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III.
At Home on NE Travis County
Blackland
Farms & Ranches
In recent months Texans have been reminded how important it
is for this Nation to be strong.
One of the keys to this country’s strength and security
is the ability of its farmers and ranchers to produce a plentiful
and safe food supply. Farmers and ranchers make up less than 2% of
our population, yet grow enough food to feed 200 million U.S.
citizens.
In Texas, with a population of more than 20.8 million, only
14 percent of existing jobs are in farming or farm-related
activities. Seventy-eight percent of the State’s land is
farmland, while the majority of the farms in Texas, more than
87 percent, operate on less than 1,000 acres.
Much of the world spends 40-50% of their household
income on food unlike families in the U.S. that only spend
10-15%. Americans
can rest assured that the nation’s farmers and ranchers have
invested a lot of sweat equity in order to insure all of us
have safe, abundant and inexpensive food and fiber.
We want you to hear about
two of our local ranching and farming families. Each
family is committed to the community and their agribusiness
operations. The BPCCA thanks each of these families
for sharing their stories. Additional family stories need
to be told in future publications, each one as important,
and each one as filled with the commitment to the land and
the farming and ranching way of life. The first featured local
ranching and farming family is the
Douglases, Cody, Leah, and Brady.
Cody and Leah Douglas live on 225 acres in the heart of the Blackland Prairie just
outside Austin, Texas. After
moving back to the Austin area from Denver, Colorado nine
years ago, they purchased the ranch on which they raise Registered
Brangus cattle, continuing a thirty year, family owned business.
They have one son,
Brady.
The Douglases purchased the farmhouse and land from an elderly
couple who farmed it for over twenty years. Prior to that time, this land was homesteaded by two Swedish immigrant
families, the Anderson and the Swenson. The Swenson family
built the farmhouse in 1914 and raised nine children there.
They have remodeled their home and continue to make improvements
on the 225 acre farm each year. Their total financial investment
in their place is approximately half a million ($500,000)
dollars. You can see recent pictures of their place on their
website at www.douglascattlecompany.com. Each year they raise grain, hay, and cattle
for sale
in the local economy. In
addition, they contribute roughly $75,000 each year to the
local economy through the purchase of fencing supplies, contract
laborers, feed, veterinary services and the like.
Stan and Joyce Hartmann continue in a time honored tradition:
the family farm. Their
family has been farming the same lands for well over 100 years. Many of the farms of the Blackland Prairie
in northeast Travis County are owned by the descendants of
pioneers who settled in this area more than 100 years ago.
Farmers and ranchers through the decades have enjoyed
the beauty of the blackland. They
have enjoyed the blessings and endured the hardships of making
a living through agriculture.
One example of this is Anders Johan Anderson and his
descendants.
Anderson Johan Anderson
was one of 100 young men who came to Texas in 1867, sponsored
by S.M. Swenson. The poor conditions in Sweden brought him here
in search of better opportunities.
He began acquiring land near present-day Manor by working
for the railroad for a $1.00 a day.
By 1876, he received the deed for his land.
After clearing the land, he began digging cisterns and stock
tanks in order to have a water supply.
He built houses and a cotton gin on his property. Cotton, corn, cane and cattle were raised on
his farm. Being an
active member of the community, he helped to organize the
New Sweden Lutheran Congregation in 1876.
He also helped organize and served as president of
the Svea Fire Insurance Company. Ever mindful of improving community life, he donated land so a road
could be built.
Five children were born to Anderson and his wife Matilda.
Two died in infancy. His son Martin
Anderson took over the farming of the land in 1915 when
Anders Johnan Anderson moved to Austin.
Upon their father’s death, Ellen, Ester, and Martin
took over the 203 acre farm. Martin continued raising crops and cattle.
He and his wife Esther lived on the farm and contributed
to the building of the New Sweden Lutheran Church in 1922-25.
They had one daughter, Margaret.
After Martin’s death,
Margaret’s husband, Rudolph Magnuson, continued farming the land. Just as their parents had done before, the Magnusons were active
in community life and practiced soil conservation measures
in farming so that the land would continue to be productive.
The Magnusons had a son, Alan, who died in his late
teens, and a daughter, Joyce
who married Stan Hartmann.
Stan and Joyce Hartmann
live on the Anderson place today. Stan has farmed
the land for the past 26 years.
He took over farming 100 years after Anders Johan Anderson
received the deed for the land.
The Hartmanns continue to be active members in the
community, as they try to preserve the rural way of life.
The Hartmanns have 3 children, Karen, Kendra, and Chris,
who are all married, and 2 grandchildren, Caitlin and Lauren.
Their children are also interested in keeping the land in the
family. Their son-in-law,
John Silvus, is restocking the
ponds with a wide variety of fish.
He and his 2 year old daughter Caitlin enjoy fishing
together in the ponds. Both couples, John and Kendra Silvus and Karen
and Bill McManus, have expressed the desire to build homes
on either the Anderson place or the Rudolph Magnuson place.
Chris and Jen Hartmann, who are attending school in
Galveston, have a desire to return to the area sometime in
the future and possibly raise cattle.
As we look back at our
roots, we find great role models of citizens who acted responsibly
in caring for the land. For
many people, making money has become more important than preserving
the land and the environment.
Fortunately, in our area, we have people who care about
our community and our land. As we look to the future, we must teach each
generation the importance of continued care of the land and
environment so that future generations may enjoy the privileges
that we have experienced.
We encourage everyone
who reads this publication to travel the roads of the Blackland
Prairie east of Austin to experience firsthand the beauty
of the land. And feel free to stop and talk to people you
see. You will be impressed
with their sincerity, honesty, and dedication to American
values. You may drive to see the blackland area via
the Presidential Corridor on Highway 290 East.
Elgin’s Mayor Eric Carlson shares the following information:
“In 1996, the Texas Legislature designated
the highways between Austin and Bryan/College Station (Highway
290 East and Highway 21) as “The Presidential Corridor.” These highways connect the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin and
the George Bush Library in College Station.
To fully develop the potential of the
Corridor, the Presidential Corridor Association (PCA) was
established in 1996. This
organization has actively promoted tourism along the Corridor
and, with this effort, encouraged economic growth.
This promotional activity centers around highlighting
the two great national resources we have in the libraries
and the beautiful corridor connecting the two.
As president of the PCA, I am very concerned
with the growth of undesirable and unattractive developments
along the Corridor. It
is very difficult for us to encourage tourism along this route
while ugly developments are popping up along the way.
The most severely endangered area is between I-35 and
Elgin on Highway 290.
I strongly encourage the City and County official along the Corridor
to take appropriate action to insure quality growth and the
maintenance of an attractive Presidential Corridor. “
Eric Carlson,
President, Presidential Corridor Association (PCA)
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