Brown-Day-Irish-Blades-Pyles/Knapp-Angelano-Allendorf
By Gary Irish
Edited by Bernie Paquette, Maeve Kim
Historic photos used with permission from Gary Irish
The house my grandparents, Elmer & Mable Irish, owned, at the corner of Route 15 and Brown's Trace (now part of Grant Allendorf's Mansfield Barn complex), once had an evergreen tree growing in the front yard, and the story I was told was that one summer day, the tree was struck by lightning. A ball of lightning flew from the tree into the house, and exited the house by the rear door, in the process leaving some of the bark from the tree embedded in the wall of the house near the rear door. Apparently, it did not do a great deal of damage to the house, but it was the end of the tree!
This photo dates from May 30, 1911. It is my grandparents, with my grandmother holding my father. She told me that they had just gotten home from the Memorial Day doings in Underhill, and Mr. Morton, a photographer from Underhill Center, happened to come by, stopped, and said "Elmer, hold your horses and I will take your picture." In the background, you can see the old house mentioned below that was attached to the west end of the new barn, but before it was attached. And if you look at the far end of the main barn, you can just barely see a bit of the other small barn that was attached to that end (not the building next to the tree).
Below is a photo of the (same house as above) house that goes with my lightning story, along with my grandparents, Elmer & Mable Irish, standing in front of it. It is likely from about 1907 or 1908. They were married on January 17, 1907, and my father was born on December 21, 1909. I doubt they would have had their picture taken before they were married, and my grandmother does not look pregnant, so it would put it in that range.
Barn Burning
Well, I got to thinking a bit more about what I was going to tell you next, and went to look up the newspaper clipping, and actually found a more complete story that I had previously written. What I had been thinking of was when my grandfather, Elmer Irish, burned down his barn. I believe what I found, is something that I wrote up for Grant Allendorf when he made the barn into his wedding venue. In particular, how my grandfather burned down the previous barn, which the Green Mountain Press article below alludes to, but doesn't really cover the whole story.
Little is known of the early history of the farm. The land was originally part of the farm of the Joseph Brown family, Jericho’s first settlers, and it is thought that Joseph Brown Jr. lived there for a time. It was later owned for many years by Hiram Day, whose first wife was Joseph Brown Jr’s daughter Elizabeth. After Elizabeth’s death in 1856, he married her sister Polly Brown. By the mid-1890s, the farm was owned by Elmer and Jennie Irish, who had moved there from Underhill. By that time, there existed an old house and an old barn on the farm, in addition to the main house and farm barn. It is speculated that Hiram Day had built both the newer house and barn, likely in the mid-1800s, as the style of the house dates it to around 1850. Nothing is known about the barn.
Back at the time, my grandfather had raised some hogs that he was going to sell in Burlington. That is what the article meant by "a load of pork". And in those days, before automobiles, it was an all-day trip from Jericho into Burlington with a horse and wagon. So as the article says, he had gotten up early to get the hogs loaded into the wagon and get on the road, so he needed to use a lantern, which got tipped over and ended up burning the barn down.
The Green Mountain Press was the newspaper put out by the Roscoe Printing House, which from 1888 to 1904 was located on Pump Road before they moved to Essex Junction. One of two Jericho town newspapers, the other being A.D. Bradford's Chittenden Reporter.
Disaster struck early in the morning of October 29, 1897, when according to the news article in the Green Mountain Press of November 2 “The barns on the farm occupied by Elmer Irish were burned to the ground Friday morning at 3 o'clock. Mr. Irish was going to Burlington with a load of pork, and had risen early and had lighted a lantern and was doing the morning work when he overturned his lantern on the hay, and in a moment all was afire. The livestock, with the exception of hens, were saved, and some farming tools. The things were insured."
The east end of the present barn was built in 1900, and the west end was built in 1905 by the Breen Brothers of Underhill, well-known local builders. After Elmer's wife, Jennie, died in 1905, he hired Mable Perrigo to keep house for him, and they ended up getting married in January 1907. I have heard my grandmother, Mable, tell of how, when she first came there to work in the summer of 1905, the carpenters had the big beams sitting on sawhorses, cutting the mortises, etc., in them before raising the barn.
The next photo is taken from Riverside, through the covered bridge, and you can see the barn with the old house attached in the distance.
The picture below was taken through a microscope of a section of a panoramic photo of Underhill.
What is shown in this close-up is, horizontally in the center, what is now Route 15, and the road leading off to the upper right of the picture is Brown's Trace. You can see the barn in the picture, with the old house attached to the end, and you can just about see the barn attached to the other end. That is not so clear. You can also see the enclosure that was on the Underhill side of the barn that housed the silo. And just above the barn, you can see the barn that is at what is now Mark Fasching's, then Henry Brown's, and later his son-in-law, Oscar Haylette.
What is most amazing about this picture is how open the land is, even up onto South Hill. Even when I was a kid, you could see from my parent's house, shown just to the right of center in the picture, cars driving into the yard at what was then Herb Haylette's home, in the right distance in the picture. It's just a guess, but this probably dates from around 1915 to 1920.
Aerial view from the 1950s.
The current barn is what is known as a bank barn, and was the latest technology at the time. It was built into a side hill, with the stable on the lower level and the hay mows on the upper level, with the side hill, or bank, making both levels accessible from ground level, and gravity delivering the hay to the cattle.
After the new barn was completed, the old house mentioned above was moved from its original location to the south of the barn and attached to the western end of the barn, being used as a grain room and for storage. Likewise, the old barn mentioned above, which had escaped the fire, was moved to the eastern end of the new barn, adding to the capacity of the barn. The old house eventually deteriorated and was torn down around the 1930s, and the old barn was taken down in the 1970s by volunteers from the Jericho Historical Society, who used the material for restoration work in the wheelhouse of Chittenden Mills.
Photo of the barn from around 1940.
In 1916, my grandparents purchased the Appolus Bishop farm across the road and moved there the next year. Thereafter the house on the home farm was rented out, although Mr. Irish continued to operate the farm. After his death in 1937, his son Hugh Irish continued to farm there until the place was sold to Frank and Mable Irish from North Underhill in 1944. They operated the farm along with their son Harley, who continued it until his retirement, when he rented the farm to Arthur “Cub” Blades while continuing to live in the house. After Harley’s death on October 26, 1996, the farm was sold to Ben Pyles and Joanne Knapp, and Cub continued to rent the barn from them until the farm was sold to John and Denise Angelano.
Gary Irish
Below are current photos of what was the Irish house and what is the Mansfield Barn. (Photos by Bernie).
There is Heritage in the Historic Homes of Jericho. There are stories (oral and written) that make up the history of this land (even before it became Jericho). Shall we explore together?
Nice to read about the history of the area. Thanks to all for taking the time to write, record and share the stories!
ReplyDeleteRegina Limoge - 359 Browns Trace