For a brief historical sketch of each farm, click on the farm name.
Map courtesy of Carole Swann, Tennessee Department of Agriculture
Franklin W. Keller
Joan L. Keller
Progressive farming has been a key theme in the history of the Keller
Century Farm. Hiram W. and Roberta Burks Keller established the Keller Farm,
which is one and a half miles southeast of Henning, in 1861. The Kellers owned
118 acres which they later expanded to over 400 acres of land. They operated a
diversified farm, raising cotton, corn, hay, cattle, swine, horses and mules.
In 1868, they built a new farmhouse which remains the current residence. A
Civil War veteran, Hiram was a founder of the
Of the founders’ seven children, Hiram Franklin Keller
became the farm’s owner in 1913. A progressive farmer active in the Farm Bureau
and the F. F. A., Keller worked 210 acres, harvesting cotton, corn, hay and
wheat. He also raised cattle, swine and horses, specializing in the breeding of
Tennessee Walking Horses. Wed to Nora Jernigan, he fathered three children and
his son Franklin became the third generation owner in 1964. Today,
Steve White
Greg White
The Murley-White Farm
was founded by Macdaniel Casey (M. C.) Murley and Mary Jane Murley in
1902. On the 150 acres east of Ripley
they raised cotton, corn, sorghum and wheat.
When M . C. Murley died in 1935, Mary Jane owned the land until
1948. After her mother’s death, Dorsey
Murley White assumed ownership for over fifty years until her death in
2001. Her son, James Elwood White, owned
the land for two years until his death.
Today, the farm is owned by his sons, the great-grandsons of the
founders, Steve and Greg White. The land
supports a variety of crops and cattle.
Steve continues to make his home in the farm house that his
great-grandparents built in 1914.
Rufus T. Smith
Helen Williams Summar
Billy Wayne Davis
In 1869, W. D. New, a Confederate veteran from
Dorothy Louise Summar
Woodard
During the period of Reconstruction after the Civil War, W. D. New purchased 116 acres in
Her daughter Mary Helen Williams
Summar inherited the property, owning the farm from 1962 to 2002. She, in turn, deeded the property to her
daughter, Dorothy Louise Summar Woodard, who is the current owner of the
farm. Today, Charles Simpson rents the
farm and raises cotton, corn and soybeans on the land.
Jean Ball Spence
Two miles east of Gates stands the
In 1918, Alvin and Myra Ball obtained title to the family
land, with ten acres located in
Photo:
Columbus Singleton Ball, his wife and three of his children pose in
front of their simple frame house adorned with a pediment above the
front door. Of particular interest is the portrait positioned between
Mr. and Mrs. Ball of an unidentified but certainly much loved member of
their family.
Eugene Rice Anthony
Physical evidence relating to the history of slavery in
In the midst of the Reconstruction, in 1867, 455.5 acres
of the plantation passed into the hands of Edmonia Fitzpatrick Jones and her
husband Daniel H. Jones. Cotton and corn were the leading agricultural
commodities produced on the farm during these years. The property remained in
the hands of the second generation owners until 1941 when Edmonia Jones
Anthony, the granddaughter of the founders, obtained the entire 455.5 acres.
In 1952, Eugene Thomas Anthony received 455.5 acres of
his great grandparents’ landholdings. He cultivated cotton, corn and soybeans.
Three years later, however, his son Eugene Rice Anthony acquired the farm; he
has remained its operator for the last three decades. Currently farming over
1,000 acres, Anthony produces cotton, corn, soybeans, hay and cattle. Several
buildings that were probably slave quarters remain on the property and are used
for storage.