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Fritz Vogt liked chickens. He apparently liked them so much that he placed them prominently and incorrectly in front and side yards much to the dismay of many families. Here it looks like Vogt has drawn two turkeys, a rooster, and a chicken. According to the 1875 census, the Smiths sold poultry and eggs from their small farm, but breed is not noted in the census.
Henry Smith and Mary Dillenbeck married in 1854 (she was related by marriage to Jacob J. Wiles who lived nearby). Henry worked as a carpenter before turning to cheesemaking in 1875. It is likely that he worked at the cheese factory in Brookman’s Corners or in Canajoharie. The Smiths also kept a one-acre farm and grew a variety of field crops, potatoes, and beans, and kept “milch cows” and swine, producing 200 pounds of butter and 950 pounds of pork in 1874.
Interesting details in this drawing include the carriage block and hitching post, the decorative vine growing along the porch roof eave (possibly grapes), and the cat in the window!
Exhibition History"Fritz Vogt: A Sense of Place," Arkell Museum, Canajoharie, NY, May 29, 2021 - December 30, 2021
Artist
Fritz G. Vogt
(c. 1841 - 1900)
Residence of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Smith, Brookmans Corners, N.Y.
Date1895
DimensionsSight: 18 1/2 × 23 1/4 in. (47 × 59.1 cm)
Object numberN0040.2015L(27)
Credit LineCollection of Frank S. Tosto
Photograph by Richard Walker
Label Text“He drew a chicken yard out back here and he put chickens in it and my father always said there never was a chicken yard…he should have stuck to architecture and forgotten about the animals, because they didn’t look anything like chickens were supposed to look…” – Ethyl Zoller Conroy, 1973, remembering family discussions about Fritz VogtFritz Vogt liked chickens. He apparently liked them so much that he placed them prominently and incorrectly in front and side yards much to the dismay of many families. Here it looks like Vogt has drawn two turkeys, a rooster, and a chicken. According to the 1875 census, the Smiths sold poultry and eggs from their small farm, but breed is not noted in the census.
Henry Smith and Mary Dillenbeck married in 1854 (she was related by marriage to Jacob J. Wiles who lived nearby). Henry worked as a carpenter before turning to cheesemaking in 1875. It is likely that he worked at the cheese factory in Brookman’s Corners or in Canajoharie. The Smiths also kept a one-acre farm and grew a variety of field crops, potatoes, and beans, and kept “milch cows” and swine, producing 200 pounds of butter and 950 pounds of pork in 1874.
Interesting details in this drawing include the carriage block and hitching post, the decorative vine growing along the porch roof eave (possibly grapes), and the cat in the window!
Exhibition History"Fritz Vogt: A Sense of Place," Arkell Museum, Canajoharie, NY, May 29, 2021 - December 30, 2021
On View
Not on view
