Clinton Baum was born at Milltown, South Dakota on September 1 , 1 904 to George and Carrie Edith Wheatly Baum. His great-grandfather was John Baum, born in Pennsylvania in 1811 . Grandfather George Steven Baum was born in Michigan in 1841 and his father George Ernest Baum in 1871.
The Baum family moved from Three River Michigan to Milltown, South Dakota when George was seven years old. They were farmers there, and it was on the family dairy farm that Clinton was born. His early education was at Milltown. Later the family moved to near Mitchell, South Dakota where he finished his education, receiving a B. A. degree from Dakota Wesleyan University at Mitchell in 1927.
Clinton Baum has had an interesting and colorful career. His pursuits have included farming, custodial work, cooking and general merchandising.
While operating a general store at Milltown, he met and married Pansy Clifton in 1935. After this period in Milltown from 1929 until 1935 the family, now including daughter Blanche, now Mrs. Blanche Wymore of Beatrice, moved to Long Beach, California where they lived until 1942. As a chef, in a Long Beach café, the Baum family managed to live on wages that, at times, were as low as one dollar per day. During the California years, two sons, James, now of Springfield, Ohio and Ernest of Lincoln, were born.
In 1942 the Baums came to Paxton where they farmed. Here daughter Mary joined the family. She is now Mrs. John Policky and lives at the Naval Base near Detroit. In 1945, the family moved to Lincoln and resided there until 1971 when Clinton came to Central City to act as relief men for his son who operated a filling station in east Central City.
It was here in Merrick County that his wife Pansy died in 1972. She is buried at Lincoln, Nebraska. While Clinton Baum is not a native of Merrick County, he likes this area and its friendly people and lives happily at Bader Village.
Submitted by Clinton Baum
Source: Merrick County Historical Society, History of Merrick County, Nebraska (1981), Volume I, Dallas, Texas : Taylor Publishing Company, 1981.