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.
Herchel Earl Perdue
Mary Anne Godwin Perdue
The Godwin Farm was founded in 1891 by William George Godwin and
his wife Sara Meacham Godwin. The 300
acres yielded corn and hay and also supported swine and cattle. William George Godwin was in the Confederate
Army C Company. The couple had 8
children, and their son Commodore Perry Godwin became the next owner of the
farm after buying out the interests of his brothers and sisters. With his wife, Minnie Adele Vaughn Godwin and
their three children, the family continued to raise livestock, corn, and
hay. After Commodore Perry Godwin died of
pneumonia on March 12, 1918, the land passed to his wife.
Currently, the land is owned by Mary Anne Godwin Perdue, the great
granddaughter of the original founders, and her husband Herchel Earl Perdue.
Three generations of the family currently live on the farm today The current
owners are working to get the land back in production. Part of the land is
currently in farm programs and is leased to Lynch Hollow Hunting Club.
Photo: The farmhouse on the Godwin Century Farm.
Ruth Harder Turnbrow
Faye Harder
Albert Harder
Lloyd Harder
Steve Harder
Harder Farm was founded in 1882 by Edmond Harder and his wife
Catherine Sharp. The 1,000 acres yielded corn, hay, sorghum cane, peanuts,
irish and sweet potatoes and also supported swine, cattle, and sheep. The
couple had 5 children. After Catherine’s death, Edmond Harder married Mary B.
Harder. The couple had 3 children. Albert Jefferson Davis Harder, the son of
Photo:
Albert and Lloyd Harder with cattle on the farm.
Robert G. Horner
The impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on Middle
Tennessee plantations is recorded in the history of the Horner Farm, which is
the oldest Century Farm in
In 1955, Robert S. Horner inherited the family land. The
founders’ great great grandson, Robert and his two sons worked 800 acres and
produced soybeans, corn, cattle and swine in 1976. At that time, the family
also used a mid-nineteenth century log stable in its daily operations.
Benjamin Richard Howard,
IV
Elizabeth Belle Howell
Tiller
In 1880, Joseph and Nancy
Bunch gave their daughter, Mary, a 200-acre farm as a wedding present when she
married John E. Howell. Not far from the farm is the Cedar Grove Iron Furnace
where Mary’s father and grandfather both worked. The farm that the young couple
received supported agricultural products as diverse as soybeans, turkeys, sheep
and cotton. A significant feature of the
farm was an “everlasting” spring above which grew twin oak trees. The parents
of six children, John and Mary worked the land well into the twentieth century
and, according to a story published in the Nashville
Tennessean in 1950, the founders were somewhat uncertain of the benefits of
the modern age. When the farm acquired TVA electricity, Mary still kept her
milk and butter at the spring because she believed that refrigerated foods did
not use taste the way they should. She also continued to wash her clothes in an
old black pot and cook with a wood stove.
The farm’s second owners were Fred and Tilda Culp Howell.
Fred was a farming innovator and mill proprietor, businessman, member of the
county school board, and a county magistrate. Tilda was an educator for
forty-four years, serving as a principal, instructor, and librarian of a
“two-year high school” on Cedar Creek. She and Fred had one daughter,
Elizabeth. The Howells tilled 590 acres and raised clover, corn, soybeans, milo
and cattle. In 1949, the farm passed into the hands of Tilda and Elizabeth.
Today, Elizabeth Howell Tiller continues the legacy of
land management and contributions to the community so important to her family. She
is the first and only elected female superintendent of Perry County Schools, a
published author, successful businesswoman, educator and former Perry County
Teacher-of–the Year, and doctoral candidate. Elizabeth Howell Tiller now oversees
approximately 1000 acres of her timber and Angus cattle estate. As the sole
proprietor of this historic land, she not only appreciates and preserves her
family’s heritage, but employs best-practices in the conservation and efficient
management of the natural resources, including the spring which has never run
dry, wildlife, timber, cattle, and crops of the 127-year-old Howell’s Twin
Oakes Farm.
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Photo (left): John and Mary Belle Bunch Howell with their granddaughter, Elizabeth Howell Tiller in 1950.
Photo (right): The twin oak trees still stand along the spring as they did when the founders moved to the farm in 1880.
Ten miles west of
The farm’s second generation owners were John R. and
Martha J. Horner. On their 1,230 acres of land, they planted the same crops as
the founders. The farm’s patterns of activities remained unchanged when the
farm passed to another of the founders’ sons, W. S. Horner, and his wife Ann
Coleman Horner. The farm’s third and fourth generation owners inherited a
property of only 618 acres. While Jesse James Horner, the grandson of the
founders, made no changes in the farm’s production, his son William L. Horner
planted the farm’s first crop of soybeans and stopped cultivating peanuts.
The great great granddaughter of Jesse and Polly Horner,
Mrs. Lena Jo Horner Kidd inherited 604 acres of family land in 1970. She and
her husband Samuel H. Kidd specialize in hay and beef cattle production.
MacDonald Craig
The McDonald Craig Farm in
In 1958, the great grandson of the founder and the
current owner, McDonald Craig acquired the land. During the 1960s,
African-Americans did not have a high school that they could attend in
As
time moved on, McDonald went on to a second career with the state highway
department and continued raising cattle, crops and timber on the farm.
Photo (Top): A View of the McDonald Craig Farm landscape.
Photo: (Middle): A barn on the McDonald Craig Farm.
Roy Culp
John G. Moore purchased 26 acres in 1872 and established
the
Wesley’s wife was Myrtle Kimble and they raised one daughter Iris Moore, who later married Roy Culp. Iris and Roy inherited a farm of 250 acres in 1969. Their present farm products are corn, soybeans, swine and cattle.
Rex and Wilda Patterson
Robert Carson Patterson founded the
Patterson Farm near Tom’s Creek in the Pineview community in 1845. Born in
The farm always included timberlands, a
traditional and vital part of
In the 1860s, the
Civil War dramatically changed the lives of all
After the war,
Robert returned to
In 1886, James
Washington Patterson purchased the farm from his father, Robert. James married
Margaret Kunkel Patterson and they had three children. Their names were Howell, Alta
and Alice. During World War I, Howell served in the army and was on duty
overseas in
When Howell owned the farm, livestock was
the main market product.
The couple was also very active in the
community. Nettie was a member of the Home Demonstration Club and Howell served
on the board of directors of the Perry County Farm Bureau and the Perry County
Farmers Cooperative. He also worked to secure electricity for the community and
was the last mail carrier for the Denson’s Landing Post Office before it closed
in the 1940s.
Howell died in
1957 and the farm passed to wife Nettie and their son, Rex. Two years later, Rex married Wilda Graves and
they had two children, Mark and Melody. After Nettie passed away in 1972, Rex
and wife Wilda became the sole owners of the farm.
Currently, the farm produces corn, soybeans, feed grain, hay and timber. The owners and Gene Strickland, a neighbor, work the land. A hand-hewn chestnut log barn that was built more than 100 years ago is an impressive reminder of the five generations of the Patterson family who have lived on, farmed and served as stewards of this land.
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Joe Burns Sweeney
Ruby Sweeney
Donna Sweeney Carroll
The
Pin Hook Farm is located five miles south of Lobelville in the former
Beardstown community. It was acquired in 1889 by Joseph Clinton Burns. The name
of the property comes from the Pin Hook creek, which flows through the farm and
empties into the nearby
Burns, who moved to the county in 1859-along with other
family members who also purchased land in the area-and wife Sallie Elizabeth
Craig had six children; four lived to adulthood.
A two-story frame house, still standing, was the center
for the Pin Hook Farm, where corn, hay, cows and chickens were produced. Sallie
was confined to a wheelchair in her later years, but she was an excellent
seamstress and continued to sew and teach the skill to others in her family.
Following the deaths of J. C. and Sallie, the children
inherited the land and their eldest son, William “Willie” Arthur, became the
owner of the area that is the current farm. Other acreage acquired by Willie’s
brother, Simpson, adjoins Pin Hook Farm and is also still owned by the family
today. Willie and his wife Francia “Fannie” Shepard Burns had five children.
They raised cows and grains. The children of Willie and Fannie inherited the
farm at his death.
Like many farms, Pin Hook fell on hard times and was
nearly sold out of the family. However, with the help of his mother and a
neighbor who maintained the land, Joe Burns Sweeney was able to purchase the
farm in 1964. A veteran of the Korean War, Sweeney worked for the Tennessee Gas
Pipeline and retired in 1986 after 36 years of service. He married Ruby Jean
Culb in 1951 and their children are Stella, Tim and Donna.
Donna Sweeney Carroll recalls that the family raised
registered shorthorn
Each year the family gathers for the “Pin Hook Fall
Festival,” where they play horseshoes, roast hot dogs and enjoy being together
as a family. A scavenger hunt is held and the patriarch, Joe Burns Sweeney, who
still actively farms, is the official timekeeper and judge of the hunt. The day
ends with a hayride.
Donna Sweeney Carroll, who along with her parents, owns
the farm today, writes that she goes to the farm every chance she gets. Says
Donna: “This land is my heritage-it’s where I came from and where I long to go
back to. When I’m there, I feel the presence of family members who have walked
this land for over 100 years.”
Photo: A
landscape scene on the Pin Hook Farm.
Clint Parnell
Dale Reed Parnell
Located 7.9 miles east of
The next owner of the farm was Maudie Parlee Qualls
Parnell. On the 217 acres, the farm produced peanuts, hay, corn, chickens,
cattle and hogs. While managing the farm, Maudie and her husband Archie Ralph
Parnell also raised seven children. Their names were Shelby, Leonard, Irma,
Howard, Hayes, Jack and Clint. During Maudie’s ownership, the farm received
many improvements. In the 1940s, the farm obtained electricity and by the late
1960s indoor plumbing was added. In 1976, the farm received telephone service
through a “party line” system.
In the late 1970s, while Maudie and Archie still lived on
the farm, two of their sons, Clint Edward Parnell and Earl Hayes Parnell
acquired the land. During the brothers’ ownership, they cultivated hay, corn,
peanuts and watermelons. In addition, they had the timber cut on the property
and they sold it.
In 1997, Earl Hayes Parnell died and the land was
acquired by his son, Dale Parnell. Today, Clint and Dale continue to own the
farm and they raise hay and clover. The farmhouse that was constructed by the
founder in 1910 still stands on the property as a reminder of the rich legacy
of the farm.
Billy F. Tucker
The Tucker Farm is located 2 ½ miles northeast of
In 1846, Joseph’s son, Dickson Tucker acquired the land.
Under his ownership, the farm raised the same livestock and crops as the
founder. Married twice, he fathered ten children. As time moved on, his son,
Joseph Elijah Tucker became the third generation to own the farm. The land then
passed to Claggett Tucker and then in 1963 the current owner, Billy F. Tucker,
obtained the land.
Today, Billy still owns and manages the farm. The land
now yields hay, corn and garden vegetables and produces beef cattle. A barn
built in 1870 and a farm house constructed in 1890 still stand on the land.