A few months after we bought the farm, I received a very curious letter in the mail.
January 27, 2003, Att: Naomi Stutzman. My name is Leon Bennett. I was born in the house you own on Liberty Rd. I have pictures of the barns and other buildings going back to before I was born in 1926. My grandfather built the barn and two or three others on the road. If you want to make copies of my pictures you may call me most any morning and we can make arrangements to meet and maybe I can give more information of the place. Yours truly, Leon
Well, of course, I phoned, and we planned to meet at his home. He was an elderly, happy man with a very pleasant personality. When he told his stories, you couldn’t help but want to stay by his side and listen. He had a slight limp and used a cane to steady his walk.
“Would it be alright if I came over to look around your place?” He asked. “I cannot tell you how happy I am that you plan to restore the barn. I would like to see the inside of the barn if that would be okay.”
“Absolutely! You can come any time you like.”
Soon after our visit Leon shows up at the farm. He took us on a tour through memory lane. “Oh my, I remember that banister! I used to slide down those banisters, but mom didn’t like that I did it.” He said as we walked in the hallway.
“Is that why they are a little wobbly?” I ask. He just chuckles as he looks in the front room. “This was the parlor that was always clean and very nicely decorated. Mom never let us go in and play. It was only used for special occasions or when we had company.”
He told us where the kitchen originally was and where a wall was removed. He showed us the room where the hired man slept and then pointed out the room where his sister slept. “I can’t believe the hired man slept upstairs and my sister slept upstairs also. I guess my parents trusted him.” Leon said. “I slept in the upstairs hallway.” The upstairs had a large landing, around the banisters, which lead to the bedrooms. That is where Leon slept.
Leon became a regular visitor almost every week while our place was under construction. Every time he came, he enjoyed just walking around the property. Sometimes all by himself. You could tell the place aroused fond memories of his childhood, just by the look on his face. The pride radiated as he gazed at the restored large barn his grandfather built.
Reminiscing he said. “I remember taking a horse-drawn wagon full of hay up the barn hill into the barn. We used a horse and the pulley system that is attached along the ceiling of the barn to unload the hay and put it in the haymow.” The barn he treasured as a child, was not going to disappear. It was being restored, as a keepsake of his skillful grandfather’s handiwork.
For three years Leon came for his visits. When the house was being restored, he would walk right in and look around, just checking out what was being done. He enjoyed seeing the progress as the house was getting close to completion. One day he walked in, but what he didn’t know was we had moved that week. I didn’t think anything of it and didn’t want him to feel embarrassed, so I didn’t say anything. The next week Leon rang the doorbell.
As he came in, he said. “I think you moved in last week and I walked right in your house. I want to apologize.”
“No problem Leon, you became a very welcomed friend we love to see. You can come anytime you want.”
Leon by the restored barn his grandfather built. His grandfather also built other barns on the same street that were taken down.
