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Historic farm gives new jump to Bobby Hinds

John Oncken  —  10/25/2007 11:36 am

Bobby Hinds admits he never gave much thought to local history. He was a Kenosha boy who boxed at the University of Wisconsin, then worked as an insurance executive before owning Lifeline USA, the well-known Madison-based company that manufactures and markets Lifeline jump ropes and Lifeline gyms.

But his interests took a complete turn when he and his wife Joy bought an old farm in Iowa County. To say they are involved in the preservation and reconstruction of the farm would be an understatement. Immersed would be more fitting.

Bobby and Joy live in a downtown Madison condominium. Their daughter Jil, who lived in the Arena area, saw a for sale sign on the Sawle farm and called her parents. Joy perked up her ears at the news. She had grown up a half mile from the farm, had played there as a youngster and knew its history.

"All our children -- Jef, Jon, Jil and Jul -- are interested in history and the environment,'' Joy said. "So we bought the house and some 70 acres.''

One of their first moves was to talk with Dan Viste, owner of Historic Properties Management in Mazomanie.

Viste, an environmental hydrologist and former president of Waryzn Engineering in Madison, and his wife Nancy have rebuilt a dozen historic buildings in Mazomanie, including the Old Feed Mill and Whistle Stop restaurants.

The house on the Sawle farmstead is currently a skeleton as Viste's company wipes away and restores history.

A bit of background: William Sawle, the son of a sea captain, emigrated with his family during the 19th century from Cornwall, England at age 17, to a farm near Arena in Iowa County. He worked at the home farm, as a part-time carpenter and also as a school teacher.

On Sundays he toured the countryside as a singer with a Christian temperance wagon at local rallies. Along the way, he met a neighbor girl who played the piano at the gatherings. They later married.

Catherine Tregaskis, an adopted daughter of William and Elizabeth Rowe, who had owned what was then known as Rosevale Farm since 1852, sold the farm to the soon-to-be wed couple in 1889. Thus began nearly 120 years of ownership of the farm by the Sawle family.

Rosevale Farm had been a center of agricultural activity since 1847 when a sawmill was built on the site. A grist mill followed in 1852, followed by a blacksmith shop, a general store and a creamery that made butter.

The Rowes also built a house in 1852, and what a house it was!

The second floor sleeping porch ran the length of the home and made for comfortable sleeping during the hot summer months for family and guests. A similar first floor summer porch offered dining and entertaining space.

Much of the furniture had been brought from Galena, Ill., by the Rowes. It was purchased by the Sawles and is now at the Iowa County Historical Museum in Dodgeville.

An elaborate circular fountain surrounded by flowers added to the stately appearance of the farmstead.

Over the years the house hosted a long list of well-known guests including Dean Russell, dean of the UW College of Agriculture, Thornton Wilder, pianist Gunnar Johnson, and Frank Lloyd Wright.

William and Jeannette Sawle had nine children and farmed the 500-acre farm. Sawle even wrote a poem about life on the farmstead:

"I fed my cows bright timothy hay;

From all the corn meal they could eat,

their hides were smooth as silk

but still they would not milk.

What is the matter with my cows?

One hay's as good as another."

But I could see from my wife's smiles

I was a hopeless brother.

When "courses" for adult farmers

in Madison were started,

"Here is my chance," said she to me,

to have your farm work charted."

In talks by Henry, Babcock and Whitson

I was much int'rested,

An Humphrey's management of cows and soils

that should be tested.

At last, in nineteen hundred, was a real red letter day:

For from that time, dull as I was,

my farm began to pay."

The first barn burned in 1925 and was replaced with a 132-foot structure in 1926 that still stands The historic grist mill that ground 50,000 bushels of wheat in 1860 burned in 1943. Part of the foundation and the water turbine housing can still be seen.

As happens, the Sawle family ran out of farmers and the historic farmstead was put up for sale this spring by owner Ted Sawle, who is 102 years old and resides in a Mount Horeb rehabilitation center.

Although the land and barn had been rented to a neighboring family for several decades, the once well-known house, fountain, smoke house, apiary and grounds had fallen on hard times. But it didn't die. Far from it.

"I helped them find a direction," Viste said. "We couldn't go back to 1852 but settled on 1916 because of old newspapers we found in the wall which indicated the year of a major remodeling.''

Bobby and Joy and their family eagerly look forward to the day when the house is again a center of activity, the old grist mill is restored, the fountain again spouts water and Rosevale lives again.

They see the farmland as possible rental acreage for organic food producers and the farm again as a family operation.

It's a labor of love: Ted Sawle sees a rebirth of history; the Vistes see a combination of history, culture and a natural setting evolving; the Hinds family sees a new era for a historic site.

"I'm happy that our business success allows this to happen," Bobby said.

"It seems that this was supposed to happen," said Joy with pride.

It's one historic farm that didn't die. Rather, a new era is being born and generations to come can enjoy what those Cornwall mariners created so long ago.

What could be better?

John Oncken is owner of Oncken Communications, a Madison-based agricultural information and consulting company. He can be reached at 222-0624 or e-mail jfodairy@chorus.net

John Oncken  —  10/25/2007 11:36 am