A real old stove

[gary]

This is on my camp. These pictures show it the only way that I remember it. Has anyone seen or used astove like this?
 


I would like to put this back in the orginal condtion. I think it has sunk by at least one block. It must have had a stone top. I have some stone that looks like it came from it. I think someone used them as steps into the cabin that burnt down.

[sprucebunny]

I haven't seen anything quite like that.

Have you used it ??? What did you make ??? Did it work well ?

[EZ]

I think your wrong about the whole thing. I beleave its an old out-stone out-house and it sank about 6 layers of stone. ;D
EZ

[gary]

I have talked to a lady who lived there during the depression. She was probably 8 or 9 then. All she remenbers about it was that they never let it go out.  They cooked all their meals on it.

[RichlandSawyer]

Gary if you get it going you wont want to let it go out either it would take three days to get the stone back up to cooking temp. The other thing too is when you put a fire in there you might wanna wear safety glasses and stand back a way for the first couple hours till the moisture gets out of the stone. That thing will be spitting chunks of rock twenty feet.

Greatgranddad had a similar animal and every spring when he would use it for the first time it was like WWII.

[SwampDonkey]

On a fly camp (slung everything in by chopper and set up camp in the bush) job on the Charlottes 2 or 3 of the guys decided to build a sweat lodge and built a fire with stones around the rim. They thought they'de heat the stones and pour water on the hot stones for steam.  :

[gary]

Rich Idon't intend on ever useing it.  Did your grandfather's have a top on it or was it open like that?
Sprucebunny  I have used it . I set my grill on it. We use it  to set stuff on while we are camping there. It is right next to the picnic table that I cut out to put a sink in.

[RichlandSawyer]

Gary,

   Granddads had two big slabs that covered the back half of the top. He would get it heated up and keep it going for several days and bake bread in it. He was caretaker of Ding Darlings peony farm and when Ding passed away he left the farm to greatgranddad. I'm not sue if it still there but i'll drive by one of these days and if the old oven is still there i'll take a picture for you.

[beenthere]

That be the Ding Darling who was the cartoonist.   I grew up enjoying his editorial cartoons in the DesMoines Register. Here is a link to the  Ding Darling Foundation

I'm tempted to go for the CD that is available of his cartoons.

Also would like to know more about the 'oven' you remember, and hope it is there for a picture.

[logmason]

I have seen and restored those. They were used all summer long to cook so the main cabin would not be heated from cook fires in the dog days of summer. Some homesteads had a seperate cabin for cooking in summer for same reason, they were called summer kitchens. You can see from pics the stones are not blown from moisture. A small fire at first, then hotter as it dried, and was ok. I'm sure this site dates way back unless this was moved. Also sure there is a building site and old homestead dump nearby. A great place to use a metal detector and dump excavating. Curious to what county this is in. Closer to the early populated areas seem to have had more log cabins, as the population expanded and grew out around 1890, sawmills became used and many buildings were framed instead of log. If you look around you may find moss covered spawls of stone indicating where the stones were cut.

Very interesting and well worth restoring this piece of history.

[RichlandSawyer]

beenthere that would be the same guy. I have to go to Northern to get new bearings for trailer today so i'll make a side trip by the old farm. Ding would role over in his grave if he could see the farm now. You'l understand when you see the pictures. Well gotta head out i'll see what i can find for you guys.

[SwampDonkey]

Summer kitchens here, were another part of the farm house. But, that was back in great grandmother days. My grandparents on both sides had just a regular kitchen. On mom's side, grandma baked every day in the kitchen (bread, pies, cake) for men working and sports men fishing and hunting, as grandfather was a guide who had several camps, even went a few times into northern Maine.

[logmason]

Swamp my wifes relatives were also guides in Canada. I have lost comunications with most of that family, the name was Carlson. I'll ask her more when I see her next.

Summer kitchens I have worked with were either seperate from main cabin, or was seperate cabin connected by a post&beam breeze way with no side walls, or if it had b&b side walls it was called a dog trott.

These cabins were oak dovetail with chinking. Other wood species were also used, but many are gone as they did not hold up to rought like the oak did. In fact one in thirty two I've worked was poplar, and not a real nice one. I take that back, a couple were American Chestnut, the very best to work with. Oh yes and some summer kitchens were in the basement.

I learned these things from one man, and from tearing out old buildings.. He stressed that most of these were from German, Sweeds, or Scandinavian decent. Some of these ideas could be wrong, or just differant in other areas. Many of the workings seemed to be origanally built by the same crews or families of.

This is the kind of history they did not teach in my schools, sadly.

Sorry Gary if taking your post astray. I do have the stones to restore that piece if needed.

[RichlandSawyer]

Well heres whats left of the peony farm. I was gonna rummage through the back yards and see if the stones had been turned into a planter but the guy in the security truck was eyeballing me pretty good when he noticed i was taking pictures. Figured i better git while the gitting was good.

[SwampDonkey]

I remember when the old lady up the road moved from her home to a manner. On her own accord of course. She was salvaging all her flowers to take along. She had all kinds of stuff. She never got all of it, way too much stuff. As soon as she went the place was invaded by flower thieves. Soon after, the place was demolished (2 or 3 years later) and turned up into field. The 'ole gal is still alive, and living in another manner. She's gotta be over 100 now, she was in her early 80's when she left her home.

She'd stoke the old wood stove and open up the bedroom window at night even in the dead of winter. It's a wonder she never burnt up, or froze up. That's what makes ya tough, I'm convinced of it. :D :D

[gary]

Logmason  It is in mercer county. There used to be a log cabin there.  It is about 100 feet from where the cabin was. I think the stones are still there. They have been used as steps into the cabin. My uncle bought this property when he came home from WW2.  I was not sure that the camp was going to come to me or if he was going to sell it until it was to late to save the cabin. . A group of teenagers were using it as a party place and burnt the cabin down.

[SwampDonkey]

That was the demise of many homesteads around here. First, other family members that had an interest in maintaining the place weren't going to put out of pocket money into a place when it is heirship, because it's not totally theirs. Leaving a place to heirship is worst then selling it from what I've experienced, for the very reason I just mentioned.

Then, the old homestead would succumb to the flames and destructive minded. Only it wasn't kids, it was guys in their 20's, 30's and 40's on a 'power drunk' weekend or halloween. Some idiots just can't resist chattering a window and busting up doors.