Thomas-McDonald Farms
Logan County
In the late 1880s, at the age of 50, John McDonald and wife Sarah moved from Nebraska to the Fleming area. Under the Homestead Act he received 160 acres, which he augmented with a ¼ section from the railroad. He built a stone house and proved up the land in 1895.
Leroy Thomas in the doorway of his great-grandfather John McDonald's stone homestead.
After traveling constantly to Sterling one a week to fetch the mail for himself and area residents, he applied for a post office to be established in Fleming, which at that time had 50 residents. He farmed and raised draft horses and was a county commissioner. Upon his death the land went to son George McDonald who turned it over to his sister Elsie Thomas.
View of the Thomas-McDonald Farms.
Elsie moved from Nebraska in 1907 after her husband passed away at an early age. At age 32 she bought a ¼ section near Fleming where she built a barn and frame kit house, living first in a shed. After her father’s death, she worked both sections, mostly by herself. She became known as a tough, hard lady who could shoot and kick up the dirt in front of trespassers from a quarter mile away using the sight on her gun. She also was known, however, as a generous neighbor and a great cook. She farmed the land and raised draft horses until her death in 1954 when the land was turned over to son Leroy Thomas. Leroy and family lived in the 1918 house until his death in 1996. Both properties are still owned and farmed by his children.