Mackinaw River Farms was started in 1828 by John Haner Sr., my 9th generation back grandfather, when he moved his family from Paint Township, Fayette County, Ohio to two miles south of present-day Lexington, IL and built his home a mile east of our current homestead.
In the summer of 1828, John Haner Sr and his children, Kate, John Jr, William, Isaac, Phoebe, Mary, and Elizabeth arrived with their families and a few other settlers. John's third son (and my direct ancestor), Jacob, stayed in Ohio with his wife Sarah until the birth of their first child Elizabeth in November of that year and by the time she was two weeks old, they had also joined the family. When young Elizabeth married Croghan Dawson, they inherited part of the farm and from there it was passed on to son Merritt who passed it on to his son, Russell, who passed it on to his daughter, my great grandmother, Rosemary, who passed it on to her daughter, my grandmother Sally Breese, my mom's mother, who is passing it on to me, and of course, through the generations the size of the farm has fluctuated. Another interesting fact about the history of our farm is that John Haner Sr, Kate, Mary, Elizabeth, John Jr., and Jacob's wife Sarah, are all buried in a small pubic cemetery located on the farm.