Grandpa's Barn

Tom and I have gone walking so many times in so many different places, that I'm beginning to forget what I've already blogged. I don't think I've covered Grandpa's Barn.

While talking to Cousin Bob McConnell and emailing Cousin Kay Stallard, I learned that there used to be a small house down in the hollow in front of the Peters house on the ridge. Kay and I have named this Ridge Hollow, so if we mention it again, you'll know which one we mean. You can reach this hollow by walking down a dirt road directly across from Uncle Abe's house on the ridge, or you can walk up it from Manville Road, just below the red and white house which used to belong to Rev. Charles Pendleton. In case you didn't know (I sure didn't!), Uncle Glen and Aunt Doretta were married by Rev. Pendleton in this house.

The small house in Ridge Hollow was likely used by the Peters family several times. We believe that the family lived here at the time of the 1920 census, and it is possible that my mother, Zella, was born here. The family lived here once again in the early 1930's after Uncle Bill bought the ridge property, and before the house on the ridge was built. Uncle Glen remembered how very crowded it was in this tiny one or two room house.

Aunt Wanda remembers walking to Manville School down Ridge Hollow, and she joined Tom and I there a few weeks ago on a walk down Memory Lane..... I'm sorry, I know that's lame. But it was just so perfect!
In the above picture, Aunt Wanda follows the old lane down through the field. Crops were grown in this field, and the path skirted it on the left.

And after that long and confusing introduction, here is Grandpa Peters' barn in Ridge Hollow. It sits on the edge of the field in the photo above and down over the steep bank in front of the ridge house.

The barn has three sections, stepping up the slope, and was, to my mind, very ingenously built. In this picture, I am sitting on Grandpa's mower. Yes, it really was his. It is a McCormick-Dering model, used to be red, and was pulled by two horses. Aunt Wanda told us that Grandpa used to mow hay on Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day. Grandpa would mow around the fence line, and then turn the reins over to Uncle Glen to mow the middle. This must have tickled Uncle Glen, as he loved anything to do with horses.

This is the other side of the barn and I stood in the field to take this picture.

This is a detail of a door. Bob, please leave a comment and tell me what this door would have been used for....as you've figured out by now, I don't know a darned thing about farming. Grandpa would be ashamed of me, but I am trying to learn.

I was amazed at this foundation, as some of these stones were huge. I can't imagine how these big old barns were built. It's as much of a mystery to me as the pyramids.

Here is a close-up of Grandpa's mower which used to sit in Ridge Hollow. Now it is sitting in our yard. I asked Bobbie Tignor, the present owner, if I could possibly have it. She had the same idea that I did - to put it in the yard and plant flowers around it - but her husband, Billy, never would drag it up for her. I know she was reluctant to part with it, but when I told her I would like to have it, she immediately said yes. I am so grateful to have something that belonged to Grandpa Peters.....I never in my life thought I would.

The present owner of Uncle Abe's house, Roger Russell, brought the mower over with his tractor. He picked it up in a big sling and drove the mile or so over here to put it in the yard. We are so thankful to him as well. He came along as Tom and I were trying to figure out how we were going to move it, and offered to bring it for us. And two days later, it was here.

That's the way folks are down here, and that's part of the reason we love living here.

Tom and I haven't decided yet if we're going to leave the mower unpainted or if we want to restore it to its former glory. What do you think? What do you think Grandpa would want us to do?

Post a comment and help us decide!