Henry Burt, her great-great-grandfather, was born in 1850 near Bristol, England, where his father William farmed. He was one of 12 children. In 1879, at age 22, Henry Burt left his family for America.

Crossing the Atlantic Ocean then required 25 to 30 days by steamship under perilous conditions and a poor environment of cramped, dirty, poorly ventilated quarters, infested with rats and lice. Meals consisted of “rice pudding, sea pie, pea soup, and oatmeal porridge.” More affluent passengers would bring along extra jam, sugar, biscuits, eggs, cheese, and ham.

The manuscript describes the ship’s toilet, located at the head of the ship where the spray from the water would help clean it. Toilet paper was a rope that, when not in use, hung in the water for cleaning.

Upon arriving in America, travel was by covered wagon or buggy, covering eight to 20 miles a day. Henry Burt first traveled to Ohio, where he lived for three years. Mary Ann Franklin left England in 1874 and the two of them were married in America, eventually moving to Galesburg, Ill., then to Franklin County, Iowa, for a year before moving to Wright County.

-Submitted photo
Mary-Louise Burt received the Burt family's Heritage Farm Award at the 2022 Iowa State Fair.

After seven years of renting, the Burts bought 80 acres of land east of Clarion for $6.25 an acre, where they built their home. Closets were not included in those early homes as people only had two changes of clothing, either for farm or town.

The Burt’s farm land was “prairie and unimproved.” Henry Burt spent $6,000 to break the sod and drain the land. He added to his land ownership and eventually owned over 400 acres in one tract.

In addition to farming, Henry Burt helped to build the Rock Island Railroad.

Henry Burt also raised cattle and hogs, feeding two carloads of cattle and one carload of hogs in a season. He was both a buyer and seller of cattle.

Crops were corn and small grain. Corn yields were 50 bushels per acre and small grain that mostly went for livestock yielded 40 bushels per acre.

A family story told by their grandson James Burt tells how Henry Burt “had to chase the cranes out of the corn field to keep them from destroying the crops, as much of the land was slough and bog until the tile was added.”

Henry and Mary Ann Burt lived on the farm for 40 years and were parents to five children.

Henry Burt retired from the farm in 1901 and moved to Clarion. Then he and Mary Ann, along with their daughter Hattie returned to England for a six-month visit, traveling by ship that only required four or five days.

Henry Burt passed away in February 1932. Each of his children inherited a farm.

Henry and Mary Ann’s son, John D. Burt, became the next owner, along with his wife Rose. John D. Burt died suddenly at age 55, two years into the Great Depression, from a heart attack while threshing. They had four children, one being Mary-Louise’s grandfather, James Burt.

James and his wife Laura worked hard to keep the farm during the Depression. One of the family stories tells of Laura out picking corn by hand with her husband. She raised chickens and sold the eggs in town.

They were parents to three sons, Jack (Mary Louise’s father), Don, and Paul.

Jack and Don Burt took over the farming after leaving the military in the late 1940s as their father Jim retired.

Mary Louise Burt described them as “industrious and energetic.” They were featured in Successful Farming magazine and the May 1966 issue of U.S. News and World Report.

Mary-Louise Burt remembers the farm as “full of activity” and a “hub of holiday feasts” prepared by grandmother Laura.

Don Burt passed away at age 69 and Jack died at age 92. Don’s son Randy became the operator of the farm when they retired. Upon Randy’s retirement, the farm was operated by tenant Andy Coombs, who according to some old papers, showed the Coombs and Burts had the same relatives going back to England.

The land that Henry Burt purchased in 1872 remains in the Burt family.

Jack and Bea Burt were the parents to four daughters: Pam, Cindy, and Sarah, along with Mary Louise, who lives on the acreage “with all the friendly ghosts of the past to keep me company.”