White County was established in 1806 and named after John White, one of the first settlers of the area. The county seat is Sparta and it has many historic structures such as the residential Main Street historic district that contains popular domestic styles of the early twentieth century. Throughout its history, White County has had valuable natural resources in coal and timber. As a result of its abundance of coal, many mines and towns were established in the county and employed many of the residents. The lumber industry has also been important for the county and was in great demand during World War I when the federal government and Allied nations ordered gun stocks made out of walnut. White County's oldest Century Farms is the Sullivan Farm that was established in 1814.  For more information regarding White County, please go to the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture website.

Brown Farm

Carter Farm

Dixie Farm

Goddard Mountain Farm

Hitchcock Farm

Johnson Farm

JOT Farm

McPeak Farm

Mullican Farm

Plum Creek Farm

Sullivan Farm

The following map is for a general geographical understanding. It does not provide the specific locations of the farms because of privacy reasons.

Brown Farm

Tomie Brown

Located on Howell Cemetery Road, the Brown Farm was founded in 1905 by Riley Green and his wife Mary Pistole Green. The 38-acre farm produced timber, corn, hay, tobacco, hogs, cattle, and poultry. The couple had eight children. Prior to establishing the farm, Riley served in the Civil War and later became an ordained Baptist Minister. 

Riley and Mary’s daughter, Mattie Lou Green Brown acquired the farm in 1936. Married to James Hubert Brown, the were the parent of nine children. During World War II, four of the sons served in the armed forces overseas. The farm produced timber, corn, hay, tobacco, hogs, cattle, and poultry and grew a vegetable garden. Mattie Lou and James celebrated their 50^th wedding anniversary on the farm, as did two of their children and their spouses. 

The current owners, spanning three generations, include Dovie Roberta Brown Shockley and Tomie S. Brown. The 56-acre farm now produces beef cattle, tobacco, and hay and raises Morgan and Tennessee Walking horses.  The original house, log cabin and smokehouse, still stand on the land today.

The Brown family gathers at the farm often for special celebrations. Last July, many family members, though living in other counties and states, returned to White County for the centennial anniversary of the founding of the farm.  Laura Beth Brown, chairwoman of the reunion, writes that “traditions like the Brown Family Reunion persist because they strike a chord of comfort within us.  They express our personality and give strength and nourishment and a sense of renewal to our days and our family spirit.”

Photo: (top left): An unpaved road on the Brown Farm.

Photo (bottom): Cattle on the Brown Farm.

Carter Farm

Genevra Crowder Carter

Margaret Carter Mounts

            Located ten miles north of Sparta, the Carter Farm is the oldest Century Farm in White County and dates to Jacob Robinson’s acquisition of 150 acres in 1826. On land that possessed “an abundance of clear water and choice timber,” Robinson raised oxen, swine, corn and cotton, the basic crops and livestock for a self-sustaining farm. According to the family, Robinson owned a large number of slaves.

            The founder was the father of thirteen children and his sons Andrew and Manuel Robinson inherited the farm in about 1828. The brothers raised horses, cattle and swine and harvested fields of corn and wheat. Andrew, who never married, donated land for the Robinson Chapel Presbyterian Church. Manuel’s spouse was Mary Lou Cash and they had three children. At an unknown date in the nineteenth century, the farm passed to Manuel and Mary’s son, John Jacob Robinson. John added potatoes to the crops planted in the family’s fields. Wed to Jane Johnson, John fathered two daughters, Mary Lou and Alice Robinson.

            In 1930, Mr. and Mrs. John Vasco Crowder received title to 100 acres of the family land. John, who was the great great grandson of the founders, raised tobacco, hay and pasture. By 1976, his widow managed the farm’s operations. Ten years later, their daughter Genevra Crowder Carter worked eleven acres of the original property and other family heirs owned the remainder of the farm. 

Dixie Farm

Teddy Keith Day

Darrell Keith Day

Darla Day Garrison

            In 1848 J. A. Walker set sail from Liverpool, England on board the “Sailor Prince.”  With him was his wife, Ann, and their three children, John Willy, Elizabeth Ann, and Mary Jane.  They arrived in New Orleans in November. The family, who had been eight weeks at sea, suffered the death of Mary Jane while living in New Orleans.   In July of the following year the Walker family boarded the steamboat “Old Hickory” and arrived in Nashville one week later.  Walker, trained to work in all types of leather, soon became the foreman of the sadlle shop of Morrow Brothers in Nashville.  The shop made saddles and bridles for the Confederate cavalry.  Walker enlisted in the Confederate Army and served as a private throughout the war.   In 1869, he purchased a farm of just over 317 acres for $5000 northeast of Sparta at Yankeetown, so named because Union troops camped there during the Civil War.   Walker then moved his family from Nashville to his White County property which he named “Dixie Farm.”  His wife Ann was buried on the farm in a cemetery where Revolutionary War veteran, Eiljah Chisum and his wife, were buried in 1818.  In 1880 the Englishman was buried by his wife on their farm in Tennessee. 

            W. A. Walker, son of the founders, inherited a 53-acre share of the farm in 1880 and purchased another 53- acre share from his youngest brother.   He and his wife, Mary Walker, had four children.

            The farm remained in the family it became the property of Pauline Day, the great granddaughter of the founder.  In 2006, the land was acquired by Teddy Keith Day, the great great grandson of the founding Walkers.  Today, Teddy and his son Darrell work the land and they raise horses, hay and cattle.  The house and a barn built in 1910 remain important parts of the history of this family farm that traces its lineage across two centuries and two continents.

Photo: The farm house and landscape on the Dixie Farm.

Goddard Mountain Farm

Nate and Jean Bastian

            In the era of the stagecoach, farmers who located their homesteads along a popular road often supplemented their income by using a few rooms in their house as a stage stop and operating a blacksmith shop. One such farm in White County was the Goddard Mountain Farm, founded in 1873 by Robert Anderson and Susan Teeters Goddard. Located three miles west of Doyle, their 213.5 acres often benefited from the transportation improvements of the late nineteenth century. The Goddards operated a country store and blacksmith shop along the McMinnville-Sparta road and their home served as a stage stop. Corn, tobacco, small grains, horses and mules were the farm’s chief agricultural products. The Goddards were the parents of two children and the family donated land for the Onward School, which also served as a meeting place for the local Odd Fellows Lodge.

            Jacob T. and Sarah Price Goddard became the farm’s second owners when they obtained 239.5 acres of family land in 1882. The Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railroad built through the farm two years later and the Goddards gained significant benefits from this modern transportation link. Their country store became a railroad stop known as the Onward Station, and “served as an important farm produce and crosstie depot.” Jacob became the local stationmaster as well.

            Married twice and the father of eight children, “Jake” expanded his landholdings to 315 acres and produced corn, tobacco, small grains, sugar cane, swine, cattle and horses. The farm passed through two more owners before Nate and Jean Bastain obtained 213.5 acres of the original farm in 1972. Jean is the great granddaughter of the founders. She and Nate now manage over 450 acres, cultivating tobacco and breeding Polled Hereford and Simmental cattle. Timber production is another major agricultural activity. The Bastains also report that a nineteenth century hay and horse barn “constructed of dowel pegs in beams,” is still in use at the farm.

Hitchcock Farm

Dorothy Diane Hitchcock Clark

            The Hitchcock Farm was founded in 1819 by William Hitchcock. William and his brothers Ezekiel and John, were all given grants of land for their service in the Revolutionary War.  William was an early Justice of the Peace in White County, serving in 1809 (the county was formed in 1806).  The family has information that indicates William Hitchcock worked with John White for whom the county was named.  Jesse Hitchcock, nephew of William and the son of Ezekiel, became the next owner of the farm in 1865.   He is known to have fathered 5 children but his wife’s name is not recorded.  The family was mostly self-sufficient producing grains, hay, apples, horses, mules, cows and chickens.  The current owner is Dorothy Diane Hitchcock Clark who is a descendent of Ezekiel Hitchcock.   Today, Mrs. Clark, her husband, and sons live on the farm and raise beef cattle, hay, and a garden.  A log cabin that was built around 1900 still stands on the farm and a hand dug well has the date 1918 engraved on the cover.

Johnson Farm

William M. Johnson

            Located 2 miles north of Sparta, Tennessee lies the Johnson Farm that was founded by Jasper T. Johnson in 1894. On 129 acres, Jasper and his wife Margaret Johnson raised corn, tobacco and beef cattle. The couple had two children, William Marvin and Amon Estes Johnson and they became the next owners of the farm. William and his wife Bernie Miller Johnson and Amon and his wife Mary Hill Johnson managed the farm and cultivated tobacco, hay and beef cattle.

            In 1966, William M. Johnson, the grandson of the founder, became the owner of the land and he is the current owner of the property. Today, the farm produces tobacco, hay and beef cattle. 

JOT Farm

Charles Ray and Anna Ruth Anderson

Like much of Middle Tennessee, White County was sharply divided in its Civil War sympathies and the Pistole’s community suffered from guerrilla attacks.  Even their church congregation split.  One son, Thomas J. Pistole, was a Lieutenant in Co. E, 25^th (later 44^th) Tennessee Infantry Regiment, C.S.A., surrendering at Appomattox Court House in 1865.  A war-time tax assessment lists Stephen as owning 736 acres valued at $2000.

In the 1870s, the founders sold their daughter, Nancy Catherine, and her husband, Milton Burkhead Oliver, approximately 100 acres that eventually descended to the present owners.  The Olivers continued the farm’s income- producing and self-sustaining activities, adding flax to their list of commodities.

Like many Century Farms, JOT Farms was handed down through the female line repeatedly when in 1902, the Oliver’s daughter, Cora Bell Oliver Gribble and her husband John Connie Gribble, acquired 156 acres.  In the 1960s and 70s, their son, C. Oliver Gribble, and his wife, Velma Gladys Mansell Gribble, purchased the farm.  One of their two daughters, Ruth Gribble Anderson and her husband, Charles Ray Anderson, are the present owners.

Ruth, the great, great, granddaughter of the farm’s founder, lives on the farm with her husband and their son, Samuel Tim Oliver Anderson.  Today, the Andersons raise hay, corn, tobacco, soybeans and cattle on 156 acres of the original tract plus 194 additional acres.  A cattle barn and a log building (once a dwelling), both built before 1900, remain in use on the farm.

McPeak Farm

Beecher H. McPeak

Located 13 miles south west of Sparta, Tenn., the McPeak Farm was established in 1858 by Dave Clark. During the same year, he built a house from yellow poplar and inscribed the date of 1858 on the chimney. According to family tradition, during the Civil War a Yankee soldier visited the Darkey Springs community and many men in the town wanted to “whip him.” However, Dave Clark prevented the men from beating the soldier. When  Union soldiers came through the area, burning many buildings in their path, the soldier who had been saved by Dave requested that the group move on and the Clark homestead was spared to shelter seven generations.

After Clark moved to Limestone County, Ala., his daughter, Mahaley Clark, became the next generation owner. She married John Lambert McPeak, a pastor who traveled every Saturday, returning late Sunday night, to Roaring River Two Seeds Baptist in Overton County to preach. McPeak also pastored Two Seeds Baptist churches in DeKalb, Van Buren and Warren Counties. The couple had nine children.

Their son, Joe Eins McPeak became the third generation to own the land in 1920. During his ownership, the farm served as a place for church camp meetings, some of which would last for days. Joe Eins was an educator who attended Hutchings College, as did his siblings. He taught at several area schools over the years and was also postmaster at Walling as well as a tax assessor.  An avid lover of sports, McPeak once had a community baseball team. His son remembers that if the ball was hit into the sage field, the game was suspended so everyone could look for the ball. 

Martha Stacy was Joe Eins McPeak’s wife. A trained nurse, she is remembered as serving a vital role in the Yatestown community, where she delivered babies and cared for the sick of all ages for many years. With a mule as her transportation, she traveled throughout the county. While often being gone from home for several days to nurse others, she managed to rear five children.

In 1955, Joe Eins and Martha’s son,  Beecher Herod McPeak, became the owner of the farm. McPeak, raised on the farm and the grandson of the founder, remembers that he raised an 11-acre corn crop when he was 11.  Then, at 14, it is reported that he sold a hog to buy his first calf, which started the bloodline that is raised on the farm today.  

Today, Beecher and his wife Lila Genevea Carter McPeak raise Charolais cattle, hay and hybrid daylilies. In addition, they have a commercial crop of blackberries and a wine grape vineyard on the farm. Their daughter, Debbie, and her daughter, Jennifer Nicole, make their home on the farm, where the home that was built in 1858 by the founder still stands and the reminiscences of Beecher McPeak and his family add much to the history of the community and White County, even as the family continues to operate a diverse farm today.

Mullican Farm

William C. Mullican

Jewel A. Pitman

            In 1883, Jeremiah “Jerry” Mullican founded the Mullican Farm in White County. Located eight miles north of Sparta, Tennessee the 110 acres produced horses, cattle, hogs and chickens. The next owner of the farm was William W. Mullican. He and his wife Rosa Lou Hudgens Mullican had two children, William Clyde Mullican and Jewel Mullican Pitman.

            In 1931, William acquired 80 acres of the farm, while Jewel received 35 acres of land. Today, the farm produces cattle and soybeans and is still owned by William and Jewel and worked by Jewel’s son James E. Pitman. 

Plum Creek Farm

Catherine Snograss Kiser

Carolyn Snodgrass Edgeman

James Glenn Snodgrass, II

            Established by William and Martha Snodgrass Glenn in 1836, the Plum Creek Farm was once one of the largest antebellum plantations in White County and serves as a reminder of how large landowners influenced local economic development. Glenn was an early Sparta merchant who “invested in hotels, stage lines, railroads, coal mining, grist mills and a cotton mill.” On his 4, 727 acre plantation, located seven miles north of Sparta, he produced cotton, small grains and livestock. Slaves did most of the farm work, but, according to the family, “at least one grandson plowed the fields along side the blacks.”

            William willed 611.5 acres of the farm to his daughter Eliza Jane Glenn Sims, who acquired title to the land in 1860. Eliza’s husband Oliver Hazard Perry Sims operated the local cotton factory and “served several terms on the county court.” Besides the production of cotton, Sims and his family practiced general subsistence farming. When Eliza died in 1885, she left the farm to her son William Eli Sims. Thirty-four years later, William gave 114 acres to the founders’ great granddaughter Eliza Jane Sims. She wed Robert Lee Snodgrass and they raised three children.

            In 1957, Mrs. James Glenn (Cassie Koger) Snodgrass inherited 55 acres of Plum Creek Farm. The widow of the great great great grandson, Cassie received a dower interest in her husband’s estate and formal ownership passed to her three children. As of 1976, Cassie’s nephew Alva Hill Wheeler harvested the farm’s hay crop and her cousin Tommy Sims cultivated its corn and tobacco.

Sullivan Farm

Herd Estell Sullivan, Jr.

            The Sullivan Farm, located seven miles from Sparta, is distinguished by being developed out of land grants during the early settlement of Tennessee. Like many settlers who came to Tennessee during the early nineteenth century, James Sullivan, who was born in Virginia, came to the area that was later to be known as White County to establish a homestead and farm. As an early pioneer, he cleared the land for row crops and a garden and also for raising livestock. In addition to managing the farm, James was an active member and trustee for the Wesley Chapel Methodist Church in the community.

James and his wife Martha Acuff Sullivan had seven children and their daughter Lucy Sullivan became the second generation to own the farm. During her ownership, the farm raised row crops, cattle, horses, hogs and sheep. Having never married and having no children, the farm went to her nephew James H. Sullivan in 1869. Married twice, James fathered eight children. According to family tradition, during the Civil War he fed a Union Army who came to the farm. As a result of his kindness, the Captain of the Union Army instructed his crew “to not do him any harm.”

The next owner of the land was William Amon Sullivan the great-grandson of the founder and James’s son. Under his ownership, William cultivated corn, hay and garden vegetables. He also raised sheep, cattle, hogs and horses. While managing the farm, William also participated in building the Liberty Baptist Church in the community and served on the White County Board of Education. William and his wife Margaret Jane Cope Sullivan had four children and two of their children, Herd Estell Sullivan, Sr. and Gladys Sullivan became the next generation to own the farm.

Herd Estell and Gladys continued the farming traditions by raising the same livestock and crops as the previous owners. In addition, they were both very active in the community. Herd Estell served as Sunday School Superintendent and was also involved in a landscaping and beautification project for the cemetery and the grounds of his church. In addition, he was a committeeman from the Farm Program in his community and was a veteran of World War II. Gladys taught school for 42 years in White County, taught Young People’s Sunday School Class at her church and served as song leader in her church for many years.

After, Herd Estell, Sr. died, the land was acquired by his wife Curtis Marie Ward Sullivan and their son Herd Estell Sullivan, Jr. Today, Herd, Jr., his son Shaun and Gladys, who is still living manage the farm. Today, the farm produces corn, hay, tobacco, garden vegetables and cattle. Herd continues to be active in the community by serving as a Deacon and Sunday School teacher at Liberty Baptist Church and as a White County commissioner. He also has worked with the ASCS and FHA. The family continues to be active members of the Liberty Baptist Church.