Sidewalk Repair & Commemorative Brick Project is Underway

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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.

 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

The Squawker

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