(Kay Badger shares his childhood memories of going to his Grandpa Parley Lambert Tolman’s farm in Oakley, Idaho).
I remember going to Grandpa Tolman’s Farm in Oakley during the summers and staying for weeks to help Grandpa on his farm. He had dairy cows, horses, chickens and other animals. He had a big granary that he warned us about and we still played in it and my brother Don almost got covered up in the wheat that was in the there. He grew potatoes, hay and wheat as far as I remember. When I was younger I couldn’t do much, but when I was old enough I helped in the potatoes and hay. I first remember him having loose hay and a big derrick to stack the hay in a big hay pile. Later he bailed the hay and at first I would drive the hay truck and could hardly see over the steering wheel while others would throw the bales of hay on the truck. Later there was a loader that made things easier. I remember putting out the 10-gallon milk cans for the dairy truck to pick up and then picked up the milk cans that would have butter and other dairy things from the dairy. We lived in Burley about 20 miles to the north of Oakley and would go up with Jack and Elaine and their family. On the way back from Oakley we all fall asleep in the back of his van that he used for his furniture recovering business. I remember Dennis trying to outrun the little Ford tractor in later years. When we were little, he used horses for farming and there is picture of Don, Rosemary, Allen and myself. Arm in a wringer – 126 stiches – don tore his lip
Visit FamilySearch to learn more about Parley Lambert Tolman and other ancestors. Also visit the Thomas Tolman Family Organization to find out how you can get more involved in family history.
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