10/18/2026
100 years ago --
Dr. Brewster Flies to Herndon at Night
Oberlin Herald - Sept. 2, 1926
"Last Wednesday the people along the Beaver Valley were no doubt surprised to hear the noise of the airplane motor, and many had their first opportunity to see a ship in the sky at night.
"Dr. F.A. Brewster was called to Herndon last Wednesday for Mrs. Paul Wolkensdorfer, and it was quite dark, and the big ship could hardly be seen in the sky when his pilot circled over town and out to the Franke farm where they made a safe landing by aid of lights from two automobiles.
"Dr. Brewster relates that it is a peculiar sensation to feel and know that the plane is rapidly coming down and not be able to see ground. However, pilot Stevens is quite familiar with the landing in Franke’s pasture and had no trouble making a safe landing with the aid of automobiles to keep him out of the fences.”
Stevens was familiar with Franke’s pasture because he had flown Dr. Brewster several times to Herndon in the previous seven years – including the first ever house call by plane.
At a time when physicians usually rode horses or drove carriages, Brewster bought the first motorcycle in Furnas County and began using it to make house calls in 1903.
In 1905, he bought a "horseless carriage." It was the first automobile in Furnas County, and when it was brought to Beaver City, it caused quite a commotion.
But by 1919, he started using an airplane for speed and to avoid bad roads in western Nebraska and Kansas.
In late March 1919, Dr. Brewster was in Herndon to assist Dr. Fleckenstein in the case of John Leitner, Sr., who was suffering from a stroke of apoplexy.
At that time, Dr. Brewster told the Herndon newspaper office that in about two weeks, he expected to be able to make calls at Herndon with his new Curtiss Byplane, and his pilot had even picked out and selected his landing field.
The field selected at that time was a spot in Math Hartner’s pasture, just northwest of the Catholic Church. The doctor had bought a Curtiss plane with a 43-foot wing spread and equipped with a 90-horse power motor and had a speed of 75 miles per hour (Herndon Nonpareil - April 3, 1919).
In 1919, Herndon was the destination of Dr. Brewster’s first ever house call by airplane.
Herndon First Emergency Call
Beaver City Times-Tribune - May 29, 1919
"The first professional call in an airplane in the history of the world was made by Dr. F.A. Brewster, Beaver City, last Friday when he flew to Herndon on an emergency call.
"Dr. Brewster was in the air only a little over an hour after the message came, and the trip of 55 miles was made in less than an hour.
"When they landed at Herndon, Dr. Brewster went directly to the bedside of Guy Sidey, of El Dorado, whose skull was fractured by a flying clevice on the derrick of the oil well of Logan Oil Co., near Herndon.
"The trip in a car would have been 70 miles and over about three hours of bumping over the roads. As it was, Dr. Brewster dropped in Herndon, cool and collected, and removed several pieces of bone from the skull of the injured man, an operation that no local doctor would undertake. At 7:50 Dr. Brewster was back in Beaver City.
"Latest reports from Herndon are that Guy Sidey will recover. His life was saved by the speed of the airplane which took Dr. Brewster to his bedside and the skill with which the operation was handled. No one can put a value on a life, but the price of an airplane looks small beside it.
"Mr. Sidey has a family who are rejoicing at his miraculous recovery.
"Pilot Wade Stevens gives an interesting description of the flight:
'The machine ran fine, and near Wilsonville, we struck a rising current of air, which took us up to a height of 3,000 feet, the highest I have had this ship. We could see the people watching us, and the chickens running for cover as we went.
'I had never been west of Wilsonville on this line and shut off the engine one town this side of it to ask the doctor if it was Herndon. He had picked out a landing for us at Herndon, and it sure was a dandy. We glided up the side of a hill and dropped over the other side.'"
Newspapers throughout Kansas and Nebraska reported on the first-ever airplane house call.
Beaver City to Herndon in 55 Minutes
Hernon Nonpareil - May 29, 1919
"Last Friday, May 23, in answering the emergency call to Herndon to aid Driller Sidey, Dr. Brewster accorded Herndon the distinction of being the first town to receive the doctor on a purely professional call.
"It was a demonstration of the value and practicability of the airplane for the physician or surgeon who is called upon to make long distance professional calls, especially those of emergency.
"The call to Herndon was one that required quick action. The patient required immediate assistance, and a delay of a few hours would probably have resulted in death.
"With Lt. Wade Stevens at the 'joy stick,' the machine took to the air at Beaver City at 1:40 p.m. The Nonpareil man was notified of the time of departure, and we had made a guess that the doctor would reach Herndon in just about one hour.
"The news of the doctor’s air trip spread rapidly, and quite a crowd gathered at the landing field, watching the sky to the east and awaiting his arrival; being somewhat busy, we did not leave the office until 50 minutes after the doctor’s departure from Beaver City.
"When we reached the street, the machine looking like a tiny bird could be seen far down the valley. A few minutes afterwards, it was sailing over the city at a height of about 2,000 feet. The machine passed to the west of the city, then was turned and glided swiftly and gracefully to the landing field in Math Hartner’s pastures, northwest of the city, where a perfect landing was made.
"They had traveled 55 miles in just 55 minutes. Lt. Stevens informed us that the average altitude on this trip was about 3,000 feet.
"Dr. Brewster was delighted with the performance of the machine and feels sure that it will be practical. He was as cool as if he had been riding on a Pullman and at once proceeded to prepare for the operation.
"He says that in sailing through the air, you are protected from the wind, and do not experience the disagreeable feature of being shaken to pieces bumping over rough roads as in an auto.
"After the operation was completed, the doctor made a few professional calls around town, then back to the landing field, and after the engine started, the machine began moving along over the uneven ground, something of the appearance of a large bird hopping. After a short distance, it took to the air and sailed gracefully off to the northeast straight as the crow flies to Beaver City.
"Dr. Brewster has the world-wide distinction of buying the first aeroplane with which to make his professional calls.
"It is reported that the doctor will again fly to Herndon next Saturday."
Atwood Citizen-Patriot - May 29, 1919
"One of the workers at the oil well was seriously hurt, having had the top of his head crushed, and Dr. Brewster was called, and he with Dr. Fleckenstein operated on the man on a table in the hotel in Herndon. He is now getting along as well as could be expected.
"The baby girl, Wilma, of Mr. and Mrs. Barenberg is still very sick. They consulted Dr. Brewster while he was in Herndon Friday."
Oberlin Times - May 30, 1919
"Dr. F.A. Brewster caused quite a little excitement in our town last Friday as he made a hurried call to Herndon in a Curtiss Aeroplane. It was the first one seen pass over our town.
"The driller at the oil well near Traer was very badly hurt last Friday by an iron falling from the derrick and striking him on the head, crushing his skull.
"Dr. Brewster took out several pieces of skull and put in a silver plate. At last reports, he was recovering nicely."
[A week later, Dr. Brewster and his pilot Wade Stevens landed in Oberlin.]
Airplane lands here
Oberlin Times - June 6, 1919
"Thursday afternoon about three o’clock, a dark spot was seen approaching in the distance from the northeast. Soon the rapid, beating exhaust from the engine could be heard, and all observers identified the strange visitor. The great Curtiss airplane landed in a wheat field just west of Oberlin.
"Although scenes of this kind are quite common in our country, this was the first to make its appearance in Oberlin. Another is to come on July 4, and in the future, we can commence to look for the appearance of the air man upon most any occasion.
"The airplane, like the auto, has come to stay, and its use as a commercial agent is at hand. This trip is a practical demonstration of its usefulness. With roads practically impassable after five days of rain, Dr. Brewster came to Oberlin through the air, a distance of 60 miles in 58 minutes.
"We had a very pleasant visit with the doctor, and he assures us that the use of the machine in his business is much more practical than he at first anticipated.
"He was called by Dr. Wheeler in consultation over the condition of Mrs. Metcalf, who for some time has been and still is a very sick woman. He also visited his patient, Mrs. Edon while here. She is now well on the road to health, notwithstanding the fact that but a few days ago, her recovery was thought impossible.
"Great crowds gathered to see the machine. It had hardly landed when the throng suddenly appeared, no one knowing from whence the people came. While there was a continual stream of comers and goers, the crowd rather increased until the airplane took its departure after a two-hour stay in our city."
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Dr. Frank Brewster, known as “Nebraska’s Flying Doctor," was born in Beatrice, Nebraska, in 1873. After graduating from Beatrice High School, he attended Western Normal College in Lincoln and then went on to get his medical degree at the University of Nebraska.
He bought Dr. R.F. Raines’ practice in Beaver City, July 1901. He practiced medicine in Beaver City from 1901 to 1923 and then at Holdredge.
He had a reputation as an excellent surgeon throughout Southwest Nebraska and Northwest Kansas, and was often called to Oberlin and the surrounding towns for his surgical expertise.
In 1930, he opened the first hospital in Oberlin on North Penn in the house once owned by Otis and Maude Benton. Dr. Brewster purchased a half-interest from the children of Otis Benton. The other half was donated by Mrs. Benton.
In recognition of the gift, the hospital was known as the Benton Memorial Hospital. The hospital was staffed by Oberlin doctors Dr. L.C. Tilden, Dr. Eber Reeves, Dr. C.L. Piper, and Miss Neva Russell as R.N. Superintendent and Dr. Brewer as surgeon.
At the age of 71, Dr. Brewster got his own pilot's license. He passed away in Holdredge October 17, 1961, at the age of 89.
