Rooted to a Farm

On a historic 1787 Richmond Township farm, Jacob Dreibelbis, a descendent of the original owner, lives a resourceful, uncomplicated life on the homestead.

JACOB D. DREIBELBIS, 79, is not bothered by the lack of modern conveniences on the Dreibelbis Pennsylvania German family farm in Richmond Township.

He could be considered a living relic of sorts on the historic 1787 farm, where he has lived for more than 70 years without a telephone and flush toilet amenities.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s the farm was labor intensive.

During this time 15 Dreibelbis family members lived together in the stately 1868 farmhouse made of red brick, which sits on 181 acres.

The chores on the self-sustaining farm included caring for hundreds of chickens and ducks raised for their eggs and meat.

Most of the land was used for gardens and to plant and harvest corn, wheat, rye, oats and potatoes. A field of tobacco was raised as a cash crop.

Those days are gone.

“See, I’m alone here," said Jacob, who has been a bachelor all his life and lives a resourceful, uncomplicated life, with little outside interference, in a one-room summer kitchen.

The building, once used by the family for cooking purposes in the summer, is a short distance from the main farmhouse.

Inside the kitchen, a wood stove is used to heat his home and for cooking.

His daily routine does not sway too much. In the morning for breakfast he has a bowl of Wheaties, corn flakes and a glass of orange juice. His evening meal, a bowl of creamed celery soup and boiled potato, is a bit more complex. “Now this is what I’m going to have for supper," he said, lifting the lid off a pot on top of the stove. Inside of the pot is an unpeeled russet potato. “I put that one (potato) on  fresh this morning," he said.

TREE BRANCHES

There are three buckets filled with tree branches — ready to be burned — next to the stove.

“They’re 30-inches long, them sticks," Jacob said. "I sawed them that way. They’re nice and dry — they fit real nice."

For other household chores, he keeps three pots of water simmering on top of the wood stove. The water comes from a cold-running water sink inside the kitchen and a cast-iron hand water pump situated between the farmhouse and summer kitchen.

Years ago, the original pump was made of wood.

“The water used to taste better," Jacob said. “But you can’t get them (wooden pumps) no more."

Mark J. Dreibelbis, owner of Berks Hand Therapy Center, Wyomissing, and president of the Dreibelbis Family Association, is the owner of the farm.

He has allowed Jacob, who is the last direct descendant of the original settler to live on the farm, to remain on the property.

“The biggest challenge is maintenance," said Mark, whose goal is to preserve the farm to be used for educational and environmental programs. “For the most part, everything is intact except for the ice house, which needs a new roof."

Last year the farm received recognition from the Berks County Planning Commission as being in the Dreibelbis family for more than 250 years.

The property comprises 12 original buildings and the summer kitchen, which was rebuilt in 1991 after a fire had razed the original.

In 1989 the farm was placed on the National Register of Historical Places.

LIVING HISTORY

The place is a living history museum, especially the farmhouse that contains all its original Victorian furniture, accessories, carpeting, wallpaper and a legendary American Indian artifacts collection.

Also on the property are the original farm tools and other antiquated equipment once used by the family.

There’s a chicken catcher (a long wooden pole with a hook on the end) in the smokehouse and an empty wheat chaff bag — once used for bedding material — hanging on a hook in the bank barn.

There are two tractors, one bought in 1944 and the other in 1951, stored in two of the three wagon sheds.

By the mid-19th century, Reading Railroad Co. had laid a rail bed through the meadow on the property. The trains would run four times a day.

“Yes, the freight train went through here just below the ice house on the dinner hour," Jacob said. “How times and things have changed, ain’t?"

One of the most difficult tasks on the farm was harvesting ice from the Maiden Creek in the winter.

After the ice was harvested, it was put inside the stone building for storage, where sawdust was spread over the top and around the sides of the ice to keep it from melting.

“That was pretty hard work," Jacob said. “You worked in subzero weather. In other words, you didn’t fall asleep while you were working."

At the end of the day after picking up sticks around the place, mowing the grass and caring for 20 wild turkeys, Jacob winds down around 8 p.m. by watching television.

The television — his only luxury — was given to him by Frank P. Muzopappa, a friend and neighbor for 33 years.

“At 9 o’clock I hit for the hay," Jacob said. “Just depends. Well, here’s the thing: You ain’t the same every day. Some days you feel pretty good, and some days you don’t. “Well that’s how things operate, ain’t?"

The farm is open to the public by appointment only. For more information call Mark J. Dreibelbis at 610-488-7896.

Originally published in The Reading Merchandiser, September 2008.