Old Trout Farm (Old Kline Place)
11 miles Northwest of Harrisonburg. Take Liberty-St-Kratzer Road from Harrisburg. Turn left 1.5 miles north of Lincoln homestead and go one mile west to brick house on north side of road overlooking Linville Creek. Alternative directions in Agnes Kline: Take 42 to Cherry-Grove/Dapha. Turn left and cross creek to west side. Over creek, ascend hill, turn south to homestead.

One of the largest stone houses in the area has long been called the John B. Kline Place, though it was actually built by a Michael Trout who died in 1822, with Klines of Broadway becoming the new owners. (1) The old stone two-story home was among the larger ones in the county. Rectangular in plan, there were actually two houses in one; a lone one, and a stone addition. The design, perhaps like it's owners, could be described as strong, well kept, and plain. It's thought that large parts of the house were in place from about 1770, though a capstone reads "M.T. 1800". There's a long purch running the entire south side of the house with slender columns and board balusters. Thee are many windows in the house, each with twelve 8x10 panes. There were dark green slat shutters with fireplaces in nearly every one of the thirteen rooms in the house. There were six enclosed stairways from those to the second floor and a west attic to those from a large cellar. Toward the creek there was a large spring house.

The original homestead tract extended west to the old Baptist Church and south to the Lincoln land. Some of the families around here then were Rodes, Salvages from France, Krings from Ireland, and Abraham Lincoln (the grandfather of the president) with his British and Quaker origins. Deed locations over the years have cited "Brenneman's line" and "Daniel Showalter's corner". Parts of this large property have been sold off at various times. The house was purchased in 1822 from the estate of Michael Trout by George, the son of George Kline (1740-1795) who had migrated to Linville Creek from Lancaster by 1793 when he bought 543 acres.

John B. Kline, the son of George who had bought the home from Trout was a deacon in the Church of the Brethren. It's believed that he's the Elder John Kline who is taken as among the most beloved personalities in Brethren church history. Born in Pennsylvania in 1797, John Kline moved at age eleven with his parents to Virginia where they farmed along the west side of Linville Creek. As a young man, Kline married Anna Wampler and purchased a farm on the east side of Linville Creek within what is now the town of Broadway.

John Kline joined the German Baptist Brethren and, in time, advanced from deacon to minister to elder. Elder Kline served the church his adult life without remuneration. He contributed land and money for his congregation to build the Linville Creek Church. He often traveled on horseback to the South Branch and beyond on mission trips, visiting Brethren families, preaching, baptizing, and establishing churches. During the Civil War, John Kline dutifully gained permission from officers in the Northern and Southern armies to travel across military lines. During his ministry, he rode horseback an estimated 100,000 miles. He met much resistance as well and was ultimately martyred. The Brethren church is active and remodeling the Elder John Kline house. His daily journals are fascinating to read, and they can be downloaded online.

(1) Trout, with the John Kring, who sold land to Christian Eyman and Susannah of Conestoga, were found to have provided a mortgage so that Gasper Moyers could purchase considerable land from Thomas Bryan -- the land which is described in very similar terms to that received by Eymans.