William Erwin (1760-1836)
William Erwin was an Irishman who first came to Bucks County as a young boy in 1768. By 1798, William was a property owner having purchased a 126 acre parcel of land in Tinicum Township. He became a "Gentleman Farmer" rich in land but uninterested in doing the physical work of farming. Instead he hired tenant farmers to manage his property. About 30 percent of all Bucks County farms were managed by tenant farmers during the 18th and early 19th centuries.
Gentleman Farmers like William provided or built a farmhouse for their tenants to live in, gave them a share of the proceeds, and in exchange the tenants made and eventually managed the farm. Before planting could take place, the heavily wooded area needed to be cleared. Massive trees would be girdled, felled, cut into logs for lumber, and the stumps pulled from the earth. It would take a family up to a year to clear a 5 acre lot and up to 20 years to clear a 126 acre parcel. Once the land was cleared, it would be divided by fencing. Typically the fences were installed by hand in the “worm” type, with split rails stacked in a zigzag pattern.
By 1810, when William was almost 50 years old, he built the original section of the Erwin Stover House for his tenant farmers to live in.
An 1845 advertisement for the Sale of Erwin's estate described it as...“a good two-story brick mansion house with two rooms and a large hall below and three rooms above with a kitchen adjoining, and a cellar underneath; a wash house and well of excellent water near the door; a large, frame barn, convenient wagon house and corncribs adjoining"
This is the first public record that denotes the name of the tenant farmer then living on the property, Jacob Fulmer. Because of this advertisement, we also know that in 1845 the parcel consisted of:
“a young and thrifty apple orchard with a variety of other fruit trees upon the premises and the land is all upon the river bottom, with fertile soil. the principal part of which having been recently limed, is an a very productive condition, the whole conveniently divided into suitable sized fields under good fence….”
It further noted that "any further information can be had upon application to Jacob Fulmer, the tenant in possession."
Jacob Fulmer (1787-1882)
Jacob R. Fulmer was born on 23 November 1787, in Nockamixon Township in Bucks County. His father, Johannes Follmer, was 37 and his mother, Maria Elizabeth Gicker, was 38. He married Elizabeth Rowe in 1815. We do not know when he and his family first moved to Erwin's farm. But according to the census records they lived on site until at least 1858.
Jacob was 63 in 1850, according to the Federal Population Census. He lived on the property with his wife, Elizabeth, 56; and children Jesse, 33; Mahlon,25; Henry, 22; Jonahthan,14; and Susan, 15.
The Work of a Tenant Farm Family
According to the Agricultural Census of 1850, Jacob was the agent for this property, which consisted of 126 acres, valued at $8,000 in land and $250 in machinery.
It also stated that The farm produced annually: 300 bushels of wheat, 150 bushels of rye, 850 bushels of Indian corn, 200 bushels of oats, 28 pounds of wool, 75 bushels of Irish potatoes, 250 pounds butter, 25 tons hay, 2 bushels of clover, and 1 pound of hops. Hay, corn and oats were especially important because they were fed to cattle, oxen, horses, pigs, and chickens.
Photos from Tinicum Township at the turn of the 20th century give a good sense of tenant farming work
Among the tasks Fulmer would have been responsible for would have been liming the fields and dividing them into suitable sized fields under good fence. Crops were then farmed in rotation of first corn, then oats and wheat, followed by grass. The grass might often be pastured for several years after it was mown as fodder for the livestock on the farm which included: 5 horses, 5 cows, 4 cattle, 11 sheep and 14 swine.
Haying
The whole family was put to work on the farm. Elizabeth and her daughter would have not only been occupied with spinning, dairying, needlework, cooking, poultry keeping, gardening, food preservation, and baking but in field work as well. At haying time, for example, the Fulmer men would have cut the grass, while the Elizabeth and her daughter followed behind and raked it. Together with pasture, hay lands took up as much as three quarters of the improved acreage on a typical southeastern Pennsylvania farm. The Fulmers harvested 25 tons of hay annually.
Kitchen Garden
The tenant farm would have had a large vegetable garden as well as an orchard planted mainly with apples but also other fruit trees. Elizabeth and her daughter would be responsible for food preservation including pickling, drying, and smoking.
Swine
The Fulmer's had 14 swine, and most farms in the county had at least half a dozen swine. Hogs consumed butter making by-products, excess milk, kitchen slops, and corn meal and could then be eaten in the household or easily marketed nearby.
Poultry
The Fulmer's didn't list eggs as a product in the 1850 census. However, virtually every farm had a flock of two or three dozen, which mainly supplied the household with eggs and meat.
Potatoes
Jacob harvested 75 bushels of Irish potatoes annually. They were a staple crop, providing food for the family as well as product for market.
Cows and Dairy
Jacob had 5 cows and produced 250 pounds of butter annually. Bucks County produced over 2 million pounds annually and it the height of the dairy industry well over 400 pounds per farm.
Grain
Jacob harvested 300 bushels of wheat, 150 bushels of rye, and 200 bushels of oats annually on the farm.
Delaware Canal
Product would be loaded on to Canal Boats along the Delaware Canal on the western border of the farm, and sent south to the Philadelphia Markets.
Henry and Barbara Stover
In 1846, the estate was purchased by Henry and Barbara Stover, and it continued as a tenant farm under Jacob Fulmer's management. Henry Stover improved the house, adding the north section with two additional rooms on the ground floor and three bedrooms above.
Jacob Fulmer and his family continued managing the farm for the Stovers for the next 13 years.
Credits:
Photos of Farming scenes come from Tinicum Township, Bucks County By Patricia Valentine Whitacre and Richard A. Plank