Short biography by John D Baird of his father David R Baird (1843-1919)

(In my family research I came across this story which is full of insight!)

My parents married young and settled on a 40 acre piece of ground in China Township, St Clair County, Michigan. They had a hard struggle during their early days. There were no buildings or fences on the property when they came into possession and it was quite thickly wooded and but little cleared for farming. They bought a small three room house from a neighbor about a half mile away and moved it on their ground and cut timber and hewed out a frame for a small barn which father built and then set about clearing the land for planting. He cut the best timber then would split into fence rails and fenced in the property and cut down other trees and rolled them together and burned them and grubbed out the stumps little by little to clear the land for farming. With a little help from his father financially he got this far but it was slow work getting money on hand to buy stock and farming implements and I don't think that he ever bought anything until he had the money to pay for it.

The little house which consisted of two bedrooms, a kitchen and living room combined and pantry, housed a family for fifteen years although six children - four boys ant two girls - were , by then, in the family. I can remember of helping to pull out the old trundle bed night after night which provided a place for one of my brothers and myself to sleep. Home made tallow candles was our sole lighting system including the lantern that father carried to the barn.
Mother passed away before I was eleven years of age but some of the memories of her remain clear in my mind, such as making the tallow candles. She would arrange the wicks in a set of holders about 12 candles in a set and then poured melted tallow and let it stand until cold and then left the candles ready to use.
At sheep shearing time, before selling the wool, father would save out a nice fleece and get it carded which mother would spin into yarn and she would knit all our socks and mittens and made nearly all our cloths. Little red flannel shirts and a pair of old pants was our underwear for us boys. I can remember of her sitting, knitting, and sewing till long into the night. She would gather peppermint and catnip and various herbs which she dried for medical purposes. She always had a remedy for all our ailments. She raised geese and would pluck the down from their breasts for pillows. I can remember of her pulling a stocking over their heads to prevent them from biting her hands while she plucked them.

Father built an addition to the house during mother's last sickness and after the house was completed she was moved in and she passed away in her new home. She seemed very devoted to her family and it was a sad home when her end came. For the ten years that father remained single after her death he always seemed sad and lonely. She passed away Feb 7, 1881 and to add more sorrow th father's grief, his father died April 28 and my sister, Ada, passed away April 29 of the same year. My sister Ella, then 14 years of age, took up the task of household duties and mothering us smaller children of the family until she, too, passed away April 29, 1886. Father then hired the house work done selecting relatives for the place.

Father was a man of good habits. I never heard him, nor I don't think that anybody ever heard him utter a word of profane language. He did not use tobacco in any form and he very much opposed liquor.

During father's early days of farming it was necessary to skimp and save. He burned wood for fuel and the ashes were all saved and put under shelter. He had a barrel placed on a platform that he would fill with ashes and leach water through it to get lye to make soft soap. This lye, with scraps of fat of the butchering hogs and beef, was put into a large kettle which was hung on a frame in the yard and a fire built beneath it and boiled into soft soap. An ash peddler, as we called him, would occasionally call for the spare ashes which was given him in exchange for hard soap, tin ware for kitchen use, etc.

Our floor covering consisted of a few home made rag rugs. The beds were ticks of straw laid on woven cord stretched on the bed steads. The water was drawn from the well with a hooked pole. For years the only conveyance was a lumber wagon except a pair of bob sleighs in the winter when snow was on the ground. Grain was cut with a cradle and bound by hand and hay mowed with a scythe in the fields where there were not stumps. But by hard work and careful planning and saving he was able to put up new buildings and make improvements until, in after years, he had a modern farm and home comforts.

I remember hearing my father jokingly say one time, 'we will sell what we can and what we can't sell we will feed to the pigs and what the pegs won't eat we will eat ourselves'. But that was only a joke for he was always a good provider, but, he wanted nothing wasted.

Our district school was about a mile away and the school year was divided into a winter and a summer term in order to avoid the bad spring and fall roads. After I was old enough to work, my schooling was only during the winter term. One winter I was hired for $1.00 per month to go early and build the fire and sweep the floor before the teacher and scholars arrived. Then I would have to stay until all had left in order to lock the door, which generally prevented me from going home with the rest of the children.

I was nearly eleven years of age the winter of my grandfather's last sickness and I stayed with him to do the chores. I had a horse to feed and groom, several cattle to feed and water, two cows to milk, stable to clean and pigs and chickens to feed and then walk a mile to school. And, on Saturdays, I sawed wood with the buck saw. Other than that I could play, but no children to play with.
That spring grandfather passed away and I hired out to Lambert Ercor, a cousin of mine, on a farm and worked all summer for $5.00 per month and kept up with him in most of the work, such as planting and hoeing corn and potatoes. In the heavy work, of course, I could not compete with him. We got up at daybreak while he did the chores. He set me at sawing wood and then after supper I again sawed wood while he did his chores and then I was about ready for bed.

And yet, at home we had time for play, but our toys were all of our own making such as wagons, sleds, kites, windmills, sailboats, bows and arrows, etc.