THE YOUNG FARM 

 Hof water heaf and Soyoil Paint. 



MRS. NEVA YOUNG 

 She hand-raises her chickens. 



PHIL AND BOB YOUNG 

 They will 90 to Colleg*. 



They Stay on the Land 

 in Cumberland County 



THERE'S one thing certain about 

 Cumberland countyites. They stay 

 put! We had heard about the 

 hound dogs, quail and babbling brooks 

 from the county's self-appointed press 

 agent, one Charlie Tarble, Farm Ad- 

 viser, but we weren't prepared for the 

 ancient history with which Cumberland 

 county positively reeks. It seems that 

 the old timers, whose descendants 

 still live on the same land, either 

 floated down the Ohio River, came 

 through Cumberland gap, emigrated 

 from ol' Kaintuck or headed West from 

 Ohio and Indiana, when it got so 

 crowded back there in 1835 that a 

 fellow couldn't breathe easily nor 

 shoot a deer for fear of hitting a neigh- 

 bor. You have to be careful in Cum- 

 berland county when you start talk 

 about "way back when." The average 

 Cumberlander can out-"way-back- 

 when" a Daughter of the American 

 Revolution with the iirA Virginians 

 thrown in to boot. 



It may be news to those who farm 

 the flats up m Douglas county that the 

 early settlers of Cumberland county 

 had first picks at it but turned it down 

 because it was too wet, malaria was 

 abundant, fresh water was too scarce, 

 there was little timber and a fellow had 

 to be a combination jackrabbit and 

 weasel to get close enough to shoot 

 down his dinner. So, the emigres 

 turned their noses up at such land and 

 settled down in Cumberland, where 

 there were 300 year old white oaks, 

 everlasting springs and game walked 

 in the cabin door and jumped in the 

 pot. - -■'■ ^.^;;-:. '/.'■:. 



The Youngs and the 

 Higgins Settled Here 

 Over 100 Years Ago 



This is not to be a history of Cum- 

 berland county. It's a story about Max 

 Young and his family who farm there. 

 Well, says you, why not get on with 

 the story? To which we reply, well, 

 why not? And so, here goes. We're not 

 one to be pushed around by any mere 

 reader.. V ;! ^v'^.- • fi' vi- '. v;:...' ^ ii; ;. i 



Neoga township, wh'-re Max Young 

 has his 250 acre farm, is 8 mil->s to- 

 ward Toledo from Mattoon and 20 odd 

 miles toward Mattoon from Toledo. It 

 stands right at a cross roads, there's 

 a school across the highway and the 

 I. C. tracks cut one comer of it. Now, 

 if you want to visit the Young place, 

 you can find it. You'll see a neat white 

 bungalow type house, a big gray barn, 

 one yard full of Rhode Island Reds 

 another full of White Rocks. Mrs. 

 Young says she has had a lot of trou- 

 ble with the Reds and that's the rea- 

 son she has gone into White Rocks. If 

 you're still not sure you're at Young's, 

 a sort of hound dawg will probably 

 come out to meet you. A truck hit him 

 a few years ago and he's not so agile 

 in his hind legs as he used to be. 



The day we got there, we found Max 

 out on one of the back forties sowing 

 clover. It had been planted to corn 

 last year but Max is going along with 

 the new plan this year and is chang- 

 ing his farm ng around to comply. For 

 instance last year he had 74 acres of 



corn, 38 of beans, 20 of alfalfa, 56 irt 

 broom corn, 19 in timothy, 9 in red top 

 and lespedeza, 20 in pasture, and 5 or 

 so in lots and buildings. If that doesn't 

 add up to 250 just skip it. We counted 

 on our fingers. Of the total average, 

 125 is limed. Some 5 years ago, some 

 2 years and the rest last year. It's only 

 in the last few years that Cumberland 

 county has gone in strong for lime- 

 stone. But the results have been so 

 outstanding on limed land that along 

 with the new farm plan Cumberland 

 will outdo itself this year. 



Besides the chickens the Youngs 

 have 7 grade Jersey milk cows. The 

 cream is sold to the Producers Cream- 

 ery of Champaign and Max is one of 

 the biggest boosters for co-operative 

 marketing. There are 5 horses, 50 odd 

 head of Poland and Duroc hogs which 

 have been vaccinated with Farm Bu- 

 reau serum and will be marketed 

 through the Producers of Indianapolis. 



Now to get back to the old settlers in 

 the Young family. Max's grandfather 

 came to Cumberland from West Vir- 

 gin'a and settled 2\^ miles West of 

 where Max lives now. He then moved 

 IVfe mles Southwest where Max 

 Young's father was bom. According 

 to Max's figures his grandfather came 

 into the county around 100 years ago. 

 A famUy legend has to do with the 

 time Grandfather Young was offered 

 a section of land on the West side of 

 the I. C. tracks where Mattoon now 

 stands. The deal was that the land 

 would be his in return for two wheat 

 crops. He turned it down. 



Just in case you think the Youngs 

 have all the family history there is 

 Mrs. Young's family, the Higgins. Neva 

 (Higgins) Young's family came from 

 around Olney. They came there so 

 long ago that the only thing anyone 

 is sure of off hand is that the first 

 Higgins in Illinois did not come from 

 Indiana or Ohio. More likely Virginia 

 or Kentucky. At any rate the Higgins 

 have been in Cumberland county it- 

 self all of a hundred years. Grand- 



RECORD 



MAY. 1936 



