Barron of Blog Wife, Libby, and the Pursuit of Happiness

Kansas Wheat Farm Stories

My father and his twin brother recently visited a small piece of Kansas farmland (approximately here) that has been in the Barron family for decades. In the past the land had been rented out to local tenant farmers who grew wheat. The family now wants to sell the land (hence the reason for their visit), as few people are interested in trying to be a landlord from several thousand miles away.

While in Kansas the brothers visited the last remaining Barron (a 75-year-old second cousin of theirs) still living in the area; they learned a lot about the history of the land and our family. I won't bore you with the details (of which there are many), but I do want to share a funny story about the twin's birth that even they didn't know about before this trip!

When the "twins" were born in 1948 (William and John), the second was a surprise to the doctor and to our parents. As a consequence, the name for the younger of the two twins had not yet been decided. In a telegram sent to our uncle Lloyd on the day announcing the birth of the twins, this is apparent as our father cited the names of the twins as a "William Clark" and a "John Doe". John Doe is a term used for someone whose true name is unknown. When our parents finally picked the name for the younger of the two twins, they apparently decided to keep the first name "John".

You can see a larger image of my father, aka "John Doe", at our (soon to be sold) wheat farm here.