Where it all began:

Our History

For our family, remembering our past has always been a treasured tradition.  In farming, multiple generations will grow crops and provide for their family off of the same acre of land. Our family’s records date back to the Revolutionary War period with the Groves side moving westward from Pennsylvania to Kentucky and then to Illinois and the Plain side moving from Maryland at a similar time.  In 1835, when land was surveyed and deeded for sale, David Plain (my 4th-great grandpa) purchased 40 acres in Shaws Point township which we still farm and own nearly 200 years later. The granddaughter of  David Plain, Mary,  married Arthur Carl “AC” Groves in 1909 and they took over the farming operation following  the death of Mary’s father, Benjamin.  The farm went through many changes during the 20th century, with Mary and AC having 2 boys:  Miller, who passed in his early 20s and John F., who is my great grandpa. John F. married Stella Konneker in 1934 and they had three children: Mary, John and Nancy (the name John is popular with our family). The first big change of the century was when AC and Great Grandpa bought a 1935 Allis Chalmers U with a 3 bottom plow and disc. Grandpa John told me that it was the first rubber-tired tractor in the township and that neighbors thought that the tires would compact the ground and ruin crops! Grandpa John went into the Army following his graduation from Carlinville High School and served in the Tank Corp. Once he finished his service, Grandpa John returned to the farm and the modernization continued (AC planted with a horse drawn planter up into the 1950s!). Red paint replaced orange paint on the farm as we did business with our cousins at Konneker and Brown International. In 1960 Grandpa John married Margaret Jean Leitschuh and they had two children, Cathy and John Kevin, my dad. Grandpa John continued to grow the farm through the 70s  and taught my dad the ropes. Like many farm families, the 1980s were a rough decade, but Dad and Grandpa John weathered the storm and they continued to grow the farm through the rest of the century. In 1990, my dad and mom, Beth, were married and they had my sister, Allison, and myself. Growing up on the farm, Dad instilled in us the hard work mentality and let us “enjoy” the olden tasks of walking beans, square baling hay, and scooping hog manure. The first 21 years of the new century has seen many changes, with us going from an 8 row planter to two 16 row planters, tractors that can almost drive themselves, and loosing Grandpa John in 2014. As we have seen through the years, things are always changing and progressing. Our family’s mindset has always been one of progress and to be the best steward of the land we can. I am not farming the land for myself.  I am farming it for my future grandkids and their grandkids. 

-John “Aidan” Groves, 2021