Sometimes It Was Pretty Hard to Pay the Taxes

Iced water and bubbly in hand, our host Jill Davis and Emily Chase Smith walk through the history and genealogy of the sprawling farm inherited in Kansas.

The farm began as a homestead in 1888. Made possible by the Homestead Act, Jill’s great grandfather, George Albert Henery elected for the 160-acre option allotted by the law and tended to the land for the seven years mandated in order to gain ownership. The land became known as Stockport Farm and even to this day, you can still see the lettering painted on the side of the barn that commemorates the town in which George Henery was born (Stockport, Ohio).

George married Josephine Peterson who was originally from Sweden. Soon after, they had several children, including Jill’s grandmother, Florence Myrtle Henery.

Florence married Ray Davis in 1925 and gave birth to Jill’s father, James George Davis, in 1927.

In 1951, Jill’s father married Elizabeth Sue Leathers and in 1962, they gave birth to our very own, Jill Davis. Jill’s family left the farm in 1956 before she was born and, after several adventures, moved to Colorado Springs where their children would be raised.

Tune in to this episode as Jill weaves together her lived experience, family lore, and recorded history around the lineage of Stockport Farm.

Find out more and see Jill's pictures of the transformation of her farm at:

The Storytellers Porch on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/thestorytellersporch

The Storytellers Porch on Instagram, @thestorytellersporch, https://www.instagram.com/thestorytellersporch/ Behind the scenes information from the Stockport Farm https://www.facebook.com/StockportFarm

If you have a story about farming, ranching, or growing up in rural America, we want to hear your story and help you share it! Those stories are what bring us hope in difficult times. Get in touch with Jill at https://thestorytellersporch.com/apply/ or send us an email at [email protected].

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