BACON HILL focusing on the future

WRITTEN BY JIM RICHMOND | PHOTOS PROVIDED

“I am Neil Peck, the sixth generation here at Welcome Stock Farm.” Neil began his interview for the Saratoga County History Center’s recently completed film on Bacon Hill by referring to his family heritage. He was not the only one who did so. Neil and his brother Bill, the current supervisor for the Town of Northumberland, both began their stories the same way. So did other Bacon Hill families -Peck, King, Thomas, Winney, Carmer. History is important to the families of this farming community located three miles northwest of Schuylerville, New York. They know it. But more importantly, they believe it. They believe that their challenges, struggles, and successes are part of a continuing storyline. So do their children.

“Growing up on a farm, I see how much agriculture impacts us and it is something that we could not live without.” said fifteen-year-old Hannah King after reciting the opening paragraph of the Creed of the Future Farmers of America. Hannah and her seventeen-year-old brother Nate have no reservations about continuing the tradition of their parents and grandparents.

However, heritage is not the only motivation for the people of this crossroads and its surrounding farmlands. Another important ingredient is a positive attitude. While they revere their past, their focus is on the future. They are always looking for ways to not only stay competitive but to exceed expectations. Neil Peck again. “In 2013 we all decided it was time for a new milking facility to advance us into the most modern technology of milking cows.”

Continuous improvement is vital for the farms in this community. Economies of scale is vital. Several of the largest farms in Bacon Hill have expanded ten-fold in the last 50 years, some now milking 1000 cows, three times a day. In the modern farming environment, expansion is vital to their success. They also have another competitive advantage. All the large farms now stake their future on genetics- scientific selection of the most productive Holstein cows.

But what inspires this enthusiasm and faith in the future? One motivation might be the sheer beauty of the location.

Bacon Hill lies on a modest plateau rising just a couple hundred feet above the valley of the Hudson River to the east. But it is just high enough to enjoy the view. To the east, the hills of Washington County and distant Green Mountains are visible from the roads that take travelers though the expansive farmlands. North and West the distant Adirondack Mountains add to the scene. The beauty of the land is its own inspiration.

How was it that pioneers came to this area? Even though early settlement followed the pattern of many other communities in Saratoga County, it is not a straightforward story. Many colonial era pioneers were scattered by several years of upheaval highlighted by Burgoyne’s invasion and the Battles of Saratoga in 1777. This was compounded by economic uncertainty during the 1780s under the Articles of Confederation. Settlers began arriving in earnest in the 1790s.

Yes, the view was beautiful. But what kept families here for generations was the richness of the soil. Many settlers moved westward from New England, where their ancestors had overcultivated the best farmland, leaving little for their children. Eastern Saratoga County provided a fresh start in fertile country for the younger generation.

Two of the first post-war arrivals were brothers Martin and Isaac Vanderwerker. Veterans of the American Revolution, they settled north of the crossroads, along today’s Route 32 where Isaac’s grandson’s home still stands. Other settlers followed, including two families that gave their names to the crossroads today known as Bacon Hill. Lathrop Pope and Ebenezer Bacon were soon able to put their own stamp on the crossroads within a few years of their arrival in 1794.

Ebenezer was the youngest of 11 children of Ebenezer and Lydia Lathrop. He served as a soldier in the American Revolution, enlisting in the Third Connecticut Regiment where he rose to the rank of Sergeant. By 1790 Ebenezer Bacon had married and moved from Lebanon, Connecticut to Stillwater, New York where his children were born. Joined briefly there by his nephew Lathrop Pope, they both relocated 10 miles north to a small crossroads then known as Fiddlers Corners.

There in 1794 Ebenezer purchased 63 acres for £120 and opened a tavern and a store. Lathrop opened a blacksmith shop frequented by the growing number of farmers settling on the fertile land surrounding the crossroads which soon became known as Pope’s Corners.

Ebenezer died in 1817 at the age of fiftyseven. Lathop Pope moved on to Essex County, New York in 1832. The crossroads officially became Bacon Hill that year but was often referred to as Pope’s Corners for the next 30 years.

The crossroads became the market town for the surrounding farms. General stores, blacksmith and wagon shops, a feed store and millinery shop, sprung up surrounding the stately Dutch Reformed Church built in 1820. Enterprising businessmen operated a small glove factory. Another produced beaver hats. An aromatic tannery greeted travelers making their way through the hamlet to stop at the Bacon Hill House, a tavern and small hotel.

However, the farms were the economic engine that vitalized the crossroads. Slowly at first, the timberland gave way to fields of wheat, soybeans, and corn. Small farms became more numerous and grew larger over time. New families arrived and became entwined with the first settlers. In 1836 Henry Wagman Peck married Melinda

Vanderwerker, granddaughter of original settler Isaac and purchased the property that is today’s Welcome Stock Farm. His home still stands along with its memories of six generations of Pecks along West River Road.

Recently the livestock farms have been joined by other businesses that share the same attitude- building on the past to prepare for the future. Brian and Jennifer Thomas operate an extensive poultry farm that supplies eggs to Stewarts and many other local retail outlets. Jen calls it a small farm. It is not small. But her characterization says a lot about how they see themselves – family owned, family operated, family run.

In the late 20th century – yesterday by Bacon Hill standards – Brian Carmer and his brother Britt expanded Stonebridge Iron and Steel begun by their father on an old chicken farm. The company manufactures large steel fabrications sold throughout the United States and beyond. Many of the firm’s 90 employees have long-term connections to the business.

Another extended farming family illustrates an important dimension of what makes Bacon Hill a special place. I’d call it Love. Kings Ransom Farm and King Brothers Dairy are operated by brothers Jeff and Jan King. Their father Edgar King, as town supervisor in the 1990s drew the community together to oppose the County’s plan to site a county dump on the surrounding farmlands. Taking on such a challenge is never easy and can often divide neighbors into opposing camps. Jeff King described Bacon Hill’s response to his father’s leadership. “What resonates with me is that I come across people all the time, who talk about what a great job he did and how much they respected him. He really set the standard that I hope to pass on to my own children.”

Judging by our conversations with Jeff’s son Johnathan and Jan’s children Hannah and Nate, the King family is well on their way to following in the footsteps of their grandfather. Johnathan, age 23 - one of the many Cornell graduates among Bacon Hill farmers - has his eyes set on the farming operation. Nate is interested in the retail side of the Dairy. Hannah is unsure of her exact career path, but she shares the mind set of so many people in this community. “There are so many opportunities out there and so much that I am interested in. In the end I just want to stay close to my family.” My hunch is she will. SS