The Dairy Farm in Roxborough
My older brothers are gone. Tom, John, Jim and Joe. Mary is about to move into another retirement home and Rose and Ed still live in Plymouth Township while Betty is in South Carolina.
The younger members of the family, from Joe on down, were all born on the old farmstead at Domino Lane in Roxborough. It was a very hilly farm full of stones and rocks and had many disadvantages as a dairy farm. But it was home and, as children, we all found it was fine, comfortable, warm and homey. My father had bought it with his own hard earned money. Previously all his farms were rented and I am sure it was quite an accomplishment to save the money to buy it while starting a large family.
In those days, almost all farms within driving distance of any number of potential customers kept a few or more milk cows and sold the milk at retail to anyone who was willing to buy it. The customers would bring out their pitchers or other containers and my father would ladle out the milk with different size dippers. Pint, quart or two quart. There were no rules or health inspectors to govern the business, but after about 1905, the board of health made it necessary to sell the milk in bottles. This put a lot of these small farmers out of business but our family decided to continue. They built a larger milk house and some modern equipment to wash and sterilize the bottles.
posted by Mimi @ 3:13 AM
3 Comments:
My name is Mary Fox. My grandparents were John and Mary Fox and during the depression moved with their children (John, Bill & Margaret)onto a dairy farm on Domino Lane. Later my grandfather started Fox Piano Movers...was wondering if he was any relation to the Fox's you talk about...
My name is Mary Fox. My grandparents were John and Mary Fox and during the depression moved with their children (John, Bill & Margaret)onto a dairy farm on Domino Lane. Later my grandfather started Fox Piano Movers...was wondering if he was any relation to the Fox's you talk about...
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Mike Sherin
Mary,
Note this entry from July 4. It seems likely there could be some connection between the Byrne and the Fox families on Domino Lane. Could Augusta or another Fox of this era be your great-grandparent? Remember that my Uncle was born in the early years of the 20th century, before the depression.
I'm delighted to hear from you and hope you'll write back. Here's the passage:
We had no close neighbors except the Fox family but they were all older except Augusta (Gucky) who was younger and became Rose's friend. Living and working for us, there was always Mike Sherin. Mike was never married and had few relatives that I know of. He had come from Ireland as a young man and after working at various jobs around the country for a couple of years, he came to work for my father as a farm hand and continued for the rest of his life. I do remember a sister visiting him when I was quite young and later a niece and her family who lived in East Falls. Mike was a hard and conscientious worker except when he went periodically on a drinking binge for a week or so. He would become very drunk and that seemed to be his only pleasure or amusement, if you could call it that, because he was usually sick for a week after he sobered up.
I have picures of my father and others on the Domino Lane farm I'll be glad to share if, indeed, your relatives are connected to the Foxes mentioned.
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