1992: William & Pearl Eby Overholt

Credit: Executive Office of the Governor

Family Name: The Overholt Family

William Overholt remembers riding the train into Pocomoke one early January morning when he was five years old. Moving from Ohio to his great grandfather’s Somerset County strawberry farm, Overholt said he immediately fell in love with farming and has never left. He took over farm management and went from strawberries to dairy cows, corn, soybeans and tomatoes. In his more than 60 years of farming, Overhalt has developed his great grandfather small plot into a six farm family system and was recently named to the Governor’s Agricultural Hall of Fame in Maryland. The Overholts were the fifth family named to the Hall of Fame and the first Somerset County family ever named. “I’ve been wondering myself why we’re so special,” Overholt said. “We’re humbly honored. We’re very appreciative but at the same time we’re very meek.” Overholt credits his farming success to his diversity of crops, his experimentation with new farming technology and tools and his family. “Right after my family, the next greatest thing was no-till farming, new machinery and Choptank Electric. We’re grateful for them all.” When William and Pearl married in 1941, the farm had no electricity. Cows were milked by hand at 5:00 a.m. and farm machinery was primitive. “We went from the backbreaking walking plow on up to the modern day plow,” he said. With some savings, the Overholts were able to purchase the newest technology as it became available. The family had one of the first cab-type tractors in the area and was one of the first to experiment with the no-till method of farming almost 30 years ago. No-till farming is a method where beans or other small plants are planted around the uncut stocks popcorn or green grow in the year before. With the stocks, soil is saved from the wind and water intrusion, Overholt said “Probably the greatest change in my time is the new machinery available with no-till farming. Without a doubt, those were revolutions in farming.” William Overholt said his wife was always supportive when he wanted a new piece of machinery. “Pearl never found fault with anything I wanted. She never said ‘you can get that if you get me a piano first.’” The Overholt’s two sons, Lloyd and Howard, now manage the farm although at times, William Overholt said he worries about their futures as farmers. Lloyd initially left the farm to pursue a Russian language degree in Florida and returned to work the family land. Howard came to the farm from high school and never left. “I’m proud they stayed but I’m wondering if I did the right thing by encouraging them to stay,” Overholt said.” I worry about how they’ll do.” But, he said, he expects them to carry on. “Dairy cows keep the farm’s profitable now and crops should be good this year,” he said.

Ceremony Date: 2/4/1993