building a legacy

Where it all began

William and Keziah Mather Lain began farming this land in the late 1760s, buying it in 1775. Because William fought in the Revolutionary War, they lived in a log cabin until there was time to build a larger, more permanent home. It wasn't until 1785 that the distinctive stone house on the farm was finished. 230 years later, the “Old Stone House" still provides a beautiful home for William and Keziah's descendants. 

William and Keziah had seven children who survived childhood. Several left to raise families in upstate New York, Scranton, Pennsylvania and as far away as Wisconsin. Some stayed in Minisink, establishing their own farms. The youngest, David, continued farming here after William died. David married twice and had a total of seventeen children, all born in the Stone House. One of them continued farming this land. In this way our farm has been passed from generation to generation down to the 7th and 8th generations now living and working here. 

There are now tens of thousands of descendants of William and Keziah living all over the country and, most likely, all over the world. While most of them have no knowledge of their roots here, thousands still do. Every five years several hundred come to the farm for a weekend Lain family reunion to keep in touch with their ‘cousins’ and enjoy spending time on the land where their ancestors lived. 

We want our farm to continue to be a place that works with nature rather than against it. We don’t want to see it covered with housing, or treated as a piece of real estate where nature must be fought to yield the most money for the owner.  

For this reason, Arthur and Phyllis Lain (6th generation owners) established the Lain Family Trust in 1993. The provisions of this trust, which now owns our farm, state that it cannot be sold; it will be held for future generations of the Lain family.

Kezialain Farm is one of the oldest in the state to be continuously farmed by one family. It has received recognition as a Century Farm from New York State and in 1976 was designated a Bicentennial Farm by the U.S. government. The Stone House is on the New York Register of Historic sites. But most important us is that this farm has nourished our family, both our bodies and our spirits, for over 200 years; it deserves the best care we can give it.