(Not
all of the children in the photograph were born by 1880 and the house
shown is the one Fritz and Mary had later in Fulton County, but Fritz
and Mary are front and center in the photo.)Fred's land was in Section 29 of Freedom Township on the north side. In the 1875 atlas, his neighbors were Lewis Bockleman, Christ Binger, H. Van Deyton and Mary and James Raddy.
In 1880, Fred owned 30 acres of land, tilled, and 10 acres of woodland in Freedom Township, with a value of $1600. He valued his farm implements at $100 and his livestock at $300. He had hired some farm help in 1879 for 26 weeks and paid total wages of $36.
For 1879, he figured the estimated value of all his farm production (sold or consumed) was $300.
The report on his livestock was based on what he had on June 1, 1879:
2 horses
4 milch cows and 3 other cattle
1 calf dropped and 1 sold living
3 sheep
2 sold living, 1 slaughtered and 1 died of disease
21 swine
30 poultry
Production from these animals included 400 pounds of butter made on the farm, 3 wool fleeces of 18 pounds, and 125 eggs.
The final tally on his crops for 1879 included:
16 acres of Indian corn with production of 400 bushels
2 acres of oats with production of 100 bushels
12 acres of wheat with production of 200 bushels
1/8 acre of sorghum for 9 gallons of molasses
1/4 acre of potatoes for 40 bushels and
2 acres of apples
I think the evidence shows that Fred and Mary were subsistence farmers, feeding their family from the farm, like so many others of the time period. I would imagine a large garden was part of this scenario, too. Hardworking, children of immigrants, scraping by and celebrating their freedom in Freedom Township!
Wow, what a wealth of information I have found here about the Elling family.
ReplyDeleteYesterday while working and talking with a coworker (I just started working there in November)we thought perhaps we were related. After reading your blog, we are. His grandfather Albert Elling and my Grandfather Ted Elling were brothers. My mother Unabelle Elling Smith passed away in May 2015 and my father passed away in June 2017. The question I have for you is of the picture above. We also have this same picture. My father Bud smith lived down the road from the Elling farm and the past few years he always wanted me to take him past his homestead and which he commented on there is where your grandfather Ted Elling grew up. But the farm house is on the south side not north like you indicated. My father was pretty sharp mentally until the end but now I'm wondering who is correct? Thank you so much for all of this information! I am Sharon Smith Russell. P.S. I also inherited Ted and Martha Elling's mini farm this past year. They bought it in 1942 and I have no intention of selling it.
Hi, Sharon! Sure do know Bud and Unabelle from the Dairy Bar days when Dad would take us there for a treat and sometimes Dad would just stop in to say hello if we passed their house in Delta. I took a ride with some of the aunts one day and the house they pointed out was on the south side of the road (can't think of the letter/number) but just past the county line north of Liberty. The Freedom Twp house was a childhood home that our immigrant Elling first settled in the "New Hanover" district. Without looking it all up, that's what I remember.
DeleteDianne, Thanks for responding. I work on Mondays at St. Augustine and can't wait to tell Kevin Glanz that we are related! It's a small world sometimes. My brother Don runs the Twistie Freeze and I printed off the blog information on the Ellings and he was so excited to read up on it.
DeleteTake care.