Comments from the Smith family that lived there: "This is the location Alice Burke, Jan Hodge, Bill Smith and Jim Smith was raised in the 60's and 70's. The property was sold in the 80's and had a fire in the 90's and the farm and home were raised for a commercial venture that failed. The only thing that remains from the original property when we lived there is the willow tree at the drive...The property is minus our old homestead stripped of it history and abandon."

Comments from the Schmidt family: "This was also my home for 2 years around 1959-1961!! My parents traded the people who owned it for the home we had in Waterford. I have wonderful memories of the farm. Chasing wild cats when we first moved in. There were wonderful outbuildings as pictured. We had sheep in the apple orchard. We attended the one room school and had Mrs. Tucker for our teacher the first year, they closed it and we then went to Hadley."

Smith replied to Schmidt: We were the family that moved in when you moved out. I started 7th grade @ Hadley School and it was June,1960, when we moved in. You are so right about the fun place to grow up and buildings to play in. We cleaned a section out of the basement of the barn and that was our "play house". My brothers got the chicken coup for a "jail".

This was my great great grandparents home- the Kurtz family! Ellery and Rose (Thom) Kurtz moved here after their marriage in 1902, and my great grandmother Irma was born in the home in 1906. The family lived & farmed here until the 1940s when they moved into town. The addition onto the original home (including the kitchen) were built by Ellery circa 1909. The Kurtz children all attended Brownell country school, and Ellery was on the school board, so the teachers came and had dinner and collected their paychecks from him at the end of the month.

My great grandmother Irma lived a long life until 2001 and told us many stories and even wrote an entire autobiography about growing up here. Her childhood was by no means easy, but it was full of love and joy and this home was where many generations of happy memories were made.

If anyone reading this has any photos of the home please reach out, this image is all I have!