Ben Schroeder Saddletree Factory Museum
Today we will visit the Ben Shroeder Saddle Tree Museum in Madison, Indiana.
From the Book
Transcript:
Greetings, today we will visit the Ben Shroeder Saddle Tree Museum in Madison, Indiana.
Before getting started, I would encourage you to subscribe to the Mossy Feet Books You Tube channel for more great content. I also entreat you to visit my website, www.mossyfeetbooks.com. There you will find sample chapters, podcasts, a slew of content and links to where you can buy my books. While visiting the web site you can subscribe to it and receive email notifications of when I publish a new book or other content, like this video and podcast. This episode is based on my book, Southeast Indiana Road Trips.
John Benedict Schroeder (February 2, 1844 - October 19, 1909)
Native to Prussia, John immigrated to the United States and moved into Madison sometime after 1870. He purchased a house and tract of land in Madison, Indiana on Milton Street on the banks of Crooked Creek. Schroeder established a saddle tree factory in the house, where he operated it until after his marriage to Elizabeth Backus in 1882. A brick building that adjoined the house he renovated into his saddle tree factory after their marriage. He and Elizabeth would have eight children in the home, only eight of which would survive until adulthood. Ben Schroeder would pass away on October 19, 1909. His remains are interred at Saint Joseph Cemetery in Madison.
Saddle trees
The purpose of the saddle tree is to distribute the weight of the rider over a larger area of the horse's back. Constructing saddle trees was a highly skilled craft. The tree had to fit the horse properly to prevent blistering. Two curved forks straddle the horse's backbone to connect the sidebars of the saddle tree. The front fork includes a notch to hold the saddle horn, which is used to tie ropes when lassoing cattle. The back fork has a seat rest that secures the rider in place. The apparatus must be sturdy enough to support the many activities that a rider will perform while riding a horse. It must also support the rider in the horse for long periods.
Saddletree Factory
The Schroaders built over 250 different types of saddle trees in the factory; however, they did not construct the finished saddle. Saddle makers purchased the saddle trees to use to make the leather saddles. They owned a woodlot, from which they cut most of the wood used to make their saddle trees. The factory included a wood yard to store the cut logs and a sawmill that they used to cut the blocks of wood they needed to construct the saddle trees. The rest of the factory contains the various saws, shapers and other equipment needed to construct saddle trees. After the Great Depression in the 1930's, the market for saddle trees collapsed. At that time, they converted the factory over to make wooden clothespins. The factory operated until Ben Schroader's last remaining son, Joseph, died in 1974. Joseph had the foresight to will the property to Historic Madison upon his death, thus the factory remains intact. Much of the machinery still runs and qualified museum staff operates it on occasion during tours.
Touring the Museum
Visitors may park in the gravel parking lot just off the street. The office is located in the residence to the right. The entrance has a handicap access ramp as well as steps. A tour knowledgeable tour guide will take you through grounds, which includes the residence, the sawmill, factory, boiler room, finishing room and blacksmith shop. Allow about an hour to tour the museum.
Ben Schroeder Saddle tree Factory Museum
106 Milton Street
Madison National Register District
Madison, Indiana
The Historic Madison organization owns and operates the Saddle Tree Museum.
Historic Madison
Founded in 1960 by Mr. and Mrs. John T. Windle, Historic Madison has played an important role in the preservation of many of Madison's historic buildings. The city has about 1500 historic buildings, including homes, businesses and industrial sites. Historic Madison owns fifteen properties in and around Madison, four of which they have open for the public to visit on weekends from April to October. Several of the others are open for private tours and special events. The Talbott-Hyatt Garden, at the corner of Second and Poplar Streets, is open from dawn to dusk daily.
Properties
Costigan House - Open to Public
Dr. Hutchings Hospital And Office - Open to Public
Jeremiah Sullivan House - Open to Public
Talbott-Hyatt Garden - Open to Public
Schroeder Saddletree Factory - Open to Public
Open by Appointment
John T. Windle Memorial Auditorium - Open by Appointment
St. Michael The Archangel Church - Open by Appointment
A.M.E. Church - Open by Appointment
Shrewsbury-Windle House - Open by Appointment
Eleutherian College
Historic Madison
http://historicmadisoninc.com
Ben Schroeder Saddletree Factory was the nation's longest lasting, continually operated family owned saddletree factory. In Jefferson County Madison, Indiana.
The episode is based upon my book,Southeast Indiana Road Trips, available on the web site, www.mossyfeetbooks.com. The book is the first book in the 9 volume Road Trip Indiana Series. The books include information about the parks, museums, historic sites and many other day trip destination across the state. I encourage you to visit the web site and subscribe to it.
You can find my books locally at the Walnut Street Variety Shop in Batesville, Indiana.
I hope you enjoyed this podcast and thank you for listening.
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