One spunky lady recalls another spunky
BY DICK ANGLESTEIN
NEW PROVIDENCE - The
moment 1 saw her I liked her.
She opened the door of the far
mhouse at my knock, stood on the
wide sill between the storm and
inner door and looked up the foot or
more that separated our gazes.
She had that sparkle in her eye -
a sparkle that wasn’t dimmed by
79 years of watching and living the
tremendous changes that have
r come to agriculture in that time.
” 1 said to myself: “ Hey, this is
one spunky lady.”
And as 1 talked to her - the
spunkmess in her voice was as if
each statement she gave was
automatically finished with an
exclamation point.
She’s Frances K. Shenk, of R 2
Providence, and along with her
brother, J. Fred, she’s half of an ag
duo who were among those
honored this week for their Cen
tury Farms.
. And their farm on a hillside that
overlooks Rt. 322 south of New
Providence is a Century Farm
more than two and one-half tunes
over. It dates back some 262 years.
Frances’ spunkiness shows up
best when she talks of her grand
mother, another Frances, after
whom she was named.
“Grandfather John M. Shenk
was very kind and even
f, tempered,” she explains.
“But grandmother Frances was
something else. Whenever she
scrubbed the doorstep, you always
stepped over it or else.”
The New Providence area was a
popular stop on the Underground
Railroad as slaves slipped up from
the South through Maryland and
-continued toward Columbia on
their way to Canada.
“I’m sure that Grandmother
Frances helped the slaves,” her
namesake said.
“If anyone around here would
have helped them, it would have
been her. Believe me. ”
With her brother Fred, Frances
proudly displays the wedding
photo of her grandmother. I can
see that same spunky sparkle.
Their 140-acre farm is part of
1200 acres that was acquired by
Michael Shenk of Switzerland in
If anyone would have helped the slaves ,
it would have been Grandmother Frances
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TO BE HELD IN JOHN M. SHENK’S GROVE,
ABOUT MIDWAY BETWEEN QUARRYVILLE AND NEW PROVIDER,
On Saturday, august teth,
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1720. The brother and sister are the
seventh generation on the farm. It
doesn’t take an Einstein to figure
out that many of those generations
lived to ripe old ages in order to
accumulate 262 years on the land.
As two of five children of John F.
Shenk, they assumed the operation
m 1940. Two brothers and a sister
have since died.
The Shenks gave up dairying
some dozen years ago and the
other fanning a bit later. The land
is now rented to Lester Gerhart of
New Providence.
They grew things like tobacco
and tomatoes, along with the
Commencing at 10 o’clock, A. Pi)
7 he company of yourself and Lodi is respectfully solicited.
The Shenk farm was the scene of weekend socials.
Century Farm
Frances and J. Fred Shenk in front of their stone farmhouse.
regular field crops. And these take
a lot of work.
The spacious stone farmhouse
that sets up on a knoll was started
mlBl2.
“The workmen started the house
but then some of them had to go off
and help fight the war,” Frances
explained.
“After they came back, it was
finished in 1813-14.”
The brother and sister recall the
days of farming with horses and
mules before they got their first
International tractor m 1939.
Now, working the land is limited
to a sizable garden.
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1873,
Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, November 20,1982—A27
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But as they tend just a few
tomato plants. I'm sure their
thoughts drift back to the days -
not that long ago - when they grew
12 acres of both green and red.
As she gazes out the living room
window, Frances’ sparkling eyes
ii
Grandfather John M. and Frances Shenk on their wedding
day.
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fall on the neighboring Amish farm
down below.
“We have such good neighbors,”
she said.,
"You know they had a wedding
there the other week. There were
320 people there.”
lady
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