Re: 2023.02.25 Reflections of Farm Life

Posted by Phil-mar Farms on February 25, 2023 at 10:08:19 from (85.237.194.31):

In Reply to: 2023.02.25 Reflections of Farm Life posted by kcm.MN on February 24, 2023 at 22:03:10:

A story about my grandfather and his family

Thomas and Sarah Seaborn immigrated to Wisconsin
from England in the 1800s They were told by family that
were in Wisconsin that everything was fine and that they
should come over. When they got to Delafield. They
found to many people in a to small cabin. This was the
area on the west end of Pewaukee Lake that is now a
county park. Thomass family ended up living in a leanto
on a rock. There was a crack in the rock that they used
for a chimney. They spent the winter there while they
built a cabin. The chimney for their cabin stood in a field
until the county did landscaping in the park. The family
besides Thomas and Sarah included Joesph, Robert and
four sisters. Thomas had been put off his land for
poaching the kings deer forcing the move to America.
Thomas would still hunt deer but would hide the kill and
have the boys get it later He was able to butcher the
deer with an axe The cabin was near an old Indian foot
path and they saw them from time to time The boys
found arrowheads so they made bows and arrows and
shot them at the barn. Joesph left Delafield after a
disagreement over the division of property. Joesph
bought the John Muir farm in the town of Lisbon. The
Muir family had lost people because of illness and there
werent enough people to carry on. There was 160 acres.
The only cleared fields were on either side of the house.
The house was a grout house , a combination of stone
and concrete poured in forms. The barn was built on the
ground with no basement Stephen Seaborn was home
schooled by his mother Susan. When it was time for high
school Stephen went to Carroll Academy at Carroll
College in Waukesha. He sometimes road his bike and
sometimes took the train. Stephen played football ball
there. At a game in Milton the field was a corn field! The
team left a muddy mess in the hotel room that had been
rented for a locker room

At some point the older son Floyd went out to California
for his health

He didnt stay in California going north to Washington
where he caught pneumonia and died. That left Stephen
to run the farm with his dad They farmed with horses
that were retired fire department horses. Those teams
were well trained. Joesph had dropsey, when he had a
spell and passed out the team felt the slack reins and
would stop. The only time the team scared them was
when they were going to a neighbors barn fire. When the
horses saw the flames they broke into a run. They didnt
think that the hay rack would make the driveway but they
did and the team stopped by the fire Stephen bought
some of the first tractors. He had a Bull tractor that had
one drive wheel. A 6-12 Allis Chalmers that was
designed to use the old horse implements The Bates
Steel Mule was a half track that was suited to marsh
ground. For moving stuff they had wagons. The trip to
the market in downtown Milwaukee used to be an
overnight trip. Stephen didnt like the money his dad
spent at the saloon so he decided to make the trip in one
day. Everyone told him that it couldnt be done. He
loaded the day before and left before dawn on market
day He made it home that night. Later he had a model
TT Ford , a model AA Ford and a 1935 V8 Ford. For his
tractor he got a McCormick Deering 15-30 that he kept in
to the 50s. The farm store by the feed mill in Sussex was
the McCormick Deering dealer. The 15-30 was powerful
enough to pull a disc , a grain drill and a drag. Again he
was told that it wouldnt work. He said that he didnt have
the time to go over the field three times. Stephen was
able to buy two 80 acre farms from the Gilmores. One to
the south and one to the west. That made the farm 319
acres. The missing acre was donated to the Lisbon
Central Cemetery Stephen built his house in 1906 the
same year he married Edith Rankin. Later after his dad
died he built a house on Mary Hill Road for his mom. The
house was a package deal ordered from Sears and
Roebuck. He also built a barn near there for sheep.
Stephen semiretired in 1938 having gone partners with
Fredrick Meissner There was an auction and the horses
and surplus equipment were sold. Improvements were
made to the farm made. Two large corn cribs were built
with lumber salvaged from Bob Stiers barn. A central
power pole was installed to distribute the power to the
buildings. A new well was drilled to replace the tainted
well. When the dairies went to bulk milk a new milk house
was built. The roof from the old milk house became the
start of our playhouse. Stephen sold the farm to
Meissners it n 1958 claiming that paying taxes was giving
him an ulcer

Replies:

• Re: 2023.02.25 Reflections of Farm Life Johnhof 15:17:12 02/25/23 (0)

Add a Reply! You must be Logged In to Post Name: E-Mail: Subject: (avoid special characters) Comments: Optional Link URL: Link Title: Optional Image URL: Optional Video Title: Optional Video Embed: Advanced Posting Options Email Notification: If you check this box, email will be sent to you whenever someone replies to this message. Your email address must be entered above to receive notification. This notification will be cancelled automatically after 2 weeks. No political comments, hate speech or bigotry of any kind will be tolerated. Violations will be removed and posting privileges may be permanently revoked without notice.   Advanced Posting Tools   Select Gallery Photo  Attach Serial No List  Return to Post  Upload Photos/Videos Choose Files from your local computer Upload one or more videos to your post. Photo and video filesizes should be less than 5MB. Formats allowed are gif, jpg, png, ogg, mp4, mov, and avi. Be sure to use filenames without spaces or special characters, and filetypes of 3 digits lower case.

TRACTOR PARTS	TRACTOR MANUALS

We sell tractor parts!  We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]