Seaman Henry Lohmeier killed in South Pacific - 1943

The July 29, 1943 issue of The Sutton News carried the story of the loss of Seaman Henry F. Lohmeier of Sutton. 

A further account of his loss is found at the link at the end of this post.

We found further information about the incident that cost Seaman Lohmeier his life in a book titled “The Search That Never Was: The Untold Truth about the 1948-49 Search for World War II American Personnel Missing in Action in the South Pacific” written by J. L. Wright.

We quote that book in another post on our blog at:

Lohmeier in Les Bauer post

Publication of "Along the County Line" was 50 years ago.

One of out two important books about the history of Sutton (the other being Jim Griess' book) was published 50 years ago. The publication was announced in The Clay County News on August 1, 1968.

The cover of "Along the County Line" is simplicity itself

The Sutton Museum's copy of "Along the County Line" is autographed by the authors.

Howard (HCK) King wrote the newspaper item in 1968 and the Preface the prior October.

Many of the poems in the book were by Anne Sheridan. The book also has a Bibliography. 

U. S. O. for Colored Service Men - Harvard Air Base - 1943

75 Years Ago at the Harvard Air Base

From the Harvard Courier newspaper.

"Executive Order 9981 was an executive order issued on July 26, 1948, by President Harry S. Truman. It abolished racial discrimination in the United States Armed Forces and eventually led to the end of segregation in the services."

- Wikipedia

James Gray Visits the Home of His Ancestors - Our Museum

We were honored this month by a visit from a direct descendant of 

John and Emma Gray.

James and Donna Gray of Palm Desert, California made their first visit to Sutton to see the homes of their ancestors, now housing the Sutton Museum. We had an enjoyable visit sharing what we knew about the Gray family.

Les Bauer Began His WWII Hobby - Sutton News - 1943

The July 22, 1943 issue of The Sutton News had this item:

The Sutton Museum is proud to have the ensuing collection of Les Bauer in our collection as of a several months ago as a donation from the Gene Bauer family.

Read about the result of Les' hobby here:

Les Bauer WWII Autograph Books, etc.

EXPLORER! - The Story of Sutton's own Walter Wellman

We've had earlier posts about Walter Wellman, who, among other things, was the publisher of Sutton's first newspaper. Among those posts is:

Earlier Walter Wellman post: "Sutton's Arctic Explorer" 

A book about our local hero was published about two years ago. It is historical fiction, that is, the author used Wellman's incredible story as a basis for his book but took the liberty to tell the story with fictional dialogue and detail to give us a credible adventure story. And, as far as I can tell, stick to the historical basis of Wellman's story very well.

Recommended. Available at Amazon.com for $15 for the paperback or $2.99 for your Kindle. Amazon's blurb is copied below this image of the cover.

Enjoy

Explorer! is historical fiction. That is, the dialogue is fictional, but events and many of the people mentioned were real. 

Certainly, Walter Wellman was a real person who had vision, determination, and leadership—all traits needed during his attempts to be the first to reach the North Pole. When that goal could no longer be realized, he regrouped his forces and set his sights on being the first to fly across the Atlantic. He conceived this idea right after Beloit, in an aircraft that was little more than a kite with an engine, succeeded in being the first to fly from Calais, France, to Dover, England—a distance of about thirty-five miles. 

Explorer follows in the wake of The Ice Age Saga trilogy—The Shaman’s Song, The Sojourner’s Tale, and Crooked Foot. Similarities between The Ice Age trilogy and Explorer! are due to the fact that they are all written as action-adventure stories and are meant to entertain readers of all ages.

Paying for WWI, a nickel a day.

Every little bit helps...

The King Newspaper Story - 1968

The many, possibly as many as 80 different newspapers survived and consolidated into one company, The King Newspapers and eventually into one, The Clay County News.

Higgins Hardware - Harvard Incubator

The poultry business was huge in Clay County way back then. M. M. Johnson had a major manufacturing plant in Clay Center. Emil Ochsner made his version in Sutton. There were two fellows in Fairfield making incubators and another Sutton source was by the wife a bar owner.

And here is a 1918 ad from Higgins Hardware in Harvard with a model they were offering - though there doesn't seem to be any evidence Mr. Higgins was manufacturing his Queen Incubator

Dr. Nuss and his three, make that four baby deliveries in one night 75 years ago.

This item appeared on the front page of The Sutton News on June 24, 1943. The unnamed girl was Wanda Hornbacher. She, Bob and I all graduated with the Class of '61 at Sutton High School.

Dr. Nuss reminded us often of that night over the next 18 years.

Dr. Nuss was one of many small town doctors who provided the complete health care package to generations in their towns. Dr. Asa was a similar contributor in Ong and others developed their own reputations in their home towns.

1918 Ads for the Third Liberty Loan

War bonds financed much of the United States participation in World War I. The Ad campaign was aggressive.

Castle Garden NY Immigrant Center became an Aquarium

Everyone has heard of Ellis Island and may have visited the museum where immigrants were processed into the United States. And we talk about when our ancestors came through Ellis Island.

May of our ancestors actually did come through Ellis Island, but many others came into Boston, Philadelphia, Charleston, New Orleans and other points of entry. 

But many who came into New York did not enter through Ellis Island. The Ellis Island processing center only opened up in 1892. Before that time, Castle Garden in lower Manhattan processed immigrants.

This item in the Harvard Courier in April, 1893 discloses what happened to that earlier big part of our history - it became an aquarium in the New York park system.

Buying Power of WWI War Bonds

The public was tapped often and hard for money to support the U. S. entry into World War I. There were multiple war bond drives with business, schools, scouts and churches participating in the sale of bonds. Celebrities volunteered to promote bond sales.

Interest rates were normally 5% but varied at times. 

1893 Railroad Time Tables

The development of early settlements depended on access to water, rivers being the best but a good creek would work (School Creek).

But very quickly, the railroad became even more important. The Harvard Courier newspaper carried this railroad time tables weekly for the two railroads through their town. The top time table is for the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, the lower one is for the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley route.

The Burlington came through Sutton. The F. E. & M. V. went through York, Henderson, Harvard and Hastings. 

It's easy to see how our people were able to travel comfortably via rail. My great, grandfather went to Chicago to visit his son often. Newspaper ads promoted vacations on the west coast or to Chicago at reasonable prices, even for those days.

We have items showing that merchants, the Stevens & Curtiss millinery shopkeepers made seasonal trips to St. Joseph, Missouri to buy stock, normally down and back in two days - one account makes it sound like the left early in the morning, conducted their business and were back in Sutton that evening.

You can Support the Sutton Downtown Restoration Project

Join your friends and neighbors; help save our unique downtown business district.

Sutton south side business district. Can you date the photo?

The Sutton Community Foundation is administering a fund for the Sutton Downtown Restoration Project. A brief description appears on the "PROJECTS" page. And most importantly, the "HOW TO DONATE" page offers the opportunity to become a part of this worthwhile effort to preserve Sutton's unique downtown.

The north side, again, can you date the photo? The photos were taken the same day.

Thanks in advance from the Downtown Restoration Committee for your consideration.