Photographs courtesy of Barton County Historical Society, in memory of the Tobias B. Unruh Family.
Loren H. Unruh purchased a 1925 Twin City tractor like the one his grandfather once used in southwestern Barton County, which he intended to donate to the Barton County Historical Society. Unfortunately, he passed away before being able to make the donation. Recently his two surviving daughters carried out his wishes and have donated the tractor and several family photographs to the Barton County Historical Society in memory of the Tobias B. Unruh Family.
At the age of 12, Tobias B. Unruh, was among the first group of German Mennonites to leave the Astraga Karlswade area of Russia to escape extreme religious persecution. The group boarded the S.S. City of London and arrived at Castle Clinton Immigration Center in New York on Nov. 18, 1874. There were 313 Mennonites aboard the ship, who immediately began their journey to Kansas, arriving Nov. 24, 1874 in Newton.
In Newton the group would shelter for four months during the harsh winter. The next spring, the Unruh family, along with several other families, traveled to Pawnee Rock to build their homes and plant their first seeds. The Unruhs would ultimately settle southeast of Dundee in Liberty Township.
Within a few years, Unruh took over the family farm when his father, Benjamin D. Unruh, began experiencing ill health. The elder Unruh died in 1895, leaving Tobias to work the land with horses, manual tools and equipment with the aid of several farm hands.
Tobias Unruh married the former Eva Anna Jantz on March 30, 1885; the couple were the parents of 10 children, seven of whom lived to maturity.
In the early part of the 20th century, Unruh purchased a steam engine to aid in threshing the wheat crop and make it possible to increase wheat production. In 1925, Unruh purchased his first gasoline-powered tractor, a 1925 Twin City model #17-28, that revolutionized the farming practices in the Mennonite community.
Upon Tobias’s retirement, his youngest son, Ira T. Unruh, acquired the farm, where he and wife, the former Ella Mae Ward, raised four sons, Paul, Victor, Loren and Phillip. All four Unruh sons helped maintain the farm in their youth.
The Unruh tractor is currently on display in the Cook-Becker Tractor Barn on the grounds of the historical society, 85 South U.S. 281, Great Bend.
