In 1835 George Grow bought his family from Almond, N.Y. They purchased a large tract of land about a mile south of Lister Hargraves and William Lister's homes. Here George raised a family and lived out his life. George died in 1884, ages 92. George's wife, Ruth Cornell, died in 1852, age 61. Three of their children settled in the area: Hannah married Peter North, Sally married Nimrod Lanphere, and James married Martha Fuller. A year after Ruth's death, George married Betsy Cooper, She was the widow of Ira Cooper. Ira's farm adjoined George's. George and Betsy continued to live on the Grow farm, but their son, James, took over the operation of the farm. Here, George and Betsy lived out their lives. Betsy died in 1893, Here too; James and Martha lived, having two sons and two girls. Both of their sons died young. The older girl Hattie married Caleb Robarts. As James had no sons living, he hired a local boy to help with the farm work. Alton Maxson came to lives with the Grows, and eventually married the younger daughter Jennie, They raised nine children. In 1898, Martha died at the age of 64. James lived until 1905, when he was 78 years old. At this time the farm was willed to Alton and Jennie Grow Maxson . Jennie died in 1912 at the age of 55. Alton lived until 1937, when he was 86 years old. After Alton, his youngest son, Keith, took over the farm. Keith married Agnes Thompson and had five children. Eileen, Edward, Dale, Marilyn, Carolyn. The first four lived on Bell Run. Keith had a sister, Amber, who married John Gleason of Ceres. It was her son, Hal, who told this author about the Grows and Maxsons. Keith died in 1981 at the age of 81. The Grow farm is one of the few that have been in the same family for so long. For 155 years the same family has lived on the same farm. The other families that came close to this record are the Fullers, who have lived on the same farm since about 1841, and the Hacketts, who have lived on the same farm since 1847. Keith's widow, Agnes, still lives on the old farm in the second or third home built here.
 
 

In 1837, Ira Cooper bought a large tract of land and turned it into farmland. Today Ira's farm covers the homes of Dorothy Carpenter, Muriel Montgomery , and the trailor court owned by the Carpenters. Ira Cooper came to Ceres about 1832 with his brothers and a sister. He had a successful farm until his death in 1849. He was about 50 when he died. In 1850 Daniel Peabody came and took over the farm. He ran it for about twenty years. He married Martha, daughter of Ira Cooper, and Ira's oldest child. Ira and his wife Betsy also had another daughter, Frances, who married William North (son of Abiel North Jr.) . William and Frances settled in Oregon. Ira and Betsy also had several sons. Daniel and Martha Cooper Peabody had a large family, but moat of them died as babies or small children. The other two married and moved out of the area. Their son Albert was a schoolteacher in the area before moving to Cameron. In 1870, the family came down with smallpox and the family fuller recovered except for Daniel who died. He was 44 years old. Mrs. Peabody sold the place and moved to Shinglehouse to live with her daughter, Ellen. After several years, Martha married Frank Herrick who was a minister in the Shinglehouse and Ceres area. Frank died in 1895, at the age of 65. Martha died in 1917, at the age of 87. Only two children survived her. Ira died in 1903 and Ellen also died before her about 1910. Of her last two children, Albert died in 1930, and Nina died in 1939. In 1870, the farm was split into smaller pieces and sold off. John Perarsall, Joseph Morse, and John Chapman bought all the land on the right side of the road. John Pearsall was living here in 1870 and shows up in the Beers map, but does not show up in the 1880 census. John probably died, as he was 75 years old in 1870. He and his wife, Ruth, had at least two daughters, Clinipa and Josephina. His property is believed to have been bought by Joseph Karr.