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Tom Turpin tells the tale of Mauri Williamson and the mounted Gleaner combine from Kansas.

April 11, 2019

3 Min Read
mounted Gleaner combine on Fordson tractor
STORY WITHIN THE STORY: The mounted Gleaner combine on an old Fordson is quite a story. How it got from Kansas to the Indiana State Fairgrounds where it now resides is another story.

If you spend enough time at Pioneer Village at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, you should run across a contraption that may look a bit strange at first. Heck, it may look strange even after you’ve studied it awhile!

It’s a mounted Gleaner combine, ancestor of self-propelled Gleaner combines. This mounted Gleaner originated in Kansas. How it got to the Indiana State Fairgrounds is a story within itself.

Besides racing cockroaches and hosting Bug Bowls, Tom Turpin, the famed Purdue University entomologist who is now retired, occasionally helps Purdue Ag Alumni. He also gives humorous talks. He gave one at a celebration of agriculture this spring in Franklin, Ind.

Before long he was telling a Mauri Williamson story I hadn’t heard before. The late Williamson was the legendary director of the Purdue Ag Alumni Association, and is considered the founder of Pioneer Village.

Story unfolds

“Mauri was always on the lookout for a piece of antique machinery he didn’t yet have at Pioneer Village,” Turpin began. “Carl Eiche told him about an old mounted Gleaner combine on a Fordson tractor.”

Eiche was longtime senior editor of Indiana Prairie Farmer, retiring in 1994. He moved to Frankfort, Ind., in the late 1950s from his native Kansas. If you covered agriculture in those days, you knew Mauri.

“One day Carl told Mauri he knew of an elderly couple in Kansas who had a 1927 mounted Gleaner on a 1922 Fordson tractor,” Turpin continued. “Mauri made the deal, and then did what he always did — looked for help to get the job done! He knew I was from northeast Kansas, and he recruited me and another alumni helper to take him to Kansas with our truck and trailer to load up the contraption and bring it home to Indiana.

“Mauri was always worried about whether we needed permits from this state or that to move big equipment. In this case, we assured him we didn’t, but I never was sure he believed us.

“We arrived at our destination, loaded up the contraption, said our goodbyes and headed home. Mauri was sitting in the middle seat, still stewing because we didn’t have permits.”

Quick turnaround

“Somewhere on the interstate, we picked up a follower — a state trooper,” Turpin said. “He didn’t turn his lights on; he just followed us for miles. Mauri saw him and slumped down in the seat. He was sure we were going to get pulled over and fined, or worse.

“We needed gas, so we pulled off at an exit. Sure enough, the patrolman followed us. As we pulled up to get gas, he pulled up beside us. You couldn’t even see Mauri. He was sure it was ticket time.

“The patrolman got out and simply asked, ‘Guys, I’ve been following you and I can’t for the life of me figure out what that contraption is you’re hauling. I would just like to know.’

“Mauri popped up out of the seat and was out the door almost before we could say a word. He started rattling off one detail after another about the mounted Gleaner.

“As for us, we just looked at each other and smiled. There were no tickets that day.”

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