There are plenty of stories to be told about a Bartholomew County family farm dating back to 1846 that continues to be valued by its current owners.
The Glenn and Nellie Glick farm, located at 12700 E. County Road 100N near Petersville, was recently recognized at the Indiana Statehouse with a Hoosier Homestead award for 150 years of family farm ownership.
Martha Shaffer, who lives at the home with her daughter, Sally Scrogham, said the farm created in 1846 was started by her great grandparents, Joseph and Delilah Glick.
The Glicks lived in Pennsylvania and Ohio before making their way to Indiana in pursuit of more land, then built their home in 1853, Shaffer said. Individual portraits of the Glicks hang on both sides of a wall between a fireplace inside the home.
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Shaffer, 95, said the farm and the home, which features four bedrooms, five fireplaces and two bathrooms, was passed onto the Glicks’ youngest son, Peter, in 1872. Shaffer said once her grandfather got the property, he built onto the back of the house.
A 70-foot-long barn, cellar and an outhouse can be found on the property that Shaffer grew up on.
“I just remember everybody was happy,” Shaffer said.
However, Shaffer said the Great Depression was a particularly challenging time for her family, which had to sell cattle to pay their home mortgage.
“It was tough, but we made it,” she said.
Shaffer, who took over the property in 1978, also said one of the rooms within the home was rented out during World War II as an apartment since people needed a place to stay during wartime.
Getting an education was also important to her parents, Glenn and Nellie, that eventually they sent Shaffer to Purdue University, where she earned a degree in education. Shaffer taught in Petersville before landing a elementary education teaching job with the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp., from which she retired after a 26-year career with the district.
“That was important to Mother and Daddy, and we got there,” Shaffer said, referring to college. “I never felt like I was home until I came back.”
Sally Scrogham, who said seven family generations have lived at the home, said she feels it’s important to keep the farm within the family.
“It’s something to be handed down to the next generation,” she said.
Two log cabins once existed on the land, but those remnants are long gone, Shaffer said.
As new homes have been constructed in the area, Shaffer said she never intends to sell the land even though developers have approached the family in the past. At one time, a portion of the property was sold so Highway 46 could be developed, she said.
A large bell placed outside the home also symbolizes the home’s heritage and past. The Orinoco furniture factory bell, which was once placed on top of the roof, was rung only during emergencies, Shaffer said.
Scrogham remains hopeful that the farm will remain in the family, acknowledging that it remains a big commitment. Scrogham’s sister lives in a residence located on the property, while one of her daughters lives in Texas and the other in West Lafayette.
“You have to give up what you might want to stay here and keep it in the family,” she said.
Shaffer, who looked at the portraits of her great grandparents on the wall, said she believes they would be proud of the long storied history of the farm.
“They look like they would be very happy,” she said. “It’s dear to our heart.”
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The Glenn and Nellie Glick farm, located at 12700 East County Road 100N, was started by Joseph and Delilah Glick in 1846. The Glicks built a home on the property in 1853 that remains there today. Seven generations of the Glick family have lived on the farm.
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