LATER TEEN AGE AND EARLY TWENTIES Part 6 - Ogle Land Company

This is the continuing story written by Alfred Moehlmann.  He has been working for the Vandalia Coal Co. in cost accounting. He doesn't mention where he is living, but I assume it is in the home of his grandmother along with his mom and uncles.  But once again, a job change is in his future and along with it a residence move, although not far away.

"The Vandalia owned the Ogle Land Company better known as the Goosepond.  Most of the haulage at that time in the mines was done by mules and I imagine the Vandalia had well over a 1000 mules scattered around the different mines.  This farm was their main source of grain and hay for the mules.  Along about August, our new office manager Mr. Wilson (Mr. Murphy went into the mine business for himself) got a letter from the main office at Terre Haute that either Martin Olsen or me, the only 2 single men in the organization would have to go to the office of the Ogle Land Company as a bookkeeper.  We both refused to go but since I was the junior in office rank and the pressure put on Mr. Wilson he talked me into going there and at least look the situation over.  So Mr. Wilson and I took an afternoon off, got in the Saxon and drove out to the farm.

I was impressed with the bigness of the farm, over 5000 acres, big levees around the farm, a big pump station to keep the water out, 27 farm laborers on full time, 2 big Caterpillar tractors and big Aultman Taylor tractor, 60 head of mules, 3 foremen and a big house as near modern as was possible in those days, 2 maids.  The house was maintained for Stanley Martin the superintendent and the bookkeeper. It was also a rendezvous for the Ogles, Sherrins and big shot coal men.  They offered 100⁰⁰ per month and room and board. I took the job; but befor I went I was to help break in a new man for the cost accounting job.  In a few days they brot in a man who had worked at a similar job for a rail road company.  He spend one week and said he couldn’t handle the job.  My chest swelled just a little.  A few days later they sent a man down from Terre Haute.  He stayed one day and threw up his hands.  Well, I was about to bust out of my seams.  I began to feel like I was a pretty big cog in the wheel.  Then it happened, they got a young man out of Indianapolis who was going to the same Business College I had went to and he grabbed right a hold of the job as if he had done it all his life.  My ego dropped to zero, but it taught me one good lesson:  no matter how good you are or think you are, there is always some one to take your place. 

It was about the first of October that I started working for the Ogle Land Company.  They were about through sowing wheat.  Between Mr. Martin and myself we had a Ford Model T Pick-up Truck and one of the best saddle horses I ever rode.  I did a lot of horse back riding.  Checking time with the foreman, writing out orders for the help to get groceries and the other necessary items.  We had credit at various stores for this purpose and would check it off on pay days.  We threshed 1600 lbs of millet seed, had over 100 tons of millet hay and 100 tons of Timothy hay.  A lot of this was hauled direct to the mines in the Linton coal field and also a lot was loaded on cars at South Linton and shipped.  We had an enormous corn crop, over 140,000 bushels.  We bought 2 car loads of cattle and had hundreds of hogs.  I was advised by Mr. Martin to be sure and have my figures correct for Alfred Ogle the big boss and President of both the Vandalia Coal Co., and the Ogle Land Co. had an uncanny memory.  For instance, each sow had a number and reports had to be made when each farrow and how many pigs.  He would come down every once in a while and if you had even one pig missing you had to account for it.  The same way with corn in various cribs.  He knew how much was in each one and he knew by memory what was supposed to be in each.  I kept a good record and didn’t have any trouble but I still marvel at the man’s memory.  I had enough to see after and was kept busy.  That winter after the corn crop was gathered, we had the cattle to feed and also the hogs, an accurate check on the amount of feed that was fed, then we had millet seed to clean, weigh and sack (a seed firm in Ohio took it all) and farm tools had to be repaired and painted.  We had a big stock room of parts and it had to be kept up.

Then in the spring of 1918 we had a big flood and the pump stations had to be run.  They had a big barge that we would load with coal and a couple of mules, walking on the levee would pull it about 2 miles to the pump station.  It took a lot of coal for they had 2 big steam boilers to furnish steam power for 1 – 24 inch discharge pump, 1 – 16 inch and 1 – 14 inch pump but they did the job.  A lot of nights they would call me (and it was frequent) at all hours for a part, a belt or some other item that broke and that was when I would appreciate the sure footed saddle mare.  I would, as a rule have to ride 2 miles to the store house for the items wanted and then back to the levee and to the station.  One little slip and both horse and rider would have been disastrous. The winter of 1917-18 is well remembered as severe both for cold and the heaviest snow I ever saw.  For weeks we could not get to Linton over the Heitman hill only by horse back.  One cold Sunday night, after the roads had been opened, I went to see Mom only to find out she was in Linton at John Funks.  No see that night.  We found out that spring that seed corn was a problem.  The severe winter killed the embryo in most of the kernels.  We were planting a big acreage and we didn’t have near enough seed.  I noticed that Mr. Bovenschen, Moms father, had what looked like a good stand.  I asked him where he got the seed and he said out of his crib.  I told Mr. Martin about it and the first thing Monday morning we went out to see the field and made a deal with Mr. Bovenschen to sort out a load of seed corn from the crib.  The next day I took 3 men and we selected and picked a load of corn and Will said it was the most money he ever got for a wagon load of corn (aprox. 33 ½ bu) 168⁰⁰.

That spring I traded my Saxon for a Ford roadster.  I didn’t have the Ford very long for Francis Haseman saw me in Linton, asked me what I would take for it, I said 360⁰⁰ (price of a new one) he said lets try it out.  It was hitting on 3 cylinders and I hoped he wouldn’t take it for they were hard to get.  But he bought it.  Back to horse and buggy that belonged to the company or else taxi cabs.  However I found a used touring car (Ford) 360⁰⁰ a year old."

The Ogle Land Co. was founded by Alfred Ogle, Jr., and incorporated in 1911 as seen by the article in the Indianapolis newspaper

This land is just south of Linton and is referred to as the Goose Pond.  Prior to 1850 the area was a swampy marshland, home to large numbers of migrating birds. But then they began draining the wetland for use as farm land by building dikes and ditches that were actually higher than the farm land. As a result most of the wildlife disappeared. It was the death of Alfred Ogle, Sr. in 1911 that resulted in the reorganization of the Vandalia Co. and the move of the headquarters from Indianapolis to Terre Haute which is only about 45 miles from Linton. 

While I was researching the Vandalia Coal Co. to see when they sold the Goose Pond land I came across information on Omer Wilson. He was the office manage that convinced Alfred to make the move to Ogle Land Co.  His entire career was with various companies owned by Alfred Ogle.  At the time of his death in 1952 he was the secretary treasurer of the Terre Haute Gas Co.in Terre Haute.  Ogle Land sold the farm in 1923 as seen in the article below. 

By the 1940's the "Goose Pond Lake Project" was organized to reclaim the natural wetland area. But it wasn't until 2005 that the 8,000 acres was purchased by the state of Indiana and restoration began. You can watch a short video on the goose pond here that talks about the history and current conditions of the Goose Pond

Alfred mentioned how bad the winter of 1917-18 was and I found the following write-ups about the record lows, and it wasn't just in Indiana. 

Article from Terre Haute about the Indiana weather - January 12, 1918.

Alfred is earning $100 a month, equivalent to between $5,000 and $7,000 dollars today.  He is living high and has gotten another car. How will the war that is raging in Europe affect him?