Three Memorable
Gentlemen
I’m
addressing a certain group of Sutton folks here who grew up over a specific
period of time. You’ll know soon enough who you are.
Now,
by show of hands, who had Dr. Pope for a dentist? Who was a dental patient of
Dr. Ochsner? Who was ever treated by Dr. Nuss? Better yet, did Doc Nuss deliver
you? Or your parents? Your kids?
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| Beulah and Doc Ochsner |
Personally,
Dr. Ochsner was the only dentist to auger in my mouth before my first permanent
assignment in the Air Force. Dr. Nuss was my only doctor not counting Dr. Foote
in Hastings yanking my tonsils when I was five. And yes, Doc Nuss delivered me early one morning after a night he still recalled many years later.
These
three gentlemen constituted Sutton’s health care system for quite some time.
And to a great extent, they were three of a kind.
All
six of their parents, William and Katherina Popp, John and Margareta Ochsner
and Christian Jr. and Hannah Nuss were born in Russia. All three fathers were
farmers near Sutton. All three were younger children in the family, two
extremely so. Herman Victor Nuss was the fourth of six children; David J. Pope
was fourteenth of fourteen; and Herbert Ochsner was ninth of nine. Mrs. Popp
and Mrs. Ochsner had both lost a child by 1900.
Heck,
darn, even their last name initials are sequential letters.
The
three were born locally in a ten year span, left for medical or dental school,
returned to practice nearly all their professional lives here and all are
buried in the Sutton Cemetery. How common was that?
We’ll
start with the oldest; David J. Popp was born April 14, 1895 to Katherina and
William (Wilhelm) Popp the youngest of 14 children, of which 13 lived. Wilhelm
and Katherina immigrated from Russia taking the German ship Suevia from Hamburg
to New York via La Havre, France. Only their oldest son Georg were with them
when they arrived in New York on July 18, 1877, fourteen days out from Hamburg.
With
them on the Suevia were several of their extended family: Heinrich and
Catherina Giebelhaus, Wilhelm and Catherina Brehm, Conrad and Catherina Brehm
and Conrad and Catherina Pop, all headed to Sutton. Dr. Pope’s parents were
listed as Wilhelm and Catherina Pop on the passenger list for the Suevia.
O.K.,
two things. First, note the spellings: Pop, Popp and Pope. Pop appears only on
the ship’s manifest; don’t worry about it. Popp was the proper German spelling
of the name. According to family legend, an early teacher told the Popp kids
that if they pronounced their name that way, the proper English spelling would
be Pope (the long vowel preceding a silent “e” thing). The kids adopted that
spelling and in his will Pop (as in Dad) indicated he was all right with that
spelling.
Secondly,
did you notice any pattern in the wives’ names in that group? Catherina’s all.
Why would that be? If you have any Germans from Russia heritage in your
background and can’t come up with a good explanation, we need to talk. The
answer is part of who you are.
The
Popp family farm was the extreme southeast quarter in Sutton Township appearing
in the 1886 plat maps in the same section as farms belonging to Conrad Popp,
Conrad Brehm and L. Brehm. Nine children were still at home in 1900 ranging
from age 19 to 5 year old David.
David
registered for the World War I draft on June 17th 1917. He was a
student in the Lincoln Dental College but listed himself as a private with three
years in the Nebraska “malitia” then preparing for the Dental Reserve Corps.
The 1920 census found Dr. D. J. Pope back in Sutton with wife Lydia and
four-month old Maxine. Suzanne and Olive would follow, the three being ’37, ’41
and ’42 Sutton High grads.
Dr.
Pope appeared in the list of 1921 Sutton businesses in the History of Hamilton
and Clay Counties book by Burr & Buck. He bridges a time when the first of
Sutton’s medical men were still around and the later time we are heading
toward. Joining Dr. Pope were such fellows as Dr. D. W. Dulaigh, a dentist;
Griess & Griess, dentists; Dr. Jesse L. Hull, an older physician; H. W.
Kellogg, early chiropractor; Dr. J. W. Thompson, physician and Dr. M. P. Yokum,
dentist. Those numbers were not sustainable.
One-year
old Herbert Ochsner appearing in the 1900 census as the youngest son of John P.
and Margareta Ochsner, both 1874 immigrants as young teenagers. Mrs. Ochsner
would have one more son in 1902.
John
Ochsner’s farm was in east part of Lincoln Township, later renamed Eldorado.
I
did not find Herbert Ochsner in the ’20 census. He was 21 at the time, likely
in college or dental school in a boarding house or apartment – a challenge to
locate but in 1930 Doc and Beulah were residing on Cedar Street, he proclaiming
his parents birthplace as Odessa, Russia, she listed as a school teacher.
By
1940 they’d been joined by Shirley and Janet, ’51 and ’56 local grads. Doc was
40, Beulah was 35 with many, many more years to come.
Doc
Nuss was the youngest of these fellows born on August 22, 1905 one of six of
Christian Nuss Jr. and Hannah; she also indicated a child lost before the 1900 census.
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| Dr. H. V. Nuss, long time Sutton physician, sole doctor for much of the time. |
Christian
Nuss Sr. and his wife “Margr” (as indicated on the passenger list) arrived in
New York on June 17, 1875 with two kids, Christian Jr., Doc’s dad and a
daughter also listed as “Margr.” They came on the Suevia, the same ship the
Popp family would take two years later. Listed with them were an “Adam
Trautman” age 16 and another Nuss family, Ana and Magdal with seven more
including another Margr, probably a sister and kids down to 11 months of age. A
New York Times article noted that the Suevia carried 79 cabin and 491 steerage
passengers on that voyage.
The
Nuss farm was in western School Creek Township not far from the Ochsners.
Herman was a doctor in an Omaha hospital in the 1930 census (listed as Herman
Nus) living in an apartment on Howard Street with wife Mildred and one-month
old son Richard.
Janet,
Sutton class of ’50 and Victoria, ’54 would arrive by 1940 when the good doctor
had returned to Sutton.
Everyone
I spoke with about this article had great things to say about Dr. Nuss, his
skills and his importance to our town. He probably delivered about 2 ½
generations of us. I mentioned earlier that he remembered the night I was born.
Three of us Sutton babies were born that night, Bob Mohnike, Wanda Hornbacher
and me. Mrs. Hornbacher was at home here in Sutton. Mrs. Mohnike and my mother
were in the hospital in Hastings. All three were dragging out the process that
night. Doc Nuss would lean back, squint a bit and tell of driving back and
forth checking progress from evening until well after midnight. Finally in
Hastings, Bob was born. I wasn’t ready so drove back to Sutton, again. Doc
drove. Doc drove like a bat out… you get the idea. Wanda arrived. Then back to
Hastings where I checked in at 5:15 AM.
Doc
had lots of stories like that but he delighted in telling me that story in a
manner that to this day kind of makes me feel responsible for his lost night.
Dr.
H.V. Nuss nursed the image of an old-school country doctor. But I can picture
him in a spare moment deep into the latest journals and technical publications
staying at the top of the field for us.
So
what have we done here? A few things. We’ve pointed out the similarities
between the three fellows who constituted the health care system for Sutton for
several years: second generation Germans from Russia, local farm kids, went off
to study and came back to their home town to work their chosen profession.
These
are not definitive biographies but I’d like to see them start a conversation. We invite you to add your memories and stories of these three gentlemen
and to comment on any material on the blog. That’s how these systems work best.
We
did not find a good picture of Dr. Pope but did find a photo of the freshman
class in the 1912 annual. Let's have some fun...
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| Sutton High School Freshman Class in 1912, the class of '15. Dr. David Pope is in this picture - anyone see him? |
There were 28 in the 1912 Freshman Class and the school annual kindly printed their names, even if the order does not appear to have anything to do with the accompanying photo.
So, there you have it. Your quiz for the day. Good Luck and fill in your guesses in the comment section.
