3th a lot of hard work & progress
Nestleroth farm remodeling the past for coming generations
BY SALLY BAIR
Staff Correspondent
PENRYN - Mark' and Hazel
Nestleroth represent the fifth
generation of their family to farm
at their Dutch Valley Farm at
Penryn.
Hazel expressed pride in their
Century Farm recognition, saying,
“We are proud because the farm
has been in agriculture for so
long.”
Indeed the farm has been cared
for by fami’ members for 129
-uerotK jk over original in Penn Township,
deed dating from 1852 for their Century Farm
BY DICK ANULUSTEIN
LiTITZ "It was a hot, muggy
summer night in July ot 1939.
"A severe thunderstorm came
up about 3 a.in. and my tather gut
me out ol bed.
“1 got to the landing at the top ot
the stairs and looked out a window
toward the barn.
"The lightning must have struck
just moments before because the
whole tup of the barn just seemed
to explode. What a roar it made.
"We ran and got the animals out
in tune, but the barn filled with
wheat and hay, all ot the equip
ment, tobacco shed and small
chicken house were lost
tjt ' It's something you don’t ever
forget. '
These were the recollections this
Overall view shows Spahr farm along Green Acre Roi
1852 from Frederick and Catharine
Keller by Mark’s great-great
grandfather Cyrus Bomberger.
On the original deed, which is age of the house, but as they
still in the family, it states the sum remodel it they become convinced
paid as a total of 87,400, with 86,400 that the house dates at least from
of that paid in cash and the the time of the deed, and probably
remaining 81,000 to be paid when earlier.
the owner died **or sooner if There is a log portion, a stone
thereunto required.” portion and a frame portion. The
Markand Hazel have owned the only date found so far is one
farm since 1966 and now have 80 scratched on a window in the
ewes from which they market frame part which is 1872. That is
lambs and 255 sows. Thi market the newest section of the home.
Spahr farm disaster ddesn 9 t mar rich history
week ot a then 12-year-old farm
boy whose family was among those
honored on Wednesday in the
annual Lancaster Century Karros
program.
Now, that 12-year-old youth, J.
Kobert Spahr, and his wife, K.
Naomi, continue to work the farm
along Ureenacre Head, southwest
of Litiu, in partnership with sun,
Jun, who is the seventh generation
on the family farm that dates back
tolbto.
While the home dairy farm
numbers some 10 acres, the Spahrs
actually crop more than 200. They
rent the nearby Chester Sensenich
farm, on which they also teed.
cattle, and work part ot one ot the
Warwick Farms on shares on the
opposite side of Lititz.
Chapman u> a partner in the
operation with Mark.
There is no verification on the
And as the Spahrs looked back on
the more than a century and a
quarter of their family on the
farm, they recalled other in
teresting tidbits out of familial
lore.
From the wall, Mrs. Spahr takes
down a framed advertisement tor
a public sale and an elaborate
conditions ot sale that resulted
from the auction.
"This dates back to Ikbb, the first
tune the farm changed hands
within the family,” she explained.
"TheJarm was split at that tune
tor two suns. The printer's nutation
cites John Baer and Sons, who also
had the agricultural almanac ’ ’
Jun Spahr returns to the barn,
which his tather saw burn to the
ground back in 1939.
of Lititz
southwe:
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 21,1981—A29
stone and log portions are early,
because as Hazel pjits it, “It’s so
crooked and old. Although it is
built very firmly, nothing is level. ’’
She adds, “The ceilings are low,
which is unusual. It is not an
elegant farm house.” Elr it it
Spinning whet jr are appropi
exposed log wall in Nestleroth home.
•In checking back we tound that ' lhe herd m gradually being
the barn had just been built m 1018, expanded as the tree-stall barn
about the time my grandfather huilt in 1078 will hold 52 cows. At
became involved in the farm. ” the same tune, the Spahrs put up a
in all, the Spahrs crop some 130 20 XBO silo, which was moved from
acres ot com, 40 acres ot hay, 20 ot the nearby Senseruch farm they
' wheat and some 10 in tobacco. rent
Their herd ot grade Holsteins
totals about & milkers, with an
approximate equal number of
younger replacement stock.
ai'fV - *Sf r
Spahr family members, from left, Robert, Naomi and their
son, Jim. take look at two-week-old calf with feline-visitor.
may not be, but it is interesting,
warm and inviting In remodeling,
the Nestleroth’s have exposed one
inside log wall in their living room
The logs are square and measure
about 18 inches. “They are enor-
accessories
About two years ago, the eider
Spahrs moved to a ranch home
(Turn to Page A 33)