In 1983 John Palmquist couldn’t believe his eyes
when he saw the broken down carriage in the ditch
on his farm. “All of the iron work was there but the
wood had completely rotted away,” stated
Palmquist, a former cabinetmaker from Stanton,
Iowa. John and his wife Charlotte purchased the land
the surrey was found on in 1978. “We think the
surrey was left there by the decedents of the first
owners of the farm, probably in the 1940s,”
Palmquist continued.

The surrey is an 1895 vintage and a very high style
rig of its time. Retired from farming, John took on
the job of restoring the surrey to its former
splendor. Working in his shop, he used wood
produced by his own sawmill. He hired an Amish
community in Ohio to built new wheels to fit the
original hubs and bearings. Another Amish group in
Jamesport Missouri covered the fenders with patent
leather, upholstery and patent leather dashboard to
John’s exacting standards.

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