Oliver, Sylvia-Wilson Webb, Ralph (1896), Herman (1898), Mary (1902), Bert (1905), Chet (1909) and Grandpa William Wilson on the porch. This photo was taken around 1910.
This is the original house my Great-Grandparents bought in 1900. They sold their farm around Port William, Ohio because the ground was to flat and would not drain well. And bought the first 62 acres known as the “Ryan Farm”. At one time they farmed 800 acres with 8 teams of horses. They had purchased and sold land before retiring and moving to Wilmington, Ohio.
Being of the Quaker Faith each of the four sons receive a farm. My grandfather Bert was the last to get married and end up with the original farm. Only two of the farms remain in the family today.
Pam and I own 105 acres of gently rolling pastures and hayfields. We are located in Southwest Ohio approximately 45 miles North of Cincinnati, 60 miles South of Columbus, and 25 miles Southeast from Dayton. Pam and I moved here to the farm in December of 1982. We were married in May of 1980. After my Grandparents pasted away, my Aunt Marilyn and my mother decided I should live at the farm. I had lived here with my Grandparents for almost 12 years of my life. My parents were divorced when I was 6 months old and I moved back with my Grandparents. My mother remarried and purchased a house down the road 1/2 mile. After moving back with my mother I still was at the farm everyday. Grandpa and I even farmed together some before he passed away in March of 1982. My Grandmother passed away in November of 1982. Grandpa left me a group of Hereford cows and calves along with equipment he had left. I had tried to farm but at that time farming was not good, I had old worn out equipment and eventually I was forced to give it up. Pam and I had our first child in January 1984 his name is Robert “Ryan” and in 1986, we purchased 1/2 the farm from my Aunt Marilyn in October of 1987 we had our daughter Sara Elizabeth. We tried for years to farm or raise livestock. We had hogs, cattle and even goats before we decided we had to do something different Having full time jobs and both of us working with the kids being in school and sports, in 1999 we put the farm in grass and just did livestock. In 2002 we had started raising “Hair Sheep” and realized that they put on weight much faster than the goats, and we had problems keeping the goats healthy with the winters in Ohio so we decided to go with the sheep. We increased our flock and now have 85 ewes. We also started back with the cattle, hogs and have just this spring added laying hens to produce eggs.
Pam had also been around a farm. Her Grandparents Frank and Angie Drostie had a 225 acre farm just outside of Clarksville, Ohio. Her parents Carroll and Pat Drostie moved in 1974 from Maineville, Ohio to be closer to the farm. Carroll worked at GE and had bought a house with 7 acres not to far from the farm. In 1980 her parents sold that house and purchased another house with 15 acres which they had remodeled and added on to. They had a milk cow and chickens along with a big garden. After Pam's sister moved to Colorado in 1983 they decided to move closer to us, in 1984 they purchased 12 acres with a big pond a mile from us. In February of 1985 Pam Grandfather died but her Grandmother continued to live at the farm until she sold it in the late 1990's.
In September of 2006 the original farmhouse burned down. Pam and I lived away from the farm for a year. In October of 2007 moved back out to the farm. I would come out each morning and evenings to feed and water the livestock and spend all weekend out here. We have a dog Shadow who spent the entire year at the farm with the livestock. He is a Tibetan Mastiff.
Our son Ryan graduated from Wilmington College in 2007 with a degree in Life Biology and a minor in Chemistry and was just recently transfer back to Ohio from New Jersey we are excited he is back, our daughter Sara graduated from Wilmington College 2011 with a degree in Health Science with a minor in Chemistry. Sara had been working for Community Care Hospice for almost a year she is now working for Otterbein and is waiting to be accepted in a Nursing School. We are proud to annouce that Sara was accepted at Christ Hospital Nursing School and will start in January 2013. In March of 2012 I lost my mother Arlene Webb to cancer she was 72 she will be deeply missed. Pam and I started going to a Farmers Market (Deerfield Township Landen, Ohio) in August of 2008. Our goal is to become fulltime farmers and make our farm a healthy alternative to purchasing meat and eggs in a super market.
Thanks for the time you spent reading this. We hope we have the opportunity to offer our completely healthy products to you.
CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO CELEBRATING 200 YEARS 1810 - 2010 WITH 54 BARN QUILTS ALL OVER
THE COUNTY. THEY WILL BE HAVE A TOUR IN JUNE OF ALL OF THE QUILTS. WE PICKED THIS DESIGN
BECAUSE OF THE W'S FOR THE WEBB FAMILY.
