INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — During the Indiana State Fair, which this year is themed "The Year of the Farmer," the Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) recognized farms that have been in the same family for at least a century, with the Hoosier Homestead Awards.
Each award, presented every year since 1976, goes to a farm owned by the same family for at least 100 consecutive years, consisting of more than 20 acres or producing more than $1,000 of agricultural products per year.
Awards were presented on Aug. 15 in a ceremony at the Indiana Farm Bureau building on the state fairgrounds to 67 families, including 31 receiving the Sesquicentennial Award and three earning the Bicentennial Award. One of the Bicentennial honors went to Doug and Jeanie Eliason of Wayne County in eastern Indiana.
Their 340-acre operation near Centerville is mainly a seed farm, Doug Eliason said. His father also had dairy cows until 1974. The farm dates back to 1814, two years ahead of Indiana statehood.
"It was part of the Twelve-mile Purchase, when they opened that up," he explained. "That’s when my great-great-grandfather purchased the farm for $2.50 an acre. He got it through the Cincinnati land office and traveled up on horseback to look at the land, and then went back to Delaware. His family started westward in a covered wagon with all their belongings, and his wife had a little basket of grass, because she didn’t know if their new home would have grass. She tended that the entire trip.
"It took several years to get here. Then they came up from U.S. 40, which was a trail at the time, obviously, and Joshua Eliason hewn out a path to get the wagon up. It took 3.5 days to get the wagon trail widened."
Another Bicentennial Farm, owned by Roger Glaze near Elizabeth in Harrison County on the Ohio River, has a link to the nation’s founding.
"It was given to (Revolutionary War veteran) Adam Glaze by President James Madison, in November of 1813," Roger’s daughter, Theresa Campbell, said. "He and his wife are now buried on the farm."
Roger Glaze grows soybeans and corn, he said, as well as having raised three daughters. "I’m the end of the Glaze line," he joked.
His family noted the acreage also had an old church building, recently destroyed by a tornado, and once had a schoolhouse.
ISDA Director Ted McKinney spoke at the ceremony, noting the multigenerational audience. "We think you are the record attendance," he said. He then asked those 30 and younger to raise their hands, adding: "Ask your grandparents, aunt, uncle – whoever’s here – how did they keep that farm in the family?
"Ask them; let them tell you about it."
Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann, whose duties include state secretary of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, added, "This is a testament to how agriculture is important in Indiana."
Recalling her origins on a Ferdinand farm, she added, "I know firsthand what it means to have a farm stay in the family. We know it’s been a tough year for some of you, and that makes it more important that we recognize you."
