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“ They were known for hard work and being community-minded,” Tom said.“ They faced extreme hardship and struggled to keep the farm during the Depression, but God provided, and they were able to survive without losing the farm.”
Surviving was no small feat during the Great Depression. An estimated 60 out of every 1,000 farmers in the United States either lost their farms or filed for bankruptcy. Between 1930 and 1935, nearly 750,000 family farms disappeared through foreclosure or bankruptcy.
The Gilbert Family Farm was passed down to Lloyd Gilbert and his siblings, the children of Alex and Lela. Lloyd’ s siblings sold off their portions, but Lloyd and his wife Martha loved the land and held on to their acreage, along with the milking barn and farmhouse.
“ Lloyd and Martha were my grandparents,” Tom said.“ They raised three children in the tiny farmhouse, one being my mother. Like James and Alex, they continued raising dairy cattle and various crops. They grew tomatoes for the cannery run by the School of the Ozarks, now College of the Ozarks, in Point Lookout, Missouri.”
For a period of time, there was also timber harvesting and lead and zinc mining on the property. Even though Lloyd and Martha didn’ t have many material possessions, they were generous and quick to share their resources and talents to help others, such as providing food and making clothes for a neighboring family who lost their home in a fire.
“ They always had other families over for Sunday dinners and Martha generally had cookies waiting for neighbors as they all worked together to put up hay,” Tom said.“ They made room for Lloyd’ s mother, Lela, to live with them after Alex passed away.”
Lloyd passed on before Tom was two years old, however, but there have been numerous stories that neighbors have told Tom about Lloyd’ s kind spirit and generosity.“ He went out of his way to help others,” Tom said.“ Lloyd’ s hard work and legacy have blessed his children and continue to bless the family.”
When Martha passed away in December
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2019, the farm was left to Lloyd and Martha’ s three children and their grandson, Tom Claybrook.
Tom and Kim see the farm as a blessing from the Lord and strongly desire to keep as much of the farm in the family as possible. Tom spent many years at the farm visiting his grandmother, Martha. His memories include Christmases in the farmhouse, running through the fields playing cowboys with his cousin, swimming in Bear Creek and exploring caves in the area.
“ We were able to purchase the others’ portions, that total approximately 42 acres, along with the farmhouse in 2021,” Tom said.“ Maintaining the legacy of the Gilbert Family Farm and passing it down to our daughter Gracie and son-in-law Garrett Campbell is very important to us.”
Garrett and Gracie both graduated from College of the Ozarks, which ties back to the farm’ s history. They currently live in the farmhouse, which is being renovated, and they plan to build their own home on the property one day. Tom and Kim plan to move from Missouri to the farm soon and enjoy the beauty of Arkansas on a daily basis.
“ Machinery and techniques have changed farming over the last 100 years,” Tom said.“ The prior generations had to manually work the land to provide for their families and community.”
The only concern about the Gilbert Family Farm is that future generations after Garrett and Gracie will not be interested in maintaining the farm and keeping it in the family.“ It’ s important to remember those who have farmed the land in the past so that the land – the legacy – remains in the family,” Tom said.
“ It is a privilege to be able to honor the legacy of my grandparents, greatgrandparents and great-great grandparents by being named a Century Farm” Tom continued.“ Currently hay and timber are harvested from the land and, Lord
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willing, it is the family’ s hope to be able to purchase back some of the original land and pass it down to future generations.” |
Photos by Spencer Tirey |