During the 1960's and 1970's, much publicity was given to "the disappearance of the family farm". It was feared that too many young people were leaving the countryside for the big city life, and that corporations and foreign investors were taking over the Iowa farmland.

In 1976, as the nation was celebrating its bicentennial anniversary, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation began a search for farms which had been owned by the same family for 100 years or more. They found more than 5,000; certificates and farm markers were presented to the farm owners in local ceremonies held statewide.

The program has been continued as a part of the Iowa State Fair.

Although the area which surrounds Manning was some of the last territory in Iowa to be settled, there have been a number of residents who have earned the Century Farm status, or will receive the award in the near future. To qualify, the ownership of at least 40 acres of farmland must have continued within the same family for 100 years or more.

In 1880, Alexander Campbell and his wife Emma, daughter of Israel and Phoebe (McQuillan) Rorabaugh, bought their first 80 acres of land in Shelby County, southwest of Manning, and moved here from Jasper County, Iowa. They were Ohio and Pennsylvania natives. By 1889 they had enlarged their farm to 200 acres, made improvements and established shade and fruit trees.

Alex was 14 when his father, Col. John Campbell, was killed at Vicksburg in the Civil War. He and an older brother, James, did farm work to help support the family and educate the younger ones. His mother, Sarah (Leeper), moved the family from Ohio to Jasper County in 1865.

Alex and Emma raised a family of 11; Myrtle, John, Ellen, Frankie, Elizabeth, Robert, Nettie, Thomas, Sarah, Edith and Alice, ten of whom graduated from Manning High School from 1901 to 1920. John, Robert and Thomas farmed with their father and later on farms of their own.

John and Louella A. Wheeler of Manning, daughter of George H. and Mary (Ryel) Wheeler, were married in 1909 and moved to their farm just south of the "home place". There they raised their two daughters, Lucille (Mrs. LeRoy Brus) and Bernice (Mrs. Walter Hauschildt, Des Moines). John and his brothers built most of the farm buildings during the summers doing the masonry and carpentry work themselves.

LeRoy and Lucille Brus are the present owners of this bit of "Campbell Land" which will become a Century Farm in 1983. Their children are, Dorothea (Mrs. Jerry Lee, Poulsbo, Washington), Ronald, Harlan and Marilyn (Mrs. Dean Garnett), Harlan.

Mr. and Mrs. Walter Hauschildt are the parents of a son, Dean and a daughter, Mrs. Carol Newsom.

John Ehrichs, Sr., bought a farm northwest of Aspinwall November 16, 1881; his great-grandson, John E. Ehrichs, is the fourth generation to farm the land.

Alfred, seventh son of John, Sr., was born at the farm September 16, 1882. Alfred was married to Clara Brus September 29, 1909, and they continued to make their home on the farm. Alfred, who died April 28, 1961, had lived on the farm 60 years; his wife preceeded him in death March 8, 1958.

Alfred and Clara had one son, John A., who was married to Elda Ewoldt June 24, 1942. John A. lived on the farm for 64 years, before moving

to 611 Ninth Street in Manning.

John A. and Elda have three children, John E., Rosemary and Linda. Rosemary and her husband, Robert Stamm have two children, Sara and Bobby, and live in Columbus, Nebraska; Linda and her husband Jim Weitfeld have a son Brian and live near Leigh, Nebraska.John E. Ehrichs now lives on the home place in Iowa Township of Crawford County. The farm will receive recognition as a Century Farm the year Manning celebrates its Centennial. John E. had a great-uncle by the name of John, making him the fourth generation of John Ehrichs to reside there.

North of Manning two and a half miles in Ewoldt township is a century farm now being bought by Mrs. Robert (Shirley Hansen) Wegner.

The farm was first owned by Jurgen and Anna Hansen. Jurgen was born in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany in 1864. His wife was Anna Meyer of Gooselake, Iowa. Their first child was John H.J., born in 1891. Other children were Henry J.M., Wilhelmina (Bruhn), Hugo R.C., and Herbert.

Hugo married Emma Jentzen from Arcadia in 1923. To this union six children were born; Herbert, Helen (Madding), Marjorie (Wade), Lyle, Shirley (Wegner), and Larry.

Hugo got the place in 1949 and in June, 1973, received the Century Farm Certificate. Also in 1973, October 18, Hugo and Emma observed their Golden Anniversary.

The year 1977 their daughter Shirley started to purchase the place. She is married to Robert Wegner, son of Edwin and Lolida (Schroeder) Wegner. Robert and Shirley have seven children, Debra, Tommy, David, Nancy, Dale, Bruce and Kyle.

When my family lived on the Hans Grebel farm west of Manning, across the road from where Wilbur Hill now lives. We three Joens girls, Hertha, Ann, and myself, would walk to town every Saturday night. We would start when it was still daylight. We walked around town all evening, sometimes going to the show if we had the ten cents.

We usually had someone who would walk home with us later. The road -- now Highway 141 -- was then dirt and when it rained, it was so muddy we walked on the roadbanks where there was grass. One night, as we were walking on the bank, my boy friend stepped into a mudhole and temporarily disappeared.

---Elsie Struve

Carl Hinze, born in 1836, and Dorothea Keopke were raised and married near Buchholtez, Germany. As young marrieds, they immigrated to Chicago in 1867, where Carl continued his trade of carpentry. With their family of small children, they arrived in the Arcadia vicinity in April, 1873, living first with relatives and working the virgin prairie. Purchase papers for the Hinze farm were finalized in 1878 with the Iowa Railroad Company for a contracted price of $7 per acre. Lumber for the first buildings was brought by wagon from Westside. The major crop, wheat, was taken to a large mill there for grinding to flour, or was sold at Tip Top, the first name for Arcadia.

Carl and Dorothea were the parents of seven children, four of whom died of then-called "black diphtheria" within three days in 1878. There was a doctor in Westside, but no known medication for the disease except small amounts of whiskey.

An antique rocker, brought from Chicago and put in the first combination living and wheat storage area, has been within the walls of the many times remodeled Hinze home since. During the depression the worn caning was replaced with a fiber board; it has since been restored to its original state. One door of the original room shows a slight twist from a long-ago tornado.

Charles, the only remaining son, married Christina Holst in 1892 and continued living on the farm. They purchased it at his mother's death in 1924. Children are Laura Popp, Lillie Eckholdt, and Herbert Hinze, all in their late 80's, of Manning, Hazel Culver of Seattle, and Leonard, a past Carroll County Sheriff, who is deceased. Charles, a deputy sheriff for many years after retiring from farming, and Christina were married 57 years, then passed away within a few weeks in 1949. At that time, Herbert purchased the farm from the estate.

Herbert was born on the century acres in 1895 and lived there until moving to Manning in 1966. He and Freda Nulle were married in 1917, and their children are Pearl Hinze of Seattle, and Orville. Following Freda's death in 1933, Herbert married Margaret Struve Coleman, whose children are Ellen Hoffman and Shirley DeWillers. Margaret died in 1978.

Orville was born in 1930 and married Iva Mohr of Manning in 1950. They have farmed the century farm since, purchasing it in 1965. They also farmed land across the road. This land, which was purchased in 1881 by a distant Hinze relative but sold to several others since, was purchased in 1970 and added to the Hinze farm. For many years a large dairy herd was kept. Today it is general livestock and grain farming.

The farm, six miles north and one and a half east, is in the Manning School district and telephone area, but has an Arcadia address.

The Hinze family includes Kathy and Dan Keller and children David, Suzanne, and Kenneth of Des Moines, Dr. Ronald and Patti Hinze of Cedar Grove, Wisconsin, and Joni and Arthur Jacobson of Minneapolis. The daughters are nurses. Ron is a veterinarian and is the sole Hinze name bearer for the sixth generation.

James Gregg was born in Indiana in 1825. His daughter, Lutitia, was born in 1849. In 1850 the family moved to Johnson County, Iowa, and lived there until 1880, when they came to Manning and homesteaded the present Gerald Hockett farm.

Benjamin Myatt was born in Straffordshire, England, April 12, 1845, and came to Clinton County with his parents in 1852. In 1874 he migrated to Manning and settled on a farm in Washington Township across the road from the present Vernon Rohe farm. Ben married Lutitia Gregg December 30, 1869, and they moved to the James Gregg farm. They had two children, James R. and Mary Lavina or Mollie, as she was called.

Benjamin was a carpenter and plasterer and built many of the early homes and businesses in Manning, in addition to farming. Ben and Lutitia moved to their home in Manning around 1900. Their home was the present Don Zubrod home in the Ohde, Miller, Myatt Addition.

Grant Hockett, son of Wm. B. Hockett, was born September 12, 1868. He was given a choice

of an education or a farm and he chose the education. He attended college and taught in the schools west of Manning around 1890. In 1897 he married Mollie Myatt and moved to the Benjamin Myatt farm, which was to be their home for the rest of their lives.

They had three children - Elsie, Alva and Gerald. Elsie had three children, June, Justice and Grant, deceased; Alva Stirn had Nick and a stepdaughter Hariot Stirn; Gerald had Gay, Peggy, Joy, Wm., Jerry, Kit and Tim.

Grant was the proud owner of an ice house which the neighbors helped him fill in the winter. When ice was needed for special occasions, it was available to all. He specialized in raising Duroc hogs and was the first to ever show a pig at the Iowa State Fair weighing over 1,000 pounds. He also judged the 4-H Livestock shows. When Grant retired, Gerald took over the farming operations. Grant passed away in 1936 and Mollie in 1958.

Gerald married Mildred Wycoff, daughter of Steve and Emma Wycoff, August 26, 1933. They had a daughter Gay. Mildred pased away July 10, 1934, and Grandma Mollie helped rear Gay. Her children are Mary Jill and Jim Johnson.

In 1941 Gerald married Golda Scott, daughter of Alonzo and Sophie Scott. They had six children: Joy married Steve Vondrasek and they have a daughter Mollie; they live at Omaha. Jerry married Margaret Berkemeir and their children are Paula and Jeff; they live in North Carolina. Tim is married to Barb Malone. Kit is at home. Wm. and Peggy are deceased. The three boys served Uncle Sam; Tim and Jerry served in Viet Nam and Kit in Korea and Germany.

Gerald and sons Kit and Tim farm the home place. They specialize in raising Collie dogs, purebred Duroc pigs and Polled Hereford cattle.

Their home is still the original house Lutitia and Benjamin Myatt moved to in 1880.

Frank Henry Knueven, the son of John and Mary (Sporrer) Knueven, was born a twin on October 22, 1920, on the family farm. His twin brother was named Joseph John.

Claudia B. Stewart, the daughter of Fred and Ella (Friedrichsen) Stewart, was born August 21, 1924 near Gray.

On a windy day, September 16, 1943, Frank and Claudia spoke their wedding vows. Rt. Rev. Msgr. F.H. Huesman officiated. Their wedding took place in the Sacred Heart Church in Templeton. Attendants were Anne Knueven, sister of the groom and Daniel Lechtenberg, a friend of the couple.

This union was blessed with two children. Patrick Louis on August 12, 1945, and Patricia Anne on August 12, 1946.

When Frank's parents retired and moved to Templeton, Frank, Claudia and their children moved to the family farm. This transition occurred in the spring of 1947. They became owners of the land in 1967 and still farm the land.

Their son Patrick married Linda Meislahn of Gray and they were the parents of six children, John, Tracy, Theresa, Jacqulyn (deceased), Bradley, and Kelly.

Daughter Patricia married Michael Hartl of Dedham. They are the parents of four children Sheryl, Lisa, Jeffrey, and Christopher.

In 1982 the Knueven land will become a Century Farm.

In remembering the dry years of the 30's we are reminded by the oldsters that the year 1894 also qualifies with a yield of six bushels of corn per acre. That same year the round trip railroad excursion fare from Manning to Omaha, regularly priced at $4.50 was reduced to a special rate of $1.50.

Arnold and Luella Brus now live on this farm.

Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Lage and their sons Henry and Hans left Schoenbery, Probstein, in Holstein, Germany in 1835, crossing the Atlantic Ocean for seven weeks in a little sail boat. They first located in Clinton, Iowa, moving into a sod house on a farm. The boys received their education there.

Henry and Hans came to Crawford County in 1873. They purchased a 240 acre farm in Hayes Township, Section 36. In 1876 the Lage brothers moved on their land and Henry bought another 90 acres across the road in section 1, Iowa Township.

Hans and his wife Marie Myers had four children, Ida, Emma, Pauline and Gus. After Hans passed away, Marie married August Eikmeir, and they had a daughter Louise Eikmeir Hoelcher.

Emma Lage married Otto Adolph Brus February 22, 1905. They purchased the 120 acre farm from Marie Lage Eikmeir in 1910. Emma and Otto remained on this farm their entire life, and raised four sons, Arnold, Elmer, Vertus and Willis.

Arnold married Luella Kahl in 1939, and they had three children, Wayne, Robert and Georgia. Arnold purchased the homestead in 1948.

The family had a herd of Holstein milk cows until 1966, when they entered the Hereford beef cattle business. In earlier years, Otto had Rhode Island Red chickens and sold hatching eggs. He later switched to New Hampshire Red chickens, which were continued by Arnold. They had about 1,400 chickens every year and sold hatching eggs.

In 1939, CCC workers put in contour fences and made the farm pond bigger. The hog house burned down in 1954, and a new one was built the same year. A new corn crib was added in 1964 and a cattle shed in 1967.

The Art Fielweber farm four and a half miles northwest of Manning was one of the first in this area to be recognized as a Century Farm. The Crawford County farm, which originally included 240 acres in Hayes Township, was purchased in 1876 by brothers Hans and Henry Lage; they paid $4.50 an acre for part of the land.

Until they married, the brothers did not live on their farm. They later built two sets of buildings and moved there with their families. Each farmed 120 acres, with Henry later adding 90 acres on the south side of the road in Iowa Township. Hans' section is now owned by the Arnold Brus family, and a 60 acre portion of the original farm belongs to Herman Lage.

Henry and his wife Eline had three boys, John, Herman and Alfred. Alfred remained on the farm his entire life; he died in 1964. Alfred was instrumental in creating the South Crawford Rural Electric Cooperative, and the farm was one of the first to receive electricity in the fall of 1937.

Alfred and his wife had one daughter, Frances, who also lived on the farm her entire life. She married Art Fielweber, and he moved to the farm when he returned from military duty in World War II. Art worked as a carpenter in Manning until his father-in-law's death, and then began to farm the land. Frances died March 10, 1980.

The original house is still being used. A kitchen was added in earlier years, and the home was modernized and remodeled in 1946.

Alfred Lage was well known for his purebred Poland China hogs, and he won many ribbons with them at fairs. The farm included some Holstein milk cows in earlier years, and since 1935, Angus beef cattle have been raised there.

Soil conservation practices were started on the farm as early as 1940, when a pond was built. Since then, many trees have been planted and the land has been terraced and contoured.

In 1936 someone discovered a tombstone almost entirely imbedded in the dry creek bed north of the Milwaukee trestle. The inscription at the bottom read, "At rest, Louis Perry, born April 25, 1853; died April 18, 1886". It was surmised that burial had been made near the creek and that a flood had probably toppled the stone into the creek. When the item was published in the Monitor, Jim Myatt came in and cleared up the mystery. He said that Louis was a brother of E.C. Perry and when E.C. died a new stone was put in place and the old one dumped into the creek to get rid of it.

The farm northwest of Manning formerly known as the Marcus Kuhl farm is a Century Farm.

Marcus Kuhl, born August 2, 1845, immigrated to this country from Siederau bei Krempe, Holstein, Germany. He arrived in Davenport, and bought 160 acres in Crawford County on March 23, 1875, without any knowledge of what kind of land he had purchased. He settled on this land and his wife Anna Kuhl joined him later. Their first home was a dugout in the side of a hill. In later years he started building; lumber and necessities had to be hauled from Vail.

They were parents of seven children: Edmund, Ida, Emma (Mrs. J.W. Anthony) and Carl; three sons died in infancy. Marcus later purchased farms for each of his children, with Carl retaining the original farm when his father passed away on August 19, 1920.

Carl and sister Ida lived on the home place until they retired and moved to Manning in February, 1942. At the same time, their niece and husband, Henry and Norma (Anthony) Lamaack moved on their place. They lived there for 27 years with their three children; Allan, Marla (Mrs. Allen Nissen) and Valda (Mrs. Gordell Lamp).

When Henry and Norma retired in 1969 and moved to Manning, their daughter Valda and husband Gordell moved onto the farm. Their children, Julie, Jill, Scott and Steven, are the fifth generation to live on the Marcus Kuhl farm.

Marcus Kuhl, righ, purchased his Crawford County farm in 1875. It is now home for Gordell and Valda Lamp and their four children.

Mr. and Mrs. James Mundt, their daughter Bernice (Spiese), and Joahim Mundt are the three generations who have owned a Century Farm north of Manning.

James Mundt, the first white child born in Washington Township, near Halbur, was the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Joachim Mundt, who were among the first settlers of this country.

James was educated in the rural and Arcadia schools. When he was four years old he moved with his parents to the Mundt farm eight miles north of Manning. His father purchased the land from Gutterie (Gutherie) County in 1875 for $8 an acre. This land had been previously deeded by the United States, by an act of Congress, to the State of Iowa September 28, 1850 and the State in turn sold it to (Gutterie County) Gutherie in September of 1865.

At this time all of the farm land was prairie which had to be broken up so it could be farmed. Land was cheap but money was scarce. Interest was comparatively high, eight percent to 12 percent. The roads were little better than trails and the eight mile trip to Manning with horse and buggy took most of the day, so most of their trading was done in Halbur, Arcadia and Westside, which were only five miles away.

Since there were no trees on the prairie or on this farm, James planted many varieties including many evergreens. His purpose was not only to provide future shade and windbreaks, but also to eliminate the necessity of going miles to obtain firewood.

June 29, 1898, James was married to Mary Anthony, who lived just two miles from the Mundt farm and was one of the first settlers in the community.

After farming for 33 years they purchased their home in Manning from Mr. and Mrs. William

Ohde Sr., and lived there until their deaths. Mr. Mundt died in 1955 and Mrs. Mundt in 1967. They had one daughter, Bernice (Mrs. Wm. Spiese; who, with her husband, are still living in the same home in town.

The farm, listed as a century farm, is now owned by the Spieses and has been in the family for 105 years.