Kennard, H5

This stone was obtained by Ralph Velich in 1961, and he documented everything fastidiously from then onwards.  He described how he obtained the meteorite in his journal.

From the entry dated August 13-16, 1961:

Meteorite

I stayed at Blair to see Don Crocy [sp?]. Then we stopped to see Rudy Fick. He is going to resign or already has, and will no longer be sheriff of Washington County on September 30 or 31st.

Well I got it yesterday from Rudy Fick.  This item I got is a genuine meteorite weighing 18 pounds + some ounces.  Collected by county surveyor of Washington County 8 years ago – South + east of Kennard, Nebraska. I knew about this meteor. The surveyor used it as a doorstop for years. I tried to get it – then Rudy Fick got it for me with a promise that I should mount a white goose for him + I promised to do so. I did not tell Rudy for sure that it was a meteorite because I did not know for sure but suspected pretty strongly as I examined the meteorite at the museum near Lincoln many times. I am very happy about this all. This is a choice item. I forgot to say, I + Helen took the meteorite over to Bob Berry + he positively identified it.  He offered me $35.00 for the specimen.  It is not for sale at any price. 

Ralph wrote to the Smithsonian about his possible meteorite in February of 1962, and the ensuing correspondence spans nearly 40 years.  I omitted some letters from well-known meteorite dealers in the late 1990s in case they didn’t want them posted publicly.

Ralph’s nephew, William, finally decided to let go of the meteorite in 2018.

From the Meteoritical Bulletin:
This is the entire ~18 lb mass, minus the 156 grams removed by the Smithsonian in 1962.  As of 2019, there are 49 published meteorites from Nebraska; around 45 of them have been cut and distributed; this is one of four or five that still exist.

The masking tape reads “Mr. Velich’s Specimen.”