Author pens a bio of a prominent Montgomery farmer

By Nadine Cafaro
Posted 5/3/23

Author Ronald F. Eustice wasn’t born in Montgomery, but he has for sure become the expert after working on his new book: “The Story of Julius Schmid & Beaver Dam Stock Farm: …

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Author pens a bio of a prominent Montgomery farmer

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Author Ronald F. Eustice wasn’t born in Montgomery, but he has for sure become the expert after working on his new book: “The Story of Julius Schmid & Beaver Dam Stock Farm: Mysterious Means Behind the Scenes,” a history story on partially paralyzed German immigrant, Julius Schmid, who became the most prominent farmer in Montgomery and a wealthy businessman.

Schmid was 17 and on crutches when he immigrated to the states. Eustice mentioned that at the beginning of his journey, which was in New York City, Schmid slept on park benches and sold some of his clothes.

“He got a job at a drugstore, and while working in the drug store as a 17/18 year old young man, he got the idea of making condoms. The long and short of it is he got into manufacturing these products, even though it was illegal at the time and he was actually arrested, but as the years passed, his business began to grow and he eventually became the largest manufacturer of this product in the world with offices in five countries.

With this money, he invested in the Beaver Dam Stock Farm in the Village of Montgomery in 1906.

Many may know the Beaver Dam Stock Farm as its new home, Cardinal Health, but before that, it was one of the most modern farms on the East Coast. Schmid successfully sold breeding stock throughout the country using the farm and also sold very successful retail milk. Schmid was known for developing one of the best Holstein herds in North America.

Schmid and the farm were so prominent that the farm had full page advertisements in a weekly magazine, Holstein Breed Publication.

Eustice spoke a bit on how he got into writing this story.

“I was raised on a dairy farm in southern Minnesota and have always been interested in history. It was my favorite subject. I majored in agricultural journalism at the University of Minnesota, so, I combined my interest in farming, agriculture and the dairy industry together with a love of history and the ability to communicate in writing,” said Eustice.

He mentioned that he came from a county in southern Minnesota that was one of the leading dairy counties in the state. Eustice decided that there was enough history in his county that it was time for him to learn and write a history of the dairy industry there.

One of the prominent herds in this county, was owned by a man named Ernest Sloan. According to Eustice, this was in the early 1900s.

“I learned of an incident where two gentlemen showed up at this farm in southern Minnesota during a blizzard in January in 1921. They did not go to the house, but went directly to the barn and began to look at the cattle in the herd, and this was a herd of pure Holstein cattle,” said Eustice.

The pair weas interested in Sloan’s bull, even offering $10,000 for it. Soon it came out that these men were from New York, not anywhere near Minnesota. This is when Sloan realized it was Julius Schmid.

“Mr. Sloan, the man that owned the bull, immediately recognized that Julius Schmid was one of the most successful cattlebreeders not only on the east coast, but in the entire United States,” said Eustice.

This is when Eustice got very interested in Julius Schmid.

Eustice then posted on Facebook stating he was a published author interested in learning more about Julius Schmid. After a few days, Jayne Fiero responded to him, proposing a meeting Fiero’s grandfather Walter Mueller was the superintendent at the Beaver Dam Stock Farm. With Fiero’s help, Eustice was able to find out a lot of information and view many photos.

Mueller got involved in the farm around 1910, and Fiero was able to provide a good amount of history on the farm itself, stating that many bulls were bred with cows there. She also stated that their equipment and operations were always right at cutting edge with technology.

There was a main barn and two other barns, according to Fiero, who also mentioned that her grandparents lived on the property.

“They certainly had workers that lived there. My grandmother would be responsible for their food and laundry and such. I was born in 1950, so by the time my memory is of the actual farm, the farm was sold to the Goldmans. The whole operation was starting to change a lot from what it had been in its glory days,” said Fiero.

Eustice had some final thoughts on why locals should be interested in reading this book.

“Beaver Dam stock farm was one of the most prominent farms in Orange County in the Montgomery area during the days when there was still a dairy industry,” said Eustice.

The book can be purchased through Eustice or on Amazon.