Summers, say from age 7 through 12 was a wonderful time. I spent many hours over in the pasture, playing in the brook. There were fishes and water spiders. I built dams and canals and had boats and things of which I was very proud, and tried to get Mother & especially Dad to come over to the brook to see all my wonderful work, but it wasn't easy as they were always so busy.
There was even a cave that I used for experimenting with a corn-cob made pipe and corn silk. Yuck!! Then with tobacco from old cigarettes picked up from the road. Double Yuck!!! So I never developed a taste for such stuff.
Our farm consisted of different sections, all contiguous except for the wood lot. They had been acquired at different times by my grandparents, and later somewhat the same, us from him. There was the following:
The First Lot ------ consisting of the northwest corner of Skinner Road and Dart Hill Road, with the house, barn, shop-woodshed-outhouse combination, four attached chicken houses with grain room in middle, garage, milk house, one brooder coop, and sometimes 4 brooder coops (smaller chicken coops on skids that can change locations). Behind the big four attached chicken houses with grain room was our vegetable garden, and north of it was a permanent large field of asparagus, and a large strawberry bed that changed locations from year to year. All this was due north of the aforementioned large chicken coop string, and extended all the way to the second lot. But to the west of this complex was usually a hay lot, and it may have bordered Gunthers, if they owned that land. Later a southwest section of this lot was sold, somewhat reluctantly I believe, to Hincks, by their request, for a place for them to retire. Later Hincks sold it to an older couple, Nels Carlsen & his wife. He worked in a shoe store in Manchester that had an X-ray machine where you could see your feet inside the shoe. He thought it was wonderful, but my Dad wouldn't let me use it. Later Mr. Carlsen went blind.
The Second Lot ------ just north of the first lot was divided from the first lot by a fence and a barway. It was also a hay lot, and it may have bordered Newmarker's land to the west.
The Third Lot was north of the Second Lot, also divided from it by a fence and a barway. It may have bordered Natziski's to the west, and it bordered Luther Skinner's land to the north. All these lots were primarily haylots, with occasional use for pasture.
Then there were the Penny lots that Grandpa Blankenburg had purchased from the Penny's. I believe I have original copies of some of the deeds!
The Front Penny Lot ----- opposite the Third Lot, but on the east side of Skinner road. It bordered Luther Skinner's land to the north, and the Simpkins/Snellas/Kalady land to the south. It was prime tobacco land that grandpa leased to Mazon's on a share crop basis. We didn't obtain this land from Grandpa right away, but some years later. To the east of it was a gravel ridge with bushes. In the center, grandpa Blankenburg had build a large tobacco shed.
The Middle Penny lot was the next lot further east. It had probably been used also for tobacco, but I recall when we had it, we used it for corn for silage. When in high school, I plowed it with our home-built tractor powered by a Ford Model T engine.
Next further east was the Back Penny Lot, bordered on the east by the Hockanum River. It was always a rather poor pasture.
The south end of all three Penny lots had a long fenced lane, so that we could drive the cows to the back Penny lot for pasture, and also we could access the Middle Penny lot to cut corn and bring it down to grind up and fill the silo. The entry from Skinner Road was a low, shady place and always terribly muddy.
When it was Barbara's turn to get the cows from the Back Penny Lot, she used it as an excuse to ride horse back. When it was my turn, I preferred to use my bike. I figure I had more control over my bike than she did over the horse, plus it was quicker, no horse to saddle.
There was even a cave that I used for experimenting with a corn-cob made pipe and corn silk. Yuck!! Then with tobacco from old cigarettes picked up from the road. Double Yuck!!! So I never developed a taste for such stuff.
Our farm consisted of different sections, all contiguous except for the wood lot. They had been acquired at different times by my grandparents, and later somewhat the same, us from him. There was the following:
The First Lot ------ consisting of the northwest corner of Skinner Road and Dart Hill Road, with the house, barn, shop-woodshed-outhouse combination, four attached chicken houses with grain room in middle, garage, milk house, one brooder coop, and sometimes 4 brooder coops (smaller chicken coops on skids that can change locations). Behind the big four attached chicken houses with grain room was our vegetable garden, and north of it was a permanent large field of asparagus, and a large strawberry bed that changed locations from year to year. All this was due north of the aforementioned large chicken coop string, and extended all the way to the second lot. But to the west of this complex was usually a hay lot, and it may have bordered Gunthers, if they owned that land. Later a southwest section of this lot was sold, somewhat reluctantly I believe, to Hincks, by their request, for a place for them to retire. Later Hincks sold it to an older couple, Nels Carlsen & his wife. He worked in a shoe store in Manchester that had an X-ray machine where you could see your feet inside the shoe. He thought it was wonderful, but my Dad wouldn't let me use it. Later Mr. Carlsen went blind.
The Second Lot ------ just north of the first lot was divided from the first lot by a fence and a barway. It was also a hay lot, and it may have bordered Newmarker's land to the west.
The Third Lot was north of the Second Lot, also divided from it by a fence and a barway. It may have bordered Natziski's to the west, and it bordered Luther Skinner's land to the north. All these lots were primarily haylots, with occasional use for pasture.
Then there were the Penny lots that Grandpa Blankenburg had purchased from the Penny's. I believe I have original copies of some of the deeds!
The Front Penny Lot ----- opposite the Third Lot, but on the east side of Skinner road. It bordered Luther Skinner's land to the north, and the Simpkins/Snellas/Kalady land to the south. It was prime tobacco land that grandpa leased to Mazon's on a share crop basis. We didn't obtain this land from Grandpa right away, but some years later. To the east of it was a gravel ridge with bushes. In the center, grandpa Blankenburg had build a large tobacco shed.
The Middle Penny lot was the next lot further east. It had probably been used also for tobacco, but I recall when we had it, we used it for corn for silage. When in high school, I plowed it with our home-built tractor powered by a Ford Model T engine.
Next further east was the Back Penny Lot, bordered on the east by the Hockanum River. It was always a rather poor pasture.
The south end of all three Penny lots had a long fenced lane, so that we could drive the cows to the back Penny lot for pasture, and also we could access the Middle Penny lot to cut corn and bring it down to grind up and fill the silo. The entry from Skinner Road was a low, shady place and always terribly muddy.
When it was Barbara's turn to get the cows from the Back Penny Lot, she used it as an excuse to ride horse back. When it was my turn, I preferred to use my bike. I figure I had more control over my bike than she did over the horse, plus it was quicker, no horse to saddle.
Here is a picture of cows coming out of the barn, about 1940. They are coming out of two sliding doors from the addition to the barn that my Dad built. To the left is the milk house, also built by him.
Whe I was younger, I used to ride with my Dad on a buckboard wagon going up to the Middle Penny Lot to get a load of corn. This was over a gravel road, and the wagon had no springs, and the tires were steel or iron. Incredible vibration!
Once when I was older, I went up by myself with the horse and wagon, cut a load of corn, and started back home. On the way back, once on Skinner Road, the horse apparently had "had enough" of this business and decided to run away. I had no more control! He ran down Skinner Road, galloping, turned right onto Dart Hill Road, and turned into our driveway and kept going. But I managed to steer him into a haystack and that's how we stopped. I got off the wagon, backed him up by hand, unhitched the wagon, and led him over to the harness room of the barn, to a hitching place. There I unharnessed him, and as I was done, he turned and gave me a bite in the arm! I don't know what for; I was never mean to the horses.
The Pasture ------ Across the road was the pasture. In Blankenburg days there was a pig pen and shed in the northeast corner of the lot. My Dad dismantled it. The only permanent building on our land south of Dart Hill Road was the Rooster House, with its own well. As I mentioned it was later sold to our former hired man, John Booth. The area of the Rooster House was a separate fenced-off area, and east of it, within the same fence, was a wonderful little woods loaded with wild grape vines from which we harvested in the fall for making grape juice and grape jelly. The Pasture was bounded on the west by Gunther's pasture, on the south by anothe of Gunther's lots, and on the east by the Hockanum River. The Brook came down from Gunther's and ran through the middle of the pasture, and emptied into the Hockanum River.
There was a big gravel hill the other side of the brook, and in the middle of the depression, a contractor to the town made an agreement with Dad. The contractor made a separate barway for entrance, put in a culvert to cross the brook, brought in a steamshovel, got trucks and dug into the gravel hill, hauling away gravel. He paid us 10 cents per truckload. Later, Uncle Bill came down with his rifle to do target practice, and he set up the target in the gravel bank, an ideal place because no stray bullet could go anywhere.
Just across Dart Hill Road, and west of the Rooster House, sometimes Dad would have a fenced area for the 4 brooder houses. Some other years they would be on high ground in the (former) "orchard", a low area at the very southeast corner of our house lot, right at the intersection of the two roads. This low area would sometimes fill with water, and then freeze, making on one or two occasions a wonderful skating pond. This was before my Dad got after the town to put in a culvert under Skinner Road to drain it.
On a number of occasions, on spring nights, the Thrall boys, Bill Rizy, and I would get strong flashlights, boots, and spears, and go suckering. That is, we would start at the downstream end of the brook, working our way upstream spearing suckers (a bottom-dwelling fish). They were delicous for breakfast. The pasture was also a good source of mushrooms which we had quite often.
Some years later our one-room schoolhouse was abandoned. It was located on a gravel hill owned by Rizys, and they also made a deal to sell gravel. Here is a photo of the school I attended, after it was boarded up, and after some of the gravel was "mined" from its hill.
Once when I was older, I went up by myself with the horse and wagon, cut a load of corn, and started back home. On the way back, once on Skinner Road, the horse apparently had "had enough" of this business and decided to run away. I had no more control! He ran down Skinner Road, galloping, turned right onto Dart Hill Road, and turned into our driveway and kept going. But I managed to steer him into a haystack and that's how we stopped. I got off the wagon, backed him up by hand, unhitched the wagon, and led him over to the harness room of the barn, to a hitching place. There I unharnessed him, and as I was done, he turned and gave me a bite in the arm! I don't know what for; I was never mean to the horses.
The Pasture ------ Across the road was the pasture. In Blankenburg days there was a pig pen and shed in the northeast corner of the lot. My Dad dismantled it. The only permanent building on our land south of Dart Hill Road was the Rooster House, with its own well. As I mentioned it was later sold to our former hired man, John Booth. The area of the Rooster House was a separate fenced-off area, and east of it, within the same fence, was a wonderful little woods loaded with wild grape vines from which we harvested in the fall for making grape juice and grape jelly. The Pasture was bounded on the west by Gunther's pasture, on the south by anothe of Gunther's lots, and on the east by the Hockanum River. The Brook came down from Gunther's and ran through the middle of the pasture, and emptied into the Hockanum River.
There was a big gravel hill the other side of the brook, and in the middle of the depression, a contractor to the town made an agreement with Dad. The contractor made a separate barway for entrance, put in a culvert to cross the brook, brought in a steamshovel, got trucks and dug into the gravel hill, hauling away gravel. He paid us 10 cents per truckload. Later, Uncle Bill came down with his rifle to do target practice, and he set up the target in the gravel bank, an ideal place because no stray bullet could go anywhere.
Just across Dart Hill Road, and west of the Rooster House, sometimes Dad would have a fenced area for the 4 brooder houses. Some other years they would be on high ground in the (former) "orchard", a low area at the very southeast corner of our house lot, right at the intersection of the two roads. This low area would sometimes fill with water, and then freeze, making on one or two occasions a wonderful skating pond. This was before my Dad got after the town to put in a culvert under Skinner Road to drain it.
On a number of occasions, on spring nights, the Thrall boys, Bill Rizy, and I would get strong flashlights, boots, and spears, and go suckering. That is, we would start at the downstream end of the brook, working our way upstream spearing suckers (a bottom-dwelling fish). They were delicous for breakfast. The pasture was also a good source of mushrooms which we had quite often.
Some years later our one-room schoolhouse was abandoned. It was located on a gravel hill owned by Rizys, and they also made a deal to sell gravel. Here is a photo of the school I attended, after it was boarded up, and after some of the gravel was "mined" from its hill.
We kids were all required to wear "knickers" in grammar school. Here is a picture of Charlie Thrall in knickers, and then also one of me in knickers sitting on a rock.
Well, I must quit for now.
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