The 1800's
The current Kane Manor Farm sits on land once owned by the Robinson Family of nearby Liberty, Virginia. Due to a fire that destroyed many of the old Fauquier County records in Warrenton, we are unable to accurately determine the date the property changed hands to the Kane Family.
However, It is believed that sometime before 1876, Davenport Thomas Kane (1816-1871) and his wife Eliza Jane Kerns (1824-1893) purchased several hundred acres between now Green Rd and Balls Mill Rd. (Margaret Susan Heflin Kane pictured)
They built their homestead upon a knoll which has since been replaced with a Machine Shed. In 1871, Davenport Kane caught pneumonia and died, leaving his estate to split up the farm amongst his many children. (Alexander Davenport Kane pictured with his wife Margaret and daughter Helen circa 1915)
The 1900s
One of his sons, Alexander Davenport Kane, inherited roughly 72 acres and built the current house at 10195 Green Rd in 1876 . He farmed there with his wife, Margaret Susan Heflin Kane, and his three children (Robert Louis, Eppa Davenport, and Helen Margaret Tolbert (née Humphrey) - pictured in reverse order with Margaret seated).
After his death in 1922, Margaret Kane continued to live at the farmstead for a short time; however, eventually moved to Alexandria in the 1930s to be close to her children and help raise one of her grandsons, Scott C. Humphrey. When school was out in the summers, Scott would take the train out from Alexandria to help Mr. Strickler (a tenant-farmer) look after his crops and the farm.
After graduating college and serving in the U.S. Army, Scott returned to Alexandria, but always had an eye on the farm. In the 1960s, he bought out his mother's and uncles' interest in the 72 acre farmstead. In 1972, he bought his first bunch of registered Hereford Cows. He then spent the next 6 decades growing his commercial Polled Hereford Herd and reclaiming all of the land that was originally sold off by his great-grandfather's estate in 1876, except for one 1-acre parcel . He would also go on to buy adjoining farms from the Miller Family, the Long Family, the Connelly Family, the Washington Family, the Porter Family, and the Cubbage Family all with the intent of preserving the historic agricultural character of the land he enjoyed working as a young man.
The 2000’s
After 41 years, Ron Staples, a Fauquier Native, continues to oversee all Livestock and Farm Operations across roughly 850 acres. After weaning calves, each are brought to nearby Twin Mountain Farm in Northeast WV to grow and be sold as feeder yearlings or brought back as replacement heifers for the herd.
Today, Kane Manor Farm boasts a strong commercial cow-calf operation with around 175 Polled Hereford cows and replacement heifers, 4 Registered Black Angus Bulls and 2 Registered Hereford Bulls. Angus are crossed with the Herefords to create the "Black Baldy", a hybrid breed that performs well in a variety of environments and uses.
Across Virginia and West Virginia, Mr. Humphrey is widely-respected for raising healthy, pasture-raised Herefords while also championing family-owned and American-operated agriculture.