By Linda Whitmore
For a family to have maintained ownership of their farm since Oregon was a territory is exceptional. Then consider that this family has included such notables as an early governor, a nationally famous political cartoonist and a 19th century woman who stepped beyond restrictions of her time to attain success, and you know there is historical significance to the place.
The story of the Geer family and GeerCrest Farm on Sunnyview Road a few miles from Silverton is intertwined with the history of the region and the state.
The current caretakers of the land – Evelyn Vesper Geer Rose, 91; her nephew and his wife, Jim and Erika Toler – well understand the significance of their home’s history.
Not only do they have word-of-mouth legends of their pioneer legacy – they have an abundance of records and artifacts. There are items that crossed the prairie in some of the earliest settlers’ wagons, buttons traded with Indians and documents related to historic events.
Surrounded by furnishings and photos of the past, the Tolers feel the presence of those who have lived in their home for more than 150 years. They want to honor these ancestors – whether they gained fame in their time or quietly worked to earn a living on the farm – by collecting their life stories and preserving GeerCrest Farm as a tribute and example.
“It is a unique place,” said Jim Toler. “It needs to be maintained as a cultural resource in perpetuity.”
The Tolers say they do not want the property ever to be developed and feel it needs to be an example of early farm society. The trouble is, Jim Toler said, after this generation, “There’s no one in the family to carry it on.”
With preservation in mind, the Tolers and Rose recently created a not-for-profit organization, GeerCrest Foundation, “with the aim to preserve the history of the region and GeerCrest Farm,” Jim Toler said.
While several seats on GeerCrest Foundation’s board have been filed, she said they hope to include a historian on the panel. Acknowledging that the eventual focus of the foundation is still formulating, the Tolers say it will work in conjunction with farm operations.
Currently the homestead offers farm-life education. Eventually the foundation will include this, “but right now it will be focused on preserving the history,” said Erika Toler.
Management and preservation of documents and artifacts is daunting. And there’s research to be done on the lives of early residents and their impact on Oregon.
“We are applying for grants to develop a strategy to preserve, manage and make accessible” the materials they have, she said. The multitude of artifacts includes a small rocking chair and sewing machine that came across the prairie with the Geer pioneers in 1847, and boxes and trunks full of paper documents and photos.
“I think management of this collection is very important,” said Erika Toler.
There also needs to be research to connect the family with broader history.
“There are some really intriguing links to other people and events that would be interesting to discover,” said Jim Toler, who listed ancestors including Gov. T.T. Geer, the Davenport family and Musa Geer, who in the late 1800s left the farm for a job with a New York City newspaper.
The stories of family members are “a synopsis of life at different times,” Jim Toler said.
In addition to maintaining the collections and expanding research, the Tolers see another facet of the foundation – maintaining the farm for agrarian education.
“Farms have become monoculture, they’re agribusiness,” Jim Toler said. “So we want (visitors) to see how things used to be done…. Most children raised today have little experience seeing how food is produced.”
In her vision of the future of GeerCrest Farm, Erika Toler said, “it will be a hands-on farm where people can learn and see what it is to be on a farm.”
“We look at preserving not only the archives but also the traditional practices,” Jim Toler said.
