SEGMENT: ELECTRIFICATION
Jacqueline Jackson>ISM Interviews A-L>ISM Interviews A-L, Segment 29
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- ELECTRIFICATION
- Haphorn Bossel and Jackie crawled around the farm to track the electrification. In 1906, when her grandpa came to the farm, they had a windmill, hand power, horse power, wood, coal, and kerosene. The windmill pumped the water out of the well. The cows were milked by hand and the milk was bottled by hand. When the round barn was built, Jackie's grandpa had it wired for electrification. Beloit, WI was ahead on electricity. In the 1880s A.P. Warner told his grandfather he wanted to grow up to be an inventor, who responded that there was nothing left to invent. Warner went on to electrify Beloit. By 1890 there were some dynamos, by 1895 they had power from a dam. Jackie thinks that there was electricity nearby was why her grandpa settled near Beloit. Couldn't afford it at first. Started with a Model Z engine in 1910. Tore down the windmill. The Z Motor pumped water. He replaced the old jack pump with a motor driven pump that was powered by the model Z. Had an alfalfa party that doubled as an electrical party. Wisconsin Power and Light had loaned her grandpa various electrical items to show the people at the party. Electric lights in the house and barn. The daily news wrote a piece about the party because farms were rarely electrified in that time. In 1916 he got a Freeport gas machine, which vaporizes gas and the vapor provides power. The liquid gas was used for tractors. Jackie used to think it was a well. There were clay pits nearby that were electrified. Grandpa paid about $600 to have the power lines extended from the clay pits, and it cost him about $300 to wire-up the farm. In spite of losing labor, he was able to do more work with the electrification. The Rural Electrification Administration (REA) wanted people to sell their motors and generators so they could afford electrification but people wanted to keep them for backups. The REA was founded by FDR. Their first milking machines were made by Empire. The milk had a funny taste because the machines had German silver in them. At some point the switched to Surge milking machines. She displays the apparatus used in milking the cows. Grandpa wrote an article about electrification for a newspaper. They used electricity to move hay.
