Mmmoooving Around

p. 10 Cows.

Put 2 heifers in Livings pasture May 13, 1916

Took roan cow out Aug. 14

Put one bull in Livings pasture June 25, 1916

(took him out Aug. 24)

[A line is drawn here.]

Put four horses in Tom Eliotts pasture May 19th 1916

Put one horse in Eliotts pasture June 4, 1916

Took one horse out of pasture and paid $7.00 July 14

Put 2 horses in Good's pasture July 27, 1916

[A line is drawn here.]

Took one cow from Hez Eliotts pasture and paid $10 June 13, 1920

Boar out Nov. 25, 1922

[A circle is drawn around the boar entry above.]

Put cattle in Schmidtz pasture May 11, 1924

                                                               $25.50

[The word "Paid" is written on top of this last entry.]

Wikipedia Route11

My Thoughts

These look to be Pearl's bovine/equine/swine notes on whose pasture the Pointer's livestock were being kept in at the time. These types of entries are plentiful throughout the Day Books. Seems it was common to "rent" out your pasture land to those who needed it.


~Caroline

Loads of Work

p.9

Road Work          1924

Sept. 2     1/2 day                              $2.50
  "      8         1 day, 19 loads gravel
  "      9     1/2 day
  "    16        1 day  16 loads, Hands pit
  "    17        1 day  16     "          "       "
                                Jay's poll tax worked
  "    22        1 day
  "    25        1 day  18 loads
  "    29        1 day
Oct    1        1 day  14 loads Stevens
                                Stevens
   "      2        1 day  24 loads
                                Goodmans
   "      3        1 day  8 loads Jones pit
   "      7        1 day   "

13 da.
$65

[The word "Paid" is written over the above entries, and a line has been drawn beneath the above entries.]

June 13th, -1927-
3 horses in Dan's pasture
$15.00

[The word "Paid" is written over above the entry, and a line has been drawn underneath the entry.]

2 horses in Meyers pasture May 20, 1928
$12.00

[The word "Paid" is written above the entry.]

WikiMedia Commons

My Thoughts
A part of Interstate 45 here in Texas has been under some type of construction since the 1960's, or thereabouts.  It can be frustrating at times, and other times, annoying.  I think the only good thing about it is that I don't have to do the work.  I pay taxes for someone else to do all the work.

This was not so in Pearl's time.  It seems they worked on the roads just as much as they worked in the fields.  Though Pearl does not tell us the details of their road work, it still sounds like a lot of hard work.  Could you imagine after it rained? Yikes!

In these entries, she does indicate names.  I'm guessing here, but with a quick look at the 1919 Collins Township, Story County, IA map that I found on historicmapworks.com yesterday, these names are Harve's & Pearl's neighbors that share a road with the Pointer farm.  And the "loads" that she refers to are probably loads of dirt.  She also refers to loads of gravel and 2 pits that belonged to Hand and Jones (both nearby neighbors).

Below is a photo of the Pointer farm with the road in front of it.  It was probably taken in the 40s or 50s, and, of course, it's from Great-Uncle Donald.

The Pointer Farm showing the road in front.  Courtesy of Great-Uncle Donald.

 ~Caroline

Hay, Hay, Hay!

Page 7

1916-1917

Sold     4 sheep     $35.30
  "         1 cow           50.00
  "         1 bull            60.00
  "         1  "               25.00
  "         1 horse   $120.00
  "         1 mule     $125.
rec'd check for $115 and service
fees of colt $10 for balance.

Sold 4 sheep May 21, 1917 for
$102.95.  Paid $20 on them
$  20.00
$  82.95 - due on sheep
$  25.00 - paid May 31st 1917
$  57.95
$  35.00 paid June 17th 1917


Sold 2 hogs          $50.40

Put 3 horses in Yorks pasture
May 2, 1926

2 horses in Hale's pasture
July 13, 1926

                             $10.50

[The pasture information above has a square around it, & the word "Paid" is written over the 2nd entry concerning the horses placed in Hale's pasture.]

  "  [July] 15     make hay (1/2 day Sim took hay home)
July   14           1 day both
June 14           1 da.
June  15          1 da.
July    11          1/2 "  put hay rope on
July    12          1    "  made hay (both)
July    13          3/4 "  "     "    "        "
                         took load home


Wow.  Sounds like a lot of fun on the farm doesn't it?  [Snort.]  More like, a LOT of work.

Image via WikipediaLooks like Sim helped out with the making of hay.  There are a couple of references to "both" kinds of hay.  Huh.  Who knew there were different kinds of hay to be made?  Makes sense now that I think about it.  Different kinds of grass.  Different kinds of hay.  For all you ever wanted to know about hay and more, click here.  


Image via WikipediaIn Google Books, I found on pp.853-854 of Iowa: Its History and Its Foremost Citizens, Volume 2 by Johnson Brigham that Iowa ranked first in hog farms, first in "proportion of land in farms", and second in value of crops in 1917.   Additionally, Iowa was on top in total livestock in the early 1900s and "headed the long list of hay and forage states in 1909."

Old Heintz Barn courtesy of Donald Pointer.

Seems the Pointer's were in the thick of the growth of the agricultural industry in Iowa.  But they weren't the only ones.  Pearl makes references on this page of using other farmers' pasture lands.  Why would they need to do this?  Perhaps the Pointer farm left something to be desired.  Perhaps it didn't have a water source.  I found a map/atlas on historicmapworks.com of Collins, Story Co, IA of where the Pointer farm was located in 1919, approximately 2 years after these entries.  I located Harve and Pearl's farm.  [How lucky can we get, right?]  Just click here to view the map and zoom in to locate the farm.  It's in the top right hand corner in section 12 (right underneath section 1), and on 2 sides of the Pointer farm were 2 Heintz farms.  And lucky for you, I know the relationship.  Harve's maternal grandmother was Mary Ann Heintz.  And because Great-Uncle Donald is so awesome, I'm able to share a picture of their old Heintz barn.  [Cool, huh?]

Now getting back to these other farmers' pastures.  When you look at the map closely, you can find both the Hale farm and the Teed farm that she refers to.  Notice how there's a water source on their land?  However, this map doesn't show the marsh on Pointer land.  And I do remember Great-Uncle Donald talking about a swimming hole.  However, maybe it wasn't enough or perhaps the pasture wasn't enough or I don't know.  [I didn't grow up on a farm.]  But I love when I can find a map like this where I can "place" them in it, so to speak.  Don't you?

~Caroline