FARNSWOTH TENANT HOUSES
There was a time when the Farnsworth Fruit Farms were the largest employers in the Waterville area. The two Farnsworth brothers, Watson Wales and Willard Grant (generally known as “W.W.” and “W.G”) both had farms of several hundred acres just west of Waterville when the village limits ended at the railroad. These farms were largely devoted to fruit crops which would mature in the spring (strawberries) all through the season to late fall (currents, cherries, peaches, plums and pears and different varieties of apple. The employment was mostly seasonal but a farm of that size in the horse and wagon era was labor intensive and required some number of full time workers. The Farnsworths, well educated, were proponents of “scientific farming” and incorporated all that was known in farming methods. They also were incorporated as a company, marketing their crops statewide. Their fulltime employees were, as was custom at that time offered a company home near the farm as part of their compensation. The Wakeman Archives has a copy of a contract between the W.W. Farnsworth Co., known as Clover Leaf Fruit Farm and one Leo C. Wagner dated January 6, 1919. Conditions were as follows: Ten hours besides necessary chores constituted a days work except during the short days of winter when only nine hours will be required. The company will pay $55 per month and furnish him a good house with garden and truck patch, fallen fruit for family use and the privilege of keeping chickens, he to furnish his own feed. The company will furnish a team of horses to fit his garden and haul coal and will give him one quart of milk per day. He is entitled to six holidays plus three other days off. He shall have the free use of horse and buggy to drive to Haskins on Sundays (although he did have to help feed the steers on Sundays so had to work that out).
The offer of a company house would indicate that the Farnsworth’s must have owned a number of area houses besides their own homesteads. One article we have seen states that the Farnsworth brothers owned 9 tenant houses each. Were these houses all on the farm property or perhaps along Farnsworth Road and even Michigan Avenue? Do some of these houses still exist, even though the fruit farms are only a part of our history? We are looking for help from our readers here. If anyone knows if their house or any area house, was once a Farnsworth owned tenant house, we would appreciate any comments or information. History is never complete!
Note: For more information on the Farnsworths, see “Olde Waterville” by June Huffman, page 118,119 or “Bend of the River” magazine, June 1986. Both can be found in the Wakeman Archives or perhaps the library.