De Bruin Family Farm History

My husband’s family received the Heritage Farm Ward from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship this year during the Iowa State Fair. This award is given to landowners who have had the same land in one family for 150 years.

The De Bruin family story is one of Dutch immigration to the Midwest, of perseverance, and of witness to the faithfulness of God. In this article, I will share with you the history of the land ownership and also some highlights from the awards ceremony.

Jacob and Willimina Hulstein De Bruin came from the Netherlands to Pella, Iowa, in 1857 with their six children. Jacob was a farmer and lived northeast of Pella. One of Jacob’s sons was named Cornelius. He was born in Holland in 1844 and married Johanna Reuvers in Iowa in 1868.

I am unsure where Cornelius and Johanna lived in the early years of their marriage, but the abstract of the land in my husband’s family shows Cornelius as the owner of an original plot of eighty acres beginning in June of 1871. This abstract shows the owners prior to Cornelius, so I think it is interesting to note that the land first came up for sale in 1856.

This first transaction was between the United States government and a man by the name of William Hamblin. He owned it for three years and then sold it to a Dutchman. The land stayed in the possession of another Dutch family until it was acquired by the De Bruins in 1871. From the abstract’s listings, it appears that Jacob, the father, and his two sons, Cornelius and Joost, were buying land together.

These transactions took place over the course of the next twenty-five years, gradually growing the farm. By 1907, the abstract notes that Cornelius owned 400 acres of real estate. The farm shifted and changed in size during the twentieth century, but this 4000 acre piece continued to get handed down through the generations. In 1918, Cornelius sold the farm to his son Thomas. In 1946, Thomas sold it to his son Roy. In 1973, Roy sold it to his son Ron. In 2003, Ron sold it to his son Jerry, which is my husband’s brother.

I’m grateful for the men born into my husband’s family who carried on the care of the land as well as the family name. This successive ownership speaks to me of great wisdom about finances, of endurance through unpredictable weather conditions, and a faith that held them steady through major decisions.

When I think of how much change has happened in the world over the past 150 years, of how many wars have been fought, economic uncertainties and value system shifts in popular culture has happened, I’m comforted that the land has remained a constant, always there in seedtime and in harvest, sustaining, growing, or just resting.

On August 20, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship coordinated an awards ceremony in the livestock pavilion on the ground of the Iowa State Fair. It was an all-day event because of the number of farms receiving awards that day. In the morning, approximately 275 farms were recognized as century farms. These families had owned their land for 100 years or more. In the afternoon, the heritage farms were awarded. There were 240 of them in order by county. Sinc the De Bruin farm is in Mahaska County, we were in the idle of the line-up, so went on stage around 4:00. There were twenty of us from the family who appeared on stage to accept the certificate and the metal sign.

The Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Naig, shook each of our hands and presented the awards. Another person announced the name of the farm and the year that it was established. Most of the other farms were like ours, originating from the 1870’s, but some were older, from the 1850’s. The oldest farm of the day was in Lee county with the date of 1842 as its beginning.

We made special memories that day receiving ceritificates, wearing matching t-shirts, and taking pictures.