Iowa
Old Press
Sumner Gazette
Sumner, Bremer co. Iowa
January 2, 1936
1935 Summary.
In scanning the sumary of 1935, the most important event of the
year in Sumner and vicinity was the completion of the municipal
light plant and distribution system.
The past year was also outstanding in the amount of building and
improvements made here. Two business firms provided themselves
with new quarters: the Sumner Produce Co. and the Overton
Chemical Co. One new house, the first in several years in Sumner,
was completed during the fall by George F. Tietje.
The year of 1935 saw a number of business changes take place
here. One which will have the most far reaching effects was the
establishment of a cascin plant by the Dairy Products, Inc. of
Chicago. Another change was the selling of the O.C. Hoth leather
store to W.F. Hoth. The former had been in business here for 33
years, retiring on account of poor health. Early in the year a
John Deere implement store was opened here with M.W. Gissel as
proprietor. Last spring the Harrison Motor Co. sold out the local
Ford garage to three local young men: L.W. Pipho, Ted Kirchman
and Lorenz Schwake. E.R. Ribbeck bought out the interest of his
father, W.A. Ribbeck in the clothing business. Henry Fritz during
the fall bought out the Livingston garage. Early in the year L.J.
Allenstein went into partnership with "Chick" Woods in
the cafe business. Mrs. Erna Kern bought out the sandwich shop
from Joe Leiser in August and closed it in December. G. Lutz who
had operated a photograph gallery here for several years closed
up his place and moved to New Hampton. Harold Wion succeeded Paul
Warrior as manager of the Diamond Bros. store.
The community was remarkably free from disastrous fires during
the year, only five, all minor, calling out the fire department:
Jim Hansen Midget Shoe Hospital, Will Pagel, Mrs. August Jahn and
Henry Meier.
A large number of deaths brought its toll of sorrow and
bereavement during the year. The demise of Supt. T.J. Durant,
superintendent of the local schools for 36 years touched the
community more heavily than any other. Other deaths were as
follows: James Laverne Ganske, infant; Ernest Stahlhut, 80; Eide
H. Mueller, 78; George Griner, 58; Thomas O'Connell, 53; F.W.
West, 81; Richard Steege, 33; Wilhelm Meyer, 63; Ferdinand Hemke,
86; S.R. Glattly, 72; Mrs. Fred Seehase, 72; Mrs. Herman Laabs,
62; M. Robish, 88; F.J. Wilharm, 59; Mrs. George Reif, 75; E.A.
Baumgartner, 61; Mrs. Anna Hausner, 70; William Tietje, 83; Henry
C. Meier, 78; Bernard Ader, 57; Mrs. Fred Mohlis, 78; Emil F.
Marks, 49; T.J. DeLuhery, 81; Art Haffner, 39; Henry J. Geyer,
80; J.A. Schroeder, 59; Adam Lang, 95; Mrs. E.W. Farrand, 79;
H.J. Strumpell, 76; Wm. Niemeyer, 62; Sophia Sell, 22; Fred
Engel, 74; Eugene Cross, 19; Mrs. Henry Specht, 65; Margaret
Lydia Westendorf, infant; W.B Linn, 78; Conrad Becker, 81; Mrs.
Walter Husse, 37; Herman F. Zupke, 61; John Frahm, 68; Herman
Rethke, 84; Charles B. Dickens, 79; A.C. Smith, 67; Fred W.
Reinhard, 74; Gotleib Dietrich, 75.
Several business properties changed hands during the year as the
result of settling the affairs of the closed Bank of Sumner, and
the E.F Wilharm bankruptcy. The frontage which includes the
postoffice and the Puity bakery went to M.B. Potratz. The
frontage occupied by Dr. G.J. Sexton, Briggs second hand store
and Grannemann feed store went to James McMeans, and the vacant
lot east of the Brayton Chevrolet Co. went to Fridley Bros. who
also bought the adjoining lot from F.W Harding. The frontage
occupied by the G. & H. food store went to M. & A.
Potratz. The two fronts occupied by Berg Furniture Co. and Blades
Variety store went to S.J. Longfellow of Waterloo.
Four churches in this vicinty observed various anniversaries
during the year: Buck Creek, 60th; Hope church, 60th; Union
Evangelical, 75th; Spring Fountain, 60th.
SOCIETY
The birthday anniversary of Miss Myrtle Moore was the occasion
for a surprise occasion at her home Sunday. Twenty-four relatives
were present for the dinner at noon and for the social afternoon
which followed. Participating were Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Smothers of
West Union, Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Bergman and children, Mr. and
Mrs. Fred Korman and family, Mr. and Mrs. Tom Moore and children,
Arthur Robinson and Wm. Moore.
The Woman's Foreign Missionary society of the Methodist church
will meet next Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 7, at the home of Mrs.
Will Hurmence. An interesting program is being planned. Members
are urged to bring their dues. Assisting hostesses are Mrs. Flora
Linn, Mrs. Henry Shales and Miss Florence Creager.
Only 16 Farmers have Corn Sealed in the County to Date.
Corn sealing continues to progress slowly in Bremer county.
Sixteen farmers have sealed corn, records at the farm bureau
office show. The total of 9,408 bushels, with a loan value of
$3,783.60, has been sealed. This is tremendously below the figure
reached two years ago in the 1933 sealing. Corn has been sealed
for the following farmers by Chas. S. Colburn of Waverly, in the
amount given:
Chas. R. Besh, Denver, 790 bu.
Otto Bast, Waverly, 897 bu
Frank Schroedermeier, Waverly, 504 bu
H.C. Eick, Readlyn, 672 bu
Louis W. Hemingson, Waverly, 932 bu
Oscar A. Smith, Plainfield, 499 bu
Earl Vosseller, Waverly, 1,432 bu
Ralph Schroedermeier, Waverly, 230 bu
Ida J. Wile, Waverly, 280 bu
Albert Cameron, Janesville, 672 bu
Neil W. Cave, Waverly, 230 bu
J.F. Anderson and V.W. Johnson, 518 bu
Corn has been sealed for the following farmers by Walter Thompson
of Sumner, in the number of bushels listed:
Elmer Tiedt, Fairbank, 307
John Nolte, Fairbank, 436
Fred H. Wilharm, Sumner, 348
Lynn M. Chapin, Tripoli, 201
Two West Union Orchestra Men Injured in Accident
Leo Wiltgen, 47, married, was fatally injured at 3 a.m. Tuesday
at Postville when a car which he was driving failed to make the
notorious Ruckdaschel corner at that town and crashed into an
evergreen tree. He died at 6 a.m. from a crushed chest. He also
had scalp wounds. Lawrence W. Hughbanks, 44, unmarried, was
dangerously injured in the same accident, his skull being
fractured. Doctors say his chance to recover is not good. Charles
Kelsey, 28, married, escaped with a dislocated shoulder, and
Grant Daniels, 45, married, sustained a bump on the head, but was
able to leave the hospital after receiving first aid. Hughbanks,
Kelsey, and Daniels are members of the Hughbanks dance orchestra
of West Union. They had gone to Marquette to play for a dance,
and were returning home. Wiltgen had been engaged to take them on
the trip, he renting a car from A.W. Hausladen.
The Ruckdaschel corner is one block east of the Luthean church in
Postville, and has been the scene of many accidents, as the turn
is sharp. Only about two weeks ago the Community club of
Postville put up an additional warning sign there, but within a
few days another accident occurred. The West Union party were
going north, and failed to make the west turn, going off the No.
18 paving onto the yard of the Ruckdaschel home.
Waverlian Escapes Freezing To Death
Elmer Homan, 23, Thursday afternoon was reported as recovering
satisfactorily after having been exposed to below zero weather in
an unheated car for 11 hours, says the Waverly Democrat. Homan
was found in his car at about 11 a.m. Thursday. He said that he
had attempted to crank his car, which had stalled on the highway
near the "Bill" Simpson farm home north of Waverly, and
had injured his back so seriously he could not crank and could
not walk and had accordingly crawled into the car. A physician
reported that Homan was not frozen but was suffering from severe
exposure to cold. He was found by Stanley Simpson, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Will Simpson and was brought into Waverly to the home of Mr.
and Mrs. Carl Rasmussen. He has been employed at Bremer by Mr.
Rasmussen and is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Homan.
CCC Units Set Out 300,000 Trees to Prevent Erosion.
The McGregor CCCs have finished their fall tree planting and
55,000 trees have been set out on farms in a 15-mile range of
McGregor, where soil erosion work has been carried on the past
few months. They were all the lack locust species, a tree
described by D.C. Poshusta, superintendent of the McGregor camp
and a graduate forester of Iowa State college as a "hardy,
sun-loving tree, with a large, interlacing root system which
holds the soil particles together, preventing erosion. It is one
of the legumes and builds up the soil by contributing
nitrogen."
The planting done this fall brings the total number of trees set
out by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the two years the camps
have been in McGregor, up to approximately 300,000. The trees
came from the nursery at Ames and were planted by crews organized
and trained in the work. Planting for the most part was on slopes
of gullies where dams to check erosion had previously been built
by the CCCs.
PERSONALS.
-Miss Alice Steuer returnes to her taching duties at Oran
Thursday after a Christmas visit with her parents, Mr. and Mrs.
Henry Steuer.
-Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Richards of Waterloo were Sunday dinner
guests in the home of her father, Charles Marks. They were
accompanied to Sumner by Charles Marks jr. who returned to his
home.
-Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Duhrkopf, with Mr. and Mrs. Art Reeck and
children returned Monday from an overnight visit in Oelwein in
the home of Miss Laura Payne.
-Mr. and Mrs. Richard Wells left last Friday for South Bend,
Ind., to get a new Studebaker in which they and their daughter,
Myrna will make their return trip to Pacific Grove, Calif. The
Wells family arrived the middle of the moth to be with his
parents, Mr. and Mrs. F.J. Wells during the holiday season.
-Mr. and Mrs. C.L. Huebl and children of LeCenter, Minn., arrived
in Sumner Wednesday, accompanied by her father, Fred Poehler, who
was called home from his visit in LeCenter by the death of Fred
Reinhart. The Huebl family and Mrs. Christina Erkel, a holiday
guest of her son, Al Erkel, returned to their homes in LeCenter
Saturday.
-Mr. and Mrs. Art Beemis and sons of Burbank, Calif., who have
been visiting friends and relatives at Hawkeye, West Union and
Oelwein, called at the H.J. Schnor home Friday afternoon. They
were on their return trip to California and will visit several
places enroute. Mr. Bemis lived nera Hawkeye for several years,
but Mrs. Bemis saw her first snow storm when she made her first
trip here this winter.
-A picture of Miss Maxine Park, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A.L.
Park of Marshalltown, appearing in the Des Moines Sunday Register
carried the announcement of her approaching marriage on Jan. 25
to M.C. Bowie of Burt. Miss Park was physical education
instructor and girls' basketball coach in the Sumner high school
in 1930 and 1931, going from here to Bedford. Later she attended
the University of Iowa, and since then has taught at Osage.
Amil Block and Herman Newkirk Summoned by Death
Amil Block, 59, a resident of Fredericksburg
township, six miles north of Sumner, for the past 35 years,
passed to his reward Monday morning at 3:50 o'clock. He was born
in Bremer county Oct 22, 1877, and was 59 years 2 months and 8
days of age at the time [of his death]. Death was due to
pneumonia which followed an attack of flu and pleurisy. Funeral
services will be held Thursday afternoon at the home at 1:30 and
then at Richfield Lutheran church, with Rev. F. Ide officiating.
Burial will take place at Rose Hill cemetery at Fredericksburg.
He is survived by his wife; two sons, Claude and Virgil, and one
daughter, Louisa, Mrs. George Pleggenkuhle; three brothers,
Ernest, Vernon and Richard.
Death came to relieve the sufferings of Herman H. Newkirk,
45, a farmer who has been a resident of Bethel township about
eight miles northeast of Sumner for the past 25 years. He was
taken to the Detention hospital in Waterloo Monday morning where
he died that night about 10:30. He was born Oct 21, 1891, and was
45 years 2 months and 9 days old at death. Funeral services will
be held Friday afternoon at 1 o'clock at Richfield church, with
Rev. F. Ide officiating. Interment will be made in the church
cemetery. He is survived by his mother and one brother, John
Newkirk.
Fred Barnett, in Business Here 40 Years Ago, is Dead
Word was received here Saturday night by Dr. W.L. Whitmire of the
death of Fred Barnett, a well known businessman here more than 40
years ago. His demise occurred Saturday at Lancaster, Wis., where
he has resided since leaving Sumner. Mr. BArnett was in the
jewelry business here for about 10 years, and for a time had part
of a building with J.A. Smith. After the death of his brother in
Wisconsin, Mr. Barnett disposed of his business here and took
over his brother's business. Mr. Barnett had been in failing
health for some time. He called on old time friends here last
fall.
Dayton Twp. Youth is Sick With Baffling Disease
The many friends of Willard Holm, son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Holm
of Dayton township, will be sorry to learn that he is sick with
the disease which so far has baffled medical science, known as
"sleeping sickness." He has been sick for about three
weeks. Willard is wel known to many of the young people of the
community, havig graduated from the local high school with the
class of 1933. He took a prominent part in athletics and was an
outstanding player on the 1932 football team.
Solemn Rites Held for Fred Reinhard
Last rites for Fred Reinhard, 74, who died Monday of last week,
were held Thursday afternoon at St. John's Lutheran church, with
Rev. C.J. Mardorf officiating. Interment was made in the parish
cemetery.
The deceased was born at Sondelfingen, Germany, Feb. 24, 1861,
and while still an infant was received into the church by the
sacred act of baptism. He attended school at that place and after
receiving instruction in the fundamental doctrine of the
Christian religion, he was confirmed in the Lutheran faith.
At the age of 17 years, he immigrated to America. He came to
Waterloo where he spent the first winter in the home of Mr. and
Mrs. Schank. He then worked in a furniture store which position
he held for several years. He was united in marriage with Auguste
Beu. This union was blessed with two sons who today with the
mother mourn the sudden death of the father.
Many of his younger years were spent in California where he
followed the business of contractor and builder. Coming to Sumner
about 40 years ago, he established a furniture and undertaking
business, and later also a branch office at Readlyn. Disposing of
his business here as well as at Readlyn, he opened a furniture
and undertaking business at Osceola. Five years ago he retired
from active service, leaving the business to his two sons, and
returned to Sumner to his many friends in this community.
Although he was in failing health these recent years, yet he was
always able to be around, and it was a distinct shock to the
entire community when he was suddenly stricken Monday morning of
last week. He reached the age of 74 years 9 months and 29 days.
His death is mourned by his grief stricken wife; his two sons,
Paul and Harry, both of Osceola; three grandchildren, Paula,
Marion and Dorothy, and many other relatives and friends.
[transcribed by S.F., July 2009]