Kristoph Carl Heinrich Panning (1862 - 1943)

Just a few words of Kristoph's start in farming. When he was old enough to start farming for himself, his mother bought a neighbor's farm from Mr. Boesling. During the winter he cut logs for the first buildings. At that time this was all handwork; the logs were cut and shaped with axes. When spring came he (with his brother-in-law to be, Henry Dammann assisting him) built a log house. Krist had a few years experience in carpenter work, so that came in handy in building the first few buildings. His first barn was also made of logs.

On their 160 acre farm, there were only four acres under cultivation, so plenty of work was necessary to clear the rest of the woods. Krist sold cordwood for an income. He had one team of oxen instead of horses. He hauled the cordwood to town, there it was packed in freight cars and shipped out by rail to bigger cities. Those years they cut their grain with a Cradle (which is a framework attached to scythes to catch grain when cut) then they tied the bundles by hand.

Bertha (Panning) Rolf, 1973