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Marilyn:
Sadly, I do not have any memories of a farm. But, I am doing my family genealogy & trying to go back to the "good old days" in that way. I have a picture of my grandfathers barn outside of Reedsburg, WI. We could never figure out why it was such a huge barn! (Wish I had the measured it while it was still standing). I feel so sad now that they did not preserve that barn, because I just found out that my great grandfather P.W. Jones had the first dairy farm in Reedsburg in 1853! He built that barn & so, now I know why it was so much bigger than any of the others! It was for dairy farming when nobody else was into that.
My great grandmother Julie promoted the butter industry and was a very experienced and wise business woman. They have the Reedsburg Butter Fest to this day, in June. So, here I was, so totally ignorant of the history of my family. I never got to experience being on the farm.The worst thing about it is that I would have so much liked to have been part of that slow, quiet era. I know it must have been hard work, but it kept families close & there must have been some great "bonding" between family members while they worked together. Bonding with neighbors too, as they helped out. Not to mention the wonderful taste of fresh butter and milk with the cream floating to the top for some very delicious cookies.
scott7@chibardun.net
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Joanne:
When I was a little girl of about ten, and having fulfilled a ten-year-old-girl-of-the-sixties' imperative by having read "Charlotte's Web" enough times to feel that I knew it by heart, I had the opportunity to visit E. B. White at his saltwater farm in Brooklin, Maine. Mr. White and his lovely wife treated my family to a "RADIANT" afternoon which included a tour of his barn - the same one which was his inspiration for the book. My younger brother and I were allowed to play in the barn for a while and even swing on the rope swing which hung from the rafters, exactly as did Fern and Avery in the book. Later, Mr. White showed us where he sometimes kept pigs in the barn's cellar and explained that, though there never was a Charlotte per se, certainly he had known many a spider to set up housekeeping on the premises. I still have the autographed (by "Charlotte") book he gave to me... along with the Barn Memory of a lifetime!!
thefolks@treasure-the-memory.com
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Ashleigh:
Well I have so many memeories of my barn. You see my grandfather has a barn on his property, he gave me run if the barn. I have been tring to restore it for sometime now because I would love to get my own beef herd and it would be perfect for it. I can't explain how relaxing it is to go out there and just sit and look at the architecture. You see my barn was built in 1902 and has not been remodled since. I have to get my shovel out and pitch the gutters out every day. Eventhough I hate it sometimes it is very relaxing in its own way. I just wish I could afford to fix her up. As you all know, it is quite expensive to restore a barn but in do time I know that I will. I wish that every one could see just how well built these old barns are. Even though I am only 18 I know the value of Wisconsin's heritage and these old barns are definitely the most important.
frecals10@yahoo.com
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James McKinnell:
Fifty years ago this year we had a barn fire.
My Grandfather, J.C. McKinnell purchased the first farm our family owned on
the Stateline Road in Walworth County, Wisconsin. Dad added two more,
first the Bartlett farm, and later the York 80 acre farm on the corner of
Swamp Angel Road. The Bartlett farm a barn built in two stages, the older
half with massive field stone foundations and larger hay mows, and the
newer half built later primarily for dairying. Built end to end the barn
was about 125 feet in length, and had stanchions for 65 milk cows.
We finished combining oats in late July 1951, and on a hot August day
set up a blower to fill one mow in the old barn with chopped straw. We had
noticed that the chopped hay, put in the mows over the newer barn, had a
really pungent smell, almost like Grandpa's Plow Boy chewing tobacco. We
went home that night ready to fill that barn with straw in record time.
But about 10 p.m. we got a call that the Bartlett barn was on fire. As we
ran outside and looked in the direction of the farm, we could see the sky
glowing red beyond the hill. By the time we got there every other farmer
on the State Line was there with a truckload of milkcans filled with water
to replenish the firetrucks. But the fire roared through the timber and
beam framework, blistering the silos next to it. By midnight it was a
huge pile of glowing coals.
The next morning Clarence Fields, the hired man, and I brought the
cows up from pasture,and drove them 3 miles west, toward Big Foot, where
Dad had found an empty dairy barn with 40 stanchions and 20 acres of
pasture.
Within a week Dad had contracted Otto Jacobs to build a new barn with
66 stanchions in less than 3 months. It was a one storey concrete block
structure, with arched russes under the roof. No hay mows, no big beams, no
red paint. More silos would be build and all hay would be chopped into
grass silage from now on.
Clarence and I drove the herd back to the Bartlett farm on November 1,
not a day to soon. Cold nights and poor pasture had really reduced milk
production, and winter was just around the corner. We were glad to get
under the roof of the new barn, but it could never replace the towering old
barn that had survived so many winters.
mckinnelljc@worldnet.att.net
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Joann
Richardson:
The round fieldstone round barn in Iron County, Wisconsin (featured under
Barns
Photo Gallery) which is just outside of Hurley, Wisconsin
and was built my grandfather and his sons. My grandfather came over to
the United States from Finland.
I have some wonderful memories of the Annala farm. Whenever my father
who was in the military had an oversea assignment and we did not go with
him, my mother and I would go and stay at the farm. My cousins and I would
play on the hay bales on the second floor. We also would ride our bikes
down the ramp. It's a wonder we didn't break our necks. After play, we
would help chase the cows into the barn at milking time. It's sad to see
the barn and milk house boarded up. Maybe some day the buildings will
be restored. The house was also built with the some type of stones as
the barn and milkhouse.
joann.richardson@otsg.amedd.army.mil
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Rose Jordan:
I was brought up on a farm in the Town of Eaton, near Denmark, WI. I come
from a family of 14 children and with that many children there was always
something to do. We all had chores and the barn was a big playground sometimes.
The work was hard but I don't regret any of it. When I went to apply for
a job, they always said they'd rather farm children because the know how
to work hard. It was a compliment to my parents and grandparents, who
we lived with.
The old red barn is now gone from the farm I lived on as a child (just
this past year). I have many memories of the work and play done there.
I remember barn raisings when I was younger, when all the neighbors would
come and get the barn put up in a couple days. That's when neighbors were
neighbors. I now live in Green Bay and it's different than living on a
farm, that's for sure.
rmjordan49@hotmail.com
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Greg:
I was born on a farm about 11 miles outside Wausau, WI. The year was 1948
and there in a little 4 room house, lived me and mom and dad and grandma
and grandpa. In the winter the house turned into 3 rooms, because we could
not heat the living room. Bathroom was about 30 feet behind the house
(two holer) and water was brought up to the house from the barn. I had
many fun hours playing in the 90 foot barn we had. By the way - it was
white.
shape@tele-net.net
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James:
The farm on which I was raised in Walworth County was bought by my grandfather,
in 1912. It was a ground level barn, with half the ground level for livestock.
Grandpa jacked that barn up, and slipscooped out under it so that he could
use its full length for livestock. It then became a bank barn with an
earthen ramp that led to big double doors in the side of the barn through
which a team of workhorses could pull a big load of loose hay, or bundles
of oats or corn.
My dad put up a basketball hoop and backboard in this area, and we shot
baskets and had neighborhood half-court games almost every night. The
barn is still standing, silent and unused for the last 20 years, one of
my watercolor subjects.
mckinnelljc@worldnet.att.net
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Jean:
I spent many happy hours at my Grandparents farm, just outside of Black
River Falls, Wis in Jackson County. It was a special time when we could
go to the farm and help with stacking the oats, carrying the bundles of
corn to Grandpa to make into a "teepee." When we put the loose hay in
the hayloft it was fun to swing on the rope and jump into the fresh hay.
Threshing was always a special time and it was fun to watch Grandpa sit
on his perch and pull the rope to form the haystack. I like to photograph
Round barns and unusual barns so if you know of any in your area please
let me know.
jtrester@hbci.com
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Ahti Rolf:
I am so pleased to see that there has been some documentation of some
of the richest vernaculare architecture in the United States. I am a student
in the Department of architecture at Rhode Island School of design and
I gather a great deal of inspiration from the Wisconsin agricultural landscape
that I was raised in. I applaud the people at W.P.T. for this long awaited
documentary. It is good to know that in this age of the computer we have
not forgotten our roots.
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Gary:
Born and raised the first 18 years of my life in Wisc. I have a lot of
fun time. What I'm looking for are pictures of construction of old barns.
I'm looking as to how they were built. thanks
greit@televar.com
### Naomi:
At the turn of the century when my great-grandfather, Nestor Maki, built the farm
from a swampy lowland in central Wisconsin, a lot of hard work and tears were
poured out to establish a farm to support his growing Finnish family. The original
barn was added to and embellished by his son, William, to become the home of over
40 cows, along with a milking system! William was born on the farm. And at the
age of 80, leaning on his oak cane, he took his last look at his beloved barn
and breathed his last breath. Grandpa Maki lived and died in his barn, and with
him a generation of farmers who had breathed their very life into the structure
called a barn.
Grandpa Maki's work ethic and pride were felt by each
of us grandchildren as we sweat, worked, and played in the old barn. There was
no need to have ultra-modern convenience; we used the pulley and forks to put
up our hay until just a few years ago!
The red barn was a symbol of
the Old Country and the New Country, merging on the soil of God's country, Wisconsin.
I think of my ancestor's vision of coming to this country to establish a family
and farm. The red barn stands as a token of the terrific effort these people of
old took on as they carved these barns out of untouched, virgin soil.
The barn will always remind me of my grandparents and their love for the land...the
land of Wisconsin.###
Marybeth:
The warmth and the smells - that is my most lingering memory
of our century family barn in Ozaukee County. The Holsteins would line up like
obedient children for their twice daily milking and I loved to brush and stroke
my favorite old cow. The barn had a small corrall for the heifers which we would
plunk ourselves down upon from the top of the corrall. My Grandpa put a halt to
that when it appeared the poor heifers were becoming swaybacked! Then of course
there was the loft where mounds of hay and straw 15-20 feet high provided a wonderful
opportunity to test our courage in the famous "hay dives" from the top of the
barn.
A wonderful pulley system allowed us to hoist each other up to
the top and then do a Jane swing and scream down into the dusty pile of straw.
I am filled with sorrow as I see the barns of this great state, including ours,
crumble into the ground which they marked with great red dignity for so many years.
On Wisconsin! ### |
