My Life On The Farm

Because Sally asked:

This is a poorly constructed map of the three farms

(I made it in Excel)

My great, great, great grandparents, Conrad and Margaret, came from Germany to the New York port and lived in Watertown, NY for quite a few years.

Their son Peter and his wife Anne, my  great, great grandparents, moved to Wisconsin for a couple of years and then, in 1855, Anne's brother informed her that a large piece of farm land was available for sale just up the road from where he lived.  Peter and Anne came via Chicago and on up to Michigan by way of oxen cart.  There was a tiny sod house near the road. They had to clear the land, and in 1857, they built a small house.

To the left of the driveway in this photo.

In 1857, Peter built the larger home.  When his eldest son,( my great grandparents) Charles married Sophia Anna in 1892, they moved into the smaller house.  Two sons were born to them.  Roy-1893 and Ray 1895.

Peter and Anne died in 1899 and 1906, so Charles and Sophia, moved to the big house.  When their eldest son Roy and his wife Helene married, they lived in the smaller house.  Their only child Charles (my Daddy) was also born there.

My grandmother was the teacher at the small school on the corner of Beard and Vernon Roads.  As was the custom in those days, she boarded with the nearest family.  That's how she met my grandpa Roy.  Ray remained a bachelor all his life--there was an whispered  family story that he had also been in love with my grandma. :-)

1977

 When my mother died and step-mother came into the picture, she and my Dad (Charles) renovated and moved down to the house of the ancestor's.  1978 or 1979

When my Daddy died, my sister Susan inherited the farm.  She and her husband Chuck now live there.

This farm is the one shown on Vernon Road.















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My Daddy, Charles John was born in the little house in 1916.  In 1920, his parent's Roy and Helene, bought the farm just east of the ancestor's farm on Beard Road.  They shared the big woods.

 My grandparents, Roy and Helene, had a large sheep herd and also a poultry farm and hatchery.  In 1942, my grandfather and some neighbor's were out hunting for coyotes that had killed some of his sheep.  It was a raw day, he had a stroke and died of pneumonia on February 14th, at the age of 49.

Can you see my grandma and

me standing there by the driveway?

 My grandmother Helene, continued to run the farm until her death in 1966.

We moved to her farm on June 14, 1967, having renovated it a bit.  We only owned the house.  Daddy owned the rest of the land, which he farmed.

 My kids were 9, 8 and 6,
Jennifer was born in 1971.
In 1985, I gave the house to Pammie and moved to Saginaw for 12 years and then down here.



Pam and her husband did a bit more renovation with new siding and a deck on the west side of the house.

When Daddy died, Pammie inherited the whole farm.

This is the heart stone that the mason put in 

the foundation--left side of front door

in the above picture.

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My parents Charles and Dorathy were married March 16, 1938.  They purchased the farm on the north-west corner of Beard and Vernon Roads.  I was born in their bedroom on June 21, 1939.  This is the farm I lived my first 18 years.

Can you see my playpen under that tree?

The room I was born on, is that window on the right.

My placenta and umbilical cord is buried in between 

the two pine tree.

My parents renovated the house in 1955.

Turning their bedroom into a large living/dining room with the fireplace.

The driveway I trudged down to get to the school bus.

After Daddy and step-mother moved down the road to the ancestral farm, Pammie and her husband lived on the farm, tending the cows and doing much of the farm work.

When I moved in 1985, they moved down the road to my house and my son Mark moved to this farm.


The house burned down in the early 1990's.  Mark was living there at the time.  My Daddy bought a double wide manufactured home and put it on a basement.  When Daddy died, Mark inherited the farm.

Thus, the story of the Waltz, changed to Walts, family.  158 years on the same land.  

Peter, Charles E., Roy, Charles J., Judith and Susan, Mark and Pam.   

6 generations.

Now you know why my heart is still there on the land.

(along with my umbilical cord)  HAH!

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You can see on the map that my step-mom and her husband's farm were just north of my parent's farm--in fact they bordered each other.  They settled there in 1942 and my Daddy taught her husband how to farm.  He was a boy from Detroit and his mother bought the farm to keep him out of WWII.

He died December 1969, my mother in March 1970. (and I think you know the rest of that story)

Now to confuse you further, after my Daddy and step-mom married in 1971, she moved to this farm and rented her place to people who helped my Daddy on his farm.  In 1974, Susan and her first husband moved into step-mom's house, before they were transferred to Grand Rapids.   After Daddy and step-mom moved to the ancestral farm, Pammie and her husband lived on this farm.