This house is the house that I live in that was built by Mr Brookshire and my Dad in the 1940s. I vaguely remember them building the house. My Mom would often take lunch to the men working on the house.
This is one of the round roof barns built by Mr Brookshire, my uncle, Dad and the men that worked on the farm. Dad and Mr Brookshire put the ideas together and drew the plans.
Mr Brookshire was a carpenter in Spencer County. He was born and raised in our county. Those of you who were raised here will remember Mr Brookshire and his family. He and Mrs Brookshire raised a nice family of ten children. They were both very industrious people and God fearing couple who raised their children to love the Lord as well.
Mr Brookshire was a craftsman. He knew how to do his work so that he did not have to go back to redo what he had previously done. He and my father did a lot of work for the farm together. They were a good team. They worked together to plan their work and do make their projects happen. They built a huge barn for the beef cattle that had space for 3500 bales of hay in the loft. The barn was designed for the trucks to drive in to unload. The lower part of the barn was designed for a loafing shed for a large herd of cattle.
The roof on the barn was round. It was designed by my dad and Mr Brookshire. Dad may have seen the design in Hoard's Dairyman magazine which was a monthly magazine for Dairy Farmers. I can well imagine that in the northern part of the country there may have been barns like that but the two men did not have pre drawn plans so they came up with the plans and built the barn.
They also added a loafing shed for the dairy cows that was attached to the dairy barn. It also had the round roof. It had an earthen ramp in which to drive the truck to unload the hay in the loft. In this barn there was room for 2500 bales of hay. So both of those barns floors had to be stable and strong enough to hold a tremendous amount of weight.
Another building project that Dad and Mr Brookshire undertook was the building of the house in which I live. They were assisted in the building by men who lived and worked on the farms. My uncle also worked on it as well when the other farm work allowed. He and my dad worked together all of their lives. They owned two farm that amounted to over 1000 acres in Spencer County. There was two separate farms. One where I own and live now and the other which is owned by my sister Kathryn and her husband.
After my grandparents moved to the other farm from here, the house they had been living in burned. My dad always said it was caused by a cigarette that was left unattended. And that was probably what happened. So Dad and Mr Brookshire drew the plans based on the configuration of the house in which he and my mother lived. I was about 3 years old when my house was built.
Mr Brookshire helped build 3 tenant houses, my grandparents home on the other farm, the barns, a granary, my house and remodeled my parents home. He was a treasure. I do not know how much building he did around the county but I am sure if I started talking about building to natives of this county there would be volumes of building projects that he worked on in his life time.
Mr Brookshire was not only a master builder but he was a very funny person. He and Mrs Brookshire had ten children so I am sure a sense of humor was necessary to his well being. He really loved children and had a way with the Rogers children that endeared him to us.
My mother was a real farm wife. She cooked for extra hands that worked on the farm when extra workers were needed. Mr Brookshire always ate with us when he worked on the farm. My mother would send me to call the hands in for dinner. I would get on my tricycle and pedal down the hill by the house and to the work site. On one particular day she sent t me to call them in for dinner the next incident happened.
I got on my tricycle and rode down the hill by the house and up the hill to the granary that they were building at that time. I gave them them the message and we all started back to the house. The men were walking and I was leading the way on my tricycle. I suddenly got the idea that Mr Brookshire needed to ride my tricycle with me. I asked him. He said. "no" and I insisted that it would be best if he rode instead of walking. So he gave in to the worrisome little girl.
We started down the hill. He was standing on the back but worried that his weight would break my tricycle, he tried to stand to put the least weight on the front. It worked for a few feet but because he was leaning back some it caused the front of the tricycle to be lighter than the back so you can pretty much guess what happened.
The tricycle went air borne in the front and the next moment found Mr Brookshire laying in the road with a little five year old girl and a tricycle laying on top of him. He came to dinner on foot laughing at the whole drama that had unfolded with the ill formed idea of my giving him a ride to dinner (you city folks call it lunch, in the country it was dinner and the night meal was supper).
Mr Brookshire died when he was above eighty years old but his precious memory still lingers on in the minds of his children and of those who knew him and had the privilege of having him in our lives. The legacy of humor and workmanship will live on as long as this blog is online and his buildings are still standing.
When my own house was remodeled in 2007 and 2008 my contractor had the benefit of experiencing the craftsmanship expressed by my dad and Mr Brookshire. He was amazed at the quality of lumber in the house. It is built of real 2x4 oak lumber. The doors are real solid oak. The upstairs closets were amazing to him because they were built under the eves of the house and they were all within a quarter of an inch of being exactly the same size.
We all have God given talents and gifts and it is up to us as to what we do with them. We can be lazy and not use them or do a half way job of using them. Dad and Mr Brookshire used their God given talents and gifts to God's Glory. They honored Him by doing the best job they could do. They did not throw together something that would fall down next year or in five years. My house has stood as a monument to their skill and willingness to work in a way they would please their creator.
You all have a gift. Have you looked within yourself to find what they are.
May God bless you and keep you in his loving care.
Regards,
Mary
Mr Brookshire was a craftsman. He knew how to do his work so that he did not have to go back to redo what he had previously done. He and my father did a lot of work for the farm together. They were a good team. They worked together to plan their work and do make their projects happen. They built a huge barn for the beef cattle that had space for 3500 bales of hay in the loft. The barn was designed for the trucks to drive in to unload. The lower part of the barn was designed for a loafing shed for a large herd of cattle.
The roof on the barn was round. It was designed by my dad and Mr Brookshire. Dad may have seen the design in Hoard's Dairyman magazine which was a monthly magazine for Dairy Farmers. I can well imagine that in the northern part of the country there may have been barns like that but the two men did not have pre drawn plans so they came up with the plans and built the barn.
They also added a loafing shed for the dairy cows that was attached to the dairy barn. It also had the round roof. It had an earthen ramp in which to drive the truck to unload the hay in the loft. In this barn there was room for 2500 bales of hay. So both of those barns floors had to be stable and strong enough to hold a tremendous amount of weight.
Another building project that Dad and Mr Brookshire undertook was the building of the house in which I live. They were assisted in the building by men who lived and worked on the farms. My uncle also worked on it as well when the other farm work allowed. He and my dad worked together all of their lives. They owned two farm that amounted to over 1000 acres in Spencer County. There was two separate farms. One where I own and live now and the other which is owned by my sister Kathryn and her husband.
After my grandparents moved to the other farm from here, the house they had been living in burned. My dad always said it was caused by a cigarette that was left unattended. And that was probably what happened. So Dad and Mr Brookshire drew the plans based on the configuration of the house in which he and my mother lived. I was about 3 years old when my house was built.
Mr Brookshire helped build 3 tenant houses, my grandparents home on the other farm, the barns, a granary, my house and remodeled my parents home. He was a treasure. I do not know how much building he did around the county but I am sure if I started talking about building to natives of this county there would be volumes of building projects that he worked on in his life time.
Mr Brookshire was not only a master builder but he was a very funny person. He and Mrs Brookshire had ten children so I am sure a sense of humor was necessary to his well being. He really loved children and had a way with the Rogers children that endeared him to us.
My mother was a real farm wife. She cooked for extra hands that worked on the farm when extra workers were needed. Mr Brookshire always ate with us when he worked on the farm. My mother would send me to call the hands in for dinner. I would get on my tricycle and pedal down the hill by the house and to the work site. On one particular day she sent t me to call them in for dinner the next incident happened.
I got on my tricycle and rode down the hill by the house and up the hill to the granary that they were building at that time. I gave them them the message and we all started back to the house. The men were walking and I was leading the way on my tricycle. I suddenly got the idea that Mr Brookshire needed to ride my tricycle with me. I asked him. He said. "no" and I insisted that it would be best if he rode instead of walking. So he gave in to the worrisome little girl.
We started down the hill. He was standing on the back but worried that his weight would break my tricycle, he tried to stand to put the least weight on the front. It worked for a few feet but because he was leaning back some it caused the front of the tricycle to be lighter than the back so you can pretty much guess what happened.
The tricycle went air borne in the front and the next moment found Mr Brookshire laying in the road with a little five year old girl and a tricycle laying on top of him. He came to dinner on foot laughing at the whole drama that had unfolded with the ill formed idea of my giving him a ride to dinner (you city folks call it lunch, in the country it was dinner and the night meal was supper).
Mr Brookshire died when he was above eighty years old but his precious memory still lingers on in the minds of his children and of those who knew him and had the privilege of having him in our lives. The legacy of humor and workmanship will live on as long as this blog is online and his buildings are still standing.
When my own house was remodeled in 2007 and 2008 my contractor had the benefit of experiencing the craftsmanship expressed by my dad and Mr Brookshire. He was amazed at the quality of lumber in the house. It is built of real 2x4 oak lumber. The doors are real solid oak. The upstairs closets were amazing to him because they were built under the eves of the house and they were all within a quarter of an inch of being exactly the same size.
We all have God given talents and gifts and it is up to us as to what we do with them. We can be lazy and not use them or do a half way job of using them. Dad and Mr Brookshire used their God given talents and gifts to God's Glory. They honored Him by doing the best job they could do. They did not throw together something that would fall down next year or in five years. My house has stood as a monument to their skill and willingness to work in a way they would please their creator.
You all have a gift. Have you looked within yourself to find what they are.
May God bless you and keep you in his loving care.
Regards,
Mary
