Garritsen selling items related to one of Hamilton County’s first commissioners
A number of artifacts related to some of Hamilton County’s earliest residents are among the hundreds of items currently being sold in an online auction by a Hastings man who says he plans to make Giltner his permanent home.
Auctioneer Steve Garritsen of Gerritsen Auctioneers and Appraisers is in the process of operating an auction on HiBid.com in which he is selling the collections of both James Guthman and Delbert Brown, who he says were collectors of Civil War era items including guns, watches, Bowie knives, photographs, letters and other artifacts.
He says much of the Brown collection is comprised of items related to the Stockham/Farmer’s Valley area which was home to some of the county’s earliest settlers after the area was opened to homesteading in the 19th Century.
Among the items in the collection are several photographs and other items related to the family of Norris Bray, who was one of Hamilton County’s first county commissioners.
“Norris Bray was born in Maine, and then his mother and father moved from Maine to Wisconsin, and then shortly after the Civil War... And of course, like everybody else, they came out here in a covered wagon.”
Bray and his wife, Cornelia (Westcott), were the parents of several children including son Charles (1867 – 1936) who, according to his headstone at the Farmer’s Valley Cemetery, was the first white child born in York County.
One of the items in the Brown collection is a letter written by Norris Bray to his daughter, Grace on Dec. 8, 1879. The handwritten letter is written on the official stationary of the Commissioners’ Office and Bray’s name is listed at the top along with the other two commissioners at the time, J.F. Glover and Wm. Werth. The pre-printed words “Orville City” at the top next to the blank for the date have been scratched out and written in are the words “Farmer’s Valley.” Orville City, located in southeastern Hamilton County near the forks of the Blue River, was the first county seat located by the county commissioners in 1870, and surveyed, platted and recorded as a town by them. The town site is located approximately 7-8 miles directly south of Aurora, within what is still known as Orville Precinct.
“We will have about 400 some lots,” Garritsen said the auction that went live on March 4. “We go all the way from the Civil War all the way up to the Afghan war, with uniforms and hats, and we’ve got some German WWII stuff.”
Garritsen said people from all over the nation have shown interest in the items up for bid and he has even had interest from people in Europe where there is a high interest in items tied to the American West and the Civil War. However, he said there is too much red tape involved in shipping sold items overseas.
Although Garritsen has spent most of his career in the Hastings area, he recently bought a house in Giltner and says he plans to retire there becoming a full time resident of Hamilton County.