Randall Frank Geiger at age 84 along with me at age 12 and my mother (Ellen Ruth (Roberts) Randall) taken in front of 97 Hamlet St., Fredonia, NY about 1968.  Read a news article about Geiger.

Memories of the Mapleside Farm by Randall F. Geiger

Collins Center, NY

February 1978

This section is taken from the book "Ancestors and Descendants of William Ferris The Irishman 1765 - 1976" by R. Ferris Randall. 

(Randall Geiger is Ella Randall-Geiger's son.  Ella is often called Nell by Leila and family.  Randall Geiger was born on Sept. 29, 1884 in Concord, NY.  He was 93 when he wrote these memories and I can tell you from first hand knowledge that his memory and health were as sharp as any very healthy 60 year old at the time!  Of course when he speaks of Grandpa and Grandma, he is speaking of Pa and Ma that Leila writes about in her diary.) 

THE WATER SYSTEM

Across the road and about 400 feet from the house was a windmill over a well I never knew run dry.  Attached to the mill was a wire which was also attached to the house on poles and also attached to the wire, which when pulled from the handle attached to the house would clap the tail to the side of the fan on the mill and thus shut it off from turning.  The pump of the mill ran from there to the house and into a small tank in the milk room supplying all the water for household use.  The overflow from that little tank ran into a long tank in the same milk room in which were 3 cans much like milk cans only they sat in water and yet had a pipe from each one running out thru the front of the tank and each had a faucet on them so milk or liquid could be drawn from each of the cans at any time.  Then the overflow from this tank was piped to a large round wooden tub holding perhaps 20 barrels of water which stood between the house and barn where we led the horses to drink.  The overflow from this tub went by pipe to the barn yard into a long trough were 5 or 6 cows could drink at a time.  The overflow from this trough was piped to the pond back of the barn.  Today this all would be an easily worked out scheme but in that day I thought it was wonderful to be worked out.

FOWLS

Grandma was the chicken tender and she would not allow others to tend them.  She had plenty of oats, corn and buckwheat to feed them and the eggs and meat kept the family well supplied with eats.  She also had ducks, turkeys, peacocks and guinea hens. We children used to like to watch the peacock strut and spread his tail feathers and show his many colors.

THE DOG MACK

At about 4 or 4:30 every day in the summer time, Grandpa would call Mack and with his left hand point to the woods and say “MACK GO GET THE COWS”.  Then off would go Mack with his tail dropped beneath his hind legs and trot along on three legs toward the woods.  When Mack thought he was out of sight, up would come his tail and down would go his fourth leg.  Around the woods and on the backside was good pasture.  When the cows could come down the long lane towards the barn, Gramps would count them.  If all were there, he would call Mack and pat him on the head and say good boy, but if one was lacking he would point toward the woods and say MACK GO GET THE OTHER ONE and Gramps would hold up one finger.  Down would go that tail again and one leg up and away MACK would go get the other cow.

LOVE FOR CHILDREN

Gramps loved children and when we went there for vacations he took over the entertainment of us.  He had a rocker in the corner of the kitchen in which he sat.  The chair had very wide arms and he would get one of us on each arm and then sit and play his flute and rock.

VISITORS

One time when I was there on vacation a Miss Elida Potter came with her niece, Myrtie Newell to visit.  She was very much interested in my Uncle Fay and so to break the ice a little she brought Myrtie along.  Myrtie was 5 and I was 4 years of age.  Gramps told Uncle Fay to go put the back barn yard gate onto the pond and let Myrtie and I float out and pick pond lilies which he did.  I am very sure neither of us ever thought then that 16 years later we would be married.

HORN

Grandpa had a seashell he used to blow at 11:45 to call help from the Rush Farm when they were working there which was a mile away.

SOFT SOAP

One day, Gramps said “Randall today let’s start making soft soap”.  I did not know anything more about making soft soap than a rabbit would know how to run and auto.  So we went out and back of the woodshed between that and the hive house was a little building five feet square and 44 feet high which he walled a Leach.  It had a slanting floor higher on the sides and back than in front and it had a groove from back to front to run any liquid toward the front.  Gramps put about 4” of hardwood ashes in it and sprinkled some water on and then told me to get in and tamp it all down with my bare feet.  I did, then he added more ashes and water and I kept tamping till we had it within 6” of the top.  Then he added a bucket of water and said “let’s go now Randall and wash your feet real good so they will not get sore from the lye”.  That night we went out and there was nearly a bucket of lye which he took to a big caldron kettle in the yard which sat on 4 legs on top of bricks so they could build a fire underneath.  He put the lye in it.  The next morning there was another bucket of lye.  Gramps put as much lye in the kettle that day as he wanted and the next day he put in all the pork rinds and fats left from butchering and them build a fire.  He cooked till he thought it well done and cooled it a little and then strained it into buckets and there was our soft soap.   On the back porch to the house was a bucket of water, a can of this soap, and a brass wash basin, and a roller towel hanging on the wall and this was where the men folks washed up (me, too).  Of course they used this soap to wash dishes and clothes in, too.  It was excellent to get the dirt out. 

GRANDFATHER’S BACK

At the age of 17, Grandfather Randall was pitching hay and tried to lift too big a forkful to the wagon and sprained his back and was never able to do a real hard day’s work afterward.

HORSES

Grandfather loved his horses and at one time desired a span of all black horses.  So he bred a mare and got a black colt and was pleased so he bred the mare again and got another black colt.  They were in the pasture and woods and one of them got caught in brush and barbed wire fence and in getting loose cut off his hoof.  Gramps was very much saddened by it and thought he would have a horse which would never walk on 4 legs or if so would be lame.  He brought the colt to the barn.  Got an old rubber boot and cut off the toe and foot and sewed it up.  Then poured a quart of Peckham’s Balsam and putting the horse’s leg into it tied it on the colt’s leg and turned him out to pasture.  Gramps watched the colt for weeks walk on three legs and then one day he saw the colt walking on all fours.  So he brought him to the barn and found the bottom of the boot about worn through.  So he took a knife and cut the boot off and there found the colt had grown a new hoof.  So Gramps had his span of blacks all OK.  He afterward broke them for carriage and wagon and I remember his having them hitched up on the wagon with the hayrack and we children sitting on the side of the rack with our feet dangling over the edge and his driving right down into the center of the pond, which was not deep and we dangled our feet in the water as we went through.  Then he turned around and went back thru again loving to watch us.

TIP

Mapleside had one horse especially for the women folks.  Aunt Leila drove him mostly and would take us to Sunday school and shopping when she went.  He as slow but sure.  Never can remember of him trotting, just walk slowly, or so it seemed to me.

AIR RIFLE

Uncle Fay had an old air rifle which was a wooden affair and had little power so they let me have it to shoot things but I can never remember of hurting anything with it.

ICE HOUSE

Refrigerators were not known in those days, they did have ice boxes as they called them which had a cover opening a top to put the ice in and then doors with shelves same as we do in our refrigerators today.  They houses to keep the ice in from winter till fall was built with roof 2 feet from the top of the sides to let air thru when the sun shone.  The ice was put in over two feet of sawdust and kept away from the sides of ice house a couple of feet which was filled with sawdust.  The layers of ice were put in with a little sawdust between layers so they would not stick together, and then about 2 or 3 feet of sawdust on top.

GREAT GRANDFATHER FERRIS

I so not seem to remember much about him.  He lived with Grandfather Randall and was a tall thin man with a long white pointed beard and must have been somewhat sickly for he lay on the lounge in the living room most of the time.  I can never remember of visiting with him. (This is Ma's father, James Watson Ferris who was born in Carlisle, NY on February 13th, 1805 and died in Collins Center, NY on February 18th, 1892.)

SUGAR BUSH

Mapleside had a wonderful sugar bush of hard maples and each year they made gallons of syrup and pounds of maple sugar.  So, we children always had all we wanted and there was always maple syrup on the table.

PLANNING THE WORK

Grandpa was a good planner of the farm work for the men and would tell them each day the things that needed done and what they sought to do at the breakfast table.

MILK ON SUNDAY

No milk was drawed to the cheese factory on Sunday.  That milk was put in the three cans in the milk house long tank and that supplied the butter, cottage cheese, and ice cream for the family during the week.

WORSHIP

Grandpa kept his Bible on the window sill beside his chair in the kitchen and every morning after the men folks were washed up and sitting at the big table in the kitchen for breakfast he would read a chapter from the Bible and pray before any food was set upon the table.  Aunt Leila would have a stack of pancakes baked and standing on the back of the stove but no food on the table until after prayers.

CHRISTMAS

It was always a great time at Christmas with many of the relation at the Mapleside Farm house.  One of which I well remember for one of my cousins (John Randall) received a top that made music when spun and I did not get one, so I cried.  Then Uncle Fay took pity on me and asked me to go with him.  We went upstairs to his bedroom and he gave me an old fashioned 4-fold purse with a lot of old coins in it.  Well, that pleased me and I stopped crying for now I had something Johnnie didn’t have.  In that purse was a penny of King George the III, remember he reigned during the Revolution.  Also, there was some 3 cent silver pieces, also some half dimes and some nickel 3 cent piece that started me on the hobby of collecting pennies and I am still doing it.

Please check out this link to see a Buffalo, NY news article about Randall Geiger.