The Homestead

The first home built by the Chessers can be found south of the place where the current homestead stands. According to locals, the Chesser home took about $200 to be put together. The house had a total of four rooms. W. T. Chesser had six sons. If you do the math, there were two people sharing a room. Aside from these rooms, the building also had an indoor kitchen where Mommy Chesser spent an hour or two cooking up something sumptuous for her boys. When another baby was born into the family, W.T. decided on some renovations such as adding two more rooms.

If the house was spacious, that’s nothing compared to what’s outside of it. The Chesser homestead had outbuildings such as a chicken coop, corncrib, hog corral, and a smokehouse. The bathroom could be located outside of the house. However, bathing was also possible within the house. A bathtub was put on the back porch. Taking into consideration the number of family members, two bathing facilities was simply practical.

Robert Allen Chesser was one of W.T.’s sons. When he married Lizzie, they had 13 kids and their son Sam Chesser had 9 children with his wife Sarah. The youngest son of Sam and Chesser, Tom, took the credit of the current homestead. Together with his wife Iva, he built it in 1927.