George and Gesine Morisse emigrated from Germany to Kingman County Kansas in the late 1800’s where they began farming. Benjamin Franklin House began working for the Morisse’s and later married their daughter, Emma Bertha Morisse, in 1908.
Ben and Emma House moved to a location six miles southwest of Isabel in 1908. There they established the homestead that still remains to this day. Ben and Emma gave birth to four children, Clarence “Jake”, Leo, Franklin, and Edna. They continued to raise crops and livestock until retirement in 1959.
Ivan F. Boyd was born in 1916 on a farm 2 miles north and 3 miles west of Isabel. Ivan had four sisters and two brothers. After spending three and half years in World War II as an Air Force mechanic (20 months in the European Theatre); he married Edna House in 1946. In 1959, Ivan and Edna moved in the “House Homestead” where Ivan continued to raise horses, hogs, cattle, feed, and wheat. Edna taught at many schools in the area while being a devoted mother to three children: Linda “Mease”, Calvin, and Darrel.
Standing: Darrel Boyd, Calvin & Carla Boyd, Linda ‘Boyd’ & Robert Mease.
Sitting: Chris Boyd, Edna Boyd
Calvin Boyd was born in 1953 and grew up working with crops and livestock on the homestead. In 1978 he married Carla Schepmann from Preston, KS. Carla graduated from St. Mary of the Plains College to pursue a career in nursing to which she still continues to this day. Calvin and Carla moved in the existing farmstead in 1984. There they continued raising cattle and crops while having one son, Chris, in 1986. In 1998, Calvin decided to diversify the operation by starting to develop center pivot irrigation, and adapting no-till in the early 2000’s. This broadened the cropping system by adding corn, soybeans, milo, and cotton to the continuous wheat rotation typically used in the area.
Chris Boyd returned to the family farm following graduation from Kansas State University in 2008. In 2014; Chris married Chelsea Cunningham from Ashland, KS. Also; in 2014, Chris and Chelsea moved into the original homestead to become the 5th generation to farm the fertile plains and rolling pastures of South Central Kansas.