Go Team! Of Horses, That Is…52 Ancestors 2022 Prompt “Teams”

Horse Teams: Critical Farm Livestock in the Early 1900s

 

While most people might see the prompt “Teams” and immediately think of sports teams, I haven’t run across many ancestors who played or followed sports seriously. My mind instead turned to a different type of team—a team that was critical to farmers in the early 1900s: horse teams. 

Before gasoline-powered tractors were mass-produced and became affordable, farmers used horse-drawn farm equipment. Acquiring and caring for a good team of horses was of serious importance. You can tell this by the number of photos my ancestors took of their horses—there were rarely photos of them with pets, cattle, hogs or other livestock, but old albums feature several shots of various family members standing next to or between horses, their faces showing great pride in these literal farm workhorses.

Here are a few of these photos:

My paternal great-uncle Sever Syverson and a hired man posing with three horses on a snowy, winter day. Approximately 1910-1915?

Threshing equipment on the farm of Anders Oren, my first-cousin-twice-removed and also the husband of my grandaunt Ragnhild. Note this is a team of four horses, reflecting the heavy weight of the load they were hauling.

This blurry photo is labeled “Oscar with Lola and Ruby”. I believe this is my uncle Oscar Peterson. I love the names: my relatives loved their horses and often gave them human names.

My maternal grandfather Ivan Macbeth with his horse team in front of his barn outside Eagle Lake, Minnesota.

And finally, two photos of my dad, Juhl Peterson, with his team of horses in the early 1930s on the Peterson farm —note the size disparity between the two animals. One is at least half a hand taller than the other, making me wonder how they managed to work well together. Also, look at my dad’s expression—I think he was whistling to the horses, probably to tell them to stand still.

One final note about horse teams: these were big, powerful animals that could act unpredictably. Both of my father’s grandfathers were killed in horse accidents—one was kicked or thrown, and the other was crushed between a horse and the barn. Horses were serious business in more ways than one.