ISLAND FARM ON MISSISSIPPI MAKES IT TO CENTURY MARK

EAST PRAIRIE -- On Jan. 4, 1899, a general store owner from Hickman, Ky., bought himself some ground in Mississippi County.

The late James Crosby Benson would, without a doubt, be proud to know that 100 years later his family is still farming the same 211 acres he purchased.

His son, James Byron Benson, still holds the deed to the land, located on Island Number 7 along the Mississippi River in southern Mississippi County.

It took him and his four brothers nine years to clear the forest by hand so they could farm it. "We cleared in the winter to farm in the summer," recalled Benson.

And farm it they did, growing cotton, corn, soybeans, milo and wheat over the generations.

The land is still farmed by that same Kentucky storeowner's descendants his great-grandson, Kyle DeKriek, son of Rene and LaDona Benson DeKriek, is currently growing milo, soybeans and corn as he carries on the legacy.

The Benson family and their farm were recognized this year in the University Outreach and Extension's Century Farm Program.

During a reception held in Charleston by the Mississippi County Outreach and Extension Council, the family received membership certificates into the Missouri Century Farm Club. The event highlighted the history of the farm, the family's farming heritage and the accomplishment of keeping the same land in the family for a century.

The Benson family kept their residence in Kentucky, where the children could attend school, and for several years spent only summers on the wooded island.

Although isolated for the most part by their remote location, in the early 1900s they did at times have some neighbors -- people lived in shanty boats tied up to the island and made a living fishing and logging.

In 1921, Benson's father sold the store to a man by the last name of Bush and moved his wife and six children onto the island, adding a seventh when Benson's little sister was born there.

The Bensons raised livestock in the early days, including the years of Prohibition. Remote and still densely wooded around the farm, bootlegging was extremely active on the island because it was a great hiding place for the stills.

Benson said the bootleggers would "run that river, come set up, make a batch and leave." Unfortunately, this occasionally caused problems for the Bensons."Mash isn't anything but slop," Benson said, and slop attracted animals. He recalled the time a cow ate too much and died, and another time in which a hog, drunk from the mash it was robbing from a barrel buried in the ground, leaned too far, fell in and drowned.

River boats from Cairo used to bring food and mail directly to the island, and the calliopes from New Orleans showboats on their way up to Cairo could be heard for miles quite a thrill in those parts back then. "Over there we hardly ever saw anybody," said Benson.

Pieces of history still remain on the farm. In those days, survey information was cut directly into a "witness tree." The big pecan tree bears the information to this day, if one digs through the brush to find it.

Brass benchmarks -- posts put in during the 1920's with descriptions of the land and what it was used for -- may also be found.

Benson's granddaughter, LaDona DeKriek of Sikeston, submitted the application to join the Century Farm Club.

To qualify, a farm must have been owned by the same family for 100 years or more, consist of at least 40 acres and make a financial contribution to overall farm income. More than 2,400 farms have been honored over the last 10 years."Many years we have had to fight flood waters and the logs and trash it leaves that have to be cleared to farm the island. At those times it has been very tempting to sell it," said Mrs. DeKriek. "But when the wild cucumber vines are blooming in the woods along the farm and the mist is rolling in from the river it looks like a movie of prehistoric times. That's when you begin to understand why all the generations have hung on to it. Unless agricultural income improves, you'll see less families able to reach this benchmark of 100 years."