In this book, Charles D. Thompson, Jr., uses both documentary and oral historical means to vividly illustrate how a small community of non-conformist German Baptist Brethren in Franklin County, Virginia, has weathered the changing landscape of dairy farming largely by living the values of their faith. The vividness of Thompson’s book derives from both his scholarly work and his personal connection to the community.
This book consists of two main sections. In the first half of the book, Thompson relies primarily on archival research to tell the story of the German Baptist Brethren from the Ancient Order’s founding in 1708 Germany to their present faith community in the Virginia Blue Ridge. In this section Thompson also introduces the non-comformist and non-resistant theology of the German Baptist Brethren, including resistance to swearing oaths, extreme pacifism, and insular community, which sets them apart from their neighbors, even today.
The historical tale of the German Baptist Brethren related by Thompson follows their attempts to escape religious persecution in Germany and their eventual settlement in William Penn’s colony in America. He relates their movement south and west into what was Iroquois territory and their attempts to remain neutral during the French and Indian war and the American Revolution. Thompson tells about many Brethren choosing to follow the Carolina Road into the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and settling in present-day Franklin County as early as the 1730s, and goes into detail on the people and events that affected their lives there. In particular, Thompson relates the trials endured by the Brethren for their pacifist beliefs during the Civil War, including property confiscation, higher taxes, and imprisonment, even though they often acted as neutral physicians.
Finally, Thompson describes the lives of the German Baptist Brethren in Franklin County today, including their specialization in the dairy farming industry. He focuses on the “Old Order” community that split from the progressive German Baptists in 1881. While this community has adopted some modern conveniences, including cars, tractors, and electricity, they continue to dress as Protestant pilgrims and avoid television and other secular entertainment.
The second half of Thompson’s book is a collection of oral histories, loosely organized into chapters titled: “Raising Citizens” (the theological basis for farming), “Community-Based Agriculture,” “Adversity and Perseverance,” “Membership” (the outside influences on a local agricultural community), and “Hope.” Thompson’s voice is largely absent from this part of the book, as we instead hear the narratives of German Baptist ministers, local business owners and educators, community activists, local government officials, an equipment dealer, an auctioneer, a realtor, and a large collection of community farmers -- young and old, German Baptist and not, new to farming and long-time farmers -- who run operations both large and small.
One of the major themes that runs through all of the oral histories is the challenge facing small dairy farmers today. They tell of the pressure to expand their operations in order to compete with mega-dairies out West, and the different skills necessary to manage the employees needed to run such big operations. They are troubled by the strain put on them by environmental regulations, arguing that “farmers are the best stewards there are” (113). And they are concerned about the building of a new interstate, which will cut through and shut down many local farm operations, although as non-participants in local political processes for reasons of faith, German Baptists cannot speak out on these decisions. Says German Baptist farmer Daniel Layman, “we’re going to submit to whatever comes along as long as it’s not against what we believe” (142).
The narratives suggest that small dairy farms are in serious jeopardy unless children get interested in continuing to farm. This is related both to the low profitability and hard work involved in farming, themes to which the oral histories constantly return. The collective voices in this book tell of cows that must be milked twice a day, every day of the week. Farmers cannot travel without someone to take over for them, must plant and harvest hay to feed the cows, and are responsible for nursing sick cows, breeding, and birthing calves. One farmer tells of a time when he had to spend twenty hours a day on the farm (98). Another relates the nervous breakdown that drove him out of farming. When his friends suggested medication, he said “Yea, but I didn’t need to take a medicine before I started to milking cows” (109).
In the end, however, the farmer sees very little profitability from all this work. Milk prices are kept low by government policies, what several of those interviewed refer to as the U.S. government’s “cheap food policy” (112). Profits are generally used up on paying off the monumental debts incurred in starting-up operations, and the local extension agent estimates that Franklin Country farmers can net as low as $10,000 annually (157). As farmer Bill Webb puts it, “you run a million-dollar operation on a welfare check…” (192).
These economic problems are compounded by the fact that Franklin County is also the site of the development of a resort community around Smith Lake. This housing boom has driven up property taxes for local farmers. It has also driven up land prices, making the decision to sell out even more tempting. Says local farm sales auctioneer Floyd Anderson, “Every time a dairy farm shuts down, somebody’s buying it and subdividing it” (161).
Given these factors, Thompson concludes that the surprising resilience of the Franklin Country dairy farming community thus far is grounded in the religious values of the German Baptist faith. Their desire to remain apart from the world is facilitated by the rural environment. They see the dependence on others in the community, which is necessary in the labor-intensive farm lifestyle, as a boon since “independence from others in the community leads to pride… and ultimately could result in a fall from grace” (xxxiii). And, above all, they emphasize the farm as a good place to raise children. Says German Baptist minister Billy Boone, “The climate of training our children to be good, honest citizens prospers better in the country… we’re not in the business of raising milk. We’re in the business of raising citizens and children” (63).
Thompson’s book is a fascinating glimpse into the life of a religious community in America. His work will be of interest to oral historians, who will be pleased that his contextualization of each narrative includes narrative description of the activities, location, and even weather during his interview. This type of contextualization grounds disembodied texts and de-reifies the speakers into unique individuals and their words into speech from a particular place and time. This book can also stand as an example of activist ethnography, since Thompson’s work provides a way for the voices of German Baptist farmers, electively absent from the political process for religious reasons, to be heard by policymakers. Thompson’s story is a local one, and will be of most use to those interested in the southern Blue Ridge region. This book also provides a model for community-based agriculture and local consumption upon which, Thompson argues, future national farm policy must be based if family farms are to continue to exist.
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[Review length: 1197 words • Review posted on October 16, 2007]