Georg Schmidt Farm

History

Although this property was first settled in 1861 by German immigrant Georg Hessell (uncle of Georg Schmidt), there is no evidence that any of the remaining buildings date from that time. Mr. Hessell reported that he had improved (cleared) 25 of his 96 acres, valued at $1000. He harvested modest amounts of wheat, rye, corn, potatoes, and hay. He sold $40-worth of livestock.

In 1867, Georg and his mother Margareth Hessel Schmidt arrived from Mainz, Germany. Georg married Mary Decker in 1875 and had 3 sons (George, Oskar and Albert). The couple purchased this property, and began to further develop the farm. They had a general farm operation typical of northern Michigan, adding a dairy operation, an orchard, a vineyard, and a few hop vines for home-beer making. In 1881, Mary died giving birth to their daughter who also died. George married Flora Blacklock in 1882 who was widowed with a son, Frank, who captained Great Lakes ships. In addition to being a legendary navigator of Great Lakes waters, he was much appreciated for getting jobs for many young Port Oneida men working on the lake. During the 1890′s the Schmidts’ new house burned to the ground, forcing them to live in the granary while the present house was built.

The Schmidts lived and farmed here for many years, raising five sons. One of the sons, John Schmidt, purchased another Port Oneida farm at the corner of Port Oneida and Miller Roads. After Georg died in 1933, Flora moved down to live with her son John and his family. The farmhouse here then sat empty for many years while John used the land and farm buildings as an extension of his farm. He would move his cattle up to pasture the land during summers, and bring them back down to his home farm for winters.

In 1958 John sold the farm to a realtor, who then sold it to the Hayms family for use as a summer cottage.

The modest house features a cut stone foundation. The combined granary/corn crib sets to the right (north) of the driveway. The barn, which collapsed and was removed during the 40′s, was northeast of the granary. The shed, between the house and the granary, may have once served as a smokehouse. (Many Port Oneidans smoked fish and other meats.) The outhouse remains out back, ready to serve.

In front of the house several apple and pear trees remain from the Schmidts’ orchard. The driveway is lined with sprouts from older lombardy poplars (which were commonly planted around the area to establish some quick-growing trees on the logged-over landscape).

Although many Port Oneidans were of Germanic origin, the Schmidts were known as more distinctly tied to their heritage. Georg Schmidt is remembered for introducing himself as, Schmidt mit a D. (“mit” being German for “with”.) Neighbor Laura Basch recalled that during WWI he was watched very closely. Oskar Schmidt changed his name to Oscar Smith during that period to sound more American.

Mrs. Basch also remembered Georg Schmidt as a cantankerous neighbor. She believed that he sometimes left his fields unseeded after plowing, in order to expose neighbors to blowing dust and sand. (However, the families seem to have had something of a running feud, so that might be considered to be her side of the story.)

Another descendent, Georg and Flora’s grandson Willard Smith (Oskar’s son), went into the Coast Guard (like many young Port Oneida men), and rose to become Commandant of the agency.

Like a number of other Port Oneida farms, the Schmidt Farm is available for a proposed adaptive use in cooperation with the National Park Service. It is a picturesque farm in a quiet setting with several buildings in relatively good condition.