Centennial Farms

Centennial Farms
Owned by Riley and Marie Lynch

  This centennial farm has been owned by the same family for 123 years. It was first settled in 1854 by James and Katherine Lynch who came from reland. The original farm had 80 acres. It is located on Section 25 of Geneva Township on County Road 380. The land was a wilderness at the time it was settled. The first house was a log house. The front part of the present house was built in the 1860's.
James & Katherine Lynch have five children, our bous and one girl. Four of the children grew up, James Jr., William, Hannah, and Edward, William Lynch, of of the sons, purchased the farm from the heirs of the estate in 1901. He cleared most of the land from the original wilderness.
William Lynch was born in 1865 and lived his entire life on the farm. He married the former Flora Evans and they had seven children, five of whom grew up, three boys, Sam, Riley, and Clair, and two daughters, Oneta Lynch Sprinkly and Joanna Lynch Anderson. Clair died in 1967.
Following the death of both William Lynch and wife Flora, the farm was purchased from the heirs of the estate in 1945 by Riley Lynch, one of the sons. He and his wife Marie have owned it sense and have made it their home.
The front part of the house has been changed in appearance from the original by the present owners. The present farm has 100 acres, twenty acres having been purchased on the east side of it in 1919 from James Rae.

Centennial Farm
"The Home Place"

  The Nutting Family Farm was settled by Chester Nutting, Sr. who owned it from 1859 until he sold it to his son, Chester Nutting, Jr., in 1875. The present owners are William Nutting and his son, Darold Nutting. They acquired the farm in 1842 from Chester Nutting, Jr.
The Dorold Nutting family lives on "The Home Place" at the present time. Darold and his wife, Eileen, have two sons, Lon and William, and two daughters, Jacqueline Droski and Linda Yankovich.
The farm is located in 68th Street in Section 29, Bangor Township, Van Buren County. The original 80 acres are still being used for a general type of farming and fruit, with strawberries and blueberries being the main fruit crops.

Alice Cross Farm

  The present owners of this centennial farm are Mrs. Alice Cross and her daughter Dorothy. It is located in Arlington Township, Van Buren County, on 56th Street. The Farm has 80 acres. Mr. Cross operated a nursery at one time on this farm. It presently has several acres of blueberries.
Mrs. Alice Cross, 93 years old and a semi-invalid, lives with a nephew, J.B. Wilcox, at Curren, Michigan.  Her only child, Dorothy, is stationed with the Armed Forces School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
No other information on the history of this farm is available at this time.

The Kennedy Farm

  This farm of 160 acres, located in Section 15 of Bangor Township on Country Road 687, was first settled by Franklin Kennedy, Sr. and wife Rosina in 1851.  Their son Ellis Kennedy purchased 80 acres of the 160 acres in 1873 and in 1917 sold it to his son Bela E. Kennedy and wife Eleene in 1957.
Ellis Kennedy built part of the barn that still stands on the farm and a small wooden house, each of which were enlarged over a period of years. Wood used in these structures was cut from the farm. The brick home also was built by Ellis Kennedy.
Bela G. Kennedy was married to the former Ada Briggs, They had three Children, two sons, Bela E. Dale, and one daughter. They were engaged in general farming, including some fruit and a dairy herd.
Bela E. Kennedy was married to the former Eleene Price. They have two daughters, Cindra K. Bishop and Dawne K. Speeter and one grandson Nathan Bishop.
Bela E. and Eleene were engaged in general crop and tree fruit farming for a number of years. They discontinued the dairy part of the farming business when they purchased the farm. they recently restored and added on to the one hundred year old brick house and are still making it their home.
Bela E. Kennedy is now State Representative for the 45th District and spends most of his time representing the district in the Michigan State Legislature in Lansing. He is not actively engaged in farming at this time.

Thomas Farm

  Farm, which consisted of 160 acres, secured from Land Office in 1820 by David R.  Carrier. Mr. Carrier sold the farm to Simon Wood and wife Charlotte. Mr. Wood and wife sold the 160 acres to George and Adeline (Baker) Thomas sometimes around 1839. Then George and Adeline Thomas gave 1 1/2 acres of this land to the Township of Bangor for use as a cemetery. In 1858, they sold the farm to one of their sons, Washington L. Thomas.
Charles H. Thomas, father and grandfather of present owner, purchased the farm from his father's (Washington L. Thomas') estate in 1897. Charles and Nancy (Ford) Thomas had six children: Clarence, the eldest, then Roy, Effie, Melvin, Renue, and William. Melvin Thomas inherited the farm at the death of his father. Melvin and his wife, Alta (McConnohie) Thomas and his son, Roger, now own the farm, which has as its principle crop fruits and asparagus.

The Pierce Farm
Settled in 1837

  This centennial farm located on M-43 east of Jericho was settled by Clark Pierce. The original farm contained 160 acres. A son of Clark Pierce, Irving Pierce, was the next owner.  He had three children who grew up, Ella Pierce Willis, Cliff Pierce and Myrtle Pierce Hammond, who became the next owners of the farm.  The 17 acres which now remain of the original 160 acres are owned by Donald Willis (15 acres), Rex Pierce, (1 acre), and Keith Pierce (1 acre). The three present owners are all great grandsons of Clark Pierce who first settled the farm.
Donald Willis lives in the frame house which was built in 1850 after the log house. Some additions were later added to the original structure.
The first post office in the area, known as the Hooper Post Office, was  in the present house.  The first rural school in that area was also upstairs in the house.
This Centennial Farm has been in the Pierce family since 1837 (140 years).

 L.G. and Tillie Monk Centennial Farm

  this Centennial Farm is located at the southwest corner of Section 26, Geneva Township, Van Buren County, on the corner of CR 380 and 62nd Street. The original farm had a larger acreage. It presently has 65 acres in the farm. General type farming was carried in for many years on this farm.
It was settled by Abram and Harriet Monk in 1856. They had five children, and one of their sons, George Monk, was the next owner of the farm. He had two sons, L.G and Arlo. L.G and his wife Tillie, acquired the farm in 1972 after his father's death. They have one daughter, Mrs. Belva Meier of Rockford, Michigan.
L.G. Monk was Van Buren County Drain Commissioner for 8 years. He was with Michigan Department of Agriculture Drain Commission in Lansing for 17 years before his retirement. He is not actively engaged in farming at the present time.
He and his wife spend the winters in Florida and their summers here at the farm. They recently celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary.