HARKEN Farm Family Reunion -- 2019

HARKEN, MCINTIRE, MULLIKIN, FAIRCHILD, CRAWFORD, MORGAN, HOGAN, SWAIM, ROBERTS, HENDERSON, BAUMERT, FLEMING

Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 8/18/2019 at 16:19:08

"The Fairfield Ledger"
Monday, July 22, 2019
Page 2

HARKEN Farm families reunite
By Connie Fleming,
Special to The Ledger

A reunion for the "kids" of the Karl and Hildred HARKEN employee family was held July 3 at the Best Western Fairfield Inn.

The "kids'" parents were former employees of HARKEN Meats, which was a noted Jefferson County business from the 1930s until 1968.

The group shared memories and watched videos and films and viewed photos of their time growing up on the HARKEN farm 10 miles north of Fairfield. Most of the films and photos were taken by Karl HARKEN in the late 1930s through September 1960. The presentation ended with pictures of the sale day auction of the entire farm operation in February 1965.

Karl HARKEN started HARKEN Meat Processing in 1930 by butchering only in the winter months and selling out of his pickup on the town square in Richland. He would receive calls from customers who wanted more of his excellent quality meat. In the early 1940s, with the arrival of electricity at the farm, Karl bought coolers and freezers and started butchering cattle and hogs year-round. He bought farm ground and grew feed to raise animals for his meat processing business. He built buildings at the farm to support the growing business. He hired many employees and provided them housing. Often many members of a family worked at the HARKEN business.

Present were Nick McINTIRE of Hot Springs, Arkansas, and Connie McINTIRE of Ankeny. Their parents were Kenneth and Helen McINTIRE. Kenneth drove the meat delivery truck, and Helen worked in the meat processing facility. She is the only living parent of any of the HARKEN "kids." She resides in a care center in Ankeny.

Also present were Marjorie MULLIKIN, Charlene FAIRCHILD and Gene CRAWFORD, all of Fairfield, Melvin "Pete" CRAWFORD of Fort Worth, Texas, and Linda MORGAN of Cairo, Missouri. They are children of Chuck and Dorothy CRAWFORD. Chuck started working for HARKEN in 1945.

Nancy HOGAN SWAIM attended. Her parents were Leonard and Morine HOGAN. Leonard worked in the meat processing area.

The ROBERTS family was represented by Donald ROBERTS of Milton, Wisconsin, whose parents were Joe and Margaret ROBERTS. Joe started working at HARKEN in 1937. Margaret worked in the meat house in later years.

Steve ROBERTS of Richland, nephew of Donald ROBERTS, also was present. Steve was instrumental in planning and organizing the reunion.

Karl HENDERSON of West Burlington attended and moderated the visual presentation. He is a great-nephew of Karl and Hildred HARKEN and is named after Karl HARKEN. Karl HENDERSON worked many hours organizing the reunion and creating the presentations. His wife, Marilyn, who assisted in the planning, was also present.

Also attending were spouses, relatives and friends of the HARKEN kids.

During the Richland Homecoming celebration July Fourth, a video presentation about HARKEN Meats was shown, with over 100 in attendance.

"A lot of stories and memories were shared on the third [of July] in Fairfield and certainly on the Fourth in Richland, about seeing Brownie the Bear," said Karl HENDERSON. "It was simply amazing how many people still remember going out to HARKEN's for meat and seeing the bear right alongside the meat processing plant."

In May 1940, Des Moines resident Paul Dean went bear hunting in Canada. He killed a mother bear that had three cubs. He gave one cub to the guide of the hunting party and took the other two to Des Moines. May 30, 1940, Karl, Hildred, Hildred's twin sister Mildred and a nephew, T.L. HENDERSON, drove to Des Moines to see the little bears.

Transporting the bears was a problem. Karl found a small discarded wash tub and loaded the bears in the tub. He put them in the trunk of his car, propped the trunk lid open and had an interesting trip to Richland.

The bears were named Blackie and Brownie. Blackie kept getting loose and they decided it was best to part with her. They built a new cage for Brownie in 1948, where she remained until her death in 1968.

Brownie was very special to Connie and Nick McINTIRE as they lived in the same yard as Brownie and could see her from their kitchen window.

Karl HARKEN died Oct. 5, 1960. Hildred ran the business until Feb. 11, 1965, when she sold the farms and farm equipment.

Kenneth and Helen McINTIRE and Glen BAUMERT bought the meat business and operated it until February 1968. The State of Iowa specified that a complete remodeling of the meat processing area with stainless steel walls, ceiling and tables was needed. It was decided the cost was too demanding and not economical, so the business closed.

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*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I have no relation to the person(s) mentioned.

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Follow Up Story to Harken Family Reunion
By: Verda Baird and Connie McIntire Fleming

On July 22 the Ledger published an article about a reunion of the relatives from the Harken Meat Processing Company employees written by Connie McIntire Fleming. Mrs. Verda Baird, a Jefferson County resident, read the article and took an interest about the house Connie mentioned she and her family lived in on the Harken property and could see Brownie the bear from the kitchen window. Verda recognized the house as the structure her son Ron had purchased in 1987, 32 years ago, and moved to his property southeast of Fairfield.

Mrs. Baird, an 88 year old genealogist, decided to use her research skills and bring Connie up-to-date on the status of her childhood home. The Ledger article mentioned that Karl Henderson, a relative of the Harken family, lives in West Burlington. On July 26th Verda called Karl to obtain Connie’s phone number but had to leave a message with a phone number. As it turned out Karl and his wife, Marilyn, were on their way to meet Connie at the riverfront to watch RAGBRAI participants ride into Burlington. Connie was driving sag for a RAGBRAI friend. Karl emailed Connie Verda's message that evening with her phone number and Connie called Verda on Saturday morning, July 27th.

The saga now began to develop into an interesting adventure and revelation. They put a plan together that Connie would meet with Verda that afternoon and learn the details about her past home.

Connie met with Mrs. Baird at her farm home, southeast of Fairfield, and Verda gave her detailed information about the 23 mile journey the house made to its new location. Verda related how she had handled many details to facilitate the move, contacting the CB&Q railroad, three utility companies and local law enforcement agencies. The house was moved to its new location on May 13th, 1987. It followed a zig-zag course by-passing underpasses and utilizing the most accommodating railroad crossings. The garage was moved the next day. Verda showed Connie photographs and a scrap book of articles and details of the move and also excerpts from her personal diary. Verda then drove Connie to see the house, which is several miles from her home. The house has had several additions, but Connie could recognize it was her home and could see her upstairs bedroom window. Connie took many pictures to add to her scrapbook of her childhood memories. Connie and Verda have continued to exchange phone calls and emails. A new friendship has developed. They both are thankful for the Ledger publishing the Harken family reunion article which facilitated the house discovery and the new friendship.

Admin. note: Below are links to three photos of the home, courtesy of Connie and Verda.

http://iagenweb.org/jefferson/General_Interest/2019/HarkenHouse1.jpg

http://iagenweb.org/jefferson/General_Interest/2019/HarkenHouse2.jpg

http://iagenweb.org/jefferson/General_Interest/2019/HarkenHouse3.jpg

Karl Harken with Brownie The Bear
 

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