Looking Back 10.11.23

1878Fairbury market prices were wheat 68 cents, corn 12 ½ cents, rye 25 cents, barley 45 cents, hogs $2.50, fat cattle. oxen and cows $2.25, steers $3.59 and eggs 10 cents.Jefferson County Republican convention nominated C.B. Slocumb for state representative and N.F. Porter for county commissioner.1880J.M. McMeans was nominated by the Greenbacks of Jefferson and Gage Counties for state senator.1888Three head of buffalo were driven through Fairbury's streets.Most of The Fairbury Gazette's reading matter for the week consisted of the lists of delinquent taxpayers and county fair premiums.1890Politics was a hot topic, although it was not a presidential year. The Farmers Alliance movement and prohibition were the causes.1893S.E. Swartz had made 500 gallons of sorghum syrup.Honor pupils in District No. 25 (five miles north and ½ mile west of Reynolds) were Ross Gibson, Norman Kind, Charley Payne, Amelia and John Schrader. Frank C. Carmony was teacher.1894A Sunday School convention for Richland Precinct was at the Zion ChurchThe Rock Island offered a $5 excursion rate to California.1898Levi Cramb, later editor of The Fairbury Journal, was Fairbury High School news reporter. He was also junior class president.1900Political meetings were being held all over this region, it being the presidential campaign of 1900. Charles A. Towne, The Fairbury Journal's favorite candidate for vice president, spoke at an outdoor meeting in Fairbury. The meeting was preceded by a parade, which, The Fairbury Journal said, cost only $20, of which $16 was spent for flags.1903Jonathan Snyder's house was moved from near the river bridge to a lot north of the former Christian Church site.1904Henry Jacobs, father of William Jacobs of Daykin, died. He was a Union army veteran, although born in Germany.Daykin Market prices included 15 cents per dozen for eggs, 11 cents a pound for butter, $4.30 and $4.50 a hundred pounds for hogs, 99 cents a bushel for wheat, 39 cents for corn and 22 cents for oats.1908The Rev. Thomas Maxwell came from York to be pastor of the Fairbury Christian Church.1910The $1,800 road grader purchased by the County Commissioners, arrived and was to be tried out on the road between Fairbury and Kesterson.Market prices in Fairbury, were wheat 86c, corn 46c, oats 28c, baled alfalfa hay $10, butter 25c, butterfat 29c, eggs 20c and hogs up to $8.1913Seventy petitions for U.S. citizenship were pending in the district court here; 28 were to be heard in November, the rest the next spring. Citizenship became even more important the next year and through the World War.1920Ten bands were advertised to appear at the Fairbury 4-B festival, to come off Oct. 12 through 16.Farm market prices in Fairbury: steers $15.75, corn 90c, wheat $2.10, oats 50c, baled prairie hay $10, baled alfalfa hay $15, butter 50c, eggs 47c, butterfat 58c, hens 24c per pound and springs 30c.1923There were 126 pupils from outside District No. 8 enrolled in Fairbury High School."Selfcommencers" was the term for automobile starters, just becoming standard equipment on some makes.Delmar and Walter Meyer moved from Beatrice to join brothers Lloyd and Louis in their grocery store here.It was moving to the Odd Fellows building to carry on a cash and carry business, on one side, credit and delivery on the other.E.P. Griffin, a former clerk of the District Court, was moving into Fairbury from his farm southwest of Fairbury, on account of his health. He had bought the W.H. Brown house at 603 Third Street for $2,000.1924Republican McMullen was elected Nebraska governor, defeating N.J. Norton, later a Congressman.Norton had been named to the Democrat state ticket after Governor Charles Bryan declined the renomination, to accept the vice presidential spot.Cornhuskers were being paid 6 to 8 cents a bushel and meals.Yields were from five to 55 bushels per acre.1934The Fairbury Journal Editor, W.F. Cramb, predicted a Chamber of Commerce talk that Nebraska would adopt a sales tax; told of its operation in Iowa and Illinois.A rain of 1 ½ inches followed the driest summer here in history, putting the wet ground in fairly good condition.While in Chicago for the World's Fair, Editor W.F. Cramb reported cheapest seats for the Ziegfeld Follies were $1.10, the highest $3.65.1944The V.A. Marshall Life Insurance Agency office was planning to move from the MaryEtta Hotel building to an east side site formerly occupied by the Jensena Marie Cafe.Cleo Schmoldt, daughter of the Leo Schmoldts, received the Union Pacific's Carl Raymond $100 scholarship.Messer Auto Parts rented the building at 316 F Street from R.B. Steele, Merle L. Oglevie was manager; Louis Klein salesman.1983Kevin Yost and Jenne Schroeder were homecoming king and queen at Tri County High School.John Cervantes and Angie Oswald were the FHS homecoming king and queen. Their attendants were Joann Endorf, Randy Fisbeck, Michelle Friend, Todd Mannschreck, Royce Mosher, Christy Olberding, Linda Schwab and Robert Wiedergreen.Jack Curran of Lincoln had completed work on four brick murals at Rock Creek Station State Historical Park visitors center.1988While touring Nebraska, the society of American Travel Writers made a stop at Rock Creek Station State Historical park near Fairbury.The Fairbury High School Golden Pride Marching Band attended the Harvest of Harmony Parade and Field Competition.2000Fairbury Jeffs defeated the Superior Wildcats in the homecoming contest, 47-0.2003A new siren system would be replacing an old version in Reynolds with the help of a grant from the U.S. Depart-ment of Agriculture.The USDA recently announced that $7,500 was awarded to the Village of Reynolds for the new early warning system.Tyler Weishahn and Jill Wollenburg were named the 2003 Tri County Homecoming King and Queen.The theme for the homecoming this year was “This Magic Moment.”

Michael R. Balbach

Fairbury Concert Association

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