Among the still images isolated by Mindi Adkins from an archival home-movie is the selection of on-the job scenes we present in this post.

Mindi’s grandfather, Ben E. Schmidt, worked for Tillotson Construction Co. on thirteen elevator jobs in six states, starting in his hometown of Montezuma, Kan. That was in 1948. Ben and some of his brothers, including Fred Schmidt who operated the movie camera, stayed with the company for a couple of years. We know two of the subsequent destinations were Montevideo, Minn. and Alta, Iowa, as described in previous posts.

Mindi says the movie film is likely from Alta in 1950. Ben’s wife Ruth became pregnant during that job, so they went back to Montezuma to have the baby. In time, the baby, Pearl, grew up and had her own baby, Mindi.

Among the figures appearing in these scenes, Mindi says she’s pretty sure the blue-clad one with his back to the camera in the topmost image is Ben’s brother-in-law Jake Unruh.

Jake Michael Unruh was born in Montezuma, Kan. in 1919. He married Alda Schmidt in 1948. After elevator work, he had a career as a farmer, dairyman, and custom-harvester.

His brother-in-law Ben owned a custom-harvesting operation.

It’s hard to guess the nature of the tasks being done in these images. Suffice it to say everything appears to be well-organized. We note the crew’s rugged garb and the abundance of tools and work stations.

One image includes two late-model General Motors cars–probably Chevrolets. Do they belong to elevator crew members?

Some images show work being done on a frame structure instead of anything to do with the wooden formwork for cylindrical elevator storage tanks. If this work was on an office, mill, or other grain storage building, we don’t see notes in the construction record to describe it.

Even if some imagination is required in reconstituting the activities caught in progress, these rare color images are a valuable resource for their depictions of job layout, tools and methods, and teamwork.

We’re grateful to Mindi for sharing them.

For her part, Mindi says, “I’m hoping someone reading the blog recognizes someone from the video.”

By Ronald Ahrens with photos by Mindi Adkins

In a tip-of-the-iceberg moment, Our Grandfathers’ Grain Elevators has received a fresh take on the Montevideo, Minn. elevator built in 1949 by Tillotson Construction Co., and it opens a door on the personal lives of crew members.

Mindi Adkins stopped by Montevideo en route from South Dakota and took pictures of the elevator.

“My grandpa Ben Schmidt helped build that elevator and many others,” Mindi explains.

Montevideo happens to be Tillotson’s “cover girl” elevator featured in the January 1950 issue of Farmers Elevator Guide. The story behind the story is that six unions filed a strike notice as the job got going the previous summer. One way or other, work was completed in the autumn and Farmers Equity Elevator Co. dedicated their new grain house on Dec. 30, 1949.

Mindi’s revelation has an additional personal element, as her contribution also includes postcards to her grandparents. One is addressed to them at Watson’s Cabins in Montevideo. The other is general delivery.

Ruth Toews Schmidt was from Montezuma, Kan. (site of another Tillotson elevator). She and Ben E. Schmidt married on May 20, 1945. They soon went to Colorado Springs, where Ben was assigned to a Civilian Public Service camp, serving two years. He came home and worked on Tillotson’s 1948 Montezuma elevator.

“My grandma Ruth told me that when they were building the Montezuma elevator, Ben jumped the gap between the two elevators at the top!” Mindi says. “I wish I knew how many feet it is, but Ruth didn’t approve!”

Afterwards, the couple went on the circuit of elevator jobs.

Mindi elaborates on the question of elevator construction:

“I did get some information from Grandma. She told me all the elevators she remembered that Grandpa worked on–approximately 13 in seven different states. Then several years ago, my grandpa’s brother Lincoln, who also worked on elevators, told me the Tillotson name.”

After working in Montevideo, Ben was part of Tillotson’s crew at Alta, Iowa in 1950. Ruth became pregnant during that time.

“My grandma was weary of moving so much and requested that she go home to Kansas for the baby to be born. So Grandpa took off work, and my mom, Pearl, was born in Montezuma in June 1950.”

After their elevator work ended, Ben and Ruth settled in Osceola, S.D. and took up farming. They raised three daughters and one son. 

Lore from the elevator years continued to circulate within the Schmidt family. Mindi’s uncle Lincoln told of working on Tillotson’s elevator at Stromsburg, Nebr. and falling in love with a girl who lived there. “He could see from the top of the elevator when she arrived home from work. They did marry and raise a family.”

Ben and Ruth Schmidt left South Dakota for Oklahoma in 1967. Ruth, who loved to sing, worked as a nurse and caregiver. Ben had a custom-combining business. He died in 1997.

Mindi migrated back to South Dakota in the early 1990s. Her grandmother Ruth died in 2016 in Kansas.

The Schmidts represent Tillotson Construction as exemplars of hard work, sacrifice, and resourcefulness. Our Grandfathers’ Grain Elevators is honored to record their achievements.