Wednesday, January 7, 2015

A step back in time.

6/22/1845-5/16/1923
Gerhard Heinrich Tappel, (the blacksmith's great grandfather) came to America in 1867 from  Twist Germany. Gerhard settled in Osage County, Westphalia Missouri. He was 22 at the time. 

Katharina Lueckenhoff 9/27/1849-7/2/1913

Eleven years later he married a local girl from Osage County. On November 19, 1878, they were married. Sometime in the 1870's they bought 360 acres in that same county and set up household. 




This is that house as it stood in 1988. It had been in the Tappel family for over 100 years. 

Gerhard and Katharina had 6 children. The blacksmith's grand father John Bernard was born in this house in 1882. 
Ben & Cecilia wedding day June 14, 1921.

John Bernard, known as Ben, and his wife Cecilia raised 4 children in the house, including the blacksmith's father, Henry, born in 1922.





Sylvanus Monat, Henry and Delphine Tappel, Catherine Tappel Hagenhoff

September 29, 1948

Although Henry did not end up owning the house, he did start his married life there. Henry and his wife Delphine lived there the first 7 years of their marriage and operated the farm. The blacksmith was born while his parents lived there in 1950.

After they moved away Grandma Cecilia and later her son Jim, owned the place until they both passed away.  Jim had lived in the house up until the mid 1980s.

After Jim passed the farm was sold and an auction was held to dispose of the personal property.


The barn as it stood on auction day 1988.

Auction day. 


The 2 men holding auction items up (you'll see them later in the family picture) is brother in law Doug on the left, and brother Pat on the right.

Fast forward to present. . . December  28th, 2014. 

The Rackers family graciously invited the Tappel clan to come see the house. 

It has been restored on the outside and is used as a family gathering place. It's a hunting lodge, a farming house, and a summer and winter retreat.

Inside, they added running water, including a bathroom, and refreshed the wiring. Much of the interior still looked like it did in June of 1988. Memories!!!


This is the majestic queen as she stands today, completely refreshed with new siding, new railings & floors on the porches, new roof, and new windows. 

The back side. 

The barn has a fresh coat of paint.

All the bedrooms upstairs have these great porches!

Just as Grandma had, the kitchen still has a wood cook stove.


The house has a cut limestone foundation with a full basement. This is a view going up the stairs from the basement.

The house has all the original wood floors. Note next to the sink, they kept the old cistern pump.


This was found on one of the bedroom walls. Uncle Jim must have written this at a very early age, as he misspelled his last name. 







The spring still running.

Inside, the Rackers had even decorated a fresh cut cedar tree for the season. 

The current generation of the Tappels include eight children.  Of these eight, Pat, Darlene, Marla, Bernard (the blacksmith) and Janie made the visit.


The 5 with their spouses. Pat and Doug, (shown on auction day holding up dishes) are the first two on the left back row. 

One last photo, Janie said, "Mom always took my picture on this sidewalk holding a doll." Her youngest brother Pat, was the only doll she could find on this day.

We want to give a big Thank You to the Rackers family for the invite, the coffee and cookies,  and the house and barn tours. It was great hearing stories of the house and farm by both families.

8 comments:

Dora, the Quilter said...

What lovely memories and stories! I'm so glad the house has been restored and improved instead of torn down or ignored.

kathyinozarks said...

so awesome that the new owners restored and love it-hugs

StitchinByTheLake said...

Not only is it wonderful that they invited the family back, but even more amazing that they redid the house - I love this! blessings, marlene

Down On The Farm said...

That is so awesome. Both that the house is now loved again, and that they shared the house with your family. I too love family history. You are blessed!

Patty H. said...

Oh my! If walls could talk. That is awesome that they invited you to be a part of it.

jerilanders said...

Patti that is a wonderful restoration story, one i love to read about. Not only was your families old farmstead saved, but, that you have the history and photographs to share with the family that now owns the property. I wish I knew about the previous owners of our old farm, it means so much to those who love history. I thought about you the other day when we saw this super antique sewing machine on Craigs list on which the ornate designs are similar to pressed steel.They seem to be molded onto the surface. Do you know of which I speak? I wondered if you had one in your collection. If not, I will send you to the source.

Deanna said...

That is amazing. I'm so glad they saved the house and preserved so much, like the cistern, wood cook stove and the autographed wall. Great post.

Dog Trot Farm said...

What a lovey post, and such a happy ending...To have the old home loved once again and restored is a true blessing...Thank you for stopping by my blog. It is truly winter in Maine...Greetings, Julie...