The Mahlon Lehman farm, located midway between Elizabethtown and Middletown, has been in the same family since 1800. The first white settlers
took possession of the property in 1743.
Laundry propelled by puppy power
By DIETERKRIEG
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the 31st and final article in a
cries which Was begun a year ago to recognize and salute
irea farms which had been in the same family for 100 years
ir more. It was one way of paying tribute to agriculture
luring 1976, this nation’s Bicentennial, and to underscore the
act that agriculture foundation of any civilization.
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. - Three-quarters of a century ago
here was a dog in extreme southern Dauphin County who
hdn’t like to be around home on a Monday moming. Every
Monday morning, without fail, he went into hiding, the story
iocs One might say he was mistreated - he certainly wasn’t
catling a regular dog’s life.
The dog, we’re told, supplied the power each Monday
nommg to run iT mechanical washing machine in the early
900’s.
Telling the story are Mr. and Mrs. Mahlon Lehman, owners
a 171 acre farm which has been in their family since 1800.
•he pup-powered laundry was reportedly owned by a neigh
x>r m the area, but it’s still being talked about to this day as
m example of how animals were put to work to help man in
w work.
The Lehmans had a contraption of their own which har
assed regular go6d old fashioned hay burners for the pur
)ose of running a threshing machine.
Each of four horses was tied to one of four beams
intruding from a vertical shaft which extended up through
he stable ceiling and into the grainery. The horses walked
•round in a circle in the stable, and their motion was tran
sited through shafts, pulleys, belts and gears into the
lc hons necessary to separate the wheat from the straw. It
PA. BERKSHIRE BREEDERS ASSOC.
iBRED GILT SHOW & SALE
AT 61st PENN. FARM SHOW
Harrisburg, Penna.
SHOW: MONDAY, JAN. 10, 77 • 12:30 P.M.
SALE: WEDNESDAY, JAN. 12, 77 - 1:00 P.M.
Annual Meeting: Jan. 10,2:00
P.M. in Room B of the Farm Show
Building. Whatever your interest
in the Berkshire Breed, please
feel welcome to attend.
For catalog contact
ARLIE CORNBOWER,
Rt. 1 Box 41
New Freedom, PA. 17349 PH: 717-235-1549
Bicentennial farm
was a boring job for the hay burners, and apparently also for
the young lad whose job it was to keep the hooves stomping.
“My father used to talk of getting hollered at to keep the
horses going - to move faster and pay attention,” recalls Leh
man, who has owned this southern Dauphin County farm for
the past 10 years. The original property consisted of 143
acres. Now there are 171 acres, says Lehman. He lost some
ground toliighway construction (Pa. Route 283 cuts through
the fields) but purchased additional acreage to bring the total
up to 271.
Originally deeded to a white settler in 1743, the property
was transferred to Jacob Lehman in 1800. Since then it has
been passed down from one generation to the next. Mahlon is
head of the sixth family to own and operate this farm and he
and his wife both agree that the place has been “a very nice
place to live and raisea family. We hope the farm will stay in
the family,” they said.
The farm is located in Londonderry Township, about
midway between Elizabethtown and Middletown.
As was the case with most farms in years gone by, the Leh
man homestead probably had, a little of everything, its
present owner believes. Today,* however, it’s primarily a
dairy farm, and that’s how Lehman has always known it.
Married to the former Ethel Brubaker of Mount Joy, they
have five children and two granchildren. They maintain a
herd of approximately 100 Holsteins, of which half are of
milking age. '
“I always liked farming and couldn’t wait to get out of
school to get home to farm and work,” said Lehman in an
swer to a question. Of special interest to him are his “Leh
manstead Holsteins.”
Eggs
down
HARRISBURG, Pa. -
Pennsylvania layers
produced 257 million eggs
during November, down one
per cent from the previous
month and nine percent
below a year earlier, ac
cording to the Crop
Reporting Service.
The November average of
13.1 million layers is up three
per cent from the previous
month but down seven per
cent from a year ago.
The nation’s laying flocks
produced 5.3 billion eggs
during November, down two
per cent from the previous
month and slightly below a
year earlier. The number of
layejrs during November
averaged 278.6 million
compared with 279.0 a year
earlier.
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, Jan. 1.1977
*
One of the more unusual facts about the Lehmans is that
they still do their own butchering. It’s a way of life which has
faded from many a farm in the area, but not here. They have
their own butchering tools and process several hundred
pounds of bologna annually - not to mention a variety of fresh
meat. Lehman’s brother-in-law, Clarence Givens, helps
along this line a great deal.
A spring near the house still supplies the farm with water ■
as it has for generations. There is no well here. “It went dry
twice, but only because someone left a spigot open,” com
mented Lehman. For as long as he can remember, water has
always been pumped from the spring to the house and bam.
Before electrical service was installed, the family relied on a
32-volt Delco system. It provided power for the lighter
mechanization of the day, while horses propelled the big
machines. And, of course, if you didn’t have electricity, you
could call the family pooch in for duty and hope he wasn’t
hiding too well.
The Lehmans’ bam was origmaUy built in 1815 and rebuilt
around 1880, according to impromptu records left on the
walls, and verbal family history.
• jr
The end of the year means it’s time to go through
the record books to calculate taxes, losses and
profits. Taking a little of their time to share their
experiences and memories of life on a “Bicen
tennial Farm” were Mr. and Mrs. Mahton Lehman.
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