1. Home
  2. Agriculture
  3. 103 Historic Farm Families Presented Hoosier Homestead

 

Recognized for their families’ longstanding commitment to agriculture, 103 Indiana farm families were presented the Hoosier Homestead Award at the Indiana State Fair from Indiana State Department of Agriculture Director Don Lamb.

“The Hoosier Homestead ceremony at the Indiana State Fair is a prestigious event for all involved,” said Lt. Gov. Crouch, Indiana’s Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development. “It is a true honor to celebrate these families for their work and commitment to bettering Indiana agriculture.”

To be named a Hoosier Homestead, farms must be owned by the same family for more than 100 consecutive years, and consist of 20 acres or more, or produce more than $1,000 in agricultural products per year.

Based on the age of the farm, families are eligible for three different distinctions of the Hoosier Homestead Award. They can receive the Centennial Award for 100 years, Sesquicentennial Award for 150 years or Bicentennial Award for 200 years of ownership.

“Keeping a farm operational for 100 years or more is something these families can take great pride in,” Lamb said. “Each of the awarded family farms continues to adapt and evolve through each new generation on the farm to ensure their success.”

Since the program's inception in 1976, nearly 6,200 families have received the award. Often, a Hoosier Homestead farm is easily recognized because most recipients proudly display their awarded sign on their property.

During the ceremonies, six Indiana farms received the Bicentennial Award for 200 years of continuous ownership: the Thornburg-Caldwell-Slack family from Fayette County, the Hodges family from Morgan County, the Bridges-Royer family from Putnam County, the Dale & Donna Hartwell and Ricky W. Hartwell family from Rush County, the Bass-Rhodes family from Shelby County and the James W. Holmes, Jeffrey W. Holmes, Jason M. Davidson family from Tippecanoe County.

The following list includes the August 2024 Hoosier Homestead Award recipients.

County Award Name Award Year Award Type
Adams Bohnke 1897 Centennial
Adams Girod 1906 Centennial
Adams Kent L. Steiner 1890 Centennial
Allen Dafforn 1874 Sesquicentennial
Bartholomew Schroer 1886 Centennial
Benton Pitts 1880 Centennial
Benton Pitts 1911 Centennial
Blackford Schwarzkopf 1872 Sesquicentennial
Blackford Albert LeRoy Stallsmith 1904 Centennial
Carroll Boyer-Garrigues 1923 Centennial
Carroll George & Lois Wallace 1914 Centennial
Cass Geroge E. Ferguson 1858 Sesquicentennial  
Cass VerBryck 1895 Centennial
Clay Hofmann (Modesitt) 1881 Centennial
Clay Hofmann (Unger) 1865 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Clinton Dean Walker 1846 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Daviess David L. Brown 1896 Centennial
Daviess Joseph L. Disser 1919 Centennial
Daviess Fuhrman 1918 Centennial
Dearborn Murtaugh 1855 Sesquicentennial
Decatur Manlief 1873 Sesquicentennial
Decatur Charles & Mary Torline 1874 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Delaware Abshire 1864 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Delaware C Clifford Green 1874 Sesquicentennial
Dubois Bartelt-Peters 1913 Centennial
Dubois Bockting 1839 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Dubois Meyer 1920 Centennial
Fayette Thornburg-Caldwell-Slack 1824 Sesquicentennial & Bicentennial
Franklin Kuntz 1916 Centennial
Franklin Miles Homestead Farms LLc 1874 Sesquicentennial
Franklin Wessel 1858 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Fulton Applegate-Crippen-Rock 1911 Centennial
Fulton Heater 1874 Sesquicentennial
Fulton Shewman 1918 Centennial
Grant Grindle 1852 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Greene Roudebush 1918 Centennial
Hamilton Honnold-Muir 1902 Centennial
Henry Kirklin 1874 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Howard Duncan Farm Legacy LLC  1864 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Howard J & B Family Farms LLC (53 acre) 1899 Centennial
Howard J & B Family Farms LLC (80 acre) 1849 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Huntington Philip Shafer 1923 Centennial
Jackson Bell-Alwes-Mellencamp 1918 Centennial
Jackson Claycamp 1869 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Jackson Shoemaker 1924 Centennial
Jasper Gilmore-Brandenburg 1895 Centennial
Jasper Wilma Jean Lehe 1922 Centennial
Jasper Walter 1873 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Knox Borgmeier 1904 Centennial
Kosciusko Messmore-Werstler 1923 Centennial
Kosciusko Shock 1866 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
LaGrange Koon-Barroquillo 1918 Centennial
Madison Haines-Wood 1854 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Madison Sears 1924 Centennial
Madison Thomas A. Tooley 1913 Centennial
Marshall Stuntz / Bollenbacher 1869 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Miami Berglan 1874 Sesquicentennial
Miami Peter Fisher-John H. Balsbaugh-Raymond E. Mussleman 1837 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Miami Gahs 1874 Sesquicentennial
Miami Patricia Hardwick & Shirley Kerns 1855 Sesquicentennial
Miami Kranz 1874 Sesquicentennial
Miami Shewman 1869 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Montgomery Cowan 1834 Sesquicentennial
Morgan Harmon & Nancy Crone 1836 Sesquicentennial
Morgan Haase 1905 Centennial
Morgan Hodges (1840) 1840 Sesquicentennial
Morgan Hodges (1822) 1822 Bicentennial
Newton Romine 1874 Sesquicentennial
Noble Harvey and Simon 1862 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Noble Zimmerman 1919 Centennial
Posey Papenmeier 1923 Centennial
Pulaski Bergdolt 1899 Centennial
Pulaski Heater 1872 Sesquicentennial
Putnam Bridges-Royer 1823 Bicentennial
Ripley Drockelman 1860 Sesquicentennial
Ripley Miller 1910 Centennial
Ripley Shorten-Volz-Miller 1917 Centennial
Ripley Smith 1868 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Ripley Wilson 1923 Centennial
Rush Gray-Eakin 1835 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Rush Dale & Donna Hartwell and Ricky W. Hartwell 1821 Sesquicentennial & Bicentennial
Shelby Bass-Rhodes 1823 Centennial & Sesquicentennial & Bicentennial
Shelby Kolkmeier 1905 Centennial
Steuben Libey 1920 Centennial
Steuben Levi Pocock 1868 Sesquicentennial
St Joseph Michalski 1887 Centennial
Sullivan Shields 1894 Centennial
Tippecanoe James W. Holmes, Jeffrey W. Holmes, Jason M. Davidson (Davidson) 1824 Bicentennial
Tippecanoe Inskeep-McDole; Gilbert-Dilley; Tishler-Diem 1877 Centennial
Tipton Meyncke 1924 Centennial
Union Greenmeadow Farm Inc-Caldwell 1923 Centennial
Vanderburgh Friedrich Schaefer 1869 Sesquicentennial
Vigo Chickadaunce 1913 Centennial
Wabash Daihl 1873 Centennial & Sesquicentennial
Wabash Kirtlan 1924 Centennial
Wabash Schuler 1920 Centennial
Warren George K Kerner 1872 Sesquicentennial
Warrick Zint 1902 Centennial
Wayne F. Park Ammerman 1919 Centennial
Wells Price 1919 Centennial
White Diemer 1895 Centennial
White George B. Kilmer 1916 Centennial
White Otto Vieregge 1915 Centennial

ISDA

For more information about the Hoosier Homestead Award program, please visit isda.in.gov. Photos from the ceremony are available here.

SalemLeader.com

Leader Publishing Company of Salem, Inc.
P.O. Box 506
117-119 East Walnut Street
Salem, Indiana. 47167

Phone:  812-883-3281 | Fax: 812-883-4446

Business Hours:
Mondays through Fridays, 9:00am - 5:00pm

News:
news@salemleader.com

Office:
office@salemleader.com

Publisher:
publisher@salemleader.com