Recent feature stories down below!


Manning, Iowa
"Home of Pioneer Spirit"
Where independent & rugged-thinking individuals (both past & present) work together to accomplish great things for the community!

If you stumble onto my web page or follow a search link here and had/have a relative who lived here in Manning, please contact me.
I'm interested in any/all old pix, history, and old items connected to Manning to scan and document.
I'll share with you if you share with me...my web pages only scratch the surface of what I have in my digital database.

I'm posting the older Monitor articles I scan at these links so as not to over-load my main web page.

Monitor Archives scanned 2025

Monitor Archives scanned 2026 - updated February 3

I will continue to add more Monitor articles down below, as I continue to scan them, along with corresponding information for some of them, so you may need to scroll down on the right side to find some of the more recent articles featured.

The Ohde Funeral Home is asking for help to reach a relative of Robert.

Robert Montgomery
September 30, 1958 - March 12, 2026
Robert Montgomery of Manilla, Iowa passed away and we are looking for any relative to come forward.
Please call us at 712-655-3416.

If you haven't scrolled down a ways - you need to do so, as I've added a ton of new stuff...

I was always thinking this was a fountain for horses, but when I zoomed in on the one picture I see a box where kids can stand to drink out of the spigot.
There was a fountain on the opposite part of the intersection on the northeast corner of Third & Main. I think it was much larger and would have been for horses.
I'm not going to take the time to look for pictures of it.

Here is the article about the fountain in front of the Mueller Furniture store, and a clipping of the presentation.

July 14, 1904 Monitor
On Friday, July 1st, the Manning Woman's Club presented the city with a beautiful drinking fountain which is now located on the corner of Main and Third Streets. An excellent program had been arranged and was carried out as the club always does such things, most successfully. The music for the occasion was furnished by the club and every number they sang was appreciated and enjoyed. Their music is too well known to need special mention.
After a fitting prayer for the occasion by Rev. A.G. Bennett, Mrs. Joseph Wilson gave a short interesting historical sketch of the club from the time it was founded until the present date, after which Mrs. J.C. Giffen in behalf of the Manning Woman's Club in a few well-chosen words presented the fountain to the city of Manning.
Mayor W.N. Rugg, in his speech of acceptance, said he most gratefully accepted the fountain in behalf of the citizens of Manning and thanked the club for their generous gift and said that this was one of the most needed things in Manning and very thoughtful of the Woman's Club in presenting the city with one and showed that the women of Manning were also looking out for the welfare of the city.
The program was ended by the club singing America in which the crowd joined in.
The above was overlooked last week, a reporter for the Monitor was at the exercises and the notes were taken but in some unaccountable way was omitted. We are very sorry this happened and hope that there will be no hard feelings in the least as we assure you it was not intentional as the columns of the Monitor are always open to the Woman's Club or any other society that is doing good. We have never been biased in any way and if at any time it happens that things are overlooked please don't think for a minute that we mean to do this as we do not. A man running a newspaper has many things to think about and occasionally important things are overlooked, but we assure you it hurts us to have it occur as much as any one else. We again say we are sorry and will in our best not to let it occur again.


June 30, 1904, Manning Monitor


Pre 1915 since there are no bricks on Main Street yet.


1930 - this is an older porcelain fountain but I remember a newer style in front of Muellers.

Modern Woodmen Association

June 16, 1904, Manning Monitor
Not sure if "Kuesel" listed would be my grandfather August Kusel, or another one of my relatives.


June 23, 1904, Manning Monitor


July 7, 1904, Manning Monitor


July 7, 1904, Manning Monitor

Northwestern Depot in the background

When I worked on the 2009 Manning Schools history book after working on the 2006 Manning Quasquicentennial book, I asked a number of retired Manning folks to go through the official school records to get the names of all the students who attended Manning's town school.
While there was already a list of graduates made for the 1981 Manning Centennial history book, I asked these volunteers to use spreadsheets I made to mark down the years each student attended the school...those who graduated and also those, I call Former Students, who for various reasons did not graduate from MHS.
Now I just ran into this article of MHS 1904 and it is great to see that the valedictorian/salutatorian match with the records I have from that group's work.
I always watch for proof and corroboration for the data I have.

Fortunately, I had a tremendous amount of data and pictures scanned prior to the publication of the Manning School book, so it was mostly a matter of taking this digital data and then organizing it according to the years and lay it out for the book.

I had scanned thousands of pictures and historical data from various collections and two of them (shown farther down below) came from the collection that Orval Fink and Art Rix had made when they worked on the 1981 Manning Centennial book.
Orval also had a photography business and had acquired a few of the pictures and negatives from the Lyden Studio.
Unfortunately, Lyden Studio had 3 fires over its time here in Manning, so most of the old/original negatives and prints perished in those fires.


May 12, 1904, Manning Monitor

Here is a picture, similar to what was used in this article above.

Built in 1883, now with the addition that was added in the rear.
This would be between First & Second Streets - in the block just northeast across the intersection from the Catholic Church.
A brick building replaced this wooden structure in 1907 - people my age and older should remember this school.
These 2 school buildings originally housed all of the grades until the high school was built in 1918.

Next is a picture of the school, probably the first year or maybe the second year.
Notice there are no trees yet. They are hard to see but there are a few homes in the background.
I always comment about the 2 boys with their legs hanging out of the 2nd story windows.
Can you imagine the fit people would have today - insurance/liability etc...

Built in 1883

The next image is the class of 1904 - from the Orval & Art collection.
Here is how this and many of the pix from that collection came about.
Art mounted a camera in the basement of the Rexall Drug Store.
When someone would bring in pictures to use in the 1981 Centennial book, he would take a picture of those pictures.
Next he would make a negative and then in some cases make prints or blow-ups and Art/Orval made a display which is now in the Manning Library.
Then in 2002, I took those panels home to scan.
So the picture of the 1883 school and the class of 1904 are several generations from the original photos, which I'm 99.9% sure they no longer exist - thrown away like so many old pictures when the parents/grandparents die.

Besides having this picture, another rare situation for history this old is having all of the names of the students.
I've scanned tens of thousands of pictures/negatives/slides and so many have no IDs or information, so I've spent countless hours over the decades running around and showing some of these pictures to the old timers to get IDs...NOW they are all GONE!

The large rolled up scrolls at the base of the picture are actually the diplomas for each student.
I've scanned several of those large style diplomas and they are impressive.

Back: Anna Goettsch, Walter Wohlers, Alma Bobar, Henry Hansen, Luella Wheeler, Richard Schacht
Middle: Hans Hagedorn (Salutatorian), Lulu Lienemann, Rosa Kuhl, Will Motter (Valedictorian), Helen Franke, Elsie Wilson, George Albert
Bottom: Emma Schoening, Anna Hansen, Ellen Campbell and Mary Loch


May 26, 1904, Manning Monitor

Now this brings me to another aspect of all of my Manning historical work.
For 10 years now I've been working on a Manning Veterans history book project.
As with the previous 2 books I had published, I want to publish a Manning Veterans book - which will be 2 volumes because I have so many military/veteran pix and information scanned into my database.
The cost of printing books has increased a lot since the last 2 books and the printing companies have higher minimums for printed books.
So I continue to seek funds to add to the Veterans Account in the First National Bank.

I have a lot of Manning Quasquicentennial and School history books for sale.
ALL of the money from the sale of these books will go into the Veterans' account for future printing and publication costs.
Next is an image of the school history book cover.
You can find more information on how to order/purchase Quasqui/School books on the left side of my main web page.


2009 Manning TOWN & COUNTRY school book
So if you want to help financially support the Manning Veterans history book project, please donate and if you don't have a Quasqui or School book, please consider purchasing one or more of them - great presents for birthday, Christmas, or other events.

The Veterans account is under the Manning Heritage Foundation - 501 3c - of which I'm one of the current members of this foundation, originally set up by Claus Bunz for the Manning Hausbarn/Heritage Park project.

At the turn of the century, the Pioneer families that were mostly large, had children and grandchildren and there was no more Prairie land here to homestead, so many of the citizens had to move on West.
Another reason to move on was with all of the relatives in the area, not everyone got along and as the parents started passing away, fights over the farm land between siblings occurred, so some moved on...
Since Manning had 3 railroads that connected almost all of the little towns and headed out west, it was fairly easy to pick up and head out west for "new land."
Bloomfield, Nebraska, that I have unofficially deemed as Manning's sister city was one location that many Manning folks moved to, including a number of my Kusel relatives.
There is a link to Bloomfield under the "Archived" link on the left side of my main web page.

Harold Triplet of Manilla - Fremont, Iowa was the starting point on the Northwestern - Fremont was Harold's home town.
June 9, 1904, Manning Monitor

Even Gordon Laflar, the owner/editor of the Monitor, was promoting homesteading out west.
He didn't seem to have much interest in reporting Manning news, as most of his pages, even the front page were more nation-wide stories.
June 9, 1904, Manning Monitor


May 26, 1904, Manning Monitor


May 12, 1904, Manning Monitor

German Savings Bank on the corner 721 Third Sreet

This is the first time I've run into the schedule for all 3 of Manning's RRs...

May 12, 1904, Manning Monitor

As I continue to scan the 1904 Monitors I ran into this mystery.
Between each week's issue, there are 2 halves cut in this manner.
Not cut square but with a V shape missing in the middle.
These pages are a little wider than the regular week's issue they are with.
I'm guessing they are a supplemental page.
But why someone intentionally cut out a V shape part of it and why there are what appear to be punch holes - baffles me.

March 31, 1904, Manning Monitor


Orson Dutton, Ralph Sutherland, Donald Sutherland - April 7, 1904, Manning Monitor


April 7, 1904, Manning Monitor
Manning's first RR, followed by the Milwaukee, and then the Great Western.


April 21, 1904, Manning Monitor

Unfortunately I can't find this Johannes Hansen - very common first and last names and none of the "John" Hansens of Manning match.
Another Manning First!

May 12, 1904, Manning Monitor

1981 Manning Centennial book
The Great Western Park, located about a half mile southwest of town was built and developed by Mr. and Mrs. Johannes Hansen around 1904.
There were two connecting ponds which were both great for boating, fishing and swimming; August Reimers built the boats. A dance hall was constructed on the south side of the west pond and local musicians played for the dances. Just west of the dance hall was a bowling alley or "Kegelbahn," and further west was the clay bird and rifle range. There was also a lunch room and a large picnic area with lots of shade trees, grass and many flower beds all the way around the ponds and Lotus lilies blooming in the water.
Ice was cut from the ponds in the winter and stored in the ice house at the park; it was then sold in the summer. Mr. and Mrs. Hansen started the tradition at the park of furnishing fireworks for the community on July 4. Names were put in paper balloons, which were then released. One time, a balloon was found as far away as Spirit Lake.
Each Sunday the Great Western train brought many picnic lovers from Omaha to spend the day. The train would stop south of the park in the early morning to let off the passengers. They would climb over the sty in the fence and walk to the park and the train would go on its way to Minneapolis. On its return in the evening, everyone would be down by the railroad tracks to board the train for their return to Omaha.
Another attraction at the park on Sundays was the balloon ascension made by Dan Rice. He would leap from the balloon and float to the ground in a parachute that was usually made by Laura Reimer Vogt.
After Mrs. Hansen's death, the park was sold to August Dethlefs. It was later sold to Fred Schrum, then to Carsten Struve, who had it a number of years before selling it to John and Tina Steinhauer.


June 23, 1904, Manning Monitor

Danny R. Rowedder
Danny "Hans" Ruvilla Rowedder, age 80, of Carroll, Iowa, passed away peacefully on Friday, March 13, 2026, at St. Anthony Regional Hospital in Carroll surrounded by his family.
Funeral services will be held at the Dahn and Woodhouse Funeral Home in Carroll at 10:30 A.M. on Wednesday, March 18, 2026, with Deacon Scott Steffen officiating. Casket bearers will be Kevin Rowedder, Craig Rowedder, Chris Rowedder, Ted Eischeid, Luke Eischeid, and Travis Eischeid. Honorary casket bearers will be Keith Stribe, Curt Stribe, and Trent Grundmeyer. Burial will be in the St. Augustine Cemetery in Halbur.
Visitation will be held at the Dahn and Woodhouse Funeral Home in Carroll from 5 - 7 P.M. on Tuesday. Additional visitation will be held at the funeral home from 9:30 A.M. - 10:15 A.M. on Wednesday prior to the service.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Dahn and Woodhouse Funeral Home in Carroll and online condolences may be left for the family at www.dahnandwoodhouse.com
Danny was born on March 29, 1945, in Manning, Iowa, and he was the son of Ruvilla and Verna (Stammer) Rowedder. He grew up in the Carroll, Manning, and Arcadia areas, attending Washington No. 5 country school, and graduated from Carroll High School in 1963. Following high school, he farmed with his father and worked for Heider Manufacturing and Renze Hybrid. He was married to Carol Potthoff on April 22, 1967, at St. Augustine Catholic Church in Halbur. The couple made their home on the Rowedder family farm where they raised their family. Carol passed away in 2007 and Danny continued to live on the farm until moving to Orchard View in 2021. Danny enjoyed spending time with his family, trips to the casino, playing cards, cheering on the Iowa Hawkeyes and Carroll Tigers, playing Bingo, and golf.
Danny is survived by his two daughters and their families: Susan Hoffman (Tony) of Carroll and Sara Kitt (Jerry) of Carroll; three grandchildren: Hannah Rowedder (Eric Jagielo), Emma Hoffman, and Jack Hoffman; a brother Dale Rowedder (Deon) of Caroll; two sisters-in-law: Arlene Rupiper of Carroll and Lois Hinners of Carroll; and many nieces, nephews, and bonus grandchildren and many friends.
Danny was preceded in death by his wife Carol in 2007; his parents Ruvilla and Verna Rowedder; his in-laws Henry and Clementine Potthoff; a sister Marjorie Stribe (Dean); a brother David Rowedder; in-laws: Joyce Wright (Richard), Ernest Rupiper, Melvin Potthoff (Betty), Norbert Potthoff (Irma), Merle Potthoff (Lila), Donald Hinners.

Page 68 of the Manning Schools history book

1983 Halbur Centennial book

Now I've jumped back to 1904 Monitors in this tote.

I've never been all that interested in World History and need to concentrate on Manning's history but I found this article very interesting.
Don't recall studying this from World History in school.

March 31, 1904, Manning Monitor


German version - March 31, 1904, Manning Monitor

English version


323 Main Street - March 31, 1904, Manning Monitor

I brought this feature below to the top so I can add this very interesting article about when the Sale Pavilion organization was formed.
Never thought there would have been such an official process to start this business.

March 24, 1904, Manning Monitor

Manning Livestock Sale Pavilion

May 26, 1904, Manning Monitor


February 10, 1938, Manning Monitor

So far haven't figured out where these guys were located.
I'm fairly sure that Greves should be Graves and his first name was Foster- but could be wrong.

March 24, 1904, Manning Monitor

Do you know who Evelyn is an aunt of here in Manning?
Even with the dot-matrix pattern image, you can sure see a"sister" resemblance...

December 31, 1942, Manning Monitor
In the military information I have about Evelyn is this statment...
Evelyn enlisted in the WAAC (Women's Army Auxiliary Corps) before it was changed to WAC (Women's Army Corps).
Just in case you didn't know what either acronym stands for.


December 10, 1942, Manning Monitor

My mother told me her father, Louie Ehrichs, was the air-raid warden in charge of the blackout warnings in Aspinwall.
A couple of times she walked around town with her dad, while he checked to make sure all lights were out.

December 17, 1942, Manning Monitor

Charles retired in 1964 and moved into Manning where he was a janitor for the school.
I don't have a picture of Charles to look at to see if maybe I remember him at school.
Maybe he was the janitor at the high school. The new grade school was being completed in 1964.
Below are his 2 daughters, Joyce and Betty.

December 10, 1942, Manning Monitor

Joyce Stuhr MHS 1952 Homecoming Queen - married Allen Wegner


Betty Stuhr MHS 1953 - married Robert Grundmeier
Betty's oldest son Robbie graduated with me in 1975. Both Robert and Robbie are deceased.

Many of you will ask yourself - who is LeRoy Zerwas - well follow the link below.

December 10, 1942, Manning Monitor

Click to learn more about LeRoy

It's a good thing I've learned a lot about Manning's history.
I couldn't remember Speed's name off-hand, but knew I would find it right away in my database.

December 10, 1942, Manning Monitor

Herman Pfoltner - 407 Main Street

Back: Hertha Trabaugh, Chris, Charlie, Hans, George, Herman
Front: Katherine Horman, Jurgen, Lillian Fordyce, Frauke Hoffmann, Alma Schelldorf, Anna Studemann

"Stupid is as stupid does" as the old saying goes...
Why would an employee damage an archived copy of the Monitor is beyond me.
At least this person didn't cut out articles like someone did later on to make the 1956 Diamond Jubilee special edition.
At least a person can still read through the x-out parts.
But it will drive my OCR software crazy when it would try to recognize the characters for conversion into editable text.
Why comment about this as there is nothing that can be done about it now, and the idiot who did this is dead.
Well, I want to show how easily our history can be damaged and destroyed and worse yet thrown away like so many people do with the pictures and history they inherited from their parents/grandparents/uncles/aunts/etc.
Maybe by showing this a few people won't throw their old pix and stuff and get it to me to scan - "one can only hope."
I can digitally repair and restore this damabe but it would take me about a half a day for each page.
I just don't have time now to do the repairs.
I looked ahead and I think this was only done for 2 weeks.
Hopefully I won't run into more Xs in the future.

Here is another example that further shows my frustration with the person/s who damaged quite a few pages of the Monitor.
Ron Colling and I had surmised this was done when they made the 1956 special edition for the Diamond Jubilee.
They didn't have copiers/scanners back then.
So they clipped out articles and then would lay them out on sheets to be photographed and negatives were made to make individual prints.
Of course, clipping out an article on one side ruins the articles on the other side of the paper.

December 3, 1942, Manning Monitor
The Xs are still a mystery to me. I don't know if it was done when the clipping was done or by another person from a different time.
At least they didn't just throw these pages away - then there would be NOTHING at all to digitize.

December 3, 1942, Manning Monitor
Here is an example of the write-up for Bobby Addison and how the pencil markings mess up my OCR program.

Cropped part about Bobby.

I previously had other newspaper versions of this horrible accident but not the Manning Monitor version, so I want to add it to Bobby's obituary.
I remember my Uncle Melvin Kusel telling me about this accident - not sure how it came up in the conversation, but it did.

Bobby Addison Is Sled Crash Victim
Funeral services for Robert Addison, 15, will be held in the Ohde Funeral Home at 2 o'clock this afternoon, Thursday, December 3rd with the Rev. David MacDougall, pastor of the Manning-Manilla Methodist Churches in charge of the services. Burial will be in the Manning Cemetery. Teammates on the Manning High football squad, Melvin Kusel, Dick Morrell, Amos Lohmeier, Frank Miller, Eugene Shipp, and Ivan Opperman will act as casket bearers.
Music will be furnished by Mrs. Martha (Nick C.) Schrum, Mrs. Albert Dietz, Herman C. Pahde, and Clifford M. Johnson, accompanied by Bonita (Mrs. Henry W.) Hagedorn.
Members of the sophomore class and the lettermen's club will attend in a body. Students from other classes will also attend.
Robert Addison was born near Ross, Iowa, March 7, 1927, the eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Fern Addison. He has lived in Manning since he was six months old, making his home with his grandmother, Mrs. Lillian Addison, nearly all his life.
A coasting accident Monday night claimed his life. No one is known to have seen the accident, but apparently Bob had hooked his sled onto the back of a car probably holding on to the bumper with his hand and in letting go of the car, his sled skidded into the Gamble Store truck parked in front of the Jack Horbach home on Third Street. The sled ran into the rear of the truck and Bob suffered a severe head injury.
At about 8 o'clock, Johannes Bunz, a neighbor of the Horbachs, saw Bob lying under the left fender of the truck. His sled was found under the truck. However the accident had evidently occurred some time before Bob was discovered by Mr. Bunz, who immediately reported the accident and called a doctor. The youth was taken by ambulance to the home of his grandmother, where he died about two hours later.
Surviving are his parents of Manning and five brothers, Bill, Mickey, Gene, Clark, and Larry and his grandmother; also several uncles, aunts, and cousins.
Bob was a member of the high school football squad and the lettermen's club and the glee club. He was an excellent student and his name often appeared on the school honor roll.
He was much liked by his classmates and companions, by whom he will be greatly missed.
He will be remembered for his kindness to his grandmother and thoughtfulness in assisting her in many ways.
He attended the Methodist Sabath School.
December 3, 1942, Manning Monitor

It just dawned on me that I might have a picture of Bobby in a football team picture and sure enough I had 2 of them with him in.
He was a "hefty" boy!

Back: Coach Bill Steneker, Gerald Schroeder, Donald "Cuda" Neal, Harold Juels, Allen Grage, Donald "Tossy" Nickum, Bob Addison, Howard "Tuffy" Schumann, Carl Petersen
Middle: LeRoy Rowedder, Clarence Fister, Gene Shipp, Amos "Skip" Lohmeier, Jim Rowedder, Bobby Kuhl, Delmas Schrum, Ludwig Hammer
Front: Lyle Schrum, Melvin Kusel, Donald "Bonnie" Joens, Ivan Opperman, Bob Bonnesen, Dick Morrell, Jim Ansorge


December 3, 1942, Manning Monitor
Wife: Melinda (Sonksen) Struve-Bornhoft

William Struve standing
So sad that the 100th anniversary of this banquet was not covered.
I was told the public was not invited...

November 19, 1942, Manning Monitor


November 19, 1942, Manning Monitor


November 19, 1942, Manning Monitor

Amanda (Asmus) & William Ewoldt


November 26, 1942, Manning Monitor


November 26, 1942, Manning Monitor

When I saw this ad, I recognized the Plahn name right away from when I visited with Bernice (Karstens) Schroeder years ago.
She had some William Plahn connected pictures - William was a brother to August Plahn.
For anyone who might be related - it is possible this name was originally spelled Plähn (Plaehn), but Bernice didn't know for sure.

November 26, 1942, Manning Monitor

Edna (Plahn) & LeRoy Schumann
Edna was the daughter of August and Maria (Ehlers) Plahn, born June 26, 1906, in Aspinwall, Iowa.
I remember the Schumanns very well from the Lutheran Church...


Emma (Koenkamp) & William Plahn with their granddaughter Bernice Karstens

Emma (Koenkamp) Plahn & Bernice Karstens

Back: Unknown - maybe Mrs. Plahn, Anna (Hagedorn) Karsten
Front: William Plahn, Sr., Tom Schroeder, Dave Schroeder, probably Henry Karsten


November 26, 1942, Manning Monitor

Clarence "Click" Kuhse WWI

Wayne Kuhse and Robert Kuhse
Clarence and Lillian (Ohrt) Kuhse

Wayne Kuhse and Clarence Kuhse
Remember those old tin-ribbed hog pans?

Clarence Kuhse

Clarence Kuhse


November 26, 1942, Manning Monitor

Many of the WWII pix I have for Manning's Veterans came from a box of old pictures that were stored in the VFW Hall and Dan Peters found them and put them in a scrapbook which is now in the Manning Library (I hope it is still there).
When Dan told me about this scrapbook I immediately went in and took it home to scan all of the pictures.
Now some background of how quite a few of them ended up in that box.
Freeland Valentine of Valentine's Bakery would invite the "boys" in when they were home on leave and give them a beer...then he would take their pictures in front of the bakery, which can be seen in many of the WWII Veterans' pix I have.
This one of Roger was obviously taken in front of his barracks (unknown) and either his mother gave it to the VFW or Roger sent it there.

So when some people get concerned that I'm not working on the Manning Veterans' book project, they don't realize the time and difficulties I have in finding pix and information for Manning Veterans - and now the younger generations Veterans aren't coming forward and working with me.
So I'll just have to find what I can in the Manning Monitors (one of the main reasons why I'm scanning them), and that information will just have to do I guess.


November 5, 1942, Manning Monitor

One of the pictures from the VFW box, and ONLY one I have for Rogers.

Over the years I met and visited some with WWI & WWII Manning Veterans, but at the time wasn't working on a Veterans' book and now I wished I had been, so I could have worked with them to get some of their military pix & information - of which almost all of it is gone forever.
I had the honor to meet Grant Grundmeier just once.
It was at the last reunion the MHS class of 1938 (my dad's class) had, and my mother was invited. She wanted me to come along to meet some of dad's classmates and one in particular was interested in visiting with me - Grant Grundmeier - one thing I distinctly remember him telling me about dad was when they had a pick-up basketball game at the school.
Now Grant was a fairly large and tall man, and my dad was somewhat smaller stature. Well, Grant was guarding dad and he told me he thought to himself "I'll show Amos how tough I am" and then Grant surprised me when he told me that "Amos knocked me on my ass as he went in for a layup."
Now this was a story I had never heard before and nothing earth-shattering but fun to hear after all of these years.
Grant's sons have sent me some military and other information to me over the years. Someday I hope they'll send me the pix they have so I can scan them with my professional scanners and software.

November 5, 1942, Manning Monitor

Peter Klein is not part of Manning's history but this caught my eye with the wonderful graphics.

November 5, 1942, Manning Monitor


November 5, 1942, Manning Monitor


November 5, 1942, Manning Monitor

Many of us have heard those old "family tales" (pun intended) and we've often wondered about the validity of those old stories.
Well here is one that most would think is a made-up family story, but the picture and proof documented in the Monitor backs it up.

November 5, 1942, Manning Monitor


November 12, 1942, Manning Monitor

As soon as I saw this article, I knew right away I had a lot of pictures for this family and the health issues Mae had to deal with.
October 22, 1942, Monitor

Click to see the feature story

I thought this might be interesting to some people on what a ballot looked like in 1942.

Harold H. "Stub" Grundmeier, Carroll County auditor from 1957 to 1979, died of a heart ailment Saturday, December 12, 1998.
The obituary had 1957 but obviously, based on this 1942 full-page ad, it has to be at least since 1942...
I checked the original newspaper obit and it has 1957, so this isn't a typo on my part.
Harold was born near Manning, October 1, 1913, son of Hugo Herman and Anna (Mergele) Grundmeier.
He lived in the Carroll area most of his life.
I like it that you can see Harold's signature - something a lot of people don't think about when preserving a person's history...

October 29, 1942, Manning Monitor

Here is a full-page ad by Alfred Meyers who was my grandmother Ida (Grau) Kusel's first cousin.
Albert told me how he helped lay the bricks on Main Street in 1915.
At age 15, he helped level the sand ahead of the bricks and carry the bricks to the black man who laid most of the bricks by himself.
Alfred said that this man would cut off the tips of the fingers of his gloves so he could get a better grip but still protect the palms of his hands.
Alfred said his hands were so large that he could grab the bricks lengthwise and set them in place.
If you get a chance, look at one of the bricks and place your hand on one to see if you think you could grab it the long-way...
Alfred attended 2 country schools: 1st at Ewoldt No. 1 and then last Ewoldt No. 5.
He did attend at least 8th and 9th grades at Manning Town School.

October 29, 1942, Manning Monitor

Alfred Meyers

Below are Alfred and my common ancestors

Peter F. and Ida (Suhr) Hansen


223 Main Street - October 29, 1942, Manning Monitor

For years I have been looking for pictures of troop and military trains that went through Manning on the 3 RRs, and still looking.

October 29, 1942, Manning Monitor

I just discovered that the Monitor sold these WWII service flags.
I have some pictures of these flags in family members windows and as far as I know a scan of an actual blue star flag.
But I'd sure like to find a gold star flag to scan, which means the soldier died serving during the war...or other flags where there were multiple members of the famliy who were serving so there would be one star for each service member.


October 15, 1942, Manning Monitor
I'd also like to find some of these flags that people would donate to the Museum, before they are all gone.

Blue Star Flag

There are so many things today that we take completely for granted and oblivious of the sacrifices and difficulties dealt with during WWII.

October 15, 1942, Manning Monitor

I sure hope someday I'll be able to find a picture of this special passenger train car that went throught Manning during WWII.

October 15, 1942, Manning Monitor

Hiawatha on the Milwaukee tracks in Manning


October 15, 1942, Manning Monitor


October 15, 1942, Manning Monitor


October 22, 1942, Manning Monitor


321 Main Street - October 22, 1942, Manning Monitor

Kenneth Graves

Click to see the tribute

Helena Tank

Click to see the tribute

Karen Thomsen

1973-74 Fourth Grade at Manning

Karen B. Thomsen was born on March 10, 1947, in Denison, Iowa, to Thomas and Irene (Brensel) Thomsen. She was baptized and later confirmed in the Lutheran faith. Karen graduated from Dow City High School. From an early age, education was a priority in her life, and she carried that passion with her throughout her years.

Following high school, Karen continued her education, attending Midwestern College in Denison before pursuing further studies at Morningside College in Sioux City and later Drake University. She especially proud to have earned two Master's Degrees, one in Elementary Education and the other in Learning Disabilities, reflecting her deep commitment to academic excellence and to meeting the individual needs of her students. She also studied American Sign Language, further demonstrating her dedication to serving all learners.

Karen was especially proud to have earned two Master’s Degrees, one in Elementary Education and the other in Learning Disabilities, reflecting her deep commitment to academic excellence and to meeting the individual needs of her students.

Karen began her teaching career in Manning, Iowa, where she taught for several years before continuing her work in Cherokee. She taught in the Cherokee Community School District from 1978 until her retirement in 2004. Throughout her career, she also spent time teaching special education, sharing her patience, compassion, and steady encouragement with students who needed extra support. Fourth grade was always her favorite to teach. She loved all of her students and devoted countless hours of time and energy to her classroom. The father of one of Karen’s former fourth grade students, an educator himself, once shared that his son and his classmates never realized how much they were learning from Miss Thomsen because they were always having so much fun in her classroom. Karen remained devoted to her students until she was forced to retire due to her health.

Karen was a member of Alpha Delta Kappa, the Iowa Retired School Personnel Association, and a local Senior Citizens group. A longtime member of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Dow City, she later became an associate member of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Cherokee, where she was active in Women of the ELCA, Lydia Circle, and the Evangelism Committee, and faithfully led the annual Gift Tree for local care center residents each Christmas. She also volunteered at four local care centers, providing treats for Bingo, organizing crafts, serving refreshments at special events, and, most importantly, being a friend to residents.

Karen had an enormous heart and found great joy in giving, whether for birthdays, holidays, special occasions, or simply because she felt someone deserved a gift. Hundreds of people were touched by her generosity. She often said she did not have many local family members, so her church and community became her family. Karen was especially devoted to the Lily of the Valley country school in Cherokee, where she cleaned, organized third-grade onsite experiences, donated countless items, and proudly oversaw the building, work that brought her tremendous joy.

Karen passed away on Wednesday, February 18, 2026, at CHI Immanuel Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska at the age of 78 years, 11 months, and 8 days. Karen was preceded in death by her parents; brothers: William "Bill" Thomsen and Larry Thomsen; and sister, Sheryl Thomsen.

She is survived by her two brothers: John Thomsen of Dow City and Jerry Thomsen of Winchester, Kentucky; sister-in-law, Lory Thomsen of Denison; and other relatives and friends.

Her funeral service will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 25, 2026, at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Dow City with interment to follow in the Dow City Cemetery. Memorials may be directed the Dow City Volunteer Fire Department.
https://www.huebnerfuneralhome.com/obituaries/karen-thomsen

I need help with IDs...
Top: John Faulk, Sheryl Warner, Alan Hinners, Julie Siepker, Julie Mohr, Lynna Andresen
Third: Roxanne Halbur, Donna Herbers, Dan Kalkhoff, Jerry Croghan, ??, Tom Johnson
Second: Rourke Mullen, Pat Lutwitze, Owen Croghan, Chris Langel, Wanda Tank, Mary Drees
First: Todd Gruhn, Janice Eickman, Scott Fielweber, Patty Hughes, Jean Wiese
Bottom: Jessica Dammann, Miss Karen Thomsen, Valerie Weller, Jane Miller

Way down below I discuss an 1898 battle ship shell that once was mounted in the city park.
I commented that I was thinking it might have been a small canon but then Warren Puck and Doug Fischer remembered that shell on display.
Well, now I run into this 1942 WWII scrap drive and there is a WWI canon in the picture/write-up.
All of a sudden it hit me that I remember running across this article years ago and probably Art Rix and other old timers in Manning told me about a canon that was turned into the scrap drive and melted down for the WWII effort.
In both cases, it is sad that those 2 historical items have disappeared.
I can appreciate the canon situation - people around the world were worried about surviving and that the Japanese and Germans may win the war, so that old canon was the least of anyone's worries - BUT have you seen the movie "Monuments Men"?
The Allies and several Americans were delegated to try to find and save the historical items that Hitler's Nazis and Army had stolen from all over Europe and hid in caves.
The fear was, and they were right, that if Hitler lost, he would have those historical items destroyed, but the Monuments Men were able to find and save a lot of those treasures and return them.

Now I'm not criticizing a bunch of Manning Legionnaires who are no longer living and can't defend their decision to scrap that old WWI canon, but I think we need to use examples like this when decisions are made now to tear down, destroy, and discard our historical things.


September 3, 1942, Manning Monitor
There appears to be 2 minature statues of soldiers on both sides of the canon which were also scrapped.


October 8, 1942, Manning Monitor


October 15, 1942, Manning Monitor

This is a first I've read about the Homecoming Royalty involved in a scrap drive for WWII.

October 15, 1942, Manning Monitor

This is just one small aspect of "all-in" for everyone during WWII...so many sacrifices made by EVERYONE.

October 15, 1942, Manning Monitor


October 15, 1942, Manning Monitor


October 15, 1942, Manning Monitor


September 3, 1942, Manning Monitor


October 1, 1942, Manning Monitor


October 8, 1942, Manning Monitor

This was before the days of Cell Phones and Internet.
Many of the Manning boys wrote home to their parents.
Fortunately sometimes they brought the letters in to the Monitor - pretty much all of them were thrown away over the decades.

September 3, 1942, Manning Monitor
Calvin Spickler, one of Howard's relatives lived and is buried in Manning.


September 3, 1942, Manning Monitor
Kenneth "Hap" Dusenberry
The caption says an old storage house stood on this spot.
When the Horseshoe Bar was where the corner cafe is now, there was a 2-story ice house in this location.

711 Fourth Street

This is something I have never heard about or run across before - very interesting article to use in the Manning Veterans book.

September 17, 1942, Manning Monitor

Most people today will call this the "Peace" sign but this gesture originally was V for "Victory" during WWII.
This is the first use I've seen of a different word that started with V.
It was critical for people to order their coal early in case the RRs had to concentrate with military transportation.

September 17, 1942, Manning Monitor


December 15, 1938, Manning Monitor


December 15, 1938, Manning Monitor

The Moeller family members, like a lot of farmers years ago, were constantly inventing things, albeit sometimes not the greatest invention that could be patented but to make work easier for them...
Here are some images of some of those inventions.

December 22, 1938, Manning Monitor


Fred Moeller's "car-plane" for a parade


Page 249 of the 1981 Manning Centennial book


Harold Moeller on back - Melvin Hansen driving
Harold built this car - on the Moeller farm


Fred Moeller, Sr. farm

I often write about wanting actual/real and ORIGINAL photos to scan - NOT scans of copies, printed copies, or newspaper clipping photos.
Newspapers use a dot matrix pattern print which you can see below.
Now I can use my smaller scanner to scan these images in the newspapers to get a little better scanned image as compared to the very large commercial scanner that is somewhat designed for speed and not the highest quality, but still very good, but I simply don't have the extra time to try to scan some of the better newspaper images, plus even my largest regular scanner can only cover half of the page at a time.

When I saw this Monitor picture I recognized it right away as a photo my mother has in her collection. She was one year behind "Horse" Nickum (MHS 1940) in school and somehow got an original print of this photo, and as you can see, the quality difference is dramatic.
One thing she did not know was the name of the other player or from where, which this article now clarifies.

So if you have old Manning/school/family pix - dig them out and get them to me before they deteriorate or someone throws them away.


(Vermeule) November 17, 1938, Manning Monitor

November 17, 1938, Manning Monitor


From Dorothy (Ehrichs) Kusel's collection

I've seen several of these booklets and scanned one several years ago. I never knew when it was published - UNTIL now with this article.
The link below isn't the complete booklet - I've learned over the decades to not include complete files like this or whole collections.
I DEPEND on people sharing and sadly/unfortunately so many WANT/TAKE and won't SHARE.
So if someone wants more of my data, they have to share with me...
Worse yet, some people steal the data/pix from my web pages and then post them on other websites - like it is their work.

November 24, 1938, Manning Monitor
Ohde booklet

November 24, 1938, Manning Monitor

Full-page ad in the Monitor

November 24, 1938, Manning Monitor


December 1, 1938, Manning Monitor


December 1, 1938, Manning Monitor


December 1, 1938, Manning Monitor

This October 27, 1938, article is referring to the 2nd Comet yearbook published by the school.
The very first yearbook was called the Philosophian and was published in 1907, to dedicate the 2nd school built that replaced the original wooden structure built in 1883.
This building housed all grades and not until 1918 when they built the high school along 141, this building then held Kindergarten through Ninth Grade.
Then it wasn't until 1935 that the next yearbook was published - the very 1st Comet.
These first two books featured Freshman through Senior.
At that time the Freshmen classes were held in the grade school - they did have their own 9th grade graduation along with a class picture in front of that school.
My dad was a Freshman in the 1935 Comet and they misspelled his name "Kuhsel" under the class photo.
I have the Philosophian scanned and online which is linked under "Manning Past" on the left...

October 27, 1938, Manning Monitor

I'm not sure if this was the first cross-country participation by MHS but it would be one of the earliest...

October 27, 1938, Manning Monitor

I've run into several of these contests and thought I would feature this one.

October 27, 1938, Manning Monitor
I scanned these Koester pix from the Gerhardt Voge/Ann Trullinger collection.

Julius & Eunice (Lamp) Koester

Harry, Amanda, Henry, Julius - heading Children's Day.

I believe this was the first year of Livestock study - the Ag courses and FFA began in 1937...

October 27, 1938, Manning Monitor


October 27, 1938, Manning Monitor

Clara (Grau) Cox - Dave Kusel's great-aunt

November 3, 1938, Manning Monitor

Clara holding her 1912 MHS diploma
She later married Frank Cox.

This one little article below led me to ALL of this information I'm showing with this Monitor article, that I have for the Campbell family, BUT I have even more about them in my database.
Now Manning has had a number of amateur and semi-professional wrestlers and boxers years ago. Boxing and wrestling were part of the PE classes in school - we even had wrestling when I was in school - definitely not my favorite part of PE.

I never knew Howard - may have met him on Main Street but didn't know who he was or spoke to him that I recall. I do remember his brother, George, who was in my dad's class and his son Harry, is the only one of George's children who remained in this area - Harry's kids all attended MHS, so I got to know them too.

I never heard George or Harry talk about Howard being a boxer.
One thing I've learned over the decades is that MOST people don't volunteer more information, other than what I would specifically ask about. I would ask them to expand and expound on our discussion and I don't think they were keeping back the information - it's just that when a person is thinking about a subject, they generally don't think beyond that person/topic/subject.

Anyway, I was excited to find so much information about Howard's boxing, but sadly have not found his obituary as of yet...

I'm going to expand into the Campbell military history - in another big hope that more Manning connected Veterans will come forward with their pix and information so I can work with them on it and get those things scanned for the future Manning Veterans history book.

Since I started scanning the Manning Monitor papers, I've run into so many more Manning Veterans - many of whom moved away and now when I find some of them there is very little information online about them - some don't even have military plaques or headstones acknowledging their service.
They just lie peacefully but anonymously in their graves - basically lost to time...so very sad.
BUT if/when I find them, I'll make sure they get the recognition they deserve in the Manning Veterans book.

I really shouldn't stop and take extra time with all of this - I need to keep at scanning the Monitors which is going to take me several years to complete the task, but I know if I don't stop for a few moments and make these feature stories, I'll never remember to work on them in the future.

In one of the articles I noticed that Lyle Eckley also boxed...he graduated with my dad in 1938, and I think we did come custom combining/windrowing for Lyle.


February 10, 1938, Manning Monitor
Howard Campbell of Manning Winner in Thursday's Bout
Howard Campbell, son of Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Campbell of Manning defeated John Remtz of Parkersburg in the light-heavy weight class of the Golden Gloves Tournament in Des Moines Thursday night. On Wednesday night he defeated Duane Paul of Ames.
Carroll Daily Times Herald, February 18, 1938

160 Pounds Carl Coats, Fairfax, Missouri, technically knocked out Lyle Eckley, Manning, Iowa, in third.
175 Pounds Howard Campbell, Manning, Iowa, decisioned Aaron Knowles, Lincoln, Nebraska.
Daily Nonpareil, February 9, 1938

Howard Campbell (Manning) defeated Dwaine Paul (Ames), decision.
Des Moines Register, February 16, 1938

Light Heavyweight
SECOND ROUND

Howard Campbell (Manning) defeated Ellsworth Mellem (Grundy Center), decision
Des Moines Register, February 17, 1938

Howard Campbell Manning defeated John Reintz (Parkersburg) technical knockout, second round
Des Moines Register, February 18, 1938


Howard Campbell (left), Kenny Keat

Howard Campbell

Lida with her son, Howard Campbell

Howard Campbell served on a destroyer and came home on leave, on his return trip to the destroyer he was late so it had already left the port. Somewhere at sea an enemy artillery ship hit the area of the destroyer where Howard served and all of his buddies were killed. Once he was able to catch up with the destroyer, he found out about the deaths of his comrades and it really bothered him after that. Howard was hurt later on during his service and received disability for the rest of his life.

Manning Monitor article ------ 1943

Ship Hit By Jap Plane
In Friday's Des Moines Register appeared a picture of the U. S. S. Smith, the deck of which had just been hit by a falling Jap plane. The ship, although badly damaged continued in the battle.
Howard Campbell, son of Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Campbell is a deck gunner on this craft but was in the hospital with a hand infection at the time of the incident.

Returns From Active Duty
Gunner's Mate 3-c, Howard Campbell, son of Mr. and Mrs. Floyd and Lida Campbell, is home on furlough from active duty in the Pacific.
Campbell was a member of the crew of the destroyer, Smith. He received a hand injury and was in the hospital at Pearl Harbor for 45 days, from Sept. 15 to Nov. 11. The Smith was torpedoed while Campbell was in the hospital and the greater share of the crew was lost. He took part in the battle of Midway and the Sicilian campaign.

Campbell entered the service on Oct. 7, 1941 and has not been home for nearly two years. August 22, he will return to New York where he is attached to the destroyer, McLanahan.
He and his wife left Wednesday afternoon to visit relatives in Sioux City.


Floyd Campbell (Howard's dad) was on the MFD Champion running team during the early 1900s

MFD Champion running team during the early 1900s


George Campbell MHS 1938


Mary Campbell MHS 1941 - graduated with my mother Dorothy (Ehrichs) Kusel
Mary later married Kenny Keat - again I believe we also did custom combining/windrowing for the Keats


George Campbell with his grandfather, James Campbell


George Campbell WWII

George Campbell medals

George Campbell ring
The 87th Division ring is not an official Army issued ring but was a keepsake type item you could get through a PX or military store.
Gene Case told me he pretty sure the shield medal is official army issue but didn't know what it stood for.

George Campbell patches
The patch with the #8 is the 8th Army patch


Lawson/Campbell/Stoberl/Stammer connections


415 Main Street (operated by Jack Morrell) October 20, 1938, Manning Monitor


October 20, 1938, Manning Monitor

Another Manning first but I never thought about a "kegger" being a first!

February 3, 1938, Manning Monitor
Henry G. Martens partnered with his brother William J. Martens to form Martens Mercantile


February 10, 1938, Manning Monitor

Sharing between Manilla & Manning schools - "who'd a thunk?"

February 10, 1938, Manning Monitor


February 3, 1938, Manning Monitor


February 10, 1938, Manning Monitor
Present day building of Plastico


223 Main Street - February 10, 1938, Manning Monitor

WWII Homecoming parade 1946


March 3, 1938, Manning Monitor

Whenever I see a Valentine bakery ad about their "famous" German Rye Bread...
I think about how many people, including his son have asked me over the years if I have run across that recipe.

March 3, 1938, Manning Monitor


February 24, 1938, Manning Monitor


March 24, 1938, Manning Monitor


March 24, 1938, Manning Monitor


March 24, 1938, Manning Monitor


March 24, 1938, Manning Monitor


March 17, 1938, Manning Monitor


March 17, 1938, Manning Monitor

Charles Mohns farm

Herman Mohns operating the Deering binder - son of Charles

Arlene Mohns MHS 1954 daughter of Herman Mohns

Charles Mohns MHS 1966 son of Herman Mohns

The other brother of Herman - William was a WWI Veteran and I just found several newspaper obituaries for him to add to his service.


March 10, 1938, Manning Monitor

I just love this write-up by Warren Timmerman.
Many of you may be aware of his charitable trust that provides monetary support each year for various organizations and projects.
Warren and my dad graduated in 1938, and I've known Warren most of my life. When computers became available to the general public in the mid-1990s, he purchased one...I helped him from time to time to fix problems and help him with it.
Warren had an understanding of technology already, as he had a short wave radio system beginning in the mid-1950s.
Some people made fun of him and thought he was less than intelligent, but to the contrary, he had the "last laugh" when people found out about his huge charitable trust.
I've observed his sense of humor and quick witt. Dave Schroeder told me this story. Warren was at the counter in the old Aspinwall Coop and Dave came in to get some feed.
Dave grabbed a pitchfork and lightly poked Warren in the backside and told Warren to get out of the way.
Warren turned around and started walking away and then started complaining about the price of pitchforks, which made Dave laugh.
Warren could complain a lot too, but in this case he had a pretty clever comeback to Dave's jesting.

Note Warren's comment in the article below - I think half-way serious about Ag Secretary Henry Wallace sending Warren a letter - I laughed when I read this, knowing Warren's witty humor.


March 31, 1938, Manning Monitor

Most people today want these grants but very few have any idea or give any thought as to who has provided them the money.
This is why I like to showcase our citizens of the past and our history as much as I can, so people will better understand and appreciate why we have such a great community.
Our Pioneer ancestors and those who came before us gave us the huge foundation to build upon.


Warren with his short wave radio

This postcard was mailed by Warren to confirm a contact with another station.
What's interesting is that it's from the first year he was licensed.
The KN0 prefix indicates he was a novice class operator.


Warren & Max Timmerman along Second Street


Warren & his Uncle Fred Timmerman - note the large running board


Warren


Warren MHS 1938


Warren with his motorcycle


Henry and Annette (Hinz) Timmerman - Warren & Max's parents


Lyle Arp, Max Timmerman, Leola Leuth, Dorothy (Sutherland) Arp
Dorothy (Sutherland) Arp, daughter of Gordon and Gertrude (Timmerman) Sutherland


March 31, 1938, Manning Monitor

I need to determine the address of these 2 businesses.
I know where Hap moved to later on.

March 31, 1938, Manning Monitor


423 Main Street - March 31, 1938, Manning Monitor

I don't have very good pictures of the shop but here are a few, along with other items.

I just noticed the old wooden building (419 Main Street) just north of Klean Klose is gone.
This Bernice Dethlefs who graduated in 1934.
The current building where Alan Irlbeck is now in was built around 1935 which was later occupied by Struve Motor Company.


Loretta Vinke & Ken Dethlefs - Crazy Days


Children's Day


1973 Homecoming parade

Going by the 1981 Centennial book
As best I can tell, Reetz must have been in the building/show room at the 424 Main Street building - later the Diamond DX station.

503 Main Street - Fred Petersen's Garage (2 story) was destroyed by fire in 1943
March 31, 1938, Manning Monitor

Almost like always, I already have some information about Frank.
He was a WWII Veteran and his parents were John & Augusta (Topf) Reetz.

Thanks to my friend and Manning helper, Jim Stoffers, who searched census records and found the critical clues I needed to fill in many pieces of the puzzle of the Miller family.
I found obits for this family, and always wondered who Fred Miller was during Manning's Pioneer history. I've seen his name and run into articles about him but could never figure out where he moved to or any family members he may have had.
Thanks to the lady in Colorado, who sent me the old postcards, now by showing them and getting help, I can definitively add to Manning's amazing historical record.
I have the obits for Hilda Osten, Fred and Anna Miller linked on my memorial/obituary page linked on the left.
I was surprised at the various area people I knew or have known about who are related/connected to this Miller family and that Fred worked for John Jay, another Manningite who I had not tracked down until now.
He was another prominent and somewhat famous person...his picture and obituary are also linked on my memorial page.
The more people share and work with me, the more I'll be able to connect more people and history, before it is all thrown away.

For many years now, I've noticed that there is very little old Manning/family history still around here, but every now and then someone from out of town/state will find my web page or hear about me and then contact me about Manning history they have.
Recently a Cantrell from Colorado (no Manning connection) found my web pages and then e-mailed me.
She had purchased several old Manning postcards at a flea market and was curious if I knew who Hilda Miller was.
She graciously decided to give them to Manning to add to our history...
I've done some searching but unfortunately don't know Hilda's married name and Miller & Hilda are very common names from the past.
But maybe someone will recognize the name and give me some clues.

What most intrigues me about this postcard is the real feather on it. I've seen all kinds of postcards from this era, some made out of leather, but never with a feather.
Now based on the Templeton cancellation, I'm assuming the fellow "H.G.P" lived in or near Templeton and wanted to go to a Box Social event there with Hilda.

Box Socials were very common events held in the past and they were brought back during Manning's Centennial in 1981.
I hope the committee for Manning's 150th Anniversary in 2031, will consider bringing this and some of the other old events back again.


It is "Miller" and misspelled on this postcard - all of the other postcards are clearly Miller.

This 3/4 page ad has me baffled.
The Manning Mill was not incorporated until 1954, and I've never seen the Doud Milling Company (predecessor) named this, but when Ralph Sutherland and Joseph Wilson purchased it from the Doud family, they must have called it the Manning Mill during this time.
Oh if only the old timers I once bugged about the past were still living - they would have been able to help.

April 7, 1938, Manning Monitor

I get a kick out of this ad - I know these are Toucans but they reminded me of the very old cartoon character Minah bird that never spoke and hopped to music and that had super strength.

April 13, 1938, Manning Monitor

Minah bird from the old Looney Toons cartoon


April 13, 1938, Manning Monitor

I knew there was something about the Firth family that was in the back of my mind and not until I read this 1938 story did it come back to me.
I remember my mother telling me that the Firth family lived on our farm until moving away in 1943, a few years before dad & mom purchased this property.
Mom also told me that a small Firth child was run over and killed by a steel wheeled manure spreader on the farm yard, but I didn't find any mention of this child in the Firth obits, so the story mom was told may have been wrong.

Parker's Corner would be where Melvin & Marge Kusel later lived on the north end of East Street in Manning.


May 25, 1938, Manning Monitor
Now this wasn't the only crash like this. Here is a picture Ron Colling took for the Monitor when Jackie Meiers was crossing the same tracks but on Third Street and the train couldn't come to a stop until about half way to our north road from where the Firth car was first hit.
I remember dad always telling me to pay attention when crossing the tracks to look both ways and in the distance.
Today, the soybean semi trucks are coming and going from the soybean plant through this bottom and I'm so glad I learned to look both ways when the track was there so I don't pull out in front of a semi today.

Jackie Meiers pickup - our north road in the distance (today 300th Street).
Son of William and Maria (Hargens) Meiers.
He was born on June 4, 1908, at Vail and attended schools there.
He also attended barber college and later was engaged in farming.
For the past ten years, he had worked at the Manning Creamery Company Farms.
Mr. Meiers was killed instantly when a train struck the pickup he was driving on Wednesday, January 31, 1968, at 1:05 p.m.


Here is an image looking south towards the trestle bridge and about half way down is where the Meiers car ended up in 1969.
I have that concrete mile-marker to Chicago, and "star" RR sign displayed on our yard today.


June 1950 flood - you can see the crossing where the Firth car was hit.
There is another car in this 1950 view, just on the west side of the tracks.

This is a view of the tracks that were washed out just north of the bottom road and crossing area.

Here is a picture of the old Parker house that we burned down for that family in June 2011.

It was one of the earliest homes built in Manning by the John Parker family that moved here in 1879.
John was one of Manning's Civil War Veterans...

While the house was burning I heard a plane flying overhead and took this picture.
Then about a week later I was contacted by a photography company who had hired a plane to take farm pictures that same day of the burn.

Melvin & Marge Kusel moved on this place in 1947 and this property has been farmed by the Kusels to this day.

Some of you may remember a trailer house on the south part of the lawn. This is where the youngest child, Charlie Parker, lived in the summer.
I remember him quite well. One time during the mid 1960s, he showed me his stamp collection when he found out I was also a collector. He had most of the stamps from the very beginning of the postal system.

Charlie had written a "History of Manning" that Marge Kusel remembered seeing one time - unfortunately I have never been able to track down this history.
We contacted his one daughter - now also deceased, but she was not aware of this Manning history.

So more history that I've been aware of is gone forever!


May 5, 1938, Manning Monitor
The Virginia Cafe was located at least 5 different locations, but based on this time-line, I'm thinking it was at 313 Main Street


May 12, 1938, Manning Monitor


May 25, 1938, Manning Monitor

Ed Groppe managed this station for several years

Groppe children: Edwin, Jr., JoAnn, Alan - Children's Day June 1, 1948

Gerald Schroeder burning trash
There was a large house that was called the Groppe Apartments on the southeast corner of the DX station (now a parking lot).
I think Gerald assisted Ed at the station and also may have lived in the Groppe Apartments for a while with his wife, Joyce (Jensen).

Gerald Schroeder 1950

Razing the building

The Conoco Station on the right was gone by this time when Ed operated the DX Station
Notice "Mann
ING" on the water tower.
I have another picture from a different time when I think it was "Manning
IA"

Now I think Ramsey's DX at this time was located in the Twin Gables building - according to the Manning Centennial book.
Mayburn Ramsey started the business in 1934 and several of the other Ramseys joined the business - then later they relocated to the East edge of Manning along 141 (Highway 46 at that time).
The clipping below mentions West of the park which I'm assuming is referring to the Twin Gables building.
I don't think it was located much farther to the west over to where the Saunders Steak House/hotel building was once located, but I could be wrong.

May 25, 1938, Manning Monitor


October 27, 1938, Manning Monitor

Janice Stanton

Click to see the tribute

I was correct - after visiting with Warren Puck and Doug Fischer, they remembered the large shell mounted on a display at the northeast edge of the park.

For years I had it in my head that an old small canon once stood in the northeast corner of the city park.
I've asked a number of people about it but no one seems to remember this.
Now I've run into this 1938 article and it has sparked better memories for me - now I think what I was remembering as a canon was this battleship shell.
I know something war related like this once was on display but what happened to it?
It was from the Battleship Maine and acquired by brothers Theodore D. and Herman P. Hansen, and then someone/group decided to junk it or someone decided to take it when the decision was made to discard it, what a HISTORICAL SHAME occurred!
Ted & Herman were brothers to my great-grandmother Mary (Hansen) Grau.
All of these situations/connections are why I've been trying to find ways to preserve our Manning/area history and/or find it if has disappeared.
Here is the article and some other information to go along with the story.


June 16, 1938, Manning Monitor
One of the WWI plaques referenced in this article.
Gary Knueven told me about these plaques in 2012, that were stored in the attic of the Legion Hall.
I took them home to scan. One of them is unfortunately missing.
As far as I know, they are being stored in the basement of city hall - I HOPE...

In whose honor the American Legion Post in Manning was named after.
Each marker was attached to a 2 feet long 1/4 inch rod which was placed in the ground next to each soldier's honor tree.
The marker is 1/4 inch thick cast steel 7 1/2 x 4 inches.

Map drawn by Peter F. Hansen in 1923
Shows the location of the plaques of those men who died serving in WWI.
So does anyone remember a shell like this?
If you have it or know who has it - would you consider donating it back to Manning?

Image from the Internet that shows one of those shells.


June 16, 1938, Manning Monitor

The last person I remember pitching horse shoes was Harold Vehrs who died in 1993.
Several years later the sand pit was removed...on the north side of the tennis court fence.

June 16, 1938, Manning Monitor


June 16, 1938, Manning Monitor

Peter, Josephine (Hell), Walter, Louie Hargens on the farm


413 Main Street - June 9, 1938, Manning Monitor

I was aware of the Royal Neighbor Association but did not know some of the members' children were involved too.

413 Main Street - June 9, 1938, Manning Monitor


June 2, 1938, Manning Monitor


319 Main Street - June 23, 1938, Manning Monitor


June 30, 1938, Manning Monitor


June 30, 1938, Manning Monitor


June 30, 1938, Manning Monitor

June 30, 1938, Manning Monitor

I often write how one of the main reasons why I'm so interested in Manning history is many times there is a connection to my family history.
While scanning the July 7, 1938, Monitor, I immediately recognized the wheel bearing greaser and it was exactly the same style that my dad had purchased, but it came from the old DX Station when it closed next to Puck Implement Company.
Twin Gables later changed hands in 1958 and was called the Texaco Service Station, and they may have continued selling this Sure Pack bearing greaser.

July 7, 1938, Manning Monitor

Sure Pack wheel bearing greaser we have here on the farm

Sure Pack

Twin Gables 507 Elm Street (old Caseys location) - Albert Puck had this built in September 1937


July 7, 1938, Manning Monitor


July 7, 1938, Manning Monitor


July 7, 1938, Manning Monitor


July 7, 1938, Manning Monitor


July 7, 1938, Manning Monitor

July 7, 1938, Manning Monitor

Standard Oil Station building that is referenced in the Art Weed ad above
This stucco building still exists and was moved to the old farm place just across the fence to the east from the Heritage Park.

50th Anniversary in 1931

As I continue to scan and then skim each page of the Monitor I find all kinds of interesting (at least to me because many times I have a connection) clippings and then remember I have a picture and/or other information in my database connected to that article.
Here is another in-depth situation of what is in my database...


July 21, 1938, Manning Monitor

July 21, 1938, Manning Monitor

1962 on the Ida Kusel farm just northeast of Manning

August Mundt, Melvin Kusel, Alan Kusel, Amos Kusel, Bernard Lengemann, Emil Ress - Mel's Ford Fairlane

Building the Quonset - by hand!

The arch beam was lifted up some by the loader and then ropes were used to pull them up into position.

One person would walk up the elevator to help pull up the arch and then fasten it once in place.


Bernard and Mabel (Frank) Lengemann's daughter - Betty Lengemann MHS 1957 - later Mrs. Louie Andresen
Parents of Lynna MHS 1982, Lesia MHS 1983 and Luann MHS 1989

I scanned this wonderful picture from Evelyn (Wiskus) Hacker's collection in 2013.

Back: Carl (Charley), Herman, Fred, Bernard, John, Henry
Front: Louise (Lizzie), William, Sophia, Alvina

Louise - married John Joens of Manilla
John - Evelyn Hacker's grandfather {Evelyn's parents Louis & Irene (Lengemann) Wiskus}
Carl 1890 to 1961
Fred 1885 to 1963
Bernard 1903 to 1985
John 1888 to 1967
Louise 1886 to 1951
Alvina 1899 to 1982
August not in picture December 28, 1898 to May 23, 1914

I finally found when the old Christian Church was sold.
I've often thought it was moved to the old Detlefsen building location along Main Street - south of the VFW Hall.
I've known that Detlefsen building was a church from Art Rix and Bud Johnson but they had no more information
Max Detelefsen told his son, John, that the Detlefsen building was a church moved in from south of Manning but no more details.
So for now I assume the Christian Church was either torn down for the lumber, or was moved to a farm somewhere.

1928 Manning Monitor

Christian Church NW corner of Second & May Streets intersection


The building marked "Detlefsen" the larger part was a country church moved in from south of Manning
I remembered the floor of the building not being flat - but wavy or rolling and creaked when you walked on it.
Both John & Gwen Detlefsen confirmed this.
Alan & Mike Fara tore this building down early 1980 - around the Manning Centennial time-frame.

Joan Phillips

Click to see the tribute

JoAnn (Schmidt) Barten
February 19, 1942 - February 8, 2026

Click to see the tribute


Head basketball coach Keith Wagner with his dad and son
After the Senior Night basketball game on February 5 - Coach Keith Wagner was honored with a plaque and special basketball for achieving 500 wins.
I told Keith that the most precious part of this event was that his father was able to be there and also Keith's son.
This will probably be the last school event I'll photograph...changing attitudes and times create too many hassles for me and not worth my time anymore...plus I need to concentrate on the Manning Veterans book project and scanning the Manning Monitor papers.
The very first school sports event I video taped was a junior high football game in 1982 as I recall.
I was in the press box taping, and after showing the game at the Rec Center, word got back to the school official running the clock/scoreboard that the sound was recorded...he was worried about what he might have been saying and recorded.
So this was my first experience with what being a photographer/videographer can get you into at a sporting event.
Then when I started video taping high school football and basketball games in the early 1980s, I had to deal with rules being developed about not showing games live on TV, even recording them to some extent.
Now games are broadcast live...Being first generally isn't best.

Until I read Ron Sporrer's comment on my 2026 guestbook, I had never quite thought about it this way...I was thinking from a more basic perspective that I am preserving Manning's history but his comment "...all you do to make these memories come to life!" gives me a whole new way to look at justifying all of the time, money, effort, and even sometimes grief I get from a few people, for the dedication it takes to scanning, documenting, and archiving the Manning history I can get my hands on...
Dave

I paid more than I wanted to on e-bay, but this lady's leg bottle opener with Parkhouse on it is something I've not run into before.
Thomas rode his bike from Traer, Iowa, in 1894 at the age of 21 to start his business here - for 35 years.
After moving back to Traer in 1931, he was killed by a vehicle while walking along a road into town - because of his deafness not hearing the car from behind was probably partially responsible for his death.

Thomas Dench Parkhouse - 217 Main Street

If you don't think we are in BIG TROUBLE - watch this video which is all over the Internet.
I generally don't get into the ridiculous non-sense like this that we live in today but this clip is truly amazing!
"Follow the science?"
I watched this once and it is PAINFUL to watch and won't watch it any more!

When items are reasonable on E-bay, I try to purchase them.
Here is a recent purchase...
If you have old Manning items/history that you want to bring back and donate to Manning, please get them to me first.
I'll digitize them and try to find other information about the topic, and also record who donated them and the person/family who had them.
All too often stuff is donated and then put in boxes or hung on a display, not realizing that eventually those items continue to deteriorate, so digitizing them is the only way to preserve them long term.
Having worked on Manning history for over 50 years, I have the experience and know-how with preserving our ever-dwindling history.

I've been working on Manning IDs since the mid-1970s, and when I started my web page in 1996, I had assumed and hoped that I would get all kinds of help, but unfortunately, for whatever reasons, I seldom received help...I just had to depend on taking time showing pictures to the "old timers" around town who many times were helpful - folks like Art & Ila Rix, Ken Dethlefs, Max Detlefsen, Bill Ohde, Bud & Letha Johnson, Lyle & Dorothy Arp, Gerhardt Voge, my mother, and many many more.
Now they are ALL gone, so pix from those older generations will sadly go on forever unidentified, UNLESS someone younger has the same picture that is identified.
So if you see a picture I have posted and asking for help with IDs and you know - please let me know.
Once I no longer am able or around to do this, the old Manning pictures and history still in existence will end up in the trash heap of history since no one will take the time try to find out the IDs or be able to find anyone living who can help.

It's up to everyone connected to Manning who grew up here to help me...I can't do it by myself!


Judy Musfeldt, Joan Mohr, Judy Borkowski, Barb Doyel, Norma Luetje

I keep getting different names for the tall gal in the middle - is this Judy Borkowski?
The name sewn on her shirt is Darlys.

If you have a Manning Veterans uniform and don't know what to do with it - please contact me.
I'm trying my best to save as much Manning history as I can.
I often hear "you can't keep everything!" and then I tell them "everything" is almost gone, when it comes to my 50+ years perspective on the totality of Manning's past.

I'm looking for information and obituaries for Nicholas Dappen MHS 1966 and Joleen (Irlmeier) Wess MHS 1965.
If you know where/when they passed away and any other details to narrow down the search parameters online to find obits, please let me know.
Thanks,
Dave

This is another shout-out to anyone/everyone who in the distant past or recently have agreed to work with me on old Manning connected pix and history they have so I can scan those things and get them preserved in the Manning Historical Database I'm constantly working on.
I know you are busy and it is a hassle to dig out and send to me, but the only way that history you have will get preserved long-term is if I get it to scan and archive.
I know many people scoff at this and say that their family won't throw those things away and/or they have scanned those things - but I have 50+ years of experience to back up this statement...as I've seen one old family/Manning collection after another thrown away - I usually find out around 5 - 10 more collections that were thrown away each year.
So either lose it, or preserve it in my database...you don't have to spend much time but I'm the one who spends hundreds and thousands of hours scanning Manning stuff.
I've seen scans by people and most of the time it is way below par...and the other problem is very few have that data properly backed up on multiple hard drives and at off-site locations such as in a bank safe deposit box.
Dave

Does anyone know the location or contact information for Charles Scott who taught mathematics at Manning in 1972?
He was a Vietnam Veteran and I'd like to get some military information/pix for him to add to the Manning Veterans' book.
For that matter, any teacher at Manning who served that you know of their whereabouts - please let me know.
The list of Manning connected names who served keeps growing almost daily.

Please visit the Manning Exchange for local news, articles, and information...a work in progress.

Many upcoming events.

Korean War Veterans continues


There are lots of Manning Veterans of the Korean era with no pictures or information.
Will you be in the Manning Veterans' book???
Unless more post-WWII Veterans come forward there will be a lot of 1946 to present day Manning connected Veterans missing from the book.

For those of you who are occasional visitors to the Manning Exchange - please make sure to click on the "archived articles" section where previous featured stories are kept.

Click to visit the Manning Exchange

1 example from the Logeland Studio wedding packets.

There are still quite a few Logeland Studio wedding packets available.

Click to read about this important project.
It will help to financially support the Manning Veterans' history book project.

"Let it be known that he who wears the military order of the purple heart has given of his blood in the defense of his homeland and shall forever be revered by his fellow countrymen."
 George Washington, August 7, 1782

Just as a reminder: the Manning History book committee continues to work on a Manning area Veterans' history book project.
For those of you who are Veterans or have/had Veterans in your family - will you come forward?
The history book committee will do their best to get as many pictures and information about the 1000+ Manning Veterans but we can't do it all by ourselves.

How many small communities do you know have published 5 history books? The first one was the History of Manning 1898, then the 1981 Manning Centennial book, next the 2006 Manning Quasqui book, and most recently the 2009 Manning School history book. Probably the last book to be published will be the upcoming Manning Veterans' book - unless someone comes forward in the next generation to take over these projects after I'm gone. Will you help with the Veterans' history book project? If you are a Manning connected Veteran or are presently serving and do not submit your military connected pictures and infomation you probably won't be in this once-in-a-life-time Manning Veterans' history book. With a limited number of volunteers we can only do so much on our own but will try to get pictures of as many Veterans as we can. There are over 1000 Manning Veterans so we have a long ways to go before the book can be published.

Manning Veterans are slowly coming forward and below is another example. We hope to eventually get more pictures and information for Mike to put in the book but for now this is what I have to show to you.

Amos Rutz WWII

One thing that many Veterans and people who are submitting information have not fully understood is that this next Manning history book is specifically a Veterans' only book. It won't be like the Centennial or Quasqui history books were, where there is a Veterans' section along with other community aspects. We are aiming for a 2-volume book (around 1090 total pages) which will really be unique!!!
This book will be ALL Veterans' information (and the post auxiliaries) - hence it won't be a "Name, Rank, and Serial Number" only history but we want a complete history for each Veteran.
For instance - below is Louis Boell's picture and the information that was published in the Veteran section of the 1982 Aspinwall Centennial history book. It has the basic information but we are looking for more and I spoke to Louie by phone and he sent more pictures and information - also for his brothers.

To see what Louis submitted click on the link underneath "Are you a Manning Veteran" shown below.

Note: we also want some family background such as parents and grandparents. All too often you will only see just the Veteran's name with their basic military information but without the family connections it will be difficult for future historians and genealogists to know for sure who this person belongs to.

Are you a Manning connected Veteran?
I would like to hear from you!!!
We are starting a Manning Veteran history book project and if you don't come forward you may not be included in the book. NOT because we want to intentionally leave you out but because you didn't come forward.
Same goes for those of you who have Veterans in your family who have passed away. If you don't come forward and help by submitting Veteran connected pictures and information your Veteran may not be included in this once in a life-time Manning Veterans' history book.

Please e-mail me about your Veteran questions manningveterans@davidkusel.com


The United States flag
is proudly displayed here and NO other flag is as IMPORTANT!

1 Manning citizen served in the War of 1812
106 served in the Civil War
1 served in the Indian War
5 served in the Spanish American War
350+ served during WWI
650+ served during WWII
87+ served in the Korean war era
65+ (more names need to be found) served in the Vietnam era
55+ (many more names need to be found) served from 1975 to present

29 paid the ultimate price with their lives defending the U.S. Flag

Are you a Manning Veteran?
Are you currently serving and have a Manning connection?

We are starting the Manning Veterans' history book project
Don't wait until you see "Deadline" or it WILL be too late!!!

Click to read promos for the Veteran book


There are a lot of WWI and some WWII Veterans pictures with no IDs.

Before you spend time scanning pictures
please look at these instructions
I appreciate your efforts scanning pictures for me but if you only make low resolution scans you are really wasting your time. High resolution scans are the best and only way to really preserve those old pictures.

Click to see the tutorial

If you simply don't want those old family pictures you inherited please don't throw them - send them my way.
A lot of times I can recognize a face or location in those old pix.

One thing to keep in mind while you are looking for pictures - if they are glued in old scrap books please do NOT try to pull them out or cut them out. I can scan the whole page of the scrapbook and crop out the pictures you want to use in the book. If you attempt to forcibly remove the pictures you will probably damage them and when I scan them that damage will probably show up. This means I'll either have to use my graphics program to touch up the damage which can take a lot of time, or if they are badly damaged I just may not even take the time to scan them.

Back to the top