Eastwood Farm

Eastwood Farm was owned by Judge Walling. He was a gentleman farmer, meaning he lived in town and let someone else run the farm. The notes, in monospace, and pictures below are from Scott Coyle.

Roy and his father Dan Thomson bought Eastwood Farm after Grace Walling 
passed away in 1945.  Dan and his wife Flossie and their family lived in the 
Farmhouse.  Flossie resided in the Farmhouse until she passed away about 
2000 at over 100 years of age.
Roy & Eileen and family built and lived in a house across Sidehill Road 
until 2003, when they moved into the town of North East.  Eileen passed away 
in 2003.  The farm remains in their family.  Several of their descendents 
live in homes on the farm.
Apples were their crop of choice for many years - mostly for the local 
market.  Apples from "Thomson Fruit Farm" were a familiar site at local 
supermarkets.  In 2005, grapes are the main crop.
The Barn was torn down about 2000, "Before it fell down", according to Roy.  
Most of the other buildings remain.
In 2004 a subdivision of about a dozen lots was being developed south of 
(behind) the Farmhouse.  A road was built to the east (right) of the 
Farmhouse leading to the lots.  The development was named "Eastwood 
Estates".

The 160-acre Eastwood Farm produced apples and other types of fruit, including grapes though that part was eventually sold to Welch's. Now the farm specializes in apples. Dan planted a garden for the use of the Wallings that had corn, peaches, vegetables, etc. Mom says they could go out to the garden, pick the corn right off the cornstalk, and cook it for dinner. Mom says she's never tasted apples in California that were quite like the ones on the Eastwood farm. Plus Dan would milk the cows every day. He would put the milk in a hand-cranked separator that would separate the milk from the cream, singing songs for Aunt Lulu in the process if requested, which she much enjoyed. She says Dan was one of the nicest guys you ever met, even if she doesn't speak so highly of his wife Flossie. Farm life was a lot of work and Flossie didn't much care for it. Aunt Lulu says they drank unpasturized milk from the cows. As long as the cows had been tested for tuberculosis that was considered OK. Dan would work from dawn to dusk on the farm every day including Sunday. They sold it to him at a very reasonable price after Grandma Walling died, feeling he deserved it.

Aunt Lulu says the kids could wander off, go anywhere around the farm that they felt like, show up at mealtimes again, and be perfectly safe; this is an experience foreign to city-dwelling kids.

The following comments about the farm come from my mother, 9/19/12:

"When it comes to the story about following the farmer, Dan Thompson, I was the one who did that. He was a wonderful man and I really loved him. When I was little, maybe 5 or 6, he would let me follow him around while he put the milk in the separator machine - hand cranked - and while he rotated the cranker handle( to separate the milk from the cream - the cream rose to the top), he would sing me a song which you may or may not have heard: 'The moon shines tonight on pretty Redwing, the breeze is dying, the nightbird's crying, and far, far away her brave is sleeping while Redwing's weeping her heart away.'

"Those days on the farm were really different, with pigs, chickens, cows, horses to take care of, cherry trees, apple trees, peach trees, raspberries, corn, tomatoes, asparagus. We learned early on that farming is a 7-day work week which does not stop until the winter storms arrive."

Picture Side of Post Card of Eastwood Farm, North East, PA

Two family Farmhouse is on the right
Barn is the large dark structure on the left
Light structure to the left is the Chicken Coop
Light structure in front of the barn is the Ice House
Running right and left in foreground is Sidehill Road
Road on lower left leads to the Packing House

Post card courtesy of Esther Lennertz
Identifications by Esther Lennertz & Harriet Sawdey

The picture was taken on the road that goes to the packing house.

A Family Picnic at Eastwood Farm about 1940

Probably taken behind the farmhouse.

From left: Reverend Cyrus Moorhead, Henrietta Walling Moorhead, Norma 
Roberts Walling, Ralph Walling, Jessie Pettit Marshall (partially hidden), 
Will Marshall (at end of table).

Notice the glass milk bottle in the foreground.

Photo courtesy of Esther Lennertz
Identifications by Esther Lennertz & Harriet Sawdey

Reverend Cyrus Moorhead presided at the wedding of Natalie Mosher and Robert Griswold.

Front View of the Farmhouse at Eastwood Farm

Picture taken in 1939

Courtesy of Esther Lennertz
Identification by Esther Lennertz & Harriet Sawdey

Family Picture taken in back of the Farmhouse at Eastwood Farm - Summer 1944

From left: Lee Ehrheart (on fender), Bob Ehrheart (on hood), Jim Coyle, Anne 
Sawdey Coyle, Laura Walling Sawdey (in front), Harry Sawdey, Jane Sawdey 
Ehrheart

Jim & Anne Coyle are newlyweds in this picture - there were married in 
January 1944.

Light colored building in the background is the garage.

Courtesy of Esther Lennertz
Identifications by Esther Lennertz & Harriet Sawdey

Rear View of Farmhouse at Eastwood Farm

Picture was taken in 1939.

Courtesy of Esther Lennertz
Identification by Esther Lennertz & Harriet Sawdey

On the left, attached to the farmhouse, you can see the sleeping porch. There aren't many pictures of it. The kids would sleep out there. Sometimes thunderstorms would come through and jolt them out of their slumbers, scaring the bejesus out of everybody. Occasionally a skunk would get underneath the porch and the dogs would go after it. In the background on the left you can see the black cherry trees, fun for the kids to climb because they were low to the ground.

Natalie Mosher with Friend Bob Fordyce at Eastwood Farm

Taken June 13, 1944 in front of the garage at Eastwood Farm.
Bob was killed while serving his country during World War II.

Photo courtesy of Esther Lennertz
Identifications by Esther Lennertz & Harriet Sawdey

Bob Fordyce was a friend of Roy's. He was killed at the Battle of the Bulge.

View of Eastwood Farm from the Back Porch of the Farmhouse

Ice House on the left
Barn in the middle
Garage on the right

Photo courtesy of Esther Lennertz
Identifications by Esther Lennertz & Harriet Sawdey

Roy Thomson & His Future Wife Eileen

This picture was taken June 13, 1944.  In the background are the Ice House 
and the Barn.

Photo courtesy of Esther Lennertz
Identifications by Esther Lennertz and Harriet Sawdey
Information from Esther Lennertz, Harriet Sawdey, Scott Coyle, and Roy 
Thomson

That may be Bingo the Dog down at bottom right. "I just loved Bingy", says Aunt Lulu Mosher. "We didn't have a dog at home, you know."