Local History

How The Bryant Dairy Farm
Has Changed Over The Years




Michael Bryant
Ms. Lind
English 10
1/9/08







Outline
I. Introduction
A. Opening Strategy
B. Thesis
II. Farm
A. Cost
B. Size
III. Milk and Cows
A. Hood
B. Ice
VI. Bull Story
A. Why they switched to artificial breeding
V. Sons, Horses, and Tractors
A. How many
VI. Conclusion
A. Thesis
B. Summary





Michael Bryant
Ms. Lind
English 10
1/9/08
How The Bryant Dairy Farm
Has Changed Over The Years
I.
My thesis is how the Bryant Dairy Farm has changed over the years; this paper shows that at the farm many things have changed over time.
II.
My grandparents, Cedric and Emmajean Bryant, Bought the farm in 1948 for $2,500. Emmajean was 18 when they bought it, and Cedric was 32. It was 406 acres total. Half of the land was woods the other half was open land. The buildings came with the land.
The cow barn was 100ft long and 20ft wide, it could hold about 50 cows. The hay barn was 80ft long and 50ft wide, it held about 100 tons of hay. The ice house was about 18ft by 20ft. On the 1st floor of the house was the master bedroom, the kitchen and dining room were together, living room, hallway, and pantry.
The 2nd floor had three bedrooms (all had closets), a meat room, and a hallway with big walk in closet. There also was an attic. The first 8 years they lived there it had no electricity. When they moved in it didn't even have a road leading to it, there was only a wagon trail.
III.
They got 8 or 10 cows from Cedric's parents to start the farm with. They sold the milk to Hood. Every morning at 7:00 the Hood truck would come and pick up the milk. They owned approximately 50 cows at one time. They owned about 20 bulls over the time that they lived there. They only owned one bull at a time.
In January Cedric would go to Big Indian Pond in St.Albans to cut cakes of ice. He put the cakes in the milk tank during the summer to keep it cold. The cakes he cut were about 3ft long, 1 1/2ft tall and wide. They stored the ice in the ice house, and put sawdust on it to keep it cold during summer. He cut about 500 cakes everyday in January until the ice house was full.
IV.
In 1969 Cedric was trying to move a bull into a different part of the pasture, but the bull did not want to go. While Emmajean watched he tried to get the bull to go through with a stick. The bull knocked him down and every time he tried to get up the bull knocked him down again. Finally he grabbed the bulls horns, the bull pulled its head up and charged at the electric fence.
Luckily the bull was afraid of the fence, so when the bull stopped Cedric let go of its horns and crawled under the fence. He was bruised but was not hurt badly. The bull then went into the field they had wanted him in.
An hour or so later he called his brothers to help get rid of the bull. They brought a truck and drove into the field with Cedric in the back with a rifle. He shot the bull in the head; they sold the meat and never had another bull again. After that they switched to artificial breeding.
V.
They had three sons and no daughters. The first son was Frank who was born in 1949, the second son was Cedric (Junior) born in 1951, and last but not least was Caroll he was born in 1953.
They bought two horses in 1948 their names were Chub and Bub. They also bought a metal wheeled John Deere tractor. They sold it in the mid 60's as scrap metal. Bub died in 1956, and then they bought a new horse. They bought a John Deere tractor in 1965. Chub died and they sold the other horse a few years later. They bought an Allis Chalmers in the 1960's, and then bought an Oliver tractor in early 70's.
They owned the farm for twenty seven years. In 1975 they sold the farm to Ken Owens for $100,000. Then in 1982 it burned down.
VI.
The Bryant Farm has changed over the years in many ways. My grandparents started out small and with little, there were some hard and scary time for them but there were also many fun memorable and exciting times that will never be forgotten. As the years went by the farm and the family grew and moved on. Now there is no farm, other people have come to live on that land. Cedric has passed away, the family has grown even bigger, and everything is different.

Works Consulted
1. Bryant, Emmajean. Personal Interview. Dec. 15, 2007.