Homeland Farm has a long, interesting history as do many old farms in Maine. The first person to own it was a fellow by the name of James Buchanan Allen. His parents deeded the acreage from their farm next door, and James had the first part of the house built in 1891, as seen in this early photo.

     The part of the house to the left in the photo has a fascinating history. On April 4, 1837, a petition was passed to create a one room schoolhouse, District 18, for the “Ridge” children to attend. It was then built and from 1837-1843, was located somewhere on what is now Upper Ridge. In 1844, the building was moved to a small plot of land on the intersection of what is now Upper Ridge, Middle Ridge and Highland Ridge Rd, owned by a man named Elijah Potter.

     The District 18 school then operated in that location from 1844-1891. The school was then discontinued in 1891, when according to the “The Ridge” historical booklet by Blynn Davis, it was then sold the following year to James B. Allen. It was hauled down Middle Ridge Road by teams of horses and attached to the main building. I always wondered why the building looked so ragged in that photo. It is because it was already fifty four years old.

     James and his wife Georgia went on to have 8 children born on the farm. The first was Marguerite born 1892, Henry born 1894, Leroy born 1895, Lawrence born 1897, Elizabeth born 1899, James Ira born 1900, Gladys may born 1902, Frank born 1903, and Florence born 1904. Sadly, James Ira lived only 21 days and Florence passed away at age one and a half.

     Sometime after 1906, James and Georgia decided to sell the house, and move to North Bridgton.

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    In 1907, my great grandparents Ashbel and Allie McKeen Smith bought the farm, after hearing it was going up for sale from Linnie Allen, Allie’s sister that lived next door to the farm. They moved to Bridgton from East Stoneham, Maine with their four oldest children, twins Kennard and Kenneth, Fern, and Robert. Once settled, they had the rest of their children including my grandmother Althea and her twin sister Dorothea, Esther and Milan. Sadly, Dorothea passed away as a baby, and Allie also lost another full set of twins somewhere between 1906 and 1909. They raised their family here on the farm until the children were grown up, when it was decided that my grandmother and grandfather, Althea and William Crook, would move in to care for Allie in her old age.

     My grandfather was an immigrant from Scotland, and one day in passing he saw my grandmother and told his friend " that's the girl I'm going to marry," and marry they did. Althea and Bill would take over the farm, raising their family here. My Uncle William Jr, Aunt Dorothea and my mother Betty were the next generation to grow up here at Homeland Farm. My grandfather farmed and worked at many jobs including the Portland Shipyard to provide for his family. When their children were grown, they decided to take a few acres off the end of the hayfield and build a smaller home for themselves. So, as much as my grandmother hated to see it happen, the farm was sold out of the family.

   

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

 

         At this time, my mother had married my father Walter Horton and my sister and I were living with them in New Hampshire. My mother wanted to move back to be closer to family, and when my father got a job for the State of Maine, we moved back to stay with my grandparents while they looked for a place.

   My parents looked at several properties for weeks, without finding the perfect place. 

Then one hot summer evening, the couple that bought the farm walked up across the hay field to my grandparents house to tell them they had decided to sell. My parents were thrilled and quickly made arrangements to buy it. We happily moved in and the deed was dated September 15, 1969, which was also the day my brother was born. 

  Farm life was very labor intensive, but we were all taught to work and pitch in, no ifs, ands or buts. We grew up surrounded by the usual farm animals and always had horses, cows, pigs and chickens. We had multiple dogs, and many, many cats.  Also, on a whim from my mother, we had a burro, a spider monkey and an albino rat that loved to eat whipped cream.

   

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       

 

 

 

 

        Time marches on, as it always does, and it seemed a blink of an eye and my parents were ready to move to my grandparents' now vacated house across the field. I then moved in to good old Homeland Farm, and was the next to raise my family here. I raised my three children, Brogan, Cameron and Liam here the same way as the previous generations. Lots of work, but also a lot of fun. We too had horses, beef cows, raised meat birds, laying hens and also operated a farm stand and ice cream shop for a while. We had so much fun, and when my kids today look back at their childhood, they almost always laugh. We had some crazy times, which is why I wanted to get this book written. So many funny memories, although we had our share of difficulties as well, but that is a part of life. I truly think the good outweighed the bad, and hope they feel the same.

 

     Now, my kids are older and some have started families of their own. I am still living in Homeland Farm, and if I get my way, this is where I will be when the end comes. I truly do not want to be anywhere else on earth, and feel a closeness to my long-departed kinfolk in the quiet evenings. A house that has had several generations live in it, some members born in it, other members die in it, and many of their possessions stored in it, is bound to carry a certain sense of comfort and an awareness that I might not be here alone.