This continues a series adapted from the book, “A Port Oneida Collection,” Volume 1 of the twopart set, “Oral History, Photographs, and Maps from the Sleeping Bear Region,” produced by Tom Van Zoeren in partnership with Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear. Here we continue with a look at the Goffar Farm, along M-22 on Lake Narada.
Regarding the dispute over ownership of the lake mentioned in the last installment, it seems to have arisen out of the informallyarranged sale of the property a few years earlier. As noted, the women of the two involved families were sisters who had been quite close. Olive and Milton Manney had often stayed with Ida and Albert Prause at their home (the “Goffar Farm”) during visits to the area when they lived in Chicago. When the Prauses took an opportunity to acquire the two farms north of the lake (which were better for agriculture), it seemed to make sense for the Manneys to buy the Goffar Farm from them to use as a northern lakeside retreat, close to friends and family.
However, this friendly informal deal did not include a land survey — and therein lay the seed of a problem. The Manneys thought they were getting the whole lake, which, with its good fishing, provided a promising site for a small resort. The Prauses’ new farm, however, included a small section of the shallow northern portion of the lake.
