Thursday, September 27, 2012

Meanwhile, At the Weilers' …

There were a whole lot of Weilers farming around Ainsworth, and I haven't yet figured out their relations to each other, if any.

One of them, Mrs. Mary Weiler, announced in the autumn of 1919 her intention to quit farming:

Weiler public sale
(Click on image to enlarge)

This Weiler, I believe, was the widow of the Christian (Christ) Weiler who bought some Blachly land in 1912. Christ died May 28, 1916.

C. Weiler obit

I am mystified by "Mrs. Louise Weiler of Chicago" — she sounds like the widow of a deceased son, but the only children recorded in the census are the four boys named in this obituary. If they had an older brother, he must have left home early, before the 1900 census. And he must have died before 1912, since Louis, when he married Martha Klemm in that year, was described as the eldest Weiler son. The youngest, Will, may have been the soldier lately returned from overseas.

On the 1908 plat map, I find more than one parcel labeled "C. Weiler," plus there was the 1912 purchase.

C. Weiler land 1908
(Click on image to enlarge)

From the directions in the sale notice, I think the sale happened at the southernmost parcel. The Vincent schoolhouse was well south of present-day U.S. 30.

Once the sale was over, Mary would lease the farm to her son George, who would carry on with farming, while Mary would "make her home with her children," in the cryptic words of the News.

♦    ♦    ♦

Next to Mary's public sale notice, above, ran a similar notice placed by Eugene Chandler. His sale, as we know, was in preparation for the move to his new farm.

Construction was still underway on the new farm. The News listed the buildings going up: "a modern brick house, barn, granary and chicken house." Eugene had even hired Lee & Rhodes to install a "Standard" electric lighting plant, to give his farm electricity at about half the cost of town power.

The new brick house, built by James Carpenter, Walter Boal and Willard Stevens, was now ready for the plasterers. The Halsted brothers were building the barn. Who had the honor of building the granary and chicken house is not recorded.

E. Chandler 1926
(Click on image to enlarge)
I believe this is the Chandler farm as it appeared in 1926. I wonder if the lovely old brick house at 5501 S. Liverpool Road is the "modern brick house" that the Chandler family moved into?



Sources:
1900 Census.
1908 Plat Map.
1910 Census.
1926 Plat Book.
♦ "Local and Personal." Hobart News 13 Nov. 1919; 20 Nov. 1919.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 14 Nov. 1919.
♦ "Public Sale." Hobart News 13 Nov. 1919.

2 comments:

Suzi Emig said...

You are correct that 5501 is the Gene and Carrie Chandler home! I remember going to their farm as a child--there were many more small buildings on the property then, including a spring house where milk was kept, as (Great)Uncle Gene had dairy cows. The present barn sits on the site of the old one. They always had barn cats and a dog, Shep. Uncle Gene was a great one to have fun and tease; during milking time which he did by hand, all the cats would gather around and he would squirt milk at them, which just cracked us kids up. We always went there for Thanksgiving--Aunt Carri was famous for her eggnog. My dad's dad and Carrie were siblings. The house has changed somewhat being added on to, and I think the porch used to be brick. I never pass there without thinking of them, and have to resist the urge to go and knock on the door just to get a peek at the inside. Lots of wonderful childhood memories!

Ainsworthiana said...

Thanks for the confirmation! And the little tidbits about Gene and Carrie -- such things are so personalizing, but they are rarely in the newspapers!