March 2002
Jasper Century Farm
Photo: Edward Doak Jasper (1882-1935)
Founder of Jasper's Mill and "Wheat Nugget Cereal"
The Jasper Century Farm
Missouri pioneers, Merrell and Nancy Jasper and their eight children
retraced their steps from the Williamette Valley to
settle in Union County in 1868, where they homesteaded 160 acres
near Cove. That estate grew to 1080 acres by 1885 when Merrell Jasper
died and left the farm to his son William Robert. Except for the
original 160 acres, Wm. Robert traded his father's farm for that of I.D.
Smutz' on Booth Lane. This farm and the original 160 acres were inherited
by son, Edward
Jasper, in 1921.
Ed Jasper forsook a career in law to operate the Jasper Farm. In 1925-1935, he developed a cereal called "Wheat Nuggets", which was made from Hard Federation wheat that he raised on his farm. The cereal grew in popularity and was sold in Idaho, Oregon and Washington for 25 cents per 4 pound package. Ed died unexpectedly of pnuemonia in 1935, thus ending a promising career as an innovative grower and manufacturer.
His daughter, Edna Jasper Jones and her husband, Bud, took over the Jasper Farm operation in 1946, and to the praise of the agricultural community, successfully applied soil conservation measures to the farm. In 1985, Bud and Edna received their century farm honors at the Union County Fair. Their sons, Doug and Brian Jones, now operate the farm and represent the fifth generation of farm operators in the history of the Jasper Century Farm.