JEFF NICOSON FAMILY

Jeff Nicoson was born on March 3, 1909 in Cory, Indiana to Daniel Grant and Lilly Florence Nicoson. There were two more sons; Archie and Nelson, and eight daughters; Hazel, Harriet, Armilda, Dollie, Serena, Cora, Francis, and Theresa.

Jeff married Dorothy Deverell, the daughter of Alfred and Laura Deverell of Sycamore, on August 29, 1929 in Belvidere. Dorothy was born on April 1, 1904 and had one brother, Clifford, and four sisters – Lena, Ida, Lillian, and Margaret.

Three children were born to Jeff and Dorothy: Marilyn (July 7, 1930 in Sycamore), Jack (March 21, 1932 in Cory, Indiana), and Karen (August 27, 1937 in Geneoa, Illinois).

My Grandpa Derverell (my mother’s dad) came from the Sycamore-DeKalb area around 1935 and rented the Gretna Farm, which is straight north of Wheaton about 2 miles. Route 64, or Lake Street, runs through the farm.

My mom and dad (Dorothy and Jeff) came with Grandpa Deverell and worked for him. That lasted for a couple of years, I believe.

In 1938, Dad was looking for something different and was hired by John Case. After one year with Mr. Case, he and farm advisor Harry Wright found Dad the Hinterlong Farm to rent. I believe William Greene of the Barber-Greene & Co. of Aurora, and Hibbard Greene, his brother, owned this farm together.

The year was 1939 that we moved to the Hinterling-Book Farm. This is when my sister, Marilyn, and I started attending Hobson School. I was halfway through first grade and Marilyn half through third grade. Miss Henrietta Erhardt was the teacher – and a good one!

Then, on March 1, 1942, Mr. Greene talked Mom and Dad into taking over the Greene home farm, which is where this year’s Pig Roast is being held.

Marilyn and I switched country schools from Hobson to Goodrich, and of course when we played against one another in baseball or track, Goodrich was the best then!

I’ve always said I can’t believe anybody had more fun growing up then I did. I considered myself lucky to have grown up on such a beautiful farm with such beautiful neighbors.

The amount of work was unbelievable on 330 acres back then. One year when we bangs tested we had 107 head of Holsteins plus 250 head of hogs and 200 to 300 chickens. We always had two men working for us and the headaches Dad used to have keeping good men were trying at times.

The work is what kept me out of trouble, of course – I managed to still get into plenty.

Then, in 1949, we took over the farm on Route 53, which George Boardman was farming. Together, the two farms were approximately 570 acres. We fed around 80 head of cattle and more hogs on this farm per year. Mr. William Greene owned this farm himself, where the one we lived on was in the Greene estate.

Marilyn married Kenneth Kelm of Lemont on January 24, 1948 in Naperville. The have seven children: Jane, Linda, Ken, Don, Jeff, Judy, and Todd – and all live in Lebanon, Missouri.

Jack married Dorothy Guither on February 14, 1959 in Naperville, and they have raised two girls and one boy. Steve is a civil engineer in Boston, Mass.; Kathy is in the furniture business with us. Jackie is an admissions coordinator at the old Manteno State Hospital facility. They deal with juvenile sex offenders.

In February of 1952, we had a sale – we sold out and moved to Lebanon, Missouri onto a 219-acre Ozark farm Dad and Mom purchased. Later, Ken and Marilyn Kelm moved to Lebanon and have made that their permanent home.

My youngest sister, Karen, attended high school is Lebanon, married Elmer Waugh on February 5, 1955, and they had four children: Sharon, Debra, Keith, and Kimberly. They are all doing fine – scattered all over the place.

I lost my dad in May of ’91 – he was 82. Mom is 91 and still living by herself. She is quite a lady. She raised her own brother and four sisters, then us kids. She lives on the second farm they bought in ’68 in Strafford, Missouri. My sister Karen and her husband, Elmer, are renting the farm and raising Paso Fino horses and Angus cattle.


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