"My Story - Beginnings and Early Years" by Ben Blaho

Here is another essay by Ben Blaho. He shared this with us, along with some old farm photos, while visiting our booth at Copemish Heritage Days in 2025. He wrote the essay for his daughter, Rose, as a way to preserve their family history. It contains a nice glimpse at rural farm life in Copemish during the 1930 and 40s. We hope you will enjoy reading it!

My Story

The small town of Copemish, Michigan where I spent my boyhood started during the lumbering area. It is located in Manistee County and was incorporated in 1891. The early settlers came to harvest trees for lumber. They built railroads, hotels, stores, banks and a factory to produce wooden bowls. The factory employed the local people and made use of the wood undesirable for lumber. Of course, with this activity, a few thought there should be a saloon (and there was two or three).

After the tree harvest, the treeless land welcomed farmers to clear the stumps and brush left on the ground. As more people came, they needed churches and school for their children, so they built them. When the farmers were growing corn and grain, they needed a place to grind it for baking or animal feed. So someone built a grain elevator for that purpose. The elevator also supplied farm needs and coal for heating the homes. Many other items for the home were sold there. This also gave the farmers a place to sell their extra grains.

The settlers that came to Copemish were very progressive, and if they needed something to make life better, someone stepped up with ideas to fill the needs. This was the attitude that was passed to the new generation that I was born into, always looking for a better life or better way of doing things. [Copemish] is where my life started and formed me into what I became. I hope you enjoy my story as much as I recall living it.

Today is February 24, 2019, and I am now 84 years young as of January 31st. This is the start of a goal started many years ago when Rose, my daughter, asked me to write about my life for the next family generation. It was so easy for me to procrastinate starting to write this story. The hardest part of a goal is to start. But as you may know, whenever you set a goal and start it, you are successful. And in my life, I have found goal setting leads to becoming successful. So set your goals high and never give up; You will be glad you did.

Beginnings

January 31, 1935, is when my life started. I was born at home, as was the custom in a small rural community at the time. Kate Suchy, the neighbor lady, was the midwife that came to help with delivery and, due to difficulty's, Dr. Quinn came to the rescue and I came through the ordeal to live a normal life. I was the last of 6 children born to Louis and Mary Blaho. My siblings were brother Louis Jr. (age 21), sisters Mildred (age 18), Marge (age 16), Ann (age 14), and brother John (age 6). My grandmother Anna Kapusta, mom's mother, also lived with us.

Our heritage is of Slovak decent. Dad immigrated to America in February 1905 at the age of 17. And mom and her mother came in January 1910. Mom and dad met in Pennsylvania and married on October 29, 1910. They lived in Duquesne, Pennsylvania and Chicago, Illinois. before moving to Springdale Township, Michigan, near Kaleva. Then in 1926, they moved to Copemish and spent the rest of their lives farming.

Aerial photo of the Blaho family farm on Faylor Road, just within the Copemish village boundary. Ben believes this picture was taken after 1954.

I grew up in this life of farming growing crops of hay, wheat, rye, oats, and corn to feed the animals, plus potatoes, cucumbers, beans, sweet corn and all kinds of vegetables to sell and for our own table. Our orchard had various apple, plum, peach, and pear trees. The fruit we ate fresh, or used for baking, canning and making cider. The cider we drank instead of pop or soda; When it became hard cider, mom made a wine from it, or vinegar for its many uses. 

Cutting and binding hay in the field, circa 1948.

Picking cucumbers in the field, circa 1951. Ben believes the people pictured were migrant workers from Puerto Rico. They would harvest 7-10 acres of cucumbers, which were then sold to the local pickle factory.

The animals on our farm were cows, pigs, chickens, ducks and geese. We also had horses to work the farm. The cows were milked twice daily and the milk was separated, with the cream sold to a local creamery for making butter; the milk was used for pig feed. The rest of the animals were sold, and a few ended up on the dinner table for the family.

Ben's parents (right), and relatives from Chicago (left) inspecting the hogs, circa 1930. 

Mary Blaho (left) and children feeding the chickens, circa 1940. 

Louis Blaho and relatives with a horse-drawn plow in the field, circa 1944. Louis is holding the plow.

Early Years

Growing up on a farm gave me many opportunities of learning responsibility and good work habits. Mom and dad would take me to the fields to be with them whatever they were working at, and as soon as I was strong enough to carry a pail, I was to help with the picking of string beans or pickles. Then they taught me how to use the hoe to clean the weeds from the crop that was growing. 

One of my early responsibilities was to carry and stack the fire wood in the house that would be used for the kitchen stove for cooking or the living room stove used for heat in the winter time. Another early job in the winter was to shovel the snow from the path that went from the house to the barn. 

The next job I recall was before electricity at the farm. I must have been about 5 years old, big enough to turn the crank of the cream/milk separator. This was done every morning and evening after milking the cows. I don't know why, but thought it was fun to turn that crank and see the milk and cream pouring out of the separator going into their own cans. The milk was used for pig feed and the cream was sold to a creamery in Kaleva. The cream we saved was made into butter at home. Mother used fresh cream on the table and in her cooking and baking. (End of essay)

Louis and Mary with their farm dog. Ben says this was "the best dog they ever had".

The farm dog herded the cows to and from the pasture. According to Ben, the dog always kept watch on the cows lagging in the rear of the herd.

Here are some more recent photos of the Blaho farm from the 1990s and early 2000s.

Ben Blaho with his daughter Rose, circa 1994.

Ben posing next to the John Deere tractor, circa 2000.

Ben Blaho mowing the field with his Ford tractor, circa 2010.