Clay Township, where Bolter and Catherine lived, had soil that was described as "...the base of the soil of this township is a hard clay, covered with black much very rich and productive. Wheat and corn were staple crops in that township and there were many apple orchards. It mentions that other fruits were raised, but since the township is located too far from the lake, it is more difficult to grow them. It is likely that Bolter and his family raised wheat, corn and other cereal crops. (Source: "U.S. County Land Ownership Atlases" on Ancestry.com)
Matilda and Gottfried Kinsel (Parents of Otto "Adam" Kinsel) also farmed in Ottowa County. In the 1880 census, Gottfried is listed as a "common laborer" and that leads me to believe he didn't own property. By 1900, he is listed as "Farmer" as well as a property owner in Benton Township.
In the US County Land Ownership Atlases cited above, Benton township is described as having "A large foreign element, especially of the German, are among the settlers. The influence of this element has been greatly felt in the work of developing the country, their strong constitutions and steady habits formed in the "Fatherland" fitting them specially for this kind of work."
Otto "Adam" Kinsel (17 Dec. 1857 to 22 Jun. 1896), Dora Treter Kinsel's husband, owned his own farm in Blue Creek Township, Paulding Co. Ohio:
It must have been a difficult place to farm. From what I've read, the land was "low, wet, swampy, timbered with oak, black ash, elm, and cottonwood". The early settlers had to drain the swamps in order to farm and that didn't happen really effectively until about 1880 when the county experienced a bit of a population boom. The drained swampland was very fertile and flat making it a good place for growing crops.
2 comments:
Nice info. Glad I am a farmer's descendant.
Thanks, MAK~
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