Freemasons plus a Lebanon Chapter, IOOF plus an additional IOOF higher order, Grand Army of the Republic, Knights of Honor, a Military Company and Scientific Association. The same names appear in multiple organizations, but for a few hundred adult men, these guys were social creatures.

But what does it mean for a 1880’s small town to have a “military company”? Andreas spelled it out very well.

Company B of the First Regiment of the State Guards was formed on November 15, 1878 with forty members: “…Sutton’s sons whose proclivities bent in the direction of the chivalrous and heroic…” Officers were W. J. Keller, Captain; J. S. LeHew, First Lieutenant; and G. W. Bemis, Second Lieutenant. At the time Andreas wrote the piece, Keller was Lieutenant Colonel of the First Regiment and LeHew was Judge Advocate General on the Governor’s staff. The company was supplied with uniforms, guns, etc. and was the first such uniformed and equipped company in Nebraska. The company had its own armory for munitions storage.

So, what did they do? Actually, they were twice activated.

The company was ordered to arms in the summer of 1880 in response to a riot at the smelting works in Omaha. After three days the situation subsided and the company discharged.

On March 8, 1882 the First Regiment was activated to put down the strike among graders on the Burlington & Missouri Railroad again in Omaha. This time the duty lasted twelve days as the company guarded the graders’ camp. There were no open hostilities. The company seems to have acquitted itself well as Andreas reports that, “as an indication of the merit of this body of men, they were specially appointed to remain in the suppression of the strikers, and were the last company to be discharged for duty”.

As of the writing of the Andreas book the officers were: W. D. Young, Captain; F. C. Matteson, First Lieutenant; George C. Roys, Second Lieutenant; J. H. Johnson, First Sergeant. The company met for drills each Saturday evening and held target practice once a month.

It would be interesting to dig deeper into the nature of such military companies. The general concept suggests a relationship to earlier citizen forces or to the National Guard structure. It even is consistent with the famous phrase, “well-regulated militia”. A quick and limited search for corroborating, or further information was unsuccessful. I’d appreciate hearing from anyone familiar with these military companies.

John R. Maltby, Sutton Pioneer and 19th Century Adventurer

2009-09-29T23:37:00.000-05:00

There have been a number of “characters” in Sutton’s past but drawing on almost 138 years of local history a few real Doozies stand out. My favorite Doozy is probably Mr. John Roger Maltby. Again, we are indebted to Nellie and Anne Sheridan for preserving this story in their book, “Along the County Line”.

John Maltby was born in Maine in 1830 but his father, Reverend John Maltby moved the family to Sutton, Massachusetts in 1834 where the elder Maltby served the First Congregational Church for 26 years. Yep, the younger John later gave Sutton its name. At age twenty-two, Maltby departed on a fifteen-year adventure that included seven unsuccessful years in the Australian gold fields, auctioneering in India, working on the first trans-Atlantic undersea cable and a bit of wandering about the United States.

While in London on the cable gig, John met and married Matilda Mary Cooke, a convert and very devout Catholic. After two years of faith-based difficulties John returned to the US, sans Matilda. After stays in San Francisco and New Orleans Maltby tried selling washing machines in Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas, IN 1865! He learned that the war-torn Confederacy was a poor market for high-ticket consumer products.

Meanwhile, back in London, Mary decided to join John and not finding him in Massachusetts, tracked him down in Louisiana in 1866. A year later their Boston hardware business flopped. John then left Matilda with his sister and went to Omaha where he built a track and organized horse races (you can’t make this stuff up). He dabbled in some land deals, cattle deals and fur trapping before poking around School Creek in May, 1871.

Maltby’s next adventure is well documented in Sutton’s history and we’ll save it for another day. Briefly, he and William Way “jumped” the claim of Mr. J. C. Vroman to organize much of today’s Sutton real estate. Vroman disappeared and we have Maltby and Way Avenues.

In September, 1872 Maltby took a business trip back east, ostensibly as part of the Sutton-Burlington depot dispute but actually to see Matilda and offer her a new life in the West. She agreed. London to Boston to Sutton. Quite a “Life Story”. But there was more to come.

Maltby was an early mover-and-shaker in Sutton: judge, school superintendent and in the midst of the social circles. But in 1877, just six years after finding School Creek, John, this time with Matilda, moved again but only a few miles to Fairfield. They were now both pioneers in organizing the town and the Catholic Church.

John died in 1895 and Matilda, almost penniless returned to Sutton and became the town’s librarian. She died in 1912 and is buried in Calvary Cemetery.

The Sutton Museum is proud to display several items of Matilda Mary Cooke Maltby include dresses and her wedding gloves and shoes thanks to Regina Leininger and others with the foresight to preserve these artifacts from our history. See them at the museum Sundays from 2 to 5 PM or by appointment. Contact Jerry Johnson at 773-0222 or jjhnsn@windstream.net for more information.

The Boar's Nest

2009-09-29T23:33:00.000-05:00

We have been researching the names, ownership and locations of business enterprises throughout the history of Sutton and recently came across the story of the “Boar's Nest”. The Boar's Nest gets our nomination for the short list of interesting businesses in Sutton in the early 20th Century. What makes it interesting? We'll get to that.

The story appeared in the Sutton Register newspaper in 1902. The Register is one of five newspapers that we know to have been printed in Sutton. The other four papers are The Clay County Globe, the Sutton Advertiser, the Sutton News and of course, The Clay County News. These papers did not all exist at the same time, but they did overlap providing multiple news sources over the years.

Our interest here is in the Sutton Register. This newspaper was founded in 1880 and purchased by Francis Marion (F. M.) Brown in 1886. Brown was the brother of Robert G. Brown, another Sutton pioneer who is connected to the founding of Clay County. F. M. Brown edited the Register until his death in 1919 when his son, Charles M. Brown took over the paper.

The Register in 1902 was a four page weekly. The advertisements are of particular interest in identifying numerous businesses with certain clues as to their locations. The paper carried a variety of items including a generous allotment to international news with datelines from all over Europe, South America and Asia. Each issue included a column of local tidbits under the title of “Local and Personal”. It appears that the locals did a lot of traveling that did not escape the eye of the editor. Typical entries were, “Henry Elfring went west on No. 5 Monday”, “F. J. Hoerger went to Omaha Tuesday on business” and “Burr Longstreth went to St. Joe Tuesday”. St. Joe seems to have been a popular destination. On January 9, 1902: “M. Figi will start for Switzerland in a few days, to visit his mother”. These folks got around.

The various lodges and organizations received attention including a note about The Lady Maccabees, Hive No. 42 spending a “delightful social evening with Mrs. Hennessey Tuesday”.

These old newspapers provide a hint about life in Sutton over 100 years ago. The Clay County News office has a collection of these papers but unfortunately, newspaper tends to deteriorate over time. The Nebraska Historical Society has preserved many of these papers on microfilm and the Historical Society plans on reviewing that collection to ensure that our history is preserved in that format.

But back to the “Boar's Nest”. The first issue of the Sutton Register in 1902 contains an article of the type that makes this kind of research entertaining. We learn there that: “The fact that a gambling joint has been in operation in Sutton for years is well known to everybody in this vicinity. Formerly the business was located on the south side, but afterwards moved into rooms on the north side, where it was known as the “Boars Nest,” where sports and congenial souls met to open bottles and jack-pots unmolested. New Years’ morning about 3 o’clock the city police decided to raid the “Boars Nest;” besides the proprietor, he found six men celebrating the arrival of the new year as only gamblers can. He pulled the whole gang, consisting of four Sutton men and three from other places, but afterwards allowed the men to go at liberty upon their own recognizance. The visiting sports lost no time in getting out of town on the first train. The REGISTER withholds the names of the parties on this occasion on account of their friends, but will not promise to be so lenient in the future under similar circumstances.”

It is hard to list all the things that article tells us about Sutton, 1902.

John R. Bender, Sutton’s Football Hero from a century ago

2009-09-29T23:28:00.000-05:00

What could be the connection between Sutton and the Kansas State Wildcats? Answer: a native of Sutton selected that name for the K-State athletic teams – while coaching the football team in 1915.

John R. Bender was a 1900 graduate of Sutton High and lettered in football at the University of Nebraska in 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903 and 1904. He is one of only two players listed in the NU football media guide as having lettered five years – eligibility standards have changed since that era.

Bender was a star halfback graduating as the leading scorer in Nebraska football history. The 1902 and 1903 teams were dominate teams outscoring their opponents 186 – 0 and 291 – 17. Bender was a captain on the 1903 team.

Bender’s coaching career began at Washington State in 1906 and 1907 where he coached both football and basketball very successfully.

The Wikipedia entry for John R. Bender indicates that he coached at Haskell Indian Nations University and St. Louis University from 1907 to 1911. I haven’t confirmed the Haskell connection and am skeptical of it. Wikipedia also states that he was an American Indian and his nickname was “Chief Bender”, and cautions us not to confuse him with the other “Chief Bender”. Albert “Chief” Bender was an American Indian who played major league baseball about the same time. My guess is that the writer has confused them.

The 1900 census for Sutton Township shows John R. Bender to be the 18-year-old son of Jacob Bender along with three sisters and a brother, Gustaf. Jacob and John’s grandparents are all indicated as having been born in Russia. John Bender’s ethnic heritage is no mystery to most of us in Sutton today. He was not a Native American.

St. Louis University does claim Bender in the history of coaches including the tale that he had a physical resemblance to a popular charm doll of the time called a “Billiken”. The Billiken was an elf-like thing with pointed ears, named after William Howard Taft copying the Teddy Bear that was named after Theodore Roosevelt. The Billiken didn’t catch on as well as the Teddy Bear, or as the Kewpie doll that followed.

The St. Louis fans began to call John Bender’s football team, “Bender’s Billikens” and the name is still used by St. Louis University today.

Bender became head football coach at Kansas State in1915 where he is credited with initiating two long-standing traditions, Homecoming and the Wildcats nickname. His team had a 3-4-1 record and before the 1916 season he moved to the University of Tennessee as the Tennessee coach took his K-State job. Tennessee had an 8-0-1 record but World War I interrupted athletics during 1917 and 1918. Bender also coached basketball at Tennessee.

John Bender, son of Jacob Bender in this story is not the John Bender, son of Jacob Bender and born in 1915. The first Jacob Bender was born in 1854 in Russia. The second Jacob Bender was born about 1885 in Germany and immigrated in 1907 with his wife Catherine (or Kathryene – the 1920 and 1930 census vary)

A third Jacob Bender was born about 1895 in

Russia

and came to Sutton in 1912 to join his brother Henry J.

Sutton’s TWO Medal of Honor Winners

2009-09-29T23:16:00.000-05:00

Sutton, Nebraska is proud to have a connection with two Medal of Honor winners, Orion P. Howe and Jacob Volz.

Orion Howe was with the 55^th Illinois Infantry at Vicksburg in the Civil War. His Medal of Honor citation reads: “A drummer boy, 14 years of age, and severely wounded and exposed to a heavy enemy fire from the enemy, he persistently remained upon the field of battle until he had reported to Gen. W. T. Sherman the necessity of supplying cartridges for the use of troops under command of Colonel Malmborg.”

Howe was born in Ohio and entered service in Illinois. The award was not issued until April, 1896 while he was practicing dentistry in Sutton. You’d be correct if you guessed that he was the youngest of all award winners at the time of the incident that led to the award. You’d also be correct if you thought his story would make a good book, or two. The “Diary of a Drummer Boy” by Marlene Tarq Brill is an imagined diary of Orion Howe. G. Clifton Wisler’s “The Drummer Boy of Vicksburg” is a historical novel based on the life and service of Orion Howe, his father and younger brother, Lyston.

Our other honoree is Jacob Volz, Jr., born June 23, 1889 in Sutton and died in 1965 in Portland, Oregon. He was the son of Jacob and Cornelia Volz of the Germans from Russia migration. His citation reads: “While attached to the U.S.S. Pampang, Volz was one of a shore party moving in to capture Mundang, on the island of Basilan, Philippine Islands, on 24 September 1911. Investigating a group of nipa huts close to the trail, the advance scout party was suddenly taken under point-blank fire and rushed by approximately 20 enemy Moros attacking from inside the huts and other concealed positions. Volz responded instantly to calls for help and, finding all members of the scout party writhing on the ground but still fighting, he blazed his rifle into the outlaws with telling effect, destroying several of the Moros and assisting in the rout of the remainder. By his aggressive charging of the enemy under heavy fire and in the face of great odds, Volz contributed materially to the success of the engagement.”

Clay County can claim a connection with a third Medal of Honor award. Capt. Nelson Holderman, a WWII recipient was born in Trumbull (spelled Trumbell on his citation).

Sutton - Home of the Round Baler

2008-12-06T12:54:00.000-06:00

Sutton enjoys a number of distinctions or “Claims to Fame” among of which is the invention of the round baler. The Clay County Historical Society included that story in their Summer 1984 newsletter so the tale may be ripe for repeating. The story also appears on a couple of internet sites, including that of the Patent Office.

The invention of the round baler is credited to Hugh Luebben and his sons Melchior and Ummo of Sutton. Work on the invention may have started as early as 1892 with the patent being issued in 1903 or 1905.

The origin of the idea for the baler was described by a William Watts who arrived in Nuckolls County in 1874 and reported that fuel was often in short supply during the harsh winters. He said, “The buffalo chips were gone, coal was not to be had, and our prairie was devoid of wood. We began using straw as a source of fuel, twisting it roughly into the shape of a rope which could then be rolled into a ball and burned in a stove.” The Luebben’s adopted and mechanized this process to build a device that attached to the back of a threshing machine and shaped the straw into round bales.

The Machine - Sutton's own contribution to agricultural mechanization.

This first device was not successful as it had, in today’s engineering terms, a low MTBF – Mean Time between Failures – it kept breaking down. A later, improved model was a standalone machine with its own engine and worked for hay and alfalfa and a capacity of four to seven tons per hour.

The Luebben’s arrived in Sutton around 1890 where Melchoir was as a banker with the First National Bank of Sutton. By 1900 he was bank president and among the town’s elite drawing mention in the local newspapers for social activities as well as his business endeavors. Ummo Luebben appears to have provided much of the inventive genius for the baler while Melchoir handled the financial arm of the enterprise.

A side story of the baler’s invention involves the Melchoir’s financial dealings in support of the baler and a $79,000 question that led to the closure of the bank in 1910 and ten year sentence for elder Mr. Luebben. The scandal also involved a Mr. Masters of a Harvard bank who was still fighting his conviction in 1921. After Melchoir Luebben was released from prison he moved to St. Louis and then to California.

Ummo was not impacted by the scandal and continued working on the baler. He moved the business to Lincoln in 1910 and to Omaha in 1920. The company produced from two to sixteen machines a year from 1920 to 1940 when Ummo sold his company to Allis-Chalmers. He continued to work on the baler until his death in 1953. As of 2000, Allis had sold over 77,000 round balers.

Sutton’s round baler invention is identified by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers as one of their 50 Historic Engineering Landmarks. That list is at: http://www.asabe.org/awards-landmarks/asabe-historic-landmarks/luebben-round-baler-31.aspx along with a video describing the invention.

Sutton enjoys a lesser connection to another of those 50 landmarks, the UC-Blackwelder Tomato Harvester. The item only briefly describes this dual-pronged invention.

Early attempts to automate tomato harvesting resulted in smashed tomatoes and lots of red juice on the ground. A three-way partnership between the University of California at Davis, Blackwelder Implement and the H. J. Heinz Company tackled the problem. While the Blackwelder engineers worked on the machinery, UC-Davis developed a thick-skinned tomato that would withstand the mechanical picker. Heinz ketchup processors had a major financial stake in the project and the Heinz representative to the project was Homer Anderson of the Tracy, California Heinz plant. Homer was born in Saronville, Nebraska in 1910.

The Anderson family was among the first from our area to migrate to California in 1919. As farms became larger and farmers became fewer, Sutton Germans migrated to Lodi, California and Saronville’s Swedes chose Turlock as their new home.

My source for the tomato harvester story? Several delightful conversations with my father’s first cousin, Homer Anderson during the 21 years we lived in Tracy, California.

Wolfe School, District #55

2008-05-31T22:15:00.000-05:00

The WolfeSchool, District #55, was originally located near Fairfield in Clay County, Nebraska operating until 1963. The School was made available to us by the Clay County Fair Board. The land was a part of the Sutton Park and was deeded to the Historical Society for the School. We thank all who helped us obtain and move the school.

The School is furnished and equipped much as it was during its operation.

We have three objectives for the school:

o Illustrate a typical one-room country school houseo Provide a setting for educational programs for children and adultso Host a country school museum with resources and information about the 67 rural schools of Clay County and additional schools throughout the area.

We hope that the school provides our visitors, especially youth, with an accurate glimpse of what it was like to attend a rural school in Nebraska.

John & Emma Gray Historic Home

2008-05-31T21:29:00.000-05:00

John and Emma Gray built their retirement home next to their original Sutton home in 1908. The house served as the home for several Sutton families for several years until the Unterseher’s converted it into Aunt Emma’s Tea House. The tea house was well known in the area and a popular destination for nine years.

The Unterseher’s restored the house beautifully and upgraded the home’s electrical, plumbing and heating and A/C for their tea house. The house was a prime candidate for the historic home that the Sutton Historical Society was looking for to preserve.

The home is furnished with typical household furnishings and antiques from the 1900 period. John Gray was a lumberman and he installed distinctive woodwork and cabinetry that is intact and remains in great condition.

The Gray Historic Home is the centerpiece of the Sutton Historical Society’s museum complex.

Open Sunday afternoons and by appointment...

2008-05-31T21:10:00.000-05:00

The Sutton Museum complex is open Sunday afternoons from 2 – 5 PM or by appointment: call 402-773-0222 for information. Additionally, there is often someone at the museum on weekdays when visitors are also welcome. Just check the OPEN/CLOSED sign in the window of the Historic House.

The Museum complex includes three buildings at the North Way location:

- The John & Emma Gray Historic Home

- The museum (original Gray home and recently the Schinzel house)

- Wolfe country school, District #55

Opening of the Sutton, Nebraska History Blog

2008-05-26T00:13:00.000-05:00

This blog is intended to be one of the means for the Sutton Historical Society to communicate with members and friends of our organization. Additional consequences such as attracting new interested people to our efforts will be a welcome bonus.

We expect to describe the activities of the historical society and provide updates on projects and programs. We will also use this forum to publish information about the history of the Sutton community, especially those items that we come across in our research.

The Sutton Historical Society was founded in the late summer of 2005 and has approximately 80 members as of the founding of this blog in May, 2008. The Society owns two buildings, a historic home of the 1908 period and a country school. The society has use of a second home which houses the museum.
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