NORTH VERNON — A North Vernon family’s farm legacy that began with a relative’s emigration from Germany more than 150 years ago recently earned special recognition from the state.
The Funke family received the Sesquicentennial Hoosier Homestead Award for their farm that started in 1867 during a ceremony in March at the Indiana Statehouse. Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch and Indiana State Department of Agriculture Director Bruce Kettler presented 65 families with a Hoosier Homestead Award in recognition of their commitment to Indiana agriculture.
The Funke family applied for the Sesquicentennial Award. The application included paperwork to show proof the farm, located at 3135 W. County Road 150N in North Vernon, was their land.
To be named a Hoosier Homestead, farms must be owned by the same family for more than 100 consecutive years, and consist of more than 20 acres or produce more than $1,000 of agricultural products per year, according to a state agriculture department news release. Indiana farms may qualify for three honors:
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Centennial Award for 100 years of ownership
Sesquicentennial Award for 150 years of ownership
Bicentennial Award for 200 years of ownership
“To me, the award means it stayed in the family and remained a farm throughout the generations. As far as I know, it will stay in the family, said James Funke, an attorney, and one of the family members who runs the farm.
“My son is in the University of Indianapolis and he is an archaeology major, so we will see how it goes,” Funke said of another generation operating the farm.
Karen White, who is Funke’s aunt, said that the award means a lot that the farm is still in the family.
Jared Krawczyk, Funke’s nephew and another of the farm operators, said the honor was important to him because he had a lot of memories on the farm.
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The family farming operation began when Johann Gottlieb Funke, James Funke’s great-great-grandfather, moved from Kauern, Germany, to Jennings County. He bought the land for their farm on July 20, 1867. He later purchased 50 acres that his sisters owned to expand his farm.
In the 1880s, Johann Funke married Johanna Mueller and received another 40 acres after her family moved to California. The Funke family would later trade 40 acres of land with the Wilson family and more land with the Harmon family to complete building up the farm.
Working on the farm is something every generation of the Funke family has done. After Johann Funke that has included James Funke’s:
Great-grandfather, Otto Funke
Grandfather, Albert Funke
Father, James Funke Sr.
They all tended to the farm and raised different animals as the farm expanded. The farm used to have chickens when Albert Funke was alive.
Albert Funke also built the kitchen for the house on the property, the garage and the barn. He even got kicked in the head by a mule or a horse, family members said.
“There was a time when we had sheep for about two to three weeks, but they died. We haven’t gotten sheep since,” James Funke said.
Now the Funke family raises cows, corn, soybeans and hay.
James Funke said the family tree has something of a coincidence.
“Otto had a daughter named Lena that died when she was 2. He had a sister named Lena that died when she was 2 as well. And I ended up naming my daughter Dena. I had no idea this happened until recently. It’s pretty amazing to me,” he said.
Something else that’s important to the family is the fact that Johann Funke, who bought the land to start the farm, is buried on an incline near the pond on the western side of the farm’s fence.
The farm has played an important part in family members’ memories.
White wasn’t born on the farm, but she moved there when she was 3 years old.
“I learned how to drive living on the farm. I have a lot of memories here. There used to be a walnut tree near the Funke farm where we would meet other children our age to go play,” she said.
James Funke recalled driving a bulldozer into a pond by mistake. One winter, he needed water for his cows so he used the bulldozer to try to break the ice on their pond for a water supply. However, Funke went too far and his bulldozer drove inside the pond rather than just breaking the ice, he said.
James Funke said that as far as he knows, the farm will remain in the family for generations.
“My son is in the University of Indianapolis and he is an archaeology major, so we will see how it goes,” Funke said.
