Greene County

            Greene County was established in 1783 and named in honor of General Nathanael Greene of Rhode Island, under whom many fought during the Revolutionary War. Greene County’s most famous citizen was Andrew Johnson who served as an alderman and mayor and eventually became the seventeenth President of the United States after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. In addition to being associate with Andrew Johnson, Greene County is also home to Tusculum College and is the birthplace of famous frontiersman, Davy Crockett. The county’s agriculture is historically known for burley tobacco production and this crop led to the development of Greenville as the region’s most important tobacco market. Greene County has fifty-one century farms and the oldest is Elmwood Farm that dates to 1777. For more information regarding Greene County, please go to the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History & Culture website.

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

Alban Hills Farm

Anderson Farm

Ayers Farm

B. Williams Farm

Bailey Farm

Baskette Farm

Big Elm Farm

Bird Haven Farm

Bolton Farm

Burgner Farm

College Farm

Coulston Farm

Crum Farm

Doty Farm

Easterly Farm

Elmwood Farm

Fermanagh-Ross Farm

Five Springs Farm

Graveyard Hill Farm

Hayes Farm

Hilldale Farm

Horse Creek Farm

J. B. Woolsey Farm

Jack Murray Farm

Jenny-Ben Farm

Kenneth Rhea Family Farm

Lee Susong Farm

Lindavista Farm

Mardale Acres Farm

Mattie Lou Broyles Snapp Farm

McNeese Farm

Neas Mountain View Farm

Newt and Rettie Matthews Farm

Phil Gaby & Sons Farm

Pin Oak Farm

Redland Farm

Redland Farm II

Reed Crossing Farm

Renner Farm

Rivamonte Farm

Rocky Field Farm

S.K. Alexander Farm

Scruggs Homestead Farm

Sideline Farms

Solomon Farm

Southerland Farm

Steele Holm Farm

Still Hollow Farm

Susong Farm

Twin Acres Farm

Waddell Nolachuckey River Farm

Whispering Hills 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

Alban Hills Farm

William & Margaret Gaut

            Alban Hills Farm is a physical reminder that many early East Tennessee farmers wanted their children to receive the best education possible. Located near Tusculum College, Alban Hills Farm dates to 1822, when George Morelock purchased 100 acres of land for $800. George and his family grew wheat, corn and hay on their land. Prior to the Civil War, the land passed into the hands of Ann Morelock Good and her husband John Solomon Good. The Goods were slaveowners, yet their sons fought in the Union army during the Civil War. Once slavery had been abolished, the family turned the slave quarters into a blacksmith shop and a loom house.

            Ann and John Good’s daughter Elizabeth Good Simpson and her husband Zadock Simpson inherited the property in 1875 and 32 years later, William Bachman Simpson took over the farm upon his father’s death.

            Alban Hills’ current owner is Margaret Simpson Gaut, who acquired approximately 106 acres of the farm in 1956. Margaret is the founder’s great great granddaughter. She and her husband William King Gaut now own 216 acres devoted to corn, hay, tobacco and beef cattle production. Mrs. Simpson points out that the name Alban Hills comes “from the name of the home of Cicero.” And the family believes the name to be appropriate since “the cool stream, green meadows, once chestnut trees blessed, (and) mountains in the horizon all surrounding a center of learning (Tusculum College) could only recall Alban Hills, Tusculum, Italy during the golden Roman Empire.”

Anderson Farm

William Anderson

            William Ross immigrated from Ireland some time prior to the Revolutionary War in which he fought for at least two years.  His son, John Ross married Rebecca, the daughter of John Carter who received a land grant in Greene County in 1787.  The same year they were married, 1794, they began farming 257 acres of her father’s land. They grew corn, wheat and hay and raised cattle and swine. The farm next passed into the hands of their son Allen Ross and his wife Sarah Weems. Allen and Sarah had three children and they continued to produce many of the same crops and livestock.

            The third generation owner was William Ross, the founders’ grandson. The property passed through the hands of two more generations before William Charles Ross became the sixth generation owner of the family farm. He and his wife, Ethel Reed, were the parents of four children.  Betty Ross and her husband William Anderson acquired all of the original farm in 1959.  Mrs. Anderson, who retains ownership of the farm today is the great-great-great-granddaughter of John and Rebecca Carter Ross.  She advises that “she and her two sons try to take good care of the farm which produces corn, hay, and cattle.”

Ayers Farm

Samuel Ayers

            Closely associated with the settlement and development of Warrensburg is the Ayers Century Farm, established by Samuel O. and Hannah Bewley Ayers in 1815 on land located eighteen miles west of Greenville. Samuel was a Virginia native who fought in the Battle of New Orleans. On his trip back to Virginia he met Hannah. Once home, he decided to return to Tennessee and marry Hannah. They had six children and their farm produced corn, tobacco, wheat, hay and livestock.

            In 1859, the founders’ daughter Martha Ayers Hawkins and her husband Dr. Joseph Hawkins acquired the farm and 35 years later, the land became the property of Belle Hawkins Bible and her husband Joseph Bible. But in 1884 and 1890, James C. Ayers, the founders’ son, purchased land from his niece Belle Bible and his nephew Samuel Ayers. James thus became the sole owner of the Ayers family land. He managed a diversified farm and his property was the site of the Warrensburg school (1877) which became the local high school in 1913. James and his wife Mary Jones Ayers also sold land for the construction of the Warrensburg United Methodist Church.

B. Williams Farm

Bonnie Hulse Williams

            The Williams Farm dates to 1866, when William H. Hunter acquired 60 acres of land located five miles northeast of Greeneville. William and his wife Josephine later purchased 143 additional acres and operated a farm known for its production of tobacco, corn, wheat and cattle. The Hunters also owned “a sawmill located on the creek beside (their) house.”

            The Hunter’s adopted daughter Georgia Hunter Williams acquired the property in 1904. Georgia and her spouse Nat M. Williams were both farmers and merchants. Their general store was also the location of the community post office.

            The current owner is Bonnie Hulse Williams, the wife of the founders’ grandson, M. Taylor Williams. As of 1976, Jimmy Williams worked the farm’s 125 acres for his mother, producing tobacco, beef cattle, hay and corn.

Bailey Farm

Thomas & Ethel Bailey

            Dating to 1788, the Bailey Farm is located one mile west of Baileyton in Greene County.  Thomas and Elizabeth Weems Bailey began farming with 320 acres and the family believes that the farm’s initial commodities were corn, wheat, hay and livestock. The founder’s son Thomas Porter Bailey operated the farm from 1832 until his death in 1864. Thomas married Henrietta Keel and they raised nine children. Upon Thomas’s death, the ownership passed to his son,  George Alexander Bailey.  He, in turn, passed it to his daughter Ninnie L., who did not marry and to his youngest son George Benson Bailey.

            Thomas Porter Bailey, the son of George Benson Bailey, retained ownership of the farm along with his wife, Ethel Beattie Bailey until it was passed to their surviving daughters, Patricia Bailey Fornash and Connie Bailey Waespe, upon the death of Ethel in 2007.  Their late sister, Margaret Chivers and her husband lived on the farm for twenty years before her death, also in 2007.

            Patricia Fornash returned to live on the farm in 2006 and manages the property which is farmed for cattle and hay by a neighbor.  Patricia notes that her father,Thomas Porter Bailey, worked very hard to preserve the farm for his family, and that she, in turn,  “loves the beauty of the farm and its history.” 

Baskette Farm

Bill and Melissa Baskette

            In 1836, William M. Baskette established the Baskette Farm with 303 acres located three miles south of Fall Branch. He wed Patience Bernard, who became the mother of his eight children. Corn, potatoes and buckwheat were the farm’s primary agricultural products.

            In his will of 1862, Baskette divided his farm between the children. George William Baskette, who served in the Union army during the Civil War, acquired 133 acres. George later served as a Greene County justice of the peace and he expanded the farm’s operations to include livestock. Married twice, George had five children, all by his second wife Unice Brandon.

            Alfred J. Baskette, the founders’ grandson inherited 110 acres of the property in 1915. Like so many early twentieth century farmers, Alfred added tobacco cultivation to the farming landscape. Alfred, the husband of Nellie Taylor, fathered two children and his son Walter D. Baskette inherited all of the original farm land in 1957. Walter and his son William specialized in tobacco, hay and cattle production. Today, Bill and Melissa Baskette own the farm.

Big Elm Farm

Rex Cobble

            Phillip Cobble founded the Big Elm Farm, located in the 19^th District of Greene County, in 1856. On his 347 acres, he practiced general farming and raised livestock. Philip’s son David Cobble inherited half of the farm in 1913 and later in the early twentieth century David’s son James L. Cobble acquired the 173 acres.

            In 1929, Atha Cobble, the great great granddaughter of the founder, inherited the land. Today, her husband Thomas A. Cobble and her son Rex A. Cobble work the land, specializing in livestock production. Mrs. Cobble reports that the property retains three nineteenth century buildings-a barn, house and granary-which are still used in the farm’s daily operations.

Bird Haven Farm

Beulah Fink

            Bird Haven Farm, established in 1833 by David Morelock, has an extremely diverse history. The farm was an unique community center where women could make cloth for their families. The owners were not only profitable farmers, but they were also gifted builders who placed their distinctive stamp on the landscape. The farm lies three miles southwest of Baileyton. Morelock and his wife Judah Stacy initially tilled 346 acres, with foodstuffs, cane, cotton, flax and livestock as their primary agricultural products. With the local post office and school situated at the farmstead, Bird Haven Farm was an important community gathering place. Since the family also owned one of the community’s first looms, neighborhood women often visited the house in order to make cloth.

            Of David and Judah Morelock’s nine children, their son Richard Henry Morelock inherited the farm in the 1850s. Besides being a farmer of foodstuffs, flax, cotton and livestock, Richard was also a carpenter and built many of the farmhouses and churches in the 11^th District of Greene County. In 1911, his son Thomas Laurence Morelock took possession of the farm. Thomas and his wife Katherine Elizabeth Patterson managed a distinctly twentieth-century East Tennessee farm. They stopped raising flax and cotton and began cultivating tobacco.

            Thomas and Katherine had two daughters and in 1966, 100 acres of their farm went to Beulah Morelock Fink and her husband Elmer Fink. Beulah is the great granddaughter of the founders and today the Finks manage a farm that produces wheat, corn, tobacco, hay and beef cattle. Both a house and a barn built by Richard Henry Morelock still stand on the property and are used in the Fink’s modern farming operations.

Bolton Farm

James D. Chandley

Mary Lynn Chandley

            When preparing their Century Farm applications some families take the opportunity to compile their family histories and produce publications for their relatives and close friends. These compilations also are valuable to local and state history collections. James Chandley produced “The Boltons of East Tennessee” as he was preparing the Bolton Farm application. 

            Thomas Jefferson Bolton, a Civil War Union veteran, inherited 110 acres in 1888 after his mother passed away the previous year. The deed was signed by 15 members of his family. The farm is on the Greene and Washington County line, about one mile northeast of Limestone.

            Thomas met his wife, Sallie Ann Bolton, while on a horse-buying trip to Virginia. Family tradition relates that when Thomas returned with his bride, his brother, David Franklin, asked him, “if there were any more like that in his wife’s family?” David soon traveled to Virginia and married Sally Ann’s sister, Jenny. The brothers’ families maintained a close relationship as the Bolton Farm and their dairy production grew and prospered.

            Thomas Jefferson and Sally Ann were the parents of three children: Uel Garfield, Minnie Deborah (called “Donnie”) and Annie Lee. A six-room, two-story home was built in 1893. The family managed an extensive jersey cattle operation and grew corn, wheat and tobacco and raised chickens.

            In 1917, 91 of the 110 acres were transferred to Uel Bolton. He and his wife, Bonnie Cox Bolton, continued to farm, but he added hogs to his livestock. Following the progressive farming methods of the early 20th century, the Bolton family installed automated gas-powered milking systems.  The concrete floor laid in the dairy barn was one of the first in the area.

            Uel sold eggs, milk and butter as far away as Knoxville, distributing them via the local train network, and also to the Sugar Creek Creamery and local customers. His mother, Sally Ann, churned enough of the Boltons’ butter to warrant a stamp that read “Fresh Dairy Butter made by Mrs. T. J. Bolton.”

            While serving as Washington County judge, today’s equivalent to county mayor, Uel died in 1938. Mary Ruth, the couple’s daughter, her husband, Rex William Brockwell, and Bonnie continued to work the farm with the help of tenant farmers.

            In 1958, Rex and Mary Ruth Bolton Brockwell acquired Bolton Farm. No longer operating the dairy, they began to concentrate on growing corn, wheat, tobacco, hogs and chickens with much of the work done by tenant farmers and sharecroppers. Mary Ruth was born in 1912 in the house her grandfather, Thomas Jefferson Bolton, built, and lived there her entire life. With her passing in 2007, her daughter, Mary Lynn, and Mary Lyons husband, James D. Chandley, came to own 85 of the original acres. With the help of their son, Charles Randall, the Chandleys raised tobacco until 2004 and now concentrate on corn, tobacco and 80 to 100 head of beef cattle. Mr. Chandley’s history of the family and the farm contains a superb collection of family and farm photographs and information that will be appreciated by the family and the community of Limestone for generations. 

Burgner Farm

Daniel and Charlotte Burgner

Located 7 miles south of Greeneville on the Nolichucky River, the Burgner Farm was founded in 1900 by Daniel Edward Parman Burgner and his wife Anna Kelley Burgner.  The Burgners harvested apples, from several existing trees, tobacco, hay and grain and the farm the also supported beef and dairy cattle, swine, sheep, poultry and draft horses. The couple had two children, Minnie Olive and Herman Edward Burgner.  In 1913 the Tennessee Eastern Electric Company began operating the Nolichuckey Dam just downstream from the farm.  The dam was raised in 1923 and backwaters took some of the Burgner Farm.  Electric power, however, was available to this farm and other areas of Greene County about 1925, several years before TVA.

Herman acquired the farm in 1934 and with his wife Goldene Fillers Burgner continued the diverse farm operation.  Tobacco continued to be raised as the main cash crop and in 1957, the Burgners began a Grade A Dairy operation milking around 100 cows and selling to the Pet Milk Company in Greeneville.  The grandson of the founder is Daniel E. Burgner acquired the property in 1996.  He and his wife Charlotte and one of their four children, Beth, live on the farm today.  The farm supports 13 cares of wine grapes, 15 acres of alfalfa, and 78 acres of native grass for fee-hunting and horse hay.  A log house believed to have built in the early 1800’s still stands on the land today. Herman Burgner was born in the house and it continued to be the family dwelling until 1912.  Since then it has serves as a tobacco barn and granary. The historic Burgner family farm is also recognized by the Greene County Historical Society.

College Farm

William Dickson Williams
Beverly Lyle Williams

            Established by William Dickson in 1824, College Farm is 3.5 miles south of Greeneville. Initially the owner of 296 acres, Dickson in time farmed a total of 940 acres which yielded corn, wheat, sheep and cattle. He is best known in Greene County history, however, as Greeneville’s postmaster from 1796 to 1843. He and his wife Eliza Douglas raised one daughter Catherine, who inherited the farm in 1832. Catherine was the wife of Dr. Alexander Williams and together they managed the farm for the next 38 years.

            Thomas Lanier Williams, the founder’s grandson, took possession of about 1000 acres of the family farm in 1870. Thomas followed the farming practices of his father and grandfather and in 1911, he divided the farm among his four children. William Dickson Williams inherited 174 acres and added the cultivation of tobacco to the agricultural operations. Married to Martha A. Naff, William fathered two children, Beverly and Lida.

            Beverly R. Williams inherited 124 acres from his father in 1936. In addition to raising tobacco, Beverly operated a dairy business until his recent death. Today, his children William Dickson Williams and Beverly Lyle Williams, own College Farm.

Coulston Farm

Bobby Coulston

Larry Coulston

Matthew Coulston

            The Coulston Farm, which dates to 1803, is fourteen miles northeast of Greenville. Elijah and Elizabeth Coulston began with 100 acres on which they grew corn, beans and hay. In 1854, they willed the land to their son Elijah, who added cane to the farm’s products. Elijah, Jr., and his wife Sarah had four children and in 1917 their son James Houston Coulston acquired 70 acres of the property. Like many early twentieth century farmers, James and his wife Cordie acquired 70 acres of the property. Like many early twentieth century farmers, James and his wife Cordie added the production of tobacco and beef cattle to the farming landscape. These two products were important cash crops. Vernice Coulston acquired the property in 1970 and has purchased 35 additional acres. The Coulstons practiced general farming, specializing in tobacco and dairy production. The family also used the farmhouse which dates prior to 1875. Today, Vernice's sons, Bobby and Larry Coulston and Larry's son, Matthew own the farm. Currently, Matthew lives on the farm and raises beef cattle and hay on the property.

 Crum Farm

Edmond Doyle Crum

            Established by John Crum in 1872, the Crum Farm initially consisted of 100 acres, located four miles south of Greeneville. John, his wife Barbara Ann and their six children grew wheat and corn on their land. In the early 1900s, W. W. Crum purchased most of the family land from his parents. Together with his wife Ota and their son and daughter, Crum managed a small but prosperous place with tobacco as the primary cash crop.

            Edmond Doyle Crum, the founders’ grandson, bought 62 acres of his uncle F. E. Crum’s land in 1948 and 13 years later he inherited 32 acres of the original family farm from his father. As of 1976, Doyle and his wife Anna Mae managed the property while Lyle Fortner rented and worked the land.

Doty Farm

Lyle B. Doty 

Nancy Doty Duckworth

            The Doty Farm was founded by Azariah Doty of New Jersey in 1783, the same year that Greene County was created by the state of North Carolina.  A veteran of the Revolutionary War, Doty served under the famous General Francis Marion, also known as the “Swamp Fox.”  Azariah married Sarah Tucker and they raised nine children in the forbidding environment of the frontier. The family grew foodstuffs and managed a small livestock herd on their 200 acres of land. 

            Ephriam Doty inherited the entire farm from his parents in 1851. Married to Sarah Cooper, he fathered four children and his son William Cooper Doty acquired the land in 1889. Throughout the nineteenth century, the farm’s agricultural products remained much the same. Not until the great-grandson William Douglas Bruner Doty inherited the land at the turn of the century (1892) did common East Tennessee crops such as sheep and tobacco become part of the farm’s operations.

            William D. B. Doty and his spouse Ruth Ann Kilday were the parents of five children. Their son Samuel Willard Doty became the fifth generation owner in 1926. He and Minnie Babb Doty were the parents of Carl Willard Doty and Lyle Babb Doty.  Carl died in 1968.  Lyle and his wife Charlotte and their nephew, John Douglas Doty, continued the family farming traditions through the remainder of the twentieth and into the twenty-first century.  Lyle Doty died in 2008 and John died in 2009.  Today the acreage is owned by Charlotte and by John’s heirs. 

            Land for the Doty’s Chapel Church & Cemetery were given by the Doty Family and there are now seven generations of Doty’s buried in the cemetery overlooking the Doty Farm.

Easterly Farm

Mary Anna Smith Pirozzoli

            Tennessee agricultural reformers of the antebellum period believed that the state’s soil and climate were perfect for the cultivation of silkworms and the production of silk. A native silk industry, they hoped, would allow Tennessee to better compete against the cotton states of the Deep South. Several Century Farms, including the Easterly Farm, participated in the silk production experiments of the nineteenth century. Dating to 1796, the Easterly Farm is eighteen miles southwest of Greeneville. John George and Mary Harpine Easterly, who initially acquired 600 acres of land, developed one of Greene County’s largest farms and eventually owned about 1100 acres of land. The farm’s products included corn, wheat, oats, flax and livestock.

            In the 1810s and 1820s, Jacob Easterly purchased several tracts of land from different family members and soon managed his father’s original 1100 acres. Jacob was an agricultural innovator and in the mid-1830s, he planted mulberry trees and began to raise silkworms. As a Knoxville newspaper reported in 1836, the silk cloth produced by Jacob’s daughters, Catherine, Ruth and Clarissa, “measured between seventy and eighty yards and in evenness of thread and firmness of texture are equal to most foreign fabrics we have seen.” The climate of East Tennessee, however, would not support the mulberry trees and Jacob’s courageous silkworm experiment failed.

            Jacob Easterly gave 115 acres to his son Abraham’s widow, Anna Parrott Easterly, in 1842. The next generation owner was Frances Marion Easterly.  The Civil War took place during his ownership and in Greene County,  the divisions between families and neighbors were especially bitter and severe.  A Confederate sympathizer in a generally Union area, two of Frances Easterly’s  sons were killed, one in North Carolina and one by bushwhackers while on his way home.  Frances, who was allowed to stay home to care for his large family, was kidnapped, hung from one of his own apple trees, and left for dead.  After the bushwhackers left, a female slave cut Frances down and saved his life. In 1875, Frances was a founder of the Parrotsville Academy, which “made it possible for even the poorest man to give his children an education.”

            In 1905, Frank Payne Easterly acquired the farmstead and 35 acres of the original family land. Family tradition describes Frank as “a very scientific farmer for his day” and he opened a dairy operation. His daughter Bogle Easterly Smith inherited 100 acres in 1963. She and her husband Earl H. Smith managed the farm for many years producing tobacco, corn, hay and cattle. With the death of Mrs. Smith in 2003, their daughter Mary Anna Smith Pirozzoli inherited the farm.  The family has built a horse barn on the property in preparation for boarding horses. Mrs. Pirozzoli reports that she treasures the farm and is keeping it productive.

Elmwood Farm

Claudius & Katherine Clemmer
W. Massengill 

            Located near the town of Chuckey along the banks of the Nolichucky River is Elmwood Farm. Its history details how the activities of Tennessee’s farm families have been intimately involved with the state’s economic growth and development. Henry Earnest of Switzerland (the original spelling of his name was Heinrich Ernst) established the farm in 1777. As one of Greene County’s earliest settlers, Henry was involved in local and territorial politics and served on the Greene County Court in 1792. He wed Mary Stephens and they had eleven children. During this period of early settlement, the Earnests also helped to pioneer what is recognized as the first Methodist church in Tennessee, the Ebenezer Methodist Church. The current church, that was constructed in the 1890s still stands and is located on the same location of the original meeting house built in 1795.

            When Henry died in 1809, the 600 acre farm went to his youngest son, Peter Earnest. Throughout the antebellum period, the farm produced corn, wheat, hay, horses, swine and cattle and proved to be quite successful. Then in 1856, Peter organized the “Earnestville Bridge Company, selling stock at $25.00 per share, to build a toll bridge for crossing the Nolichucky River.” On the north side of the bridge, Peter established a mill, which served as the economic center of a small settlement called “Earnestville.”

            Peter married Ruth Fain and they raised twelve children and their son, Benjamin Franklin Earnest, inherited the entire farm in 1862. Benjamin’s wife was Mary Rhea and they had two boys and one girl. The Civil War brought a brief boom to the farm’s fortunes because Benjamin was able to sell flour to both armies. After the Civil War, Benjamin did not follow his neighbors’ lead into the tobacco industry on a commercial scale, instead he continued the family’s farming tradition of diversifying crops and livestock.

            Nicholas Peter Earnest, the founder’s great grandson, inherited the farm’s 600 acres in 1887. According to the family, Nicholas “was an outstanding church and civic leader,” serving as a director of the Greene County Bank for more than 50 years and as president of the East Tennessee Farmer’s Association. The family also owned and operated businesses in Chuckey. As a farmer, Nicholas and his wife Eliza Doggett moved the farm into the modern age of agriculture, cultivating tobacco and operating a dairy. As a result, the agricultural program at the University of Tennessee selected the farm as a pilot demonstration project. Although Nicholas was involved in the promotion of commercial dairy farming at the state and local level, he did not incorporate large-scale dairying into his own farm. Under his management, the farm produced corn, wheat, oats, hogs and tobacco. His small level of dairy production resulted primarily in cream that was shipped as “express freight” from the Southern Railroad depot in Chuckey to either Bristol or Knoxville.

            Upon Nicholas’ death in 1956, the property passed into the hands of his six children. Over the next few years, Katherine Earnest Clemmer and her husband Claudius bought most of the land and focused solely on developing a registered Holstein herd for dairy farming. During the 1950s and 1960s, several dairy complexes were added to the farm site.

Elmwood Farm, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, retains much of its nineteenth century farming landscape with its 1831 two story brick house, a rare 1784-1789 three log blockhouse still in use, a smokehouse, and the Ebenezer Methodist Church and cemetery. In addition, the farm has many significant buildings that demonstrate the progressive farming of the twentieth and including tobacco barns, storage sheds, houses, milk houses and stalls and a wash house.  Today the property is owned by Nic Earnest Clemmer.

Photo (Top Left): A view of the Elmwood Farm house.

Photo (Top Right): A rare three log blockhouse on the Elmwood Farm.

Fermanagh-Ross Farm

Jennie King Coffman

Dating to the antebellum era, the Fermanagh-Ross Farm is five miles northeast of Greeneville. William Ross, II, originally owned 300 acres on which he grew corn, wheat, oats and tobacco and bred cattle and horses. He and his family also operated a water mill. According to the family, “the home was a favorite meeting place for women and children during the Civil War. Provisions were kept in a special room underground (which) provided food and shelter for many days.”

            William was married twice and fathered eight children. In 1870, William Ross, III, inherited eighteen acres of the farm and on this small plot of land he and his wife Rebecca Anderson raised a few head of cattle and cultivated tobacco. The founder’s grandson Vincent Eliot Ross inherited the land about 1893, but upon his death four years later his widow Mary Elizabeth Mays divided the property among their seven children.

            Jennie King Coffman, the great great granddaughter of the founder, inherited the original farmhouse along with seventeen acres of land in 1969. She and her husband Leonard A. Coffman, who is a graduate of the University of Tennessee and has taught at the University of Wyoming, count tobacco, hay and cattle as their agricultural products.

            The Fermanagh-Ross Farm is notable for its collection of early antebellum buildings. The family has recently restored the original 1820 brick home and a hand-hewn log corn crib and slave kitchen are still in use.

Photo: A view of the Fermanagh-Ross Farm and its buildings.

Five Springs Farm

Marion Don Campbell & Billie Rich Campbell

            James C. and Elizabeth Longmire Campbell established Five Springs Farm, located on the Stone Dam Road in Greene County, in 1870. On their 172 acres, the Campbells produced many of the same crops as their neighbors: flax, corn, wheat and several types of livestock. They also provided the lumber for the Campbell school house.

            In 1913, Charlie R. Campbell acquired 54 acres of his parents’ farm and later purchased 56 additional acres from his sister Vertie. Charlie introduced tobacco to the farm’s operations while continuing to cultivate foodstuffs and livestock. Charlie and his wife Mae Smith willed the land to their son Marion D. Campbell in 1957.

            Today, Marion, his wife Billie and their son Charles grow corn, hay and tobacco and raise cattle. The property also features a log barn and log house which date to the decade of the farm’s founding.

Graveyard Hill Farm

Willis “Billy” Morelock
Jeanette Morelock
Lisa Morelock Gosnell

     Located twelve miles from Greeneville is the Graveyard Hill Farm, so named for the historic family burying ground that is still cared for by the current generation.   The farm was established by Robert Clemons Gray, Sr. in 1795. Robert married Catherine Alexander Gray and they had three children, Mary A.C. Gray Walker, Robert C. Gray, Jr. and Elizabeth Gray Hayes.  The family raised tobacco, corn, hay, wheat, and had apple orchards as well as sheep, cattle, chickens, pigs and Belgium horses.  Robert owned and operated a store in the Graysburg community, which was named for the family,  and he also operated the Graysburg Post Office from 1840-1883.  Robert C. Gray, Jr. next acquired the farm and raised many of the same crops and livestock.

            The third generation to own the farm was Alexander Brabson Walker, the great nephew of the founder. Prior to owning the property, Alexander was a Confederate soldier and part of the Company B-Tennessee 12^th Cavalry Battalion.  This company was raised from men in Hawkins, Greene, Knox, Hamblen and Grainger counties. The unit was assigned to Wharton’s, J. J. Morrison’s, H.B. Davidson’s, Grigsby’s and Vaughn’s Brigade.  Alexander and his wife Rachel Elizabeth Morelock had five children.

            The farm passed through several generations and in 1962, the current owner, Willis “Billy” Morelock, the great, great, great, great nephew of the founder, obtained the property.  The current generation of the Morelock family has been active in many community and regional organizations.   Billy is married to Jeanette Luttrell and they have two daughters, Lisa M. Gosnell and Ginger M. Frembling,  who were active in 4-H and other organizations when growing up on the farm.   Lisa, who owns the farm along with her parents,  is currently employed by the Northeast Tourism Association and is also a genealogist.  Among other activities, she and her husband David are members of the Washington County Farm Bureau.   Ginger is a former 4-H Extension Agent in Edenton, North Carolina.   Billy and Jeanette are members of the Greene County Farm Bureau, Tri-State Antique Power Association, Greene County Farm & Auto Club, J.I. Case Collectors Association and J.I. Case Heritage Foundation. In addition to belonging to these organizations, Billy is a collector of J.I. case tractors and equipment and has over 25 antique tractors, garden tractors, tools, farm and tractor memorabilia as well as a toy tractor.  The collections of antique tractors have been featured in Fastline Antique Farm Edition Trade Magazine, Old Abe News, Old Iron Calendar, and most recently in the 2009 book, Iron Memories (Heartland Publications).  

Photo: Family members and friends working on the farm.

Hayes Farm

Conrad Hayes

            The 14^th District of Greene County is home to the Hayes Farm. James and Elizabeth Longmire Campbell acquired 172 acres and established the farm in 1870. They practiced general farming and raised livestock. Although there is no evidence to suggest that the Campbells themselves were Quakers, their farm was part of an early Quaker settlement in Tennessee.

            In 1913, William Campbell, the founders’ son, acquired 48 acres of the property to which he and his wife Elizabeth Marshall added 30 acres. The second generation owners specialized in livestock production.

            Mrs. Dema Campbell Hayes is the third generation owner of the family farm.  Dema’s son Conrad Hayes works and owns the land today.

Hilldale Farm

Ralph and Davy Anne Charles

            John and Elizabeth Pickle Bible established the Hilldale Farm, which dates to 1830, on 158 acres located 15.5 miles west of Greenville. The Bibles and their nine children operated land that yielded rye, flax, wheat, corn, sheep and cattle as its agricultural products. The founders’ grandson David Bible and his wife Dianah Faubion inherited a portion of the farm in 1850. The farm passed into the Jones family when David and Dianah Bible’s daughter Lavinia Ellen Bible Jones inherited the land in 1904.

            The fourth generation owner was David Thomas Jones and he owned and operated the farm until 1970. According to family records, David was the owner of one of Greene County’s earliest dairy operations and he also raised a herd of registered Southdown sheep. In addition, David was a member of the county school board.

            In 1970, David and Verna Scruggs’ five daughters inherited the family land. The Jones sisters are the great great great granddaughters of the founders. Today Davy Anne and Ralph Charles work the land, producing corn, tobacco and beef cattle, but all of the sisters “actively oversee the operations” at Hilldale Farm.

Horse Creek Farm

Tim and Nedra Armstrong

Jacob Broyles, a descendent of German and French immigrants who moved to the eastern part of Tennessee during the 18th century, founded the Horse Creek Farm in 1778. Family and community history indicates that this land was settled as early as 1765 and previously owned by Emanuel Sandusky.

According to reports, Cherokees are said to have kidnapped Sandusky’s daughter, and soon thereafter, he moved to Newport. Prior to his departure, Jacob Broyles obtained the 640 acres. Although Broyles may have lived in the area and farmed the land earlier than 1778, it was Nov. 2 of that year that the deed was officially recorded for the property in what was then the state of North Carolina.

            Jacob and his wife, Elizabeth Yowell, had seven children: Lewis, Delilah, Jeremiah, James, Keziah, John and Ezekial. As with most farm families, the Broyles were as self-sufficient as possible, raising a variety of livestock and crops, including cattle, horses, sheep, hogs, oats, barley and corn.

            In 1794, still two years before Tennessee became a state, Lewis Broyles became the second generation to own the farm. He and wife Mary McCain also had seven children. During their ownership, the farm produced tobacco, barley, oats, wheat, cattle, hogs, sheep and horses. In addition to farming, the family built a gristmill on the property. According to the family’s records, a two-room house was built above the mill for the traveling doctor who came to the community.

            The farm passed through several generations, and in 1989, the great-great- great-great-great-grandson of the founder, Tim Armstrong, acquired the land. Tim and his wife Nedra are the parents of  Scott and Brandy. Tim and  Scott work the land and raise corn silage, rye, orchard grass as well as registered Guernsey and Jersey cattle. 

The family has been active in the community over the years. Tim served as a director on Farm Bureau Board in Greene County for four years, was a county commissioner from 1994 to 2002 and sat on the Greene County School Board from 2004 to 2008. Tim also served on the boards of Dairymen Incorporated, Mid-American Dairymen and Dairy Farmers of America. In addition to these organizations, Tim has also been “the voice” of the Black Knights basketball team at Chuckey-Doak High School.

Nedra was in the 4-H and all of the family has shown registered Jerseys and Guernseys throughout the state and in national shows in Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Wisconsin.  Scott and Brandy have also been active in the 4-H and they both have received the American Farmer Degree from the FFA. They are the first family from Tennessee to have father, son and daughter to all receive the American Farmer Degree.

J. B. Woolsey Farm

Roger Woolsey

            In 1824, Isreal Woolsey began the Woolsey farm, acquiring 350 acres of land located seventeen miles north of Greeneville. While raising the region’s typical crops and livestock, Isreal also managed a grist mill and blacksmith shop. His son James inherited the farm in 1870 and practiced the same vocations as his father.

            Little in the farm’s history changed until 1953 when J. B. Woolsey, Jr, the founder’s great great great grandson acquired 83 acres of the original farm. J. B. and his wife Emma Ruth have since purchased an additional 1,057 acres of land. They raise beef cattle and corn, cultivate tobacco and operate a dairy. They are proud of their family land and Emma has stated emphatically that “we plan for it never to be sold.”

Jack Murray Farm

Jack Murray

            George and Sallie Murray founded this Century Farm in 1829, with 100 acres located five miles west of Mohawk. The Murrays prospered throughout the antebellum age and purchased 300 additional acres of land. In 1870, George and Sallie willed the farm to two of their six children, Valentine and George W. Murray, and the brothers formally divided the property in 1874. That same year, Valentine “built a 2-story frame house for his family” on his portion of the property. The family has determined that “one man did all the building, dressing the flooring and ceiling by hand, as well as making the wood pegs” that hold the house together.

            Valentine married Sallie Davis Murray and they raised five children and their son Elmer acquired 203 acres of the original property in 1907. Elmer modernized the farm’s operations, purchasing its first tractors, constructing a cattle barn, a silo, a tobacco barn and two tenant houses and dredging the creek that watered his land. He and his wife Lillie Wright Murray also provided a home for several orphans and provided lodging for teachers from the local schools.

Jenny-Ben Farm

Lucille Speares Carter

            The strength and courage of Tennessee farm wives who worked family farms in the absence of their husbands and sons during the Civil War is recorded in the history of the Jenny-Ben Farm. Established in 1848 by John W. Farnsworth, the Jenny-Ben Farm is eight miles south of Greeneville. On their 257 acres, John and his wife Elizabeth Parman raised wheat, corn and livestock. The Civil War, however, spoiled the farm’s promising beginning; John died in a federal prison camp and neighbors robbed his widow of many prized possessions. To raise money, the family sold 100 acres of land. But the strength of Elizabeth Farnsworth kept the family together. Indeed, she “single handed(ly) raised the children to maturity.”

            Benjamin J. Farnsworth, inheriting the family farm from his mother in 1878, added the cultivation of tobacco to the farming landscape. He and his wife Jeanetta Walker had only one daughter, Fannie, who acquired the property in 1936. Fannie married William F. Russell and they raised a large family of twelve children. Like the early generations who have lived at Jenny-Ben Farm, the Russells practiced general farming and grew tobacco.  In 1940, Gov. Prentice Cooper awarded the Russells a certificate from the Tennessee Home Food Supply Program for having grown at least 75% or more of the food necessary for the family and livestock.

            In 1950, Martha Russell Speares, daughter of William and Fannie Russell and the founders' great granddaughter, inherited 150 acres of the original family land.  She and her husband, Frank G. Speares,  grew corn, oats, wheat and tobacco while raising a small herd of beef cattle.  Their daughter, Lucille Speares Carter, acquired the farm in 2004.  Hay and pasture are the primary crops and the land is leased for cattle as well.  The farmhouse, built around an 1848 core, remains.  Mrs. Carter advises that her daughters, Natalie and Rachel, plan to keep the farm in the family for her three grandchildren.

Kenneth Rhea Family Farm

Kenneth Caroll Rhea

Bertram P. Rhea

Roger D. Rhea

Just 100 years ago in March of 1909, a farm of 109 acres was established by Frank and Martha Rhea northeast of Greeneville along Sinking Creek.  With their six children the Rheas grew corn, small grains, tobacco, hay and pasture. In addition, they raised beef cattle, dairy cattle, horses, mules and sheep.  It was a milestone for the family when they purchased their first tractor in 1925.

            The second generation owners were Kenneth D. Rhea and his wife Bertram who acquired the farm in 1955.  During the fifty years of their ownership, Kenneth and Bertram purchased adjacent land, increasing the overall acreage to 136 acres.   Various crops and livestock continued to be produced with the important addition of Registered Jersey dairy cattle and Angus beef cattle.  Following her husband’s death in 2005, Bertram Rhea continued her ownership of the farm along with their sons and co-owners Roger and Kenneth Caroll Rhea.  The family raises hay, pasture and Angus cattle.

Photo: A view of the landscape and registered Jersey cattle owned by the Rhea family from 1950-1980s.

Lee Susong Farm

Lee Susong

            The Lee Susong Farm is located eight miles south of Greeneville. Established by Nicholas Susong in 1859, the farm was home for Nicholas, his wife Martha Hale and their eight children. In 1883, John F. Susong inherited 80 acres from his parents. Married to Ida Holley, he fathered ten children who provided much of the labor on the farm. The Susongs counted tobacco, corn, wheat and cattle as their most important agricultural products.

            Lee Susong, the founder’s grandson, acquired 55 acres of the original farm between 1937 and 1938. He has since purchased 25 additional acres and as of 1976, he raised beef cattle and cultivated tobacco, corn and wheat.

Lindavista Farm

Herman Alexander Saylor

            Located along the Plumb Creek branch of Lick Creek, Lindavista Farm dates to 1802 when Godfrey Saylor purchased 1300 acres. The family records that the farm “was in the center of a large flat wooded section of several thousand acres,” which was called the Flatwoods “until well into the twentieth century.”

            Joseph and Rebecca Saylor inherited 333 acres of the farm in 1830 and they, in turn, willed the property to their son Thomas Nelson Saylor. The current owner is Herman Alexander Saylor, the founder’s great great grandson, who acquired 100 acres of the homestead between 1917 and 1919. As of 1976, Mr. Saylor devoted his time to livestock farming.

Mardale Acres Farm

Dale Bruce Tucker

            Farmers in the twentieth century, such as the Tuckers of Greene County, often turned to livestock breeding to improve the value of their animals. The Mardale Acres Farm has been the site of significant breeding experiments. Located fifteen miles north of Greeneville, the farm dates to 1868. Aulden Tucker, who was a member of the Greene County Quarterly Court, was the founder and he owned 167 acres that yielded corn, wheat, oats and livestock. Married to Margaret Brown, he was the father of seven children.

            In 1912, the property passed into the hands of his son and daughter-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. G. Bruce Tucker. On their 343 acres, Bruce implemented several modern farming techniques and joined with his neighbors to import a registered Belgian stallion in order to improve the breeding of native horses. Tucker was also an organizer for the Farmers’ Co-op in Greene County.

            Married to Mattie Ottinger, Bruce fathered five children and his son Dale B. Tucker inherited 140 acres of the original family land in 1965. As of 1976, the Tuckers managed a total of 365 acres. Corn, wheat, oats, tobacco and dairy foods were the family’s primary commodities.

            In 1965, Jack Murray, the founders’ great grandson, acquired 150 acres of the family farm. He still lives in the original farmhouse an his land yields corn, tobacco, hay, small grains and dairy cattle.

Mattie Lou Broyles Snapp Farm

Mattie L. Snapp

 
            The Mattie Lou Broyles Snapp Farm is derived from Horse Creek Farm that was established by Jacob Broyles and follows the same history (see entry). Jacob Broyles, a descendent of German and French immigrants who moved to the eastern part of Tennessee during the 18th century, founded the Horse Creek Farm in 1778. Family and community history indicates that this land was settled as early as 1765 and previously owned by Emanuel Sandusky, although Broyles may have lived in the area and farmed the land earlier than 1778. It was Nov. 2 of that year that the deed for over 600 acres was officially recorded for the property in what was then the state of North Carolina.

            Jacob and his wife, Elizabeth Yowell, had seven children: Lewis, Delilah, Jeremiah, James, Keziah, John and Ezekial. As with most farm families, the Broyles were as self-sufficient as possible, raising a variety of livestock and crops, including cattle, horses, sheep, hogs, oats, barley and corn.

            In 1794, still two years before Tennessee became a state, Lewis Broyles became the second generation to own the farm. He and wife Mary McCain also had seven children. During their ownership, the farm produced tobacco, barley, oats, wheat, cattle, hogs, sheep and horses. In addition to farming, the family built a gristmill on the property. According to the family’s records, a two-room house was built above the mill for a traveling doctor who came to the community.

            The farm passed through five more generations and in 1964, the great, great, great, great granddaughter of the founder, Mattie L. Snapp, acquired 32 acres of the original farm owned by her ancestor, Jacob Broyles.   Today, Wayne Brown works the land and raises hay and tobacco. This farm is also designated as a Pioneer Century Farm because it was founded prior to Tennessee becoming a state in 1796.  

Photo: View of the barn and landscape of Mattie Lou Broyles Snapp Farm.

McNeese Farm

Barbara Sutherland

            Important contributions to progressive agriculture in early twentieth century Greene County mark the history of the McNeese Farm, which is located in the Lost Mountain community, sixteen miles north of Greeneville. Samuel and Margaret McNeese established the farm in 1859. The McNeeses initially produced wheat, corn, sorghum and livestock on their 90 acres. But just a few years later, the Civil War threatened the farm’s promising beginning. Samuel, an Union volunteer, died in a Confederate prison camp and the burden of operating the farm fell upon the shoulders of Margaret and her two children. The McNeeses proved equal to the task and kept the property in operation throughout the difficult years of war and reconstruction.

            In 1885 or 1886, Samuel Wiley McNeese acquired the farm from his mother and continued practicing general farming and livestock breeding. He took special pride in his large flock of sheep. Married twice, he had five children and in 1926, he willed the 100 acre farm to his son Guy B. McNeese. Guy became a leading progressive farmer of Greene County, serving on the Board of Directors for the Greene County Farm Bureau and building the Farmer’s Livestock Market at Greenville in 1948. His wife Mary Weems McNeese “was a devoted public school teacher and an outstanding worker in the New Lebanon Missionary Baptist Church.”

            Don McNeese, the great grandson of the founders, acquired the original family farm in 1972. The farm is now owned by Barbara Sutherland whose daughter, Jaime Renee McNeese Skeen whose father is Don McNeese, represents another generation of the McNeese family to be associated with the farm.

Neas Mountain View Farm

Jerry A. Neas

Progressive farming and community and civic involvement are hallmarks of the Neas family who aptly named their farm for its spectacular landscape.  On February 13, 1906, J. F. (Joseph Felix) Neas and Vertie Elizabeth Love Neas founded a farm near Greeneville. The couple’s five children were Curtis, Lawrence Estil, Coy, Haskill and Maggie. During their ownership, the farm produced corn, tobacco, wheat, oats, beef cattle and swine. According to the family, Felix was one of several community members who worked to construct St. James School in 1895. In addition, he donated rock from a rock quarry on the farm that was used to build and improve Allen’s Bridge Road, a main route between Greeneville and Newport. In 1918, Felix sold five acres of land for the Meadow Creek Presbyterian Church, which borders the farm.

            Lawrence Estil Neas was the second generation to own the farm. He and his wife, Hazel Hadeen Gammon Neas, were the parents of  Ernestine and Buford.  The farm had many changes during this ownership including the addition of 16.75 acres and the construction of a frame house, two tenant houses and three barns. The family grew wheat, oats, corn, tobacco, vegetables and fruit and raised dairy cattle, chickens and pigs.

            In 1951, Ernestine and Buford divided the land.   Ernestine married Rufus Miller they named their daughter Brenda.   Buford wed Billie Joyce Johnson and they had two children, Sherrian Lynn and Jerry Allen.  During this time, both farms produced a wide variety of crops and livestock including wheat, oats, tobacco, corn, cattle, chickens, pigs and vegetables. In addition to managing the farm, Buford served as an educator and was the first principal of Nolachuckey Elementary School located near the farm. He served in that position from 1979 until his retirement in 1990. Buford also was active in many agricultural related organizations and served as a Board member of the Greene County Fair Association, a member and president of the Greene County Livestock Association, vice-president of the Tennessee Beef Cattle Improvement Association and vice-president of the Tennessee Simmental Association. 

            In 1987, Jerry and his wife Helen Galyon Neas purchased his aunt’s portion of the farm.  Prior to owning the farm, Jerry was an active member of the FFA at South Greene High School and received an award for his scholarship, leadership and supervision of a farm program. In addition, he won the district FFA Public Speaking Award in 1968 and won first place for Greene County in the 1967 Annual Co-op Essay Contest. Jerry has also been a member of the Greene County Angus Association, the East Tennessee Angus Association, the Tennessee Angus Association and the American Angus Association.

Jerry’s and Helen’s children, Staci, Brian and Kelli were involved in 4-H and FFA and showed Angus cattle for eight years at local, state, and national competitions. According to the family, they won many division championships and at times Grand Champion at regional competitions. Today, the farm raises hay, small grain, Angus cattle, pigs, vegetables, blueberries and blackberries.

Over the years, the farm has been recognized for its agricultural contributions in the community. In March of 1988 the farm was featured in the Greeneville Sun because of its use of fungus free fescue in the pasture fields. The farm has also been selected as Farmstead of the Month by the Agriculture Council of the Chamber of Commerce in Greene County. This award is presented to farmers who do an above average job of keeping their place neat and clean. In December of 2007, the Tennessee Cooperator also focused on the farm and highlighted the cattle handling equipment and an immobilizer, manufactured by Numark, Inc., that is partially owned by Jerry.

Newt and Rettie Matthews Farm

Wilmuth M. Everhart

            The Matthews Century Farm documents the link between transportation and early commercial and industrial development in rural Tennessee. Located three miles southeast of Mohawk and established by Joseph Matthews in 1843, the farm originally had 840 acres which produced general farm crops and livestock. The farmhouse, “composed of two structures joined by a roofed and floored breezeway,” stood along the stagecoach route from Jonesborough to Knoxville and also served the community’s inhabitants.” Joseph was an avid hunter and even when he “became too old to ‘run with his hounds’ on Bays Mountain nearby, he leaned on the garden fence and listened to each individual dog’s baying and tracking with as much zest as when he was younger.” Joseph married twice and his two oldest sons, Franklin and Solomon, attended Mosheim College at Mosheim and both became Methodist ministers.

            In 1895, Clayton Matthews inherited half of the farm, including the farmstead, and the current owner believes that “since the family was very clannish, Clayton continued the lifestyle” of his father. Five years later he sold his inheritance to his brother Marshall and his brother’s wife, Elizabeth Wright Matthews. In 1910, Marshall and Elizabeth deeded 56 acres of the original farm to their son Newt Matthews and his wife Rettie Shipley Matthews. Newt and Rettie, like many of their neighbors in the early twentieth century added tobacco to their farming operations. Their children were quite successful in school and their son M. Taylor Matthews earned a doctoral degree at Columbia University.

            Mrs. Wilmuth Matthews Everhart, the great granddaughter of the founders, is the current owner of the Matthews family farm. She rents out the 56 acres of land “for growing hay, oats, wheat, soybeans (and) corn” and lives in the home built by her father at the turn of the century.

Phil Gaby & Sons Farm

Phil Gaby

            Located 3 miles from Baileytown, the Phil Gaby & Sons Farm was established in 1892 by William Cromwell Coffee and Melvina Coffee. On 76 acres, they raised cattle, horses, mules, corn, wheat and hay. William and Melvina had 5 children and their daughter Mary along with her husband P. A. became the next owners of the land. The couple had six children and raised many of the same crops and livestock as the previous owner with the addition of chickens, hogs and turkeys. As time moved on, the farm passed through various generations of the family.

            During the 1970s, the farm experienced the effects of development with the construction of Interstate 81 in 1972. The interstate crossed the farm and took 40 acres away.

            In 1974, the great grandson of the founder, Phil Gaby acquired the farm. Phil and his sons manage the farm and raise cattle and hogs.

Pin Oak Farm

Barbara W. Carter
 Edwin Clay Carter

Redland Farm

Barbara A. Belcher

Kenneth Carl Belcher

In 1881, Robert Henry Lauderdale paid $75 for 200 acres on Little Sinking Creek in Greene County. He and his wife, Ellen Hogan, and their five children raised corn tobacco, wheat and cattle. Their son, H. H. Lauderdale, acquired 44 acres of the farm in 1933. With wife Della and their son, W. A., tobacco, Angus cattle, hay and corn were some of the crops and livestock.

According to the family’s records, “It was a farming operation where it was all you could do to make enough money to pay the taxes.” 

            Since 1995, the great-great-granddaughter of R. H. and Ella Lauderdale, Barbara, and her husband, Kenneth Belcher, have owned and operated the farm. They work 44.5 acres of the original 200 and have an additional 319 acres on which they raise hay and Angus cattle. Kenneth and Barbara reside on the family land, along with their daughter and her husband, Rebecca and Rick Tipton, and their son, Jordan, who represents the youngest generation to call the farm home.

Redland Farm II

Barbara A. Belcher

Kenneth Carl Belcher

In 1852, William Hutton purchased 213 acres of land from James D. McBride. He and his wife, Nancy Clark Hutton, had a large family of eleven children, and the family raised wheat, corn, tobacco, chickens, hogs and cows. 

            Fifty-six years later, in 1908, Charles and George Hutton, two sons of the founding couple, became the owners. George and wife Dana Sauls Hutton had no children, so he gave his share of the farm to his nieces and nephews. Charles married Bessie Ottinger and they had five children.

            In 1947, Leona [Hutton] Lauderdale acquired the land from her father and uncle. She and her husband, William Alexander Lauderdale, had one daughter, Barbara. Leona and William owned 43 of the original 213 acres on which they raise Angus beef cattle and pasture land.

            In 1995, more than 140 years after the founding of the Redland Farm II, the current owner, Barbara Belcher, and husband Carl own the property. Barbara is the great-granddaughter of the founders, William and Nancy. They live on the farm with their daughter, Rebecca, son-in-law Rick Tipton, and grandson Joseph. Barbara and Carl are very active on their 43 acres and raise Angus and pasture just as her parents did. Carl has been a director of the Greene County Farm Bureau for the past 19 years. The Belchers also own Redland Century Farm (founded 1881). Barbara inherited farms from both her mother and father and the two are in close proximity. 

Reed Crossing Farm

Virginia Nevius Williams

Michael Nevius

            Reed Crossing Farm, which dates to 1808 lies nine miles northwest of Greeneville. John S. Reed of Virginia and his wife Grizzy Ross originally owned 200 acres located on the road that connected Atlanta and Washington, D. C. Their farm produced corn, swine and sheep.

            William Reed inherited 250 acres from his father in 1855. He married Eliza Armitage and they raised four children. During the Civil War, the family harbored a wounded soldier, tending his wounds until his death. The soldier is buried in the family cemetery. At an undetermined time after the war, the farm passed into the hands of John S. Reed, the founder’s grandson. John’s wife Elizabeth A. Reed inherited the farm upon her husband’s death in 1884. Except for the addition of tobacco to the farm’s operations, agricultural activities changed little during these decades.

            The founder's Great great granddaughters, Ruth Reed Nevius and Helen R. Reed, acquired the property in 1939. Richard Nevius, Willie Ruth’s husband, worked their 484 acres of land and specialized in livestock production until he passed away in 2011. The Nevius children, Virginia N. Williams and Michael Nevius inherited the farm at his passing.  Virginia lives on the farm and she and her brother continue to raise hay and cattle.

Photo: The farm house on the Reed Crossing Farm during the 1920s.

Renner Farm

J. B. Renner

The Renner Farm, situated along the Greene and Cocke County line, was founded in 1877 by John H. Renner and his wife Mary Ann Lintz. The 171 acres were farmed by the couple and their 10 children.  Renner also operated a grist and saw mill on the property.    In 1903, John B. Renner acquired his parents’ farm.  With his wife, Mary Belle Tweed and their 13 children, this second generation raised cattle and tobacco.  J. B. Renner, grandson of the founders and current owner, acquired the property in 1957.  Mr. Renner reports that he has always lived on the farm except for two years of military service.   Today, 61 acres is worked by the owner’s son, Johnnie Renner who raises beef cattle and tobacco and the farm is managed by Lee Renner.

Rivamonte Farm

Harry Brown

            The first settlers in East Tennessee invariably sought a farm nearby or adjacent to a major river system. The river did more, of course, than merely provide water for livestock and the family. It provided a way to transport commodities to market and a way to power mills and other early industrial machinery. The history of the Rivamonte Farm is one of the region’s best examples of how a river location benefited a family’s agricultural operations. Rivamonte stands along the Nolichucky River twelve miles west of Greeneville. Peter and Sarah Ann Donaldson Brown established the property in 1835. Brown, a native of Scotland, cultivated sheep, corn, wheat, hay, cotton and flax on his 600 acres. By building and operating an iron mill and a paper mill, he also used the natural energy of the river to his advantage. The father of six children, Brown died at the age of 44.

            His son Charles F. Brown was the farm’s next owner. Charles wed Mary Richardson, who died just weeks after delivering birth to their son Peter. Charles never remarried and his slaves helped him manage the farm. A cattle breeder, Charles also cultivated foodstuffs, tobacco, flax and peacocks and built a fish trap out of the ruins of the iron mill. He began farming with 600 acres and later purchased 400 additional acres of land.

            Peter Richardson Brown and his wife Sybil Hogan were the third generation owners of the Rivamonte Farm. The family remembers that “Peter Brown was community minded.” A magistrate on the Greene County Court, he also supplied the lumber for the construction of the local community church. Peter died in 1936 and his four sons inherited equal portions of the farm. But in 1941, two of his brothers sold their interests to Harry and Peter Brown Jr., who continued to operate the farm together for the next seventeen years.

            In 1958, Peter and Harry formally divided the property. While Peter sold his land, Harry remained a Greene County Century Farmer until his death in 1985. Today, Harry’s wife Lilly Pace Brown and her son Harry L. Brown, Jr. live at the farm and manage its daily operations. They own 307 acres with tobacco and cattle as their primary cash crops. The Browns have deep roots in this land and firmly state that they “wouldn’t live any other place.”

Rocky Field Farm

Herbert Wayne and Pamela Hughes

In 1796, Joseph White purchased 40 acres of land north of Greeneville, on the sinking branch of Lick Creek from land grant holder, John Smith.  Married to Margaret Duncan in 1805, the Whites had six sons and two daughters.  At Joseph’s death in 1841, all property was inherited by Margaret.  In April of 1852, their son Jacob bought the shares of three of his brothers; only the sons inherited property at their mother’s death.   Jacob and his wife Rebecca Thompson, who he married in 1833, had six children, Isaac, Susan, Eliza, John, Sarah and Aby.

When Jacob and Rebecca died, the land passed to their children, including the daughters.  John White and wife Elizabeth White (a cousin) had seven children. Their son, also named Jacob after his grandfather, acquired the property in the 1890s. Along with his wife Salome, Jacob cultivated corn, wheat, and hay and raised cattle, horses, mules, sheep, hogs and poultry. In addition to this acreage, Jacob bought an additional forty acres (20 acres from two of his aunts bringing the total acreage to 80).  Their son Arthur died of typhoid fever in the 1920s and the land passed directly to his children Clara and Evelyn White, granddaughters of the founders. According to the family, Evelyn and her husband obtained the acreage with the old homestead, but Evelyn’s husband made moonshine under the house and burned it down. Not long after, Evelyn and her husband sold the property.

 Clara White became the sole owner of the farm in 1938.   Clara married Dorsey Hobart Hughes and they had four children. Under their ownership, the farm supported similar livestock and crops as was raised by the founders with the addition of hogs and tobacco. In 1978, the land was acquired by their son,  Bobby Wayne Hughes and his wife Helen M. Hughes. They owned the property until 1993 when Herbert Wayne Hughes obtained it. In 1996, the Hughes bought an additional 21.34 acres and in 2007, they purchased 23 more acres. The farm’s current size is 134.34 acres. Wayne and his wife Pamela raise beef cattle, horses, tobacco, hay and corn.  In addition to the owners, other members of the family living on the farm include Mr. and Mrs. Herbert W. Hughes and their children, Mrs. Helen Hughes, Wayne’s mother, and his brother Mark. These three generations are keepers of many documents that tell their family’s history even as they continue the farming legacy of their ancestors.

S. K. Alexander Farm

Steve Alexander
Charles Alexander

            Thomas Alexander, Jr., and his spouse Jane McGaughey founded the Alexander Farm in 1836 with 117 acres located seven miles southeast of Greeneville. The parents of seven children, they raised corn, wheat and cattle on their land. In 1884, David Donald Alexander inherited the farm from his parents. David added the cultivation of tobacco to the farm’s products. Then from 1917 to 1921, he and his wife Margaret Moore operated a “beach and recreation center on the Nolichuckey river just below the house.”

            David and Margaret had eight children and David Dale Alexander received the family land in 1936. David wed Verna Hutton and they had two boys, Charles D. and Steve K. Alexander. The family expanded the farm’s operations to include dairy farming, a popular mid-twentieth century agricultural activity.

            In 1974, Charles and Steve Alexander acquired the property. Two years later they reported that an old nineteenth century barn was still in use and that the farm produced oats, corn, tobacco, hay and cattle. At that time, the brothers managed the farm’s 117 acres while Howard and Opal Franklin worked the land. Today the Alexander Farm is 150 years old and the family still owns the same parcel of land acquired by Thomas Alexander Jr., in 1836.

Scruggs Homestead Farm

Emma Lillian Neill
Joseph and Glenna Neill

            For owners of large farms and plantations in the early nineteenth century, horse racing was a badge of class and indicated one’s standing as a gentleman in the community. The history of the Scruggs Homestead Farm is only one among several Century Farms that identifies the founder as an avid horse racer and gentleman. In 1799, Richard Scruggs of Virginia established the Scruggs Farm on 265 acres located in the 4^th District of Greene County. A slaveowner, Scruggs developed a profitable small plantation that produced foodstuffs and livestock. Hie ownership of one of the county’s first race tracks probably indicates his desire to be identified with the planter class of Tennessee. Family tradition implies that his operation of the track somewhat fulfilled this quest because “Andrew Jackson raced horses on this farm.”

            Married twice, Scruggs had ten children, one of whom, William Carr Scruggs, inherited the entire farm at an undetermined time following the Civil War. The third generation owner was Mary Scruggs DeBusk and her husband Dr. Robert DeBusk, who “was the community doctor for Warrensburg and parts of Cocke County for many years.” The DeBusks raised tobacco, foodstuffs, livestock and fruit trees on their 265 acres.

            In 1961, the Scruggs Homestead passed intact to the founder’s great great granddaughter Emma Lillian Neill and her husband William S. Neill. The Neills established a herd of registered Angus cattle and continued to grow tobacco, wheat, corn, hay and oats.

            Seven years later, the family divided the land. Today, Emma owns 118 acres and her son Joseph Robert Neill owns 147 acres. J. W. Douthat works the land and his labor yields tobacco, swine, cattle, hay and corn. Emma still lives in the original weatherboard loghouse, built in 1803. The family notes that seven generations have lived in this home, which sits on “a small bluff overlooking the Nolichuckey River near a spring. It was and still is a beautiful place to live.”

Sideline Farms

Wade Collette

Sideline Farms, in the Pleasant Vale Community, is currently home to three generations related to L.C. and Mary “ Mollie” Crawford Leib.  Parents of five children, the Leibs began farming 50 acres in 1895 on which they raised grains and cattle.  L. C. was a cobbler (shoe-maker) and also made furniture.  The family has kept several of his pieces through the years.  L. C. and Mollie’s son, Roy H. Leib, became the next owner of the farm.  His and his wife Virginia Elizabeth Blevins Leib  and their daughter, Mary Lou, shared the farmhouse with his parents.  During these years, cattle, tobacco, hay, poultry, and dairy cattle were part of the farm operation.  The late Mary Lou Leib Collette’s husband, Wade, assumed ownership of the farm in 1989.  He and his two sons, Dale and Kevin, and their families operate the farm where they raise hay, beef cattle, and dairy heifers.  Mr. Collette notes that a house and barn dating from around 1900 still stands on the farm.

Solomon Farm

Tom Solomon

            The Solomon Farm is the second Century Farm in Greene County established by George and Sallie Murray in 1829. Its history parallels the Murray Farm until 1938 when Maggie Sue Murray and her husband Ted Solomon acquired 65 acres of the original farm. Maggie Solomon is the great granddaughter of George and Sallie Murray. As of 1976, Ted worked the land and practiced general farming. Maggie and Ted’s son, Tom Solomon, and his family also lived on the farm.

Southerland Farm

Gwyn Southerland

Jerry A. Southerland

What is today known as the Southerland Farm was owned at the turn of the twentieth century by John Bowers.  In 1900 he transferred a portion of that land to Mary Bowers.  In 1901 Mary married Thomas H. Foreman.  On 76 acres, they and their nine children raised tobacco, hay and cattle.  T. H. was also a mail carrier and taught school in the Meadow Creek community.  

            In 1939, Hugh Foreman acquired his parents’ farm.   Married to Flossie Foreman, the couple had three children--James H. (Bobby) Foreman, Lowell Foreman and Charlsie Foreman Wilson.   Gwyn Southerland, the current owner and granddaughter of Flossie recalls that she was a “wonderful, hard-working woman.”  When workers came to the farm to cut tobacco, she would cook “chicken and gravy and homemade light bread with all the trimmings.”  The men would eat their fill, then go sit or lie  “under the two 100 year-old pecan trees in the yard.”  Flossie and Hugh are buried in the cemetery of the Meadow Creek Presbyterian Church.

            James H. (Bobby) Foreman was the next generation to own the land.  Bobby and his wife, Marlene Goins Foreman, and their two children, Beverly Gwyn and Jamie raised tobacco, corn and black angus cattle.  In October of 1997, Beverly Gwyn and her husband, Jerry A. Southerland, Jr. became the owners of the property.  They and their son Jeremy live in a 1920 house while their daughter Annie and husband Chris Bailey and their children, Preston, 4 and Autumn, 2, also live on the farm.  Gwyn and Jerry work and manage the farm selling hay, fodder, and pumpkins in season.  

Photo: The family of the Southerland Farm poses with their Century Farms sign.

Steele Holm Farm

Cathy Steele

Carolyn Steele Brown

Thomas Steele

            In October of 1853, Samuel Steele of Ireland purchased 300 acres from Phillip Hale in the 4^th District of Greene County in the Warrensburg community.  Samuel, who raised a variety of crops and livestock,  willed the land to his son Milton Steele, In 1952, Samuel’s grandson Hogan Steele acquired the property. Hogan also practiced general farming  and  used the house and barn built by his grandfather.  When he died in 1987, the farm was divided between siblings Thomas Steele, Carolyn Steele Brown, and Samuel Steele, Jr.

            Samuel Steele, Jr, raised beef cattle, Dalmatians, tobacco, hay, and continued the dairy for a brief time.  He and his wife Cathy are the parents of Samuel, III and Amber.  After the death of their father in 1994, Samuel Steele, III took over the farming operations which consists primarily of hay and all of the 300 original acres is farmed or leased for agriculture.   

Photo (top): Tobacco barn

Photo (bottom): Fall on the farm

Still Hollow Farm

Jay D. Birdwell, Sr.

Doris Ann Birdwell

The Allen family of Greene County begins with Robert Allen who moved to the area from Pennsylvania in 1786.  His son Daniel was a contemporary and friend of Greeneville tailor and alderman, Andrew Johnson.   It was Daniel’s son, James Allen Sr. that established a farm of 560 acres about nine miles southwest of Greeneville in 1857 that continues to remain in the family today.  James attended nearby Tusculum Academy and was involved in local politics. He first married Laura Brown who died in 1878 and then wed Mollie Birdwell.  He was the father of James, Jr., Alice, and Sarah Louisa.  The Allens raised beef cattle, corn, wheat, horses and hogs.

            James Allen, Jr. acquired the property in 1885.  He served in the Tennessee General Assembly from 1903 to 1907 and from 1923 to 1925.  According to the family, he was instrumental in introducing a bill to appropriate money for making improvements on and helping to preserve the tailor shop of his father’s friend, former President Andrew Johnson.  In addition to politics, James helped drive a team of oxen and a covered wagon that hauled an organ to Greeneville from  South Carolina. As noted in the book, Greeneville: A One Hundred Year Portrait, the organ was installed in the St. James Episcopal Church and remains the oldest organ in the state of Tennessee.  Parts of the covered wagon that carried the organ are still preserved in the farm’s granary.  Married to Elizabeth Jay Birdwell, sister of Mollie, the couple had no children, but they raised her  nephew, George Leo Birdwell, Sr. and her two nieces, Elizabeth and Louise Birdwell.

            In 1934, Louise Birdwell, who married Otis Harrison, became the next generation to own the farm.  Tobacco became the major cash crop for the Harrisons who raised corn, wheat, hogs and beef cattle.

            In 1952, the great nephew of the founder, George Leo Birdwell, Sr. obtained the property. George married Julia Gladys Russell  and they had five children George Jr., Johnny, Luke , Jay, and Lois. While George continued to raise tobacco, corn, wheat and beef cattle on the land, he added a dairy business to the farm.  Beginning in 1928, George developed several milk routes , hauling his patrons’ milk as well as his own to Greeneville and the Pet Milk Company, the local bottling and distributing company . George took much pride in his dairy business and in 1953 he expressed his thoughts in the Pet Milk Company’s newsletter “Pet Dairy Chats.”  George “Selling milk has meant a better standard of living for our family, better furnishings for our home and more good equipment on the farm. Dairying helps to keep good tenants, and milk cows have improved our land greatly.” The family remembers that as the dairy business grew, the milk routes became additional jobs for the Birdwell sons.

            In 1973, the great, great nephew and the current owner of the farm, Jay D. Birdwell obtained the land. Today, the farm is worked by Jay and his wife Ann Birdwell, their son, George Birdwell and their niece Amanda Kilday who live on the farm with their families. Currently, the farm produces sweet corn, fresh-water prawns, cattle and tobacco.

                                                                                               Family history records that when founder, James Allen, Sr., began building the first covered Allen’s Bridge across the Nolichuckey River in 1862, he began to build the house on his farm using the same hand cut stones for the foundation as were used for the bridge supports.  The house “is central to the identity and pride of our farm” notes the current owners, Jay and Ann.   The generations have preserved the original glass window panes at the front entrance, original picture molding, ceiling paper and working oil light fixtures. In addition to the house, the property has a herringbone pattern brick walkway. When the bricks were fired on site for the house, the walks were also built.  A log barn and smokehouse, also dating to the first half of the nineteenth century,  are also part of the         
historic landscape.  The granary that was built in 1860 is presently being used as The Farmers Wife gift shop.

Susong Farm

Katherine Susong Harmon

Public service in both civic and agricultural groups binds the generations who have lived and worked at the Susong Farm. Andrew Dickson Susong founded the Susong Farm, seven miles west of Greeneville, in 1862. He and his wife Sarah Cochran had four children and the family owned 201 acres on which they grew corn, wheat, and fruit trees while raising cattle and swine. An elder in the local Presbyterian church, Andrew Susong was a merchant and postmaster at his Timber Ridge store on the old Kentucky Road. The money he made in these businesses allowed the family to purchase additional acres of land. When the farm passed into the hands of Andrew and Sarah’s three sons in 1905, it consisted of almost 800 acres of land.

            Marion, Samuel and Edmond Susong operated a typical twentieth century Greene County farm. Cattle, horses, corn, tobacco and wheat were their leading farm products. Marion served the community as an elder at the Timber Ridge Presbyterian Church and as the chairman of the Greene County Board of Education. Active in various home demonstration and agricultural programs, the family also deeded land to the county for the construction of the Raders and Glenwood schools.

            In 1965, Katherine Susong Harmon, the granddaughter of the founders, inherited 50 acres of the original farm. She and her husband Charles now farm 125 acres, specializing in tobacco and pasture rental. The Susong Farm also contains several important early nineteenth century buildings, including the original Susong farmhouse, a log barn, log spring house and log cabin. The family has opened these buildings to the public during Greeneville Historic Homes Week.

Photo: A view of the Susong Farm.

Twin Acres Farm

Blanche D. Bernard

            Through active membership and participation in local religious groups and farmer organizations, the generations of the Twin Acres Farm have touched the lives of many Greene County farm families. Twin Acres Farm, founded by Jacob and Polly Luster Justis in 1849, is fifteen miles north of Greenville. Jacob and Polly managed 200 acres, which produced foodstuffs, livestock, cotton and flax. During the Civil War, the family feared raiders and hid their valuables in a nearby cave. Jacob was a religious man and helped build the Zion United Methodist Church. In 1866, his son William acquired 79 acres of the family land. Married to Henrietta Johnson, William fathered six children and, like his father, owned a farm of many different crops and breeds of livestock. These commodities did not change until the 1920s when Florence Carter Justis and her family introduced the cultivation of tobacco.

            Nellie M. Justis, the great granddaughter of the founders, inherited the 79 acre farm in 1952. Her husband Oscar Kyle Bernard managed and worked the land, while teaching Sunday school every week. Nellie was an active in several community organizations. She was involved in many different church activities and was a member of the Grange and the Farm Bureau.

            Oscar Kyle Bernard, Jr., the founders’ great great grandson, acquired 71 acres of the family land in 1971. In addition to his farm work, Oscar was a part-time repairman and carpenter and served as a director of the Greene County Farm Bureau and the secretary-treasurer of the Baileyton Community Chest.

            Oscar died in 1982 and his wife Blanche Dixon Bernard became the owner of Twin Acres Farm. Today, Blanche and her son John Kyle Bernard work the land, generating foodstuffs, tobacco and beef products.

Waddell Nolachuckey River Farm

Darwyn Waddell

In 1889, Jonathan “John” Wiley Waddell and his wife, Elvina Elizabeth Bowers Waddell, purchased a farm of just over 231 acres southwest of Greeneville on the Nolichucky River.  The couple and their four sons raised cattle, horses, hogs, chickens, tobacco, hay, corn, small grain and vegetables.

            In 1930, three of their sons, William Robert Waddell, Charles Josiah Waddell and Decatur Fox Waddell, acquired the farm. Under their ownership, the farm continued to support a variety of crops and livestock.  William Robert married Hattie Rader Waddell and they had William Adelbert (Delbert),  Peggy Jane, and Betty Joe, who died as an infant.

            In 1958,  William and Peggy inherited the farm of William Robert Waddell and in 1961 Delbert purchased Peggy's acreage.  Delbert married Madge Smith Waddell and they had two sons, Robert Frank Waddell and Darwyn William Waddell.

In 1993 and 1994, Darwyn William Waddell, the great grandson of the founder Jonathan "John" Wiley Waddell, acquired 108 acres of the original farm. Today, Darwyn and his wife Virginia and their son Eric work the land. Currently, the farm produces cattle and hay.  Several buildings including a smokehouse and cattle and tobacco barns remain on this homestead. 

Whispering Hills Farm

Gladys Walker King

            The history of Whispering Hills Farm graphically portrays the evolving appearance of the rural landscape of Greene County. Thomas N. and Mary Malone Weems established Whispering Hills Farm, which dates to 1850, on 503 acres located two miles south of Baileytown. The family reports that “upon acquiring this land” the founders supervised the construction of a “beautiful plantation house (three story brick) with bricks made on the farm by slaves.” The Weems were general farmers and in 1883 they willed 617 acres to their only surviving child, John Russum Weems. John and his wife Nancy Bailey expanded the property to over 1200 acres and became one of the largest stock dealers in the region. A licensed veterinarian, John was also a “very capable mechanic” and “maintained a machine shop.” He was also a trustee and founder of the present Wesley’s Chapel Methodist Church.

            John and Nancy Weems had four children and their daughter Mary “Mollie” Weems King managed the farm from 1901 to 1950, although she did not formally acquire the land until 1928. In 1904, Mollie became Greene County’s first woman county superintendent of schools.

            Her son Rex Weems King inherited 118 acres of the farm in 1950. For several decades he helped his mother manage the land and in 1928 he built a large barn for their expanded tobacco operations. According to the family, Rex believed that “land should be handed down in better condition than it was received” and for several years he declared “his farm a wildlife sanctuary.” In 1967, he built a modern house on the property and the family takes pride in “the beautiful plaster ornamental mouldings” he designed for the living room, dining room and foyer.

            Upon Rex King’s death in 1969, his widow Gladys Walker King inherited the farm. As a magistrate for the 21^st District of Greene County from 1954 to 1960, she was the first woman in Green County to be elected to public office. In 1983, her daughter Betty Jean King Proffitt took possession of the farm. On her 175 acres of land, Proffitt produces hay and beef cattle. She states that the installation of electric transmission towers by the Tennessee Valley Authority from 1948 to 1950, the construction of a new highway in the 1960s and continuing pressure from oil companies during the 1970s and 1980s drastically altered the original landscape of Whispering Hills. She believes that her story reminds all Tennesseans that “the pressures of the 20^th century are ever present, presenting difficulties in maintaining a family farm.”