History is in the making

In the song, History, Matthew West sings, 


"Every choice that you are making
Every step that you are taking
Every chain that you are breaking
History is in the making
Every word that you are saying
Every prayer that you are praying
Every chain that you are breaking
History is in the making"

In our last post, we talked about the Ohio Century Farm project and how we had traced back the history of our farm as far as the deed records go. It was such a neat project to see how "history is in the making," right here on our family farm. Here's a quick look at our farm's 175-year history.

The first record of the dairy farm in the county recorder's office is in 1837. In this year, Barbara Swalley deeded 80 acres of our farm to her son, Solomon. Barbara originally came to Ohio many years before, when she and her husband settled near Zanesville. Her husband met an early death, and she traveled back to her home state of Pennsylvania with her young children. Research shows she came back to the Lykens area in the early 1830s to be near family that was already here. When her son got married in 1837, she passed the land on. One of the most interesting things about this deed transfer was that Barbara couldn't write. Her signature is indicated by an "x" on the deed, with a notation by the recorder saying that he witnessed her mark. As a female who loves to write, this particular point struck a cord with me. Among our many blessings is our access to education, which both men and women in the 1800s didn't always have.

Solomon held on to the land until 1840, when he sold it to Samuel Hall. We were not able to find a relationship between Solomon and Samuel, but we did find that Solomon only one child, a daughter. It is likely that there was not an immediate relationship between the two. 

Samuel Hall only had one son, who moved out of the area. In 1866, he transferred the deed to Lambert Myers. Lambert had an interesting story. He only owned our farm for one year, because in 1867, he and his wife moved to Missouri, where they eventually died. By 1867, he had acquired 120 consecutive acres, which he split between three people before moving to Missouri: William Tippin, Mary Seery, and J.H. Barrow. 

William Tippin was married to Frances Seery, the sister of Mary Seery. William obtained 53 2/3 acres of the farm from Lambert, while Mary bought 26 1/3, and J.H. Barrow got the remaining 40. When William passed away in 1889, his nephew, Jacob Seery, administered his estate. He transfered the deed to Samuel Dewalt. We'll come back to him in a second. In 1901, Mary Seery passed away, and her sister, Frances Tippin, administered her estate. Mary's 26 1/3 acres were sold to Frances's son-in-law, E.L. Mesnard. E.L. was married to William and Frances's daughter, Alta. 

It is unclear why E.L. sold his land to Samuel Dewalt in 1901. E.L. is buried just a few miles north of the dairy farm, so it's not probable that he left the area. Irregardless, by 1901, Sam Dewalt now had the 80 acre parcel, in addition to several hundred acres that are not part of our farm today. 

Sam Dewalt was married to Mahala Shock, and they had several children together, including a daughter, Hattie. Hattie later married Marvin Hartschuh, Allen's grandfather. In 1940, Sam passed away, leaving his estate to his children. Hattie and her husband Marvin purchased the dairy farm, where we still milk today. Hattie passed away in 1976, leaving sole ownership to Marvin, who owned it until his death in 1997. Allen and Diane had been farming the land since 1982, so in his will, Marvin gave first option to buy to Allen, who has owned the farm ever since.   

In case you weren't able to follow along, what this lineage of deed transfers shows is that Sam Dewalt acquired part of our farm in 1889. Sam was Allen's great-grandfather, making Greg, Brian, and Jason the fifth generation to farm the same land.

Our research was a great way to better understand the legacy of family farms. There is so much pride and tradition that goes into farming, and we're blessed to be a part of it.

Century Farm

Brian is a fairly new veterinarian; he graduated from OSU in June and has been practicing since then. To accommodate his on-call schedule, we had our family Christmas last Sunday. On a dairy farm, there are always chores to do. Naturally, the morning started with milking, feeding cows and calves, and tending to "ladies in waiting," otherwise known as artificially inseminating cows and heifers in heat. After those chores were completed, we gathered at Allen and Diane's for a huge spread of food and time together as a family.

We took the customary Christmas photos, and then it was time to open presents. A couple of months ago, Greg and I decided that we would do the legwork to get the dairy farm recognized as an Ohio Century Farm. The Century Farm program is designed to recognize farms that have been in the same family continuously for at least one hundred years. It requires the applicants to show deed records and tell how previous owners are related. Here's the letter that we gave to Allen and Diane on Christmas:

December 17, 2011

Mom and Dad,

Farming in our family has a rich heritage. We are proud of the traditions you have set for us, but at the same time, we realize that our family has a long and proud history, much greater than we can sometimes fathom.

About a month ago, we began a project to nominate the dairy farm for the Ohio Century Farm Program, which recognizes farms that have been farmed by the same family consecutively for one hundred years. We started by researching the deed records for the property at the County Recorder’s Office. From there, we set out to connect the dots and map out our family’s lineage along with the deed transfers.

The time we spent trying to decipher relationships between deed grantors and grantees was confusing, frustrating, puzzling, and also very rewarding. The farther back we traced the property, the more adamant we became at finding connections. We relied on a great deal of internet genealogy, but we also discussed the relationships with neighbors and family members. The deeds set out on our office floor for the better part of a month with colored papers showing arrows, jotted notes, maiden names, family trees and more.

We eventually reached a roadblock, when we could no longer show a relationship between Samuel Dewalt (Hattie’s father) and E.L. Mesnard, who he purchased part of the farm from. We were able to trace part of the farm that Samuel bought back to 1889, which shows that 53 1/3 of the acres have been in our family since that point.

What we thought would be a simple project that we could complete by Christmas was just recently finished. While we hoped that the sign commemorating the farm’s status would be here by Christmas, the project consumed more time than we anticipated. So, your gift for today is copies of the deed records (as found in deed books and on microfilm in the Recorder’s Office,) a table outlining the property’s history, a copy of the Century Farm Application, and our utmost appreciation for instilling in your family farming traditions that date back long before paper records show.

Thank you,

Greg and Rose

Allen and Diane reading a table that lists the previous farm owners and relationships.

We'll talk more about what we learned about our farm's heritage in the next post, but the moral of the story is that farming and family are intertwined. Enjoy this time with family this Christmas and as you count your blessings, remember the American farmers that feed and clothe you. Merry Christmas!

What happened to summer?

It's a simple enough question, but it's also one that eludes us: what happened to summer? It seemed like we were just getting our crops in the ground, but now it will be time to harvest them before we know it. Time sneaks up on you like that, I guess.

So, here's three months in a nutshell:

• We cut hay... three-four times.
• We hauled manure, lots of it. It makes great fertilizer for our fields.
• We welcomed new babies onto our farm. They'll make great cows one day.
• Things broke. We fixed them.
• It rained way to much. Then it didn't rain enough. Then, it was just right.
• We spent lots of time with family. That's important.

We hope your summer was full of adventure, just like ours. As fall comes around the corner, let's not time escape us.

Christmas Morning on the Dairy Farm

You've probably heard that dairy farmers don't get a day off. There are always calves to feed and cows to milk. In fact, usually when I tell people my husband is a dairy farmer, they raise their eyebrows, shake their heads, and respond with something like, "I don't pity you." or "I bet you never get a vacation."

Yes, dairy farming is hard work, but it's also very rewarding. I came across a quotation in a magazine recently that said, "Dairy Farming. Has there ever been a business more about family?" One of the best things about dairy farming is that family is engrained in every single thing we do. This is especially evident on Christmas morning.

What's a typical Christmas morning on the dairy farm like? There are still morning chores to be done. Our cows are milked three times a day, at 5am, 1pm and 8pm. Before Christmas can officially begin, the cows go through the parlor for their morning milking. While that is happening, the cows and heifers also get their morning feed. All of our cow feed is a rationed formula. It goes into a large mixer and is then sent up a conveyer belt into the barn (see our Facebook Album, "What Do Cows Eat?" for more on this topic.) In addition to the cows, feed is also mixed for the heifers (young females that haven't calved yet.) This process takes about two hours. During this time, the calves are also being fed their morning milk.

How many people does all of this take? Ideally, there is one person in the milking parlor, one person moving cows into the parlor, one person making cow feed, and two people feeding calves. On holidays, a great deal of this work falls onto our family, so our employees can enjoy some time off. See why dairy farming is a family affair? We must work together to ensure that all of the jobs get done and that our business runs as a smooth as possible.

Any other day, there will be jobs found and hands kept busy. On Christmas, however, we do chores and spend most of the rest of the day together as a family. This year, Diane hosted a wonderful noontime meal at her house, and we enjoyed fellowship with each other. Yes, dairy farming is a lot of work, but it also strengthens bonds as family, as we work side-by-side to care for our cows and earn a living.

Diane grew up on a dairy farm, and for 28 years, her and Allen have owned and operated our family farm.

Fourth generation of Hartschuhs to be involved with dairy farming. Left to right: Rose, Greg, Jason, Brian, Emily.

Welcome to Dial Dairy Farm!

We're glad you've stopped by to read our blog! This is a new effort to connect our neighbors, both locally and globally, with what's happening on our farm. We hope through this venue, we can promote dairy production as an industry that cares about its animals and consumers. Feel free to ask questions at any time.

In the meantime, allow us to introduce ourselves. Dial Dairy began in its current form in 1982 as a venture between Allen and Diane Hartschuh, who own and operate the farm today. The farm has been in the Hartschuh family for four generations. Allen and Diane have three sons: Greg, Brian, and Jason, all who are involved on the farm in some aspect. Greg graduated from The Ohio State University in 2006 and has been employed full-time on the farm since then. He handles equipment maintenance and manages the farm's crops. Brian is in his second year of vet school at OSU and works with herd health and occasional milking. Jason, the youngest, is a freshman at Ohio State, majoring in animal science and agricultural education. He also works extensively with the cows. Greg's wife, Rose (another Buckeye!), works off of the farm as an agricultural education instructor, but she stays connected to the farm in various ways (especially with the its web presence!) 

Top- Allen and Diane.

Middle- The boys. Left to right: Jason, Greg, Brian.

Bottom- Greg and Rose.

The farm is located in rural Ohio, which enables the fertile farmland to produce crops to feed the cows. Dial Dairy produces almost all of its own feed for the cows, which produce natural fertilizer to keep the crops growing. :) It's a cycle, you see. Right now, we are milking around 150 cows, and we also keep replacement heifers to work into the milking rotation. It keeps us busy!

You can look for updates on our blog to keep current on the latest efforts. Hopefully this will be a collaborative process from all of the family members so you can see a variety of viewpoints! Questions and comments welcome.

Until the next post, email us at DialDairy@gmail.com, check out our fan page on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter!