If Only The Walls Could Talk, What Would They Say?

If only the walls could talk, what would they say? In my introductory post of Westfalcon Farm I mentioned that one of the things that had an impact on my mother the first time she saw the old family farm was the many etchings on the bricks inside the old separator room in the barn. Well, let’s just say that since that first trip up to the farm years ago, the family has discovered many more etchings, drawings, names, dates and even pictures, not only inside of the separator room in the barn, but throughout the barn, and even inside the granary.

A quick note before going on about the writing on the walls: My great-grandfather, Roy Falk, wrote in his journal:

In 1917, father hired a man by the name of Gust Sundberg to build him a new barn. I did a lot of work on that barn, as I was 14 years old that summer, so I helped on all work that I could, such as cement work, laying upper floor, and shingling with wood shingles.

Now, the family noticed something a little different about the barn that the Falk family had built. Even though the entire exterior was wood siding, the inner walls were lined with brick. The brick is where most of the family names and dates are etched. Why brick on the interior? Again, in my great-grandfather’s journal we found:

My grandfather evidently knew the brick trade as he built some kind of brick kiln and manufactured brick, taking the clay in a hill on the eastern side of his land.

We wonder if the brick that was used was made by my great-great-great-grandfather.  If so, were they installed to help support the barn, or maybe used for insulation?  If only the walls could talk. Either way, the bricks have played an important part in teaching our family about our family history with all of the names, dates, and words we have found. Along with my great-grandfather’s journals, we have a very detailed history, indeed!

The bricks in the barn have almost every family member’s name (those that have lived on the farm) etched into them, beginning with my great-great-grandfather, August Falk. As you can see below, August etched his initials into the brick. This is the only place throughout the farm that we have found August’s name or initials.Brick AF

However, my great-grandfather, Roy Falk, made his mark in many places throughout the barn and the granary.Brick Etch

Many treasures have been found in the barn such as the brick with the year 1917 penciled onto it, which is the year the barn was built.Brick 1917

We even found bricks that gave us information such as what must have been a big spring snow date on April 2, 1920,…Brick Snow.jpg

…the day the family got new drinking cups (January 3, 1919),…Brick Drinking Cups

…and the day the family cat must have taken ill (“Puss got sick, Mar. 2, 1920”.)Brick Puss Got Sick.jpg

Some of my favorite writing happened on the wood walls of the granary. For instance, I love this simple drawing of a horse. Many people in my family have been horse-lovers so this drawing made perfect sense (get ready for some fun horse stories in the future):Horse Drawing

Another area which turned out to be pretty special was in the upstairs of the granary. As soon as we climbed the stairs for the first time, we saw the name Jack Dempsey (American professional boxer who reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926) written in large cursive letters on the wall. Now, my great-grandfather was a wood carver, and before he died, he told my mother’s aunt that he wanted my mom to have the boxers he carved. Of course, this was long before my parents even knew about the family farm. I wonder if my great-grandfather somehow knew that his pieces of art would have a special home with Mom. A home that my great-grandfather grew up in and treasured.Great-Grandpa Carving

The boxers are displayed on a shelf next to Jack Dempsey’s name. My mother has commented to me that she can just imagine her grandfather, Roy, and his brother, Russel, having lively boxing matches in the upstairs of that granary. If only the walls could talk.Jack Dempsey

I’ll leave you with a little poem that this post inspired. A poem? Me? I know, I’m not a poet, but for some reason I felt the need to write one today. So here it goes:

If Only The Walls Could Talk

By: Erin Burton

There is a farm in Cambridge, just east of town.

A barn and a granary that refuse to fall down.

Where writing, etching, and pictures abound.

So happy my family has finally found.

If only the walls could talk, what would they say?

Would they tell of a time of happier days?

They would tell of the crops that made the family proud.

And about the boys wrestling in the granary as they laughed aloud.

Would they tell us about Mama who milked the cows every day?

Or, about the baby that the horse watched over in a manger of hay?

They would tell of the newborn lamb that was frozen one cold, winter night,

But, came back to life after being warmed by the light.

And about Mama and her loom, yes, she worked so hard.

And Pa who worked so very diligently in the yard.

Would they tell about laughter, hope, fears, and tears?

All things were possible when family was near.

These walls are old, but not ready to fall down.

They have too many stories to tell to whoever is around.

They cannot talk but give us a glimpse,

Into the lives of our loved ones who once did live.

37 Replies to “If Only The Walls Could Talk, What Would They Say?”

  1. Enjoy this about the bricks
    It’s a granary with much to tell like you said if these wall could talk 😀

    1. Unbound Roots says: Reply

      Wouldn’t it be interesting to hear the stories? Thank you for your comment!

  2. Oh Erin, that is so beautiful and you should write more poems! Historical significance and family significance with an important glimpse into the past. Love it!

    1. Unbound Roots says: Reply

      Thank you so very much for you kind words, Sheila! I sure enjoy writing about the farm. I may just have to play around with some poems. Something new and creative. 🙂

  3. Great story! Jess said Jack Dempsey is her great-grandmother’s cousin.

    1. Unbound Roots says: Reply

      Wow! So, we have a family connection to Jack Dempsey now. Makes the story even more special!

  4. Carol Olson says: Reply

    Thanks for another gem!!!

    1. Unbound Roots says: Reply

      Thank you so very much, Carol! It’s my pleasure.

  5. This is incredible! I’m not sure how I missed this one. The amount of history in that barn of yours is incredible!
    Also, the poem was beautiful! You should definitely write more!

    1. McKenna, thank you for your kind words, as always! The farm has truly been a treasure to our family. We are still find new and interesting things by the week. There are so many stories I want to tell, and I can’t wait to put them onto paper. xoxo

  6. It’s amazing how people make their mark sometimes literally. We were just in Europe and I was fascinated by the people did that very thing! Here we were enjoying their architecture and art hundreds even thousands of years later.

    1. Isn’t it fun to take glimpses into the past by such simple things. Words, pictures, and even numbers are little things that can paint a large picture of how life was back then. I get goosebumps just thinking about it. 🙂 Thanks so much for reading and commenting, Susie!

  7. I find history fascinating, especially family history. I love learning about people.Loved the poem. too.

  8. I’m right there with you, Lisa! Reading my great-grandfather’s journals sometimes makes me yearn for simpler times. When I’m up on the farm, I feel like I get to experience a little of that too. Thanks for your kind comment and for reading too!

  9. What fantastic finds!!!

    1. They sure have been! Thanks for reading and commenting, Ritu!!!

  10. angelanoelauthor says: Reply

    Uncovering these artifacts around the farm and pairing them with the journal entries gives me a little thrill of anticipation. What might unfold? What tiny, seemingly simple details of everyday life expose greater truths about family, love, and legacy?

    I’m picturing a narrative nonfiction collection of tales from the family farm with family history set in a larger context of Scandanavian immigrant families in the Midwest. Are you planning something like that? Something in book form?

    1. Angela, I love your idea, and yes, I have given just a bit of thought to this. I was actually discussing the idea with my mother last week. I’m hoping that in the future I can put something together.

      Also, I love your idea of a writing to appeal to larger audience. You have me thinking. Thanks so much for reading and for the thoughtful comment!

  11. I love that they recorded when they got drinking cups! It is hard to imagine not having so many things around, to the extend that you’d carve the event of owning a cup!

    They are beautiful buildings. 🙂

    1. Exactly! My great-grandpa wrote in his journal that they never had much, but they never really realized it. He said that they had family and that was enough. He inspires me. Thanks so much for reading and commenting!

      1. I’ve read this post before, but it makes me smile each time I come back to it.

        1. Thanks, Josy! 🙂

  12. Another interesting post Erin. While I understand that Family Bibles were often the home for many of the families most significant events, Its obvious in your case the barn served a similar purpose as well. Says a lot about the central role this lovingly crafted building served (and continues to serve) for your family.

    1. Thank you, Gabe. Yes! The farm has been such a treat for my family. Having my great-grandfather’s memoirs along with the barn and granary that had been left nearly untouched for the past 60-70 years made for the perfect time capsule. And yes, we can tell that the farm and family meant the world to my family from the day they settled there. Thanks so much for reading and commenting. 🙂

  13. I love things like this… Have you taken any rubbings of the etched bricks? I usually do that for things like gravestones (when it won’t damage them to do so, at least), but sometimes I come across an interesting bit of masonry to take an impression of while UrbExing.

    1. Ooh, I love this idea! Thank you so much. They would be great to add to a scrapbook, or even to my posts. Thanks so much for reading and taking the time to comment!

  14. I love this. Family history like this is so fun!

    1. I absolutely love it! I didn’t when I was younger, but I”m aging quickly, lol!

  15. Wonderful (as in ‘full of wonder’)! This reminds me of when my Dad and his brothers (he had three of them, plus four sisters) got together to remodel my grandparents’ house. Which meant installing indoor plumbing, among other things. (This was in the late 1960s) They found old newspapers in the walls that had been put there for insulation. One of them had a big story about Lincoln being shot. Seriously.

    1. Wow! I love that newspaper was used as insulation. I’m sure your dad and his siblings had a hard time getting things done with all of the interesting stories to read. I know I would have had a hard time focusing. 😉 Oh, and the paper with Lincoln’s assassination was probably a collectible. Ha!

  16. Oh Wow! This is so cool! I absolutely loved your great grandfather’s journal entry!

    1. Thank you! His writing is a lot of fun to comb through. A glimpse into the past.

  17. Love these type of posts, a personal history. Plus its an insight into rural America! The Squires grandfather helped build a church in Devon, UK [now used as a house] and his name is carved on a plague which is part of the stone work. Not bad for 16 year old to have his work acknowledged! Thanks for reminding us with your Post Erin.

    1. Wow! What a great piece of history. I’m glad the owners of the house are keeping the history alive. We feel so very fortunate that the family who had owned my family’s farm before my parents bought it kept everything “as-is,” so we had treasures to unearth. Thanks so much for reading and commenting, Suzanne! I always appreciate your comments.

  18. Like a little treasure hunt and history lesson all rolled into one! It’s things like this that make me wonder about graffiti in public spaces. We wonder at markings left from long ago but today we discourage it for a variety of reasons even though there could be a time years from now that someone would marvel at what we call graffiti today (not that I am condoning it). My home is 117 years old and I get excited when digging the backyard produces some old artifact like a piece of pottery or marble, even though it was basically someone’s garbage at one point because that is what you did back then. It is all perspective, I guess.

    I remember my family lived in a house for 18 years and in my room there was a tiny set of footprints set in paint just inside the closet door. I always wondered at the story behind them. It was a huge house (3 stories, 5 bedrooms) but only one set of footprints. Did that person drive by that old house like I do now and wonder at whether they are still there? My dad planted a sapling in the front yard when we were kids (a Linden tree, my mom is named Linden) and it is HUGE now. It makes me smile every time and I hope they never decide to cut it down! All these little things connect us even if we don’t know the whole story.

    1. Shannon, thank you for sharing some of your precious memories. The stories about the tiny footprints and the “HUGE” linden tree made me smile. Just like you never knew the story behind the footprints – people may never know the story behind the linden tree your father planted. Makes you wonder how many things have stories behind them.

      Also, I love your thoughts behind graffiti. I have never thought about it as being something that could be revered in the future. But, I bet you may be correct. If graffiti was left alone for ages, I’m guessing that some people would think it very special.

      Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment, Shannon! You’ll have to let me know if you find any treasures in your 117-yr. old home.

  19. drallisonbrown says: Reply

    Wonderful post, as usual! I love the barn pictures! I have an affinity for barns and have always wanted to put a book of barn photos together. There’s something about barns… LOL!

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