The Sheridan implement company began selling Allis-Chalmers round balers in 1947

Round baler technology got its start in Sutton, way back...

The June 12, 1947 issue of The Sutton News carried this item.

William Sheridan was touting his new Allis Chalmers roto baler and side delivery rake. Old timers in Sutton were recalling 40-some years earlier when a local fellow invented the first round baler. The Sutton News editor came close to getting the story right. He credited the invention to “Luben” saying he was a “banker in our town.” Most accounts, and the Sutton Museum credit the banker’s son, Ummo Luebben for designing and building the world’s first round baler. The basic design survives in today’s machines. The Luebben’s patent for the machine was issued on October 18, 1910, interestingly enough, the day my father was born. Ummo Luebben manufactured his baler in Beatrice and Lincoln before selling the rights to the machine to Allis Chalmers in 1940.

This photo of the folks at Wm. Sheridan & Sons appears on page 125 of “Along the County Line.” In the front row are Roger, William, John, and William Sheridan, Sr. The caption identified the back row as “Those who helped the Sheridans.” Let's have a quiz. Comment below if you know who those back row folks might be.

The background story of Sutton's role in the invention of the round baler was detailed in this year's ago post, linked here.

https://suttonhistoricalsociety.blogspot.com/2008/12/sutton-home-of-round-baler.html

 

 Ads in The Sutton Register in January 1940

The Sutton News had merged with The Sutton Register in 1936

Sutton Odd Fellows Lodge Celebrated 75th Anniversary in 1949

Among the many lodges in Sutton, the Odd Fellows lasted much longer than most. 

Research is underway to determine the date the lodge closed down.

From The Sutton News on December 1, 1949.

Sutton High's First Homecoming - 1949

The first Sutton High Homecoming was held with the Armistice Day football game with Harvard on November 11, 1949.

This article appeared in The Clay County News on November 10, 1949.

 

Arnold Ochsner, Sutton Cobbler - 1945-1974...

This article about Sutton cobbler, Arnold Ochsner appeared in The Clay County News on July 11, 1974.

1947 Black Face Minstrel Show in Fairfield

Sign of the times, 1947.

The folks of Fairfield performed a black face minstrel show at the Fairfield Auditorium in 1947. Such performances were common and seen as a form of comedy. 

My country school, District #16, did a black face minstrel show as a Christmas program when I was in kindergarten. The youngest of us in the school sang "Mammy's Little Baby Loves Shortin' Bread"

That was 1948. It was a sign of the times, and the place. It is one of my few memories from being five years old. I like to think it was the awkwardness of the situation, at least, that imbedded the memory.

1947 Fairfield Neighborhood Corn Picking Crew

Neighborhood crews helping in harvest and other farm work for neighbors in some kind of stress was a common story throughout the history of the county.

This item, a reprint from the Hastings Tribune, appeared in The Fairfield Auxiliary newspaper on November 11, 1947.

Ong Methodist Church 75th Anniversary - 1947

The Ong Methodist Church celebrated its 75th anniversary in October 1947. This article appeared in The Edgar Sun newspaper.

 

Gibson's bought the Lyric Theater in 1947

 

This article in The Sutton News on September 4, 1947 tells when the Gibson's purchased the Lyric Theater, but not the name of the prior owner. Need to research that....

Farmers received mysterious burns near Doniphan - 1947

 

Grocery Deliveries in 1947 by Lohmeier Dray Line

This ad in The Sutton News on July 31, 1947 announced that Merele Lohmeier would be delivering groceries in Sutton from all four of the town's grocery stores.

The First Sutton School Bus - 1947

As we interpret this story, this was the purchase of the first school bus for the Sutton schools. It happened in the summer of 1947 when a used Burlington Trailways bus came to town.

The story appeared in The Sutton News on July 31, 1947.

1947 Problems with Long Distance Telephone Service

Issues with phones in 1947 did not involve display resolution, apps, camera quality, etc. Lincoln Telephone & Telegraph was busy beefing up circuits between numerous towns to increase their capacity for long distance calls.

And remember, young folk, long distance calls, those out of town, were metered and you paid based on distance and time connected. A half hour call to an uncle in California might impact your monthly budget. Birthdays could be handled with a card and a three cent stamp. People cringed when told they had a long distance call. A high percentage of long distance calls involved death notices. 

LT&T posted this notice in newspapers in July 1947.

 

Flying Saucers Over Sutton - 1947

 

Sutton did not miss out on the huge Flying Saucer stories of 1947

Henry Fuehrer stepped up first in town to report seeing stuff in the air. By the next week, two more Sutton men came forward to tell their story - Marshal Henry Trautman and Doc Ochsner, one of the two dentists in town.

This article ran the same week in The York Daily News

The hotbed of flying saucers was in New Mexico, Roswell for instance. This article made the Albuquerque newspaper.

And here is the report in the Hastings Daily Tribune.

1st Night Baseball Game at Memorial Field - 1947

The Clay County News reported on the first night baseball game at Sutton's Memorial Field in 1947.

Sutton Memorial Day 1947 inc. Veterans Listed

This is how Sutton observed Memorial day 75 years ago in 1947. The article included the list of the town's veterans, women's relief corps, and auxiliaries. 

March 1947 - End of WWII Draft Program

The Selective Service Program - the DRAFT - for World War II ended on March 31, 1947. This is the recap of the draft in Clay County during WWII.

This article appeared in The Clay County News on June 5, 1947.

Sutton High Class of 1947

The Sutton News announced the Class of 1947 on the front page of the May 15, 1947 issue.

1947 - Wayne Lohmeier Bought Becker Cafe from Henry Becker

 These ads appeared in The Clay County News on May 8, 1947.

1947 Clay County Track Meet

The 1947 Clay County Track Meet was held on the Hastings College track and won by Harvard.

This article appeared in The Clay County Sun newspaper in Clay Center on May 1, 1947.