In the Museum: Life Among the Savidges
- By Tom Crouch
- Air & Space magazine, August 2010
John, Joe, George, and Matt Savidge (from left) with one of their biplanes, ca. 1912.
Courtesy Bud Bartak
No matter how much a curator knows about his or her subject, you never know when you are going to learn something new. I specialize in the history of early aviation, but that was the last thing on my mind as I pedaled my bike into Ewing, Nebraska (pop. 405), around 2 p.m. on September 7, 2009.
A friend and I had set out from Deadwood, South Dakota, five days before, headed south through the Black Hills on the Mickelson Trail. Now we were riding east across northern Nebraska on the Cowboy Trail. When I pulled into Ewing, my buddy’s wife Bonnie, who was shadowing us in a van, pointed out a large mural on the side of a building. It was a painting of an early Curtiss-type pusher biplane. I rode over for a closer look and was surprised to discover that the building, the town library, was open on Labor Day. I went in and introduced myself to the librarian, Idella Tuttle, who explained that she had an appointment the next day, and had spread the word among the townsfolk that the library would be open on Labor Day instead.
On top of the library shelves I spotted some framed photographs of the old pusher airplane, and while I inspected them, Tuttle called Jerry Tomjack, the local aeronautical historian. He arrived in his pickup three minutes later, and charged through the door expressing doubt that a Smithsonian curator had actually found his way to Ewing. “You people just don’t come to small-town America,” he said. I assured him that in this case, one of “us people” had actually bicycled into this small town.
The airplane depicted in the mural, Tomjack explained, had been built by the seven Savidge brothers—George, John, Joe, Dave, Matt, Phillip, and Louis. The brothers grew up at the turn of the century just south of town, and had a reputation for equipping the family farm with all sorts of ingenious inventions. They launched their flying machine experiments with small gliders, enlisting the farm cats as test subjects, then moved on to larger machines that they rolled down the barn roof and into the air with a brother aboard. With that experience, they set to work on a powered machine based on the classic early biplanes of Glenn Curtiss. The pilot sat on a seat salvaged from a mowing machine. The frame was constructed of wood and metal tubing, while the wings were covered with shellacked muslin. They purchased the engine, propeller, and wheels from an aeronautical supply house, after consulting, one local historian believes, with the knowledgeable staff of Ewing’s own Spittler Brothers Hardware.
They made their first public flight from a nearby field on May 7, 1911. Buggies, wagons, and even the occasional horseless carriage conveyed a growing number of spectators to the Savidge place. It was the beginning of a five-year period during which the brothers made occasional flights in other parts of the west. Back in Ewing on June 17, 1916, Matt, regarded as the most daring of the boys, took up a new airplane and crashed to his death. It was the end of the Savidge brothers’ aeronautical career.
We would be heading back through town early the next morning, and Jerry promised to tape an envelope with additional information about the Savidges to the monument that the town had erected in their memory just off the main street. When we pulled up, there was Jerry, envelope in hand. He wanted to give it to me himself.
When I returned to the Museum the following week, I immediately checked our archive, only to discover we had no file on the Nebraska brothers. Nor were they mentioned in the very thorough aeronautical American Early Birds division files, compiled many years ago on those who flew before 1915. Thanks to Jerry Tomjack and Idella Tuttle, that situation has been corrected. The National Air and Space Museum came to Ewing, Nebraska, after all, and learned something in the process.
Comments (19)
Yo Tom... Congrats. What a great story! Would have loved to have seen the look on the locals faces when they found out who you were.
Posted by Chuck carter on July 12,2010 | 05:29 PM
Tom,
I'm from Ewing and would like to establish a museum about the Savidge Brothers. Your visit resurrected interest in our local historic aviators.
Thanks for the great story!
Posted by Annie on July 15,2010 | 10:47 AM
Phil Savidge was my grandfather. We are very proud of our family's history. They were inventors of many things.
Posted by Cathy on July 20,2010 | 12:50 PM
Phil Savidge was also my grandfather; I am sister to Cathy in the above posting. For many years our family has wanted the Savidge Brothers to have more recognition for their many talents---just maybe their time has come. Thank you.
Posted by Chris Olson on July 20,2010 | 04:17 PM
Another granddaughter of Phil Savidge is thrilled to see her family's history being recognized in the Smithsonian. We've always been proud of all of them & their brilliant inventions.
Posted by Judy on July 20,2010 | 08:25 PM
The mural mentioned in the article can be seen on Google Maps Street View.
http://tinyurl.com/23en4gk
Posted by Para on July 22,2010 | 05:56 PM
Dear Mr. Crouch,
I just read this article and thank you for it. Our family farm is about 10 miles south of Ewing and while from California, I spent every summer from 8 to 18 on the farm. I remember my Grandfather, John Bauer, talking about he Savidge Brothers. He was born in 1905 and remembers riding into town on Sundays in the horse & buggy to go to church. On their way home in the afternoon, they would see the brothers flying in the distance. It must have been quite a sight for a 10 year old. Fast forward to July 20, 1969. I remember sitting at the kitchen table that day with Grandpa & Grandma, along with my brother as we watched Neil Armstrong walk on the moon. It didn't hit me then but years later, I thought about how amazing it must have been for my Grandpa to have seen the Savidges fly when he was 9 or 10 and then to see the first man on the moon at age 63.
II am glad you chanced upon Ewing and were able to include the Savidges in the history of aviation.
Regards,
Dan Donohoe
Posted by Dan Donohoe on August 2,2010 | 12:28 PM
What a great story, and so ironic that the Savidge Brothers were discovered through the Old Cowboy Trail. I am glad that their story has been told and that they are finally getting some recognition. My great grandmother was an aunt of the Savidge brothers and was told that their planes were dismantled and stored away. It would be great to find the old plane parts and have them displayed at the Smithsonian so that others can see the impact that a group of Nebraska boys had on the early history of aviation.
Posted by Cathy Rasmussen Leininger on August 4,2010 | 12:06 AM
The Savidge brothers must be my...great great uncles or somewhere about there. I live in Washington State, descended from Louis Savidge Jr., by way of Louis Savidge Sr., by way of Joseph Savidge. I wasn't purposely named after my great uncle. Anyways, I'd love to make it back to Ewing. I've read the book of the Savidge Aviators...interesting roots!
Posted by Joe Savidge on December 7,2010 | 09:55 PM
I also am proud to say, John, one of the Savidge brothers was my uncle. He married one of my father's older sisters, Bertha Miller. The Miller homestead was about five miles west of the Savidge place. My father would tell of times they could hear the airplane in the distance--a put put like an old John Deere tractor. One of their first engines was a two cylinder engine. After awhile, they could hear it and see it circle on the horizon. As time went by, their cirles became bigger and soon they flew right over the house. That must have been real exciting to see. My father would have been between ten and fifteen at that time.
Posted by Robert V. Miller on December 9,2010 | 09:37 PM
The above posting by Robert Miller is my younger brother. In the 40's and 50's I was in that barn a few times. I walked around and thought about just what kind of history was made here.
A book "Sandhills Aviators" by Duane Hutchinson copyright 1982 is lavishly illustrated with 44 pages of old pictures at the rear plus those scattered through the book.
Much of the information Duane used in this book was with the help of Bertha Miller my aunt.
Posted by Leonard F Miller on December 11,2010 | 01:57 PM
In my excitement at seeing the photo of my great uncles, I forgot to mention that my Dad, Paul, son of Joe, had the originals of many of the photos in the book. We sent them to the author to be used in the book. We laugh when we see the one that my youngest sister, Ellie, spilled permanent ink on when she was little! My Dad, Paul, worked at Boeing (The Boeing Company) during World War II and he invented tools to work on the planes. Boeing patented some of the tools. Paul, my Dad, built all kinds of "motor homes" from odds and ends and we drove around Washington State as children in these contraptions. Many began their lives as delivery trucks, diesel buses, Mercedes sedans. He also built boats at Westport, WA. He would figure out the end result in his head, build it (along with the needed tools) and then either draw blueprints or made models of foam or thin wood to take to the Coast Guard for final approval to get the boat licensed. Build first, draw plans afterwards!
I remember the warm chicken houses Grandpa Joe built in Kent, WA, to support his family. He bought loggded Weyerhaeuser land for $1. per acre! Mr. Weyerhaeuser signed the bill of sale. What an inventive family!! My younger brother,k James Joseph Savidge, either has or will be bringing the original family photos to the Museum in Nebraska.
Posted by Nancy Savidge Perron on March 17,2011 | 11:52 PM
I so happy to see this article. I am the great grand-daughter of Mary Savidge. I have read the Sand Hill Aviators by Duane Hutchinson over and over again. I hold on to that book as a treasured piece of family history. I do not have any personal photos or momentos that other people have been handed down but I suppose that everything should be displayed in a museum. My grandfather Darrell, son of John Ruterbories and Mary Savidge, told me that there was a motor from one of their planes to be put in the State of Nebraska Musuem. I wonder if it is there. I wish I can travel out that way to get back to grassroots..
Posted by Maria Ruterbories on April 21,2011 | 07:24 PM
I am the granddaughter of George Walters and I was raised on stories about his friends the Savidges. When we went swimming, grampa Chug would say "right over there is where George and me would swim." Gramdpa told me about helping Heads string telephone wire,falling on his back and Mr Savidge still holding the wire picked Grandpa up and put him in the wagon, and finished the job before he would take him home. I know the spot. We would go to Ewing and I would get a tour of where they flew and and landed. In the 60's, I was visiting, Grandpa Chug told me we were going to the old Savidge place so they wouldn't be lost to time. He showed me where the barns were the houses,sheds,gardens, and fields they flew in. The boys gave my Grampa his nickname, Chuggy because of his motorcycles. I'm so glad the Savadge story finally got told. Makes me want to turn back time for a bit and help cut a hole on the side of the hayloft.
Posted by Rose Marie Walters Haynes on May 28,2011 | 10:43 PM
I need to know if george savidge played a violin?
Posted by John Cude on December 3,2011 | 10:32 PM
I was just in Washington D.C. on the 24th to the 30th of june and met with Russel Lee from the Air&Space Museum. He was able to tell me where the motor that was on the airplane that was on the plane that killed Great Uncle Matt. It is housed in the warehouse at new museum at Dullas airport; it will be restored and put on display as one of the first rotary airplane engines made. I asked to make sure that when it is dispayed the plaque will state that it was the motor that was on the airplane that killed Matt. I will be keep in touch with him as he was very helpful in helping me with my search for the articles of the SAVIDGE BROTHERS AVATION in Nebraska.
Posted by James Joseph Savidge on July 1,2012 | 06:44 PM
In reply to the question about George and the violin. Yes, he did play the violin. My mom, Phyllis Savidge Bartak (his niece), talked of how beautifully he played for Midnight Mass. He was also a good welder, and figured out how to weld on pewter and aluminum, though he wouldn't pass those secrets on.
Posted by Cathy Palmer on January 6,2013 | 09:42 PM
My great aunt Anna ( Gokie) Savidge helped sew the fabric for wings of their planes. My great uncle Carl Gokie (friend of the Savidges) told of riding in a glider pulled by their plane. He also told me about removing Matt from the plane crash in Ewing. It was difficult for him to tell this sad story and loss of Matt.
I don't know if they were one of the first to pull gliders.
Posted by Bob Knapp on January 27,2013 | 07:57 PM
My name is Irene Helen Savidge Hearn and live in La Marque, TX. I am the daughter of John G. Savidge (one of the aviators) and Bertha Miller Savidge. The day of Matt's death, my father flew the plane first and told his brother there was a problem with the plane before Matt took it up. I am enjoying the comments that all of the people have made. Since I do not have an e-mail address, my daughter is submitting this for me. Thank you.
Posted by Linda Vickers on April 27,2013 | 12:26 PM