In 1834, Bob Weldon’s great-great-grandparents, Jonathon and Mary Davis Weldon, along with their four children, migrated west from Cape Cod in Massachusetts to Illinois with nothing but a wagon.

After staying near Ottawa for one rough season filled with sickness and poor crops, they moved farther north and settled southwest of Rockford and built a log cabin.  

That was not an easy task for Jonathon and Mary, who were both crippled from polio and on crutches. Bob says their two sons would roll stumps for Jonathon to sit on while he sawed trees.

WELDON HOME OVER THE YEARS: Spencer Weldon’s first home (above) was built in 1849. His second farmhouse (below) was built in 1882. The bottom photo shows the home as it looks today. It is owned by Bob Weldon and other Weldon descendants.

With help from his sons and two daughters, Jonathon raised high-quality livestock, hay and grain. He also had a side business delivering supplies to and from Chicago.

In 1849, Jonathon and Mary’s son, Spencer, bought farm ground and built a home 1.5 miles north of the log cabin. Spencer operated a draft horse breeding farm from about 1880 to 1925. On the same ground, Spencer constructed a new, bigger house in 1882.

The home farm was passed down to Bob’s grandfather and then his father, Clarence “Duke” Weldon, who converted the barns into a small dairy operation in 1944. Duke was an agricultural bank loan officer who served as treasurer for the University of Illinois for many years.

Today, the barns still house dairy cattle, and the house stands as bright and beautiful as ever. Bob, along with other Weldon descendants, own the farm and have a 50-50 crop-livestock operation with their tenant, Ron Thompson, who manages the small dairy and 240 tillable acres.

With a rich farm history, and so many stories of hardship and triumph, Bob hopes the Weldon family farm will someday become a historical site used for agricultural education. 

Read about another modern family farmstead below.

The modern farmstead: Haas family farm
As more livestock moved off farms, grain bins replaced silos. As machinery grew, barns became machine sheds, complete with a farm offices and shops. Driveways expanded to make room for semitrailers.

Dick and Sharon Haas purchased their farm in LeRoy in 1964. Over the years, the Haas family transitioned away from Angus cattle to focus on corn and soybeans.  Dick and Sharon have three children. Their oldest son, Bryan, and his son, Brett, help manage the farm operation today. 

TODAY’S FARM: As a sign of the times, Brett Haas’ drone photo gives a bird’s-eye look at the modern farmstead.