B2—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 14,1984
Meet Karen Nesbit:
Fulltime Farm Wife and Store Owner
BY DONNA McCONAUGHEY
MARCHAND Businesswomen
are not unusual in the 1980’s. Farm
women who own and/or operate
businesses are also becoming
more common today. But, a farm
wife who combines “full-time”
involvement in the family dairy
farm with “full-time” ownership of
a rural general store is not com
mon.
However, like many farm wives,
Karen Nesbit of northern Indiana
County describes her life as “dull,
nothing special.” This typical
spirit of managing whatever
comes along, seems necessary and
looks interesting is taken in stride
by Karen as just another aspect of
a busy life-style.
The Nesbit family farms ap
proximately 500 acres, of which
they own 200 acres. The farm is
devoted to raising high quality
Holstein cows. The milking string
currently includes 85 cows with an
additional 20 heifers due to freshen
soon. Bra-Mar farms is known for
producing type cattle, as well as
staying on the top of Indiana
county DHIA lists for several
years.
Karen Nesbit, the mother of four
teenagers, helps with milkings and
nearly all other aspects of a busy
dairy farm. In addition, she has
owned and managed, since 1979,
one of the few rural general stores
remaining in Western Penn
sylvania.
Located in the small rural
community of Marchand, this
store gives one the feeling of going
back into the early 1800’s the
minute you walk in the door.
The store has been dated to at
least 1836 and still contains the
original counters, stairway, and
A hobby of Karen's is collecting ai. ig a. ique
furniture. She is especially proud of this oak secretary which
dates back to the 1920'5.
bannister, flooring, etc. It has
served the people of northern
Indiana and southern Jefferson
counties in many ways over nearly
150 years. For several years area
farmers bought livestock feed and
supplies at the store came to the
post office, bought grocery and
food items and caught up on local
news by visiting the Marchand
store.
Today you can’t buy livestock
feed, but you can find the typical
“general store” variety of items
for sale. And it is still a good place
to catch up on the news
especially on a cold, winter
evening.
But, how did a farm wife get
involved in buying and managing a
store? The store is located on
property adjacent to, and only a
few feet away from the Nesbit
home. In 1979, Jerry Nesbit
learned that the store contents
were for sale. Upon further in
vestigation he found that the
property and building could be
purchased also. The Nesbits were
concerned that the property should
be owned by someone who would
continue to maintain it in good
condition.
Karen vividly recalls the
evening that Jerry walked into the
barn as she fmished milking and
said, “well, you have yourself a
store”. She remembers just as
vividly her first thought, "what am
I going to do with it?”
As usual, Karen Nesbit did not
back down when faced with a
challenge. Her five years ex
perience as a clerk for a
Thoroughfare market provided an
excellent background for her new
responsibility.
Karen has total responsibility for
the store. When they purchased the
property, Jerry “handed it over”
to her. In fact, “he doesn’t even
know how to run the cash
register.”
One of the steps to combine this
new business venture with the total
farm operation was taken when
Nesbits began selling raw milk
through the store. In fact, the
“farm fresh milk” is the feature
that brings many of their
customers from as far as 15 miles
away.
The chentelle is primarily local
people who pick up a few grocery
items between “trips to town”.
There are a few people who shop at
the Marchand store for most of
their family’s groceries. Karen is
quick to point out that she stocks
the store according to the requests
of her customers.
Perhaps the most noticeable
aspect of this management prin
ciple is the wide variety of snuff
and chewing tobacco stocked. It
seems that each local farmer has
his own “brand”. They make their
request and Karen tries to comply.
In addition to a good supply of
their favorite “brand”, local
farmers can often find friends and
neighbors gathered in the store on
cold or rainy evenings just to
“shoot the breeze”. Displayed
The Marchand General Store serves as a farm market for raw milk produced on Bra-
Mar Farm and is one of the few remaining country stores in western Pennsylvania.
near the cash register are
newspaper clippings of neighbors
who have recently been noted for
various accomplishments and
coloring book pictures carefully
made by young customers. There
are even jars of penny candy to
appeal to the kids.
Karen has made a very strong
effort to foster this type of com
munity atmosphere and has a
desire to maintain the authenticity
of the store. She admits to being an
antique buff and throughly enjoys
the opportunity to investigate and
build on her knowledge of how the
store has developed through the
years.
This store was originally owned
by Dr. Marrow, the last physician
to maintain a rural practice in the
area. Upon his death in 1936 it
passed on to his foster daughter
from whom the Nesbits purchased
the store.
Displayed above the shelves are
the original cash drawer,
telephone, and cash register from
the store A long wooden bench
located in front of the counter and
pot belly stove have seen many a
generation of farmers come and
go. Also prominent are Karen’s
collection of milk bottles which
includes a rare glass cottage
cheese bottle. Proudly displayed is
a “Red Man Tobacco” advertising
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Karen Nesbit enjoys seeking new information about how
her store operated in the 1800’s. Much information has been
gained by reviewing old ledgers which contain the names or
relatives of many families still located in northern Indiana
county.
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sign which was found in the
building when the Nesbits pur
chased it.
Karen also found store ledgers
from the 1800’s. Wouldn’t it be nice
if you could still buy two yards of
calico for 12 cents or three pounds
of coffee for 60 cents? Two dozen
eggs sold for 12 cents and 100
pounds of dried apples brought 3
cents. In those days exchanges
were often made, such as bringing
butter to the store and taking home
eggs.
As is usually the case, there are
many stories carried through
generation after generation
regarding events in years past. It
is believed that one of the United
States Presidents stood on the end
of the counter in the Marchand
store to deliver a campaign ad-
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dress. This certainly seems
feasible when one learns that Dr.
Marrow, store owner, served as a
legislator in the late 1800’s. There
are even several volumes of
legislative records from the 1890’s
stored on the second floor of the
store.
Many folks enjoy history and
antiques but business is business
and the bottom line is always
can you make a profit.
Karen Nesbit excells in this area
also. Business has more than
tripled at the Marchand store since
1979 when the Nesbits purchased it.
Although Karen manages the
store, the entire family shares in
this as they do in all other aspects
of the farm.
The Nesbit family consists of
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