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"The Old Deere Farm"
"The Old Deere Farm"
Their 1936 1873 Swedish Homestead
Rich in Smoky River bottom soil producing bountiful crops of wheat and milo for over 7 decades (1936-2011) for my family
Rich in Smoky River bottom soil producing bountiful crops of wheat and milo for over 7 decades (1936-2011) for my family
Our Peaceful Acres
[As a result of the "Global Financial Crisis" of 2007- 2008, this land was destined to be sold in late 2011.]
[As a result of the "Global Financial Crisis" of 2007- 2008, this land was destined to be sold in late 2011.]
Due to President Abraham Lincoln's Homestead Act of May 20, 1862, and the later acquisition of land from the Kansas Pacific Railway by the First Swedish Agricultural Company of Chicago of 1868, Peter J. Larson and his wife in 1873 were able to purchase this quarter section of land. It was 160 acres of rich Kansas Smoky River bottom soil located in southern Saline County, about 5.5 miles due north of Lindsborg.
2007
- PEACEFUL ACRES -
- PEACEFUL ACRES -
Within five years (1873 to 1878) of their ownership, the Larsons would have built a Swedish-style stone house and a stone stable with a Roman arch. The homestead was then sold to Fred Helm and his wife who added a two story wood addition to the back of the house. (Over one hundred years later this would be removed when I owned the property due to its deplorable condition.)
The Helms moved on in 1920, and the bachelor Olson brothers, Elmer and David, took over the farm until 1936 when Lydia and Emil Deere purchased it from them. The Deeres let the Olsons continue to live on the farm and work the land until their deaths, at which time a neighbor farmer was hired to carry on the farming.
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- Register of Deeds Transactions Beginning in 1868 -
- showing the early transactions from 1868 to 1920 of who owned this particular quarter section of land -
- Register of Deeds Transactions Beginning in 1868 -
- showing the early transactions from 1868 to 1920 of who owned this particular quarter section of land -
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*For more information on how much of the Kansas Smoky Valley was settled by the Swedes who desired to farm there,
go HERE to the Kansas Historical Society Kansaspedia.
go HERE to the Kansas Historical Society Kansaspedia.
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"The Gentleman Farmer"
- the oldest agricultural journal in the world -
that Emil O. Deere was reading then
To enlarge, click on photograph.
February 12, 1916 February 19, 1916
Emil, like his father, Charles Deere, was a gentleman farmer who hired others to work the land. Yet, his first two years of college in 1897 and 1898 were at the Agricultural College in Manhattan, Kansas, today's Kansas State University. Like most all Kansans, farming was on Emil's mind throughout his life, as it was in 1916, the year of his marriage to Lydia, when he was reading the oldest agricultural journal in the world, The Country Gentleman, published by the Curtis Publishing Company in Philadelphia.
- After a Summer Harvest -
Emil and Nina
c1950s
Emil and Nina
c1950s
To enlarge, click on photograph.
Lydia died in 1943 and her niece Nina Sohlberg Fry, whom she photographed so much as a child, soon became the one to keep the home fires burning for Emil and would, in time, become involved in the farming operation as well.
Upon Emil's death in 1966, the homestead passed on to Nina, then in 1974 on to her daughter, my mother, Lois Fry Cochran. Soon after this, all farm owners were directed to give their farms a name, so she named the farmland "Peaceful Acres," for it was just that when she visited it, peaceful!
The ownership of Peaceful Acres fell to my sister, Melinda, and me on May 20, 1996 at which time I determined to have a plaque made for the farmland, establishing it as "Peaceful Acres," as a tribute to our mother. (Yet, in so doing this, I was unknowingly "erasing" the historical reference of this farmland connected to Emil O. Deere!)
In 2001, another plaque would be soon in the making, for on October 30th of that year, our father, Eugene M. Cochran, named the Swedish stone house, "Swede House," thus connecting it to the Smoky Valley Swedish pioneer settlements of the late 1860s.
In 2001, another plaque would be soon in the making, for on October 30th of that year, our father, Eugene M. Cochran, named the Swedish stone house, "Swede House," thus connecting it to the Smoky Valley Swedish pioneer settlements of the late 1860s.
To enlarge, click on photograph.
Owning this wonderful piece of land meant a lot to me and my family, and I had hoped that the uninhabitable grounds, the location of the "ruins" of the house and other buildings, could be turned into something grand and beautiful for the Smoky Valley people with offering Bethany College first choice of using it after restoration as a retreat for college use.
I felt that what I inherited from my Aunt Lydia and Uncle Emil's estate that related to their lives lived in Lindsborg and at Bethany College should be returned in some appropriate way. I was in no way ready to sell the farmland and discard all things related to my Aunt and Uncle and their relationships to Bethany College or to forget my Swedish family and Swedish heritage founded in the Kansas communities of McPherson and Lindsborg, even if my home would continue to be in California.
So I set to work as documented below.
I felt that what I inherited from my Aunt Lydia and Uncle Emil's estate that related to their lives lived in Lindsborg and at Bethany College should be returned in some appropriate way. I was in no way ready to sell the farmland and discard all things related to my Aunt and Uncle and their relationships to Bethany College or to forget my Swedish family and Swedish heritage founded in the Kansas communities of McPherson and Lindsborg, even if my home would continue to be in California.
So I set to work as documented below.
1998
- The Dedication of Peaceful Acres -
with
- Swedish Smoky Valley Pioneer Descendant Supporters -
College President Dr. Rev. Christopher Thomforde & Lindsborg Covenant Church Rev. Jeff Waugh of my mother's church were invited.
- The Dedication of Peaceful Acres -
with
- Swedish Smoky Valley Pioneer Descendant Supporters -
College President Dr. Rev. Christopher Thomforde & Lindsborg Covenant Church Rev. Jeff Waugh of my mother's church were invited.
Click Play or Pause below.
- From the dedication of 1998 to 2009, clearing the land around the homestead occurred yearly. -
2004
- From the Peaceful Acres Master Plan -
- mission and vision statements -
- From the Peaceful Acres Master Plan -
- mission and vision statements -
2009
- KANSAS HISTORICAL SOCIETY -
Below is a letter from the Kansas Historical Society (KHS) stating that the Swede Farmstead (Homestead) would not be eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places or in the Register of Kansas Historic Places.
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For larger print to read PRESS together ctrl + For smaller print PRESS together ctrl -
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I later ask Ms. Martin, National Register Coordinator of the KHS, about the use of "ghost structures,"* to record and memorialize the history of this Swedish Farmstead (Homestead) as to its same materials, architectural design and time of building, to that of the home belonging to Pastor Olof Olsson who was the founder of Lindsborg. To that she replied that ghost structures were not used by the KHS.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I later ask Ms. Martin, National Register Coordinator of the KHS, about the use of "ghost structures,"* to record and memorialize the history of this Swedish Farmstead (Homestead) as to its same materials, architectural design and time of building, to that of the home belonging to Pastor Olof Olsson who was the founder of Lindsborg. To that she replied that ghost structures were not used by the KHS.
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A PERISHING WAY OF LIFE
- The "Old Deere Farm" -
c1974
"... may be the last known Smoky Valley Swedish Homestead" -- Smoky Valley historian writer Bill Carlson, c2006
2009
- UNDER THE KANSAS SUN -
looking like Sandzén paintings
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The START Team
Gene Cochran, R. D. Rasmusson, Larry Elmquist, Tom Poole, Thyne Poole, Jeff Olson, Laird Larson
The FINISHING Team
High School Students: Cody Bowers, Stephen DeWitt, Seth Nelson
Click Play or Pause below.
The START Team
Gene Cochran, R. D. Rasmusson, Larry Elmquist, Tom Poole, Thyne Poole, Jeff Olson, Laird Larson
The FINISHING Team
High School Students: Cody Bowers, Stephen DeWitt, Seth Nelson
Click Play or Pause below.
2011
- Peaceful Acres -
- SOLD -
As a result of the "Global Financial Crisis" of 2007- 2008, Peaceful Acres was destined to be sold in late 2011. Thus, the plans for it to benefit the Smoky Valley people were not to be realized. Yet, it was worth trying, and in the projects themselves, they brought joy to those who helped me. So that, in itself, was very satisfying -- thus bringing the ownership of a beautiful piece of Swedish Kansas land to a good end, after 75 years of being in our family!
The new owners of Peaceful Acres were given all copies of the paperwork I had thus far completed with the Kansas Historical Society for restoration and preservation purposes, to help them pursue other avenues, if they so wished, to highlight this key theme of "Smoky Valley Swedish pioneer farming."
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JUNE 2022
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"Visually"
Almost Completed Perishing Way of Swedish Smoky Valley Farm Life Since 1873
due to the removal of the restored
Roman arch stone wall
JUNE 2022
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"Visually"
Almost Completed Perishing Way of Swedish Smoky Valley Farm Life Since 1873
due to the removal of the restored
Roman arch stone wall
Therefore, in conclusion, to my knowledge, this SWEDES' website dealing with the Swedish Homestead/Farmstead and Swede House, a close twin to the stone house belonging to the founder of Lindsborg and founder of Bethany Lutheran Church, Rev. Olof Olsson, is all that remains, as virtual, "memorializing symbols," the examples of pieces of significant Swedish pioneer farming history in the Smoky Valley.
Go HERE for Their 1873 Swede House ~ A close twin to Lindsborg Founder Rev. Olof Olsson's stone house.
* * *
"Let Us Celebrate Them"
* * *
Swedes: TheWayTheyWere
~ restoring lost local histories ~
reconnecting past to present
* * *
All color photography throughout Swedes: The Way They Were is by Fran Cochran unless otherwise indicated.
Copyright © since October 8, 2015 to Current Year
as indicated on main menu sections of
www.swedesthewaytheywere.org. All rights reserved.
