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History of Granville (in Bradford County PA)
By Ruth Kinney
Retyped by Linda Selub & Christine Keel
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This postcard, sent in by Don Stanton, of Glenside Farm's Herd , is
in pretty
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Chapter III
The Glenside Farms
With the memories of the famed Glenside Farms in the minds of some of the older residents its is interesting to note that the name of Leland D. May was honored in the Dairy Shrine of Milking Shorthorn Society of Springfield, Missouri by Harry Clampitt, President of the Society.
The following is inscribed upon the plaque: The Dairy Shrine Club, Know All People the Present that the Picture of Leland D. May has been placed upon the walls of the Pioneer Room in recognition of the contribution toward the advancement of the Dairy Industry into fruitful and dignified service to Mankind, Dated October 13, 1970.
The foundation of this famed herd was established in 1886 when Mr. May became associated with his brother-in-law, Judson K. Innes, as manager of what was known as the "Glenside Farms." Mr. Innes at that time operated a tannery on the farm and a small village grew around his industry. The milk shorthorn breeding business was only a minor feature of the farming operations. But to Mr. May it evidently was the beginning of a great and useful life for establishing the institution so prominently known in those years.
Mr. May, born in 1860, assumed full ownership of the farms in 1908 and continued to operate them along with a creamery on the property. The butter and products from this creamery gained wide recognition throughout the country with John Ross, the buttermaker in this creamery for 32 years.
Leland was one of the modest people, with a firm ambition to succeed. He loved to talk and his words bore the authority of sound common sense. His philosophy was the practical kind. He took the rough life, as it came in those days and was a sincere friend to all who knew him.
Mr. May, at one time, was associated with Charles Otis, of the Otis family who had a large farm in Willoughby, Ohio. With this partnership they achieved a great majority of prizes for the Dairy Shorthorn at the leading fairs and the International Shows throughout the country. At the World’s Fair Exposition in Chicago in 1893, Mr. May personally exhibited Kitty Clay IV and Kitty Clay III, in all breed competition for economical butter production, where they ranked the highest.
An amusing episode is told of Mr. May and one of his many business acquaintances. "Many years ago about dark, the late autumn of a foggy, rainy day, there arrived at the Glenside by auto the ‘Honorable Duncan Marshall, Minister of Agricultural of Canada’ with a group of friends to inspect the Shorthorns. The party was tired and irritable by their late arrival, due to the muddy and slippery roads encountered in Bradford County. Consequently it was necessary for Mr. May to display his herd by the use of an oil lantern. The Glenside proprietor exercised great care and courtesy in asking the visiting party to return to the house for supper and to stay all night. Even though great thanks were extended to Mr. May, the party seemed anxious to be on their way. Thus they departed with Mr. May considerably ill at ease to know what was wrong. Sometime later at the International Breeders Show in Chicago the following November there appeared one afternoon in the Milking Shorthorn stables, the Honorable Marshall with friends in search of the Glenside Exhibit. After Mr. Marshall had introduced his friends to Mr. May, he said, "This man has the greatest herd of Milking Shorthorns that I ever saw but he lives in the most Godforsaken spot to which I ever have traveled." This furnished Mr. May with sufficient explanation why Mr. Marshall was so anxious to depart from the Glenside Farm on that foggy, dark night."
Mr. May continued to operate the farm until his death in 1922 when his wife, Sarah Belle Catlin May, assumed the management of the business until the large barns were destroyed by fire on that fateful night in June of the early 1930s. Mrs. May was born in 1864 and died in 1937 thus ending nearly fifty years of the May name being associated with the Glenside Farms.
Other creameries in the area in addition to the Glenside Farm creamery were the Silverdale Creamery located in East Canton, The Odee Creamery and the Cloverdale Creameries both located at LeRoy and one at West Franklin.
Many years ago, before the days of milk stations such as the Sheffield plant at Cowley was built, there were small skimming stations to which the farmers would take their milk. These stations were located in various parts of the township.
Some of these stations were owned by Leland May of the Glenside Farms. The farmers would bring their milk to the stations where the cream was skimmed off. The farmer would then take his skimmed milk home with him. This milk was used to feed the calves and pigs that were raised to be sold to supplement the family income or for meat for the table. What delicious cottage cheese or as it was known in those days "dutch cheese" that skimmed milk would make! The cream collected at these skimming stations was then delivered to the Glenside creamery to be made in butter.
One of these skimming stations was located at the four corners on the dirt road near the former John Brown farm now owned by Joe Kelley. It cannot be verified as to whether this station was owned by the Glenside Farms or not. It is assumed by relatives of Mr. May that it was.
Another one of these skimming stations was located near the intersection of the Pratt road and Route 514 just below Bailey Corners. This May owned station was managed at one time by George Sherman. Mr. Sherman and his mother resided in the Centre in the Lowe house adjacent to the Granville Center school. Perley Pratt was employed in this skimming station for many years.
The Sterling Smith family moved to the former Glenside Farm in the early 1940s. Due to the fact that there were no barns in the center of town his dairy herd was housed in the large barns across the creek formerly known as the Charles Sayles farm. These barns were destroyed by fire on the night of September 21, 1941. Then Mr. Smith began construction on the cow barn and horse barn now owned by the Butcher family.
| Tri-Counties Genealogy Sites | Granville Township Page | Kinney Table of Contents | Tri-Counties Online Research Library |
Published On Tri-Counties Site On 10/30/99
By Joyce M. Tice
Email: JoyceTice@aol.com
