The Monday After: Plowing through decades of the past
The great-great-great-grandson of farm implement manufacturer Joshua Gibbs – attorney Richard Gibbs – might not be a farmer, but he still is a plow guy.
The heart of Gibbs, who practices in North Canton, remains with his ancestor, Joshua Gibbs, a partner in Bucher & Gibbs Plow Company and one of the handful of manufacturers who made Canton a center of the production of farm equipment in the 1800s. Joshua Gibbs is buried in Westlawn Cemetery, adjacent to McKinley National Memorial and near McKinley Presidential Library, where Gibbs notes a restored B&G plow is preserved.
Canton plow saved: Pennsylvanian preserves remnant of Bucher & Gibbs Plow Co.
Not far away in downtown Canton is Stark County Courthouse, built in 1870, which Gibbs said has two important 19th century Stark County industries represented in its clock tower.
"One of which is the manufacturing of plows depicted in the left angle of the tower," he noted.
So, Gibbs read with interest a column in this space a few weeks ago about the finding of a B&G plow in Pennsylvania. He reached out to congratulate the men who found and moved that plow, which was overgrown in weeds and forgotten.
"I passed (the article) along to my family," he wrote in an email. "All enjoyed and were very interested."
Recalling finding the plow
Pennsylvania resident Ken Recker found the decades-old horse-drawn plow, the embossed "B&G Plow Co." still visible on its corroded metal. The farm implement – manufactured by Bucher & Gibbs Plow Co. in Canton – was discovered near Everett, Pennsylvania, in Bedford County.
"I saw it in some brush," Recker said. He was cleaning up a neighbor's property for sale. "I didn't know if it was valuable. I didn't know if it was worth anything to anyone. I didn't know if a museum would want it."
Reckert asked his neighbor if she wanted to keep the ancient farm implement, and she said, "No, just take it."
So, Reckert, who "didn't want an antique to go to the scrap heap," moved the plow to a corner of his garage where it could be more easily inspected.
"We dragged it out, me and my wife," he said, "and when we got it to our garage, we cleaned it up, brushed off the dirt from around the 'B&G.'"
Recker showed the plow to a friend, Allen Boyd, who is knowledgeable about and restores farm equipment, to gain insight into its origin and use.
"I just thought it was very interesting. I knew it was old and I wanted to know the history of it."
The plow carried sentimental value, as well, Recker noted. The man who previously owned the property, Walter Weyent, who died five years ago, had used the plow for farming.
"He worked his father's farm with it," said Recker. "After World War II, he came home and his father had health issues, so he stayed and helped out and he used this plow."
Since the discovery of the plow, new owners of the property continued to clean up weeds where the plow was discovered. They found more smaller pieces of farm equipment.
"I went over to tell (the new owner) about the plow, and he said 'Funny you should say that; I found some more things. I was going to take them to the scrap heap, but if you want them, just take them.'"
So, those new parts, cleaned up and examined, joined the B&G plow in Recker's garage.
"I have no idea if they were part of the original plow," Recker said. "They look to be of the same period. One of the pieces looks to be from a seed planter."
Another plow valued and displayed
Meanwhile, the existence of another plow – this one more prominently placed in Stark County – has surfaced in Louisville.
Kraig Ossler of Louisville keeps it as a part of the landscaping at his home.
"It just happened to be here when we moved into the house in 1999," Ossler explained after reading the previous B&G plow article and contacting The Canton Repository. "It's sitting out in the flower bed as an ornament. A water pump was with it, but we moved that to another flower bed."
The plow, with the only marking appearing to be a serial number, looks "similar to" the Pennsylvania plow, said Ossler. But, it has no "B&G" embossed on it.
"I'm hoping somebody can identify it. I'm interested in knowing where it came from and what kind it is," he said. "The people who might have knowledge of such things aren't going to be around much longer."
As of now, the red plow serves simply as a decoration in Ossler's yard.
"I replaced the handles and painted it," Ossler said. "We put a scarecrow on it in the fall and we put some Christmas ornaments on it at the holidays."
What might be the future for the B&G plow in Pennsylvania?
Boyd has expressed some interest in restoring the piece, said Recker. And, man from a museum in Olmsted Falls contacted Recker about the plow's restoration and display.
"I'm not a restorer, and I don't have an interest in displaying it in my yard. I just don't want it to be lost," said Recker. "If a museum came along that restores that kind of thing and could put it on display, I would be happy to donate it to the cause.
"I just think it's too valuable historically to let it rust away outside."
Reach Gary at gary.brown.rep@gmail.com. On Twitter: @gbrownREP.
This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Unearthed Canton plow set for preservation in Pa.
