A 110-year-old portable gas engine that remained on a family farm through three generations has finally moved to town. Mary Rist, whose family owned the 6hp Famous horizontal gas engine now on loan to the Daneville Heritage Museum in Viborg, South Dakota, says the 4-cycle engine was long a fixture on her family’s rural Centerville, South Dakota, farm.
“My late husband, Donald, inherited the engine when he inherited the farm,” Mary says. “I know my father-in-law, Fred, used it for harvesting, which was before I came on the scene.”
The Rist family farm was started in 1878 by German immigrant Johannes Rist who was born in 1854. Johannes passed the farm to the second generation, his son Fred, who passed it on to the third generation, Mary’s husband Don, who expanded the farm.
Don and Mary had three children, Pat, Helen and John. John became the fourth generation of the Rist family to operate the farm. He and his wife raised three daughters and further enlarged the farm before his death in 2018.
Engine’s history lost to time
Portable gas engines like the Rist family’s Famous (which was built by International Harvester Co.) were indispensable for a time but most began to be set aside when tractors came on the scene in the early 1900s. Mary’s son-in-law, Tim Locken, Burnsville, Minnesota, says he was not surprised that the engine remained on the farm for so many years.
“Until recently, there were many old tractors, implements and iron piles around the farm and behind buildings,” Tim says. “The Rist men were always reluctant to part with anything they used on the farm. As I recall, this IHC 6hp engine and another just like it, an 8hp engine, sat behind a farm building for many years. Wayne Schmidt, Monroe, South Dakota, had a good relationship with Don, and on one visit Wayne and Don walked around the farm to see what might be there. That’s when they found these engines.”
Tim doesn’t know how Don’s father, Fred, used the engines. He does know that Fred expanded the farm when he took over and often did custom work for neighbors. He believes Fred may have used the engines for custom jobs such as threshing.
The 8hp Famous was in pieces when Wayne saw it, but the 6hp was in much better condition. Wayne hoped to purchase both engines from Don, but Don believed his family would want to hang onto the 6hp model. Wayne says the 6hp engine was in good condition considering how heavily it was used when it was new and the fact that it was left out in the weather for many years.
“The shield over the connecting rod, the original muffler and the seat were the only pieces missing,” he says. “The deal Don and I made was that I would restore the 6hp engine in trade for the one in pieces.” With that, Wayne left the Rist farm with both engines.
Tim recalls learning about Don’s deal with Wayne and being concerned that perhaps the 6hp engine was lost to the family. “Several times when we visited, I asked Don if the engine had come back yet,” Tim recalls. “He’d say, ‘no, not yet.’ I think the restoration took a couple of years. Wayne was true to his word and Don was very happy with the restoration.”
Restored for posterity
In restoration, Wayne sandblasted the Famous down to the bare metal before painting it Oxblood Red and Brewster Green. He referred to a brochure published by International in the early 1900s to select colors as close as possible to the original.
Famous hopper-cooled engines were available with heavy skids that included a spring seat and built-in toe board. “Although this style was cheaper than factory trucks,” says C.H. Wendel in American Gasoline Engines Since 1872, “it was also harder to move and never seemed to be very popular.”
The spring seats rarely survived long, and the 6hp engine’s seat was no exception. “After the engine was restored, I did some research and found a facsimile seat,” Tim says. “I also found a pulley in Milwaukee that’s now on the engine.”
When Wayne delivered the restored engine to the Rists, he ran it for them. Engines in the Famous line had a reputation of being easy to repair and maintain, he says. The Rist 6hp engine (serial No. JE245E) runs at 325rpm. “The serial number tells me it’s a 1912 model,” Wayne says. “These engines were very common in this area, but few are in such good condition after so many years.”
The Famous line was produced from 1905 (when Famous 6 and 8hp engines made their debut) to 1918, when production of the 6hp Famous ended (the other models having been previously discontinued).
After a time, Wayne sold the Rist 8hp engine to Tom Lee. “Tom contacted me a few years ago to ask if he could purchase the 6hp engine,” Tim says. “Of course, we didn’t want to sell it. Tom restored the 8hp engine and sent us videos of it while it was running.”
Iron pile yields an amazing find
After Don Rist’s death in 2003, Mary, her children and grandchildren began the process of cleaning up the farm, going through iron piles, tractors and implements. “We sold some of the iron,” Tim says. “A man who came to buy identified a piece as the foot rest for the gas engine. He helped me attach it, and sure enough, it fit just right. I was elated to add another piece to the engine.”
As the family worked through the piles, the first parts and pieces they handled dated to the 1970s and ’80s. As the pile shrunk, the iron got older. At the bottom, they found horse harnesses and primitive implement parts. “That affirms the longevity of the farm,” Tim says, “and the reluctance of the Rist men to part with anything they once used!”
Eventually, the family decided to loan the engine to the Daneville Heritage Museum in Viborg. “We thought it best to have it where people could view it and appreciate it as we have for all these years,” Mary says.
At the Daneville Heritage Museum, the Rist family Famous engine will be part of a comprehensive display celebrating local culture. The museum’s focus is on the heritage of two early, neighboring Danish communities in South Dakota: Daneville and Viborg.
The museum campus consists of three buildings. The original Gross Hatchery building, located at 101 North State Street, was constructed in 1933 by Joe Gross. The second building, built in 1926, is the former Daneville Township District #46 school building. It is now located at 106 North State Street.
The newest museum structure, a Danish barn-like building, was dedicated in 2018 during Danish Viking Days and celebration of the 125th anniversary of the town’s founding in 1893.
“These engines are an important piece of history that revolutionized farming,” Tim notes. “Their use was short-lived because they were soon replaced by tractors. But they’re beautiful machines and our family is pleased to be able to share this one with museum visitors.” FC
For more information: Daneville Heritage Museum, 200 1/2 West Park Ave., Viborg, SD 57070; phone: (605) 766-1312; email: daneville2021ms@gmail.com.
Loretta Sorensen is a lifelong resident of southeast South Dakota. She and her husband farm with Belgian draft horses and collect vintage farm equipment. Email her at sorensenlms@gmail.com.
