Good help on the farm came in 1957 when a young boy named Joe Cook wanted work.  The Pughs bought the boy his first bike to ride back and forth from his daily chores.  And when he was old enough, they bought him a car.  For fifty years, Joe has remained close help and a special friend to the Pugh family.

In the 1960’s, with the price of electricity and fuel escalating, the egg business eventually transitioned into the hog business.  For the next 20 years they raised hogs with an 80 brood soy operation.  They sold hogs each week, seeing prices change over the years from 23 cents to 65 cents per pound.

From farrowing pigs to topping-out hogs at 250 lbs, “We learned what ‘three months, three weeks and 3 o’clock in the morning’ really meant,” laughs Mrs. Pugh, who still has a smile left from the memory.  It was a hard business but it proved profitable.  It was hog farming, along with some soybean production, that made it possible for them to continue purchasing the land around them at a steady pace.

Realizing the Dream

Today, 850 acres belong to James and Kathleen Pugh.  Not only did they buy back the original farm, but then some.

It was never easy, but James Pugh didn’t expect it to be.  At age 82, James was thrown while (of all things) breaking a horse.  It broke his hip, but not his spirit of determination.  After hip replacement surgery again, he has yet to discuss any retirement plans (or apparently any plans not to get on a horse).  “When I got out of the hog business that was as close to retirement as I wanted to get,” he says.

Although not quite as active as he once was, he still puts in a full day at the farm.  Along with the growth of the cattle, he now successfully breeds calves, which he sells.  In his spare time, he plants gardens of peas and corn he harvests each year. 

They did more than grow chickens, hogs and calves.  James and Kathleen had two sons, one of which (John) has passed on.  Son James Jr. lives in Montgomery, but has a deer processing operation on the farm.  In all, they have seven grandchildren.

Pugh says perhaps someday the land will become a wildlife and hunting preserve, and hopes his son and his grandchildren will continue to love the land and appreciate the wild turkey and deer that currently dominate the area.

James Pugh is a very modest, but well decorated war hero, who served his country well. He has become an astute businessman and farmer.  He knows hard work, and appreciates its rewards.  By his side is Kathleen, his wife and partner for 63 years.  However, it is who they really are and represent that is most compelling…they are solid citizens of what has been termed the greatest generation.  They are an example for us all.