By Mark Boshnack
A piece of Morris history took its place in a recently refurbished home Friday.
Residents can see one of the first factory-produced tractors of Linn Manufacturing Corp., which operated in Morris from 1916-50. The green vehicle that was used to haul logs can be found at a recently redesigned building, which the Morris Rotary recently completed at Guy Rathbun Community Park in Morris.
The tractor had been stored since 1986 in a pole barn near the firehouse until the remodeling began, said Rotary member Harry Graves. The was kept in the town highway garage while the work was going on, he said.
An effort led by Rotary members Matt Meyers, Hank Rehrmann, Roger Miller and Gerard Bourgeois turned the pole barn into a storage area with a window, so the tractor could be seen from the street, he said.
It needed to be done because people didn't know it was there, Meyers said.
The tractor had been worked on by Gerry Fuchs, who owns an equipment repair business, with town highway superintendent John Lull, Graves said. Until Friday, it had not run for 45 years, Fuchs said.
But after a few cranks and a puff of smoke, the tractor took to its new home.
Rene Elliott, a local resident who owns two Linn tractors, said the machines are part of his family's history. His great-grandfather was one of the original stock subscribers to the company and his grandfather was a chauffeur for company founder H.H. Linn.
The historic tractor had been used at a Masonville saw mill, he said. In 1920, it was traded in for another machine, and the company restored it in 1934. When the company closed in 1960, the tractor was given to Rotary with the promise that it be kept in the area, Elliott said.
Plans are to bring pictures and other material to the building to help illustrate the history of the company, Graves said.
In Linn's day, Meyers said, "it was a major part of the Morris economy."
