Tidewater Times April 2021

Page 50

Farming in Talbot County

which sale was so noteworthy that it was mentioned in John K.’s obituary when he died in 1913. Mary S.E. Caulk died in 1926 and left each of her five children equal shares of her farms. Three of her children, Owen, Elizabeth “Bess” and Sallie, who were living on Isle of Rays, bought out the shares from their two siblings, and Owen ran the farms until his death in 1931, when Bess and Sallie took over the management of Isle of Rays, the neighboring Milan Farm, which Owen had purchased in 1910, and the original Lostock farm, which was a notable accomplishment for two women in the days when farming was, and still is, male oriented.

fever in 1870, his younger brother, John K., inherited William’s half and the farm was complete again. John Kersey Caulk married Mary Susan Elizabeth Caulk, and they had five children. Mary S.E. Caulk was his first cousin. Curiously, marrying one’s first cousin wasn’t all that unusual on the Eastern Shore then and may help explain some of the eccentricities found among the natives. Besides farming, John K. specialized in raising high-grade Jersey cattle and prize-winning trotting horses. He sold one horse, Phil Daugherty, winner of many races at the Talbot County Fair, for $2,200,

48


Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.