Samuel Buehrer

What does a person of 84 years old see develop in his lifetime?

Samuel Buehrer, a farmer who lives in Ridgeville Township tells us that he remembers when the first tractors came on the market. He also remembers the first automobile, manure spreader, grain binder, windmill, telephone, electricity, wire fence (before that, rail and board fences were used), airplane, jet planes, flight to moon, tile ditching machine which was driven with an upright steam engine and fired with wood or coal, first gas furnace and first oil furnace.

Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Buehrer, Ridgeville Township

In the days when they went to the county fair with horse and buggy, they took a bag of hay to feed the horse and also carried their dinner for a picnic.

Samuel Buehrer remembers the first silos, gas delivery trucks and the first Edison phonograph that was quite an entertainer and pastime. Then came the radio and television.

He remembers the first strike and first riot.

Mr. Buehrer was on the Ridgeville School Board when the one room school houses went out of existence, at the time the school was centralized, and also when the addition of gym hall and classrooms were added to the school. Mr. Buehrer is the only one living that was on that board. His son, William Buehrer, was on the school board when part of the Ridgeville District was transferred to Napoleon and part to Archbold.

He well remembers when pupils respected their teachers, when teachers were allowed to use the rod when necessary, when Christian songs were sung and Bible reading was permitted, instead of student riots. Mr. Buehrer commented, "It is said that there is a reason for everything. Could it be that there is a reason for everything. Could it be that we have slipped somewhere along the line? Think it over."

When he went to school, the children had no time to get into mischief. After school they had to pump water, split wood, clean the horse and cow stables, and carry in straw from outside straw stack. All these were regular chores. They had no davenport to lie on and no television to watch.

Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Buehrer, Ridgeville Township

Of all the improvements mentioned before, Mr. Buehrer thinks electricity is one of the most important. He said, "Just think what all is done on the farm with electricity, such as pump water, lights in all buildings, motors to run all kinds of machinery, such as feeding augers and silo unloaders. One can't mention what all is done with electricity."

The first automobiles to Mr. Buehrer's recollection belonged to Dr. Ed. Murbach and Ira Gotshall. He remembers seeing the first one going along the road north of them. His brother Emil and Mr. Buehrer were working in the field. As soon as they saw the car, they crawled on the rail fence and watched the auto as far as they could see it, traveling about 20 miles an hour.

Samuel's first automobile was a Ford sedan. They bought it in Greenbay, Wis., on their wedding trip from North Dakota to Ohio. Mrs. Buehrer was from North Dakota and they took the train from there to Greenbay, Wisconsin, where his brother Emil lived. They paid cash for the car, then traveled home with it.

Mr. and Mrs. Buehrer settled on the farm where they still reside. They have four children: Marie (Mrs. Lloyd Rychener), whose husband is farm manager at Lugbill Bros. in Archbold; William Buehrer, a construction worker, who built a home on the corner of the Buehrer farm; Grace (Mrs. Erwin Koch) whose husband is a minister; Marcus Buehrer, a minister. They have 24 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild.

Samuel Buehrer is at the wheel, sister Sophia and parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Buehrer.

He well remembers the first telephone as the Ridgeville telephone was a mutal company. Each group of farmers that wanted a phone had to run their own lines to the main line. Eight farmers at that time wanted a line so they went out into the woods and cut down as many black ash trees as were needed on their share of the line. Seven trees were needed as one tree would make a telephone post. They had to be bark free so they peeled them with a draw knife. All eight farmers got together to build the line. Some dug the holes, others set the poles, and some worked on the wires.

Out of the eight men one was elected a lineman. It was his duty to see that the line was in order and check the batteries. It was also his duty to represent the group at the annual meeting.

Mr. Buehrer remembers that his first tractor was a Ford tractor, one of the first ones around. When they had their plowing done, they would do custom plowing for their neighbors who were still plowing with horses. He plowed on almost every farm from their place to Ridgeville. He now has three Case tractors and does his business with the Meyers brothers at Ridgeville Corners.

During his lifetime he saw three of his businesses (besides farming) pass out of existence. They used to make ice out of their gravel pit that had about four feet of water in it. The pit was about 125 feet by 75 feet. They furnished ice for Ridgeville at that time. Cleo Ruffer had a meat market and an ice house. Bargman had a restaurant and an ice house. Leitheiser, now Nissons Restaurant, also had an ice house. He remembers when they first made ice it was hauled with wagons. Later Arthur Giffey and John Zimmerman got trucks. They then started to haul the ice. One year he made 200 tons. He had an ice plow to cut the ice, and it was pulled with one horse. He still has the plow which is an antique now. Many of the neighbor boys worked for them on the ice.

Samuel Buehrer stands with Belgian colt, taken in the early 1900's.

It was his job to furnish ice for Ridgeville every winter, besides many farmers got ice also. In those days farmers that had ice could have an ice box to store the food. After the electric refrigerators came into existence the ice business discontinued.

Mr. Buehrer had another business that also went out of existence which was a threshing outfit that started out with 18 farmers in the ring. In those days the grain was cut with binder and shocked. During the first years the sheaves were hauled into the barn and then threshed; later the grain was threshed directly out of the field. Then the combines came and the threshing business was over. Mr. Buehrer said, "Those were the good old days. The farmers got together to thresh, work together, eat together, and visit together."

They also raised horses from colts and always had about three mares. They had two imported Belgain purebred mares and sold colts from these mares two for $600 each and one for $400. He well remembers Ferd Detmer near Holgate, Ohio, who bought two, a matched pair. Mr. Detmer showed them at Henry County Fair, winning first prize for matched team. After the tractors came into existence the horse business discontinued also.

Samuel Buehrer started custom silo filling when the first silos were built many years ago.

Today, at the age of 84, Mr. Buehrer easily remembers those first silos. They were made of wood staves and a 10x40 size remained for a long time as the most popular, but when farmers started with the larger ones, they increased in size rapidly. First 16x40, then 20x60 and now 30x70 isn't too large.

He commented, "There was a time before bunk silos and piles were made when picket silos were used, but they seem to be a thing of the past."

Mr. Buehrer started with a hand-fed cutter which had a conveyor and a blower at the end that would blow it into the silo. The blower had flexible pipes down on the inside of the silo and one man would walk around in the silo with the pipe and about two or three men would tramp the ensilage as it came in.

In order to keep up to date Mr. Buehrer got a Galefield chopper. He wore that out and now he has a Case one row chopper. He made his own racks. He got some 2x2 wood sawed to make the frame on the same wagon he hauled hay and grain. The frame was covered with old tin roofing. A canvas in the bottom of the rack with a spool at one end of the wagon and a 1/4 horse motor is used to unload the wagon.

He also made an end-gate with an iron peg on each side that holds the door open while unloading. Mr. Buehrer said, “I notice that Allis Chalmers is using the same patented gate now that we had for 20 years. I am still using the same rack I had when we started."

Mr. Buehrer and his chopper and wagon prepare to fill silos.

When he started in the custom silo filling business, the corn was hauled to the cutter with low-wheeled wagons. Four and five wagons with one man on each wagon were used and two or three men in the field helped load the bundles which were cut with a corn binder. He reports that some of the really first ones were cut by hand and the corn carried to the wagons.

When his two sons, William and Marcus, were home, they helped with silo filling. Mr. Buehrer said, "We always had enough silos to fill each year as long as silo filling season lasted till the corn was frozen too much." Mr. Buehrer commented, "I still feel content on the tractor with a chopper back of it. I'm thankful that I have the health to do it."

If the ensilage that he has cut in his lifetime were put into a ten foot silo, it would be a couple of miles high. He's had nearly 40 different customers since he's been in the custom silo filling business. He added, "We've always had good neighbors and I've enjoyed living here." He feeds all of his grain to sows and steers. Also raises 20 acres of sugar beets.

Samuel Buehrer is the sixth generation on the 80 acre Buehrer farm on County Road U-1, 1 1/4 miles east of State Route 66, four miles south of Archbold. He was born on the farm in 1890. During the past 48 years, he has been married to Sophia Klundt, who was from Buelah, North Dakota.

They have four children, Marcus, William, Marie and Grace. Marcus is a United Church of Christ minister at Kettering, Ohio with 1100 members in his congregation. He married Jane, a daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Ben Herbster of Cincinnati, Ohio. Marcus and his wife Jane have 4 children, Timothy, Benjamin, Cynthia and Elizabeth.

William married Donna Ruffer, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Ruffer of Archbold. William is in the contracting business with his father-in-law. They live next to the homestead, and have six boys and one girl; they are: Robert, Neil, Todd, Samuel, Paul, Bennet and Mary.

Marie, formerly a nurse, married Lloyd Rychener of Rt. 2, Archbold. They have five girls and five boys. They are; David, Susan, Phillip, Carol, Ann, Dan, Calvin, Donald, Betty, and Brenda. Susan is married to Dan Neff and they have a son, Mathew.

Grace, a school teacher before marrying Rev. Ervin Kock, lives in Kenton, Ohio, with her husband, two daughters and one son. They are: Paul, Nancy, and Mary. Rev. Kock is pastor at the United Church of Christ which has 700 members. Mrs. Samuel Buehrer has worked at LaChoy in Archbold for 14 years. They are members of St. John United Church of Christ at Archbold.

The farm in Ridgeville Township, Henry County, that is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Buehrer has been in the Buehrer Family for over 100 years.

Michael Buehrer, Jr. had a saw mill and a tile mill in Switzerland. He lost his business so he brought his wife and four children and his 83 year old father to America. They were on the ocean for 29 days.

They finally settled in Archbold. A friend, Conrad Kutzli, helped them buy a farm. Since they only had $75 in cash when they landed, they had to borrow every cent to buy the farm.

Michael Buehrer purchased the first 30 acres from John Schofield for $25 an acre. Only nine acres of the land were cleared. Michael Buehrer, Jr. owned the land for 35 years.

John N. Buehrer, the father of Samuel Buehrer, bought the farm from his father, Michael, now 80 acres. John paid $50 an acre.

In December, 1974, Mr. Buehrer hitched his bobsled to a tractor and took members of the family to church. Left to right: Paul Buehrer, Mary Buehrer, Marci Grant, Mrs. William Buehrer, and Sam Buehrer. Mr. Buehrer is standing beside the sled.

He cleared much of the land and built the house and barn. In his diary John recorded the expenses of building the house.

The house, including the painting, cost $735. A few years ago Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Buehrer put a carpet in the living room and the dining room. This along with curtain rods cost $750. It's not hard to see that prices have gone up.

Much of the work on the farm was done with horses. John had two imported Belgain mares which he showed at the fair along with the colts. The fields were only five and ten acres and all were fenced with rail fences. Think of all the rail splitting that had to be done!

John N. Buehrer had six children: Walter Buehrer, deceased; Louisa (Mrs. Adam Schlatter), deceased; Emil Buehrer, Green Bay, Wis., deceased; Samuel Buehrer, Ridgeville Corners; Lydia Bock, deceased; Sophia Ziegler, Archbold.

John N. Buehrer owned the farm for 31 years. Samuel and his father worked by the month and later rented the farm from his father.

After Samuel married Sophia Klundt, a North Dakota girl, he bought the farm from his father for $175 per acre. His father then retired and moved to Archbold.

The farm was quite well improved when Samuel bought it. He built the straw barn and did much remodeling on the house. He also put in much drainage.

Samuel preferred feeding steers and hogs rather than milking cows. He sold his first steers that he fed for $6 a hundred. He bought corn for 25 cents a hundred pounds. Quite a contrast from prices today. The Buehrer family enjoyed working together.

Samuel has worked on the farm all of his life. He will be 85 years old on September 21, and is still farming on the farm that he has owned for 46 years.

Although only three generations of Buehrers have owned the land, six generations have lived on the land.

Submitted by Samuel Buehrer