Clay Center's Earl Buchtel's 100th Birthday - 1993

Earl Buchtel, long-time Clay Center resident and WWI vet celebrated his 100th birthday in September 1993.

Mr. Buchtel was born September 8, 1893 and died October 15, 1993, a few weeks after this birthday.

U. S. O. for Colored Service Men Opens at Harvard Air Base

The military, like much of society, was segregated through most of our history. This article in the Harvard Courier described the U. S. O. for colored service men at Harvard Air Base in 1943.

Executive Order 9981 was issued on July 26, 1948, by President Harry S. Truman. It abolished discrimination "on the basis or race, color, religion or national origin" in the U. S. Armed Forces.

History of Harvard

The Harvard Courier newspaper carried an article on the history of Harvard in their August 29, 1918 issue.

G. J. Thomas can be found identified as Griffith J. Thomas or J. Griffith Thomas. He was born in Wales in 1847 and was living with his wife Anna in Berlin, Green Lake County, Wisconsin in 1880. He listed his profession as Postmaster, formerly printer. 

Thomas's first appointment as Harvard Postmaster was in 1898 and he appears to have served in that position through 1923, shortly after Anna died. 

In any event, Postmaster Thomas was qualified to write this history of his adopted town. He and his wife are buried in the Harvard Cemetery.

Sutton Members of the Nebraska Legislature

Nebraska had a two-house legislature until 1937 when the unicameral first met, the first and still the only one-house legislature among the 50 states. This reform was championed by George W. Norris, a U. S. Senator who was impressed by the one-house legislative system he saw in Queensland on a visit to Australia.

Sutton has had eleven members of the legislature as listed on the website: Nebraska Legislators: Past and Present. 

We will claim 12 adding Jan J. McKenzie who served our district from 1993-1997 even though the website recognizes her Harvard mailing address. 

Sutton's members of the original House of Representatives were:

E. A. McVey                      1893-1895

E. E. Hargrove                   1895-1897

James Weston                    1913-1915

Guy H. Matteson               1915-1917

Jacob Bender                     1925-1927

Ralph J. Buck                    1929-1931

Member from Sutton who served in the original State Senate were:

Wellington C. Walton        1877-1879

John B. Dinsmore              1881-1883

R. G. Brown                       1887-1889

Members of the Unicameral from Sutton, in addition to Jan McKenzie mentioned above, were:

Theodore C. Wenzlaff       1968-1971

Rod Johnson                      1983-1992

Yes, this is a product of early research for the Sutton Sesquicentennial Book. There are still openings on the committee for the book including the subcommittees for research, drafting, writing, formatting, editing, proofreading, photos, publishing, donuts and other tasks as required. Contact Jerry Johnson at 402-773-0222 or jjhnsn31@gmail.com or even try suttonnehistory@gmail.com

1918 Clay Co. Primary Election Results

Need a little break from 2018 politics? Take a break with a look at the results from the 1918 primary election in Clay County as reported in The Clay County Patriot newspaper on August 22, 1918.

See any names you recognize? That Vauck with the narrow win in the Democratic race for the Nebraska House of Representatives - 43rd District was Henry Vauck. Apparently unsuccessful in the general. County officials tended to last a while. Henry Vauck was later county judge for a long time, outlasted by his brother-in-law Roy Oakley who served as county clerk from 1922 through 1955. 

Yes, this was well before Nebraska went single-house in 1934 (effective 1937) for the state legislature. There were 100 members in the Nebraska House of Representatives from 1875 through 1936 (raised from the original 39). Notice that Clay County had parts of two legislative districts, the 42nd and 43rd. 

Clay Co. Court House cornerstone laid August 19, 1918

The Cornerstone of the new Clay County Court House

was laid on August 19, 1918

This photo is from The Clay County Patriot newspaper of August 15, 1918.

1993 - Back to School in Sutton

Were you in Sutton Schools around 1993? Do you remember your teachers, cooks, janitors, etc.

We have a quiz at the end of the post. Help us out with your memory of how long these people were with Sutton Schools.

Who of these people were with the school the longest?

Testing my memory from 1961:

Superintendent - E. A. Schaad

Principal - P. V. Woller

Business - Garry Sinnen

Special Ed - Mrs. Virginia Schaad

Mrs. Erna Griess - 8th Grade

School Physician - Dr. H. V. Nuss

Custodian - Harold Heinz 

Any others continuous from that era? Who do you remember from your time at Sutton Schools, and when?

Sutton's 1943 Roller Skating Rink - Outdoor model.

Sutton's Open-Air roller rink opened for business 75 years ago in 1943...

From The Sutton News:

1918 State Fair Circus shortly after a disastrous train wreck

The Sutton paper in 1918 had this article about the upcoming Nebraska State Fair with the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus. The article mentions a disastrous wreck. 

There are several references to the wreck which occurred on June 22, 1918, just a few weeks prior to this item in the paper.

One of the stories about the wreck is at this IndyStar article.  

There are many more.

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.