For a brief historical sketch of each farm, click on the farm name.
The following map is for a general geographical understanding. It does not provide the specific locations of the farms because of privacy reasons.
Map courtesy of Carole Swann, Tennessee Department of Agriculture
M. G. Roberts Poplar Tree Farm
Eleanor Roberts Luther
Distinguished public service to the state, county, and
community identifies the generations of the Roberts Poplar Tree Farm as among
the political and agricultural leaders of
In 1877, Jane and her husband John Gray were deeded 212
acres of the family land. John Gray, like his father-in-law, was an important
community leader in
Of John and Jane’s six children, Margaret Gray and her
husband Adolphus Everett Roberts inherited the farm’s 212 acres in 1918. In a
varied career, A. E. Roberts worked as a teacher, postmaster and singer. He was
also an innovative farmer and introduced the cultivation of tobacco to his
property.
A. E. and Maggie had two children and in 1943, their son
Manor G. Roberts acquired three-fifths of the property. Manor and his wife live
and work on the farm and during their ownership of the land they produced corn,
hay, wheat, tobacco, timber and cattle. Today, their daughter, Eleanor Roberts
Luther owns the farm.
Kevin R. Neas
Hugh Len Neas
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in March 2004,
the Neas Farm was founded in 1885 by Isaac Ottinger, one of many German
immigrants to Parrottsville. His only
son, Thomas, acquired the original 60 acres in 1922. Through his marriage to Thomas Ottinger’s
daughter, Cora, Herman Neas became the first of his family to hold title to the
land now known as Neas Farm. Herman’s
ancestors had settled in the area as early as the late 1700s. In 1957, Herman and Cora Neas deeded 93 acres,
including the original parcel, to their son and his wife, Glenn and Edith
Neas. Glenn’s grandson, Kevin and his
wife, Darbi, operate the present 106-acre farm
which continues to support beef cattle and produce crops traditionally grown
there: burley tobacco, wheat, and barley.
Kevin is the
sixth generation of his family to live in the farmhouse built circa 1861. A barn and granary on the Neas Farm also date
to the 1860s.
Photo: The farmhouse on the Neas Farm.
David Leroy Ottinger
In 1902, James Abraham Ottinger established the Oakleaf Farm.
Located near Parrottsville, one of
In 1947, Johnnie Calvin Ottinger
acquired the farm. Johnnie and his wife Eunivee Rader had four children. Under this generation’s ownership, the farm work was done by horses
and mules and the main crops were tobacco and corn.
Photo: A
Stock Barn on the Oakleaf Farm.
Janet O. Harris
Lana Ottinger Gregg
Located
ten miles northeast of
Marcus E. Ottinger, the son of John and Emma, was the
third generation to own the farm. Marcus, his wife Marie Peters and their four
children cultivated wheat, corn, tobacco, tomatoes and pumpkins on the farm. In
addition, they raised cattle.
In 1993, the great granddaughters of the founder, Janet Ottinger Harris and Lana Ottinger Gregg acquired the land. Today, Janet and Lana along with their husbands work the land and primarily grow tobacco and raise cattle.
Photo: Lana Ottinger Gregg harvesting the tobacco crop on the Ottinger Farm.
Charles Douglas Hughes
Grady Edward Hughes
Gordon Dale Hughes
In 1897, R. C. Pitts purchased land that was originally a part of
the Boyer Farm from Jefferson and Florence Boyer Hurley. Not long after, R. C.
moved his wife Sirentha Collett Potts and their four children to a small sparse
house on the property.
Prior to purchasing the land, R. C. worked as a railroad foreman
and moved his family to places such as
According to CHP records, R. C. remained on the farm for a year
before he returned to work on the railroad line that was being constructed from
In 1917 after his marriage to Cora Gregg, Porter was drafted into
the U.S. Army and served in
Not long after, Porter and Cora purchased the other siblings’
shares and became the sole owners of the farm. They cultivated corn, hay,
tobacco, wheat, tomatoes and vegetables. In addition, they raised beef and
dairy cattle, swine, chickens and geese. While he raised livestock and crops,
Porter also made some improvements by expanding the orchard, originally planted
by Sirentha, and building a large pond on the property that was stocked with
catfish.
Porter also sold fresh vegetables, fruits, milk, butter and eggs
to families in the town of
In 1989, Dorothy Geraldine Pitts Hughes and Eugene Fulton Pitts,
the grandchildren of the founder, acquired the land. One year later, they sold
the farm to Dorothy’s sons, Charles Douglas Hughes, Grady Edward Hughes and
Gordon Dale Hughes.
Today, the trio of brothers owns the land and raises hay and beef
cattle on the farm. The farm has many buildings that date before 1950,
including the farmhouse, which “sits on a gentle slope with large old maple
trees planted by Sirentha Pitts” in the early part of the last century. Also on
the farm is a smokehouse, two chicken houses and a barn built in the 1920s that
is used to store hay and shelter cattle.
Photo:
Porter Pitts and his mules mow the hay on the Pitts Farm.
John Ayers
William Ayers
A family whose
descendents helped first settle
Reps Jones, born in
The couple had five children. Their son, Daniel Jones, born in
1776, was the next owner of the land. He and his wife, Mary Harrison Jones, and
their 10 children worked to produce corn, wheat, hay, cattle and swine. Daniel
Jones served in the War of 1812.
The current owners, John
Lyman and William Victor Ayers, are the sixth generation of the family to live
on the farm. The Ayers brothers and their families live on the property and
report that the farm now produces hay, corn, soybeans, wheat, tobacco,
tomatoes, cattle and swine. A log home, barn and a primary family house, all
built in the 1800s, still stand on the land today.
River Dale Farm, which
turns 212 years old this month, joins an
elite group of certified Century Farms; namely, those that are more than two
centuries old and predate the founding of Tennessee.
Photo:
Cornfields on the River Dale Farm