Greene County
Greene County was established in 1783 and named in honor of
General Nathanael Greene of Rhode
Island, under whom many fought during the
Revolutionary War. Greene County’s most famous citizen was Andrew Johnson who
served as an alderman and mayor and eventually became the seventeenth President
of the United States
after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. In addition to being associate with
Andrew Johnson, Greene County is also home to Tusculum College
and is the birthplace of famous frontiersman, Davy Crockett. The county’s agriculture is
historically known for burley tobacco production and this crop led to the
development of Greenville
as the region’s most important tobacco market. Greene County
has forty-three century farms and the oldest is Elmwood Farm that dates to
1777. For more information regarding Greene
County, please go to the Tennessee
Encyclopedia of History & Culture website.
For a brief historical sketch of each farm, click on the farm name.
Alban Hills Farm
Anderson Farm
Ayers Farm
B. Williams Farm
Bailey Farm
Baskette Farm
Big Elm Farm
Bird Haven Farm
Burgner Farm
College Farm
Coulston Farm
Crum Farm
Doty Farm
Easterly Farm
Elmwood Farm
Fermanagh-Ross Farm
Five Springs Farm
Hayes Farm
Hilldale Farm
J. B. Woolsey Farm
Jack Murray Farm
Jenny-Ben Farm
Lee Susong Farm
Lindavista Farm
Mardale Acres Farm
McNeese Farm
Newt and Rettie Matthews Farm
Phil Gaby & Sons Farm
Reed Crossing Farm
Renner Farm
Rivamonte Farm
Rocky Field Farm
S.K. Alexander Farm
Scruggs Homestead Farm
Sideline Farms
Solomon Farm
Southerland Farm
Steele Holm Farm
Still Hollow Farm
Susong Farm
Twin Acres Farm
Waddell Nolachuckey River Farm
Whispering Hills Farm
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
Alban Hills Farm
William & Margaret
Gaut
Alban Hills Farm is a physical reminder that many early East Tennessee farmers wanted their children to receive
the best education possible. Located near Tusculum College,
Alban Hills Farm dates to 1822, when George Morelock purchased 100 acres of
land for $800. George and his family grew wheat, corn and hay on their land.
Prior to the Civil War, the land passed into the hands of Ann Morelock Good and
her husband John Solomon Good. The Goods were slaveowners, yet their sons
fought in the Union army during the Civil War. Once slavery had been abolished,
the family turned the slave quarters into a blacksmith shop and a loom house.
Ann and John Good’s daughter Elizabeth Good Simpson and
her husband Zadock Simpson inherited the property in 1875 and 32 years later,
William Bachman Simpson took over the farm upon his father’s death.
Alban Hills’ current owner is Margaret Simpson Gaut, who
acquired approximately 106 acres of the farm in 1956. Margaret is the founder’s
great great granddaughter. She and her husband William King Gaut now own 216
acres devoted to corn, hay, tobacco and beef cattle production. Mrs. Simpson
points out that the name Alban Hills comes “from the name of the home of Cicero.” And the family
believes the name to be appropriate since “the cool stream, green meadows, once
chestnut trees blessed, (and) mountains in the horizon all surrounding a center
of learning (Tusculum College) could only recall Alban Hills, Tusculum, Italy
during the golden Roman Empire.”
Anderson Farm
William Anderson
William Ross immigrated from
Ireland
some time prior to the Revolutionary War in which he fought for at least two
years. His son, John Ross married
Rebecca, the daughter of John Carter who received a land grant in Greene County
in 1787. The same year they were
married, 1794, they began farming 257 acres of her father’s land. They grew
corn, wheat and hay and raised cattle and swine. The farm next passed into the
hands of their son Allen Ross and his wife Sarah Weems. Allen and Sarah had
three children and they continued to produce many of the same crops and
livestock.
The third generation owner was William Ross, the
founders’ grandson. The property passed through the hands of two more generations
before William Charles Ross became the sixth generation owner of the family
farm. He and his wife, Ethel Reed, were the parents of four children. Betty Ross and her husband William Anderson
acquired all of the original farm in 1959. Mrs. Anderson, who retains ownership of the
farm today is the great-great-great-granddaughter of John and Rebecca Carter Ross.
She advises that “she and her two sons
try to take good care of the farm which produces corn, hay, and cattle.”
Ayers Farm
Samuel Ayers
Closely associated with the settlement and development of
Warrensburg is the Ayers Century Farm, established by Samuel O. and Hannah
Bewley Ayers in 1815 on land located eighteen miles west of Greenville. Samuel was a Virginia native who fought in the Battle of
New Orleans. On his trip back to Virginia
he met Hannah. Once home, he decided to return to Tennessee and marry Hannah. They had six
children and their farm produced corn, tobacco, wheat, hay and livestock.
In 1859, the founders’ daughter Martha Ayers Hawkins and
her husband Dr. Joseph Hawkins acquired the farm and 35 years later, the land
became the property of Belle Hawkins Bible and her husband Joseph Bible. But in
1884 and 1890, James C. Ayers, the founders’ son, purchased land from his niece
Belle Bible and his nephew Samuel Ayers. James thus became the sole owner of
the Ayers family land. He managed a diversified farm and his property was the
site of the Warrensburg school (1877) which became the local high school in
1913. James and his wife Mary Jones Ayers also sold land for the construction
of the Warrensburg
United Methodist
Church.
B. Williams Farm
Bonnie Hulse Williams
The Williams Farm dates to 1866, when William H. Hunter
acquired 60 acres of land located five miles northeast of Greeneville. William
and his wife Josephine later purchased 143 additional acres and operated a farm
known for its production of tobacco, corn, wheat and cattle. The Hunters also
owned “a sawmill located on the creek beside (their) house.”
The Hunter’s adopted daughter Georgia Hunter Williams
acquired the property in 1904. Georgia and her spouse Nat M. Williams were both
farmers and merchants. Their general store was also the location of the
community post office.
The current owner is Bonnie Hulse Williams, the wife of
the founders’ grandson, M. Taylor Williams. As of 1976, Jimmy Williams worked
the farm’s 125 acres for his mother, producing tobacco, beef cattle, hay and
corn.
Bailey Farm
Patricia Fornash
Dating to 1788, the Bailey
Farm is located one mile west of Baileyton in Greene County. Thomas and Elizabeth Weems Bailey began
farming with 320 acres and the family believes that the farm’s initial
commodities were corn, wheat, hay and livestock. The founder’s son Thomas
Porter Bailey operated the farm from 1832 until his death in 1864. Thomas
married Henrietta Keel and they raised nine children. Upon Thomas’s death, the
ownership passed to his son, George
Alexander Bailey. He, in turn, passed it
to his daughter Ninnie L., who did not marry and to his youngest son George
Benson Bailey.
Thomas Porter Bailey, the son of George Benson Bailey,
retained ownership of the farm along with his wife, Ethel Beattie Bailey until
it was passed to their surviving daughters, Patricia Bailey Fornash and Connie
Bailey Waespe, upon the death of Ethel in 2007.
Their late sister, Margaret Chivers and her husband lived on the farm
for twenty years before her death, also in 2007.
Patricia Fornash returned to live on the farm in 2006 and
manages the property which is farmed for cattle and hay by a neighbor. Patricia notes that her father,Thomas Porter
Bailey, worked very hard to preserve the farm for his family, and that she, in
turn, “loves the beauty of the farm and
its history.”
Baskette Farm
Bill and Melissa
Baskette
In 1836, William M. Baskette established the Baskette
Farm with 303 acres located three miles south of Fall Branch. He wed Patience
Bernard, who became the mother of his eight children. Corn, potatoes and
buckwheat were the farm’s primary agricultural products.
In his will of 1862, Baskette divided his farm between
the children. George William Baskette, who served in the Union army during the
Civil War, acquired 133 acres. George later served as a Greene County
justice of the peace and he expanded the farm’s operations to include
livestock. Married twice, George had five children, all by his second wife
Unice Brandon.
Alfred J. Baskette, the founders’ grandson inherited 110
acres of the property in 1915. Like so many early twentieth century farmers,
Alfred added tobacco cultivation to the farming landscape. Alfred, the husband
of Nellie Taylor, fathered two children and his son Walter D. Baskette
inherited all of the original farm land in 1957. Walter and his son William
specialized in tobacco, hay and cattle production. Today, Bill and Melissa
Baskette own the farm.
Big Elm Farm
Rex Cobble
Phillip Cobble founded the Big Elm Farm, located in the
19th District of Greene County, in 1856. On his 347 acres, he
practiced general farming and raised livestock. Philip’s son David Cobble
inherited half of the farm in 1913 and later in the early twentieth century
David’s son James L. Cobble acquired the 173 acres.
In 1929, Atha Cobble, the great great granddaughter of
the founder, inherited the land. Today, her husband Thomas A. Cobble and her
son Rex A. Cobble work the land, specializing in livestock production. Mrs.
Cobble reports that the property retains three nineteenth century buildings-a
barn, house and granary-which are still used in the farm’s daily operations.
Bird Haven Farm
Beulah Fink
Bird Haven Farm, established in 1833 by David Morelock, has an extremely
diverse history. The farm was an unique community center where women could make
cloth for their families. The owners were not only profitable farmers, but they
were also gifted builders who placed their distinctive stamp on the landscape.
The farm lies three miles southwest of Baileyton. Morelock and his wife Judah
Stacy initially tilled 346 acres, with foodstuffs, cane, cotton, flax and
livestock as their primary agricultural products. With the local post office
and school situated at the farmstead, Bird Haven Farm was an important
community gathering place. Since the family also owned one of the community’s
first looms, neighborhood women often visited the house in order to make cloth.
Of David and Judah Morelock’s nine children, their son
Richard Henry Morelock inherited the farm in the 1850s. Besides being a farmer
of foodstuffs, flax, cotton and livestock, Richard was also a carpenter and
built many of the farmhouses and churches in the 11th District of
Greene County. In 1911, his son Thomas Laurence Morelock took possession of the
farm. Thomas and his wife Katherine Elizabeth Patterson managed a distinctly
twentieth-century East Tennessee farm. They
stopped raising flax and cotton and began cultivating tobacco.
Thomas and Katherine had two daughters and in 1966, 100
acres of their farm went to Beulah Morelock Fink and her husband Elmer Fink.
Beulah is the great granddaughter of the founders and today the Finks manage a
farm that produces wheat, corn, tobacco, hay and beef cattle. Both a house and
a barn built by Richard Henry Morelock still stand on the property and are used
in the Fink’s modern farming operations.
Burgner Farm
Daniel and Charlotte
Burgner
Located 7 miles south of Greeneville on the Nolichucky River,
the Burgner Farm was founded in 1900 by Daniel Edward Parman Burgner and his
wife Anna Kelley Burgner. The Burgners
harvested apples, from several existing trees, tobacco, hay and grain and the
farm the also supported beef and dairy cattle, swine, sheep, poultry and draft
horses. The couple had two children, Minnie Olive and Herman Edward
Burgner. In 1913 the Tennessee Eastern
Electric Company began operating the Nolichuckey Dam just downstream from the
farm. The dam was raised in 1923 and
backwaters took some of the Burgner Farm.
Electric power, however, was available to this farm and other areas of Greene County
about 1925, several years before TVA.
Herman acquired the farm in 1934 and with his wife Goldene Fillers
Burgner continued the diverse farm operation.
Tobacco continued to be raised as the main cash crop and in 1957, the
Burgners began a Grade A Dairy operation milking around 100 cows and selling to
the Pet Milk Company in Greeneville. The
grandson of the founder is Daniel E. Burgner acquired the property in
1996. He and his wife Charlotte and one
of their four children, Beth, live on the farm today. The farm supports 13 cares of wine grapes, 15
acres of alfalfa, and 78 acres of native grass for fee-hunting and horse
hay. A log house believed to have built in
the early 1800’s still stands on the land today. Herman Burgner was born in the
house and it continued to be the family dwelling until 1912. Since then it has serves as a tobacco barn
and granary. The historic Burgner family farm is also recognized by the Greene
County Historical Society.
College Farm
William Dickson Williams
Beverly Lyle Williams
Established by William Dickson in 1824, College Farm is
3.5 miles south of Greeneville. Initially the owner of 296 acres, Dickson in
time farmed a total of 940 acres which yielded corn, wheat, sheep and cattle.
He is best known in Greene
County history, however,
as Greeneville’s postmaster from 1796 to 1843. He and his wife Eliza Douglas
raised one daughter Catherine, who inherited the farm in 1832. Catherine was
the wife of Dr. Alexander Williams and together they managed the farm for the
next 38 years.
Thomas Lanier Williams, the founder’s grandson, took
possession of about 1000 acres of the family farm in 1870. Thomas followed the
farming practices of his father and grandfather and in 1911, he divided the
farm among his four children. William Dickson Williams inherited 174 acres and
added the cultivation of tobacco to the agricultural operations. Married to
Martha A. Naff, William fathered two children, Beverly and Lida.
Beverly R. Williams inherited 124 acres from his father
in 1936. In addition to raising tobacco, Beverly
operated a dairy business until his recent death. Today, his children William
Dickson Williams and Beverly Lyle Williams, own College Farm.
Coulston Farm
Vernice Coulston
The Coulston Farm, which dates to 1803, is fourteen miles
northeast of Greenville.
Elijah and Elizabeth Coulston began with 100 acres on which they grew corn,
beans and hay. In 1854, they willed the land to their son Elijah, who added
cane to the farm’s products. Elijah, Jr., and his wife Sarah had four children
and in 1917 their son James Houston Coulston acquired 70 acres of the property.
Like many early twentieth century farmers, James and his wife Cordie acquired
70 acres of the property. Like many early twentieth century farmers, James and
his wife Cordie added the production of tobacco and beef cattle to the farming
landscape. These two products were important cash crops. Vernice Coulston, the
current owner of the farm, acquired the property in 1970 and has since
purchased 35 additional acres. The Coulstons practice general farming,
specializing in tobacco and dairy production. The family also uses the
farmhouse which dates prior to 1875.
Crum Farm
Edmond Doyle Crum
Established by John Crum in 1872, the Crum Farm initially
consisted of 100 acres, located four miles south of Greeneville. John, his wife
Barbara Ann and their six children grew wheat and corn on their land. In the
early 1900s, W. W. Crum purchased most of the family land from his parents.
Together with his wife Ota and their son and daughter, Crum managed a small but
prosperous place with tobacco as the primary cash crop.
Edmond Doyle Crum, the founders’ grandson, bought 62
acres of his uncle F. E. Crum’s land in 1948 and 13 years later he inherited 32
acres of the original family farm from his father. As of 1976, Doyle and his
wife Anna Mae managed the property while Lyle Fortner rented and worked the
land.
Doty Farm
Lyle B. Doty
The Doty Farm was founded by
Azariah Doty of New Jersey in 1783, the same
year that Greene County
was created by the state of North
Carolina. A
veteran of the Revolutionary War, Doty served under the famous General Francis
Marion, also known as the “Swamp Fox.”
Azariah married Sarah Tucker and they raised nine children in the
forbidding environment of the frontier. The family grew foodstuffs and managed
a small livestock herd on their 200 acres of land.
Ephriam Doty inherited the entire farm from his parents
in 1851. Married to Sarah Cooper, he fathered four children and his son William
C. Doty acquired the land in 1889. Throughout the nineteenth century, the
farm’s agricultural products remained much the same. Not until the great-grandson
William D. B. Doty inherited the land at the turn of the century did common East Tennessee crops such as sheep and tobacco become
part of the farm’s operations.
William D. B. Doty and his spouse Ruth Ann Kilday were
the parents of five children. Their son Willard Doty became the fifth
generation owner in 1926. He and Minnie Babb Doty were the parents of Lyle B.
Doty and Helen Doty Loyd, Lyle and his
wife Charlotte and their great nephew, John Douglas Doty, continued the family
farming traditions through the remainder of the twentieth and into the twenty-first
century. Lyle Doty died in 2008 and
today the acreage is owned by Charlotte and by John who
continues to manage the daily operations which includes raising hay, corn, and
cattle. The family hopes that John’s
children and grandchildren will carry on the proud farming tradition of the
Doty family.
Easterly Farm
Bogle Easterly Smith
Earl Smith
Tennessee agricultural reformers of the antebellum period
believed that the state’s soil and climate were perfect for the cultivation of
silkworms and the production of silk. A native silk industry, they hoped, would
allow Tennessee to better compete against the
cotton states of the Deep South. Several
Century Farms, including the Easterly Farm, participated in the silk production
experiments of the nineteenth century. Dating to 1796, the Easterly Farm is
eighteen miles southwest of Greeneville. John George and Mary Harpine Easterly,
who initially acquired 600 acres of land, developed one of Greene County’s
largest farms and eventually owned about 1100 acres of land. The farm’s
products included corn, wheat, oats, flax and livestock.
In the 1810s and 1820s, Jacob Easterly purchased several
tracts of land from different family members and soon managed his father’s
original 1100 acres. Jacob was an agricultural innovator and in the mid-1830s,
he planted mulberry trees and began to raise silkworms. As a Knoxville newspaper reported in 1836, the
silk cloth produced by Jacob’s daughters, Catherine, Ruth and Clarissa,
“measured between seventy and eighty yards and in evenness of thread and
firmness of texture are equal to most foreign fabrics we have seen.” The
climate of East Tennessee, however, would not
support the mulberry trees and Jacob’s courageous silkworm experiment failed.
Jacob Easterly gave 115 acres to his son Abraham’s widow,
Anna Parrott Easterly, in 1842. The next generation owner was Frances Marion
Easterly. The Civil War took place
during his ownership and in Greene
County, the divisions between families and neighbors
were especially bitter and severe. A
Confederate sympathizer in a generally Union area, two of Frances
Easterly’s sons were killed, one in North
Carolina and one by bushwhackers while on his way home. Frances, who was allowed to stay home to care
for his large family, was kidnapped, hung from one of his own apple trees, and
left for dead. After the bushwhackers
left, a female slave cut Frances
down and saved his life. In 1875, Frances
was a founder of the Parrotsville
Academy, which “made it
possible for even the poorest man to give his children an education.”
In 1905, Frank Payne Easterly acquired the farmstead and
35 acres of the original family land. Family tradition describes Frank as “a
very scientific farmer for his day” and he opened a dairy operation. His
daughter Bogle Easterly Smith inherited 100 acres in 1963. She and her husband
Earl H. Smith managed the farm for many years producing tobacco, corn, hay and
cattle. With the death of Mrs. Smith in 2003, their daughter Mary Anna Smith
Pirozzoli inherited the farm. The family
has built a horse barn on the property in preparation for boarding horses. Mrs.
Pirozzoli reports that she treasures the farm and is keeping it productive.
Elmwood Farm
Claudius & Katherine
Clemmer
W. Massengill
Located near the town of Chuckey along the banks of the Nolichucky River
is Elmwood Farm. Its history details how the activities of Tennessee’s farm families have been
intimately involved with the state’s economic growth and development. Henry
Earnest of Switzerland
(the original spelling of his name was Heinrich Ernst) established the farm in
1777. As one of Greene
County’s earliest
settlers, Henry was involved in local and territorial politics and served on
the Greene County Court in 1792. He wed Mary Stephens and they had eleven
children. During this period of early settlement, the Earnests also helped to
pioneer what is recognized as the first Methodist church in Tennessee,
the Ebenezer Methodist Church.
The current church, that was constructed in the 1890s still stands and is
located on the same location of the original meeting house built in 1795.
When Henry died in 1809, the 600 acre farm went to his
youngest son, Peter Earnest. Throughout the antebellum period, the farm
produced corn, wheat, hay, horses, swine and cattle and proved to be quite
successful. Then in 1856, Peter organized the “Earnestville Bridge Company,
selling stock at $25.00 per share, to build a toll bridge for crossing the Nolichucky River.” On the north side of the bridge,
Peter established a mill, which served as the economic center of a small
settlement called “Earnestville.”
Peter married Ruth Fain and they raised twelve children
and their son, Benjamin Franklin Earnest, inherited the entire farm in 1862.
Benjamin’s wife was Mary Rhea and they had two boys and one girl. The Civil War
brought a brief boom to the farm’s fortunes because Benjamin was able to sell
flour to both armies. After the Civil War, Benjamin did not follow his
neighbors’ lead into the tobacco industry on a commercial scale, instead he
continued the family’s farming tradition of diversifying crops and livestock.
Nicholas Peter Earnest, the founder’s great grandson,
inherited the farm’s 600 acres in 1887. According to the family, Nicholas “was
an outstanding church and civic leader,” serving as a director of the Greene
County Bank for more than 50 years and as president of the East Tennessee
Farmer’s Association. The family also owned and operated businesses in Chuckey.
As a farmer, Nicholas and his wife Eliza Doggett moved the farm into the modern
age of agriculture, cultivating tobacco and operating a dairy. As a result, the
agricultural program at the University
of Tennessee selected the
farm as a pilot demonstration project. Although Nicholas was involved in the
promotion of commercial dairy farming at the state and local level, he did not
incorporate large-scale dairying into his own farm. Under his management, the
farm produced corn, wheat, oats, hogs and tobacco. His small level of dairy
production resulted primarily in cream that was shipped as “express freight”
from the Southern Railroad depot in Chuckey to either Bristol
or Knoxville.
Upon Nicholas’ death in 1956, the property passed into
the hands of his six children. Over the next few years, Katherine Earnest
Clemmer and her husband Claudius bought most of the land and focused solely on
developing a registered Holstein herd for
dairy farming. During the 1950s and 1960s, several dairy complexes were added
to the farm site.
Elmwood
Farm, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, retains much of its
nineteenth century farming landscape with its 1831 two story brick house, a
rare 1784-1789 three log blockhouse still in use, a smokehouse, and the Ebenezer Methodist Church
and cemetery. In addition, the farm has many significant buildings that
demonstrate the progressive farming of the twentieth and including tobacco
barns, storage sheds, houses, milk houses and stalls and a wash house. Today the property is owned by Nic Earnest
Clemmer.
Photo (Upper
Left): A rare three log blockhouse on the Elmwood Farm.
Fermanagh-Ross Farm
Jennie King Coffman
Dating
to the antebellum era, the Fermanagh-Ross Farm is five miles northeast of
Greeneville. William Ross, II, originally owned 300 acres on which he grew
corn, wheat, oats and tobacco and bred cattle and horses. He and his family
also operated a water mill. According to the family, “the home was a favorite
meeting place for women and children during the Civil War. Provisions were kept
in a special room underground (which) provided food and shelter for many days.”
William was married twice and fathered eight children. In
1870, William Ross, III, inherited eighteen acres of the farm and on this small
plot of land he and his wife Rebecca Anderson raised a few head of cattle and
cultivated tobacco. The founder’s grandson Vincent Eliot Ross inherited the
land about 1893, but upon his death four years later his widow Mary Elizabeth
Mays divided the property among their seven children.
Jennie King Coffman, the great great granddaughter of the
founder, inherited the original farmhouse along with seventeen acres of land in
1969. She and her husband Leonard A. Coffman, who is a graduate of the University of Tennessee
and has taught at the University
of Wyoming, count
tobacco, hay and cattle as their agricultural products.
The Fermanagh-Ross Farm is notable for its collection of
early antebellum buildings. The family has recently restored the original 1820
brick home and a hand-hewn log corn crib and slave kitchen are still in use.
Photo: A
view of the Fermanagh-Ross Farm and its buildings.
Five Springs Farm
Marion Don Campbell
& Billie Rich Campbell
James C. and Elizabeth Longmire Campbell established Five
Springs Farm, located on the Stone
Dam Road in Greene County,
in 1870. On their 172 acres, the Campbells
produced many of the same crops as their neighbors: flax, corn, wheat and
several types of livestock. They also provided the lumber for the Campbell school house.
In 1913, Charlie R. Campbell acquired 54 acres of his
parents’ farm and later purchased 56 additional acres from his sister Vertie.
Charlie introduced tobacco to the farm’s operations while continuing to
cultivate foodstuffs and livestock. Charlie and his wife Mae Smith willed the
land to their son Marion D. Campbell in 1957.
Today, Marion, his wife Billie and their son Charles grow
corn, hay and tobacco and raise cattle. The property also features a log barn
and log house which date to the decade of the farm’s founding.
Hayes Farm
Conrad Hayes
The 14th District of Greene County is home to
the Hayes Farm. James and Elizabeth Longmire Campbell acquired 172 acres and
established the farm in 1870. They practiced general farming and raised
livestock. Although there is no evidence to suggest that the Campbells
themselves were Quakers, their farm was part of an early Quaker settlement in
Tennnessee.
In 1913, William Campbell, the founders’ son, acquired 48
acres of the property to which he and his wife Elizabeth Marshall added 30
acres. The second generation owners specialized in livestock production.
Mrs. Dema Campbell Hayes is the third generation owner of
the family farm. Dema’s son Conrad Hayes
works and owns the land today.
Hilldale Farm
Ralph and Davy Anne
Charles
John and Elizabeth Pickle Bible established the Hilldale
Farm, which dates to 1830, on 158 acres located 15.5 miles west of Greenville. The Bibles and
their nine children operated land that yielded rye, flax, wheat, corn, sheep
and cattle as its agricultural products. The founders’ grandson David Bible and
his wife Dianah Faubion inherited a portion of the farm in 1850. The farm
passed into the Jones family when David and Dianah Bible’s daughter Lavinia
Ellen Bible Jones inherited the land in 1904.
The fourth generation owner was David Thomas Jones and he
owned and operated the farm until 1970. According to family records, David was
the owner of one of Greene
County’s earliest dairy
operations and he also raised a herd of registered Southdown sheep. In
addition, David was a member of the county school board.
In 1970, David and Verna Scruggs’ five daughters
inherited the family land. The Jones sisters are the great great great granddaughters
of the founders. Today Davy Anne and Ralph Charles work the land, producing
corn, tobacco and beef cattle, but all of the sisters “actively oversee the
operations” at Hilldale Farm.
Photo (left): This log cabin is the original farmhouse of the Hilldale Farm and dates back to the 1830s.
Photo (right): The Gum Springs Cemetery, located on the Hilldale
Farm in Greene County, represents the many family cemeteries found on
Tennessee's Century Farms.
J. B. Woolsey Farm
Roger Woolsey
In 1824, Isreal Woolsey began the Woolsey farm, acquiring
350 acres of land located seventeen miles north of Greeneville. While raising
the region’s typical crops and livestock, Isreal also managed a grist mill and
blacksmith shop. His son James inherited the farm in 1870 and practiced the
same vocations as his father.
Little in the farm’s history changed until 1953 when J.
B. Woolsey, Jr, the founder’s great great great grandson acquired 83 acres of
the original farm. J. B. and his wife Emma Ruth have since purchased an additional
1,057 acres of land. They raise beef cattle and corn, cultivate tobacco and
operate a dairy. They are proud of their family land and Emma has stated
emphatically that “we plan for it never to be sold.”
Jack Murray Farm
Jack Murray
George and Sallie Murray founded this Century Farm in
1829, with 100 acres located five miles west of Mohawk. The Murrays prospered throughout the antebellum
age and purchased 300 additional acres of land. In 1870, George and Sallie
willed the farm to two of their six children, Valentine and George W. Murray,
and the brothers formally divided the property in 1874. That same year,
Valentine “built a 2-story frame house for his family” on his portion of the
property. The family has determined that “one man did all the building,
dressing the flooring and ceiling by hand, as well as making the wood pegs”
that hold the house together.
Valentine married Sallie Davis Murray and they raised
five children and their son Elmer acquired 203 acres of the original property
in 1907. Elmer modernized the farm’s operations, purchasing its first tractors,
constructing a cattle barn, a silo, a tobacco barn and two tenant houses and
dredging the creek that watered his land. He and his wife Lillie Wright Murray
also provided a home for several orphans and provided lodging for teachers from
the local schools.
Jenny-Ben Farm
Frank Speares
The strength and courage of Tennessee farm wives who worked family farms
in the absence of their husbands and sons during the Civil War is recorded in
the history of the Jenny-Ben Farm. Established in 1848 by John W. Farnsworth,
the Jenny-Ben Farm is eight miles south of Greeneville. On their 257 acres,
John and his wife Elizabeth Parman raised wheat, corn and livestock. The Civil
War, however, spoiled the farm’s promising beginning; John died in a federal
prison camp and neighbors robbed his widow of many prized possessions. To raise
money, the family sold 100 acres of land. But the strength of Elizabeth
Farnsworth kept the family together. Indeed, she “single handed(ly) raised the
children to maturity.”
Benjamin J. Farnsworth, inheriting the family farm from
his mother in 1878, added the cultivation of tobacco to the farming landscape.
He and his wife Jeanetta Walker had only one daughter, Fannie, who acquired the
property in 1936. Fannie married William F. Russell and they raised a large
family of twelve children. Like the early generations who have lived at
Jenny-Ben Farm, the Russells practiced general farming and grew tobacco.
In 1950, Mrs. Frank G. Speares, the founders’ great
granddaughter, inherited 150 acres of the original family land. As of 1976, she
and Frank grew corn, oats, wheat and tobacco while raising a small herd of beef
cattle. Also at that time, a mid-nineteenth century house, wood shed and smoke
house stood on the property.
Lee Susong Farm
Lee Susong
The Lee Susong Farm is located eight miles south of
Greeneville. Established by Nicholas Susong in 1859, the farm was home for
Nicholas, his wife Martha Hale and their eight children. In 1883, John F.
Susong inherited 80 acres from his parents. Married to Ida Holley, he fathered
ten children who provided much of the labor on the farm. The Susongs counted
tobacco, corn, wheat and cattle as their most important agricultural products.
Lee Susong, the founder’s grandson, acquired 55 acres of
the original farm between 1937 and 1938. He has since purchased 25 additional
acres and as of 1976, he raised beef cattle and cultivated tobacco, corn and
wheat.
Lindavista Farm
Herman Alexander Saylor
Located along the Plumb Creek branch of Lick Creek,
Lindavista Farm dates to 1802 when Godfrey Saylor purchased 1300 acres. The
family records that the farm “was in the center of a large flat wooded section
of several thousand acres,” which was called the Flatwoods “until well into the
twentieth century.”
Joseph and Rebecca Saylor inherited 333 acres of the farm
in 1830 and they, in turn, willed the property to their son Thomas Nelson
Saylor. The current owner is Herman Alexander Saylor, the founder’s great great
grandson, who acquired 100 acres of the homestead between 1917 and 1919. As of
1976, Mr. Saylor devoted his time to livestock farming.
Mardale Acres Farm
Dale Bruce Tucker
Farmers in the twentieth century, such as the Tuckers of Greene
County, often turned to livestock breeding to improve the value of their
animals. The Mardale Acres Farm has been the site of significant breeding
experiments. Located fifteen miles north of Greeneville, the farm dates to
1868. Aulden Tucker, who was a member of the Greene County Quarterly Court, was the
founder and he owned 167 acres that yielded corn, wheat, oats and livestock.
Married to Margaret Brown, he was the father of seven children.
In 1912, the property passed into the hands of his son and
daughter-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. G. Bruce Tucker. On their 343 acres, Bruce
implemented several modern farming techniques and joined with his neighbors to
import a registered Belgian stallion in order to improve the breeding of native
horses. Tucker was also an organizer for the Farmers’ Co-op in Greene County.
Married to Mattie Ottinger, Bruce fathered five children
and his son Dale B. Tucker inherited 140 acres of the original family land in
1965. As of 1976, the Tuckers managed a total of 365 acres. Corn, wheat, oats,
tobacco and dairy foods were the family’s primary commodities.
In 1965, Jack Murray, the founders’ great grandson,
acquired 150 acres of the family farm. He still lives in the original farmhouse
an his land yields corn, tobacco, hay, small grains and dairy cattle.
McNeese Farm
Mr. and Mrs. Don McNeese
Important contributions to progressive agriculture in
early twentieth century Greene County mark the history of the McNeese Farm,
which is located in the Lost Mountain community, sixteen miles north of
Greeneville. Samuel and Margaret McNeese established the farm in 1859. The
McNeeses initially produced wheat, corn, sorghum and livestock on their 90
acres. But just a few years later, the Civil War threatened the farm’s
promising beginning. Samuel, an Union volunteer, died in a Confederate prison
camp and the burden of operating the farm fell upon the shoulders of Margaret
and her two children. The McNeeses proved equal to the task and kept the
property in operation throughout the difficult years of war and reconstruction.
In 1885 or 1886, Samuel Wiley McNeese acquired the farm
from his mother and continued practicing general farming and livestock
breeding. He took special pride in his large flock of sheep. Married twice, he
had five children and in 1926, he willed the 100 acre farm to his son Guy B.
McNeese. Guy became a leading progressive farmer of Greene
County, serving on the Board of
Directors for the Greene County Farm Bureau and building the Farmer’s Livestock
Market at Greenville
in 1948. His wife Mary Weems McNeese “was a devoted public school teacher and
an outstanding worker in the New
Lebanon Missionary
Baptist Church.”
Don McNeese, the great grandson of the founders, acquired
the original family farm in 1972. Today, with the assistance of Robert Starnes,
Don manages 369 acres and raises corn, tobacco, dairy foods and beef cattle.
Newt and Rettie Matthews Farm
Wilmuth M. Everhart
The Matthews Century Farm documents the link between
transportation and early commercial and industrial development in rural Tennessee. Located three
miles southeast of Mohawk and established by Joseph Matthews in 1843, the farm
originally had 840 acres which produced general farm crops and livestock. The
farmhouse, “composed of two structures joined by a roofed and floored
breezeway,” stood along the stagecoach route from Jonesborough to Knoxville and also served
the community’s inhabitants.” Joseph was an avid hunter and even when he
“became too old to ‘run with his hounds’ on Bays Mountain nearby, he leaned on
the garden fence and listened to each individual dog’s baying and tracking with
as much zest as when he was younger.” Joseph married twice and his two oldest
sons, Franklin and Solomon, attended Mosheim
College at Mosheim and
both became Methodist ministers.
In 1895, Clayton Matthews inherited half of the farm,
including the farmstead, and the current owner believes that “since the family
was very clannish, Clayton continued the lifestyle” of his father. Five years
later he sold his inheritance to his brother Marshall and his brother’s wife,
Elizabeth Wright Matthews. In 1910, Marshall and Elizabeth deeded 56 acres of
the original farm to their son Newt Matthews and his wife Rettie Shipley
Matthews. Newt and Rettie, like many of their neighbors in the early twentieth
century added tobacco to their farming operations. Their children were quite
successful in school and their son M. Taylor Matthews earned a doctoral degree
at Columbia University.
Mrs. Wilmuth Matthews Everhart, the great granddaughter
of the founders, is the current owner of the Matthews family farm. She rents
out the 56 acres of land “for growing hay, oats, wheat, soybeans (and) corn”
and lives in the home built by her father at the turn of the century.
Phil Gaby & Sons Farm
Phil Gaby
Located 3 miles from Baileytown, the Phil Gaby & Sons
Farm was established in 1892 by William Cromwell Coffee and Melvina Coffee. On
76 acres, they raised cattle, horses, mules, corn, wheat and hay. William and
Melvina had 5 children and their daughter Mary along with her husband P. A.
became the next owners of the land. The couple had six children and raised many
of the same crops and livestock as the previous owner with the addition of
chickens, hogs and turkeys. As time moved on, the farm passed through various
generations of the family.
During the 1970s, the farm experienced the effects of
development with the construction of Interstate 81 in 1972. The interstate
crossed the farm and took 40 acres away.
In 1974, the great grandson of the founder, Phil Gaby
acquired the farm. Phil and his sons manage the farm and raise cattle and hogs.
Reed Crossing Farm
Willie Ruth Reed Nevius
and Richard Nevius
Helen R. Reed
Reed Crossing Farm, which dates to 1808 lies nine miles
northwest of Greeneville. John S. Reed of Virginia
and his wife Grizzy Ross originally owned 200 acres located on the road that
connected Atlanta and Washington, D. C. Their farm produced corn,
swine and sheep.
William Reed inherited 250 acres from his father in 1855.
He married Eliza Armitage and they raised four children. During the Civil War,
the family harbored a wounded soldier, tending his wounds until his death. The
soldier is buried in the family cemetery. At an undetermined time after the
war, the farm passed into the hands of John S. Reed, the founder’s grandson.
John’s wife Elizabeth A. Reed inherited the farm upon her husband’s death in
1884. Except for the addition of tobacco to the farm’s operations, agricultural
activities changed little during these decades.
Willie Ruth Reed Nevius and Helen R. Reed are the
farmer’s current owners. Great great granddaughters of the founder, they
acquired the property in 1939. Richard Nevius, Willie Ruth’s husband, works
their 484 acres of land and specializes in livestock production.
Photo: The farm house on the Reed Crossing Farm during the 1920s.
Renner Farm
J. B. Renner
The Renner Farm, situated along the Greene and Cocke County
line, was founded in 1877 by John H. Renner and his wife Mary Ann Lintz. The
171 acres were farmed by the couple and their 10 children. Renner also operated a grist and saw mill on
the property. In 1903, John B. Renner
acquired his parents’ farm. With his
wife, Mary Belle Tweed and their 13 children, this second generation raised
cattle and tobacco. J. B. Renner,
grandson of the founders and current owner, acquired the property in 1957. Mr. Renner reports that he has always lived
on the farm except for two years of military service. Today, 61 acres is worked by the owner’s
son, Johnnie Renner who raises beef cattle and tobacco and the farm is managed
by Lee Renner.
Rivamonte Farm
Harry Brown
The first settlers in East Tennessee
invariably sought a farm nearby or adjacent to a major river system. The river
did more, of course, than merely provide water for livestock and the family. It
provided a way to transport commodities to market and a way to power mills and
other early industrial machinery. The history of the Rivamonte Farm is one of
the region’s best examples of how a river location benefited a family’s
agricultural operations. Rivamonte stands along the Nolichucky River
twelve miles west of Greeneville. Peter and Sarah Ann Donaldson Brown
established the property in 1835. Brown, a native of Scotland, cultivated sheep, corn,
wheat, hay, cotton and flax on his 600 acres. By building and operating an iron
mill and a paper mill, he also used the natural energy of the river to his
advantage. The father of six children, Brown died at the age of 44.
His son Charles F. Brown was the farm’s next owner.
Charles wed Mary Richardson, who died just weeks after delivering birth to
their son Peter. Charles never remarried and his slaves helped him manage the
farm. A cattle breeder, Charles also cultivated foodstuffs, tobacco, flax and
peacocks and built a fish trap out of the ruins of the iron mill. He began
farming with 600 acres and later purchased 400 additional acres of land.
Peter Richardson Brown and his wife Sybil Hogan were the
third generation owners of the Rivamonte Farm. The family remembers that “Peter
Brown was community minded.” A magistrate on the Greene County Court, he also
supplied the lumber for the construction of the local community church. Peter
died in 1936 and his four sons inherited equal portions of the farm. But in
1941, two of his brothers sold their interests to Harry and Peter Brown Jr.,
who continued to operate the farm together for the next seventeen years.
In 1958, Peter and Harry formally divided the property.
While Peter sold his land, Harry remained a Greene County Century Farmer until
his death in 1985. Today, Harry’s wife Lilly Pace Brown and her son Harry L.
Brown, Jr. live at the farm and manage its daily operations. They own 307 acres
with tobacco and cattle as their primary cash crops. The Browns have deep roots
in this land and firmly state that they “wouldn’t live any other place.”
Rocky Field Farm
Herbert Wayne and Pamela
Hughes
In 1796, Joseph White purchased 40 acres of land north of
Greeneville, on the sinking branch of Lick Creek from land grant holder, John
Smith. Married to Margaret Duncan in
1805, the Whites had six sons and two daughters. At Joseph’s death in 1841, all property was
inherited by Margaret. In April of 1852,
their son Jacob bought the shares of three of his brothers; only the sons
inherited property at their mother’s death.
Jacob and his wife Rebecca Thompson, who he married in 1833, had six
children, Isaac, Susan, Eliza, John, Sarah and Aby.
When Jacob and Rebecca died, the land passed to their children,
including the daughters. John White and
wife Elizabeth White (a cousin) had seven children. Their son, also named Jacob
after his grandfather, acquired the property in the 1890s. Along with his wife
Salome, Jacob cultivated corn, wheat, and hay and raised cattle, horses, mules,
sheep, hogs and poultry. In addition to this acreage, Jacob bought an
additional forty acres (20 acres from two of his aunts bringing the total
acreage to 80). Their son Arthur died of
typhoid fever in the 1920s and the land passed directly to his children Clara
and Evelyn White, granddaughters of the founders. According to the family, Evelyn
and her husband obtained the acreage with the old homestead, but Evelyn’s
husband made moonshine under the house and burned it down. Not long after,
Evelyn and her husband sold the property.
Clara White became the sole
owner of the farm in 1938. Clara
married Dorsey Hobart Hughes and they had four children. Under their ownership,
the farm supported similar livestock and crops as was raised by the founders
with the addition of hogs and tobacco. In 1978, the land was acquired by their
son, Bobby Wayne Hughes and his wife
Helen M. Hughes. They owned the property until 1993 when Herbert Wayne Hughes
obtained it. In 1996, the Hughes bought an additional 21.34 acres and in 2007,
they purchased 23 more acres. The farm’s current size is 134.34 acres. Wayne and
his wife Pamela raise beef cattle, horses, tobacco, hay and corn. In addition to the owners, other members of
the family living on the farm include Mr. and Mrs. Herbert W. Hughes and their
children, Mrs. Helen Hughes, Wayne’s mother, and his brother Mark. These three
generations are keepers of many documents that tell their family’s history even
as they continue the farming legacy of their ancestors.
S. K. Alexander Farm
Steve Alexander
Charles Alexander
Thomas Alexander, Jr., and his spouse Jane McGaughey
founded the Alexander Farm in 1836 with 117 acres located seven miles southeast
of Greeneville. The parents of seven children, they raised corn, wheat and
cattle on their land. In 1884, David Donald Alexander inherited the farm from
his parents. David added the cultivation of tobacco to the farm’s products.
Then from 1917 to 1921, he and his wife Margaret Moore operated a “beach and
recreation center on the Nolichuckey river just below the house.”
David and Margaret had eight children and David Dale
Alexander received the family land in 1936. David wed Verna Hutton and they had
two boys, Charles D. and Steve K. Alexander. The family expanded the farm’s
operations to include dairy farming, a popular mid-twentieth century
agricultural activity.
In 1974, Charles and Steve Alexander acquired the
property. Two years later they reported that an old nineteenth century barn was
still in use and that the farm produced oats, corn, tobacco, hay and cattle. At
that time, the brothers managed the farm’s 117 acres while Howard and Opal
Franklin worked the land. Today the Alexander Farm is 150 years old and the
family still owns the same parcel of land acquired by Thomas Alexander Jr., in
1836.
Scruggs Homestead Farm
Emma Lillian Neill
Joseph and Glenna Neill
For owners of large farms and plantations in the early
nineteenth century, horse racing was a badge of class and indicated one’s
standing as a gentleman in the community. The history of the Scruggs Homestead
Farm is only one among several Century Farms that identifies the founder as an
avid horse racer and gentleman. In 1799, Richard Scruggs of Virginia established the Scruggs Farm on 265
acres located in the 4th District of Greene County. A slaveowner,
Scruggs developed a profitable small plantation that produced foodstuffs and
livestock. Hie ownership of one of the county’s first race tracks probably
indicates his desire to be identified with the planter class of Tennessee. Family
tradition implies that his operation of the track somewhat fulfilled this quest
because “Andrew Jackson raced horses on this farm.”
Married twice, Scruggs had ten children, one of whom,
William Carr Scruggs, inherited the entire farm at an undetermined time
following the Civil War. The third generation owner was Mary Scruggs DeBusk and
her husband Dr. Robert DeBusk, who “was the community doctor for Warrensburg
and parts of Cocke
County for many years.”
The DeBusks raised tobacco, foodstuffs, livestock and fruit trees on their 265
acres.
In 1961, the Scruggs Homestead passed intact to the
founder’s great great granddaughter Emma Lillian Neill and her husband William
S. Neill. The Neills established a herd of registered Angus cattle and
continued to grow tobacco, wheat, corn, hay and oats.
Seven years later, the family divided the land. Today,
Emma owns 118 acres and her son Joseph Robert Neill owns 147 acres. J. W.
Douthat works the land and his labor yields tobacco, swine, cattle, hay and
corn. Emma still lives in the original weatherboard loghouse, built in 1803.
The family notes that seven generations have lived in this home, which sits on
“a small bluff overlooking the Nolichuckey
River near a spring. It
was and still is a beautiful place to live.”
Sideline Farms
Wade Collette
Sideline Farms, in the Pleasant Vale Community, is currently home
to three generations related to L.C. and Mary “ Mollie” Crawford Leib. Parents of five children, the Leibs began
farming 50 acres in 1895 on which they raised grains and cattle. L. C. was a cobbler (shoe-maker) and also
made furniture. The family has kept
several of his pieces through the years.
L. C. and Mollie’s son, Roy H. Leib, became the next owner of the
farm. His and his wife Virginia
Elizabeth Blevins Leib and their
daughter, Mary Lou, shared the farmhouse with his parents. During these years, cattle, tobacco, hay,
poultry, and dairy cattle were part of the farm operation. The late Mary Lou Leib Collette’s husband,
Wade, assumed ownership of the farm in 1989.
He and his two sons, Dale and Kevin, and their families operate the farm
where they raise hay, beef cattle, and dairy heifers. Mr. Collette notes that a house and barn
dating from around 1900 still stands on the farm.
Solomon Farm
Tom Solomon
The Solomon Farm is the second Century Farm in Greene County
established by George and Sallie Murray in 1829. Its history parallels the
Murray Farm until 1938 when Maggie Sue Murray and her husband Ted Solomon
acquired 65 acres of the original farm. Maggie Solomon is the great
granddaughter of George and Sallie Murray. As of 1976, Ted worked the land and
practiced general farming. Maggie and Ted’s son, Tom Solomon, and his family
also lived on the farm.
Southerland Farm
Gwyn Southerland
Jerry A. Southerland
What is today known as the Southerland Farm was owned at the turn
of the twentieth century by John Bowers.
In 1900 he transferred a portion of that land to Mary Bowers. In 1901 Mary married Thomas H. Foreman. On 76 acres, they and their nine children
raised tobacco, hay and cattle. T. H.
was also a mail carrier and taught school in the Meadow Creek community.
In 1939, Hugh Foreman acquired his
parents’ farm. Married to Flossie
Foreman, the couple had three children--James H. (Bobby) Foreman, Lowell
Foreman and Charlsie Foreman Wilson.
Gwyn Southerland, the current owner and granddaughter of Flossie recalls
that she was a “wonderful, hard-working woman.”
When workers came to the farm to cut tobacco, she would cook “chicken
and gravy and homemade light bread with all the trimmings.” The men would eat their fill, then go sit or
lie “under the two 100 year-old pecan
trees in the yard.” Flossie and Hugh are
buried in the cemetery of the Meadow Creek Presbyterian Church.
James H. (Bobby) Foreman was the
next generation to own the land. Bobby
and his wife, Marlene Goins Foreman, and their two children, Beverly Gwyn and
Jamie raised tobacco, corn and black angus cattle. In October of 1997, Beverly Gwyn and her
husband, Jerry A. Southerland, Jr. became the owners of the property. They and their son Jeremy live in a 1920
house while their daughter Annie and husband Chris Bailey and their children,
Preston, 4 and Autumn, 2, also live on the farm. Gwyn and Jerry work and manage the farm
selling hay, fodder, and pumpkins in season.
Photo: The family of the Southerland Farm poses with their Century Farms sign.
Steele Holm Farm
Hogan Steele
In 1853, Samuel Steele of Ireland established the Steele Holm
Farm on 300 acres of land located in the 4th District of Greene
County. Beyond Samuel’s practice of general farming, little is known about the
farm’s early history. Samuel willed the land to his son Milton Steele at an
unspecified date in the nineteenth century and in 1952, Samuel’s grandson Hogan
Steel acquired the property. As of 1976, Hogan still used the house and barn
built by his grandfather and he too was a practitioner of general farming.
Still Hollow Farm
Jay D. Birdwell, Sr.
Doris Ann Birdwell
The Allen family of Greene
County begins with Robert Allen who
moved to the area from Pennsylvania
in 1786. His son Daniel was a contemporary
and friend of Greeneville tailor and alderman, Andrew Johnson. It was Daniel’s son, James Allen Sr. that
established a farm of 560 acres about nine miles southwest of Greeneville in
1857 that continues to remain in the family today. James attended nearby Tusculum Academy
and was involved in local politics. He first married Laura Brown who died in
1878 and then wed Mollie Birdwell. He
was the father of James, Jr., Alice, and Sarah Louisa. The Allens raised beef cattle, corn, wheat,
horses and hogs.
James Allen, Jr. acquired the
property in 1885. He served in the
Tennessee General Assembly from 1903 to 1907 and from 1923 to 1925. According to the family, he was instrumental
in introducing a bill to appropriate money for making improvements on and
helping to preserve the tailor shop of his father’s friend, former President
Andrew Johnson. In addition to politics,
James helped drive a team of oxen and a covered wagon that hauled an organ to
Greeneville from South Carolina. As noted in the book, Greeneville: A One Hundred Year Portrait, the
organ was installed in the St. James Episcopal Church and remains the oldest
organ in the state of Tennessee. Parts of the covered wagon that carried the
organ are still preserved in the farm’s granary. Married to Elizabeth Jay Birdwell, sister of
Mollie, the couple had no children, but they raised her nephew, George Leo Birdwell, Sr. and her two
nieces, Elizabeth and Louise Birdwell.
In 1934, Louise Birdwell, who
married Otis Harrison, became the next generation to own the farm. Tobacco became the major cash crop for the
Harrisons who raised corn, wheat, hogs and beef cattle.
In 1952, the great nephew of the
founder, George Leo Birdwell, Sr. obtained the property. George married Julia
Gladys Russell and they had five
children George Jr., Johnny, Luke , Jay, and Lois. While George continued to
raise tobacco, corn, wheat and beef cattle on the land, he added a dairy
business to the farm. Beginning in 1928,
George developed several milk routes , hauling his patrons’ milk as well as his
own to Greeneville and the Pet Milk Company, the local bottling and
distributing company . George took much pride in his dairy business and in 1953
he expressed his thoughts in the Pet Milk Company’s newsletter “Pet Dairy Chats.” George “Selling milk has meant a better
standard of living for our family, better furnishings for our home and more
good equipment on the farm. Dairying helps to keep good tenants, and milk cows
have improved our land greatly.” The family remembers that as the dairy
business grew, the milk routes became additional jobs for the Birdwell sons.
In 1973, the great, great nephew and
the current owner of the farm, Jay D. Birdwell obtained the land. Today, the
farm is worked by Jay and his wife Ann Birdwell, their son, George Birdwell and
their niece Amanda Kilday who live on the farm with their families. Currently,
the farm produces sweet corn, fresh-water prawns, cattle and tobacco.
Family history records that when
founder, James Allen, Sr., began building the first covered Allen’s Bridge
across the Nolichuckey River in 1862, he began to build the house on his farm
using the same hand cut stones for the foundation as were used for the bridge
supports. The house “is central to the
identity and pride of our farm” notes the current owners, Jay and Ann. The generations have preserved the original
glass window panes at the front entrance, original picture molding, ceiling
paper and working oil light fixtures. In addition to the house, the property
has a herringbone pattern brick walkway. When the bricks were fired on site for
the house, the walks were also built. A
log barn and smokehouse, also dating to the first half of the nineteenth
century, are also part of the
historic
landscape. The granary that was built in
1860 is presently being used as The Farmers Wife gift shop.
Photo (top): The farm house that was built by the founder still stands on the property.
Photo (bottom): The granary on the Still Hollow Farm is now used as a gift shop.
Susong Farm
Katherine Susong Harmon
Public
service in both civic and agricultural groups binds the generations who have
lived and worked at the Susong Farm. Andrew Dickson Susong founded the Susong
Farm, seven miles west of Greeneville, in 1862. He and his wife Sarah Cochran
had four children and the family owned 201 acres on which they grew corn,
wheat, and fruit trees while raising cattle and swine. An elder in the local
Presbyterian church, Andrew Susong was a merchant and postmaster at his Timber
Ridge store on the old Kentucky
Road. The money he made in these businesses allowed
the family to purchase additional acres of land. When the farm passed into the
hands of Andrew and Sarah’s three sons in 1905, it consisted of almost 800
acres of land.
Marion, Samuel and Edmond Susong operated a typical
twentieth century Greene
County farm. Cattle,
horses, corn, tobacco and wheat were their leading farm products. Marion served the
community as an elder at the Timber Ridge Presbyterian Church and as the
chairman of the Greene County Board of Education. Active in various home demonstration
and agricultural programs, the family also deeded land to the county for the
construction of the Raders and Glenwood schools.
In 1965, Katherine Susong Harmon, the granddaughter of
the founders, inherited 50 acres of the original farm. She and her husband
Charles now farm 125 acres, specializing in tobacco and pasture rental. The
Susong Farm also contains several important early nineteenth century buildings,
including the original Susong farmhouse, a log barn, log spring house and log
cabin. The family has opened these buildings to the public during Greeneville
Historic Homes Week.
Photo: A
view of the Susong Farm.
Twin Acres Farm
Blanche D. Bernard
Through active membership and participation in local
religious groups and farmer organizations, the generations of the Twin Acres
Farm have touched the lives of many Greene
County farm families.
Twin Acres Farm, founded by Jacob and Polly Luster Justis in 1849, is fifteen
miles north of Greenville.
Jacob and Polly managed 200 acres, which produced foodstuffs, livestock, cotton
and flax. During the Civil War, the family feared raiders and hid their
valuables in a nearby cave. Jacob was a religious man and helped build the Zion United
Methodist Church.
In 1866, his son William acquired 79 acres of the family land. Married to
Henrietta Johnson, William fathered six children and, like his father, owned a
farm of many different crops and breeds of livestock. These commodities did not
change until the 1920s when Florence Carter Justis and her family introduced
the cultivation of tobacco.
Nellie M. Justis, the great granddaughter of the
founders, inherited the 79 acre farm in 1952. Her husband Oscar Kyle Bernard
managed and worked the land, while teaching Sunday school every week. Nellie
was an active in several community organizations. She was involved in many
different church activities and was a member of the Grange and the Farm Bureau.
Oscar Kyle Bernard, Jr., the founders’ great great
grandson, acquired 71 acres of the family land in 1971. In addition to his farm
work, Oscar was a part-time repairman and carpenter and served as a director of
the Greene County Farm Bureau and the secretary-treasurer of the Baileyton
Community Chest.
Oscar died in 1982 and his wife Blanche Dixon Bernard
became the owner of Twin Acres Farm. Today, Blanche and her son John Kyle
Bernard work the land, generating foodstuffs, tobacco and beef products.
Waddell Nolachuckey
River Farm
Darwyn Waddell
In 1889, Jonathan “John” Wiley Waddell and his wife, Elvina
Elizabeth Bowers Waddell, purchased a farm of just over 231 acres southwest of
Greeneville on the Nolichucky
River. The couple and their four sons raised cattle,
horses, hogs, chickens, tobacco, hay, corn, small grain and vegetables.
In 1930, three of their sons, William
Robert Waddell, Charles Josiah Waddell and Decatur Fox Waddell, acquired the farm. Under their
ownership, the farm continued to support a variety of crops and livestock. William Robert married Hattie Rader Waddell and they
had William Adelbert (Delbert), Peggy Jane, and
Betty Joe, who died as an infant.
In 1958, William and Peggy inherited the farm of William Robert Waddell and in 1961 Delbert purchased Peggy's acreage. Delbert married Madge Smith Waddell and they had two sons, Robert
Frank Waddell and Darwyn William Waddell.
In
1993 and 1994, Darwyn
William Waddell, the great grandson of the founder Jonathan "John"
Wiley Waddell, acquired 108 acres of the original farm. Today, Darwyn
and his wife Virginia and
their son Eric work the land. Currently, the farm produces cattle and
hay. Several buildings including a smokehouse and
cattle and tobacco barns remain on this homestead.
Whispering Hills Farm
Gladys Walker King
The history of Whispering Hills Farm graphically portrays
the evolving appearance of the rural landscape of Greene County.
Thomas N. and Mary Malone Weems established Whispering Hills Farm, which dates
to 1850, on 503 acres located two miles south of Baileytown. The family reports
that “upon acquiring this land” the founders supervised the construction of a
“beautiful plantation house (three story brick) with bricks made on the farm by
slaves.” The Weems were general farmers and in 1883 they willed 617 acres to
their only surviving child, John Russum Weems. John and his wife Nancy Bailey
expanded the property to over 1200 acres and became one of the largest stock
dealers in the region. A licensed veterinarian, John was also a “very capable
mechanic” and “maintained a machine shop.” He was also a trustee and founder of
the present Wesley’s Chapel
Methodist Church.
John and Nancy Weems had four children and their daughter
Mary “Mollie” Weems King managed the farm from 1901 to 1950, although she did
not formally acquire the land until 1928. In 1904, Mollie became Greene County’s
first woman county superintendent of schools.
Her son Rex Weems King inherited 118 acres of the farm in
1950. For several decades he helped his mother manage the land and in 1928 he
built a large barn for their expanded tobacco operations. According to the family,
Rex believed that “land should be handed down in better condition than it was
received” and for several years he declared “his farm a wildlife sanctuary.” In
1967, he built a modern house on the property and the family takes pride in
“the beautiful plaster ornamental mouldings” he designed for the living room,
dining room and foyer.
Upon Rex King’s death in 1969, his widow Gladys Walker
King inherited the farm. As a magistrate for the 21st District of
Greene County from 1954 to 1960, she was the first woman in Green County
to be elected to public office. In 1983, her daughter Betty Jean King Proffitt
took possession of the farm. On her 175 acres of land, Proffitt produces hay
and beef cattle. She states that the installation of electric transmission towers
by the Tennessee Valley Authority from 1948 to 1950, the construction of a new
highway in the 1960s and continuing pressure from oil companies during the
1970s and 1980s drastically altered the original landscape of Whispering Hills.
She believes that her story reminds all Tennesseans that “the pressures of the
20th century are ever present, presenting difficulties in
maintaining a family farm.”
