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Office located at 111
E. Main, Mankato, Kansas 66956
.Established 1890, Volume 120, Issue No. 48
Early 'soddies' sprang from necessity
covered with boards. Over the ceiling
boards, chunks of sod were placed for
insulation.
"The house looked rather peculiar
in the summer-time because grass and
weeds would grow out of the sod on the
roof. On three of the four sides, dirt
was piled almost to the roof line for
insulation
"We did have a small window or
two. on the front of the house, for warm
weather ventilation. The windows were
almost ground level. On the inside, it
had basically two large rooms. One
room was a combination kitchen, din-
ing and bedroom. The kitchen was in
front, dining room in the middle and
the folks' bed was in the back.
The other large room was Luella's
room. with a large storage area behind
it. George and I slept in the loft.
"The floor was wooden and the
walls were plastered. Since it was well
insulated with dirt. sod and thick logs,
it was quite warm in the winter time
and cool in the summer. We did have
problems when we had prolonged pe-
riods of rain. and we had quite a few
leaks, but adding more sod on the roof
usually fixed the situation.
"We did not have indoor plumbing,
electricity, radio, television, tele-
phones, central heating or many other
of the conveniences we take for granted
today. Rumors about self propelled
horseless carriages being made back
east. and in Europe, circulated when I
was a small boy, but most people dis-
missed them as being impractical gad-
gets, which would soon fade from the
scene.
"Later. we built a nice frame house:
on the farm and the log and sod house
was used for storage until it was torn
down.'"
Memories of the soddies and dug-
outs once common in Jewell County
are fading fast. Most of the structures
have dissolved into the earth from
which they were made leaving little
trace of their past existence. Even find-
ing a photograph of them is rare and
appreciated.
By Gloria Garman-Schlaefli
With today' s comfortable and well
equipped homes throughout Jewell
County, it is hard to believe our pio-
neer ancestors built and lived in humble
"earthly" homes made of the native
sod.
In an article that appeared in the
Jewell County Republican 80 years
ago, the editor described the sod houses.
The houses were often called "soddies."
There was no timber on the prairie
land when the first settlers arrived m
Jewell County and the surrounding
area. The people were arriving in
"'swarms." following the Civil War. It
was a new country, new life. and money
was scarce for the first settlers. Most of
the trade was done mostly by barter-
ing. Yet. the pioneer family needed a
home to provide protection
The prmrie pioneer had no money
to purchase timber to make their houses,
so the pioneer built with what was
available. He did this by using the
prairie sod First a site had to be se-
lected for the house, and then he used
his team of oxen or horses to pull a
"'breaking" plow. instead of the "solid
plowshare." Setting the plow to adepth
of about three inches, he plowed a long
straight furrow as near to the "soddy"
site as he could get. The sod was im-
pregnated with fibrous roots of the
prairie grasses and prairie plants, so
that it held together well. Strips of sod.
a foot wide and three feet long, were
Business owners
will display wares
at Mankato show
A Christmas open house will be
held from 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec.
2. at the Mankato Community Center.
Vendors taking part in the open
house are Belinda Jeffery, Pampered
Chef: Amanda Anderson with baked
goods: Cindy Rhoads. Tastefully
Simple: Rock Hills Booster Club's
Grizzly Store: Dixie Abram. Silpada
Jewelry; Mary Little. Avon. baked
goods, and Precious Moments item s;
cookbooks from the Jewell County
Relay For Life committee: Thelma
Shelton. Tupperware; Kim Duvall and
her hand pai nted item s; Jessica S hulda,
LiaSophiaJewelry; MehlinaMcEntire.
handmade bath products: Pare Dunstan
and Lori Bonjour, independent beauty
consultants. Rock Hills Rockettes
Dance Team will offer Christmas gift
wrapping.
f Number of residents
without electnclty
reduced to 225
stories seeing creatures runnmg along,
or hanging from the rafters.
The floors were often dirt. Some-
times wooden floors were made using
the native trees. The average sod house
had not more than two rooms. Some
larger ones had four to five rooms.
Hand dug wells provided water that
was carried into the house. Soddies
were also constructed to serve as school
houses and churches.
The soddies and dug outs were warm
in the winter and cool in the summer.
Such a soddy was built in 1875 by
James Simpson of the Northbranch
community. A story about this soddy
was written by Orville Eckl or and pro-
vided by Dorothy Amack Mattison.
This particular soddy became known
as Ecklor Soddy.
"In 1893. dad purchased an 80 acre
farm from John and Lydia Smith. It
was one mile north and three miles
west of Northbranch. It was on the
south side of the road. I was born in a
sod and log house on this farm. three
years after my folks acquired it.
"The house was rather crude look-
ing on the outside. It was constructed
on the four sides with large logs, prob-
ably from cottonwood tree, from along
the banks of the Republican River.
which was about 10 miles north The
logs were about 40 to 50 feet in length.
It was approximately half above ground
level, and half below. The logs were
chinked with sod and the rafters were
brought to the site.
After the dimensions of the house
were decided, the ground was smoothed
offso that a space is left for the walls.
'which were two feet or more in thick-
ness. The growing grass was left on the
sod and this formed the "chinks" be-
tween the layers. The walls were built
up to a height of seven or eight feet.
with openings left for the windows and
doors, which were recessed into walls
for a distance of a foot or more.
Many of the first soddies didn't
have windows as glass was often not
available or wasn't affordable. Some-
times oiled paper or muslin was used to
cover the windows.
After the walls were completed a
ridgepole was secured, from native
trees to provide support. Over this.
brush was thrown and then a layer of
prairie hay or straw was applied. Then
the layers of sod were placed, with the
layers being leveled off and chinked
up so that not a drop of water entered.
and the structure drained perfectly.
Doors and windows frames were made
from native lumber or from wooden
boxes that the pioneers had brought
with them. Sometimes a ".white wash"
made by the pioneers was placed on
the walls.
To make the sod house more homey
looking, the sod roofs were sometimes
planted with native flowers, but some-
times the roofs became homes to ro-
dents or snakes. Some pioneers told
This sod house was built in 1875 or 1876 by James Simpson, Northbranch. but became the Ecklor sod hob se. Photo
belongs to Dorothy Amack Mattison. Red Cloud Pictured in front of the sod house are Luella Eckl or Amack, Dorothy's
mother, and Elzora Simpson Hendrickson, a cousin of the Ecklor's from Guide Rock.
..:
N
The Henderson dugout was located just south of the farm where Jerry Harris now lives west of Northbranch. The
dug out was once located on top of the first hill, just a little east of the Harris driveway. Pictured are (from left) May
Henderson sitting with Dollie on her lap, then Rhoda with Jessie on her lap and Clint. Between Clint's knees is Mattie.
next is Lottie and Ellen. The plqoto of Clinl and Rhoda Henderson with their family was taken in early spring of 1890.
May and Lily were Clint's children by first marriage. Ellen, Mattie, Dollie and Jess. were Rhonda's children. They resided
in this dug out through 1891 and the Henderson's son, Titus, was born. He was the only Henderson child born in this
dug out. Mattie was born in another dug out across the creek to the east. Dollie and Jess was born in a frame house
to the east side of this dug out.
Jacob Armagast first home 13 miles north and 2 1/4 wt nf Mnktr I=,-.,--,ho ,4 .... h÷. r",,. c, ..........
By Monday Rolling Hills Electric
Cooperauve had reduced the number
of power outages to 225. down from
400 on Thursday. The cooperative had
600 meters without power at the peak
of the storm last Monday.
The cooperatwe faced major, wide-
spread damage to its system, particu-
larly in the Munden. Narka, Haddam.
Mahaska. Clifton. Palmer and
Morrowville areas.
"We have put a lot of poles in the
ground and we are moving through a
lot of mud." D0ug Jackson. Rolling
Hills manager, said Friday morning.
"It is a slow process. Washington
County and northeast Republic County
are the two hardest hit areas." Line
crews for the cooperative have been
working day and night to resto/'e power.
"'We are hoping to have power re-
stored to all of our members by Mon-
day night." Jackson said.
Other Kansas electric cooperatives
unaffected by the storm dispatched line
crews to assist those cooperauves that
had lost power, including crews from
the Rolli ng Hills Eleqtric Cooperanve
headquarters in Mankato. This assis-
tance is provided as part of the state-
wide mutual aid program coordinated
by Kansas Electric Cooperatives. Inc.
Line crews from Lane-Scott, Prai-
rie Land.. Victory and DS&O electric
cooperauves assisted Rolling Hills
Electric linemen with restoration ef-
forts.
Rolling Hills Electric Cooperative
serves I 0,000 meters in 16 North Cen-
tral Kansas counties.
Mankato Weather
Daily High and Low Temperatures
Nov. 15 .................................. 53 30
Nov. 16 ................................... 43 32
Nov. 17 ................................... 43 29
Nov. 18 ................................... 53 18
Nov. 19 ................................... 53 18
Nov. 20 ................................... 56 18
Nov. 21 ................................... 57 22
USPS, NO. 274-940
Price 50¢
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thanksgiving traditions often include fall decorations that reflect the bounty of the area's fall harvest. A shock of corr
and antique wagon filled with pumpkins, brightly colored leaves and a crock full of fall flowers graces the front yard
of the Harold and Susan Topliff home in Jewetl. The Topliff's Victorian house is bordered by a unique iron fence seen
in the background.
Horse enthusmsts" helping with
annual Christmas" open house
Jewell County horse owners are
again taking part i'n the Mitchell County
Hospital Health Systems Annual
Christmas Open House. The Beloit
even.t wi I1 raise funds for the hospital's
entry in the Mitchell County Relay For
Life.
Children will be offered rides on
miniature pomes, provided by Daryl
and Becky Cockrofl Jewell. The po-
rues were present at the last open house.
Another pony is being supplied by
Kirby and Paula Kisslinger.
Don and Shirley Simmelink, Jewell.
are known for their horse drawn car-
riages and surrey which they have en-
tered them in many local parades. Don's
horse. Duke, will be pulling the surrey.
Duke is 12-years-old. Don broke and
trained the horse. Riding and driving
horses is a long time hobby of Don's.
Norman Greene, Jewell. will offer
City of Mankato
Utility Report
Connects: Joe Sanchez. 807 N.
High.
Disconnects: Harlow Vader. 807
N. High; Taylar Ord. 716 N. West.
Hospital staff offers
aid to 4-1egged
victims of accident
The Jewell County Hospital staff
offered more than emergency care to
the victims of a three vehic]e accident
that occurred last Monday on High-
way 36. east of Mankato. Staff" mem-
bers also cared for two pets owned by
the accident victims.
A father and son. Dua.ne and Charles
Thorpe, Beloit, where seriously injured
m the accident. Accom pawing them
in their vehicle were two dogs, Otto
and Little Miss. After the two men
were treated at the Jewel I County Hos-
pital and sent on for further care, their
dogs remained at the hospital until
Bobi Fogo, the hospital's lab manager,
took them to her home.
Abby Elkins. the hospital's long
term care activity director, provided
the dogs with bandanas that had been
made by the hospital's long term care
residents.
A son and brother of the Thorpes,
Duane Thorpe Jr., later came to Man-
kato to pick up the dogs. He thanked
the staff for their kindness and treat-
ment provided, and re ported his father
rides with the surrey and spring wagon at the museum. There will also be live
he built. Greene has built many horse
drawn buggies and wagons and has entertainment. Refreshments will be
restored a horse-drawn sled that has served, and Santa will make an appear-
been in his family for many years, ante to have photos taken with chil-
Green's son. Steve Greene. also of dren. in the hospital lobby.
Jewel]. will be manning one of the Sunday, Dec. 6. from I to a p.m..
horse drawn vehicles.
The Cockrofls. Simmelinks and
Greenes are cancer survivors or have
friends and family members affected
by Cancer and thus are welling to help
with Relay For Life Events.
The Christmas Open House is
scheduled for 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday.
Because of construction underway at
the hospital, the rides will be available
the Mitchell County Relay For Life
will sponsor a Spirit of the Season
Home Tour featuring six Beloit homes.
along with a bake sale ar the Porter
House Hotel. Homes included on lhe
tour are those of George and Bobbi
Link. Brian and Kristi Arasmith.
Stephanie and Brad Barreu. Scou and
Mary Jane Chapman. Helen Grotz. and
Richard and Maxine Carrlco.
Tarantula bite, shopping at
home lead off 'Memories'
120 Years Ago
Potter of Beloit is at work in Jewell
with his 12-horse corn sheller.
Randall has but two empty dwell-
ings.
"Trade at home. Let's keep our dol-
lars in Jewell.County" admonished the
Jewell County Republican.
A Cawker City hotel worker was
bitten by a tarantuia which was hidden
in a bunch of bananas
A Smith County girl won a wacr
of $50 by husking 60 bushels of con in
five hours.
80 Years Ago
A severe blizzard hit most of Jewell
County. A strong wind and snow all
Continued to page 7
Bobi Fogo (left), Jewell County Hospital lab manager, and Duane Thorpe
Jr., hold Otto and Little Miss. Tin e dogs were in a serious three vehicle accident
on US Highway 36 Monday. Nov. 16. in whinh Thnrnc,'e f÷l-, .... ,4 .............