Looking Back 10.22.25
1893
Artie Speenburg, a Fairbury printer, was helping out at The Plymouth Enterprise.
F.A. Curten was planning a new newspaper, The Fairbury Fairplay.
Corn that was averaging 20 to 30 bushel per acre near Daykin was bringing 25 cents a bushel.
1894
The Rock Island offered a $5 excursion rate to California.
1903
Results of county balloting elected S.R. Merrell (Republican) unopposed treasurer; W.S. Diller(R) unopposed, clerk; C.F. Case(R) over J.R. Wright (Fusion), Sheriff; C.C. Boyle(R) over John Ruppell(F), judge; Os-car N. Garnsey(R), unop-posed, district court clerk; Warren Perry(R) over H.L. Clarke(F), coroner; W.W. Watson(F), unopposed, surveyor; John Nider(R) over William Jacobs(F), 2nd district commissioner; Olive True(F) over J.A. Axtell(R), schools superintendent; W.F. Bonawitz(F) over D.B. Griffith, assessor.
The Fairbury Journal wrote, “The Standard Oil Co. has it in for Nebraska,” commenting on the coal oil increase to 20 cents a gallon.
1905
The Jefferson County Journal editor W. F. Cramb said that Fairbury had better sidewalks than any city he had yet seen. His only complaint of “hundreds of feet of cement sidewalk put down this summer” was that they were so smooth as to be hazardous and so light-colored that they glared in sunlight.
1908
“Uncle” Dan Cropsey was owner of The Fairbury Gazette.
1913
Ed Cowles had a family monument made from local stone and placed it in the south potion of the Fairbury cemetery. A four-horse team brought it from about two miles east of town.
Virgil Campbell had some corn on his farm just west of Fairbury that was yielding 45 bushels an acre. Market price locally was 80 cents a bushel.
Over 500 local residents took part in drawings for federal land in the state. Four drew land.
1923
John Fromong had threshed his stacked wheat in October. It made 31 bushels per acre, sold for $1 a bushel.
O.C. Briskell, Fairbury auto dealer was promising a “new Chevrolet for the family for Christmas” for those joining a “club” and making weekly deposits with his firm. A $20 free coupon was a starter.
A.D. Rough had resumed publishing The Steele City Press after several months suspension due to ill health.
Plymouth High School’s student newspaper was The Plymouth Rock. Editor-in-chief was Robert D. Bersche; other staff members were Ella Bockholdt, Charles E. Humberger, Elsie Koenig, Max Lehninger, Alma Nispel, Lettie Sandman, Gayle Stewart, Dorothy Strain and Phoebe Waymire.
1926
Two petitions were circulated among radio listeners in Fairbury asking that “powerful” KFAB in Lincoln be added to the WEAF chain of stations.
1928
Gage County Democratic and Republican central committees, in a joint statement, criticized the action of their counterparts in Jeferson County supporting the re-election campaign of District Judge W.I. Moss of Fairbury.
1936
The Fairbury Journal feature on the old town of Meridian, east of Alexandria, quoted personal memories of H.M. Stanclift and other residents of the thriving town of the late 1860s and early 1870s. It at one time had been county seat of the then combined area of Jefferson and Thayer counties.
The Fairbury Woman’s Club celebrated its 40th anniversary. Present at the special observance were three members of the original group, Mmes. T.J. Andrews, J.H. LeRoy and W.H. McCoy. Bertha Holly was president in 1936.
Jefferson County winners in the Good Citizenship contest were Warren M. Jones of Fairbury and Elmer Sasso of Diller, boys; Mearle Shoebotham of Reynolds and Ada Belle Barta of Steele City, girls. All qualified for the state contest.
1946
The American Red Cross gave certificates for local chapter service as chairmen during World War II to Dr. J.H. Bond, Dr. W.L. Hull, Rev. J. LaVerne Jay and Harold L. Nuckolls.
Fairbury’s first residential prefabricated building of the quonset type was that of the I.L. Petersons at 1304 D Street.
Mrs. Roy Brown was appointed assistant city librarian, succeeding Marion Burkhart.
It was discovered that the City of Fairbury had not had a police judge for 33 years, though Justice of the Peace J.G. Hotchkiss had been acting as magistrate for the preceding 20 years. A corrective ordinance was introduced in the council.
1956
Lindersmith Drug Store had leased the building at the northeast corner of Fourth and E streets from Morris Speir. It had been previously occupied by Stull Hardware. One of the earliest buildings in Fairbury, it was built originally by Col. Thomas Harbine.
Trustees of the newly-organized Fairbury Foundation Inc. were Ray L. ‘Barber, Dean S. Campbell, L.K. Cramb (editor of the Fairbury Journal), Robert V. Denney, R.L. Schainost, Ruth Skidmore, George Skultety, Morris Speir and Harry Zweifel. It was to receive and administer grants, bequests and gifts for wel-fare and benevolent activities. Jefferson was one of 29 counties in Nebraska designated for federal drought relief. Farmers could by grain and hay at reduced prices from government-owned stocks to maintain foundation herds of livestock.
1966
Park View Manor, to provide low-cost housing for older residents of Fairbury, was dedicated with Sen. Carl T. Curtis guest speaker, and Robert V. Denney, master of ceremonies. Members of the Housing Authority which had charge of the project were L.K. Cramb, chairman, Howard Boeckner, Merl C. Hokenstad, Ernest Kriesel and E.C. Trindel. Faye Craig had been hired as ex-ecutive director.
1976
The UNL Bureau of Business Research estimated that Jefferson County population had increased by 1.6 percent from 1970 to 1975.
1986
Emergency services volunteers in the county attended a demonstration of new equipment that had been donated by the Salvation Army through the Adam Waggoner Trust Fund. The demonstration included use of a cutter, a ram and a new torch that will be used, along with extraction tools, to remove accident victims from cars.
After 95 years, the Helvey United Methodist Church closed its doors.
Members of a local committee of School District 8 patrons decided to conduct a write-in campaign to fill three vacancies on the District 8 School Board. James Price, chairman of the Organization of Concerned Citizens, Darlene Fredrick and Larry Troxel agreed to serve as writes in candidates.
