Guests from as far away as Alaska and as close as just down the road are expected Saturday at a reunion of people who have an association with a 150-year-old farmstead in north Lyon County.
Betty Dunn, who lives on the farm, said that the idea for a celebration of the farm’s 150th year of existence came from one of her daughters, Julie Woodward of Eudora.
The family has invited friends, neighbors and relatives of former owners to a picnic at noon Saturday. The Dunn family will furnish brisket, turkey and ham, as well as coffee and breads, and guests have been asked to bring side dishes.
“I’m going to make a cake and some desserts,” Dunn added.
The farm at 2857 Road M seems to hold a long-lasting attraction for all of the people who have owned it, and for their descendants as well. Some of their family histories were played out on the property, such as Dunn’s husband, Warren “Bud” Dunn, who died at the home he loved on April 8, 2008.
Dunn already knew much of its history of the farmstead from other owners and their families. She learned more when she brought home an abstract on the property.
“I looked at it. I thought 1859,” she said. “James Buchanan was president when the first land title was on it. ... And I know part of this house has been here that long because when you go under it to do anything, you can’t get from room to room. You can get under the bathroom because it’s been added. ... And you can’t get under the parlor part at all.”
The Dunns bought the property 48 years ago from Ralph Thill, who had purchased it from a Robert Gollyer, who had bought it from Chesley Karr.
The Dietz and Marsh families were early owners of the farm, and it seems a London or Loudon may have been the original deed-holder.
“There’s the nicest handwriting at the bottom of that,” Dunn said of the abstract.
But it’s impossible to discern whether the third letter of the last name is an “n” or a “u.”
Through its 150 years of existence, the house has morphed into a large, two-story farm home that has been redecorated and added onto according to the needs of the families living there.
Walls have been moved to enlarge rooms, a dining room was opened into a living room with a colonade; French doors were removed from the parlor because they were in the way when they were opened.
Bud Dunn made steps down to the basement, building them one step at a time, and added a shower. Closet space was added, a back porch was transformed into a laundry room, and the upstairs gained three bedrooms, among a host of other changes made through the years.
Recently, Dunn has replaced all the house’s windows, changed out the soffits, sheetrocked the bedrooms upstairs and had some painting done outside.
Despite the changes, families of former owners return to the farm to relive special moments or to see where their parents and grandparents grew up.
“I’ve always welcomed them,” Dunn said. “And they’ve come all through the house.”
Chesley Karr’s daughter, Helen, married Keith Sellers in that house; another daughter, Wilma, married Louis Fritzmeier.
Helen Sellers attended Rosean Club in the old Karr family home when Dunn was hostess for the group.
Helen’s and Wilma’s families returned for a visit on what would have been Chesley Karr’s 100th birthday anniversary.
“They came in their motor homes and spent the day,” she said.
Some of them have committed to attending the reunion on Saturday.
“Wilma’s daughter is coming from Pennsylvania, I think it is,” Dunn said, “and Helen’s daughter, Carolyn, she’s coming from Kansas City.”
Julie Woodward has heard from Chesley Karr’s son, John Ross Karr, and John Ross’s son is planning to come in from Albuquerque.
A granddaughter or great-granddaughter of another former owner, a Mr. Marsh, came by several years ago to have a look at the farm and take photos. She, too, wants to come to the reunion but moving plans may prohibit attendance.
“We’ve had RSVPs from quite a few, so it will be a good-sized crowd,” Dunn said. “We’ve lived here longer than anybody else has lived here, and my husband was so proud of this place.”
Outside on the farm, little has changed, other than a large barn that was built in 1903 burned down in the early 1960s. It was not replaced.
Chicken and brooder houses, sheds and the old hog house all remain maintained and in use on the property.
“I’ve fed baby calves in it and all that,” Dunn said of the hog house. “Now it stores the lawn mowers.”
Dunn also is getting rid of some of the ancient equipment that is stored in some of the old buildings.
“Every other building on the place is still here, including the outdoor outhouse,” Dunn said, mentioning that it had been summoned into use occasionally when crowds were too big for the one restroom inside the house.
It may be pressed into service on Saturday, after all the out-of-town and out-of-state guests start to arrive.
“Last spring my granddaughter and her husband came up and he has drywalled it and painted it so now the mud-dobbers can’t get in,” she said. “I say we got the best outhouse in, probably, Kansas.”