Stone Wall on the Johnson farm on Paine Avenue

Dave Johnson, a son of Art Johnson, supplied to me the draft of an article that was given to his father of an article that was in a Magazine about the Stone Fence on the family farm that has been in the family for several generations. Over time Dave has forgotten the name of the magazine. Dave and I share want to share this article. Dave lives on the family farm on Paine Avenue presently. His place is the first one south of the Sub-Station on 17 Mile Road. Dave’s father Art lived in the second home on the east side of the road at 13738 Paine Avenue at the time this article was written. The stone wall is visible from the road between the second home and the third one on the east side of the Road.

Art Johnson’s Stone Wall

When I told Art that his stone wall was a really nice work of art, he looked at me with a rather bemused look on his face and replied, “Well it really is a piece of work.”

Art Johnson, is the third generation of his family to farm the property where he lives and at 89 years young, still helps to farm the property located on Paine Ave, in Tyrone Township in Northern Kent County here in Michigan.

We were looking at a rather unique structure found in the middle of one of the fields of his farm. The structure is an impressive stone wall, about 35 or 40 rods long,” as Art describes it, “and not straight with the fence line. But we work around that when we plow,” Art said. The wall is a “dry stone” wall, so called because the stone is laid without mortar.

Art was raised on the farm where he still lives, along with three brothers. When I approached Art with the idea of writing about his stone wall and the neighboring stone houses, I expected to hear tales of the four Johnson brothers working long hot summers clearing the fields of stone. Art, however retold tales told to him by his father and grandfather about the history of the wall.

It seems that a Civil War veteran named Lorenzo “Renz” Chapman is responsible for the wall. Moving to Michigan sometime after his discharge from the Union Army after the end of the war, Chapman purchased the property that is now known locally as the “Johnson” farm. Chapman may have been fairly well-off at the time, as early on he built a house for his family as well as a barracks wing attached to the house for his help. Chapman was, however, fairly astute. He had two daughters and while the barracks wing which provided housing for the help was attached to his own house, there was no passageway between the two structures.

Chapman first had the help dig a ditch about eight feet wide by three to four feet deep and some 600 feet long. This was then filled with stone – stone which was picked from the fields of the farm. And that is where the wall stands today. Thousands of stone left there by a receding glacier of thousands of years ago.

In this area of northern Kent County, a number of stone – built structures is to be found, including houses, silos, and other farm out – buildings. Built as much as 100 and more years ago, they stand today square and solid, a testament to the quality of the work done.

Stone masonry was once a true profession, raised to the level of fine art. The term masonry originally applied only to stonework. Later it also came to include work with brick and concrete. a

To build a stone house or other building, required a lot of time, patience and a considerable amount of planning. The raw materials were readily available to anyone with a strong back, a willingness to work and the time and energy to “pick the stone” from the fields. Usually a “stone boat” and a team of horses, mules or oxen were used to skid the stone from the fields to the work site. Stone in the field was a serious hazard to plowing and the farmer was happy to be rid of the stone. In today’s landscaping schemes, however, stone is a desired commodity.

When it was desired to finish the inside walls of a stone-built structure such as a house, the interior of the walls was covered with furring or wooden lath strips which provided a nailing surface for the interior finishing materials. This lath stripping would also provide a surface for plaster as an interior finish alternative.

There are also specific techniques for the exterior finishing of a stone built structure. “Ashlar”, which means squared or hewn stone (sometimes honed or polished) is one technique. “Cobblestone” is another. Cobblestone means naturally – rounded stone, larger than pebbles and smaller than boulders. Many of the stone houses and outbuildings in the area have the cobblestone look to them. Many early Michigan houses and outbuildings were built with stone foundations.

Today, Art lives in the house which was built as a retirement home for his grandparents. This house, like others in the neighborhood, has walls about a foot thick. The inside and outside walls of the framing for the walls are covered with the full-cut one inch thick boards and the inside of the walls are filled with stone “rubble.” “It’s a real bother.” Says Art, “When I try to run new electrical wiring or install new plumbing. It does stay nice and cool early-on. But, come August, there are many warm nights!”

Stone houses and other buildings built of stone, have proven over time to be durable and solid. Stone connects to the making of the building, the human hand and the people who made them. Today, one can marvel at what has been achieved by hand those many years ago.