Stories from the Round Barn [Hardcover]

Jacqueline Dougan Jackson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2000

Using stories, anecdotes, history, and even veterinary science, Jacqueline Dougan Jackson recreates life on the Dougan Guernsey Farm Dairy, founded in 1911 by W.J. Dougan near Beloit, Wisconsin. A fascinating mix of biography, oral history, and creative nonfiction, STORIES FROM THE ROUND BARN is a moving tribute to the legacy of generations past. 53 photos and line drawings .

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This is a book of reminiscences about life on the Dougan Guernsey Dairy Farm near Beloit, Wisconsin, in the early part of the century. Jackson's grandparents ("Grampa" and "Grama") established the prosperous farm with a round barn before World War I, and her father went into partnership with Grampa after his marriage. Born in 1928, children's book author Jackson (Sangamon State Univ., Ill.) was involved in farm life until Grampa's death in 1948. Grampa's values helped shape Jackson's world view; her autobiographical stories relate experiences with milking and tending the herd, caring for sick cows and calves, assisting with difficult births, and other aspects of daily life in the round barn. She remembers the milk deliveries, the quirks of the hired help, the day she spent traveling with the local veterinarian. Jackson's delightful recollections will arouse readers' curiosity about Midwestern life in a bygone era. Recommended for agricultural history and regional collections.?Irwin Weintraub, Rutgers Univ. Lib., New Brunswick, N.J.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Delicately filigreed vignettes of a Wisconsin farm life from children's-book author Jackson. In 1906, when his hearing failed, Jackson's grandfather abandoned his ministry and bought a dairy farm. By 1907, he was delivering milk, the bottles stoppered with a cap imprinted ``W.J. Dougan, The Babies' Milkman.'' He was a conscientious farmer who ran a tight and good ship, experimented intelligently, and treated his employees with respect. He prospered. Jackson grew up on the spread, and here she paints its days. There are profiles of farmhands, loony and saintlike and otherwise; conjurings of the odor, light, and aura of tucked-away places on the farm--a dim passageway between cow barn and side building, secret venues in the big house where Jackson could pick away at the wallpaper unseen. Many of the 47 short chapters recount everyday events: milking and detasseling and delivery runs in the dead of night, Grampa's first tax return (it set him back 13 cents), the ebb and flow of depression years and boom times, and the kind of stuff that stays fixed in a young mind (a rail-walking hobo cut in half by a train). And there are not a few episodes written with startling beauty; in one, she tells of an early infatuation, her first, with a young fellow working at the farm. It was during WW II, he enlisted, and his plane went down over Europe. A green star was placed by the MIA's name on the church honor roll. Years later Jackson finds the honor roll in a storeroom of the church, presses a gold star (``the kind her piano teacher used to put on a piece when it was finished'') of ultimate sacrifice atop the green one and closes the man's short life. Elegant and polished. Jackson finds little gems in the muck and toil of farming life. (photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 249 pages
• Publisher: Triquarterly; 1 edition (May 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810150727
• ISBN-13: 978-0810150720
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 7.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #963,960 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A window into a world gone by, December 6, 1999

By 

"lolalu" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stories from the Round Barn (Hardcover)

In an era of urban sprawl and corporate farming, this is a gentle reminder of a world of small towns and kind people. Jackie's experiences growing up on the dairy farm range from laugh-out-loud humorous to tears rolling. "The Round Barn" illustrates what family values truly were before the demogogues got hold of the term: integrity, caring and principles put before profit. The Dougans were--and are--intelligent, hard-working people who have a tremendous joy in living.

The stories are brief enough to read aloud---and deep enough to read again and again with pleasure.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Read, January 22, 2002

By 

Rosemarie Coogan (Springfield, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stories from the Round Barn (Paperback)

I found myself reading this book through in two sittings. If you like history, personal stories, diaries or the like, you will enjoy this book. I compare it to Jimmy Carter's An Hour Before Daylight in that it gives a picture of rural life in the early part of the century. It is human, candid, and lean in its verbage. It captures all of the emotions and leaves you with mental images that will last a lifetime. Try it.