The Family Farm….in Clemons, New York

The Family Farm at Clemons New York

According to family lore my Grandfather Gunardson and Great Uncle Charley were very close and when both families immigrated to the United States, my Grandfather and Uncle Charley renovated an old farm in upstate NY where Charley and his wife Jenny settled and spent the remainder of their lives. The place was, and still is, “in the middle of nowhere”. It’s just outside a small hamlet called Clemons, NY located between Lake George and the Lake Champlain canal.

The farm was truly “off the grid”. Uncle Charley and my Grandfather dammed a stream on the land and fashioned their own home-made hydro generator to supply the house and farm with electrical power. They raised all sorts of livestock including cows and chickens, grew their own vegetables on the arable land and made their own maple syrup from the 160 acres of maple forest surrounding the farm. Family legend had it that Great Aunt Jenny was a terrific cook and eventually Uncle Charley, Aunt Jenny with their daughter Signe turned the farm into a tourist destination. People from NYC and other major northeastern cities would book a room for a week and spend their vacation as guests on the farm.

In their younger years, well before my time, my Mom and Dad would also spend their holidays at the farm. I can only remember visiting the farm once when I was very young, but it left a lasting impression on me. It still is a very fond memory. That memory and my Mom’s many stories about Uncle Charley and Aunt Jenny’s farm at Clemons to a large extent influenced my desire to ensure my children Jill and Jim had an opportunity to experience a rural lifestyle during their formative years.

There aren’t any photographs of the farm in the family archives but at one time I had an old postcard with a picture of the farm on it that Charley and Jenny had available for their guests. I used that postcard to do an oil painting of the farm.