My great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather worked together to homestead this farm. They had come over earlier and settled a piece of land about five miles away; this was to be my great-grandfather’s own farm. Maybe homestead isn’t quite the right term, since the quarter section was one of the sections the federal government gave to the railroad to sell as a means of funding the rail building.
At any rate, they purchased the land in 1900. Only a few buildings were left from my great-grandfather’s farming efforts when I was growing up on that farm; all of the rest were from my grandfather’s work. Buildings my great-grandfather put up included the original farmhouse (a tiny building!), a small shed, and a larger barn with lean-tos.
My grandfather added more buildings. He was a very progressive and successful farmer, building state-of-the-art silos to hold silage and grain, a dairy barn and cowyard built from University of Minnesota School of Agriculture plans, a milk house, a machine shed, a pole barn, and a granary later used to hold wagons. He also remodeled the farmhouse as well as added a small garage. There was also a chicken house and other buildings, but these were taken down when my parents started farming since they were no longer in use. Dad added new fencing so we kids could grow up with riding horses. (His earliest farming had been done with horses, and he was a fan of modern machinery all the way!)
This farmstead, humble by the standards of today’s crop farmers in the area, is the place I still visualize as home. The view from the kitchen table to the east in the morning is lovely in all seasons. The farm buildings were so much fun to explore and play in when we were small (we always knew where the mama cat would have her kittens) and there were always places to store your stuff outdoors in a building.
