Almost fifty people gathered at the East Quabbin Land Trust headquarters in Hardwick this afternoon to hear a talk on the history of the Frohloff Farm.  Comprised of about 90 acres off Church Street in Ware, this property was acquired by EQLT in 2010; since then, the Trust staff and volunteers have worked many hours maintaining the barn, the agricultural fields, and the woods.  I wasn’t sure what to expect from the talk, but I’m very glad I decided to attend.  The two speakers, Susan Gainley and Ed Hood, gave fascinating presentations, and we in the audience sat rapt for almost two hours.

Ms Gainley’s research focused on property deeds and land ownership; she tried to trace an unbroken line of over fifteen different owners from the very beginning until the present.  Now that many original sources are available online, some of the research went quickly, but older deeds are still only available in the archives in Northampton and Springfield.  Although the trail was faint and at times seemed to go cold, Ms Gainley did succeed in tracing land ownership through 275 years, even before the town of Ware was incorporated in 1775.  The most helpful sources were the deeds, as well as two references, the History of Ware and the History of Hardwick.  In the very beginning, in fact in 1755, the Frohloff Farm parcel was part of Brookfield, located in an area named Kingston; when it came time to name the town, “Ware” was picked because Kingston was already taken (that Plymouth County town was incorporated in 1726).  The property, including both land and buildings, was sold to and bought by people whose names are familiar to those who study colonial America: Gilbert, Brooks, Sherman, Keene, Snell, Andrews, Bassett — some purchasers were brothers, some were sons, some were widows.  The Frohloff family, for whom the farm is now named, owned the property through three generations, from 1913-2007.

Along with tracing the line of ownership Ms Gainley wanted to know more about the families themselves.  For this type of research, she used the website ancestry.com, as well as US Census records and probate records.  She explained that in addition to the regular Census, the US government conducted a “non-population” census in 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880; insofar as the property was a working farm, these census records yielded some interesting facts about the farm.  For example, in 1850, the farm products were valued at $3,000; by 1880, the farm’s output had doubled in value.  In 1880, the farm produced 600 pounds of butter, 2000 pounds of cheese, and 750 dozen eggs.  Clearly, the farm’s output in these years was integrated into the manufacturing economy of Ware, as farm products fed the hands who worked in the mills.

Historian and preservationist Ed Hood then spoke about the architecture of the Frohloff farmhouse.  By examining its construction and its ornamental style, he determined that it was built in the period 1780-1830, the heyday of the Federal Style, also called the Adam style.  As the farmhouse changed hands and people moved in and out, it was modified over the years, the most significant alteration being an “ell” addition.  Mr Hood explained that a builder’s guide written by Asher Benjamin was enormously influential in promoting the Federal Style.  There are many fine examples of houses built in this style in Ware, Hardwick, and other surrounding towns, including the Salem Townhouse at Old Sturbridge Village.  Using slides, he showed us drawings from the Benjamin book side by side with photos of the Frohloff farmhouse’s architectural details; the correspondences were striking.  We saw examples of doorways, fanlight doors, fireplaces, rope moldings, wainscoting, six over six and twelve over twelve windows, as well as the overall symmetry (including two chimneys) which is characteristic of this style.  Details of construction, such as the ridgepole roof, nail types, and beams both hand-hewn and sawn (with an up-and-down saw) also helped date the house.  Some aspects of layout indicate that it was a typical farmhouse from this period; for example, the front rooms are more formal and the kitchen is at the back of the house.

In the audience were some members of the Frohloff family who traveled from Vermont for this event; they shared some stories about growing up in the house and also family lore which added a unique flavor to the scholarly presentations.