Courtesy Photo
The Large family was honored with two pioneer farm family awards this summer. Family members at a ceremony during the Hayes County Fair were, front from left, Hayley Richards, Levi Schleusender, Aubrey Schleusener, Tinley Baar, Rorik Nelson, back from left, Sadie Richards, Andrea (Large) Richards, Stacy (Large) & Mark Schleusener, Joey & Myra Large, Kevin Large, Joslyn (Large), Rorik & Jake Nelson, Halsie Large, Kip Richards, Keenan Richards, Kerbie Large, Ryan Large, Lichelle (Large) and Zaylee Baar.
Large family honored with pioneer award
The Hayes County 4-H Pioneer Award was presented to the Large family before the livestock sale during the Hayes County Fair July 31.
The Large family was also among the 2020 Aksarben Farm Family Award honorees. Kevin Large and Joey and Myra Large/JL5 Enterprises, LLC, accepted the awards representing the John W. Large and Harry Large Family Farm which has been in continuous operation since it was established in 1916.
Each year, Aksarben honors Nebraska families who have met the incredible milestone of owning at least 40 acres of farmland within one family for 100 or 150 years.
Joey Large put the following summary of the family history together for the occasion.
The Large family came from Illinois to Nebraska in 1891 and settled in the Grant area where they purchased three quarters of land.
John William (Will) Jr., our great grandfather, and Harry were brothers and were 21 and 19 when they moved to Grant with their father John William Large Sr.
Will married Ella Biesecker, a schoolteacher, in 1903 and they had five sons—Leslie, Frank, Everett (who is our grandfather), Bert and Wayne, the latter dying shortly after birth due to a possible allergic reaction to milk.
With four growing boys, Will decided they needed a bigger place and sold the three quarters in 1909 near Grant and leased the same ground for seven years until they found the right property to relocate to.
They went to Indianola to look at some ground, but it wasn’t quite what they wanted so the real estate agent told them they might stop in Hayes County and check out the Mansfield Ranch. They did and eventually purchased all of the Mansfield holdings of 2,320 acres in 1916 for an average of $10 per acre.
James Mansfield started homesteading in 1890 by placing a claim to 160 acres in Section 7, Township 5, Range 32. Over the next 30 years, he and other family members—Mary S. Mansfield, a single person, John and Emma Mansfield and their son Isaac Mansfield—purchased or picked up through foreclosure auctions during 1903-1905 all of the acres that they sold to Will and Harry Large in 1916.
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