Hastings, Michigan · Est. Family Land, 1800s
A Family Legacy, Rooted Since the 1800s
Six documented generations. One family farm. Now home to an intimate wedding venue and a working antique auction house, inside a barn that has watched this family grow for over a century.
Two Sides of the Farm
Choose Your Path
One family farm, two ways to experience it — book the barn for your wedding, or find your next piece at auction.
Not a Venue Built From Scratch — A Family Farm, Reopening Its Doors
Stanton Farm carries a documented family line stretching back to the 1830s: the Willitts, the Williams, the Taliaferro, and finally the Stanton name that gives this farm its identity today. This isn't branding — it's four surnames, six generations, and a barn that has stood through nearly all of it.
What you'll find here is a working farm's honest history — obituaries, a hand-typed 1947 family account, a genealogy chart — brought together to tell the story of the land before it welcomes your celebration.
Origins · c. 1830s
A River Crossing, a Log House, and a Bear With a Shovel
The family's documented story in Michigan begins with Ichabod and Catherine (Blaisdell) Willitts, who emigrated from Canada through Detroit with two young children, driven by Ichabod's brother. Family memory holds that they crossed the Rouge River on the stringers of a bridge still under construction — Ichabod ferrying family and wagons across himself.
“Catherine famously drove off a curious bear with a shovel of hot coals — while doing the wash.”
Settling near a Quaker community outside Adrian known as Pennington's Corners, the family built a log house by a creek. It's here that this small, sharp piece of family lore was born — and has been retold for generations since.
Ichabod and Catherine's children — Miles, Isaac, Catherine, David, Hannah, John, Adelbert, and James — scattered across Michigan as the family grew. Four sons, Miles, Isaac, Adelbert, and James, went on to serve in the Civil War. James did not return, dying a prisoner of war at Andersonville Prison — one of the most solemn chapters in the family's recorded history.
This account survives because, in 1947, Flora Briggs — a granddaughter of Ichabod and Catherine — relayed it to Ada L. Willitts, who had it typed and preserved. That single page is the reason this story can be told today.
Nearly Two Centuries, Traced
From a river crossing in the 1830s to a barn under restoration today — every milestone below is drawn from documented family and property records.
A Family Crosses Into Michigan
Ichabod and Catherine (Blaisdell) Willitts emigrate from Canada through Detroit with their young children, crossing the Rouge River on the stringers of an unfinished bridge.
The Log House at Pennington's Corners
Near a Quaker settlement outside Adrian, the Willitts family builds a log house by a creek — the setting of a still-told family story of Catherine driving off a bear with a shovel of hot coals.
Four Brothers Answer the Civil War
Miles, Isaac, Adelbert, and James Willitts serve. James dies a prisoner of war at Andersonville — one of the family's most solemn chapters.
Roots Take Hold in Barry County
John P. Willitts settles his family in Barry County, Michigan, after the line's years in Saline — the region the family calls home to this day.
Birth of Ernest Alton Williams
Born in Rutland Township, Ernest would later marry into the Willitts line and anchor the family's 20th-century story in Hastings, Michigan.
Stanton and Williams Lines Emerge
Sidney Joy Stanton and Doris Ieone Williams are born — the two lines that a generation later would be joined by marriage into the Taliaferro family.
The Family History Is Preserved
Flora Briggs, granddaughter of Ichabod and Catherine, relays the family's founding story to Ada L. Willitts, who has it typed and kept — the document this website's origin story is drawn from.
A Patriarch Is Remembered
Ernest Alton Williams, farmer and factory hand, passes at 87 in Carlton Township. His obituary is the clearest surviving record linking the Willitts, Williams, and Taliaferro names together.
The Stanton Name Joins the Line
Shirley Lee Stanton and Ronna Kay Taliaferro marry, formally joining the Stanton surname to the documented Willitts–Williams–Taliaferro family line.
The Barn Begins Its Second Life
The historic barn is under active restoration — reclaimed lumber, a warm pendant chandelier, staged furnishings — its transformation from working farm building into an event space well underway.
Stanton Farm Welcomes Its First Guests
A new brand, a wedding-package offering, and a working farm's enduring character come together as Stanton Farm opens its doors to weddings and gatherings.
Four Surnames, One Continuous Line
Traced through obituaries, a family genealogy chart, and a hand-written 1947 account, the family's surname carries forward across generations — arriving, finally, at the name on the barn.
Willitts
The Founding Line
Ichabod and Catherine Willitts carry the family into Michigan. Their son John P. Willitts later settles the line in Barry County.
Williams
A Marriage Joins Two Families
Erma Jane Willitts marries Ernest Alton Williams, a Rutland Township farmer. Their daughter Doris carries the family forward.
Taliaferro
The Line Continues
Doris Ieone Williams marries Roland H. Taliaferro. Their daughter Ronna Kay becomes the generation that joins the Stanton name.
Stanton
The Farm's Namesake
Ronna Kay Taliaferro marries Shirley Lee Stanton, formally bringing the Stanton name into the family line that gives this farm its name today.
This lineage is drawn from a 1974 obituary, a 1947 family history, and a family genealogy chart, cross-referenced and compiled as part of ongoing family research. Some connections between the documented past and the farm's present-day stewardship are still being confirmed by the family.