Frank C. Zehrung Succumbs at 83

Frank C. Zehrung, 83, former Lincoln mayor who lived in Blair as a boy, died yesterday at Van Nuys, California.

Perhaps the most colorful figure on the Lincoln scene for 70 years, Zehrung had been a theatrical manager, druggist and advertising man in addition to serving as Lincoln’s mayor four times between 1913 and 1931.

Born in Iowa, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Zehrung, he lived in Blair with his family for a time before the Zehrungs moved to Lincoln to operate a drug store.

As a “gay young blade” of the growing young city of Lincoln, Frank Zehrung had three close friends who came to occupy high positions: Charles G. Dawes, now General Dawes and one-time vice-president of the United States; John J. Pershing, who led the A. E. F. to France in the First World War; and Charles Magoon, later governor of Cuba and the Panama Canal zone.

#2-Published in the Lincoln Journal Star October 9, 2011

Frank Connell Zehrung, whose father, John, was a druggist, was born in 1858 in Iowa. While still a boy the family moved to Omaha, where John established a three-state jobbing business for White Sewing Machines.

A few years later, the Zehrungs moved to Blair and in 1874 arrived in Lincoln, where John first worked with J.H. Harley in the drug business, then situated on the northeast corner of 11th and O streets. Two years later he was back in business with White Sewing machines on the south side of O Street between 12th and 13th streets.

Frank Zehrung attended Lincoln High School, then located at 15th and M streets, and for two years was enrolled at the University of Nebraska. In 1880, he joined his father selling sewing machines. A year later, the O Street business name was changed to Zehrung & Dunn Druggists, but it is unclear whether this was John or if Frank also was calling himself a druggist.

In 1888, the Lincoln Journal ran an article on those it thought were the city's most eligible bachelors. At 29, Frank was on the list and described as a druggist and capitalist. He was noted as "a trifle short of 6 feet; fighting weight has never been ascertained … specification drawn by Michael Angelo (sic); has smashed 14 hearts in the last 15 years. When captured will make an excellent husband (whose) only fault is an unfortunate passion for baseball."

For six months, beginning in July 1889, Zehrung was manager of the Funke Opera House on the southwest corner of 12th and O streets. When the Funke was remodeled, he resumed the role of manager at its grand opening in September 1894. The newspaper declared "all the better element of Lincoln" was on hand for "The Woman Hater." "Zehrung may congratulate himself … on the new theatre."

In 1899, the Lansing Theatre on the southwest corner of 13th and P streets had been renamed the Oliver, with Zehrung as its new manager. The drug store operation also was still in business, now at 1213 O St.

After listing his residence as being on the second floor of the opera house, Zehrung acquired two houses just west of the Oliver in the early 20th century. The houses were razed and his new three-story townhouse erected at 1225 P St. This large, ivy-covered house had a two-story screened porch on the north side that nearly reached the sidewalk. Behind the house was a large livery barn that would become the home of the Zehrung Outdoor Advertising Co. and that was attached to the house by a second-story walkway.

Behind that building was the "scenery room" for the adjacent Oliver Theatre.

In April 1912, Lincoln's voters approved, on a 1,982-1,911 vote, moving the city to a commission government. Under the new plan, five councilmen were elected who then chose the mayor from their own ranks. Councilmen were paid $2,000 per year; the mayor, $2,500.

Having first been elected to the council, Zehrung was then voted as Lincoln's first commission-plan mayor. Elected again for 1921-27 and again from 1931-33, he was Lincoln's 22nd, 25th and 28th mayor.

In 1916 Zehrung proved his "unfortunate passion" for baseball by being elected president of the Western League. The local team then was known as the Lincoln Tigers.

The next January, other officers of the league began lobbying for his dismissal, saying he "did not know baseball" and "was a failure as a league executive." Admitting "he did not know baseball" as well as some, he still felt a businessman needed to run the league. Zehrung was not re-elected.

In 1933, even though the sitting City Council had banned Sunday funerals and permitted the sale of beer in Lincoln, it was "one of those years when nothing went right" for the councilmen. Four of the five, including Zehrung, were not re-elected. The commission form of government ended in 1935, and from then on, mayors would be elected by the voters instead of the council's members.

Frank C. Zehrung died Sept. 8, 1942, and was buried in Wyuka Cemetery. Three times Lincoln's mayor, he was a member of St. Paul Methodist Church, Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, B.P.O. Elks, was the first president of the Lincoln Rotary Club and was a member of many other local organizations.

The National Bank of Commerce in 1955 bought his townhouse at 1225 P St. and razed it, and it became the site of what is often cited as Lincoln's first drive-in bank.

~~~Obituaries courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file at the Blair Public Library.~~~