Friday, October 14, 2011

The Sapsford Farm and the Determined Children

The Sapsford farm was located somewhere around the middle of camp.  The remains of the farmhouse are up near the stables.  If you were driving in from the stable entrance on Oviatt Rd., just past the barn, on the left side, is a clump of trees and bushes that obscure the old foundations.  The Kirbys bought the Sapsford place to add to their estate - so it was included in the parcel sold to the Cleveland Girl Scouts in 1937.
I was googling around & found this reference  http://www.ohiofarmmuseum.com/?page_id=75  which looks to be a collection of oral history   - Lynn

The SAPSFORD FARM -- The DETERMINED Children

The Sapsford family farm was on Oviatt Rd. in Richfield Twp. Summit Co. They raised their children, Chalice, Blanche, Clyde, Ray and Ruth during the Depression. Quietly, some people called the children crazy. More openly they were known as “determined”. Many stories are still remembered of their many escapades. 

 Just to the west of their farm, on Rt. 303, is West Hill. It’s one of the longest, steepest hills in northern Ohio. Back then there were a number of flat areas carved into the hill so that the horses pulling wagons up the hill could stop and rest without the wagon pulling on them. One day, the brothers decided it would be a good idea to “sled” the hill. They took one of the farms’ buggy running gears that had no seat or shafts and tied a rope to the front wheels to steer with. One of the brothers sat on the frame and the other pushed the buggy off. As it went screaming down the hill, it hit the “flats”, launched into the air and kept flying on down the hill. By the time the buggy and brother reached the bottom, they were completely out of control, missed the bridge over the river and landed in the water. It was a wonder he wasn’t killed.    

In that same river there was a place to ford. The family had a horse who was trouble so when they hitched it up to a buggy, they kept the check rein tight so the horse couldn’t lower it’s head. One time the children went out for a drive. They crossed the river and the horse was thirsty. The children forgot to loosen the rein and the horse couldn’t reach the water so it simply lay down in the shafts, turned the buggy over, and got a drink. It took a lot of work to unhitch, right the buggy and pull it from the ford.     

One of the kids was out riding a horse one time. But the saddle girth wasn’t fastened tight enough. Slowly the saddle started to slide around the side of the horse, with the child in it. An upside down ride was inevitable. Grandma was watching but couldn’t do a thing about it. She just turned away and walked into the house saying, “Those kids are going to kill themselves one day.”

 Another time. the boys dad told the boys to go get the horses in from the back field. Many hours later, dad had to go get the boys and horses. Ray and Clyde had taken a bottle of hootch (probably gotten from Sam Nemer) and were passed out in the field. Severe consequences awaited them.   Of course, the boys weren’t the only ones to get a nip. One time Ruth got into the hard cider. For years after the family kidded her about the time Ruth kept telling everyone she heard the canaries singing.

 When the girls made up their minds to to something, they did it. Growing up in the Depression, there was no money to go to town. The girls wanted to visit Akron so they simply got up early, walked the 18 miles, saw the sights, did a little shopping, and walked home. Never thought a thing of it.  Years later one of the sisters got a job at a tractor repair shop in Richfield. This wasn’t really considered ladies work, but that never stopped her.Unfortunately it didn’t go so well for her. She was out mowing with a tractor to see if it was fixed. She backed up under a tree, hit a branch and broke her neck. She died shortly after.

 As the “kids” grew older they continued their “determined” ways. When Ray was older, he walked out on the back porch one morning. A skunk was there to greet him. Well, he wasn’t going to have that, so he kicked the skunk off the porch. His family had to bury all the clothes he was wearing and it was quite awhile before the porch was put to full use again.

Ray also had a small cannon he liked to shoot off on special occasions. But one day it seemed like a good idea to just let fly with it loaded with gravel. -You know, just to see what it would do. Unfortunately, all the dish towels had just been hung out on the clothes line to dry. That was the day the towels became holey.      
Chalice later lived “in town” near Richfield Center. She wanted to build a garage, but her husband didn’t want to help, so Chalice made all her own cement blocks and built the garage herself. She used the outhouse behind the house until her passing in the mid 1980’s.