Baldwin Iron Works

Whitney Reflections


	A tribute to the early settlers of a western Nebraska village


	The Baldwin Brothers

		*Inventors once made Whitney home*

The Baldwin brothers, Curtis, George, and Ernest, grew up in rural Finney County, Kansas, and made a name for themselves by inventing and building self-propelled harvester-threshers that were dubbed “Gleaners.” That name may well have been inspired by the 1857 Francois Millet painting, “The Gleaners,” which featured three women gathering grain that had been left in the field by the reaper


	Mabel Kendrick writes more about The Baldwin Brothers in *Still Alive and Well - Whitney, Nebraska*

Curtis Baldwin was the oldest of the brothers and considered by many people to be the “brains” of family. Born in 1888 and raised in a sod house, he patented his “Standing Grain Thresher” in 1911. According to writer Sam Moore in his article “Let’s Talk Rusty Iron,” the three boys started the Baldwin Company that same year in Nickerson, Kansas, but in a few years, the enterprise failed, and Curtis found himself working for firms first in Denver, Colorado, and then in LaPorte, Indiana.

His brothers, meanwhile, reportedly help design a harvester built around the Fordson tractor, and the first unit was built in 1923 in Wichita.

While there seems to be considerable conflicting information about the Baldwins, we know little about their years in Nebraska. Exactly when did they come, and why did they choose Whitney? It is not surprising that the Whitney enterprise ended after a few years, because that seemed to be the pattern followed by the Baldwin brothers for many years. Curtis Baldwin died in 1960.

We’d like to hear from any readers who may have more information or photographs about the Baldwin brothers. Just send us an e-mail at galey@rushmore.com ~~Thanks!