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.
Map courtesy of Carole Swann, Tennessee Department of Agriculture
Raymond Ball
The Ball’s Farm is a rare
Lucy Ann Nunn, the founders’ daughter, inherited 404.5
acres of the plantation in 1861. He husband Corday B, Revelle served in the
Union army during the Civil War and died at the battle for
Lucy Ann had five children by her first husband and six by her second husband. In 1882, Edmond Abraham Revelle, a son from her first marriage, acquired the farm. Married to Lula Alice Prescott and the father of twelve children, he counted corn, swine and cotton as his most important farm products. In 1942, Corinne Revelle Ball and her husband Willie Bob Ball inherited a portion of the family land. Today, Raymond, the son of Corinne and Willie Bob, owns the farm.
Charles James
Community service is the thread holding together the
generations who have lived at the James Farm. Established by Moses and Mary
Porter Cox in 1833, the James Farm is located three miles north of
Moses and Mary Cox had twelve children and in 1890 their
son John acquired almost 275 acres of the farm. Like his father, he cultivated
corn, cotton and wheat and raised livestock. John married Nancy Farrow and they
had five children. Their daughter Mary Cecil Cox and her husband Charles James
became the third generation owners of the James Farm.
In 1968, Charles and Annie James inherited twenty acres of the original farm. Today, they work an additional 1,022 acres and specialize in cotton and soybeans.
Joe S. Emerson
Located four miles southeast of
In 1964, the children acquired the farm, though Malcolm eventually became the sole owner of the property. Along with his wife, Maggie Lou Goldsmith, the couple had two children, Mac Boyd and Joe Silas. Under Malcolm, who went by the surname Emerson rather than Emison, the family farm mainly produced cotton.
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In 1982, the great grandson of the founder, Joe S. Emerson and his
wife Myrtle Rose Leggett Emerson obtained the farm. Over the years, Myrtle has
been active in the community by being a member of the home demonstration club.
Along with her grandmother, she won prizes for making rugs from old cotton
stockings. In addition, Joe and Myrtle have been members of the Farm Bureau
since they married in 1955. The couple went to high school together at
Mrs. Emerson recalls that over the generations the family has
included not only farmers but school teachers, engineers, business people, and
doctors. One ancestor was a founder of
the
Photo (Top): Historic photo of Cypress Creek Farm's farmhouse.
Photo (Bottom Left): Silas , Ann and child.
Photo (Bottom Right): Malcolm, Maggie Lou and child.
Emmett Garfield Parker,
Jr.
Located in the 10th District of Crockett
County, Frog Jump Farm dates to 1830. Its founder was Dr. Samuel Oldham, Sr., a
native of
Dr. Oldham died in 1860 and the property passed into the
hands of his son Samuel Oldham, Jr. According to family tradition, the
plantation mansion suffered from raids throughout the Civil War resulting in
“severe damage and stolen property.” Despite the damage during the war, Samuel
and his wife Virginia Anderson Oldham continued to manage the farm as a major
plantation operation.
Cornelia Oldham Parker, the founder’s granddaughter, and
her husband James B. Parker acquired the farm in 1874 and 46 years later the
property passed into the hands of Emmett G. Parker, Sr. the founder’s great
grandson.
In 1962, Emmett G. Parker, Jr., became the fifth generation of the family to own Frog Jump Farm. As of 1976, Emmett managed well over 500 acres of the original farm, producing cotton, soybeans, wheat and cattle.
Garner Mack Goode, Jr.
Mary June Tracy Goode
On October 27, 2008, the
Goode Farm near
The second generation to own the
farm was D.A.C’s and
On October 12, 1942, Garner Mack
Goode and his wife Mary Baker Goode purchased twenty-four acres from his
parents. Only a few months later in
January of 1943, he acquired the remaining acres from his brothers and
sisters. The parents of twins, their
daughter, Maxine, was thrown from a mule in October of 1942 and died at age
seven. Over the years Garner and Mary
and their son , Garner Mack Goode, Jr., grew a variety of crops including corn,
cotton, hay, strawberries, squash and soybeans as well as cattle and hogs.
Garner, Sr. and Mary lived on and managed the farm until their deaths
In 1974, the great grandson of the founder, Garner Mack Goode, Jr. and his wife, Mary June, acquired the property. Their sons are Bobby, Garner, and Crockett. Dean Speight currently works the farm that supports cotton, corn, soybeans and wheat.
Robert Matthew Griggs
Joanna Vanderpool Griggs
Jocelyn Griggs Bundy
The Griggs Farms LLC dates to 1884 when Robert Buchanan Griggs,
Jr. acquired 750 acres in the Mason Grove community, which was established in
the 1820s by the Mason family. Prior to the railroad being built in Gadsden in
the 1880s, Mason Grove was a thriving community with a boarding school known as
Mason’s Grove Masonic Academy, a hotel, a post office, several churches and other
businesses. Robert married Mary Susan Cox and they had nine children. Their
names were Jim, Sophia, Winnie, Susie, Willis Wayne, Nannie, Edna, Emmet and
Ernest. The family raised cattle,
horses, cotton and hay. According to the family, the first cotton gin in the
community was owned by Lemuel E. Humphreys and located between Gadsden and
Humboldt off of what is currently Highway 79. It was later sold to Robert
Buchanan Griggs in 1882 and was converted from horse power to windmill power
and continuously updated through the years until it ceased operation in 1995.
After Robert passed away, the
original 750 acres was split among his children into 14 different tracts. Over
the years, several tracts were bought and sold between the family members. The
family remembers that a generator was located behind the Robert Buchanan Griggs
house that supplied power to the Mason Grove community. During this time, the
farms mainly produced cotton, hay, cattle and horses.
In 1953, Willis Wayne Griggs died
and his widow, Addie May Griggs, inherited the property. Willis and Addie had two children, James
Wayne and Mary Jane. After his father’s death, James, who served in World War
II, operated and managed the farm land, the store and cotton gin. In the early 1960s, James started a liquid
fertilizer and chemical business on the farm. James and his wife Margaret
Collinsworth had two children, Robert Wayne and James Terrance. James and
Robert both served as members of the National Cotton Board and regularly
attended their meetings. During the 1970s and 1980s, James acquired more of the
tracts of the original farmland. In the 1980s, the fertilizer and chemical
business ceased operations, and in 1995, the cotton gin closed.
Today, the farm is owned by Robert
Matthew Griggs, the great, great grandson of the founder, and his mother,
Joanna Vanderpool Griggs, and his sister, Jocelyn Leah Griggs Bundy. In 2002,
the farm diversified its products with corn, hybrid Bermuda grass hay, grain
sorghum, soybeans and cotton. Currently, the land is worked by Robert who lives
on the farm in a 1900 dwelling with his wife Kelley Marie Lavin Griggs and
their children, Paige Marie, Nathaniel Marshall, and Carter Wayne. Robert also rents an additional 1200 acres in
Crockett and Madison counties. The family reports that the historic farm
houses, cotton gin, office, and shop are intact on the property.
Claude M. Conley
Banking, town development and agricultural leadership
highlight the history of the Hillcrest Farm. Cordelia Green Conley and her
husband Tolbert Fanning Conley established Hillcrest Farm near the town of
In 1896, Columbus H. Conley, the founders’ grandson,
inherited the family land and over the years he purchased 1,200 additional
acres.
This Century Farm retains much of its turn of the century
farming landscape. The neat orchard rows reflect the values of progressive
farming in the early twentieth century. The farmhouse, a large two-story
Georgian home, represents the wealth the Conley family has generated from their
Edith Peck Branch
James Howell Branch
Howell Branch of Smith County established the
Homeplace Farms, located two miles west of
Humphrey inherited 100 acres of the family farm in 1879.
Serving the local community as a highway commissioner, a census taker and a
county magistrate, he continued the family traditions of community service and
diversified farming and “made early use of modern conveniences” such as carbide
lights.
Married to Virginia Parker, Humphrey also helped raise
three children. In 1944,
As of 1976, the Branch family operated the property as a cattle farm, breeding registered Black Angus cattle. They also grew hay, soybeans and raspberries. At that time, the main house of Homeplace Farms, which dates to the 1850s, was intact, along with a smokehouse, well house, servants house and chicken house dating to the nineteenth century.
James Benjamin Humphreys
The impact of modern machinery on twentieth century
agriculture was particularly important to the history of the Humphreys Farm.
Purchasing 222 acres located three miles southwest of Humboldt, William G.
Humphreys and his wife Mary Todd founded the Humphreys Farm a year after the Civil
War. William, Mary and their ten children were “active in local politics, (the)
Christian church. . . (and) agricultural and educational pursuits.” William, a Mason, cultivated cotton, corn, wheat,
oats and hay while raising several types of livestock.
In 1884, Lemuel E. Humphreys, the founders’ son,
purchased the family land and soon expanded his farm to approximately 1,000
acres. Cotton and corn were the farm’s primary cash crops, but Lemuel, his wife
Mary Hart and their children managed a diversified farm and produced several
types of crops and livestock. In the early 1880s, Lemuel also operated a cotton
gin and for many of his adult years, he served on the
The founders’ grandson, Thomas Hart Humphreys, inherited
74 acres of the farm in 1929 and seventeen years later he acquired 428 acres of
the property. Thomas brought the farm into the modern age of agriculture. In
1912, he acquired an automobile and in 1918 he bought an Avery tractor, “paving
the way for mechanization of the farm.” Thomas married Lila Grace and they had
six children.
In 1946, Mr. and Mrs. James B. Humphreys acquired 67
acres of the original farm and they worked this land, along with 100 additional
acres, for the next thirty years, with soybeans, cotton, hay and livestock
being their primary agricultural products.
Near the
In 1908, Elisha and Louisa’s grandson W. Z. Williams
acquired 96.5 acres of the original farm and later purchased 270 additional
acres. Together with his wife Mary Griggs and their seven children, W. Z.
managed a successful cotton and corn farm, surviving even the hard times of the
Great Depression.
The founders’ great grandson J. W. Williams inherited 270 acres of the farm in 1948. Following a family tradition, J. W. continued to grow cotton, but he also began to cultivate soybeans. Today, Clint and Carolyn Williams, who is the granddaughter of W. Z. Williams, own the farm. According to the family, Carolyn's daughter, Macy Pierce, currently lives in a new home that is located where W. Z. William's old home place once stood.
Margaret C. Norville
Marvin C. Norville
The M & M Farm, located southeast of 
he raised sheep, cattle and
corn. In addition to managing the farm, he served as one of the trustees of the
Methodist Episcopal Church South in the community. Daniel married Susan Emison
and they had eight children.
The next owner of the farm was the
founder’s son-in-law, F. M. Goldsmith. He and his wife Margaret Laman had three
children, Archie,
In 1914, Clem M. Clark, the husband
of
Photo: Margaret Norville, the current owner of the farm, holds a woven spread that was made by the founder's wife, Susan Laman.
Vivienne
I. Hannum
In 1818, long before Crockett County was established in 1871,
Isaac and Rachel Koonce settled on 640 acres. With their adopted daughter, Macy
Jones Koonce, they raised row crops and livestock. After her mother’s death in
1877, Macy acquired the farm. She and
her husband, John D. Burnett, along with their two children, Mallie and Samuel,
continued to raise cotton, corn, cattle and hogs.
Following Macy’s death in 1926, Mallie and Samuel each received
300 of the original 640 acres. The remaining 40 acres went to Solomon Koonce, a
former slave, who lived on his land until his death at age 100.
Mallie and her husband, Oscar Green Birmingham, along with their
son, Bernice Albert Birmingham, raised cotton, corn, cattle and soybeans. They
lived in her parents’ house, while her brother, Samuel and wife Mary built a
house just down the road on his acreage.
Bernice inherited 300 acres when his
mother died in 1938 and purchased another 300 acres from his cousins, the
children of his Uncle Samuel and Aunt Mary, bringing most of the original
acreage together in one farm again. He and his wife, Stella Irene Stephens, had
one daughter, Vivienne Irene. They raised cotton, soybeans, cattle, pigs and
chickens for eggs.
Vivienne B. Hannum is the current
owner and the great-great- granddaughter of founders Isaac and Rachel Koonce,
both of whom are buried in the family cemetery across the road from her
house.
Currently owning 183 acres of the original farm, Vivienne inherited the land in 1986 after her mother died and is the fifth generation of her family to own this property. Now 90 years old, Vivienne is no longer active in farming but employs a manager to raise cotton and soybeans. She currently lives in the family home constructed before 1900.
Ann Stanley
Johnny Max Mount
Lynn Harris Mount
In 1860, Harris Noblin Mount established a 100 acre farm in what
was originally 
which became part of
Henry Winchester Mount, the son of Harris and his fourth wife, Martha Jane Stephenson, acquired the farm in 1912 following his father’s death. Wed to Naudie Dobbins, the couple had six children -- Ira, John Harris, Dorothy Helen, Donald Conyers, James and Hilda. The family produced cotton, corn, hay, cattle, horses and mules on the farm.
In 1965, John Harris Mount became
the third generation to own the farm. He and his wife, Lavern Lucille McGarity,
had three children. Today, these
siblings, Johnny Max, Lynn Harris, and Ann, are the owners of the property.
Currently, Ann and her husband Glenn Stanley live on the farm and
Photo (top right): Harris Noblin Mount, the founder of the Mount Farm.
Photo (bottom left): Ann Mount Stanley stands in front of the cypress tree that was planted by the founder's daughter.
Oakcrest Polled Herefords Farm
Carolyn Skelton
At
that time, the 30-acre farm produced, cotton, corn and truck patches, and
vegetables. The couple had three children, and their son, Whit Crossnoe, became the next owner in 1928.
He and his wife, Nevara, had nine children. During the time on the farm,
the acreage produced cotton and corn.
The farm’s current owner is the founder’s great-granddaughter, Carolyn
Skelton. She and husband Gerald Richard Skelton live on the now 115-acre
farm, where they raise Registered Polled Herefords.
Photo: David Allen Crossnoe, Margaret V. Crossnoe and children on the farm in the early 1900s.
W. A. E. Potts
J. E. Potts
This Century Farm dates to 1866 when Ellison Potts of
In 1900, Ellison and Judy’s only child, J. L. Potts, inherited the property. J. L., his wife Mary Pennington and their five children managed a successful farm and added 198 acres to their holdings. In 1936, the founders’ grandsons, W. A. E. and J. E. Potts, acquired the farm. Forty years later, they still lived on the property, managing its daily operations. In 1976, Travis Raines worked the land for the Potts brothers, producing soybeans, corn, cotton, hay and cattle.
Irene Agee Riddick
John D. Agee founded the Riddick Farm, located four
miles northwest of
Irene Agee Riddick, the founder’s great granddaughter, acquired the original family land in 1952 to which she later added 116 acres. As of 1976, Irene lived on the farm with her son Karel and his family.
William Lee Todd
Rulee Farm was founded in 1905 by William Andrew Duffy and his wife Nancy Jane Mainord Duffey. The 127 acres produced, corn, cotton, and cattle. The couple had seven children. Their daughter, Ruby Mainord Duffey Todd, was the next owner of the land, along with her husband, Robert Lee Todd. She was the secretary of Crockett County Farm Bureau, active in County Home Demonstration Club, and a West Tennessee Women’s Leader in the Tennessee Farm Bureau. The Todds practiced soil conservation by building terraces and crop rotation. Rulee Farm won the Commerical Appeal’s Plant to Prosper Award for the county in the 1930s. The current owner of the farm is William Lee Todd, the grandson of the founder. He received the State FFA Farmer Degree in 1955 and the American Farmer Degree in 1958. Continuing his parents’ progressive farming techniques, he established parallel terraces, waterways, and all no-till crop production in 1989. The farm produces pasture, hay, cattle, goats and CRP land for wildlife. A barn built in 1938 and a windmill built in 1949 still stand on the farm that is 100 years old.
William Spence, III
Susannah Spence Brown
Jean Spence
The Spence Farm is a good example of the
consolidation of agricultural landholdings during the twentieth century as
labor-saving machinery allowed farm families to manage larger and larger tracts
of property. Established by Joe S. Spence of
Joe was a veteran of the Confederate army and four years
after his death in 1908 the farm was deeded to his son Dr. William G. Spence,
Sr., a then-recent graduate of the University of Tennessee Medical School.
William expanded the farm to 500 acres and when he died in 1934, his wife and
his son William G. Spence, II, acquired the property. William more than doubled
the size of the farm and for the next 50 years he counted corn, cotton,
soybeans, wheat and livestock among his farm’s commodities.
Upon his death of William Spence, II, in 1985, his son William, III, his daughter Susannah Spence Brown and his wife Jean inherited the property. Today, William works over 1,500 acres of land, raising livestock and cultivating cotton and soybeans.
Wiley Ward
The Ward Farm consists of over 100 acres located
seven miles southeast of
Thomas wed Josephine Edwards and they had nine children.
Throughout their ownership of the farm, the Wards produced the typical crops
and livestock of the region-cotton, corn and cattle-while expanding their farms
to 104 acres.
In 1916, Nettie Ward, the founders’ granddaughter,
obtained the family’s 104 acres and in 1970 the founders’ great grandson, Wiley
Franklin Ward, acquired 74 acres of the original family farm. Wiley and his
family of three grew cotton, corn and soybeans and also managed a small
livestock herd. In 1978, Wiley acquired additional tracts of the farm and today
the Wards use their land to grow cotton, soybeans and garden vegetables.