Lancaster Farming. Saturday. Jan. 24. 1976
16
German immigrants settle Buckwalter farm
SMOKETOWN - One of the oldest family-owned farms
in Lancaster County is the Paul Buckwalter homestead
located in the countryside near here.
The Buckwaltcr's have owned the property for almost
230 years, with the original deed having been written by
Thomas and Richard Penn, sons of William Penn
The first Buckwalter to own the property was
Theodorus Buckwalter (spelled with a “d") who moved to
the Lancaster County area from Pheonlxvllle In 1747.
Buckwalder’s father Francis had been an immigrant
from Germany who after surviving much religious per
secution, brought his family to America.
Two of Francis’ sons moved to the area while the
remaining children stayed near Philadelphia and began a
successful ironworks business.
The original house built on the 200 acres (original deed)
reflected the typical German influence of architecture. It
was constructed of stone with decorative shutters and
doorways. The house was located over a spring, which
provided cooling for the milk and dairy products. The
house was tom down in 1900, but not before another
dwelling had been constructed near the older house.
The second house or more properly a summer kitchen
was built in 1874 with a main living structure being
finished in 1875. The two buildings were never joined
except for a porch.
Grassland quartet
wins state award
Four members of the Grassland FFA Chapter at the
Garden Spot High School were recently named as state
proficiency award winners at the State Mid-Winter
Convention held in Harrisburg.
The quartet included, E. Keith Feister, son of Mr. and
Mrs. George Feister, East Earl; Arthur Horst, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Leroy Horst, Bowmansville; Ray Martin, son of
Mr. and Mrs. Eli W. Martin, New Holland R 1 and Lloyd
Hoover, son of Mr. and Mrs. Elmer M. Hoover, Leola.
Feister, Keystone fanning degree recipient and a 1975
graduate of Garden Spot High School, was a winner in the
Horse Production proficiency program. Feister owned his
own horse projects during his FFA years and toured the
state attending numerous Appaloosa horse shows.
The youth was selected as the Lancaster County Star
Agri-businessman and won Foundation medals in Sales
and Service. He is currently employed at Hempt Farms of
Camp Hill.
In the agricultural processing program, Arthur Horst
was selected as the state winner. Horst was selected for
his work at the David B. Hurst Feed Mill in Bowmansville.
Serving as student advisor for the Grassland Chapter,
Horst also participated on the state parliamentary
procedure team and several judging teams. He was also a
participant in the land judging contest and in tractor
driving.
Ray Martin was the state winner in Dairy Production
adding the honor to his Keystone Farming Degree and
Eastern Region Star Farmer award.
Ray is in partnership with his father and has about 40
dairy animals. He has helped to build structures for the
animals as well as select quality cows for the herd.
The youth served as president of the Grassland FFA
and was the county vice-president along with being the
recipient of the DeKalb Achievement award. Ray is
currently a member of the Garden Spot Young Farmers.
Named recipient of the Home and Farmstead Im
provement Proficiency Award was Llyod Hoover. Lloyd is
currently serving as the state vice-president an office he
received after being president of the Grassland Chapter.
Lloyd’s award followed many months of working on
improvement projects on his parent’s farm. His major
project was to convert a burned out house trailer into a
swine and veal calf bam.
Lloyd has received a number of distinguished awards
including honors from Sperry - New Holland and Victor F.
Weaver’s.
All the youths have received their Keystone Degree
Awards - their advisor has been Clifford Day, ag in
structor at Garden Spot High School.
By MELISSA PIPER
Being in very much the same style as many frame type
dwellings of the era, the house was square and lacked any
detailed design. The doorways however, did lend them
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Buckwalter, Smoketown, look
over the original deed for their property in Lan
caster County. The Buckwalter farm is nearly 230
years old.
Four things on earth
are small, but they are
exceedingly wise: The
ants are a people not
strong, yet they provide
their food in the sum
mer; the badgers are a
people not mighty, yet
they make their homes
in the rocks; the locusts
have no king, yet they
march in rank; the liz
ard you can fake in
your hands, yet it is in
the kings’ palaces.
Proverbs 30: 24-28
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selves to European forms as they were low and decorative
with glass on the top.
Although a bake oven graced the kitchen area there
were no fireplaces in the main rooms. Much of the day
was spent in the kitchen area so that the oven warmth was
all that was required.
Paul Buckwalter’s grandfather was the first to live in
the newer house and being a horse doctor, divided the
kitchen in half for his office. Along with his medical
duties, which took him around the county and among the
Amish, Buckwalter carried out general fanning on his 200
acres.
A bank bam was raised in 1871 and records indicate that
it cost $lOOO. It was made of white pine which was
evidently floated down the Susquehanna as pegs in the
planks show where it was lied together for a rail.
Paul Buckwalter was the seventh generation of the
family to farm the property. By 1938 it had been reduced
to 57 acres and the producer had a generalized farm.
“Even back then we had to have a little of everything to
keep going,” he explained. “Not many people
specialized.”
Buckwalter still has 17 milk cows and does the fanning
although he hires some help in the summer months.
Although the Buckwalter property has been carried on
through seven generations, the trend has come to an end
as Buckwalter has no male children. Two daughters have
provided six grandsons, that might perhaps farm in the
future, but the Buckwalter name will soon fade into
history as has much of the original land.
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