September 17 1896 —
John Kissinger has begun the erection of a dwelling on his lots east of his present residence. The house will be 16x26 and 14x22 all 14-foot posts.
September 24, 1896 –
John Kissinger met with quite an accident last week: while unloading a car of lumber, he fell onto his dray and from thence to the ground, nearly fracturing his ribs. While able to be up, he suffers much pain and inconvenience from the bruise.
100 Years Ago. . .
Twelve little boys and girls gathered at the Weeces home to help Clyde celebrate his fourth birthday. Games were played for a while and then the candles were lit on the birthday cake, after which ice cream and cake were served to the small guests. Clyde was presented a number of pleasing gifts which were greatly appreciated.
Tom Watson had been nursing a sore hand, the result of attempting to muzzle a chicken-eating hog. Tom got the muzzle on, and her chicken eating days were over, but he also got a badly cut hand, which placed him under the doctor’s care for a time.
One of Anvil Larson’s children cut his finger so badly in a lawn mower that it was necessary to amputate part of it. Dr. Rodgers performed the operation.
Henry Hinrichsen was down with the typhoid fever. Henry had been attending to the farm work for his brother, Louis, while the latter was sick with typhoid, and now Henry was down with the same thing.
Rev. L. R. Keckler advertised: Balsams, zinnias, marigolds, candy tuft, larkspur, Rocky Mountain garlands, bachelor buttons, hybrid daisys and dwarf sunflower plants for sale at 5¢ and 10¢ a dozen. Also tomato plants for sale.
An advertisement: “One pig went to market and money he earned.
Another stayed home and was buried or burned. The first pig was immunized by Dr. Weeces, that’s why.”
75 Years Ago. . .
The village board met at the council room with L. C. Walling, Consumers district manager, to further discuss Osmond’s street lighting future. Consumers was to install a new whiteway lighting system. The project had been held up for several years because of scarcity of materials and labor. Recently it offered to use turned wood poles to hang the overhead lamps if residents did not care to wait longer for steel poles.
“Half the span of our lives have we not seen each other,” said the visitor from the west coast, Mrs. Inez Ratcliff, now almost 80 years of age, who would soon be homeward bound after having spent almost three weeks here with her sister Mrs. Frank Tegmeier. Mrs. Tegmeier, only two years a junior to the visitor, last saw her sister in 1907 when she and her husband visited in San Diego and since then the family of seven originating in the Clayton, IL, home had been decimated to these remaining two. It was logical that neither of the sisters on the arrival of Mrs. Ratcliffe at the local bus depot recognized the other. “Who are you looking for?” was the query by the bus passenger on descending from the bus and seeing the elderly lady awaiting someone. “Mrs. Ratcliffe,” was the reply. “Well that’s me” was the rejoinder.
65 Years Ago. . .
Property values in Osmond were far from a downward slide. That was proved when spirited bidding on a frame home and several lots belonging to the Chris L. Christiansen estate commanded a price of $4,100.
The purchaser was Ernest Stark of Osmond. Bidding began at $1,000 and climbed steadily upward to the final figure. The property sold was located one block north and 1½ blocks west of the auditorium.
Osmond’s municipal swimming pool was going to be open on Sunday nights from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., according to Walter Warneke, who was in charge of the facilities.
Warneke said that James Brummond would be the Sunday night lifeguard.
As things stood, the pool would be closed on only one night weekly, on Thursday, Many persons had criticized pool policy makers for the Sunday night closing rule. Ostensibly the rule was put into effect so there would be no conflict with baseball games. Both lifeguards at the pool, Donivan Huwaldt and Gerald Thomsen, were regular members of the Osmond Tigers. The Tigers normally played Thursday and Sunday night games. As the Sunday swimming scheduled stood now, pool closing coincided with the starting time of baseball games.
The death of Charles Starkweather in Nebraska’s electric chair in late June 1959 brought forth the usual research into the history of legal executions in Nebraska. The Associated Press reported that Pierce County furnished the first man to feel the vengeance of the hangman’s noose way back in 1902. The man’s name was Gottlieb Neigenfind, a 28-year-old farmer convicted of first degree murder in the county.
The AP report gave no other details.
Starkweather was the 12th man to be electrocuted in the state. He was the 20th to die for murder. Eight men were hanged.
50 Years Ago. . .
The Osmond Pee Wee team put on a fine show on a very hot day, nipping Plainview 7-6. Osmond was down in the bottom of the sixth, 4-6, when Pat Hoffman hit a triple, knocking in the winning run. Roger Folkers threw for the winners.
“Happy Days” was the theme of the 11th biennial Osmond High School alumni reunion and banquet. It was held June 23. Some 675 persons were in attendance. Traditionally, the classes having graduated 50 years before are honored. However, 1974 was the first time a group of 60 year graduates were present. The latter group and all those having graduated prior to 1923 were introduced. The 25-year classes, 1948 and 1949, were introduced as a group. The oldest living graduate [although not present] was Ruby Kissinger of California, a member of the Class of 1898. She wrote a letter to be read at the reunion.
Ground breaking ceremonies were held for the construction of an education building for the United Methodist Church. The ceremony was held in conjunction with the morning worship service with was attended by several former members, in town for the alumni reunion festivities that day.
The new facility was to be built in the area between the two church buildings located on the church property, at a cost of about $70,000.
Mr. and Mrs. Lorenz Fuelberth were pictured on the front page of the Osmond Republican in the midst of their attractive front lawn. Their lawn was selected by the Osmond Jaycees as the first "lawn of the week."
25 Years Ago. . .
The Osmond Library Fundraisers, Board, Foundation and Building Committee met to discuss the status of the library funds and to decide on starting construction on the new library. Profits from the Darla Hansen concert, computer raffle and Thomas Kinkade print auction totaled more than $3,500. That amount, added to the current bank balance, interest on CDs and the bank’s matching funds brought the total to a little more than $160,000. Roger Koehler of Pierce had given a cost estimate quote for the building at $170,000. After discussion, the board voted to shorten the building by 20 feet and notify Koehler that he could begin work on the library.
10 Years Ago. . .
Comedian Sam Adams was the entertainment for Summerfest 2014 A surprise celebrity roast was also held, a This Is Your Life saga recalling the events in the days of Dr. Dave Johnson, an Osmond physician who retired after 46 years of service to the community. Another event during Summerfest was the naming of the 2014 Outstanding Citizen. That honor went to Missy Hoppe.
