Century-old farm recognized
Collins family recalls growing up on the farm

By MONETTE TAYLOR | South Central Texas Edition

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Susan Combs (right) presents the Family Land Heritage Award to Ella Collins (center), and sons Ernest B. Collins (left) and Silas Collins. Texas Department of Agriculture presents the awards each spring to farms and ranches that have been in continuous ag production for over 100, or over 150, years.

May 22, 2003 -- At the 28th Annual Texas Family Land Heritage Ceremony in Austin earlier this spring, there were many proud and happy families - and standing tall among them was the family of Ella Collins.

Receiving an award for the Talferd and Ella Collins Farm, originally established in 1891, the Collins reflect the deep love of family and the land.

Talferd died in 1997, after a marriage that lasted 57 years to Ella. To that union, 11 children were born ... six boys and five girls.

Settling in on property that had been his grandfather's, Talferd and Ella started their lives together in 1940.

"He was renting this property when we got married in 1940, living here by himself in a couple of rooms. We bought it in 1942," remembered Ella. "With the government loan, you were supposed to bring the house up to standard, so we remodeled the house, then, and we had 20 years to pay it

(loan) back."

The earlier years were not easy as there was no electricity or running water in the home, but Ella made sure her family was clean, her home was run properly, and there was always a good meal on the table for her growing clan.

"We were the first ones on the Collins Farm to get 'facilities' ... bathrooms and indoor plumbing in 1943," she said.

The 300-acre Collins Farm is located in Travis County, near McKinney Falls State Park, and has been in continuous agricultural use for more than 110 years. During these years, crops of cotton, sorghum, corn, oats, wheat and hay were harvested, along with various farm animals, including a herd of cattle.

Today, the land is leased for growing wheat, and the cattle are still there.

Starting out as farmers, Ella said Talferd turned to a job at Bergstrom Air Force Base during World War II after a disappointing year in farming. This left Ella in charge of the children, home, and the farm, with instructions from Talferd.

After civilians were let go at Bergstrom, Talferd worked as a heavy equipment operator for a number of years, even helping lay the pavement down Congress Avenue in Austin. This position often took him out of town, again, leaving Ella in complete charge of the farm and family.

After leaving the paving business, he entered a career in law enforcement, which included 12 years as a Travis County Deputy Sheriff and 12 years as a Travis County Constable, before retiring ... a second time ... in 1989.

Throughout the years, Ella was on the farm. She made sure the 11 children were in school, well fed, and did their farm chores set by their dad, even when he was away on a job.

One son, Ron, said that no chore went undone, even if it meant his mom had to come and take the kids out of the classroom. When Talferd needed them on the farm, that came first ... for a while.

"During those formative years, there would be times when the cows would get out in somebody else's crop, and Mom would be right up there at school to get me out of the classroom, or my brother, and bring us back (to the farm) to help solve that problem. Well, I couldn't come out of the college classroom and do that stuff and still be successful, so that's why I went 30 miles away (to Southwest Texas State University), so she'd have to plan better to come and get me!" laughed Ron.

Schooling was very important, and Ella found the time to serve in the Parent Teachers Association, along with various other school-mom duties throughout the years.

"My husband was a firm believer in kids working, and so every day he'd tell me, 'Be there when they get out and bring them in and put them on a tractor,' because he'd be off on a job," explained Ella.

She tells of a time she waited and waited for one son to come out, after school, only to find him with a math teacher, doing the homework he had been too tired to do after working on the farm each evening. That teacher sent a message home to Talferd.

"It's time for your husband to make up his mind whether he wants this boy to have an education, or if he wants him to be a farmer," the teacher expressed.

Ella claims that was the last time she interfered with the schooling. Obviously, with all 11 children attending college, eight bachelor degrees and four masters degrees, it worked.

Today, with 37 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren, Ella is still on the farm. There are still cattle in the fields, and sons who live near enough to help out when they are needed. Life has slowed down for Ella, and it's about time.

After years of operating the farm, rearing 11 children and keeping the home-fires burning, she can relax and look out across the fields with pride. Some compare her to the original pioneer woman, but her family still simply calls her "Mom."