Wednesday, March 4, 2009 4:08 PM CST
Oakland farm receives centennial designation
By ROB STROUD, Staff Writer
rstroud@jg-tc.com
OAKLAND — The Stokes family farm existed for just 15 years when Keith Stokes was born in the farm house there in 1923.
Stokes went on to have a career off the farm in insurance, but he has always maintained his family’s ownership of the land and been a business partner in the ongoing farming operation there.
“I was born and raised on the farm and the farm has never been out of me since. I love the farm,” Stokes said Tuesday afternoon while paying a visit to the site along Illinois Route 133 on the Coles-Edgar county line.
Stokes, who now resides in Florida and Ohio, was taken by surprise during the visit when his family and friends unveiled an Illinois Department of Agriculture Centennial Farm sign for the farm, which turned 101 years old this year.
The sign on Route 133 is held by a special frame, topped by “1908 Stokes Farm 2008,” that Stokes’ daughter and son-in-law Darla and Ronald Oltmanns brought with them from their home in Granbury, Texas. The sign states “preserving our heritage” and “family ownership for over 100 years.”
“Surprised? I should say I was surprised,” Stokes said, moved by the sight of the frame and Centennial Farm sign. “I am so appreciative of the state of Illinois for doing this.”
Stokes estimated his grandfather, Joseph Stokes, purchased the farm’s original 64 acres in 1908 for approximately $8,000. He said his grandfather installed clay tiles underneath the farm’s fertile black soil using a horse and spade.
His father, Floyd Stokes, continued the farming tradition there, but the family faced economic hardships. After his father went broke, Stokes said he helped his grandfather deliver eggs and milk in Isabel. Stokes said he had trouble finding employment after graduating from Kansas High School in 1941.
“When I graduated we were just beginning to come out of the Depression. I could not get a job anywhere,” Stokes said.
Stokes said he ultimately found work with Aetna insurance in Chicago, but it was cut short when he enlisted in the Army Air Force after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He flew as part of a B-17 bomber crew over Europe during World War II.
After the war, Stokes said he went to work for Farm Bureau insurance in Edgar County before starting his own insurance agency in Shelbyville and then founding his own insurance company, Old Heritage Life Insurance, in Lincoln. He retired at age 54 from the insurance business.
Stokes has stayed busy as a business partner in the ongoing operation of his family’s land, which has been farmed by the Rowe family since 1954.
Don Rowe said his family has always enjoyed working with the Stokeses and their farming agreements have always been signed with a handshake.
Stokes said he has made arrangements to pass the farm on to the Oltmanns and his son, Dale Stokes of Albuquerque, N.M., and on to his grandchildren.
Contact Rob Stroud at rstroud@jg-tc.com or 348-5734.
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