Clements family ranch operating in its 106th year

Scott and Linda Clements operate a family farm that has been in existence for over a century.
Rather than homesteading in Chase County, Frank and Nora Clements purchased the farm in 1916 from Maggie and George Rounds.
Maggie was the daughter and heir of Nicholas Wild who died in 1914 but were not related to the Clements.
Frank and Nora were Scott’s great-grandparents, said Linda.
“They originally moved from Ohio to Eagle, Nebraska and then to Deweese before settling in Imperial,” she said.
Scott’s grandparents, Homer and wife, Carrie Clements, homesteaded near Roy, Montana before eventually joining Homer’s parents in Chase County.
Homer and Carrie purchased the farm/ranch in 1938 with Scott’s parents, Frank and Alice Clements purchasing it in 1975.
Scott and Linda purchased the ranch in 2009.
“All the farm work was originally done with horse drawn equipment until Homer purchased one of the first tractors in Chase County,” Linda said.
She went on to share some other stories passed down through family.
“In 1930, Homer had the opportunity to purchase some neighboring land by paying the back taxes. He decided against it because he had just sold some milk cows and was out of debt and didn’t want to go back in debt,” she said.
Linda said when times were tough and money was tight, the family would haul eggs and milk to town to send on the train or sell.
“I don’t think this was unusual for many families in the area at the time,” she added.
Another story passed down, and probably not that unusual, involves a baby buried on the way to the west pasture on the Clements ranch.
They were told the baby belonged to a family that was traveling through.
The grave was marked with a rock, but Linda said they don’t know if the rock is still there.
The only original buildings still standing on the property are the barn and milk house.
“These two buildings were previously built prior to the Clements family purchasing the farm in 1916,” said Linda.
An interesting historical fact is how milk houses were used.
Linda explained that the milk house was designed to use cool water to preserve dairy products and prevent fresh milk from absorbing odors and contamination associated with agricultural activities.
Milk houses were small enclosed one-room buildings used before the days of refrigeration.
Their milk house is where the family cooled and stored their milk, cream, butter, eggs, etc.
Cold water from the windmill was pumped through the milk house and flowed through a holding trough that the milk cans sat in to stay cool.
The water then flowed into a holding tank where it gravity-fed additional stock tanks.
Inside the milk house is a concrete floor and a concrete trough along one wall. The thick walls are white washed possibly for sanitary reasons, she speculated.
The milk house was also a place to store milk cans not in use and sometimes other equipment like separators.
“The milk house is no longer in use, but we still use the barn mostly for storage,” Linda said.
The Clements family property, located one mile west and one mile south of Imperial, is called the Frenchman Valley Ranch, and is still where the main operation is located.
They raise cattle, irrigated corn, rye, cane, dryland and have pastureland.
The family includes a daughter, Gentry White and husband, Jon, who live in Pittsburg, Kansas, and a son, Jason Heermann and wife, Sara, who live in Imperial and help on the ranch.
Included in the family are five grandchildren ages 14 to 17, she said.