As summer winds down and we savor the last delicious ears of fresh corn on the cob, it’s a good time to look back at the history of the fields where some of our local corn is grown and that of the roads that border them. Vaughan Hill Rd. has had a continuous history of working farms. As long ago as 1754, maps show Henry Vaughan with a farm on the corner of Mendel Road and what would become Hartley Road. In the 1800s, there is mention of Jonathan, Henry, Daniel, and David Vaughan all owning land on both sides of what is now Vaughan Hill Road.
In the 1850s, a 100-acre farm there was owned by Charles Blackmere and over the ensuing years, the land had many owners, some of them lawyers who leased out the farm. From 1926 to 1933, it was called Jenney Farm after the lawyer who owned it. The land went on to be farmed by George Knight, Walter Reynolds and in 1951, it was purchased by Raymond White of Acushnet who installed Manny Lima to live on and work the farm which had about 50 cows.
Vaughan Hill Road, along with Rounseville Road and Bowen’s Lane, form a triangle of fields where Cervelli’s grow corn today. These fields at one time belonged to L.C. Humphrey. L.C. was born into a Rochester farm family in 1864. In addition to owning a 200-acre farm with chickens, sheep, and cows, he was also the town assessor for 33 years. Like Abraham Holmes, L.C. Humphrey left us his memoirs which report on all aspects of Rochester life.
In 1952, Humphrey sold his property to Raymond White (White’s Dairy) which he added to his other acreage on Vaughan Hill. He used Humphrey’s land to grow corn to feed his many cows spread throughout the area towns. Fortunately for us, the corn grown there today is for people to eat rather than for cows.
By Connie Eshbach
