The Freeborn County Fair board will honor seven century farm families Wednesday as part of a state program recognizing the hard work and dedication it takes for a family to stay on the farm for more than 100 years.

Tuesday, July 31, 2001

The Freeborn County Fair board will honor seven century farm families Wednesday as part of a state program recognizing the hard work and dedication it takes for a family to stay on the farm for more than 100 years.

To be honored in the ceremony are: Roger and Twyla Larson; Garwood Larson, Mildred Marsh, Vera Tiede and Charlotte Schonidthuber; David and Lucretia Lyle; Gary and Karen Davidson; Joyce and Mack Maczincki; J. Michael and Izzy Taylor; Sally Diane Plevka Walker and Michael Walker.

The Larsons

After immigrating from Norway, Roger Larson’s family bought their farm in Nunda Township for $16.75 an acre in 1878. They chiefly grew corn, small grains and hay.

Several old buildings are still in use, including a home built in 1895; a barn built in 1927; a hog house, granary, corn crib, machine shed and windmill.

The Larsons have 64 acres of the 100 acre farm in crop rotation. The family also enjoys the small woods that border Lower Twin Lake.

Larson/Marsch/Tiede/Schodidthuber

Garwood Larson and his sisters Mildred Marsh, Vera Tiede and Charlotte Schonidthuber are the current owners of a 270 acre farm in Nunda Township including 120 acres that have been in their family since 1882.

The Lyles

David and Lucretia Lyle are the current owners of his family’s farm in Oakland Township. His great-grandfather bought the original 160-acre parcel for $100 an acre in 1882, after coming to the United States from Ireland. The Lyles still live in the original home, built in 1882.

&uot;We take great pride in living on and working this family heritage farm,&uot; the Lyles wrote on their Century Farm application. &uot;We have passed on to our three sons the pride in having both Irish and farming roots.&uot;

The Davidsons

Gary and Karen Davidson’s London Township farm has changed a lot since his family bought it in 1881. In 1880, Gary’s great grandfather came to Minnesota from Porter County, Indiana, where he had homesteaded. He purchased a plot of land that grew to be 280 acres before it was split between two siblings in 1940.

His great grandparents built the first house on the property, but the family built a new home in 1970. Just about the only original building on the place is an old chicken house the Davidsons use for a workshop.

Maczincki

Joyce Maczincki inherited her family’s farm in 1990. She lives in Florida with her husband Mack. Her family took ownership of the land in Township 103 in 1887.

The Taylors

J. Michael and Izzy Taylor began farming his Moscow Township family farm in 1979. His great grandfather, an Irish bricklayer, bought the original 40-acre parcel from Carlton College for $7 per acre in 1895 and grew oats, wheat and hay.

The Walkers

Sally Diane Plevka Walker and Michael Walker currently own her family farm in Hayward Township. The land was bought on Christmas Eve, 1891. All the original buildings, except the barn, are still standing.