Cocke County

            Cocke County was created from Jefferson County in 1797 and named in honor of William Cocke, a Revolutionary War soldier, who supported the establishment of the State of Franklin, helped write Tennessee’s first constitution, and served as one of the state’s initial U. S. Senators. The county seat is Newport. The railroad industry has played a significant role in the history of Cocke County by providing a transportation link to both Knoxville, Tennessee and Ashville, North Carolina. The influence and importance of the railroad in the town is notable by the railroad depot being located at the center of the downtown area instead of the courthouse. Cocke County has eight Century Farms and the oldest is the River Dale Farm that was established in 1794. For more information regarding Cocke County, please go to the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History & Culture website.

For a brief historical sketch of each farm, click on the farm name.

Bible Farm

Leibrock Farm

M.G. Roberts Poplar Tree Farm

Neas Farm

Oakleaf Farm

Ottinger Farm

Pitts Farm

River Dale 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

Bible Farm

Elizabeth B. Wiley

Howard R. Wiley

In 1887, Ezra Bible and Elizabeth Davis Bible established a 210 acre farm about three miles north of Parrottsville.  Prior to establishing this farm, Ezra left his wife and three children at their farm above Del Rio to serve in the Union Army during the Civil War.   With their move to the Parrottsville community, Ezra and Elizabeth and their family of seven children operated a self-sufficient farm growing a variety of crops such as tobacco, corn, wheat, hay and fruit trees.  They also raised cattle, horses, hogs and chickens.  An industrious man of many skills, Ezra made many improvements to the farm, constructing a house, barn, smoke house, crib and chicken houses.  He also made most of the furniture for the house and tanned leather to make shoes. Ezra not only made shoes for his family, but for families in the community.  Ezra and Elizabeth believed in a good education and saw that each of their children received one.   Two became teachers, one a dentist, one a newspaper publisher, two were farmers, and one was a homemaker.

            The second owner of the farm was Louie Bible, daughter of the founding couple.  She acquired the land in 1925 and made a home for her brother.  She raised poultry, cattle, corn, and tobacco.  Louie also made quilts and spent time with gardening, especially flowers.  She also participated in the home demonstration club and was active in her church.  Though Louie never married, she provided a home for several of her nephews until they graduated from high school.

            In 1970, the great granddaughter of the founder, Elizabeth B. Wiley became the third owner of the farm.  Currently, Elizabeth and her husband Howard work the land and mainly raise beef cattle. Built by Ezra, the barn, smoke house and two chicken houses remain as reminders of the more than 120 years of history of the Bible Farm.

Leibrock Farm

William Leibrock

In January 1886, William McMahan founded a 120-acre farm southeast of Newport, Tenn. He and his wife, Lydia, and their four children—Zora, Oscar, Richard David and Andrew—raised cattle, hay, tobacco, corn and many other crops on what was a largely self-sufficient farmstead.

            In 1912, the farm, which had expanded to about 200 acres by this time, passed to the founding couple’s son, Oscar McMahan. After his death, the farm passed to his sister Zora and her husband, Frank Leibrock.

Following her Zora’s death, the farm became the property of the children of Zora and Frank. These heirs, Edward, Mack, Carolyn and Wilma, conveyed the family farm to William McMahan Leibrock, son of Edward, in 1980. William is the great-grandson of William and Lydia McMahan. 

Today, William Leibrock, wife Charlotte and their daughter, Charlotte Ann, live on the farm. Several buildings on the farm date to the 19th and early 20th centuries. William reported that three of these are built of hewn logs and have their original cedar shingles. Each has been changed over time by the generations who have lived on the family farm, he noted.

M. G. Roberts Poplar Tree Farm

Eleanor Roberts Luther

            Distinguished public service to the state, county, and community identifies the generations of the Roberts Poplar Tree Farm as among the political and agricultural leaders of Cocke County. Issac Allen established the farm in 1859 on 312 acres ten miles south of Newport. Allen practiced general farming and counted wheat, sorghum and chickens as his important agricultural products. The proprietor of a general store, he participated in all aspects of community activities. For many years Allen was the chairman of the Cocke County Court. He also served in the Tennessee House of Representatives where he helped draft the State Constitution of 1834. Issac married Mary Weaver and they had ten children, one of whom, Pikey John Allen, fought in the Civil War. Their daughter Jane helped organize the Allens Grove Baptist Church.

            In 1877, Jane and her husband John Gray were deeded 212 acres of the family land. John Gray, like his father-in-law, was an important community leader in Cocke County, serving both as deputy surveyor and deputy sheriff. Together with two tenant farmers, John made several improvements on the property, including clearing new fields for cultivation and building a split rail fence.

            Of John and Jane’s six children, Margaret Gray and her husband Adolphus Everett Roberts inherited the farm’s 212 acres in 1918. In a varied career, A. E. Roberts worked as a teacher, postmaster and singer. He was also an innovative farmer and introduced the cultivation of tobacco to his property.

            A. E. and Maggie had two children and in 1943, their son Manor G. Roberts acquired three-fifths of the property. Manor and his wife live and work on the farm and during their ownership of the land they produced corn, hay, wheat, tobacco, timber and cattle. Today, their daughter, Eleanor Roberts Luther owns the farm.

Neas Farm

Kevin R. Neas
Hugh Len Neas

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in March 2004, the Neas Farm was founded in 1885 by Isaac Ottinger, one of many German immigrants to Parrottsville.   His only son, Thomas, acquired the original 60 acres in 1922.  Through his marriage to Thomas Ottinger’s daughter, Cora, Herman Neas became the first of his family to hold title to the land now known as Neas Farm.  Herman’s ancestors had settled in the area as early as the late 1700s.  In 1957, Herman and Cora Neas deeded 93 acres, including the original parcel, to their son and his wife, Glenn and Edith Neas.  Glenn’s grandson, Kevin and his wife, Darbi, operate the present 106-acre farm which continues to support beef cattle and produce crops traditionally grown there: burley tobacco, wheat, and barley. 

Kevin is the sixth generation of his family to live in the farmhouse built circa 1861.  A barn and granary on the Neas Farm also date to the 1860s.           

Photo: The farmhouse on the Neas Farm.

Oakleaf Farm

David Leroy Ottinger

In 1902, James Abraham Ottinger established the Oakleaf Farm. Located near  Parrottsville, one of Tennessee’s oldest towns,  the 44 acres supported crops including  corn and tobacco as well as cattle and hogs. In addition to managing the farm, James worked as a carpenter in the community. Married to Nancy Lavinia Ottinger, the couple had nine children. The children’s names were Vertia Estelle, Barney Seldon, Bernice Beatrice, Mary Fannu, Walter Lenton, Mayme Evelyn, Johnnie Calvin, Alice Hazel and Charlsie Ruth. A year after the farm was established, a church was constructed on the land and given to the Methodist denomination.

            In 1947, Johnnie Calvin Ottinger acquired the farm. Johnnie and his wife Eunivee Rader had four children.  Under this generation’s  ownership, the farm work was done by horses and mules and the main crops were tobacco and corn. Jersey milk cows were raised and shown in 4-H.  Today, David Leroy Ottinger, great-grandson of the founders owns the farm.  David and his wife Shirley raise goats, beef cattle, donkeys and hay.   The Ottinger family is of German descent and among the early settlers of Cocke County; ancestor Michael Ottinger organized the Salem Lutheran Church in 1803.

Photo: A Stock Barn on the Oakleaf Farm.

Ottinger Farm

Janet O. Harris
Lana Ottinger Gregg

Located ten miles northeast of Parrotsville, Tennessee is the Ottinger Farm. Jacob and Mary Chapman established this farm in 1894 and raised corn, tobacco, hogs and cattle. They had nine children and their son, John Calvin Ottinger, became the next owner of the farm. John married Emma Keyes Ottinger and they had two children. They grew the same crops and livestock as the previous owner.

            Marcus E. Ottinger, the son of John and Emma, was the third generation to own the farm. Marcus, his wife Marie Peters and their four children cultivated wheat, corn, tobacco, tomatoes and pumpkins on the farm. In addition, they raised cattle.

            In 1993, the great granddaughters of the founder, Janet Ottinger Harris and Lana Ottinger Gregg acquired the land. Today, Janet and Lana along with their husbands work the land and primarily grow tobacco and raise cattle.

Photo: Lana Ottinger Gregg harvesting the tobacco crop on the Ottinger Farm.

Pitts Farm

Charles Douglas Hughes

Grady Edward Hughes

In 1897, R. C. Pitts purchased land that was originally a part of the Boyer Farm from Jefferson and Florence Boyer Hurley. Not long after, R. C. moved his wife Sirentha Collett Potts and their four children to a small sparse house on the property.

Prior to purchasing the land, R. C. worked as a railroad foreman and moved his family to places such as Strawberry Plains, Tenn., and Marshall, N.C.

According to CHP records, R. C. remained on the farm for a year before he returned to work on the railroad line that was being constructed from Newport into North Carolina and into southeast Tennessee. Sirentha continued to live on the farm with her children during the time that R. C. was away. She managed the farm and with her children grew corn, hay, vegetables and fruit orchards. To be as self-sufficient as possible, they also raised swine, chickens and dairy cows. However, per the family, R. C. never returned to the farm and his children, primarily sons Porter and Lloyd, were taught to farm by Dave Hawk, a neighbor.

            In 1917 after his marriage to Cora Gregg, Porter was drafted into the U.S. Army and served in France and Belgium during World War I. During the war, Cora lived on the farm with Sirentha. After the war, Porter returned home and began farming the land. In 1920, Sirentha died and R. C., who was living in
Virginia at the time, transferred his ownership of the farm to his four children.

Not long after, Porter and Cora purchased the other siblings’ shares and became the sole owners of the farm. They cultivated corn, hay, tobacco, wheat, tomatoes and vegetables. In addition, they raised beef and dairy cattle, swine, chickens and geese. While he raised livestock and crops, Porter also made some improvements by expanding the orchard, originally planted by Sirentha, and building a large pond on the property that was stocked with catfish.

Porter also sold fresh vegetables, fruits, milk, butter and eggs to families in the town of Newport. Cora worked alongside her husband and canned and preserved fruits and vegetables and made fresh butter and cottage cheese for the family. According to the family, Porter also sold cream to Sugar Creek Creamery and milk to Pet Milk Company. Porter continued to work the land until his death in November 1986. After her husband’s death, Cora continued to raise beef cattle and hay until her death in 1989.

In 1989, Dorothy Geraldine Pitts Hughes and Eugene Fulton Pitts, the grandchildren of the founder, acquired the land. One year later, they sold the farm to Dorothy’s sons, Charles Douglas Hughes, Grady Edward Hughes and Gordon Dale Hughes. However, in recent years, Gordon sold his interest and the farm is now owned by Charles and Grady.

Today, the two brothers own the land and raise hay and beef cattle on the farm. The farm has many buildings that date before 1950, including the farmhouse, which “sits on a gentle slope with large old maple trees planted by Sirentha Pitts” in the early part of the last century. Also on the farm is a smokehouse, two chicken houses and a barn built in the 1920s that is used to store hay and shelter cattle.

Photo: Porter Pitts and his mules mow the hay on the Pitts Farm.

River Dale Farm

John Ayers
William Ayers

A family whose descendents helped settle Cocke County highlights the history of the River Dale Farm which was founded in 1794. Reps Jones, born in Virginia in 1742, migrated to the area in 1784 and settled along the Nolichucky River, a scenic river that has several Century Farms along its length. On this farm, dating from 1794, Reps and his wife, Lucy Pritchett Jones and their five children worked  250 acres in Beech Bottoms raising  corn, wheat, hay, cattle, and swine.  Reps Jones served as County Commissioner to help locate the seat of justice and superintended the erection of the log courthouse after Cocke County was formed in 1797. 

Daniel Jones, born in 1776 to Reps and Lucy, was the next owner of the land.  He and his wife, Mary Harrison Jones, and their 10 children produced corn, wheat, hay, cattle, and swine.  Daniel Jones served in the War of 1812. The first two generations of the family are buried on the family farm.   Daniel and Mary’s son, Daniel Jones II and his wife, Utella Clare Campbell Jones, acquired and purchased more than 613 acres.  It was this generation that gave land to the Cocke County Board of Education for the Jones School on Jones Hill. The school building was also used for church services.  The family also used the facility for many Jones family reunions in June of each year until the building burned in the early 1970s. In addition to providing land for the school, Daniel also gave acreage for the Jones Cemetery, also on Jones Hill. According to the family, over fifty Jones descendents, as well as friends and neighbors are buried there. 

 The current owners, John Lyman Ayers and William Victor Ayers, the sixth generation of the family, were born and raised on the farm. The Ayers brothers raise hay, corn, soybeans and tomatoes. The descendents of Reps and Lucy Jones “are proud of their heritage and like to walk through the family cemeteries on the property and talk about the names of ancestors they see engraved on the markers.”  Family members also take care of the burying grounds and the property by mowing and trimming the land, cleaning, mending broken tombstones, re-setting the fallen ones, and installing new grave markers.  John’s wife, Mary Miller Ayers, writes that the next generation, who have chosen not to farm for a living, are nevertheless “attached to the farm and will inherit it, but never want it sold.”

Photo: Cornfields on the River Dale Farm