The start of our history begins with a journey from England to New England. In 1637, John Thurston, a carpenter from Suffolk, England, boarded the ship, Mary Anne, with his wife, Margaret, and their two sons, and sailed for the New World. They settled in Dedham, Massachusetts, where they prospered and had 6 more children.

The first child of John and Margaret’s who was born in America, Joseph, was offered a plot of land by the town of Jamaica in Long Island, New York, on the condition that he settled there. He took them up on the offer and moved there in 1663. He became a farmer, married and had 8 children. He was a prominent member of the community, being appointed as executor of his neighbor’s estates and appointed to various town committees, including one that was organized to deal with Long Island’s pirate problem.

Joseph’s eldest son, Benjamin, stayed on Long Island, where he became a blacksmith. Like his father, he was a prominent member of the town. In addition to his blacksmith work, he was the town tax collector, on various committees, including one to build a church that he eventually became superintendent and vestryman of. In 1700, he was appointed 1st lieutenant in the foot company of the town of Jamaica. He and his wife had 3 children. The oldest, John, was also a blacksmith in Jamaica.

John’s son, Israel, lived in Rahway, New Jersey with his wife and 6 children. During the Revolutionary War, British soldiers set up winter quarters on his farm, and destroyed the farmstead when they left in the spring. Two of his sons served in the Revolutionary Army. His second son, David, served for 7 years, going first as a substitute for his father. David moved from New Jersey, where he was born, to Pennsylvania. He and his wife, Esther, had 11 children.

It was spring or early summer when Flavel, Eleanor, and their 7 children loaded their covered wagon with their possessions and left Ohio. They had $32, 30 bushels of oats, food, clothing, seeds to plant the next spring, a few chickens, some cows, horses, and the oxen which were pulling the wagon. There was not room in the wagon for everyone, so the children would take turns riding and walking, while Flavel and Eleanor would switch off driving. It was early autumn when they arrived. Flavel had to cut logs to make a one room cabin so they had a place to stay for the winter. The cabin had an attic where the children would sleep when it wasn’t too cold, otherwise the whole family slept in the same room next to the fireplace. The first winter would have been hard and frightening for the new settlers.

Eleanor took the some of the seeds she brought with her and started an herb garden, in which she grew medicinal herbs to treat the family and some of the other early settlers. She started a Sunday School in the cabin for the children of the area. Eventually a traveling minister came and would hold church service in Flavel and Eleanor’s home three times a year. Eleanor kept many bed-ticks that she would stuff with straw, so when settlers from other parts of the county would come to hear church service, they had something to sleep on in the barn. Flavel and Eleanor were also ardent abolitionists.

In 1851, Flavel bought 40 acres in Bureau Township, that is still part of our home farm today. He paid $1.25 per acre. Later he expanded the farm with an additional 40 acres. He had to find some way to break up the tough prairie soil which was covered with long grass. Normally this was done with a large plow pulled by four oxen, but Flavel thought there was a better way. He introduced the first small breaking plow, which was able to be pulled with just two horses. Many people came to watch, and no one thought it would work. Luckily it did, and his two old grey horses were able to break one and a half to two acres a day. The first fall he was able to plow 20 acres so it was ready for the next spring.

In 1852, Flavel was returning from a trip to Chicago, where he had gone with a wagon to sell his grain, when he caught cholera and died. Eleanor passed away in 1880, on a Sunday morning when she was reading her Bible.

Photo: Flavel’s grave at Cross Cemetery in Bureau Township

When Flavel died, the farm went to his third child, Esther and her husband Thomas Taylor. Esther was born in 1827 in Ohio and traveled with her parents when they came to Illinois. Thomas was born in England and immigrated to the Americas in the 1850s. His first wife, Maria met him in New York with their three children in 1853, after which they traveled to and settled in Canada, where he worked as a engineer in a flour mill. Maria died in Canada, and Thomas packed up his three children and moved to Illinois, where he met Esther. Thomas and Esther had two children, Joseph and Ida. One day in 1878 when Thomas was coming home from Wyanet, his carriage met a buggy on the road. Thomas’s horses, frightened by the other buggy, bolted and Thomas was thrown from his carriage. He was caught in the springs of the carriage and dragged home, where he died from his injuries.

Photo: Thomas Taylor

Joseph was only 18 when his father died. He would have had a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. Half of the farm went to his sister, Ida, but the other half went to him. He married Sarah Smith in 1880, and they had four children. They worked hard and bought land to bring the farm to 160 acres, which is the same 160 acres we still call home. They bought an additional 80 acres not connected to the home farm, which is also still in our family. However, in 1918, while World War I was still being fought and the Spanish Flu was ravaging the county, Joseph passed away after catching pneumonia.

Photo: The Taylor Family, from left to right: Joseph, Pansy, Irving, Sarah, Sylvia, and Everett

Joseph and Sarah’s oldest child, Sylvia, married William John Wessel in 1907. John’s parents had immigrated to Illinois from Germany. Sylvia and William had two children, but tragically, Sylvia died shortly after giving birth to their daughter, Evelyn in 1911.

Photo: John & Sylvia (Taylor) Wessel

After their mother died, Evelyn and her older brother Irving went to live with her grandparents, Sarah and Joseph Taylor on the home farm. When Joseph died, Sarah Jane continued running the farm and Irving and Evelyn spent the rest of their childhood with her.

Photo (From left to right): William John Wessel, Irving Taylor, Irving Wessel, Sarah Jane Taylor, Evelyn Wessel (Swanson), and Everett Taylor

In the early 1930s, Evelyn met Harlan Swanson at a church picnic. Harlan lived on the farm he grew up on outside of Malden, Illinois. In Harlan’s words, “We became friends and our friendship ripened into marriage which took place on February 24, 1934.” After the wedding, Harlan’s family moved into Princeton, leaving the Malden farm to Harlan and Evelyn.

Photo: Harlan and Evelyn

By 1940, Harlan and Evelyn had had two sons, Roger and Burton, and were looking to expand their farming operation. They were able to rent the Taylor home farm and moved there, and in 1949, they bought the farm. Harlan and Evelyn did a lot to help us get to where we are today. They expanded the farm more, both buying and renting ground. There was a lot of livestock: cattle, hogs, and chickens. Harlan loved his cattle, and his favorite part of farming was working in the cattle lots. We were always told that it was the money Grandma Evelyn made from selling eggs that bought the farm.

Top Photo: Harlan with some of his cattle. Bottom Photo: Evelyn on a horse-drawn disk

Farming wasn’t the only thing that interested Harlan and Evelyn, they loved gardening, photography, and the Bureau County Fair. Evelyn loved her gladiolus and roses, and was the Fair’s floral superintendent for many years. Harlan assisted her at first, but then became the photography superintendent at the Fair. He made his own slide projector for the Fair’s first slide exhibit. Harlan was very proud that he never missed a Bureau County Fair until the last few years of his life. They were both very active in the Evangelical Covenant Church in Princeton throughout their lives.

Right Photo: Harland discussing the photography department with a fair board member. Left Photo: Evelyn judging plant submissions at the fair.

Christmas Tree Hill is a place that many people in the area remember fondly. In 1957, Harlan was looking at the pasture, and thought it would be nice to plant some evergreens on the sand hill that couldn’t grow crops. He thought it would be a good conservation project and provide shade to the livestock in the summer and a windbreak in the winter. The next spring, Harlan, Roger, and Burton planted 2,000 Norway pines. Once the trees started to get big, some friends asked if they could cut them for their Christmas trees, which gave Harlan and Evelyn the idea of starting a tree farm. Each year they put 250-300 trees up for sale, each tree was groomed, tended, and evaluated by them. They continued planting trees, about 1,000 each year, on Christmas Tree Hill until they retired from farming and moved to Princeton in 1980. They estimated that they planted 17,000 trees in their lifetime. Evelyn passed away in 1995 and Harlan passed away in 1998.

Photo: Evelyn Working on Christmas Tree Hill

Harlan and Evelyn instilled the love of farming into their two boys. Roger and Burton helped out on the farm and showed cattle at 4-H. They also spent a lot of time helping Harlan with farm work. Roger decided to make farming his career and married Sylvia Larson in 1959. Sylvia’s parents were farmers who lived outside of Princeton. Roger and Sylvia had two sons, Ron in 1960 followed by Pete in 1964.

Photo: Roger on the left with the champion of the Walnut Baby Beef Show and Burton on the right with the reserve champion.

In the 60s and 70s, the farm was a busy place. It had grown to about 320 acres and there was still livestock to tend to. Besides the hogs and cattle, there were chickens, goats, horses, even honey bees. Roger bought the first combine on the farm, it was a 2-row Case with a 15 ft. platform. He custom combined many acres with a neighbor that first year. It was January before they got done. The combine didn’t have a cab, and Roger made heated socks that were wired into the combine’s battery to keep his feet warm.

Photo: Roger getting into one of the farm’s early combines

Roger and Sylvia loved gardening. Sylvia had a large flower garden that was her pride and joy. Roger built her a greenhouse for the more sensitive plants, a large brick patio and walkways throughout the garden. They also had a large vegetable garden that supplied both farm families with veggies for eating and canning.

Photo: Ron in the garden standing next to a very large sunflower.

Roger and Sylvia continued to rent and buy ground and by the late 1970’s they were farming about 600 acres. They had also increased the hog operation and had built a hog confinement on the home farm. Since they were farming more acres, they started to expand their grain storage as well. This grain storage was located where our current bin site is today. By this time, Ron and Pete were both showing an interest in making farming their careers as well. Sylvia passed away in 2010. Roger is living in Princeton and still comes out to the farm almost every day.

Photo: Pouring concrete for a new building at the bin site.

Ron and Pete didn’t miss out on any of the farming action while they were growing up. They loved everything about farm life and were eager to get involved as soon as they were old enough. They had animals and gardens of their own and were active in 4-H. Ron rented his first farm in 1979 and Pete rented his first farm in 1988. Ron married Dawn Von Holten in 1981 and Pete married Konnie Kepner in 1988. Ron and Dawn have three daughters, Betsy, Erika, and Veronica. Pete and Konnie have one son, Nate, and two daughters, Natalie and Nicole.

Photo: Ron pulling Pete in a cart Ron made from a pedal tractor.

Ron and Pete took over active management of the farm in the 1980’s. They continued to have livestock and expand the acres they farmed. Ron at different times had sheep, bucket calves, and feeder cattle. Pete took care of the hogs. However, in the early 2000’s, they made the difficult decision to get out of livestock. The farm had grown substantially in acres and there wasn’t enough time or people to take care of everything.

Photo: Shredding cornstalks.

As the farm continued to grow in acres and shifted it’s focus from livestock to grain production, Ron and Pete worked to expand the bin site. They added bins, upgraded the grain dryer, and put in a commercial truck scale. In 1989, they incorporated the farm under the name West Bureau Farms.

Photo: Putting a roof on a grain bin.

And that brings us to today. We farm about 8,000 acres and the bin site has a storage capacity of 1.3 million bushels. Ron and Pete are still the active owners, but the next generation is following in their footsteps with Betsy and Nate.

Photo: Harvesting corn on the Home Farm