Samels Farm History
Samels FamilyWilliam and Mariam (Watson) Samels moved to the Williamsburg area in 1855 to begin farming. William, Mariam and daughter Mary and Mariam's family, the Watsons, moved from Bruce Mines, Canada. Before that William had worked in the copper mines in Cornwall,England . Frank was the third son and fifth child of William and Miriam. William died when Frank was three and his mother eventually married Adolph Kaiser, a neighbor. Frank and his siblings attended school in Mabel.
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Samels Farm |
As a young man, Frank worked for the lumber companies in the area and earned enough money over several years to buy 64 acres in 1889 on Skegemog Road. He then married Mary Laubscher, who worked for his mother, and was a Swiss immigrant. By 1895 they were able to move into their new farmhouse and begin clearing the stumps left over from clear cutting. They raised four sons throughout the years, who all remained on the farm and never married. Their names were Amos, Frank, Dennis, Ben and Robert. Amos died young leaving the three remaining brothers to farm the land.
Over the years they added many other buildings and flourished as a self -sustaining farm. They raised their own food and feed for livestock that usually consisted of horses, cows, hogs and chickens. Crops included beans, potatoes, oats, wheat, alfalfa, timothy, clover and corn. They had fruit trees and chestnut and walnut trees as well as bees that Ben tended. They learned to make their own tools and set up a blacksmith shop as well as a wood shop for carpentry. In 1958 the brothers purchased 20 acres across the road from Maude Watson. The next year they hooked up to electricity for the first time and in 1958 bought their first tractor. |
Native Americans
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The family collected Native American artifacts as they farmed. In 1966 and 67, archaeologists Dr. Chuck Cleland and Dr. Elizabeth Garland held field schools on the Waggoner property, and Samels Farm. The archaeologists discovered the remains of an entire woodland village along the Skegemog shoreline. These artifacts are in the MSU museum in Lansing. The family artifact collection is archived in the Elk Rapids Area Historical Museum.
The Samels Family Heritage Society was formed in 2003 to help fulfill the educational vision of the Samels family. The Society works with The Archaeological Conservancy, the guardians of the trust established by Ben and Rob Samels. The Society is also dedicated to preserving and restoring the machinery and outbuildings left by the brothers, educating the community about archaeological and agricultural history, providing interactive demonstrations of various farming methods, protecting the land, woods, water, and the important archaeological resources of the area. |
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