Humphreys County

Humphreys County was established in 1811 from parts of Stewart County and its county seat is Waverly. Throughout its history, Humphreys County has been a fertile agricultural land and has the three major waterways-the Tennessee river and the Duck and Buffalo rivers. In addition to the water transportation routes, the county has the Louisville and Nashville Railroad that directly connected the county seat of Waverly to Nashville. Humphreys County has six Century Farms and the oldest is the Page Place Farm that dates to 1814. For more information regarding Humphreys County, please go to the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History & Culture website.

 

Map courtesy of Carole Swann, Tennessee Department of Agriculture

Meadowdale Farm

Mrs. T.R. Meadow

            In 1853, William Holland and Patsy Williams Meadow founded the Meadowdale Farm with 470 acres of land located ten and a half miles south of Waverly.  When they arrived at their new home, the Hurricane Mills area “was a thriving mill community, built around a cloth and woolen mill run by water from a dam on Hurricane Creek.” William, who was a “great camp meeting enthusiast,” produced corn, hay, swine and beef cattle on his farm.

 Richard Steele Meadow received the farm from his parents in 1887. A veteran of the Mexican War and a former Confederate volunteer, Richard and his wife Rebecca Crockett raised thirteen children, several of whom died in infancy. For the most part, his agricultural commodities were the same as his father’s.

 Mrs. T.R. Meadow, the current owner acquired the farm in 1922.  She has purchased an 80 acre tract of land along the Duck River. Mrs. Meadow manages the farm and rents out portions to her cousin Ray May who grows corn, soybeans and hay. She still lives in the family farmhouse of 1879.

Page Place Farm

Andrew B. Dodson, Jr.

            Established by James and Jane Crockett Shannon in 1814, the Page Place Farm, located thirteen miles south of Waverly, is the oldest in Humphreys County.  Shannon owned 340 acres and grew row crops such as corn and wheat.  In 1831, the founders deeded the farm to their four daughters: Mary, Sally, Elizabeth, and Mrs. Margaret Harris, and they sold 260 acres of the farm.  In 1975, Andrew B. Dodson, Jr., the founders great great great great grandson received 80 acres.  The farm produces corn, wheat, and sorghum. 

Parks Farm

Mrs. Champlin Butterfield
Rebecca Parks
Easton Parks Lebo

            Late nineteenth and early twentieth century agricultural success was often keyed to the local government’s ability to support the farming community. The construction of bridges, new roads and improved communication occurred quickly in some counties while others could not afford such projects until the mid-twentieth century. The Parks Farm of Humphreys County is a good example of the relationship between more efficient transportation and agricultural prosperity.

Located fourteen miles south of Waverly, the Parks Farm dates to 1873 when William C. and Mary Walker Jones purchased their first 140 acres of land. The founders and their five children built one of the region’s largest farms, which eventually included over 1,400 acres. The family grew corn, peanuts, hay, wheat, stock peas and livestock. As a member of the county court, William argued for the construction of bridges over the Duck and Buffalo rivers, which made for “better transportation for farm products to market.” The owner of a private telephone line from his Buffalo farm to his Sycamore Farm on the Tennessee River, Jones also was “instrumental in getting telephones in the county.”

In 1903, the founders’ daughter Annie Jones Park and her husband Hamilton Parks acquired the farm’s 1412 acres to which they later added 228 acres of land. During their ownership, the daily patterns of farm operations remained the same, except for the introduction of soybeans and breeded livestock. The Parks were the parents of five children. One of their daughters joined the army’s WAC corps in 1942, “retiring in 1957 as Lt. Colonel, at that time the highest permanent rank for women in the U.S. Army.”

 In 1974 two of the founders’ granddaughters, Mrs. Champlin Butterfield and Rebecca Parks, together with a great grandson, Easton Parks Lebo, obtained the farm. They produce cattle, soybeans, and hay.

Pleasant Oaks Farm

James Corbitt

            In selecting their initial homestead, most Tennessee farmers chose sites adjacent to a river or major creek. That tendency explains the location of the Pleasant Oaks Farm in the Plant community of Humphreys County. Pleasant Oaks Farm began with 4,500 acres of land acquired by Thomas T. and Sarah Vawter Stribling in 1853. The Striblings, parents of thirteen children, were native Virginians who moved to Tennessee from Indiana. Their farm dwelling stood at a ferry crossing of the Duck River and their agricultural commodities were corn, cattle and swine.

            Shortly after the family’s arrival in Tennessee, the oldest son, Pleasant Stribling, obtained the farm. He and his wife, Zerelda Dehoney located their home in the Plant community. The parents of eight children, they raised corn, cattle, and swine. The property passed into the Corbitt family in 1875, when Emerine Stribling Corbitt and Allen T. Corbitt acquired 19.5 acres. Emerine taught school and Allen worked this small farm; together, their income was enough to support their nine children.

            In 1925, Pleasant Corbitt inherited the farm. Wed to Rena McCrary, Pleasant planted new crops such as soybeans and lespedeza. Due to a planned flood control project, Pleasant sold nine acres to Tennessee Valley Authority in the 1940s. Upon her father’s death in 1948, Emma Corbitt took control of the farm.  When she died in 1981, the farm was left to her two brothers and two sisters.  James Corbitt, the founders’ great great great great grandson uses the farm’s remaining 10 acres of land for pasture.

Scholes Farm

Harley Scholes

The history of the Scholes Farm, which is eleven miles north of Waverly, illustrates the self-sufficient nature of Tennessee farmers.  The farm dates to the 1850s when Allen and Malinda Browning Scholes purchased 300 acres of land.  The family recalls a story about Allen Scholes’ youth that emphasizes the scarcity of resources with which many farmers began their agricultural careers. When Allen first moved to Tennessee from North Carolina, he “discovered that he left the chopping axe in North Carolina. He walked back and returned with it in seven weeks.”

With his land well watered by White Oak Creek, Scholes operated a profitable farm featuring fruit and pecan trees. In addition, he owned a wood shop and worked as a stone mason. He and Malinda had twelve children. In 1894, over 100 acres was left to a grandson, F. Nathaniel Scholes. Nathaniel maintained the family’s fruit and pecan orchards and opened a country store. He mined the salt sold at the store from a saltpeter cave located on the farm. A well-respected craftsman, Nathaniel “built his own home with timber taken from the farm and chimney stones taken from the farm’s limestone rock quarry.” Like so many other turn of the century farmers in Tennessee, Nathaniel wanted to improve the land’s productivity and he “built dams with limestone rocks to enrich his bottomlands.”

Nathaniel wed Lucy Hooper and they were the parents of eleven children. In 1947, one of their sons, Harley Scholes, obtained 70 acres of the family land. He is the current owner of the Scholes Farm. The crops that the farm cultivates include hay, corn, and pasture.

The Wilbert & Annie Enochs Farm

 Joyce E. Bullington

Patricia Ann Bullington Davis

          A millhouse, included on the National Register of Historic Places, a house built in 1890 and a number of 20th century farm buildings form the picturesque farmstead begun when Enoch Enochs purchased 210 acres four miles from McEwen in 1911. Enoch and his wife, Allie Hendershot Enochs, along with their four children, raised corn, hay, wheat and peanuts.

          Wilbert Nathan Enochs acquired his parents’ farm in 1917. Annie May Davis was Wilbert’s wife, and they were the parents of Kenneth, Joyce and Thelma. In addition to managing the farm which produced corn, hay, wheat, soybeans, peanuts, cotton, dairy cattle, chickens and swine, Wilbert also built a dam and millhouse to generate electricity for his family and their neighbors.  He also donated land for the Liberty Baptist Church and school, and Wilbert and Annie also purchased a school bus to transport community students to McEwen High School.

          Wilbert and Annie’s daughter Joyce acquired the farm in 1980. Married to Ernest Ray Bullington (now deceased) she has two daughters, Patricia and Rebecca. Joyce and Patricia now own the farm. In the 1940s, Joyce was recognized as the Most Outstanding 4-H member for Humphreys County. Patricia who is married to Dorris Davis, and Rebecca also were active in 4-H.  Dorris Davis participated in 4-H and FFA, and his and Patricia’s sons, Nathan and Enoch, who represent the next generation of family farmers, were very active in both 4-H and FFA. Joyce and Dorris operate the farm, where the family raises corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, hay, beef and dairy cattle, swine, chickens and hogs. The 1890 house is also operated as the Enochs Farm House Inn Bed and Breakfast.