Submitted by Ellen Knoernschild and written by her husband Bob (1935 to 2017.) Bob wrote about his experiences growing up in Augusta on Centennial Farms.
HEATING STOVES
In the early days, our house was heated totally by wood. Dad would cut down trees in the woods for fence posts, lumber and firewood. Smaller limbs were used for firewood and were cut into 10-foot lengths, brought in and stacked vertically to dry. I remember helping cut firewood into 18-inch lengths on a large circular saw mounted on the front of the tractor. It was probably a very dangerous setup.
The cut-up wood was piled in the backyard. Large pieces were for the heating stove in the dining room or living room, and pieces split into 2-inch widths for the cook stove in the kitchen. The only warm rooms were the kitchen and dining rooms. A little heat went upstairs through the stove-pipes, but not enough to warm the rooms much. My brother and I slept under a heavy feather comforter, about two inches thick, in the winter.
We had the job of bringing in wood each afternoon after school. We had to fill the wood box in the kitchen and pile up larger wood on the back porch for the heating stove.
An improvement was made by replacing the wood stove in the kitchen with a stove that burned propane. The small tanks were set up just outside the kitchen. This was a big improvement for the summer but did not supply any heat for the winter. Canned goods stored in the kitchen would freeze.
ELECTRICITY ARRIVES
Our gas lamps ran on something called white gas, a highly refined form of gasoline used mainly in gas lamps and lanterns. Inside were two globes made of some kind of non-burning material. These globes would contain the flame and were delicate; touching them would destroy them.
Our electrical supplies were delivered in a big box. Dad did not hire a licensed electrician because there was no one like that around Augusta. His cousin, who had picked up some knowledge, helped. Dangerous shortcuts were taken. The entire house was on one circuit. If a fuse blew, everything would be off. As a fuse box Dad used a fused switch box. He used lamp cord to wire some switches and did not use junction boxes for switches and receptacles. But electricity was a huge, though somewhat dangerous, improvement to the house.
