The Formative Years of Emmit D. Richardson
Emmit David Richardson was born on June 7, 1881, on a farm two miles south of Glen Elder, Kansas, on Walnut Creek. Emmit's father, Ebenezer, had emigrated with his family from Chestershire, England, and after a move from Indiana to Illinois, struck out on his own, traveling west to Mitchell County, Kansas. It is here that he purchased 320 acres of land in 1871 and can be listed among the early pioneer settlers of this region. Ebenezer, a Baptist, married a local girl, Mary Elizabeth Hadley, a Quaker and 20 years his junior, on October 12, 1879. Emmit was their first born son.
Photo right: Ebenezer and Mary Elizabeth (Hadley) Richardson. |
Two and a half years later a brother, Russell was born. Because the farm was too far from the nearest school, Mary taught young Emmit at home until he was 8 years old. He was particularly good at math and could add, subtract, multiply and divide before entering regular school. A sister was to be an added blessing to the growing family, but the infant did not survive. Emmit had not finished his first year at school, when in the spring of 1890 his beloved mother died during child birth. The surviving son lived six months before being laid to eternal rest beside his mother and sister. Emmit, being the eldest child, was forced to take on many new responsibilities around the house and farm.
Photo left: Thomas Richardson in front of the Richardson farm home.
Photo left: Thomas Richardson in front of the Richardson farm home.
It was during these formative years that Emmit's inventive spirit came to the fore. In addition to being a farmer, Ebenezer was the local blacksmith and had a forge and workshop full of tools and piles of scrap iron and wood. While pealing and boiling "taters" with his grandma Hadley, Emmit's curiosity and imagination would run wild. Later, he would use every spare moment searching for the scraps from which to fabricate his imagined inventions.
Photo right: Emmit Richardson in the blacksmith shop on the farm. |
Five years after Mary's death, Ebenezer married Jeanette "Nettie" Neff and two daughters and one son were born to the union. Emmit helped his father on the farm and attended school during the few winter months when his labor was not needed. But nothing could keep him from spending his spare time in the farm's workshop building useful, labor saving devices like a windmill to pump the water for the farm. When asked to help trim hedges one rainy day, Emmit spent time in the dry workshop building a hedge trimmer from an old Deering gear-driven binder which made the unpleasant work outside go faster. Ebenezer realized that his son's passion was not in his farm work, so he often chided Emmit by saying "a tinkerer will always be as poor as a church mouse." But Emmit persevered.
Photo left: Thomas, Ebenezer, Nettie, Russell, Emmit, Zerilda (on mother's lap), and Beulah seated in front |
Emmit earned his Common School Diploma at the age on 18 in May of 1898. He attended the Glen Elder High School where he excelled in mathematics and the mechanical sciences. (At college, his highest grades were in trigonometry). He became fascinated with electricity and read everything he could find on the subject. He built small electric motors and various testing apparatus. For his High School Physics class, Emmit built a miniature "traction engine" (tractor) which used compressed air instead of steam. It had a bicycle pump for a cylinder, brass pump cylinder for a boiler, and little wagon wheels for motion. He graduated in May of 1900 with the hopes of entering the Engineering Department of the Kansas State Agricultural College in the fall.
Photo right: Emmit's high school physics class project. |
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Kansas State Agricultural College, Manhattan
A college education costs money, so Emmit immediately set his sight on assembling a harvest crew. The harvest was good that year, and the following year, E. D. was able to purchase the 12 h. p. Huber steam engine and the 32" Advance separator which he had used, for $750. In the fall of 1900, E. D. was accepted at Kansas State and began his studies in earnest. It took six years to complete his education because he had to periodically stop to earn the money needed to continue. E. D. used every opportunity to put his abilities to practical use. He fabricated tools and an electric motor at the College machine shop. When the new Auditorium and Chemistry and Physics buildings were being built on campus, E. D. worked in the local quarry to earn money. He was also on the janitorial staff at the college farm earning 10 cents an hour. In his third year at college, he built an Engineer's transit and used it in the employ of the city of Manhattan to survey the streets of a new addition.
Photo left: Emmit's surveyor's transit which he fabricated in the college industrial workshop. |
When he arrived at college the fall of 1900, Emmit saw for the first time, a noisy, self propelled machine which scared the horses and whizzed by at break-neck speed. It was an automobile. E. D. immediately ordered a set of rough engine castings from A. L. Dyke and built his first gas engine. His second year at college, E. D. began fabricating his own auto from old Deering binder gears and his gas engine. The car weighed 800 pounds and had three speeds forward and three in reverse. He drove his "car" home to Glen Elder for the first time in the spring of 1903 and used it for 5 years. It was probably only the second car in Mitchell county and had a top speed of 12.5 mph. The trip took two days to drive the 105 miles from Glen Elder back to Manhattan. He had to get started at dawn, intermittently stopping to repair the car along the way with the hopes of arriving in Chapman before nightfall, and continue the journey to Manhattan the next morning.
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Emmit earned his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Kansas State Agricultural College in June of 1905. The next year was devoted to completing his thesis work at the college. Begun in 1903 in a specially built shed on the college campus, he designed and built a 4-cylinder, 4 cycle, reversible, 8 1/2 inch bore, 11 inch stroke, roller bearing, spring mounted, cushioned gear, gasoline tractor. Of special note is the fact that this gasoline tractor could run in reverse! E. D. received his second degree from Kansas State in June of 1906 and used his gasoline tractor for 10 years grading roads, filling silos and threshing grain before junking it in 1917.
After graduation, E. D. was employed with the Fairbanks-Morse and Co. in Beloit, Wisconsin. Beginning with a patented windmill design, Fairbanks Morse and Co. expanded into the production of engines and power plants. Their small gas engines were a huge success with farmers. Unfortunately, Emmit’s employment with the firm was cut short with the death of his father, Ebenezer Richardson, who passed away on January 12th, 1907 in the 65th year of life.
The Richardson Machine Shop
Emmit returned home to settle the estate of his father and to provide for his mother and siblings. However, a little more than a year later, an opportunity presented itself in the neighboring town of Cawker City, which E. D. could not let pass by. R. F. Ruth, one of several blacksmiths in town, had decided to uproot his family and move to the Imperial Valley in California. E. D. successfully negotiated purchasing Ruth's building and entire inventory of tools. On February 8, 1908, E. D. took out a mortgage on Ruth's two story brick building for $650.00 and also signed a promissory note for $350.00 with John J. Hoover in Osborne. On March 11th, the inventory of tools was presented and E. D. was in business.
C. M. Barnes, from Massachusetts, was E. D.’s first employee and the two of them immediately set about cleaning and getting things in order for business.
The 26x40, two story, native brick building was built in the summer of 1887 by Viger J. Williams as a “Bath Room and Tonsorial Parlor” on the former site of the frame, Free Press Newspaper building. The Barber shop had originally cost $2,000 to build and had living quarters upstairs. Within three years, the original owner skipped town under less than desirable circumstances and the shop was acquired by a succession of barbers including M. M. Arnoldy, Carson Brothers, W. H. Bradbury and Will VanTilborg. Dr. and Mrs. L. G. Canfield found residency in the upstairs apartment. In 1898, the Star Laundry made its debut in the building. Among the modern laundry equipment Endicott and Moore installed, was a “Little Star Ironing machine.” The Bath Rooms were retained and customers were invited to “wash and be clean.” In October of 1901, Henry Hartung bought the building for use as a blacksmith shop and made an addition for a forge at the rear of the building. Then, R. T. Ruth purchased the business from Hartung with the intension of manufacturing automobiles. |
Smith Faris
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With the turn of the new year of 1909, E. D. entered a short lived partnership with Smith Faris who was also a graduate of the Kansas State Agricultural College. Faris and Richardson set about improving the shop. A factory whistle blown by compressed air was installed to define the work hours of the shop. A concrete floor was poured in the rear addition and the brick building was repointed with Portland cement. Despite the improvements in the business, the partnership began to deteriorate. A major bone of contention was the new sign painted at the top of the north side of the building which proclaimed “Richardson and Faris Machine Shop Auto & Thresher Supplies Repairs.” Faris balked at having to pay half of the bill from Travis, the sign painter, because the name Richardson has twice as many letters in it as does Faris. The sign remained to fade in the sun long after Faris moved on to greener pastures. The newspaper ads noted the change to “E. D. Richardson, Cawker Machine and Repair Shop.”
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From the very beginning, business at the Richardson shop revolved around the seasonal nature of the local agrarian culture. In an effort to attract a steady stream of business and retain a core of experienced workmen, the early years of the Richardson Machine Shop concentrated on offering repair service for every type of engine and a comprehensive line of auto and threshing machinery supplies. Gas, forge, and electric welding was a specialty of the shop with experience in steel, cast iron, bronze and aluminum. A Herald cylinder grinding machine was added in 1925, which could true up any worn tractor engine block. The shop was fully equipped to fabricate just about anything made of metal. Among the other services offered, old lawn mowers could be brought in and made "new" at a fraction of the price of a new one. Batteries could be recharged for 10 cents an hour while you did your shopping in town.
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Among the diversified products sold at the shop, were the Plymouth ensilage cutter, Letz Dixie feed grinders, Goodyear tires, Champion Dry batteries, "Sky Pilot" radios, and electric refrigerators. After WW I, electrical supplies were added to the inventory. Various oils for cars and farm machinery could be bought in small lots or by the barrel. A gasoline pump was placed in front of the shop in 1923.
Engines and engine parts of all kinds were bought and sold by the Richardson shop. Fairbanks-Morse Kerosene engines and Cushman Light Weight engines were very popular with the farmers. In 1913, E. D. began attending the annual Kansas City gas engine show. He would buy second hand engines at the show as a source of economical repair parts for the local farmers. When the city pump broke down, E. D. supplied a temporary engine to keep the city water tower full until the necessary repairs could be completed. When the Cawker City Power and Light Co. was established the same year the Richardson shop opened, E. D. was personally on call to keep the 50 horsepower, two cylinder, Fairbanks-Morse gasoline engine and the fifty kilowatt Westinghouse dynamo in working order. Although no major repairs were incurred at the Cawker power plant until it was destroyed by fire in 1913, E. D. did execute major repairs to the Alton dynamo in 1921:
“Although the next day was Armistice day and the Richardson force had planned for a day off to enjoy the big celebration, they stuck to the big dynamo until a new ring oiling bearing had been poured and machined, the commutator turned and trued up, new binding wires put on the armature, and everything put in ship shape, almost as good as new, tested out and started back to Alton on a big truck.”
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As the automobile gained in general popularity, the Richardson Machine Shop also saw an increase in their garage business. An 8 foot door was cut into the south side of the brick building to accommodate car repairs during the slow winter months. To capitalize on the burgeoning car business, E. D. became the local Maxwell agent in January 1911. It is unclear just how many of the Maxwell cars were actually sold over the ensuing years, but in March of 1925, Richardson announced that he had taken on the agency for the Dodge Brothers automobile line. A show room was arranged in the southern portion of the factory where a Dodge sedan was displayed. In 1922, the Cawker Ledger reported that Richardson “will soon begin the manufacture of enclosed, all season cabs for Ford cars, also truck bodies, in order to keep men and equipment employed during the coming slack season.”
By the mid 1920's, the Radio was emerging as the next modern craze and business opportunity. It also sparked the inventive and entrepreneurial spirit of E. D. By February 1926, E. D. had begun manufacturing “radio receiving sets.” Christened the “Economical Five,” the Richardson radio used less current, making the B batteries last three or four times longer than other radios. A speaker was installed outside the second story window of the factory and in several of the stores on main street so passersby and customers could hear a free radio broadcast as a way to promote the “Economical Five.” Even after production of the radio ceased, Richardson continued to offer other radios from Majestic, Crosley, and Zenith well into the 1930’s.
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But the true heart of the business at the Richardson shop centered around the needs of the farmer. What began with one Huber steam engine and one separator grew into a fleet of four complete threshing crews, employing 39 men by 1915. In the field, E. D.'s inventive mind was constantly devising ways to make the work easier, faster, and more efficient. Then, he would return to the shop and put his ideas to the test.
In 1914, E. D. began work on perfecting his ideas to improve the wheat separator. His hard work paid off, and the U. S. Patent office awarded him his very first patent for "an improvement in Threshing Machines." All four of the Richardson harvest crews used his new grain saving invention. Despite being an improvement, marketing his invention proved problematic.
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A more useful invention which was ultimately a profitable success, was the "Humane Extension Feeder." The first ad for the Richardson feeder appeared locally in March of 1911. The feeders were offered in lengths ranging from 16 to 40 feet. Although they were an immediate success locally, it took nine years to perfect the bowed design and prepare the factory for full production. A number of wood-working machines were added to the factory inventory which included a saw mill so local wood could be processed for the feeders.
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A widespread advertising campaign for the Humane Extension Feeder was begun in the spring of 1920. 3,000 catalogs were printed locally and by fall the necessary patent application papers were being reviewed by the Patent Office. On April 1, 1921 C. L. Fink of Wichita was recruited as the first sales manager of the company. That year, Mr. Fink displayed the Humane Feeder at the Nebraska, Oklahoma, and both Kansas State Fairs. A Humane Feeder was sold and shipped to a customer in Washington State that year as proof of the effectiveness of the advertising campaign. At least 20 sales were documented in our local paper that summer with one 40’ feeder being shipped to Monument Kansas.
The Canadian Patent was granted at the beginning of 1922 and the U. S. Patent followed in August. Sales began to take off. 133 and 136 sales were reported locally for the following two seasons. The peak of about 350 sales was reached in 1924. At that time, 8 to 10 feeders were being shipped out a day and there were between 48 and 50 employees at work. “Doc” Alderson was given the task of creating two working models of the feeder that were of a more manageable size for display and demonstration purposes. One model was quarter sized and the other half sized but which still had a length of ten feet. They both had their debut at the Kansas City Implement Dealers Convention in January of 1925. Back at the shop, extra wood was being prepared for the expected increase of business that year.
But a poor harvest and the appearance of the “combine-harvester-thresher," struck a blow to sales expectations for 1925. In July, sales had not reached the century mark with only about 18 feeders leaving the factory each week. The local paper is completely silent as to the number of feeder sales for the year of 1926 because attention was turned toward the production of the “Economical Five.” About 70 feeders were sold in 1928 and at least 4 the following two years. The catalogs and literature from Richardson Mfg. Co. optimistically states that an estimated 1,500 Humane Extension Feeders were produced by the company by 1930. Oddly, the sales of the feeders were revived for a short period during WW II when tire rationing and the scarcity of repair parts, prevented many combines from entering the harvest fields and farmers were forced to dust off their old threshing machines again.
Above: The Richardson Windrow Pick-Up attachment.
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The next innovative machine designed and built at the Richardson factory was the “Flexible Combine Pick-Up” which made it’s debut in 1929 and received a U. S. Patent in June of 1932. Moving pictures of the new product were shown locally at the Art Theatre and possibly elsewhere in the region. The combine was used to harvest dry, standing grain, but could not pick up grain which had been cut early and left in a “windrow” to dry. The Richardson attachment glided along the ground in front of the combine and picked the grain up with wire fingers and conveyed the grain into the combine. Sales of the new product soared and, for the first time in it’s history, a night shift was added to the factory work schedule. One of the Pick-Ups was even sold and shipped to Russia, but when further orders were not forthcoming, E. D. realized the folly of his Christian sense of trustworthiness.
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The Bean Pick-Up followed in 1931. In his travels through Colorado and New Mexico, E. D. saw the need of bean growers to have a machine which would clean the dirt and sand off the bean vines and deposit them in neat, clean piles in the field. The five foot Richardson Bean Buncher was offered for $175 and a seven foot Buncher for $200.
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As the Great Depression began to take hold of the country, Richardson found another niche market in the production of replacement canvases for binders, combines, and headers. The Richardson canvases were heavier and more robust than those offered by others. As touted in the Ledger, “they are waterproof, mildew proof, moth proof, insect proof and almost wear out proof.“ What began with just one sale in 1930 was followed by 5 the next year, then 39 and 90 so that by 1938, 365 sales were reported and still going strong.
1933 saw not only the first dust storm to blow into Cawker, but also saw the arrival of the first Richardson “Cordwood Saw Frame” on the market. This saw frame could accommodate a 36 inch circular saw blade for cutting cordwood. The frame attached to the front end of a tractor and when unfolded and secured, was belt driven. The saw had a table in front of the blade for cord wood cutting, or to the side of the blade for pole trimming. By today’s standards, the saw was a dangerous affair and lacked even the most rudimentary safety features to protect the operator from the piranha teeth of the blade.
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The spring dust storms of 1935 totally decimated the local wheat crop and less than 500 bushels of wheat were delivered at the local Elevator. The Ads for Richardson Mfg. reflected the general hard times and offered a willingness to “trade for old iron, trees or logs.” Often the farmer’s surplus was his only bartering chip and as a result the Richardson family ate many meals of beans and potatoes.
Things began turning around during the harvest of 1937. Headlines proclaimed it to be the “largest crop in ten years.” Orders for canvases reached 300, Humane feeders and Pick-Ups were being shipped almost daily and about 100 saw frames were sold. By fall, the first portion of an ambitious expansion project was begun at the Richardson shop to create a fireproof factory. Richardson began profitably collecting scrap metal in 1917 during the first World War, and with a new war looming, E. D. had the foresight to press forward with his dream. A framework for the new structure rose from material gleaned from the scrap iron pile. Wheels were flattened and spokes welded into braces to create the roof trusses. The trusses were in turn welded to the top of vertical, metal tubing which had been firmly anchored in concrete. The whole was then clad in corrugated, galvanized sheet metal and a concrete floor poured. The new workspace aided in the employment of 65 men during the harvest season and a night shift kept the lights burning.
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Sales of Richardson's improved, hard surfaced Rasp Bars for combines were increasing dramatically. Replacement Rasp Bars could turn any "tooth cylinder" style combine into the more efficient rasp bar type for removing more grain from the heads of the wheat. The "hard surfacing" produced a longer lasting bar which could outlast several sets of its inferior counterpart.
With the increased business, a new sign was hoisted into place the end of May, 1939 which proclaimed “E. D. Richardson and Sons Mfg.” Paul, the eldest son, was to turn 18 in August and Raymond had just turned 15. Both were ready to take on more responsibilities at the family shop. However, it would still be a few more years before Danny and Bobby would be old enough to join their brothers. Although she performed office work for the company each summer and was the eldest sibling, Elizabeth had chosen to become a home economics teacher by profession and did not take an active part in the family business.
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Besides the company name change, another important change was in store for the family. In September, the more spacious brick home west of the Baptist Church was purchased from the Schoen family. However, a year passed before renovations could be completed and the family was able to make the move.
Storm clouds were brewing in Europe and the President signed a peace-time draft bill. With a new sense of urgency, E. D. pressed forward with the factory’s ambitious expansion project. A space 96’ x 142’ was to be created by welding 25,000 wheels into 28, 48’ long trusses. Ads in the area newspapers proclaimed “Richardson Wants Wheels” and was offering $10 per ton. A sawmill addition 50’ x 150’ was planned as well as a 40 x 60 paint house and a final addition 48' x 142" which would extend the factory completely across the block.
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The growth of Richardson Mfg. was also reflected in their annual catalog. What began with a single catalog in 1920 had grown to five different catalogs by the spring of 1941. The main catalog had grown to 60 pages in length and 111,000 copies were being produced on the shops own offset printers. The bulk of the catalogs were addressed to customers from Texas to North Dakota, and from Ohio to California. |
The Attack on Pearl Harbor finally drew America into the war and life changed dramatically for everyone. Within a month, wartime rationing boards were established. Tires were the first item on the list with sugar a close second; oil, gasoline and shoes were soon to follow. There was a flurry of activity at the Richardson plant by farmers wanting to get the needed repairs made on their equipment and stock up on items that might be rationed in the near future. Each week, a long list of out-of-town customers was published in the local paper. Soon the order came from Washington that no farm machinery could be made with rubber tire wheels.
By August, 1942, the government put out the call for 6 million tons of scrap metal for wartime production. Already familiar with the business, E. D. Richardson was chosen to head the efforts for the collection of scrap metals in the immediate vicinity. Despite a slow start, and with slogans like "Scrap Will Win the War" and "More Scrap for Hitler," 165 tons of scrap metal was collected. A Merit Emblem was awarded the E. D. Richardson Mfg. Co. for breaking their quota by over one-third.
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At the beginning of gas rationing and blackout drills, Flossie and Emmit decided to take a combined business and pleasure trip through Colorado to Portales, New Mexico. Along the way, Emmit discovered that his "Bean Pilers" were being used to harvest peanuts! Within a year, Richardson perfected the design of the Bean Piler to accommodate the needs of the peanut farmer. The first 15 "Peanut Pick-Up Pilers" were loaded onto a truck September 23, 1943 and headed for the Texas and New Mexico peanut fields. |
Despite the success of launching a new product, the year of 1943 had not started on such a hopeful note. For the first and only time in it's 80 year existence, the workers at Richardson Mfg. Co. went on strike. About nine of the sixteen employees were dissatisfied with their wages and convinced the others to walk off the job with them. The factory was quiet for nine days, until a pay raise of 15 % was granted.
The year of 1943 proved to be quite eventful to the company and also to the town in general. Women, for the first time, stepped into the many unfilled positions on the Richardson factory floor. In August, a fire broke out in the basement of the brick building where rubber hoses, belts and other inflammable materials were stored and threatened to burn the factory down. The residents of Cawker got their first glimpse of a load of German Prisoners of War headed west for Hays from the Concordia camp. W-4 withholding tax forms were created to aid in the collection of taxes. And Emmit began to suffer from neuritis and from a stomach ailment.
1943 was a personally eventful year for the Richardson family too. In March, Paul, a Junior at Kansas State and in the Army Air Reserves, had to interrupt his studies to report to Kansas City and enter cadet training. Ray was able to finished his spring semester at Manhattan but was called into service in August. He left for Mt. Vernon, Iowa for training in the Naval Air Force. Both brothers were unable to attend their sister Viola's wedding, the first for the Richardson family.
Left: Paul Richardson |
1944 saw the sale of over 300 bean pilers and a sudden demand for the Richardson Peanut piler. Box car shortages and brown-outs were the new topics of conversation. In the fall, Dan Richardson and Mr. Outhwaite showed Richardson products at the Oklahoma State Fair in Muskogee before Dan was called into service. S/Sgt. Paul Richardson was serving as aerial gunner with the 15th Air Force in Italy and was soon to complete his 47 mission before returning home for re-assignment.
right: Dan Richardson |
The country mourned the death of Franklin D. Rosevelt on April 12, 1945 and the war in Europe ended on May 17th. But the war in the Pacific lingered. John Schlaefli, Elizabeth Richardson's fiancé, finally received his honorable discharge from the Army. He had served four long years in England and France. On August 10th, the two were married in Cawker City. Four days later, Japan surrendered.
Shortly after John and Elizabeth’s wedding, Emmit’s health was becoming an unavoidable concern. He and Flossie traveled to Kansas City for clinical examinations. Returning home and disregarding the doctor’s advice to rest, E. D. and Orrin Thomas started out on an ambitious 24 state tour to demonstrate the Richardson Peanut piler. The tour through Oklahoma, Texas, Georgia, Alabama and the Carolinas was totally exhausting for Emmit and on his return home, he was forced to spend a week in bed. Ten days after his return to Cawker, Emmit and Flossie’s first grandson, Larry, was born to Jim and Viola VanSickle. Ray received a 7-day furlough and Paul received his discharge papers and both arrived home to witness the happy event.
As life slowly returned to normalcy, Paul resumed his studies at Manhattan while Ray and Dan continued their military service. Bobby, who was in the seventh grade, was helping out more and more at the shop. The factory was expanding westward yet again by 12,000 sq. ft. In January, 1946, E. D. purchased the more spacious Riley home, a craftsman style home originally built by Dr. C. L. Brown in 1916. A Mammoth crop was being predicted.
But before Memorial Day, E. D. entered the Beloit hospital for treatments for his respiratory ailments. Dan Richardson received a 30-day emergency furlough, returning home from Japan. After treatments, Emmit returned home where he was confined to bed and for almost two months, was visited by a constant stream of family and friends. On Wednesday, July 24th at about 10 p.m., Emmit quietly passed away in the 65th year of life.