LABS SOD HOUSE

According to an article written by Rueben Labs for the Amherst Centennial book, Fred Labs built this sod house about 1887 and it was lived in for 30 years.

Reuben also wrote: In the 1880's the railroad had homesteads for sale in the Amherst area. The land which Carl Rusch and Emil Pfeifer bought were a mile apart 2 1/2 miles northeast of Amherst. Emil Pfeifer decided not to live on his homestead and sold it to Fred Labs in 1889 for $1,500. This was the southwest quarter of Section 3 of Grant Twp. Fred had a one-room frame house built to shelter his family which now included sons Carl and Gustave and daughters Anna and Minnie. As the growing family needed more room, a sod house 26' x 32' was built. This had a roof covered with wood shingles. It was used as a home for thirty years. Three more daughter, Marie, Martha and Paula and a son Walter joined the family for a total of eight children.

In 1900 Fred Labs purchased the northwest quarter of Section 4 in Grant Township from William Rose. A few years later he purchased more land from Mr. Rose, this time it was the west half of Section 33 in Scott Township. (End of quote from Rueben's article.)

I believe that the oldest son, Gustav, lived on the farm pictured above, and he replaced the sod house with one that he purchased from either Sears and Roebuck or Montgomery Ward. Fred and Augusta then lived in the frame house on the farm in Section 4 of Grant Township. Son Carl and his wife Josie lived in Section 33 of Scott Twp.

These farms are listed in the 1919 Buffalo County Atlas, which can be seen on the Buffalo County NEGenWeb Project site. These are large maps and will take a while to load. Use your browser's BACK button to return here. Grant Township   Scott Township.

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