Mystery Place: 1845 Silas Ingalls farm divvied up among his progeny
Print
The 1845 farm of Silas Ingalls was in Section 19 of the town of Linn. The 1857 plat map shows a small section was also in Section 18.
Albert Beckwith's “History of Walworth County” indicates that Ingalls came from Greene County, New York, in 1845. In a history of Linn Township written by Florence Agern Patton, Silas could trace his history back to 1629 in Lynn, Massachusetts. He had a number of firsts once he moved to Wisconsin.
He taught at the first school on the Big Foot Prairie and he had the first threshing machine in the township.
The 1873 plat book shows Silas Ingalls owning 80 acres in Section 19. A farm adjacent to the west listed the owner as Est. Enoch Ingalls. That plat book shows a sketch of the Silas Ingalls farm. The 1891 plat book shows Silas owning 300 acres in sections 18, 19 and 20.
Silas married Helen Snell; their children were Jerome, Wallace, John P., Henry A., Frank, Hiram and Amos. Silas died Aug. 26, 1907.
The 1919 Prairie Farmer's Directory of Farmers and Breeders lists Amos Ingalls as owner of “Ingallside Farm No. 2.” His 142 acres were in Section 20. There is also a Harold Ingalls listed as tenant on the 120 acres owned by Wallace. Another lists Herman Ingalls, tenant on 140 acres owned by Cyrus Ingalls, Est. in Section 19. Edward Ingalls is shown as the manager of 320 acres in Section 18 for Edward E. Ayers. His farm was known as Upland Farm.
Amos drove a Buick. Edward drove Republic and Overland trucks. Harold drove a Ford and Herman is listed with Buick, Ford and Chevrolet cars. Edward had a 10-20 Titan tractor.
Edward is listed as having a brick silo on the Ayers farm. Harold had a cement silo and Herman had a stave one.
The 1907 plat book lists Silas owning 200 acres in sections 18 and 19. In addition an adjoining farm of 143 acres was owned by C. Ingalls and a 40-acre farm was owned by F. Ingalls.
The 1921 plat book shows Wallace owned 120 acres in sections 18 and 19. Amos had 142 acres in Section 20; H. H. had 145 adjoining acres and J. Ingalls had 20 acres.
The 1930 plat book shows Wallace continuing his ownership; Herman has 80 acres and J. Ingalls continues with the 20 acres. The book, which is labeled “after 1937 and before 1942,” lists the owner of the 80 acres as W. Ingalls. In 1948 the owner is shown as Harla Ingalls owning the property bordered by Academy Road, and the current Linton Road and Ralph Lottig as the owner of the southern portion.
In the 1961 book, Walter and Theodora Lottig are listed as the owners of the southern portion and Peter and Helen McCabe owning the northern section. The 1964 book shows Ralph Lottig as the owner of the southern portion and Fahrmor Corp owning the northern section.
The 1966 plat book again shows that Walter and Theodora Lottig are the owners of the south portion. They are listed as the owners in 1972 and 1978 through 1990. The northern portion across the road was owned by Fahrmor Corp in 1966; they continue this ownership through the 1970 book. Both owners had additional adjoining acreage. Ralph and Donna Lottig are listed as the owners of the southern portion in 1970 and 1973 books.
The 1977 plat book indicates that Pauline Seipp Armstrong owned the north section. Don H. Moritz was the owner in 1980. In 1982 that section became a part of the Merwin farms.
In the 1992 through the 1999 books the southern section owner was shown as Walter F. II and Theodora Lottig. Then in 2002 the section along with other acreage is listed as Lottig Field Corp. I humorously call that area the Zenda International Airport.
Ginny Hall, a historian from Delavan, is author of the “Walking around ...” and “Meandering ... ” books, which highlight the history of Walworth County communities.