UHRICHSVILLE, Ohio — Henry Lee, the first generation of the Law, Reed, Huss family to settle in Ohio, would have been proud of his descendants’ accomplishments.
His great-great-grandson William Huss, president of the Law-Reed-Huss Farm Foundation, hosted a dedication for a new Ohio Historical Marker at the Law Reed Huss Historic District in Harrison County near Tappan Lake on Sept. 26.
At the ceremony, Huss noted three historically significant milestone anniversaries in 2026.
“First, we are celebrating America 250 and old route 250 runs in front of the farm. Number two, great-great-grandfather Henry Law immigrated from Ireland in 1826. So this is the 200th anniversary of his arrival in America. Third, the 501c was formed in 2001, and this marks the 25th anniversary of the foundation.”
The Ohio Historical Marker program began in 1953, with about 1,750 markers today that tell the state’s history, with “each telling a unique story about the local community,” according to Todd Kleismit, executive director, America 250 – Ohio commission This is the fourth marker in Harrison County.
Engraved on the newly dedicated marker is the story of a multigenerational farming family with a rich history of ownership of the same land continuously since 1846. Across the road from the farmhouse, an Ohio Historic Farm Sesquicentennial sign honors the family’s 180 years of farming the land.
The Law Reed Huss Farm, located at 87675 Reed Road, Uhrichsville, is a nationally recognized historic farmstead listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The nearly 300-acre farm is enrolled in a permanent conservation easement through the Ohio Department of Farmland Preservation. Today the farm remains active, producing crops and raising shorthorn and Angus cattle.
Inside the farmhouse, now a museum, visitors can take a free self-guided tour offering a window into 19th and 20th-century farm life through family history, photos, and original furnishings. Today the farm complex includes the farmhouse, summer kitchen with a stone fireplace (currently not open to the public), smokehouse, coal house, milk house, tool house, multiple barns, carriage house and a newly renovated guest house.
Family history
When Henry and Elizabeth Law acquired the property in 1846, the farmhouse was modest with two rooms downstairs, four bedrooms upstairs and a separate summer kitchen. They had 11 children and raised cattle, sheep, and other crops. By 1860 their farm was one of the most productive in Harrison County.
Henry’s eldest son, John Quincy (J.Q.) Law was born on the farm in 1846 and, at age 23, he inherited the property in 1869 and became guardian to his younger siblings. He and his wife Ella Scott expanded the farmhouse and raised six children. Their daughter Lena and her husband Ernest Reed acquired a portion of the farm, circa 1920. In 1928, construction of U.S. Route 250 cut through the original farm, separating approximately 100 acres to the west of the road. Some family members are buried in a nearby cemetery on Plum Run Road. The church that sat by the cemetery the family once attended was razed in 2000.
A niece, Ella Reed Huss, inherited various properties. Just before her death in 2002, the Huss farm was turned over to the stewardship of the Law-Reed-Huss Farm Foundation. The farm complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
Today the foundation supports the Dennison Railroad Depot Museum as well as the Agricultural Technical Institute in Wooster. Dennison Railroad Depot Museum board member Bev Antonelli praised the enduring legacy of the farm and the partnership that the railroad played in transporting agricultural products to market.
Legacy
At the event, V. Ryan Hayden, Ph.D., associate professor of soil science and agronomy, Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute, thanked the Law-Reed-Huss Family Foundation for their efforts to support the future of Ohio agriculture through the funding of scholarships and research activities.
Robert Frutchey, senior lecturer, OSU Agricultural Technical Institute, added that the history of the Law-Reed-Huss Farm provides a great example of Ohio’s agricultural history. The farm has become a time capsule allowing visitors to see what farming was like in the 1800s in Ohio.
“By preserving this historic site, students can better appreciate the evolution of agriculture practices from the late nineteenth century to the innovative technologies used today,” he said.
The foundation will continue to support local history and education while making more improvements at the complex and adding additional displays.
Huss said they will be renovating the large barn across from the house to make that a display area for old farm equipment. They also plan to rearrange the upstairs of the Law house and reorganizing the items in the tool shed.
“We currently have an exhibit at the Dennison Railroad Depot Museum that will be moving to the upstairs of the new Clay Capital Heritage Center in Uhrichsville,” Huss said. “Longer term we will expand the museum to include the summer kitchen. We will also renovate the cottage by the remote parking lot to accommodate a family or individual caretaker. We are working with the local school system to encourage tours.”
Huss said they plan to set up a regular monthly schedule for tours and will announce the 2027 schedule soon. Volunteers will be at the farm on Oct. 24 if anyone would like to schedule a tour. To contact the foundation, send an email lawreedfarm@gmail.com
For more information, visit lawreedfarm.org or find the farm on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LawReedHuss/.
(Barbara Lang is a board member of Friends of Ohio Barns and is the northeast Ohio farmer representative board member for the Ohio Department of Farmland Preservation.)
