Stages of the Buildings on the James & Edna Groves Fountain City, WI Farm 1948 - 1978...

James and Edna Groves, my parents, bought a farm that was five miles from Fountain City, WI in 1948.  They had been living and farming on my Great-Grandmother’s farm which was near Viroqua, WI.  The decision about whether to buy that farm or move to another area of WI in order to leave behind the tobacco raising area of WI was not made in haste I’m quite sure.  Both of my parents had lived in the Viroqua area most of their lives and had many relatives and friends in that area.  But WWII had ended and soldiers were returning to their homes in the states.  Many of those soldiers had become addicted to nicotine because of the free cigarettes which had been supplied to them in the military.  My parents did not raise or use tobacco because they felt it was not something Christians should do.  But the land around Viroqua seemed to be good for raising tobacco and tobacco was in high demand.  Therefore that land was higher priced than other WI farm land outside the Viroqua and Westby area.  My parents found a farm seventy-five miles from Viroqua and decided to buy it.  The farm was at the top of a hill above the Mississippi River.  It was 200 acres - 120 acres of tillable land and the rest was pasture for the dairy herd our family had or it was wooded areas.  I was nearly four years old when we moved there.  I had an older brother and two younger sisters.  We would have another sister born after we moved to the farm near Fountain City, WI.

 The story I am writing today is one in which I share photos primarily of the barn and outer buildings as they were in November 1948 when we moved to the farm and additional photos that document the changes and additions that were made to the barn and barnyard during the years we lived there.  

This is the oldest picture of the barn that I have.  This is probably what my parents saw when they first saw this farm and when they moved there in November 1948.  A chicken coop is partially shown on the left with the granary partially shown on the right.  A hog shelter is shown to the right of the barn. 

The photo above was taken a few years later from the same spot and is my brother Jim Groves with our newly added riding horse, Patches, standing in the front yard of our farm home.  Jim commented on this photo in 2013 and his words are shared below along with other photos to answer some of Jim’s questions as he saw the above photo.  

Jim’s words:  “I was amazed to see this image and have enjoyed poring over it to try to put a date on it.  It was obviously in the early   1950’s because the milk house and new barnyard board fence have     not yet been constructed in the photo.  The new Rochester, 35 foot silo is finished in this picture and that was put in not very long before the milk house.  In the background you can see the top of the straw pile that we put over the top of the pole and wire hog house. The new hog house came some years later.  I would guess that the photo was probably taken in late March or April when the snow was gone and before the corn field behind the barn was plowed up for oats.  The other option would be it was November time frame after the corn picking was finished and before winter set in.

“Another dating parameter is the fact that I have the old saddle on Patches.  I got my new saddle in 1954 from Grandpa and Grandma Groves and Uncle Vernon upon their return from their western trip that August.  My riding accident was on 10 August  1954.  Since I was supposed to go with them on this dream trip to the “Old West”, they brought back a new saddle for me, purchased in Cheyenne, Wyoming, as a consolation present since I could not travel with them.  Dad and Uncle Vernon carried it up to the 6th floor Pediatric Ward in St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester, MN, and plopped it down on the foot of my bed.  The rest is history.”

The above is a second photo of Jim on Patches taken the same day as the other photo above.  This photo was also taken in the front yard but the view is to the west across the county road and into the neighbor’s - the Heuer’s pasture.

 The photo below of Margelyn and me was taken June 18, 2009 beside our original milk house which was built around the cistern that held the water being pumped into it by the partially shown windmill above the milk house.  

There was some storage area in this old milk house before you came to a few steps down to the open knee high tank area with cold water from the attached cistern.  After milking was done in the years when milk was strained into milk cans, those cans were taken to this milk house and placed into the cold water to prevent the warm milk from souring.  Above the milk house the windmill can be seen.  It kept our family and the farm animals with all the water we used.

Jim’s comments continue:  “I wish I could remember exactly when the milk house was built, but it was somewhere between 1950 and 1955, probably 1952 or 1953.  I remember Grandpa Matson, and I also think Uncle Lyle Matson, worked on the construction project with Dad.  Dad openly admitted that he did not have the masonry and carpentry skills that the Matson men possessed.  He greatly admired all of them for their mechanical and building skills.  Grandpa Matson was the primary mason and perhaps got one or two days of special     help from his son Lyle.  Most of the actual labor was done by     Grandpa Matson with lots of assistance from Dad."

“…the small door in the wall of the milk house” being pointed out by Linda with Kathy standing nearby.

Jim continues… “This milk house made us feel like we had leaped into the  20th century.  It not only kept us from having to manhandle and haul full milk cans up the hill to the old milk house by the water cistern, the new milk house, attached to the barn, sported a 200 gallon bulk milk tank manufactured by the Sunset Corp.  The new milk truck that would come to get our milk would simply pass a large hose through the small door in the wall of the milk house, attach it to the bulk tank and pump it out and haul it away to the creamery.”

The date on the photo above would have been the date of the photo’s development and that could have been later than the actual date that the picture was taken.  If it is 1957, I would be 12 years old and in the sixth grade.  

In the above photo L-R rear is Jim or Lyle?, Dad James Groves, Mom Edna Groves, Grandma Amanda Groves, and Grandpa Bill Groves.  Front L-R is Grandma Ella Matson, Kathleen and Linda Groves. Grandpa Ludvick Matson must be the photographer.  Not sure whose dog is the photo bomber.

Now to continue on with some other photos of the farm buildings before my parents retired and sold the farm.

Beautiful view of freshly painted barn with the milk house completed.  Still hand cleaning the gutters inside the barn as evidenced by the track and manure bucket coming outside on the left.  Hog pens and feeder alongside the barnyard with the stock tank and a chicken exploring the grounds are also seen here.

The barn has another fresh paint job with a new barn cleaner having been installed.    

The Worden men are visiting.  It may be September 1975.  I think Johnny and Jamie stayed on the farm for a few days while John and I visited the First Evangelical Free Church in Brooklyn, NY.  We would accept a call to that church and move there in January 1976.  Notice the new hog barn has been built.

Another picture above of Grandparents and Grandsons doing the barn chores.

Another view of the barnyard with the hog pen and feeder removed.  A new garage can be seen beside the granary.  It was built into the hillside beside the old milk house.

Another view of the garage.

A spring time aerial view taken in May 1968.

A summer time aerial view in August 1968.

Aerial views above taken in August 1968.  Same views but a scan of 2 different sizes of photos.

Aerial view showing the farm buildings around the time of the Groves retirement.

 My parents and our family were always so energized to keep our property in excellent repair and appearance.  Though none of the five siblings decided to stay on the farm after college graduation, we all wanted the next owners to carry on our level of pride and care for the property.

Unfortunately, there were some difficult years for the farm.  The barn and granary suffered severely after it was sold in 1978.

 

 

 

 It was tragic to see but before the whole haymow crushed the milking area, I took photos that documented where our cows were faithfully cared for and some of my Dad’s contributions to repairs over the years.  

Above Salvaging some wood.

Below is proof of how creative care with conscientious labor can bring about restoration and beauty.  David and Jane Bond gave our farm those things with joy and faithfulness after about 20 years of destruction and abuse.  The photos below show what they were able to restore with their determination and love.

Looking straight ahead in this view is a cluster of birch trees that were planted there by my godly mother who loved God and her family faithfully and with concern for creation's beauty, long life and everything that brought out the best of nature's qualities.  

The photos below were taken in June 2021.  

Through this farm there have been a number of families who have received God’s  blessings as those who have been fortunate enough to live here.  I am very grateful to have been one of those who spent fourteen years being nurtured here through the love my parents had for each other, for me, for my siblings, for our neighbors and most importantly for God Himself.