1922 Clay Co. Basketball Tournament

In a result which later seemed a bit ironic, Clay Center defeated Sutton for the 1922 Clay County Championship. 

The irony is found in this post from several years ago:  1922 Sutton BB Story

Verona School Sale - 1972

The Verona School was sold on March 10, 1972. The sale bill appeared in the county papers - this clip from the Edgar Sun.

1922 Clay Co Homes and Mini-Bios

The Clay County Sun newspaper in Clay Center sent one of their fellows out to visit the good people of the county 1922 and to report their stories to the readers. 

These first two clippings were from the Sun on February 9, 1922 and the next two were published two weeks later on the 23rd of February.

The first article by Mr. Hall went over so well that the Sun did it again publishing this article on February 23, 1922.

1922 Volga Russian Relief

In the early 1920's Sutton individuals and much of the community contributed to relief programs to aid starving people in areas of Russia, especially in the Volga River area around the city of Saratov. Numerous Germans from Russia living in and around Sutton had come from the villages of Norka and Balzar near Saratov a few decades earlier.

This letter from Mr. George Repp describes his experiences in supporting those relief areas during his trip to Saratov, Russia. The letter was published in The Sutton News newspaper on February 10, 1922

1947 Bender Implement Show & Geo. Carlson Duroc Sale

So, what were things like in Sutton in 1947? This may not have been a typical day, but The Clay County News reported this incident in the February 27, 1947 issue.

Big hog sale in Sutton 75 years ago. Several familiar names among the buyers - Lot #23 stood out for me - looks like a 15-year-old Sutton High sophomore and a long-time Stillwater, Oklahoma resident. You can do the math...

Sutton's 1897 Officials, Churches, Lodges

In 1897, 125 years ago, The Sutton News newspaper ran this directory in the left column of the front page every week. 

We have a list of the city and county officials, the churches in Sutton, and the list of "sivic" societies - the lodges and other organizations, though today we'd call the civic societies. 

I suspect that the German Congregational church did not meet at 1:30 AM on Sundays. Surely a type that likely meant 10:30

The A.O.U.W. lodge was the Ancient Order of United Workmen which, like many of the early lodges of the time began as a mutual insurance company before the commercial insurance industry developed.

The I.O.O.F. was the International Order of Odd Fellows which was an active organization for years. My father, Clarence Johnson was one of the last five members when the state organization representatives showed up at their Monday night meeting and closed them down. The lodges letters are visible on their old building on Sutton's south end, west side. 

Note that there were two G.A.R. lodges in Sutton.

Missing on this list and appearing later were the Royal Highlanders, another insurance-based lodge that originated in Aurora. Sutton was Chapter 11 of that lodge - the Dundee Castle Lodge. We have an article about them at this link:   Royal Highlanders