This is the only existing picture (so far as I know) which shows the first old family home on Lanark Lane. It's not much, but it gives you some sort of an idea what it was like. This is Ellis sitting on the front porch when he was just a little child. I can vividly remember a blue bird that built its nest in the crack in the wall near the front door year after year and ground squirrels running for cover every time we would go out the front door.
Bart
It's too bad we don't have more pictures of that old log house. It used to reside about 1/3 of a mile North in the middle of the farm. Dad decided to move it over to the little dirt road that connected Lanark with Ovid. He and a bunch of neighbors jacked it up and placed it on some skids and with teams of horses dragged it across the fields. It was located about 6 feet West of the present home and consisted of two rooms with a kitchen range, table and chairs in one and a small wood stove in the other where we all slept. At times it would get very cold as the fires would go out after we went to bed. I remember a box of apples froze under my bed one night. The windows would frost completely over and you could not see out. After the house was moved dad made arrangements to get electricity, however the bathroom facilities stayed outside for many years. When dad got the house where he wanted it he put some large rocks under it for a foundation. It was about 18 inches high in some areas and made a good place for chickens to go to lay their eggs. It wasn't long until the skunks located the eggs and lots of other animals hide under the house as well. As I look back on it it seems like a hard way to live, however, most other families lived in a similar manner and my childhood was happy so I can't complain. I hope everyone enjoys the blog. Thanks Bart.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI was born in this two-room cabin home. The events of my birth was something of a miracle according to Mom and Dad. I will tell a little more about it later.
ReplyDeleteBart
I'm sorry Ellis, but I didn't know exactly what I was doing and your coments were not posted as I had hoped. They were, however recovered. Thanks for posting them.
ReplyDeleteI remember going to bed and awkening in the morning with a little snow drift(just a couple of inches high) reaching halfway across the bedroom floor. We had had a blizzard and there was a crack in the wall near the floor. I also rembember a cup of water on a small night stand by the bed which was frozen during the night on cold winter nights. I also remember Mom heating a large rock in the oven, wrapping it in a blanket and putting it in our bed close to our feet to help keep the bed warm during the coldest nights. It too rembember the trips to the outhouse, especially in the winter and the trust catalog which found it's real purpose there. I guess it was a hard way to raise a family, but I don't remember anybody whining about it and as near as I can remember, we were a happy little family.