The land is mostly hilly, tree after tree after tree, where near ideal for farming.
A farm it has been, though, for 200 years.
Joseph Farlow started it and his great-great-great-granddaughter, Jeanette Haworth, keeps it.
Family and friends gathered on the Orange County farm to celebrate the milestone with food and games. Haworth asked for blessings to be counted, along with the years.
"I want them to be thankful of what the Lord God's bestowed on this family, be it large or small. It's a gift." — Jeanette Haworth
The farm, about two miles south of Paoli, is as picturesque as untillable — a 90-acre rustic getaway for hiking, hunting and four-wheeling, and for celebrating holidays and birthdays.
"Hey, this is ours and it means a lot," said Haworth's son, John Haworth, of Lanesville. "That's the thing that's been instilled in me. And we've passed it on to the kids."
Or as John's sister, Phyllis Haworth of Bloomington, said, "It's a real retreat — emphasis on treat — to go there."
Jeanette Haworth lives in Georgetown and counts Paoli as her childhood home. She has lived her 75 years somewhere other than on the farm. Her parents, Edwin and Mable Trimble, assumed the farm relatively late.
Haworth's engaging mother passed away the previous summer at her daughter's kitchen table. Only months before, Haworth's husband of 56 years, Phillip, also died. Haworth apologized needlessly for tears while recounting a stretch tougher than anyone should endure.
Her two children, and their seven children, mean everything. As did those who came before, who guarded the heritage against the grain.
"The love of family, the love of the land passed down. It's a tradition we carry on." — Jeanette Haworth
Farlow moved to Indiana — which was not yet a state — in 1811, from North Carolina to get away from slavery. A Quaker, he could not stomach it. He and his family settled where the rolling hills otherwise reminded them of home.
They cleared enough acreage to farm and created land in 1824 for a Friends church and cemetery that remains today. "Our ancestors were good, hardworking, moral people," Phyllis Haworth said.
The main farm's focus occasionally shifted. Haworth's grandfather, Ernest Trimble, had dairy cattle. Her dad sold beef. It currently is leased, used to raise corn.
Farms go away, become parks or whatever when their owners cannot hang on. But this farm is not in the path of progress — no suburbs in sight.
It nonetheless has had suitors and surely will again. John Haworth will not predict anyone in the immediate family will move to it to take up farming. But he cannot imagine it changing hands, at least not any time soon. "I see it being in the family another 50, 100 years," he said.
His mother expects to pass it on as it was passed to her. As much as she believes heritage should prevail, she doesn't want it to prove a burden, a hassle. Circumstances can change.
"I hope they hold on. But if they cannot, I could understand." — Jeanette Haworth
