On May 22, 1934, Curtis’ older son,
Glenn, married 17-year-old Roberta Bell in Ottawa. Three weeks later, the bride and groom were in San
Bernardino, California, for a picnic and shower in their honor at Meadowbrook
Park.
The San Bernardino County Sun newspaper headlined the gathering with “Picnic Fetes Bridal Couple From Kansas.” Nearly three dozen guests attended the gathering, which was hosted by Curtis C. Baldwin, General Manager of Sunbeam Mines, Inc.
The San Bernardino County Sun newspaper headlined the gathering with “Picnic Fetes Bridal Couple From Kansas.” Nearly three dozen guests attended the gathering, which was hosted by Curtis C. Baldwin, General Manager of Sunbeam Mines, Inc.
CALIFORNIA MINER
That Curtis Baldwin had become a gold
miner might have astonished even some of his closest colleagues.
His new employer, Sunbeam Mines, had
operated gold mines in the Virginia Dale country of central California for some
40 years, and its newest prospect was in the barren fields north of the Salton
Sea and east of Twenty-Nine Palms. Curtis introduced the same axial rotary
principle he had developed with his “Cyclone Harvester” into a device for
separating gold from sand.
Most of the ore was low grade, but
Baldwin exuded optimism as Sunbeam built a new mill in 1935. Nonetheless, he soon left the mining
business and was on his way back to the heartland to build combines.
While Curtis and Ida Mae retained their
residency in San Bernardino for a few years, Curtis juggled his time between
the Nebraska test farms and a new project in Kansas.
In 1936, he created yet another new
company, Baldwin Manufacturing. Its name was changed to Rotary Reaper Company, and a factory was
established in Ottawa. The
tractor-mounted “Rotary Reaper” had a
nine-foot swath and claimed harvesting speeds as high at 12 miles per
hour. The only non-rotary
processing components in the machine were the cutter bar and the cleaning shoe.
In May 1938, Baldwin trotted out “Rotary Reaper No. 7” on the public
square in Belleville, Kansas, to show off his “new and improved” combine.
That summer, the Federal Trade Commission
appeared before the U.S. Congress to criticize what it called “coercive measures” used by big agricultural
implement companies. While they
declined to specifically identify them, it was no secret that a handful of
companies dominated the production of farm implements, led by
International-Harvester, Deere & Co., Case, Oliver, and
Minneapolis-Moline. Those coercive
measures, said the FTC, “may border on
illegality” and negatively impacted the whole industry – particularly the
manufacturing of harvesting machines and tractors. Among those impacted, surely, was Curtis Baldwin’s Rotary Reaper Company.
There were rumors that the Rotary Reaper
Company would leave Ottawa for Kansas City in 1939, but it didn’t happen. The company simply went out of business.
When the 1940 federal census was
conducted, Curtis and Ida Mae Baldwin were listed as living in Dearborne,
Michigan, although no occupation was listed.
In 1942, Ottawa was their listed
residence, but with George’s departure from Whitney – and Mary Jane Baldwin
temporarily running the farm – Curtis Baldwin decided he needed to return to Whitney.
Tragedy struck the family in March 1943
when Curt and Ida Mae learned that their younger son, Elbert, had died in an
airplane crash near Corsicana, Texas.
He had been a civilian instructor with Air Activities of Texas, training Naval Aviation Cadets.
BALDWIN IRON WORKS
Near the end of World War Two, Curtis
Baldwin’s older son, Glenn, arrived in Whitney to take over management of the
farm. His family lived in a house
in town, where their children, Larry, Arnold, Crystal, Joyce, and Karolyn could
attend school.
The old Baldwin Iron Works building languished on the streets of Whitney
for nearly five decades before it was removed. (Sketch is courtesy of Kit Watson)
Curtis purchased the old lumberyard on
east side of Missouri Street in Whitney and it became Baldwin Iron Works. He
also bought the adjacent “Holding
Apartments,” a two-story building just to the south. The downstairs was used as an
office. Curtis lived in one of the
upstairs apartments.
Baldwin Iron Works manufactured grain
augers – in a variety of shapes and sizes for a wide range of agricultural
purposes. Texan Archibald “Arch”
Wilson was hired to manage the facility.
Wilsons occupied an upstairs apartment in the Holding building.
During peak production, Baldwin Iron
Works employed up to 10 people.
One of them was Wilson’s older son, Monte, who had returned from World
War II service in the Army Air Corps.
He went to work as a draftsman.
Monte Wilson recalls that “the first augers were six inches in diameter
and about 30 feet long. Later,
they developed and built augers nine inches in diameter and about 40 feet long.
They were sold locally as well as throughout the country.”
By 1953, Glenn Baldwin and his family
moved to Moses Lake, Washington, and Curtis Baldwin decided to move Baldwin Iron Works from
Whitney to Wichita. It would offer
a far greater pool of qualified workers and better access to materials, as well
as transportation for distribution of their products.
Unfortunately, after a short tenure back
in Kansas, Baldwin Iron Works in Wichita burned to the ground in 1953.
THE FINAL YEARS
During the Depression years of the 1930’s,
the U.S. government planned and built a massive reclamation program in the
southwestern United States. It gave rise to the mighty Hoover Dam near Las Vegas,
as well as the All-American Canal, which would deliver water to the dry
Imperial Valley in southeastern California. George Baldwin saw an opportunity.
Before the canal to the Imperial Valley
was completed, George and his new wife, Myrtle, arrived in Seeley, just west of
El Centro. There, they would again
pursue his love of farming – with the advantage of a reliable source of water.
Curtis Baldwin, meanwhile, moved back to
Whitney after the Iron Works fire in Wichita. He remained there until about 1957, when – at age 70 – he
made a final move back to California, settling on a farm near his brother
George at Seeley.
However, their attention was soon deflected
by a sharp and growing demand for a new feed product. They began work on a machine that would “go into the field and make alfalfa wafers.”
Baldwin’s alfalfa machine, however, would
not be finished. Nor would another
device on his drawing board – a swing front-end loader for any make of
tractor. If there was ever a
“Combine of the Future,” it wasn’t a Baldwin machine. Their time had run its course.
Curtis Baldwin died in Imperial,
California on April 19, 1960. His
wife, Ida Mae, died February 24, 1976 in Santa Barbara. Both are buried – but not
together – at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California. Their oldest son Glenn and his wife Roberta lived in Washington and California in their later years. Glenn died in 1995, Roberta in 2006. Curtis and Ida Mae's daughter, Mary Stanton, lived most of her life in California. She passed away in 2006. Her husband, LeRoy, died in 2003.
George and Myrtle Baldwin returned to
Chadron, Nebraska in about 1970.
He passed away at the Chadron Hospital on October 9, 1972. Myrtle died in August 1979. They are buried together in Greenwood
Cemetery in Chadron.
Mary Jane Sellers Baldwin, George’s first
wife, had moved to Colorado to be near her daughter. She was living in Arvada, Colorado, when she died January 9,
1979 and is buried at Wildmead Cemetery in Nickerson, Kansas.
Ernest and Ada Baldwin lived the rest of
their lives in Ottawa, Kansas. He died April 11, 1967; Ada died August 6, 1996. They are both buried at Highland Cemetery in Ottawa.
While the Baldwin brothers never realized vast financial fortunes, their Baldwin Gleaner combine and its many subsequent versions still bearing the "Gleaner" brand have endured.
AGCO Industries, a global manufacturer of farm equipment, continues to build the popular Gleaner brand well into the 21st century.
With numerous design changes and technological enhancements over the past 90 years, the Gleaner remains well known amongst farmers across the Americas, Australia, and elsewhere. Mere mention of "Baldwin Gleaner" often brings a smile to the faces of grain farmers everywhere.
Not a bad legacy for three farm kids from Nickerson, Kansas.
That Curtis Baldwin had become a gold
miner might have astonished even some of his closest colleagues.
His new employer, Sunbeam Mines, had
operated gold mines in the Virginia Dale country of central California for some
40 years, and its newest prospect was in the barren fields north of the Salton
Sea and east of Twenty-Nine Palms. Curtis introduced the same axial rotary
principle he had developed with his “Cyclone Harvester” into a device for
separating gold from sand.
Most of the ore was low grade, but
Baldwin exuded optimism as Sunbeam built a new mill in 1935. Nonetheless, he soon left the mining
business and was on his way back to the heartland to build combines.
While Curtis and Ida Mae retained their
residency in San Bernardino for a few years, Curtis juggled his time between
the Nebraska test farms and a new project in Kansas.
In 1936, he created yet another new
company, Baldwin Manufacturing. Its name was changed to Rotary Reaper Company, and a factory was
established in Ottawa. The
tractor-mounted “Rotary Reaper” had a
nine-foot swath and claimed harvesting speeds as high at 12 miles per
hour. The only non-rotary
processing components in the machine were the cutter bar and the cleaning shoe.
In May 1938, Baldwin trotted out “Rotary Reaper No. 7” on the public
square in Belleville, Kansas, to show off his “new and improved” combine.
That summer, the Federal Trade Commission
appeared before the U.S. Congress to criticize what it called “coercive measures” used by big agricultural
implement companies. While they
declined to specifically identify them, it was no secret that a handful of
companies dominated the production of farm implements, led by
International-Harvester, Deere & Co., Case, Oliver, and
Minneapolis-Moline. Those coercive
measures, said the FTC, “may border on
illegality” and negatively impacted the whole industry – particularly the
manufacturing of harvesting machines and tractors. Among those impacted, surely, was Curtis Baldwin’s Rotary Reaper Company.
There were rumors that the Rotary Reaper
Company would leave Ottawa for Kansas City in 1939, but it didn’t happen. The company simply went out of business.
When the 1940 federal census was
conducted, Curtis and Ida Mae Baldwin were listed as living in Dearborne,
Michigan, although no occupation was listed.
In 1942, Ottawa was their listed
residence, but with George’s departure from Whitney – and Mary Jane Baldwin
temporarily running the farm – Curtis Baldwin decided he needed to return to Whitney.
Tragedy struck the family in March 1943
when Curt and Ida Mae learned that their younger son, Elbert, had died in an
airplane crash near Corsicana, Texas.
He had been a civilian instructor with Air Activities of Texas, training Naval Aviation Cadets.
BALDWIN IRON WORKS
Near the end of World War Two, Curtis
Baldwin’s older son, Glenn, arrived in Whitney to take over management of the
farm. His family lived in a house
in town, where their children, Larry, Arnold, Crystal, Joyce, and Karolyn could
attend school.
 |
| The old Baldwin Iron Works building languished on the streets of Whitney for nearly five decades before it was removed. (Sketch is courtesy of Kit Watson) |
Baldwin Iron Works manufactured grain
augers – in a variety of shapes and sizes for a wide range of agricultural
purposes. Texan Archibald “Arch”
Wilson was hired to manage the facility.
Wilsons occupied an upstairs apartment in the Holding building.
During peak production, Baldwin Iron
Works employed up to 10 people.
One of them was Wilson’s older son, Monte, who had returned from World
War II service in the Army Air Corps.
He went to work as a draftsman.
Monte Wilson recalls that “the first augers were six inches in diameter
and about 30 feet long. Later,
they developed and built augers nine inches in diameter and about 40 feet long.
They were sold locally as well as throughout the country.”
By 1953, Glenn Baldwin and his family
moved to Moses Lake, Washington, and Curtis Baldwin decided to move Baldwin Iron Works from
Whitney to Wichita. It would offer
a far greater pool of qualified workers and better access to materials, as well
as transportation for distribution of their products.
Unfortunately, after a short tenure back
in Kansas, Baldwin Iron Works in Wichita burned to the ground in 1953.
THE FINAL YEARS
During the Depression years of the 1930’s, the U.S. government planned and built a massive reclamation program in the southwestern United States. It gave rise to the mighty Hoover Dam near Las Vegas, as well as the All-American Canal, which would deliver water to the dry Imperial Valley in southeastern California. George Baldwin saw an opportunity.
Before the canal to the Imperial Valley
was completed, George and his new wife, Myrtle, arrived in Seeley, just west of
El Centro. There, they would again
pursue his love of farming – with the advantage of a reliable source of water.
Curtis Baldwin, meanwhile, moved back to
Whitney after the Iron Works fire in Wichita. He remained there until about 1957, when – at age 70 – he
made a final move back to California, settling on a farm near his brother
George at Seeley.
But if anyone thought that Curt Baldwin
was there to retire in the sun, they were wrong. While he did take time to join the nearby El Centro Elks
Club, he also set about converting a large building on his farm into a
workshop. There, he and George
began working on their “Combine of the Future.”
However, their attention was soon deflected
by a sharp and growing demand for a new feed product. They began work on a machine that would “go into the field and make alfalfa wafers.”
Baldwin’s alfalfa machine, however, would
not be finished. Nor would another
device on his drawing board – a swing front-end loader for any make of
tractor. If there was ever a
“Combine of the Future,” it wasn’t a Baldwin machine. Their time had run its course.
Curtis Baldwin died in Imperial,
California on April 19, 1960. His
wife, Ida Mae, died February 24, 1976 in Santa Barbara. Both are buried – but not
together – at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California. Their oldest son Glenn and his wife Roberta lived in Washington and California in their later years. Glenn died in 1995, Roberta in 2006. Curtis and Ida Mae's daughter, Mary Stanton, lived most of her life in California. She passed away in 2006. Her husband, LeRoy, died in 2003.
George and Myrtle Baldwin returned to
Chadron, Nebraska in about 1970.
He passed away at the Chadron Hospital on October 9, 1972. Myrtle died in August 1979. They are buried together in Greenwood
Cemetery in Chadron.
Mary Jane Sellers Baldwin, George’s first
wife, had moved to Colorado to be near her daughter. She was living in Arvada, Colorado, when she died January 9,
1979 and is buried at Wildmead Cemetery in Nickerson, Kansas.
Ernest and Ada Baldwin lived the rest of
their lives in Ottawa, Kansas. He died April 11, 1967; Ada died August 6, 1996. They are both buried at Highland Cemetery in Ottawa.
While the Baldwin brothers never realized vast financial fortunes, their Baldwin Gleaner combine and its many subsequent versions still bearing the "Gleaner" brand have endured.
AGCO Industries, a global manufacturer of farm equipment, continues to build the popular Gleaner brand well into the 21st century.
With numerous design changes and technological enhancements over the past 90 years, the Gleaner remains well known amongst farmers across the Americas, Australia, and elsewhere. Mere mention of "Baldwin Gleaner" often brings a smile to the faces of grain farmers everywhere.
Not a bad legacy for three farm kids from Nickerson, Kansas.
AGCO Industries, a global manufacturer of farm equipment, continues to build the popular Gleaner brand well into the 21st century.
With numerous design changes and technological enhancements over the past 90 years, the Gleaner remains well known amongst farmers across the Americas, Australia, and elsewhere. Mere mention of "Baldwin Gleaner" often brings a smile to the faces of grain farmers everywhere.
Not a bad legacy for three farm kids from Nickerson, Kansas.
