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Barn Spotlight: The same family owns the structure, which is as sound as the day it was built.

Jan Corey Arnett

November 4, 2020

6 Slides

In 1876, after two or three exploratory trips to the Upper Peninsula from Belmore, Ontario, Henry Larke chose two, 40-acre timbered tracts, 4 miles south of Sault Ste. Marie (the oldest settlement in the state), on which to homestead and build a farm. 

He cleared land, built a house for his wife, Catherine, and their six children, and constructed a log barn only to realize, with sweat on his brow and callouses on his hands, that he was laboring on the wrong homestead.

Luckily, in 1881, the hardworking immigrant from Ireland was able to buy, for $6.25 an acre, the parcel he had mistakenly been honing. He then moved the house, the log barn and other outbuildings nearer the road and farther west.

Henry and Catherine had brought with them their furniture, a mare in foal, two cows, two heifers and a pump-making machine. Henry had learned wooden pump making in New York some years earlier, and he knew this skill would come in handy. The Larkes had a dream and a willingness to work hard. 

Wild hay storage

Henry’s “dog-trot” log barn with its cribs at each end, pass-through in the center and sheltered overhang allowed them to store cut wild hay from the lowlands to feed their animals through the winter.

He worked on and off the farm to earn money and was able to acquire another 80 acres in 1884 and quickly built a bigger, enviable barn of knot-free pine, regarded as documents of the day noted, “the finest and best.” 

A family history of the farm details in word and drawings the construction of family barns, techniques and tools used, even the frustration of mowing loose hay in the heat and untangling it in the cold.

In 1887, using tamarack harvested southwest of Dafter at Larch (an 18-mile journey), Henry built yet another barn, the most impressive of all. There were no trucks for hauling, no power tools for prepping, no computer-aided design for construction. 

Yet, one of the 12-by-12-inch hand-hewn timbers holding the 40-by-60-foot main barn secure runs the entire 60-foot depth of the barn. Human ingenuity.

Henry’s son George and his wife, Cecelia, inherited the portion of the farm on what came to be called Larke Road. George was a blacksmith. Cecelia sold cream to Sault Creamery. They lived on the farm and later shared the home with their daughter Frances and her husband, Don Graham. 

Don farmed and worked for Edison Sault Electric Co. Their son John helped with the haying, harvesting, milking cows, feeding beef cattle and caring for chickens. 

A 30-by-50-foot wing was added to the barn in 1920 as farm needs expanded. Despite the hardships of the Great Depression, having land and livestock allowed the Larke family to remain well-fed and debt-free.

John and his wife, Connie, bought the farm in 1954 from John’s grandmother after his grandfather’s death. They raised a few beef cattle and sheep and boarded horses.

Time and weather take their toll on just about everything, and the family barn was not immune. John and Connie began to weigh alternatives — tear the barn down and put up a metal building? Replace the roof and keep the barn at about the same cost as constructing a pole building?

Family members lobbied to save the barn. Over the years, in addition to a new roof, the barn’s fieldstone foundation was replaced with concrete, and steel posts were brought in to assist with stability.

Asked about the decision to save the barn, John said, “The money I’ve spent would have built a good-sized pole building, but I’m glad I fixed the barn. … It is as structurally sound as the day it was built.”

While he readily admitted the decision to save a piece of family heritage was more sentimental than practical, he had no regrets.

New owner transition

Today, since the death of their parents, the farm is held in a trust by John and Connie’s four children. To everyone’s delight, Graham Jarvie, whose mother, Laurie, is one of the four siblings, is transitioning into ownership of the farm and 97 acres of the original 160 acres. Graham, 27, is the fifth generation to care for the land. 

“Grandpa would be so proud to know that Graham is taking over the farm,” says his aunt, Jeanne McCulligh, whose property is next door to the big red barn. His love for farming was pretty clear when the first clear word he spoke as a child was "tractor."

Graham spends a lot of time on tractors these days, but he also spends time in a semi, delivering loads of prime timothy hay as far away as Florida. The barn continues to be used primarily for the storage of hay, with round bales now occupying a portion of the space that once held square bales.

The mow level of the barn now also contains a small “gathering place” for friends and family, warm and alluring with the history of the farm visible in every corner. An elevated balcony facing the barn’s beautiful interior and an outside deck facing open land create inviting spaces. 

Large stalls on the ground floor are sometimes occupied by short-term boarders horses or cattle. There also is space for storage of equipment and tools.

“I knew when I was in high school that one day I wanted to take over the farm,” says Graham, whose smile comes more easily than words. “I knew it from working with Grandpa.” 

As he studies the barns boards and beams, posts and purlins, he no doubt is remembering stories his grandfather, who passed away three years ago, shared about the barn he loved.   

It is a little early to predict whether another generation will one day continue the family tradition on Graham Larke Centennial Farm and be the caretaker of the big red barn that bears the names of Graham’s forebearers and now his own. 

Graham’s son, Laine, at 17 months, already has his own tractor and trailer that occupies space in the barn, proving old barns can be adapted for today’s farm equipment, even if it is run by peddle power.

Arnett is the author of “American Barns” and co-founder of Barn Believers Community Project Fund, held by the Battle Creek Community Foundation. Barn Believers makes grants to nonprofits for barn-related projects, barnbelievers.org. She writes from Battle Creek and may be reached at [email protected].

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