08/06/2026
🌾 Farm History – The 1950s – A Decade of Transition
This year is flying by. I hope I can get through the entire farm history by the end of the year! I started back in January with the purchase and deed from our original farmstead in 1911 and have been working backwards to the early 1800s and ahead (I could have said ‘forward’) to the1940s. We’ll move ahead to the 1950s (and a touch of the 60s) today.
A New Generation Takes the Lead (1953)
Although Hervey Sr., Hervey Jr., and Willard each operated their own farms, they also worked collectively under the name HD Forward & Sons. This structure shaped the way the farm grew through the early 1950s.
By 1953, a defining moment arrived: the passing of Hervey Sr., founder of the Forward Family Farm. His death marked more than the end of an era—it formally ushered in the next generation of leadership.
The Case Dealership
Previously we shared that Hervey Sr was the first farmer in Onondaga County to own a Case combine and also the first to have a Case pickup baler. By the early 1950s Willard and Hervey Jr had formed a partnership known as Forward Bros which was a Case Farm Equipment dealership. Clearly the Forwards were pleased with Case equipment.
For years, I believed that Hervey Jr. and Willard opened their dealership in 1951. But a bit of digging turned up a surprise: a September 1949 advertisement in the Jordan Leader for a Case Pickup Baler. That discovery pushed the dealership’s origins back at least two years earlier than I had thought.
The dealership operated from Willard’s farm along Rt. 321 near Forward Road, serving local farmers who were eager to modernize their operations. Despite the abundance of old farm photographs in our family collection, none seem to capture the dealership itself.
What does remain are small but meaningful artifacts including Forward Bros. branded matchbooks, the receipt register device used to create carbon-copy sales slips, and a 10-year dealer award plaque—sadly undated, but still a testament to their long-standing partnership with Case.
If anyone reading this has a photograph of the dealership, I would be thrilled to add it to our growing archive of family history.
A Glimpse of Local Farming in the Early 1950s
While I don’t have photos of the dealership, I do have one from the early 1950s that captures the spirit of the era. It shows a local farmer Russel Masters combining oats in his new Case combine, working land that would later become part of Orchard Village in Camillus. Given the timing and the equipment, I can logically assume that this combine was purchased from the Forward Bros. dealership, which would explain why the photo found its way into our family’s collection. It’s a snapshot of a moment when farming technology was rapidly evolving—and when our family played a role in bringing that innovation to the community.
Case Equipment: A Lasting Legacy
Case equipment remains central to our farm’s identity even today. As I walk through the farmyard, a vast majority of our farm equipment is Case / Case IH equipment. Many visitors comment on the vintage tractors still in operation, including the well-used but reliable 830 Case-O-Matic, its successor the Case 930 Comfort King (introduced in 1962), and the 1030 -- all manufactured in the 1960s and still working today! They have stood the test of time without a doubt!
Other Farm Changes in the 1950s
During this decade, the farm discontinued chickens, potatoes, and the factory canning peas. I wonder if it was tough to discontinue the potatoes that Hervey Sr. had been well known for producing. In their place, the dairy herd expanded, and additional land conservation projects were completed.
The Next Generation Steps Forward
By the end of the 1950s, Hervey Jr. and Leila’s three sons were establishing their own paths:
• Hervey III graduated from Cornell University and worked for the J.I. Case Company for many years.
• Frank graduated from Cornell University and later worked at the Syracuse University library.
• Fred, the middle son, graduated from Elbridge High School in 1950, attended Cornell, and began working on the farm. He later enlisted in the Army, served in Germany, and met his future wife Waltraud (Traudel). By the end of the decade, Traudel had emigrated to the U.S., and the couple married and welcomed their first two sons.
Looking Ahead
More stories from the decades that followed are still to come.
