They were never just farmers

The GenealogyGals don't post every day, but the posts are worth waiting for. My eye was caught by this story from a grandfather's grandfather:

In the winter time [probably 1853-1860] there was absolutely no work for young men around Wakeman, [Huron County, Ohio] just a case of waiting for spring planting. Once the fall crops had been harvested, there’d be several months that they had to wait without much to do. One year, my grandfather saw an ad in the Cincinnati Enquirer asking for woodcutters along the Mississippi to prepare wood for the steam boats. ...

If you can resist clicking to read the whole thing, you're stronger than me.