Who were ‘nail pounders’ who built homes, barns?

• Barn Raising

Barn Raising

Talk about it

Way back when, groups of farmers got together to “raise a barn” or perhaps a house—simple jobs?

Not really, but most assuredly a lot faster when a group got together to work. A day or two would suffice to do the initial framing and perhaps the shingles.

In later times, specific people worked as carpenters for houses and barns.

The Finstads, Simensons, Skogs and many others did barn building, but there is a shortage of information about such crews for the eastern and southern as well as parts of the western regions of Pierce County. And, to be truthful, all over the county.

Who did build homes, as late as the year 1990? Please, be of help, send in the names to the Pierce County Historical Association (PCHA)—things get lost and this is a major aspect of local history.

Who did build barns? Who poured the concrete for the foundations or did the masonry and stone work? A man named ...... Spencer lived and did stone work around Prescott before the 1880’s.

Frank Johnson in Ellsworth had a concrete business that provided blocks for silos, houses and other commercial buildings—all over the county. Even the bungalow portion of the Lawrence house in Ellsworth is made with blocks from his cement works in East Ellsworth.

Wm. F. Klein and his brothers did some barn as well as house work in Ellsworth. Though it is gone now, there was a small barn on the old Brickner place on S. Maple Street that the Kleins built. Mr. Klein’s son, Oliver, worked as a carpenter too.

So, there have to be names that can be supplied if only county residents could gather their memories, write things down, and send those names and times in to the PCHA. A loss of heritage is a loss of history is a loss of our sense of unity.

Sit down. List names. Tell where and when.

Mailing address for the PCHA is PCHA, P. O. Box 148, Ellsworth, WI. 54011.

Tags: pierce county, lifestyle, history