Bit of History - July 24, 2024

By the time that Ridgeway was founded, horse-drawn machinery for harvesting hay had been in use for some years, replacing the much harder method of hand cutting the hay with a scythe.  Of course, the local shop keepers had all the equipment they needed to get the job done.

To cut hay, a farmer might use a horse-pulled sickle mower.  Two dealers advertised in the Ridgeway Journal in 1891 that they had these mowers for sale, T. H. Taylor, who also sold buggies, wagons, carts, harness, binders and twine and would do repairs as well.  My favorite ad was from Peasley & Mirgon, as they detailed the features of their mower in a poem: “We have a Mower to sell, of course, That beats all the others on the force.  It has a spring beneath the bar, that makes it run without a jar; It cuts so clean and runs so light That it needs no work to keep it right…” (Ridgeway Journal, Jul 3, 1891). 

A farmer in 1891 probably raked the hay with a dump rake, which looks like the horses are pulling a large comb with curved teeth.  The operator had to stop every so often and dump the hay out of the rake before continuing.  Later in the 1890s, a farmer could buy a side delivery rake which would pick up the hay and leave it to the side of the row.  

I didn’t find balers being advertised anywhere in Harrison County in the 1890s but did find one mention of a hay baler that was destroyed in a fire in 1893.  The next item about a baler was an farm auction ad in 1902 offering a half-interest in a hay baler.

If you really want to go down a rabbit hole of interesting videos, do a search in YouTube for “horse drawn hay harvesting” or “horse drawn farming”.  If you want to correct any of my information or if you have any stories of farming in Ridgeway that you would like to share, please let me know or stop by the computer repair shop one afternoon.

Bit of History - July 17, 2024

On many of Ridgeway’s street corners you may find a square concrete post which served as a street signpost.  Sixty of these neat little posts were created by members of Ridgeway’s FFA chapter in 1967.  The FFA and 4H members then set most of them into place.  They were painted and stenciled by members of the Future Homemakers of America and Community Betterment members.

“Many residents are finding out for the first time which street they have lived on during the years.  They show pride in the neat, new markers.”  (Bethany Republican-Clipper, Sept 9, 1967).

The current Ridgeway Community Betterment members have an on-going project to clean, repaint and re-stencil the signposts.  If you would like to help restore this bit of history back into usefulness, please contact Shelly Lovitt or watch the RCBA Facebook page @RidgewayCBA for announcements about times they will be painting.

Bit of History - July 10, 2024

From the pages of the Ridgeway Journal, July 10, 1891:  J. H. Goodwin, the “Ch Town Con”, asked “Did you know that it was contrary to the ordinances of the village of Ridgeway to run horses in the incorporation? It is all the same, so please do not do it any more.”  

A group of ex-Union soldiers met on the Fourth of July to organize G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) post at Ridgeway.  They voted to organize the post and chose C. F. Fransham as chairman and L. L. Sellers as secretary.  The next order of business was to secure a charter and find a hall for meetings.  All old soldiers were requested to join as charter members.

The editor commented that the weather was quite variable: “It came nearer turning to winter again this week. In going up the street you would probably meet a person in their bare feet and the next perhaps would have an overcoat on.”

M. D. Shamblin (the agent for the railroad) noted that he sold 110 tickets for the July 4 12:55 train to Blythedale.  I didn’t find what was happening at Blythedale that generated so much interest that people chose to go there over attending the Ridgeway 4th of July celebration instead. 

A Reverend Little and his wife were due to arrive in Ridgeway soon to hold a “protracted meeting”.  They were bringing a tabernacle with them. They had been to Ridgeway before and “did a great deal of good.  There is plenty of room in Ridgeway for such work.” 

Bit of History - July. 3, 2024

In June 1935, Ridgeway residents were notified that their city water supply was shut off until further notice.  The city well, which had been supplying the residents with water via the waterworks since 1926, was undergoing repairs as the “pump at the well has been unable to raise enough water to fill the bowl and keep an emergency supply of water in store.”  Faulty valves were thought to be the problem.  A crew was pulling the pipe when the pipe got stuck, then tore loose, causing 480 feet of 5-inch pipe to drop to the bottom of the well, or so it was hoped.  New pipe was brought in from Oklahoma and installed without any interference from the missing pipe, so it was assumed the pipe did, in fact, drop clear to the bottom, a distance of some 1200 feet.

The city workers hoped to have the well operational again within a week, but the repairs still didn’t fix the lack of water, so work resumed on making new repairs. They had to order a new valve from a town in Illinois, but it immediately chewed up the leathers upon installation.  After some issues with buying new leathers, four sets of new leathers arrived by train and the crew tried again.  The next attempted also resulted in the leathers being destroyed.  After a break and a few hours of sleep, they installed another set and installed the pump finally with success – “water was on tap once more”. 

“The city was dependent upon wells for a water supply for about ten days, when the fire hazard never was greater.  Luckily, there was no call for the fire department.”  Mayor Leazenby estimated the cost of the repairs to be about $500. (Ridgeway Journal stories June 6 – 13 – 20, 1935.)