A New Artifact

Occasionally we are fortunate enough to come across items pertaining to the museum that we haven't seen before. In this case, the item in question was sent to us by a distant family member of the Kregels. It is an original stock certificate from the Kregel Windmill Company. We knew that the company obviously sold stocks during their time, but we had never actually seen a certificate until now. 

The fact that it is the first we have seen isn't the only reason it's an interesting piece. The person the stock was issued to was F.W. Petring, the brother-in-law of George Kregel, founder of the Kregel Windmill Company. Petring was a business man in Nebraska City and owned a couple of retail businesses downtown on Central Avenue. His sister, Clara Matilda Petring, married George Kregel in 1884. F.W. Petring was tragically killed in October of 1911 near Fort Crook, NE (now Bellevue) when the passenger train he was on collided with a freight train mistakenly on the same track. Also perishing in the wreck with F.W. were his daughter Elma and granddaughter Marcia. His son-in-law Fred Rottmann survived the wreck despite serious injuries.

This stock certificate was issued to the estate of F.W. Petring on January 5th, 1912, in the amount of two $100 shares in the Kregel Windmill Company. It is a well-preserved example of this early company stock and a reminder of the tragedy for which it was issued. The certificate is now preserved in the reference library at the Kregel Windmill Factory Museum office.

Front of Stock Certificate

Back of Stock Certificate

May your blades always catch the wind!

A Visit From Another Time

We were very pleased to be able to host a tour of the H.H. Franklin Car Club on Saturday, June 4th. There were almost 30 members of the club in attendance with around 12 impressive examples of Franklin cars. I must say that before Saturday I had never come across a Franklin, or knew much about the company, but they are a beautiful relic from an early American luxury car manufacturer. After doing a little bit of research I was surprised to discover a long list of the innovations that are credited to the Franklin Automobile Company.

Franklin Automobile Company was responsible for many different firsts in the industry:

• First 4-cylinder engine
• First 6-cylinder engine
• First float-feed carburetor
• First to use a centrifugal air cleaner for a carburetor
• First to adopt automatic spark advance
• First in throttle control
• First valve-in-head cylinder
• And many more...

The following is a short album of pictures from this great tour. Enjoy!