Waterloo's Pioneer Day, a day I look forward to all year, is very much a Fall Harvest Festival, for that's exactly what it is: a day to celebrate the fall harvest, a day to celebrate history, a day to celebrate tradition, and a day to celebrate farm life in the past.
A day to celebrate autumn.
Pioneer Day has been a major event here at Waterloo Farm Museum since 1962, and it celebrates all of the wonderfulness that is our country and our state - past and present. Those of us in the cabin are so honored to play a part in its continued success.
\/ \/
\/
The line up of cars, trucks, SUVs, and vans to get into Waterloo was way out along the rural paved street known as Munith Road that leads to this museum. The parking area was filled so much that they had to use land across the way, in an area where there was once a large apple orchard.
With temperatures in the mid-70s and a bright autumn sun shining down, one could not have asked for better weather!
2024 marks the 62nd - yes, sixty second! - Pioneer Day celebration held at Waterloo Farm. Wow---Pioneer Day almost seems to have been around since...well...the pioneer days! What an honor it is for us to be asked to participate.
What originally began as showing rural life/farm life of the later 19th and early 20th centuries has since expanded to become a sort of time-line celebration, for there were period-dressed folks from the 17th century up to the early 20th century showing historical farm life, frontier life, and even a few from the American Civil War; plus there was live music (most of the country and folk variety), demonstrations of crafts, trades, and traditional cooking methods, and also included tours of the Farm Museum, the Cabin, and the Dewey School.
And a few of us presented daily cabin life in the 18th century -
 |
There it is, our 18th century home!
If you are a regular reader or follower of Passion For the Past, then I am sure you are familiar with this cabin and our association with it. |
 |
Here is our group for the day - and for her first time out with us, Jennifer Long
(on the right behind Charlotte). She fit in wonderfully and wasn't afraid to get dirty in her historical work, and so we welcomed her with open arms to our cabin crew. |
We come out to the cabin multiple times a year to celebrate and live the four seasons - we call what we do "Experiencing Our Research" and "A Day In The Life" for both fit our practices perfectly:
Winter - experiencing what it was like to be in an 18th century winter situation
Spring - planting in the kitchen garden just a few steps from the cabin
Summer - caring for our kitchen garden
Fall - harvest time and autumn activities...and Thanksgiving
All summer long my wife Patty & I have been caring for our garden outside the cabin door. At least every two weeks we would take the 95 minute drive from our home to the cabin, dressed in our colonial clothes, to weed, water (if needed), and then harvest its yield (click
HERE,
HERE, and
HERE). Yes, we've visited a few more times than usual over the summer to work in the garden to help ensure a better harvest.
And during our summer excursions with the cabin crew, others have helped to maintain the garden as well.
At the bottom of this post, by the way, is a list of links to all 23 previous cabin visits.
So we are now in the fall - harvest time - and most of our garden has been picked, aside from three pumpkins that weren't quite ready a few weeks ago - they needed more time on the vine in the patch...until now. There were also a few green beans a-waiting to be picked. But the zucchini and summer squash were already harvested, though we may get a few more squash in a few weeks (there were some that needed more time), plus we have some beets still in the ground.
 |
Patty & I out in the garden - a few pumpkins were still on the vine.
Even though this is a festive day, it was still a work day~ |
 |
| Green beans, fresh from the garden! |
 |
| Charlotte joined us in the garden, as she normally does when she comes to Waterloo. |
 |
Jennifer worked for a short while at the Daggett House in Greenfield Village, and while there she learned a thing or two about cooking on the hearth, so she volunteered to be the main cook for today. She made us a beef stew using an 18th century recipe!
One of the pumpkins fell off the vine, so we brought it to the porch. It gave off a bit of a fall flavor décor, but not in a commercial sort of way. |
Patty had a couple of spinning wheels - one for wool and the other for flax. However, she ended up moving them to the other side of the cabin to get out of the warm sun, for it is true that we can get hot in our period clothing.
 |
| Patty relaxed just outside the cabin and spun wool on her spinning wheel. She also spoke on spinning flax - unfortunately, the flax wheel was not cooperating. |
 |
| She certainly drew in good audiences. |
 |
| ...AND it was a hands-on experience, where she would let some try their hand at the craft. |
Jennifer has been reenacting for at least 15 years that I know of, beginning, like most of us in Citizens of the American Colonies, representing the American Civil War period (1860s). When I formed the colonial Citizens group, she was very interested in taking part.
Now look at her! In fact, she has told me she prefers doing the Revolutionary War period over the Civil War period.
So glad you are with us!
 |
During my presentation (of which we'll get to shortly),
I told visitors that she was our (Patty & I) daughter, just to make the
scenario a bit more realistic.
She didn't seem to mind, and Norm actually thought she was our daughter! |
When I first approached Jennifer about coming out with us in the cabin crew, she was a bit hesitant. But I knew she had it in her. And she proved to us on this October 6 that she certainly has what it takes to become a part of us. For the cabin experiences, I try to be a bit more strict on those who join us. It has always been my hope that we are doing it right. I see posts by reenacting friends exclaiming how wonderful some of the other living history groups back east are - and I agree. Well, it is my fervent hope that our little group can be looked upon in the same way---and, if you do come out with us and you feel it's not as good as the other groups, what can we do to make it better?
But this is why I am very picky at who I select to join us. And now Jennifer is our newest!
 |
The picture of homelife - 1774~
Cooking on the hearth - the center of the colonial kitchen - has been thoroughly romanticized, and yet it remains an art that few today have experienced. |
 |
| Jennifer offered to cook a beef stew ala 1770s. |
So there she remained for a big part of her day, at the hearth. And she would speak to the visitors who would come in and inquire on what she was doing:
"Are you cooking real food?"
"Are you really going to eat that?"
Plus she was able to leave every-so-often to check out the rest of the festivities on the grounds.
So, while Jennifer was working making our meal - - - -
 |
I did a sort of double presentation:
flax and heirloom apples. |
Flax was first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent region. In ancient Mesopotamia, flax was domesticated and linen was first produced. In ancient Egypt, linen was used for mummification and for burial shrouds. It was also worn as clothing on a daily basis.
The Shroud of Turin, said to have wrapped the body of Jesus Christ, was made from flax/linen.
 |
As I've done for the past few years, I did a flax processing
demonstration again this year. I am holding some of the processed flax.
I am very honored for I had one person come in and tell me he
and his wife saw me last year and hoped I'd be back this year. |
As in past years, I brought along my flax processing tools such as my flax break, the scutching board, and a hackle.
The Fertile Crescent is not only the origin of flax, but also the origin of many temperate and subtropical fruit and nut trees, including figs, plums, apples, almonds, cherries, pomegranates, and date palms. The Fertile Crescent is a geographical area that includes the Mediterranean coast of the Levant and Mesopotamia. The region's diverse environment and genetic resources have allowed for the cultivation of many heirloom fruit cultivars for thousands of years.
 |
| And, once again, I also spoke on heirloom apples. |
Though not native to American soil, the apple has played a major role in our country's history - a history that for many is still carried on today.
Sacks of apple seeds were first brought to North America by colonists in the early 1600s. Before that time, the only apples native to this continent were crab apples (also referred to as "common apples").
By the mid-1600s, apple orchards with thousands of trees had been planted specifically for cider, a replacement for the poor quality water that was not fit for drinking. The proliferation of apple trees grew to the point where cider became the national drink of choice and was also used for barter.
 |
I was pleasantly surprised at the interest in not only my flax, but the heirloom apple display as well.
It was perfect for the apple season!
 | Here is my display at Waterloo~
Upper left and going right - a store bought waxed McIntosh (originally from 1796 or 1811, depending on the source)
Jonathan: from the 1790s
Snow: later 1600s
Bottom left - Reine des Reinettes: from the 1700s
Roxbury Russett: early to mid-1600s - 1st variety to have been grown in North America
Ribston Pippin: late 1600s
Cox's Orange Pippin: about 1825
Orleans Reinette: about 1776
And the candle, part of my flax presentation, is one made of pure beeswax, using flax I planted by seed, processed, spun into linen wicking by my wife on her spinning wheel, and then dipped. |
|
 |
And I thank the farmers at Firestone Farm in Greenfield Village for giving
me such an interest in apples...and heirloom apples in particular.
Such great history not taught in schools - - ! |
 |
Charlotte bounced all around on this day, going from helping at the hearth
to working in the kitchen garden to speaking to the visitors who came
through the cabin.
|
 |
As you see her doing here.
A busy lady indeed - - - |
 |
Jennifer and Charlotte
The weather outside was as beautiful as any day could be in the fall. |
 |
| I love mirror pictures, though I did not take this one. |
Norm has been reenacting since 1976 - the Bicentennial - and, of late, he has gotten more into the living history side of this hobby, and he portrays himself as a Lutheran minister.
 |
| Norm is a staunch Christian in his real life and decided to bring that over to his 18th century world. He studies not only the Holy Bible, but 18th century ministry practices. |
He researches prayers that were said at the time - many had been written down by those pastors from the period, and Norm seems to be able to locate them and use them to commemorate our own celebrations and graces throughout our colonial calendar year.
 |
Painter John Singleton Copley painted our man here - very life like, I would say.
(Well, he could have had we been around in the 1770s!) |
One of the subjects of daily life that tends to be played down in our current look at history is the role religion played in the greater majority of homes during the colonial times. Religion in Colonial America was dominated by Christianity, although Judaism was practiced in small communities. Christian denominations included Anglicans, Baptists, Catholics, Congregationalists, German Pietists, Lutherans, Methodists, and Quakers (among others).
 |
| As Norm studied the prayers of pastors past, he also studied their look and their clothing. He garnered a sort of collection of ministers from the 18th century for research purposes, so I added him to the group. Can you guess which one is Norm? |
Yes, we are so very happy that he is a part of our Citizens of the American Colonies. He helps to add so much more realism to colonial living history.
Oh!
That beef stew looks just about ready!
 |
Swinging iron arms protruding from the surrounding stone held the
massive pots, enabling the cook the luxury of moving the pots closer to
or further from the fire, or to easier check to see if it is done cooking. |
When the table was set, a young man, perhaps in his tweens, mentioned that our table setting "looked old time."
Such a compliment!
 |
Saying our dinner Grace, lead by Pastor Gerring.
|
The practice of saying Grace before meals is rooted in the Bible, where Jesus and Saint Paul pray before meals. The term "Grace" comes from the Ecclesiastical Latin phrase gratiarum actio, which means "act of thanks."
Quite a few visitors came through while we ate our meal. But we didn't mind - it was good we could speak a bit about the food we were eating and what we were drinking (cider).
 |
| Good enough to eat! |
Yes, I like to think that the folks who came out to see us at the cabin certainly received a good daily life history lesson!
 |
Jennifer was standing in the cabin doorway, just as you see here, and I
snapped a couple of pictures.
I chose this one because it portrayed the best silhouette. |
 |
Jennifer & I
"Daughter, when you find the right man, all of this might be yours." |
The above picture sort of reminds me of an occurrence that happened at the Daggett House earlier this summer. Upon one of my many visits to Greenfield Village, I was inside the Daggett House with a few of the presenters. We were in the great hall, and cooking on the hearth was taking place. There were no other visitors there aside from me, for it was on a slower day. One of the girls dropped a piece of meat onto the floor accidently as she carried it to the hearth. "Dang it!" she exclaimed.
"Young lady," I reprimanded, just out of the blue, "that will be three Bible verses memorized by this evening."
"But I didn't say the word!" she replied.
I responded with, "And now a fourth verse has been added because you just now thought the actual word!"
We had a great laugh over that. And, yes, I could see that sort of punishment happening, or, perhaps, a harsher punishment, given the fact that the Daggetts' were staunch Congregationalists. Contrary to what is being said currently by revisionists, a great many of the colonists - by far, the majority, in fact - were a religious sort, especially a family like the Daggetts.
 |
| Inside the Daggett great hall - - |
You often hear about young kids that come out to museums or reenactments, and they're all grabbing everything they shouldn't be touching - antiques or personal items - for too many, it seems, have not been taught not to touch. However, every year we in the cabin on Pioneer Day say something different about the young ones who come out to Waterloo: that they are respectful and always seem to have a great interest in history.
So toward the end of the day, a young couple stopped in with their kids and, knowing we had a few pumpkins still out in the garden, I asked if they'd like to pick 'em for us.
 |
The three remaining pumpkins in our patch.
One simply fell off the vine early in the morning - it was ready~ |
It turned out to be one of the best parts of the day:
 |
Most of the "you pick" pumpkin farms have their pumpkins already actually picked and just sitting out in the patch, so all one has to do is grab it and leave. There were two pumpkins we hadn't picked yet, and they were still on the vines, just waiting...so I asked a few kids if they wanted to pick 'em, and they did.
 | | They were thrilled! |
|
I am hoping to plant a patch of maybe two or three dozen next year, a couple weeks later in the year, so we can have more kids pick pumpkins like this, right off the vine.
 |
| Our three cabin ladies pose with the pumpkins! |
There was a whole lot of hustling and bustling going on all around us, so if we had the chance, we would take turns checking out the many activities taking place throughout Waterloo's land:
 |
| Right behind the cabin we had Jim and Brian, who represented men of explorer René-Robert Cavelier, sieur de LaSalle, from the mid-to-late 1600s. |
There was a great display of 17th century items needed for exploring North America.
 |
La Salle's men were part of an expedition led by René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle to establish a French colony in North America. La Salle is best known for exploring the interior of North America under the banner of France. |
He explored the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, and the Mississippi River.
 |
| Tim enjoying a smoke from a clay pipe. |
 |
Tim, Josh, and Christopher are also a part of LaSalle's men. |
 |
| Like last year, Steve, a former Firestone Farm farmer (who left Greenfield Village a number of years ago), gave a surprise visit! Steve is a super guy who is also an equestrian and cares for a number of horses, a few of which he hooks up to a cart or carriage to give rides to visitors. In fact, that's what he was doing at Waterloo! |
You may recall seeing in earlier Passion For The Past posts a few photos of me plowing behind a team of horses...well, that was Steve teaching me! Showing me the ropes, so to speak.
It was odd, for I would see him dressed in 1880s clothing while at Firestone, and now it's sorta like the shoe is on the other foot.
 |
| I do not know the person driving the horses in this photo above. But Steve did have a third driver, April, who I also recall from Greenfield Village past. |
 |
I've known Arlene Kaiser, on the left (her granddaughter on the right)
for probably close to 20 years now. Patty and I used to be in the farmhouse
when we were more into Civil War reenacting, and Arlene always appreciated
how well we did in there and that we always respected the house and the
furniture. So when I asked her about doing living history in the cabin,
she readily okay'd it, and I certainly do appreciate it! |
 |
Old Civil War reenacting friends of mine, especially Dan on the left and Mark on the right. These two have taken part in our Charlton Park reenactments:
click HERE |
 |
| Sally & Doug Nosbitch, locals who are also longtime members of the 17th Michigan Civil War group, were on hand to speak with visitors and Doug to cane chairs. |
 |
| There was a guy brewing beer. |
 |
| Looks to me this man is using a "shaver." |
 |
| Shaving horse... |
 |
| Blacksmithing... |
 |
| Vendors selling their wares, including homemade honey. |
 |
| Music, from old-timey to more contemporary. |
 |
The 19th century barn...
 | | Inside the barn~ |
|
 |
| Cider making... |
 |
| Corn shelling... |
 |
| Two sisters did a clothes washing presentation. |
 |
And from what I understand it was pretty popular
and they attracted quite a few onlookers! |
 |
The drying rack.
|
 |
Quilters
|
 |
No pictures of the actual sheering, but this was taken shortly before.
|
To be honest, this was only a portion of what was going on here. The visitors certainly got their money's worth, for there were hours of things to do!
 |
| Norm did a fine job presenting in my absence. |
Something else very cool happened this day:
as I wrote about earlier in this post, my favorite house sits inside Greenfield Village and is known as the Daggett House. It was built by Samuel Daggett in the early 1750s and is maintained and presented as a house from the 1760s. I've also done major research on the Daggett family: Samuel, his wife Anna, and their three children Asenath, Talitha, and Isiah.
Anyhow, while at Waterloo a woman came up to me and asked, "Are you Ken?"
I told her I was.
She responded by telling me her name and that she & her husband were the couple who had a replica of the Daggett House built not too far from where we were!
I told her: "You're my hero!"
 |
I love when people live out their dreams and somehow make it all come true. Marlene Dusbiber and her husband are those kind of people - - "we can do it!" type people.
To replicate the Daggett House has been a dream of my own! They recreated the 1750-ish "saltbox" as near to the original as the local laws allowed, and they still live in it.
 | In 2002, Country Home Magazine did a feature article about their adventures, and I have included just a quick snap of the article here.
It was an honor to meet Marlene~
|
|
If I were ever to build my own home - highly unlikely at this point in my life - it would be a Daggett replication. To me the architectural style shouts AMERICA!
~~~~~~~~~
 |
| The two guys on the left are 17th century - the rest of us are 18th century. |
Michigan tends to treat Autumn almost as a holiday - a most special time of the year - and folks come out in droves to celebrate, whether they venture off to the many hundreds of cider mills for cider and doughnuts, apple orchards to pick apples, pumpkin farms for pumpkins, special craft shows mixed with history and everything else mentioned as Waterloo Farm has, or perhaps to even hit a few farmer vegetable stands on rural roads, to gather fall décor for their own homes, as well as fresh vegetables and fruits. And I am so glad to be a part of it. In fact, the living historians I am with all seem to agree that Pioneer Day at Waterloo Farm is one of our best days/events of the year!
Yep---quite the celebration!
Until next time, see you in time.
Besides my own pictures, others who contributed a few of their snaps for today's post are:
Charlotte Bauer, Brian Dewey, Jennifer Long, and Norm Gerring.
Thank you all!
To visit the Waterloo Farm website, click
HEREIf you are interested in our other colonial cabin excursions, please click the links below to the many posts I wrote, all of which are filled with photographs:
To read about our 2020/1770 our first autumn excursion at the cabin, click
HERETo read about our 2021/1771 wintertime excursion at the cabin, click
HERETo read about our 2021/1771 springtime excursion at the cabin, click
HERETo read about our 2021/1771 summertime excursion at the cabin, click
HERETo read about our 2021/1771 summer harvesting of the flax at the cabin, click
HERETo read about our 2021/1771 autumn excursion making candles at the cabin, click
HERETo read about our 2022/1772 winter excursion at the cabin, please click
HERETo read about our 2022/1772 spring excursion at the cabin, please click
HERETo read about our 2022/1772 summer excursion at the cabin, please click
HERETo read about our 2022/1772 autumn excursion at the cabin (Pioneer Day), please click
HERETo read about our 2023/1773 winter excursion at the cabin - Candlemas, please click
HERETo read about our 2023/1773 spring excursion at the cabin - Rogation Sunday, please click
HERETo read about our 2023/1773 late spring - more planting at the cabin, click
HERETo read about the 2023/1773 early summer weeding at the cabin, please click
HERETo read about the 2023/1773 mid-summer Lammas Day Celebration, please click
HERETo read about the 2023/1773 autumn Pioneer Day event we participated in, please click
HERETo read about our 2023/1773 Thanksgiving celebration in early November, please click
HERETo read about our 2024/1774 Winter experience at the cabin, please click
HERETo read about our 2024/1774 spring excursion at the cabin, please click
HERETo read about our 2024/1774 late spring gardening with just Patty & I, click
HERE To read about our 2024/1774 summer Lammas Day celebration, please click
HERETo read about our 2024/1774 two separate mid-and-late-summer garden visits, please click
HERETo read about our 2024/1774 mid-September kitchen-garden harvest, click
HERE~And that brings us up to today's colonial cabin post.
If you are keeping count, that's 24 times, including 2024 Pioneer Day, that we've experienced colonial cabin life in a very real way, and each time we've experienced it a little differently.
To read about a year on the farm during colonial times, please click
HERETo read about an 18th century autumn & harvest, click
HERETo read about a Victorian autumn & harvest, please click
HERE
