Land preservation reaped a harvest recently when a lifelong farmer handed the Gorham Historical Society 75 acres and the old New England farmhouse on the land.
Jim Eddy, 93, of Barstow Road in White Rock gave the society the land he plowed his life into, guaranteeing it would be enjoyed by future generations. Eddy had farmed there for more than 50 years. He farmed until a year ago but his health has been declining recently.
Eddy reserved life occupancy for himself and his nephew, John McCarthy, 64, who has helped him work the farm since 1962.
Sen. Phil Bartlett, president of the Gorham Historical Society, said Eddy will continue to live there but the gift preserves and fulfills Eddy’s wishes that the property remains a working farm. “It’s a great opportunity to showcase Gorham’s farming history,” Bartlett said. “It’s a wonderful thing.”
McCarthy said Eddy was happy the property passed to the Historical Society. “I am too,” McCarthy said. “The farm won’t be chopped up into houses.”
Eddy wants townspeople to also enjoy the property, which sports a trout brook, for recreational use. He approves of skiing and snowmobiling but has stipulated that four-wheelers wouldn’t be permitted. “They stave up the grounds,” Eddy said.
Dave McCullough, vice president of the historical society, was instrumental in working out the agreement with Eddy to preserve the land and its heritage for the community. “He had a vision,” McCullough said.
Eddy has bestowed the farm that was a gift to him. McCullough said Eddy had sold a large poultry flock on a payment plan to former occupants at the farm. When an illness struck, they asked Eddy for more time to make payments. Eddy forgave the entire debt.
As it turned out, the people at the farm were communists and had held meetings there. During the communism scare fostered by Sen. Joseph McCarthy in the early 1950s, the people at the farm, remembering Eddy’s earlier kindness, gave him the place before they fled.
McCullough said Eddy’s gift includes 40 acres of adjacent land that he bought. He said a five-member board of trustees has been established to oversee the farm. Eddy requested that the board include two neighbors, and Peter Dean and Paul Doughty were chosen. They’ll serve along with professional farmers Bill Rust and Erlon Mosher in addition to McCullough.
McCullough said the farm would be utilized to preserve the heritage of farming and for educational things. He said eventually it would be farmed with horses and oxen.
Eddy’s nephew said they haven’t kept cattle on the farm for the past 10 years, but they have harvested the hay and raised gardens. But now, McCarthy is recuperating after he was hospitalized with a heart attack this spring.
He said their neighbors Peter and Peggy Dean and their children have helped with chores at the farm this year. Peggy Dean sent over meals. They helped plant gardens, and their boys mowed the lawn.
But the hay hasn’t been cut this year. McCarthy said he’d inherit the farm equipment from his uncle and in turn would will it to the Historical Society. “After I’m gone, the Historical Society could continue farming and gardening,” McCarthy said.
He said his uncle cleared much of the land. Eddy once produced milk and raised dairy heifers to sell. He also kept hens and sold eggs.
Eddy is widely known by farmers. He was once a representative for the Quaker Oats company and later was a technician, artificially inseminating dairy cows for several area dairy farms. Before moving to the farm, Eddy, now a widower, lived on South Street.
McCarthy said the historical society could generate income by keeping the farm working and it could become a “hands-on” project for succeeding generations of children. “A good educational experience for them,” McCarthy said.
The house was built in the late 1700s. It features hand hewn, wooden beams. McCullough said the home has “unique features” and an interesting historic character.
Bartlett said Eddy’s gift would provide space to house artifacts that other donors might wish to give the society. “Down the road, the house could become a museum,” Bartlett said.
The gift comes as the Gorham Town Council considers a proposal at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 1, at Gorham High School to preserve open space through a transfer of development rights program. In exchange for increasing the density of lots in new developments served by water and sewer, developers would pay a fee to the town. Then, the town would use the money to either buy open space or the development rights for property.
Eddy’s nephew is hoping that his uncle’s gift to the community would inspire others to consider preserving open space for future generations in Gorham.
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