Official groundbreaking ceremonies were held Saturday, April 19,
1958, by the Rough & Tumble Engineer for their new Museum at
Kinzers, Pa. Pictured above left to right are, M. A. Trout,
Kinzers, Pa., chairman of the Building Committee; C. Everett Young,
Kinzers, Pa., president of the Association; Joseph H. Stoltzfus,
Atglen, Pa., director; Mrs. Jane Young Brackbill, Kinzers, Pa.,
vice-president; and Ralph W. Green, Elizabeth, N. J. Erection of
the pre-fabricated steel structure will begin as soon as shipments
arrive, association president C. Everett Young said. ‘The
structure has been so designed that it will lend itself to
additions’ from time to time.’ Young also announced that
donations of exhibits and funds are still coming in. The
association moved to hire a full-time curator for the Museum.
The enclosed picture is of a 10 hp, Nichols and Shepard steam
traction engine which was purchased in Newton, Kansas in 1882. The
picture was taken in McPherson, Kansas in 1884. The man sitting on
the front of the engine was Jake Isgregg, the man standing by the
front wheel was J. P. Fry, the man at the rear wheel was Joe
Hawkins, the engineer was Charley Bunnell, and the man on the water
wagon was Abe Irvin. J. P. Fry and Charley Bunnell were the
co-owners of the engine. The mules steering the engine were a
wedding present to J. P. Fry This engine was used to power a
Nichols and Shepard hand feed raddle stacker. The outfit was used
to thresh bundle grain in Sedgwick and Harvey Counties in Kansas
and in the early fall and later was roaded to McPherson County,
Kansas to thresh stacked grain. The senders of this story and
picture are W. M. Fry of Sedgwick, Kansas, and J. D. Fry, of Garden
City, Kansas, both are sons of J. P. Fry, now deceased, and who
remained in the threshing business until combines took over the
harvesting and threshing operations.
