Charles Family Farm History
The Charles Family Farm has been in our family for over 4 generations for a total of 117 years! It came into our family on March 31, 1906 when Catherine S. Charles and Amos L. Charles, my Great grandfather purchased approximately 80 acres, for $15,244.871/2. (Don’t know how they found a 1/2 penny). On February 13, 1945, my grandfather Jacob N. Charles and wife Velma Herr Charles received it from Amos. He then passed it to Vernon and Mary Charles, in 1951. My mother and father then gifted it to me and my wife June Charles on November 17, 2011. We moved onto the farm when I left the corporate world in 1996 and started helping my father on the farm as he was beginning to retire.
In 1961 my father was the last adult to get polio in Lancaster county. I was 10 years old and in 4th grade. We rented the farm out for a few years and then sold our milking cows at auction with the sale taking place in our barnyard.
Dad recovered from polio but walked with aid of full length crutches and a brace on his left leg. Despite his handicap he still wanted to keep farming. We added lifts to all of our tractors so he could get up to the seat to drive them. We hooked up whatever equipment he planned to use each morning before school.
After the cows were gone we converted all the cow stables to steer pens and put up a 65 foot silo for corn silage and installed a new feed bunk for the steers.
Dad’s perseverance and determination to keep farming is what allows us to continue our legacy today. We continue to fatten over 80 head of Black Angus beef cattle every year. Our customer base keeps growing but really increased when Covid arrived. We grow our own corn for feed and grow soybeans for a cash crop.
With this history in mind, June and I like to say we are just passing through and stewards of the land like Dad always said. We are planning to pass our farm on to our son Jason Charles who already rents 20 acres and has a successful produce business called “Just Pick’d”. Jason’s two sons, Brayden and Landon, and my brother Bill, are also a big help to the beef, harvest, and produce tasks.
We are blessed and do not take it for granted in any way. We realize how hard it was for our parents to keep the farm surviving and respect their wishes.
With continued customer support and family help we fully expect the Charles Family Farm tradition to continue.
