Saline County Century Farm: Phillips recalls days when Marshall square was main market for farm produce

The Giles Thomas and Ruth Harris farm, which they purchased in 1907, was recently honored as a Saline County Century farm. Their son-in-law, Charles Phillips, now owns it. His children, Tom, Kenny and Linda, plan on keeping the 100-year-old farm in the family. (Contributed photo) [Click to enlarge]

Charles Phillips remembers when they took the produce they raised on their farm to town, selling it at Latimer's grocery store, which was located on the north side of the square.

"The square used to be a shopping mall," said Phillips.

He married his wife, Wilma Ruth Harris, in 1942 and eventually took over farming from her parents, Giles Thomas and Ruth Harris. The farm, containing 43 acres, was recently honored as one of Saline County's Century farms. Harris purchased it in December 1906, with the sale being finalized in February 1907.

Phillips said they raised several crops on the farm north of Marshall, including grapes and strawberries. They also had milk cows, a few hogs, beef cows, chickens, ducks and even raised bees for honey at one time.

"We raised everything we used and then took the surplus to town and sold it," said Phillips.

Giles Thomas and Ruth Harris are shown near their farm home north of Marshall. (Contributed photo) [Click to enlarge]

"That's the way the farmers did it in those days," said Tom Phillips, who now farms the family's acreage. He said they raised most of what they ate, only purchasing salt, pepper, coffee, flour and other staples in town.

He remembers being "babysat" by his grandfather, who would stand all day cutting weeds off of the road banks with a scythe.

"I was more in the way than anything else," he said. He also "helped" his grandfather mending fences on the farm.

Charles and Wilma moved to the house, not long after marrying, because, according to Tom, "his mother worried about her father being alone out on the farm."

"Judge Gilliam," who, according to the Phillips, owned a lot of the ground in the area, apparently built the farm home.

Charles actually took over the farming in 1947, when his father-in-law was "getting up in age," he said.

Harris had bought a 8N Ford tractor, when he couldn't walk behind the walking plow anymore, according to Tom.

Located in the Salt Fork bottoms and near the railroad tracks, there were years when part of the ground was flooded.

In fact, Phillips said the first year he farmed he "had the prettiest corn, shoulder high" and Salt Fork Creek got up and took every bit of it.

The house was flooded in 1973 and Charles and Wilma cleaned and refurbished the house and moved back in. However, after the flood in 1993, Charles said he decided he "was done with this."

"I decided to get up on a hill," he said, and moved to land up the road from the original house.

The Phillips children, Tom, Kenny and Linda Ruth Bradley, all grew up in the house.

Linda said she remembers her mother quilting and "making my dresses," she said. She was also a good cook.

Talking about today's prices of seed corn, which in some cases is over

$200 a bag, Phillips said he remembers when it cost "$10 a sack."

"We sold corn for years at 90 cents a bushel," Charles said, "and we got along with it."

He also said that 80-90 bushels an acre was generally "good corn."

The family also remembered getting together with the neighbors to butcher hogs in late fall.

"The neighbors had a big kettle and we used it to scald all the hogs," said Charles.

They also used the cracklings to make their own soap.

Tom now raises corn, soybeans, beef cattle and goats on the family's land.

Contact Marcia Gorrell at marshallag@socket.net