Johannes Jacob
Ruehle was six years old when he came to this country from Germany
with his mother, his stepfather, and his sister. That was in 1844,
more than 150 years ago. They had sold their house and property
for cash, packed what little they could carry in trunks, and left
from Stuttgart, Germany in May. They traveled by ship to New York
City. From there, they went up the Hudson River to Albany, then
traveled through the Erie Canal to Buffalo, then by steamship
across Lake Erie. Finally, they arrived in Detroit.
The family boarded a train to Ann Arbor, where they stopped a while with relatives. After their visit, they traveled once more by train to Chelsea. At that point, they used some of their cash to buy a team of oxen and a wagon. The journey was completed with the oxen pulling their wagon through marshes and forests. They followed Indian trails, now M-52 and Waterloo Rd. Finally, they arrived in East Postage, later renamed the Village of Waterloo, in July of 1844.
Settlement of the state west and south of Detroit had been slow. Early reports spoke of the area as a great swamp unfit for human habitation, and nobody had bothered to investigate the interior. As better information came from the few who ventured in, others followed and during the 1830's, thousands came from the east into Livingston, Ingham, and Jackson counties. By July, when Jacob's parents bought land from James Goodwin, an Englishman, most of the property around them had been settled. Two sections were purchased: 40 acres, which includes the museum site, as well as across the road, where their barns eventually stood. Another 40 acres was at the corner of Parks and Hannewald Roads.
The family moved into the existing log house and within ten years, added an extra room (now the sitting room). That addition was the start of the farmhouse we have today. It was constructed of fieldstone and brick from the Beeman Brick Factory, located just outside the village. In time, the north rooms and upstairs bedrooms were added. Finally in the 1880's, long after Jacob's stepfather had passed on, the log house was torn down and the frame ell was completed, providing a dining room, pantry, kitchen, and woodshed.
Jacob enlisted in Co. K, 20th Michigan Infantry when he was 24 years old. His enlistment was for 3 years and military records show that he was to receive a bounty. Jacob signed his name "Jacob Realy", evidence that he had Americanized his name prior to his Civil War experience. On the 12th of May in 1863, at Horseshoe Bend, Kentucky, he was severely wounded in the side and was hospitalized. He was granted a furlough and hospitalized again in Detroit. Jacob returned to his company a year later and was assigned light duty. He mustered out May 30, 1865 at Delaney House, Washington, D.C.Records show he received $25 bounty and was due another $75; there is no record it was ever received. To read more about this see Jacob's Civil War experiences.
On 1 February 1868, Jacob and Catharine Archenbronn were married in the parlor of her father's house. She was a neighbor girl, living with her father on what is now called Moeckel Road. Jacob built the cider mill across the road in 1866. Gradually, a string of barns was also built near the cider mill to provide a hay barn and carriage sheds. The Historical Society has the original sign that Jacob and his sons later placed over the door of their largest barn: "1855 Jacob Realy 1894". The first date refers to the year Jacob and his stepfather started the new farmhouse, the second date refers to the year the largest and last of their barns was built.
Jacob and Catharine had seven children: John Jacob, Mary Elenora, Carl (Charles) Joseph, Sophia Friedericka, Daniel Samuel, Albert Franklin, and Ida Clara. Only Mary and Ida married. The four boys lived out their lives on the farm with Sophia to care for them and to keep the house. Three generations of the Realy Family lived on this farm between 1844-1960. As the men became elderly and were no longer able to work the farm, they sold the property to the state as part of the Waterloo Recreation Area. They received a lifetime lease on the house and outbuildings.
