February 15, 2018
This is “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.
Many of our
listeners will remember Ernie Baumann.
Today’s story is was written by Mary Liz Montgomery and published in the
“Junction City Union” newspaper in 1979.
She wrote: “It was the Fourth of July 1929, when the Greyhound Bus
stopped at its usual station, Miller’s Drug Store at the northeast corner of 7th
and Washington Streets. Ernest Bauman, a young Swiss lad stepped off the bus to
the popping sounds of fireworks.
Ernie, as he
was called, had originally come from Switzerland to work at cabinet-making and
building in Cincinnati. However, he was laid off with the stock market break
and the pre-depression time. He was on
his way to California, but wanted to visit a friend from Switzerland who had
married a farmer, Art Luthi, and the two lived 17 miles north and west of
Junction City.
The Luthi’s
met Ernie at Miller’s Drug Store. They
persuaded Ernie to stay here stating that they had heard the depression was
worse in California than it was back east.
Ernie took a
job with contractor Ralph White and remained with the firm until 1942, when he
went into the Sea-Bees. After the war
was over in 1945, Ernie came back to Junction City and established his own
general contracting business.
The first
house Ernie Bauman built under his own name in Junction City was that of the
late Abbie Moses. The house was built on
West Chestnut in the Crestview section.
The second was for Abbie’s nephew and wife, George and Helen Moses. This cottage on West Sixth Street was later
occupied by Dr. Alex Scott as his office.
After Ernie
retired, he worked in his garden and vegetable patch. However, if someone called him to come and
fix something, he was quick to respond with a comforting bass voice with “I’ll
be over shortly.”
And… that is
today’s story on “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical
Society.
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