Four Bartholomew County families have been honored with the Hoosier Homestead Award, which recognizes farms owned by the same family for 100 years or longer.
The family farms being honored are the Guinn homestead near the Jennings/Bartholomew County line, the Thayer homestead in the northeast corner of Haw Creek Township, the Speaker homestead in the White Creek area west of Jonesville, and the Burney homestead, located just east of Hope.
The Hoosier Homestead program, instituted in 1976, recognizes the impact these family farms have made to the economic, cultural and social advancements of Indiana. In the past 40 years, more than 5,500 farms have received the honor.
Represented by Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford and Rep. Ryan Lauer, R-Columbus, the Speaker family farm in Bartholomew County was honored with a Centennial Award at the Indiana State Fair.
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“Agriculture plays a key role in Indiana’s economy, contributing more than $31 billion to our state’s economy,” Koch said. “I commend the Speakers for their efforts in reaching this historic milestone and look to see their success multiply for generations to come.”
“Maintaining a farm for more than 100 years and passing it through the generations is an incredible accomplishment that builds longstanding traditions,” Lauer said. “Families like the Speakers are a great testament to the values of Indiana’s hard working Hoosiers.”
To be named a Hoosier Homestead, farms must be owned by the same family for at least 100 consecutive years and consist of more than 20 acres or produce more than $1,000 of agricultural products per year. The award distinctions are Centennial, Sesquicentennial and Bicentennial — for 100, 150 and 200 years respectively.
Guinn homestead (1836)
As a child, young Carol Guinn heard family stories that her great-great-great grandfather might be French royalty: the son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, to be exact.
Although DNA testing in 1999 indicates that’s unlikely, what is known about her ancestor, Peter Guinn, is an interesting saga in itself.
After being discovered as a 9-year-old stowaway on a trans-Atlantic ship, Peter Guinn was forced into seven years of indentured servitude in the early 1800s after his arrival in Charlestown, South Carolina to pay for his passage, Jenkins said.
He first moved to Mercer County, Kentucky (southwest of Lexington) before living a short time near Lafayette, Indiana, she said. Finally, Guinn purchased about 126 acres of land near what is now the Bartholomew-Jennings Co. line in 1836.
After passing through the hands of several descendants, part of the original homestead was sold in 1959 by Jenkins’ grandfather, Arthur Glenn Guinn (1889-1975) to create the Glandon Park subdivision, she said. About 20 years later, Jenkins’ father, John Albert Guinn (1915-1999) sold off about 60 tillable acres.
But at least one or more buyers of the original farmland are cousins, which keeps the property in the family, she said. The cousins have rented out much of their tillable land to Shane Meier, who farms it today.
Jenkins and her husband, retired career military man Jack Jenkins, say they did not move onto the property until after the interests of another relative were bought out — and Carol Jenkins’s brother, David John Guinn, died in 2010.
It’s not known if the 34-acres homestead — recognizable by the “Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco” sign on the barn off State Road 7 — will remain in the couple’s immediate family. Their only son, Kenny Jenkins, 32, currently works for a communications company, and is kept on the road most of the time, Carol Jenkins said.
Thayer homestead (1854)
While the state cites 1854 as the year the Thayer Homestead was founded near the Bartholomew-Shelby County line, family ownership actually goes back further than that.
It was in 1840 that Franklin County resident William Marlin invested in 160 acres of agricultural property off Stafford Road, near the intersection of County Road 1020E. But instead of moving his family there, the landowner sent his son, Nathaniel Marlin, to tend to the farm with his wife, Mary Doty Marlin, said descendant Aaron Thayer.
It wasn’t until 1854 that Nathaniel and Mary Marlin both owned and lived on the land, which officially established the homestead, Thayer said.
After Nathaniel died in 1878, the land went to his daughter, Sarah Elizabeth. She had married Hope native Joseph Allen “Ollie” Spach — a cowboy-turned-banker who would become the first of his family to “Americanize” his last name to Spaugh, according to archived news accounts.
Most of their property was inherited by daughter Opal Spaugh, who became the wife of Hope veterinarian Ernest Miller. The Miller’s daughter, Evelyn (1921-1979), married a member of a prominent family who would eventually become a mayor of Columbus, a Bartholomew County Sheriff and a county councilman: Richard Thayer (1919-2001), according to public records.
Following his father’s death, one of the Thayer’s four children, former Arvin Industries engineer and one-time Hope clerk-treasurer Tim Thayer, bought out the interests of his siblings in the 160-acre homestead and became the sixth-generation owner, Tim Thayer confirmed.
He and his wife, educator Janet Whittington Thayer, eventually turned over the title to their son, Faurecia engineer Aaron Thayer, and their daughter, nurse-practitioner Annessa Thayer, Tim Thayer said.
Since both generations have enjoyed successful careers outside of agriculture, the corn and soybeans business is being handled by David Simmons on a cash-rent basis, Aaron Thayer said.
But the sixth and seventh generations feels confident the homestead will remain in the family. They explained there are five children or step-children, ranging in age from 5 to 22, who will inherit the farm in the future.
Speaker homestead (1908)
In the White Creek area of Wayne Township, German immigrant John Henry Speaker purchased 120 acres of rolling farm land for $50 an acre back in 1908.
It was one of just many farms that Speaker and his wife, Caroline Kobbe Speaker, would acquire in both Bartholomew and Jackson counties. What would become one of this year’s honored homestead on County Road 200W was purchased just one month before one of their sons, William John Speaker, married Emma Lydia Behrman, descendant Michael Speaker said. The couple bought out the interests of other heirs, began building their home, and completed it two years later.
One of William and Emma Speaker’s children, Francis Speaker (1917-1999) was married in 1940 to Edith Woehrman Speaker (1920-2000). The couple had four children: Linda Johnson, Gene Speaker, Larry Speaker and Ron Speaker.
Since John Henry Speaker acquired multiple farms, Johnson and Gene Speaker received other property, family members say. But brothers Larry and Ron Speaker split ownership of the homestead in what is now called the Speaker subdivision. Ron Speaker’s daughter, Cummins Inc. engineer Becky Speaker, purchased 70 acres of the land, while Larry Speaker has title to over 50 acres, said Michael Speaker, son of Larry and Jacqueline Boots Speaker. Another family member, teacher and basketball coach Leah Speaker, also owns some of the land.
Like many Depression-era farm couples, William and Emma Speaker used to raise dairy cows and hogs, as well as traditional crops, to ensure they had food on their table. While a number of livestock buildings still stand, Larry Speaker says most of those structures aren’t utilized, and the farm mostly produces corn, soybeans and some hay. While Michael Speaker says he still raises show pigs, his job with the Kent Nutrition Group keeps him on the road much of his time.
Larry and Jacqueline Boots Speaker are renting out the land to the husband of a family member, Aaron Spurgeon, who farms several acres with his family members in Bartholomew and Jennings counties, Larry Speaker said.
The couple hopes Michael and Jennifer will keep the land in the family’s name.
“I think Michael will buy what he can,” Larry Speaker said. “His sister (who lives near Rossville in Clinton County) may either sell her interest, or become a silent partner.”
Burney homestead (1918)
One member of the family that helped establish the western Decatur County town of Burney also founded a homestead in Hawcreek Township. It was back in 1918 that Cliff Burney (1879-1957) purchased 85 acres of farmland off County Road 650N, just a few miles east of Hope.
It was just 11 years after the farm was established near Hope that the Great Depression began. While many farmers were hurt, Cliff Burney was growing a sufficient amount of crops and livestock to feed his wife and six children, according to his granddaughter, Dianne Flack. She recalls Cliff Burney as a frugal and innovative man who helped others struggling during the 1930s, she said.
After the property came under control of Cliff’s son, Robert Burney (1919-2016), their barn became a hangout for teenage boys on Sunday. When half of the loft was converted into a 25 by 40 foot court, it became one of the few indoor basketball facilities not affiliated with schools, descendant Michael Flack said.
Although the family used to raise horses and hogs, the operation focuses mostly today on corn and soybeans, Linda Flack said. Until recently, the family maintained ownership of all the acreage that Cliff Burney originally purchased, she said.
But in the early 1990s, some farmland was rented out to farmer Dick Finke. Today, the Burney and Flack families own about 25 acres, with the remainder sold to Hope dentist Jonathan Harker, she said. As part of the deal, members of the Harker family farm both properties, she said.
Although there are no farmers in her immediate family, Dianne Flack see her ancestral land, houses and antique furniture as part of her heritage.
“If I were to get rid of any of it, it would be like giving away part of my mother,” Flack said.
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The Hoosier Homestead Award Program recognizes families with farms towned by the same family for 100 years or more.
The program was instituted in 1976 and recognizes the contributions these family farms have made to the economic, cultural and social advancements of Indiana. In the past 40 years, more than 5,500 farms have received the honor.
There are two Hoosier Homestead Ceremonies each year: one is at the Statehouse in March and the other is during the Indiana State Fair in August.
Indiana family farms may qualify for the following:
- Centennial Award – 100 years of ownership
- Sesquicentennial Award – 150 years of ownership
- Bicentennial Award – 200 years of ownership
To learn more about the program or to apply for a Hoosier Homestead award, visit in.gov/isda/2337.htm.
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