1. Eloise, born 1868
2. Forrest, born 1870
3. Edna, born 1872

In March 1876, John and his young family moved from Miller Place to Yaphank, leaving his mother and brother to care for the farm. At his new rented farm in Yaphank, he started raising, buying, and selling livestock, and raising cash crops including hay. When the landlord’s son unexpectedly moved into the house with his bride, John and his family returned to the home of his mother and brother in Miller Place. At this time, according to his journals, John was looking for a farm to purchase, and after inquiring about and visiting several in the area, on Tuesday, March 24th, 1885, he bought a farm of his own: “I have been to Mt. Sinai and have bought John Phillips farm will take possession as soon as possible.”

Front view of Phillips/Randall home ca.1900 photo by Green

The John Phillips farm, built in the 1720s, was (and still is) one of the oldest homes in the area. Charles Phillips, John’s father, is rumoured to have chosen the name Mt. Sinai for the town, changing it from “Old Mans” in the 1840s. He also established the first post office in the town, and as postmaster, ran the office from his home. When John Randall purchased the Phillips farm, he not only purchased the 75-acre farm, but inherited the role of postmaster as well. John retained this position until his death in 1886. His wife, Eliza Catherine Randall, then became postmaster and held the position until 1907.

It was there that John’s only son, Forrest Bradley Randall, then just 15, would develop his work ethic and his refine skill as a farmer. On April 29, 1886, John died suddenly at the age of 45. He had, according to his journal, been fighting what he described as stomach pain, so much that at times he was unable to do anything. The doctor’s treatments caused vomiting and worsened his condition for several days after. John’s passing left his wife, daughters Edna and Eloise, and 16-year-old Forrest on their own, which suddenly forced Forrest to take on his father’s role as the provider for the family and caretaker of the farm.

Based on information in his journals, John had been raising and producing more than was necessary for an average subsistence farm. On Long Island at that time, many farms operated at the subsistence level, growing vegetables as cash crops to sell locally and keeping just a few cows for their own needs. The number of calvings recorded in John’s journal was indicative of an unusually large herd for that time; this in combination with their activities in improving the pond, clearing land, raising cash crops, and buying and selling livestock all suggest they were turning the farm into a viable business.

Loading cord wood on schooner ca 1890s. Forrest Randall is standing on wagon at the left.

John and Forrest and others in the community also sold cordwood; they describe repeatedly in their journals how they loaded schooners beached near Miller Place. One time John mentions that they moved 36 cords during one low tide cycle. According to the journals, they cut the wood, hauled it to the beach with horses, and left it stacked there until there was enough to fill a boat. This wood was shipped to the growing cities around the shores of Long Island Sound. This income provided John and Forrest with cash to pay for improvements at the farm. Just 3 years after his father’s passing, at age 19, Forrest Randall had established himself as a successful farmer and had a new barn and outbuildings erected on his farm.

Sylvester Randall house c. 1850

The story begins when the Randall family moved to “the Ridge” of eastern Long Island from Stonington, CT in 1738. There they purchased several thousand acres of wild land with fertile soils. From this beginning, the Randall family spread thoughout this area of Long Island. In 1839, Sylvester Gilmore Randall established his home in Miller Place, where he and his wife Fanny Davis started their family and raised four boys. In 1849, he purchased an additional quarter acre of “raw ground” on North Country Road, and in 1850 had a very large two-story home built.

Sylvester Gilmore Randall ca. 1860s

Fanny Davis

Sanford Randall

John S. Randall ca.1860s

Children of Sylvester and Fanny:

1. Sanford, born 1840, was a sea captain and died in Cuba in 1876
2. John, born 1841 (more on him later)
3. Theron, born 1844, died 1849
4. Stephen, born 1849. He apparently was never quite able to go out on his own, so stayed at the home farm under his family’s care and died at a care facility in CT in 1919.

By 1860 Sylvester and young John left Miller Place to go to the gold fields in Placer County, CA. They left New York City for Panama, crossed by land to the Pacific coast and boarded a vessel to sail to San Fransisco. Apparently Sylvester bought and sold many pieces of land before finally settling on a claim in Bath that later proved to be quite successful. According to some family accounts, because of poor health John was unable to work in the mines and so worked as a shopkeeper there for a time. Sylvester and John returned home to Miller Place sometime prior to 1867, but within a short time Sylvester headed west again, alone. According to family legend, it was Sylvester’s wife Fanny’s “sharp tongue” that inspired Sylvester to return to his claim and remain there until his death in 1871.

Two of the girls at home in the woods

I will start feeding round bale silage shortly, as it hasn’t been cold enough yet to feed it. The silage will mold and heat in short order after removing the wrap if the temperatures are much above freezing. I am looking forward to it, as they require less water when feeding silage as opposed to dry hay. I carry all the water needed twice a day, so any less would be appreciated by me. I hope someday the dairy barn will have enough room to store my “hobby” cows for the winter, but for now this is what must be done. We have had a foot of snow already and the below zero temps are coming soon. But now have their furry coats, on so they will do fine.

Daisy and Dolly

Here it is November and it’s time to start filling the barn for winter. Many of the dry cows and heifers are still out to pasture and will be till snow flies. The barn is mostly ready and the older unbred heifers are being brought into the barn for breeding.

Winter feed (photo by Matt Randall)

Because of a poor summer for haying, we find ourselves in the same spot most farmers around here are in…. short of feed. To make problems worse, we have cut back on grain feeding in an effort to cut cost due to historic low milk prices. Cutting back on grain causes the cows to eat more forage to replace the dry matter they were taking in through the grains. We have purchased some additional round bales that we hope will get us through to next year’s pasture season.

Cows still out to pasture are eating some fall feed and will be brought in anytime now depending on when the first snows of winter come. Last year, as I recall, it was just a few days before Thanksgiving.

1. Do you own enough land? Cows are very tough on the land; a few acres of land with a few cows can be a big mess in short order. At the bare minimum, you can expect a single cow to devour 3-5 acres of pasture during the summer season. Of course, every area is different, and whether you’re in a wet or dry area of the country will make a huge difference. Ask your local Department of Agriculture to get specifics for your area. 

2. Do you have a reliable hay source? Whether you purchase feed or put up your own, you must be sure you have enough. There is nothing worse than having to look for feed in the spring if you run short! 

3. Do you have a shelter for the animal? My recommendation is to have at least a 3-sided shed that is on dry ground for protection during inclimate weather, no matter where you live. I have found this to be more than adeqate for the Randall Linebacks for the winter here in Northern Vermont. It provides shade on hot days too. Cows have shows remarkable determination when it comes to their “home base”; there are countless stories of cows refusing to leave (and stay out of) their barn during a barn fire. Always remember that the cow barn is their safe place!

4. Do you have an adequate water source? Cows can drink an amazing amount of fresh water! A lactating a cow can consume as much as 40 gallons a day. For the fresh cow (right after calving), we bring warm water for her to drink. I have seen some drink as much as 25 gallons in a short amount of time. This is calming, and helps to take up space in a cow’s gut to avoid a displaced abomasum. So water is very important. Also consider that in colder climates, you’ll have frozen water to deal with every day for months. Hauling water from your home is an option, but from experience I can tell you that carrying five gallons of warm water at least twice a day, every day, all winter long, can be a drag!

5. Are you prepared to deal with the other end… waste? There is a LOT! A single cow can easily produce as much as 35 pounds of urine and 65 pounds at least of manure each day. So if you have just 2 cows, that’s 36 tons of manure in a year to get rid of! So having a plan for disposal, whether a big compost pile or fields to spread it on, is important. 

6. Do you have access to a large animal vet? No matter how sure of yourself you are, or how skillful you are with animals, there will always be occasions when a veterinarian is needed. I do most of the vet work for the farm here, which holds about 140 cows, heifers, and calves, but many times the vet will be called for an emergency. Some of the drugs used for the care and health of your cows are only available from the vet. Vaccinations for healthy cattle are necessary as well, and some states may even require it if the animal (or animal products) are to enter the food chain. Check with your state veterinarian. 

7. Do you plan on milking your cow for your own use?  Ok, this is a biggie for many of you. If you want a homestead cow, a rare breed animal could be right for you. A rare breed cow is typically a multi-purpose animal (used for milk, horsepower and/or beef) and will give less milk than a dairy breed. If you were to have a Holstein or a Jersey as your family cow, be prepared for a lot of milk, as they will produce around 10 gallons of milk per day during their peak milk production at 60 to 90 days. That’s a lot of hand-milking, and a lot of milk to process and consume by one family. A Randall Lineback, on the other hand, will (in my experience) produce around 4 gallons a day at her peak, which is still a lot but managable. Learning to milk properly is a art form in itself. Cleaning procedure is very important (the cow and your milking machine or container). Learning to identify mastitis is also very important for the safety and health of your family and the cow. 

8.  How are you going to breed her? A cow kept for milking will need to be bred each year. Will you use artificial insemination? If so, you or someone else will need to have a semen tank available to hold the frozen semen. You will also need to learn to breed the cows or have a breeding service do the insemination. Do you have a source for semen of the breed you want to have? Will you own a bull? This requires alot of care, as bulls will need to be isolated from the ladies at times and will require strong fences too. Never turn your back on a mature bull; dairy bulls are notoriously unpredictable especially as they get older, so be careful if keeping a bull is your chosen method. Just think, how would your neighbor feel about having a 2000-lb. bull in their yard if he were to get out of the fence? And how would you catch him again?

9.  Do you have reliable feed and supplement sources? Many people have told me they’ve heard that heritage breeds can survive on poor quality forage and pasture. While it’s true most cows would survive, they would be much healthier, happier and more productive on high quality forage and pasture. I strongly believe in providing trace mineral salt blocks and some small amount of protein, energy, and mineral supplements during a cow’s peak stress times. Whether you use kelp or conventional sources, cows need this stuff. For example, here in northern New England, the land is very low in some trace minerals including vitamin E. This one trace vitamin can be very helpful for the reproductive health of the animal. So check with your Ag Department and find out what you should be looking out for in your area. 

10. Do you have a babysitter? Once your cow starts milking, she will need to be milked daily and on a schedule. If you want to take off for a weekend or a few days, you will need someone reliable to take over while you’re gone.

If you answered “yes” to all of those questions, ask yourself this: Do you really want to care for a 1000 lb. 3-year-old that, with the proper care, may live for 20 years? If so… you need to have a cow. They are loveable, fun, entertaining, a lot of work, and sometimes completely crazy but will provide a wonderful service to your family. There is nothing like having fresh milk, cheese, butter and other dairy delectables made by you and your new boss, the cow.

A special word about rare breeds: When you own an animal of an endangered historic breed, you have a responsibility not only to the animal you own, but also to the breed. The decisions you make about your animal concerning breeding and husbandry may well affect the breed’s survival and its genetic diversity. It is very important that you don’t lose sight of this.

Around 1947, the first of Randall Farms porch boxes were given to “good” customers. These were galvanized metal boxes with insulation and “Property of Randall Farms” in raised letters, and held 6 quarts of milk.

Metal porch box

Wooden porch box

Wooden porch box interior

There are many others who have been a great help. Mrs. Mack, a neighbor and summer- and then full-time-resident since the 1920s; your memories of a past that I could never know have been so valuable. Edna Davis Giffen, my cousin and local history resource. My grandmother, Sarah Randall. Bottle collectors from around the country. Sammy and Michelle Harris, for their help and memories. Ron Bush, a special thank-you to you.  Those of you whom sent memories and comments have been an inspiration and brought a focus of how important this project is. And to Chantel, my wife and partner, a big thank you for your timeless patience, knowledge of the English language, and inspiration to me to make this passion I have for where I grew up into something timeless. And finally hours of taped interviews with my grandfather Waldo Randall (Pop Pop). Every second I ever spent with Pop Pop has become a part of who I am today; how I wish I could have had so many more years to spend with him. (The questions I have for him now!)

Thank you all and keep your input coming. Lots more to come!

Pond and ice house on south side of North Country Road c.1900.

Early pictures show a two-story ice house with three doors on a stone foundation. Several newspaper accounts from the Port Jefferson Echo, a local newspaper, mention Forrest Randall and his ice making. 

January 16, 1904 “Forrest Randall had a gang of men at work monday and tuesday filling his ice house. The ice is nearly a foot thick, a few inches of the top layer being snow ice” 

Feburary 2, 1907 “Forrest Randall and James H. Hopkins have been taking advantage of the recent cold weather to replenish their stock of ice” 

November 27,1909 “Forrest Randall has taken down his old ice house and is building it up new” 

The reason for the dismantling of the ice house in 1909 is not known, but after 20 years of service, it may have been rotting or new ideas and technology may have come into play. The photographic record shows a change in design in the new 1909 ice house: it now rested on a foundation of cement with walls that rise at least four feet on all sides except where the doors are located. At the time of this rebuilding, Forrest was nearly 40 years old.

Ice house and pond in 1950

In recorded interviews, Waldo Randall (born 1914) remembered that ice was always purchased for the home and the farm milk house. (Ice was purchased in 300 pound blocks from Long Island Ice and Fuel in Port Jefferson until the 1960s.) So the rebuilt ice house, by the 1920s, was no longer needed or used. The building sat as a relic of the past until the early 1950s. 

As the milk processing facility grew, so did the use of water for cooling the milk and cleaning the machinery. The clean water from the milk coolers was diverted to the pond. The waste water from the plant would be deverted to a cesspool. Sometime in the 1930s or ’40s, the pond went from a 1 to 2 foot depth to something much deeper in order to handle this waste water. At this time the rock wall in the pond was eliminated and the pond expanded away from the road. (A large rock on the east side of the pond was a place that generations of  children of the family and community used to fish and play on was left.)

Eloise Randall, Charlie Davis, Waldo and John Randall on "The Rock" with pond in background in 1919

So by the 1950s, during wet times the pond was overflowing into the cow pasture. Harry Randall took the building down to the foundation and installed an irrigation pump and motor inside. The roof was then replaced by Donald Murphy. This allowed the pond to be pumped out to irrigate the pasture and crop land. The pump originally had a Ford flat head engine on it, and when that finally failed, a PTO shaft was used  to be hooked up to the Farmall tractor. Once again, the pond and the Ice house had a use. This was used in this form till the mid 1960s. 

1970s view of ice house

 Once again the building became a icon of times past. Unused except by the children at the farm whom used it as a place to play during rainy days as well as shelter for the winter time skaters.

Warne Randall with raft on the pond 1954

The pond continued to be used for a water source for pastured animals and a place of play for generations of children. It was also the home of countless ducks, geese, fish and eels. (Sometime in the early 1970s someone put a trap filled with eels  from the Mt. Sinai harbor in the pond for keeping and some how they were released. For years the eels survived in the fresh water and when the pond flooded there were eels out in the pasture.)

The importance of the pond and its ice house cannot be underestimated. Without the water storage for pasturing animals, the ice to cool the milk, much of the growth of the farm could not have happened so early on. The importantance was noted by John S. Randall shortly after purchasing the farm in 1885. “Went to work on my pond” during a very dry summer. 

After the sale of the farm and development proposed in the 1980s the Town of Brookhaven preserved the pond and to have it left untouched. It is sad to note that the years since the pond has been slowly filled in and the natural drainage that once kept it with water has been so altered that it now just resembles a wet swampy area. This once valuable resource will undoubtly in the future be missed and would be needed once again as history has shown us in the last 100 yrs. 

A second pond was created around 1949. This pond was the by product of a 18 foot deep leaching field that was overwhelmed by the waste water from the bottle washer. For years it got bigger even though it was used to irrigate, and as a pasture water source for 55 to 65 cows. But in 1978 the water was tested by officials. They found the water to not contain enough oxygen and a treatment plant of sorts would be needed. This was not done and the days of processing milk were over. This pond was to the south of the barns and tended to be the best for skating. 

“

Randall Farms in the fall c. 1901 (Van Pelt)

Since the late nineteenth century, Randall Farms was a popular place for artist to practice their craft. This started in the 1890s with William Van Pelt, a Brooklyn NY photographer who spent much time in the Mt. Sinai community photographing everyday life events. The Randall family and their farm were also the inspiration of many photos; the first were of the family home and post office.

Many photos were taken of Forrest B. Randall’s new barn, which he built in his late teens. One of the first photos taken of the farm was of the two story-ice house and the pond. It is assumed that Forrest was dabbling in names for his establishment, as this photo has an address label on the back, addressed to E.C.Randall PM Walnut Dairy Farm Mount Sinai L.I. NY. Eliza Catherine Randall was Forrest’s mother; she had taken over the postmaster’s job following the death of her husband John in 1886 until 1907. The Walnut Dairy Farm is very interesting, as it is the only reference to the farm being of this name. It is also interesting that at this point (c. 1900) it was a “dairy farm”, as the establishment of the industry was in its infancy but apparently Forrest had made the decision to focus on dairy.

More photos from the 1900 time period were taken by William Van Pelt, of different views of the barn, pond, cows and people.

Phillips-Randall House c. 1900

Looking toward the Phillips-Randall house

The farm became a place for painters and photographers to frequent. Another famous photographer, A.S. Greene from Port Jefferson, also had photographed the family farm house/post office in 1907; this photo appeard on a postcard. In 1938, another postcard signd by local photographer Charles Davis and entitled “Filling Time” depicted the filling of the silo with corn.

Filling Time 1938 (Davis)

Randall Farms (Econopoly)

Randall Farms 1947 (Zoeller)

In 1947, a wonderful painting was done by Robert Zoeller. Mr. and Mrs Zoeller were part-time residents of Mt. Sinai and were both well-known painters of the time. This painting was purchased by my grandmother, Marion Randall, as a gift to my grandfather, her husband Waldo.

Raymond Freemantle c.1950

Raymond Freemantle c.1950

During the 1950’s Raymond Freemantle painted water colors of the farm. In 1993 Estelle Econoply did a painting from a black and white photo of the pond and barn.

As farms disappeared from the scene on Long Island, Randall Farm became a subject of a time gone by for many professional and amateur artists of all kinds. If you have photos or art work of Randall farms, I would love to see it.

A twisted uterus is a fairly common caving problem which can be very puzzling unless you know what to look for. Many of these are observed by just looking at the cow; she may look uncomfortable and “off”. Also she may start contractions as normal, but will give up after some time. This is a sure sign that something is amiss. If you are really tuned into your cows, you will notice a problem.

To be sure that this is what is wrong, put on a breeding glove. Go in anally and follow the curvex to the uterus; if this is the case, you will feel a quarter to half twist in the uterus. To fix this problem… call the vet if you are at all unsure of your skills!

You may be able to feel the calf while you are inside; you can hold on to a leg or something to feel for movement, to see if the calf is alive. If you are ok with fixing this yourself, use some iodine to disinfect the vulva and your arm. Use some lubrication if necessary, and go in vaginally and determine whether the twist is clockwise or counter-clockwise. Then go in as far as possible and try and turn the calf in the direction opposite to the twist. This is not easy to do; it takes a tremendous amount of upper body strength. Remember, you are moving a full-term calf! The cow may not be fully dilated, so please be gentle at first.

I have been successful at doing this myself about half the time; the other times, the vet will need to be called in. It is a judgement call that a cow owner must make, as many times the calf may be dead. So if it is your best cow, and the calf is alive, I would advise you to get to the phone as fast as possible.