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Baumgard farm recognized as century farm at Jackson fair


		August 1, 2012

Eunice (Janssen) and Merle Baumgard are pictured above at their sixtieth wedding anniversary earlier this year. Their six sons are gathered around them. From left, Jason, Kirby, Scott, Brent, Tobin and Courtland Baumgard.	In 1891, Jann Geerdes Eilts Janssen homesteaded a plot of land in Ewington Township of Jackson County.

Editor’s Note: Several Jackson County farms have reached the century farm mark, with 100 years or more of continual family ownership. Several will be featured in our upcoming special harvest section. In this issue, we honor the Baumgard family farm. These century farms were honored at the Jackson County Fair on Sunday, July 29. Other Jackson county Century Farms are those owned by: Ron and Karen Obermoller; Ardith and Karl Frederickson; Miranowski Family; Vernon and Grace Kay;and Marlis J. Ling. In 1891, Jann Geerdes Eilts Janssen homesteaded a plot of land in Ewington Township of Jackson County. He came to the area from Illinois with his wife and five children. Over 120 years later, descendants of Janssen still farm the land he homesteaded. The current owners of the land are Merle and Eunice (Janssen) Baumgard. The land is farmed by their six sons. Jann Janssen had arrived in New York harbor aboard the S.S. Oder on June 26, 1875. With his wife, Johanna Schmidt, and their two children, a four-year-old and 13-month old, the family had arrived from Germany. The family traveled to Illinois and were residents in the rural Minonk area from 1875 to 1891. Four more children were born to the family. Johanna and one of the couple’s children passed away in Illinois. Jann remarried on October 28, 1888, to Talke Margarethe Gerdes. The Janssens and their five remaining children moved to Minnesota, settling in Jackson County in 1891. Shortly after that, Janssen was involved in the founding of Grace Lutheran Church. He donated a portion of his land, used for the building of the church that he founded. According to the 75th anniversary book of Grace Lutheran Church, Janssen “was active in organizing the congregation.” In addition to donating the land, he was one of the original signers of the constitution. At first, a frame church was erected, which served for over thirty years. In the early 1930s, a new church was built. On his 90th birthday, shortly before his death in 1936, Janssen was honored for his “years of labor and devotion, with special festival services and a birthday dinner.” “They took a group picture then,” shared Eunice. The Grace Lutheran Church building is recognizable, as a crowd gathered to celebrate Janssen’s birthday. Pointing out herself in a ruffled dress, Eunice had been three years old at the time her great-grandfather turned 90. As he grew older, Jann lived with his son, Henry, who became owner of the land following Jann’s death in 1936. Henry owned the land for a couple years, and then it was purchased by his son (Jann’s grandson) John and his wife Evelyn (Habeck) Janssen. John and Evelyn owned the land for forty years when it was purchased by their son Terry. After about ten years, in 1987, Eunice and her husband bought the farm land from her brother. The Baumgards remain active in the church, and Eunice served as organist for 54 years. “Merle took care of the six kids,” she said of the Sunday services. “They were good,” Merle quickly added. “The building sites have since been sold,” Eunice explained of the property located in the southwest quarter of section 22, Ewington Township. Living within a few miles, the Baumgards had been farming since 1952. “We were renting from my dad,” Merle said. They began their family and farming the Janssen land. The Baumgards have six sons, Courtland, Tobin, Brent, Scott, Kirby and Jason. They have formed the Six Sons Partnership, and are currently farming the land, along with Merle. All of them have jobs, many of them related to agriculture, and enjoy returning to the farm to work. “They’re renting the land from us,” Eunice said. Court works for New Vision Co-op and lives in Round Lake. Tobin works for Land o’ Lakes in Mankato. Brent, in Rochester, works for AgStar. Scott, living in California, runs a roofing company. Kirby is an engineer with John Deere and lives in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Jason lives in Redwood Falls and works for Remington Seeds in Olivia. For the remainder of the story, please see our print edition or check out our electronic edition website at http://eedition.tricountynewsmn.net. Call 507-793-2327 or email tcnews@roundlk.net for more information.