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Archives of The College of St. Scholastica: Daisy Farm

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Daisy Farm

Daisy Farm - earlyThe Daisy Farm was purchased by the Sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery in the early 1900s and totaled 160 acres. 

Previously it had been owned by the Ryder and Weller families with them building a farmhouse and barn on the property. Successful farmers Gray and Youngblood leased the land, and it was known as the Weller Farm as well as the Daisy Farm even before the Sisters owned it.

The Sisters built a farmhouse and barn in 1902 once they took possession of it and kept cows, chickens, and pigs that provided food for them, the students, and patients at St. Mary's hospital. The farm closed during the Great Depression in the late 1930s when it no longer was financially feasible. 

Click on the images and links below for more information on the history of the Daisy Farm.

Slide show of the history of the Daisy Farm

Maps

Photographs - from St. Scholastica Monastery and Used by Permission

1906 Students and Sisters in Chester Creek

1906 Students and Sisters in Chester Creek

In the background behind the students and Sisters in the creek are what is known to be the original farmhouse and barn built by the Ryders and Wellers. It was in this barn that the Wellers had a school sometime between 1877-82.

1911 students with cows in Chester Creek

1911 Students with Cows near Chester Creek

Once the Sisters purchased the land, they used it as a working farm complete with livestock such as cows, pigs, and chickens. That plus produce grown was food for the Sisters, students at the school and college, and patients at St. Mary's Hospital. They also brought students here for picnics from the school they had at 3rd Ave. East and 3rd St. before they built Tower Hall.

1911 Cows in Chester Creek

1911 Cows in Chester Creek

At one point, the farm had 11 cows, 1 steer, and 4 teams of two horses.

1911 Student with Cow

1911 Student with Cow

Milk from the cows would have been used by the school and St. Mary's Hospital. A milk house or spring house was built in 1902 for storage and still stands close to Chester Creek, which would have kept it cold.

1910 Sisters picking berries

1910 Sisters Picking Berries

The last section of land the Sisters purchased in 1906 included some woods and what would be the quarry for the gabbro or bluestone used to build Tower Hall and the Theatre. These woods also had wild berry bushes the Sisters harvested.

Circa 1910 to 1930 Students Skating on Chester Creek Livestock Pond

Circa 1910-1930 Students Skating on Chester Creek Livestock Pond

The Sisters had Chester Creek dammed near the north edge of their property by Niagara St. to create a livestock pond that was then used as a skating rink by the students and Sisters in the winter.

1910s Mr. Beyenka behind Tower Hall

1910s Mr. Beyenka behind Tower Hall

Mr. Beyenka worked on the farm along with his wife. They were the parents of Sister Eustacia. He is pictured here behind Tower Hall holding some very big produce.

1900s Mr. Beyenka in Cabbage Field

1900s Mr. Beyenka in Cabbage Field

Before the Sisters own the land, it was rented out to Misters Gray and Youngblood. It was reported in the newspaper that in 1871, they raised a quarter acre of cabbages yielding 2,000 heads!

1913 Mrs. Beyenka and the chickens

1913 Tending Chickens

This photo shows the farmyard with chickens that also includes the barn and farmhouse the Sisters built in 1902. The farmhouse became Tarry Hall and housed the post office and bowling alley when it was moved behind Tower Hall in 1941.

1913 Chickens

1913 Chickens

At one point the farm had 250 chickens, and eggs were gathered for the kitchens at the school as well as for St. Mary's Hospital. They could be kept cool in the milk or spring house built in 1902 that still stands along Chester Creek.

1910s Ducks by Chester Creek

1910s Ducks by Chester Creek

The farm also had 6 turkeys, 6 geese, 4 rabbits, and 1 dog valued at $25 ($787 in 2023).

1913 Cutting Wheat

1913 Cutting Wheat

The farm had gardens and crops such as wheat and potatoes. Part of the land was also used for pasture for the livestock. Horses were a vital part of running the farm, and the Sisters had 4 teams of two horses and 19 vehicles of various kinds including 5 carriages.

1913 Cutting Wheat

1913 Cutting Wheat

Other crops that had been grown on this land before the Sisters owned it included oats, timothy and clover, corn, peas, beans, and turnips.

1910s Digging Potatoes

1910s Digging Potatoes

The previous owners - Andrew and Mary (Ryder) Weller grew seed potatoes on this land and in the late 1860s advertised 4 varieties in the newspapers: Early Goodrich, Early Sebec, Harrison, and Gleason.

Early 1940s Constructing College Street

Early 1940s Construction College Street

College Street was connected from what had been called Allen Street to the College and its entrance sometime in the early 1940s. This photo shows workers on the new road and a farmhouse on the other side of Kenwood Ave. as well as Tower Hall, Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel and Library, and Stanbrook Hall, which had been added to the campus in 1938.

"Nestlings" 1892 Book by Ella Fraser Weller

1892 Nestlings Book Cover

1892 Nestlings Book Cover

by Andrew Weller's sister-in-law Ella Fraser Weller, who was married to his older brother Samuel. He was a Presbyterian minister and founded Occidental College in California.

Ella Fraser Weller

Ella Fraser Weller

Ella's sister K. A. Fraser took photographs of "children in the author's immediate circle of friends" to illustrate the poems Ella wrote for the book. This is a photo of her with a child.

Harold and Earl Weller

Harold and Earl Weller

Samuel and Ella had two boys, Harold and Earl, who are included in the book.

Ethelwin McPherron

Ethelwin McPherron

The copy our Library was able to obtain was dedicated to a family friend, 5 year old Ethelwin McPherron. Sadly Ethelwin died when she was 15 and is buried in the same cemetery as Ella and Samuel and many Wellers including their father Tobias at Angelus Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angelus, California.

Signature by the author

Dedication to Ethelwin by Ella

Inscription in our copy of the book, which reads "Ethelwin McPherron with compliments of the Author"

Tobias Weller

Tobias Weller

Tobias was born on June 18, 1801 in Thurmont, Maryland and died at age 90 on March 11, 1892 in Los Angelus. In between, in lived in the area of Ashtabula, Ohio where he raised 8 kids with wife Sarah Higgins.

They were a highly educated family with two sons (Levi and Andrew) being teachers, two sons (Samuel and Oliver) Presbyterian ministers, and attending colleges like Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, Heidelberg Academy also in Ohio, and the University of Chicago.

Documents