THE HOME OF EPHRAIM BALES - MARKER #11 

    Ephraim and Minerva Bales raised nine children in this small, two -room cabin. The cabin was never larger than it is now except for a missing back porch. The large cabin was the living area; the smaller one, the kitchen. Ephraim and Nervie owned 70  acres of rocks and cultivated 30 of them. The only window is the small granny hole, which looks out on the family pantry-the corn crib. In front of the hearth is the 'tater' hole. It was a simple matter to lift a puncheon, withdraw some potatoes and toss them into the ashes to bake. If people couldn't grow enough corn for year round use, potatoes carried them through. Below the road is the family's spring. Walled up, and now clogged up, it gave cold clear water straight from the ground. Beyond the stream is the pig pen. Farmers let their hogs roam the woods most of the year, feeding on nuts, roots and insects. After frost they would round up one or two to be fattened for slaughter. Every part of the hog was used for something. Every thing was used except for the squeal. From the hog you get sausage, bacon, ham and lard just to name a couple of things. Up the hill stands the barn which housed a mule and a cow. It must have been a small mule or else it couldn't have gotten through the door. The loft was floored, to hold fodder for the animals, which was fed to them from a sloping rack on the wall and the grain box in the corner. OH! yes how lucky we are today, but are we really?  Where have all the morals gone in this day and age that people had back then when a handshake was as good as your word.

Below Are A Few BONUS Views BETWEEN The MARKER #11 And MARKER #12