Farming, Saturday, December 10,1988 The DeLongs of Bowers Talk About BY LOU ANN GOOD BOWERS (Berks) James DcLong pushed back his cap and settled into a kitchen chair. “We onlv have red cows and red tractors on this farm. Thai’s all we overbad and all we ever will,” he said. It was about 1924, he recalls, when his father boarded a train to Wisconsin to bring back the first set ot red cows (Guernseys) for the DcLong homestead. “Back then, there weren’t many of them around this area,” DeLong recalled. “In Wisconsin, my dad loaded 16 cows aboard. When the tram stopped for refueling, he filled barrels with water for the cows’ water trough. At night he slept on the hay.” Surprisingly, when the elder DcLong unloaded his cows at the local depot, the 16 head had increased to 18. That’s only one of the hundreds of laics that DcLong recounts about the past. He and his wife, Mabel, have a whole parcel of his tory wrapped up on their 360-acrc homestead that has been in the family since 1730 when William Penn deeded the land to Pieter DcLong. The present landholder, James, said, “I’ve still got the original deed that was recorded on cloth.” The clolh deed isn’t the only heirloom treasured by the DcLongs. Their home is filled with relies from the past. DcLong admonishes others, “Don’t ever throw anything away.” ly, Jjoy ig gi y found at her grandparents’ home, which has been in the family since 1730. Here, she holds a bookmarker dated 1892 found in the Family Bible with names and dates inscribed during the 1800 s. ig >P‘ father’s name Inscribed on them. They now picture the Delong homestead and the Hawk Mountain Railroad Sta tion where Delong spends much of his spare time. “The Way We’ve Always Done It” Few, perhaps, would discard things if they had the treasures the DeLongs have inherited through out their life. Not only do they have valuable antiques but they have the stories that accompany them. For example, in one room of their sprawling 14-room house is a grandfather clock with the date 1797 inscribed on it. “It has sat in that corner ever since the house was built in 1811,” DeLong said, “and we haven’t moved it. Every seven days we wind it and it keeps on running.” A 10-foot-high comer cupboard shows detailed workmanship from centuries past. Recently, the DeLongs moved it from an upstairs bedroom to the dining room. The 1811 corner cupboard had been built m a bedroom “so the Indians couldn’t see the fine things inside.” Still setting on the curved shelves arc the “fine things” passed down through the genera tions: an impressive collection of Fostoria, pewter and silver dishes and goblets. “We haven’t bought any of it; it’s all been passed down to us,” said Mrs. DcLong. An early 1800 s family Bible records the names of the DcLongs anccstory. Most were doctors, den tists, and teachers. DcLong likes to tell how his father studied to be a teacher but taught only one day because “he decided he liked farm ing best.” His love for farming and the Mabel and James DeLong of Bowers stand in front of their home built in 1811. The previous buildings from 1730 were torn down before the present one was erected nostalgic aura that surrounds it has been passed on through the generations “I still remember plowing the fields with horses back around 1930,” DcLong recalls. “Every day when the 12 o’clock train passed by, the horses refused to do anymore plowing and turned tow ard the house. They knew it was dinner lime.” Back then the trains were so reg ular that folks set their clocks by the train pulling into the station. “We didn’t need clocks,” DcLong recalls. “We limed everything by the trains passing through. There were at least five or six that went through daily and they were always on time.” Now, much to DeLongs dismay, only one daily train travels the rails through his fields. “I’m a railroad fanatic and I miss hearing the train whistles,” he said. To satisfy his passion for trains, DeLong volunteers many hours to the nearby Hawk Mountain Rail road and toward helping his son, Daniel, with his toy train collection. “I go up to Hawk Mountain to get away from the work,” DeLong said as he glanced toward the barn that houses his 70 milking cows plus their young replacements. “Those red cows,” he muses, “they don’t give as much milk as Holstcms, but they’re the best. Why if you put a 50-ccnt piece in the bottom of a pail and milk a Holstein, you can see the 50-ccnt piece shining through the milk because it’s so thin. You can’t say that for Guernsey milk.” homestead . jpDoi.. holds Fostoria, pewter and silver passed down through the generations of DeLongs. “James, slop poking fun,” Mabel admonished her husband. “I don’t like this business of putting others down.” Her husband grinned slyly. “It’s true,” he persisted. He tells of past decades when the rich, yellow milk of Guernseys was in great demand. He’s con vinced that, taste-wise, his Guern sey milk is tops. “Just the other week, more than 300 people toured our farm during Farm City week. We served milk and cookies. Boy, did they ever drink it. Why one girl drank five d/Sies glasses of it!” He stood up. His weathered hands fingered the detailed work manship on the winding stairway of their home. “You don’t see stuff like this today,” he said. His eyes shone with content ment as he glanced around the homestead that they have restored to preserve the past. “Yep,” he said, “it’s the way we’ve always done it. My father always stuck to Guernseys. That’s all we ever had in the barn and that’s all we ever will.” -1
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