In 1856, Daniel Clayton purchased 213 acres in the 3^rd District of Robertson County. He and his wife, Nancy Piety Clayton, were the parents of 10 children. The family raised a variety of crops, including corn and Irish and sweet potatoes. Nancy became the sole owner in 1884, and by that time, the farm had been expanded to 256 acres and tobacco had been added to row crops and livestock of general farming.

          J. M. Clayton, the son of the founding couple, became the owner of the farm in March of 1895. He and his wife, Artimissa, and their family of three children farmed 127 acres. Their daughter, Ida Mae Clayton Calvert, acquired the property in 1914. Married to Douglas McCLain Calvert, they were the parents of three sons. One son, James Ross “Jimmy” Calvert, became the fifth generation owner in 1987. He and his wife, Katherine, had three children: James Mark, Lee Ann Morton and Susan Rosenberger. In the late 1970s, the Calverts were featured in the Farm Journal magazine. Katherine and Lee Ann were active in the Home Demonstration Club, and all the children were involved in 4-H.

         Along with his grandparents, Jimmy and Katherine Calvert, Daniel Miller Calvert and his wife, Leslie, own a portion of Calvert Farms. Daniel and Leslie and their children, Jacob Bernard, and Josie Mae live in the pristine 1904 farmhouse. Leslie served four years as president of the Robertson County Young Farmers and Ranchers. Jimmy and Daniel, as well as Mark Calvert, work together on the family’s acreage, where they raise tobacco, wheat and soybeans. Daniel and Jimmy are board members of the Robertson County Farm Bureau, and Jimmy received an award honoring his years of service with the Robertson County Soil Conservation Board.

 Photo: Farmhouse on the Calvert Farm

Circle G Farm

 Charles Randell (Randy) Gower

Melinda F. Gower

           The Circle G Farm was established when John Miles Gower bought 80 acres of land near the Turnersville and Coopertown Roads of Robertson County in 1910.  He married Susie M. Head, and they were the parents of six children.  The family raised corn, wheat, tobacco, cattle, pigs and hay.  During the founding generation’s ownership of over 50 years, the farm moved from using horses and mules to tractors and other mechanized equipment.  Barns were built, and a large house was moved onto the property.   

          In 1968, Dewell Russell Gower, a son of John Miles and Susie Gower, became the next generation owner.  He continued to make improvements by clearing more of the land, building ponds, and adding fences.   He also built a large tobacco barn, a smoke house, and a granary. The farm produced corn, wheat, hay, tobacco, and milk from dairy cows. Dewell married Emma Lou James, and they were the parents of two children, Terry Russell  and Charles Randall, also known as Randy.

            Randy Gower acquired the farm in 2005.   He and his wife, Melinda  Faye Graves Gower, manage the Circle G Farm.  They grow corn, tobacco, cattle and hay on 25 acres.  Three generations of Gowers, including Justin Randall, Randy and Melinda’s son, and Emma Lou Gower live on the family farm.

 Photo: Aerial view of Circle G Farm

Clinard Farm

Jamie C. Dudiak

Jeffrey Warren Bowie

Robin Paul and Carol Bowie

Between 1819 and 1830, Joseph Clinard received several four Tennessee land grants and through other acquisitions he eventually obtained 500 acres. He and his wife, Sarah “Sally”, had six children--Joseph Washington, Sanford, Brown C., Matilda, Elizabeth and Wiley.  The family raised cattle, sheep, horses and chickens along with corn and wheat.  Over the years, Joseph sold portions of his acreage to his sons, Brown, Sanford and Wiley and they each established homesteads. Joseph’s oldest son, Washington, also purchased a large tract of land in the same vicinity and his daughters married local farmers in the community.

            In addition to obtaining 99 acres from his father in 1845, Brown C. Clinard purchased additional acreage and eventually accumulated around 300 acres of land.  His first wife was Nancy Paralee Rawls and they were the parents of   Benjamin Boyd and Nancy Evaline.  In 1861, Brown joined the 30^th Tennessee Infantry Regiment of the Confederate States of America. During the Battle of Fort Donelson in February of 1862, Brown was captured and sent to Camp Butler, a Union prison in Springfield, Illinois where he died on March 30, 1862.

            In 1865, Brown’s estate was dispersed to his second wife and widow, Eliza, and to his son and daughter from his first marriage.  Benjamin wed Sallie Wilkinson in 1879 and they had five children.  Benjamin built a farmhouse, a large livestock barn and a corn crib. Cattle, horses, mules, swine and chickens were raised by the Clinards and they also grew corn, wheat, sorghum and tobacco.

            In 1919, Benjamin died and his farm was inherited by his four surviving children, Paul, Garland, Jones and Jessie Lee.  Paul Clinard inherited the portion of the farm with the house, livestock barn and farm outbuildings. Paul married Floyce, but they had no children. In 1945, Paul sold his tract to Robin Earl Bowie, the oldest son of Jessie Lee and her husband John Willie Bowie and the grandson of Benjamin Boyd Clinard.

Robin and his wife, Thelma, farmed the land until Thelma passed away in 2001 at the age of 91. Robin and Thelma’s son, Robin Paul Bowie and his wife Carol, purchased the adjacent farm in 1994. While managing the farm, Robin also worked with the Soil Conservation Service. On the farm, they raised beef cattle, wheat, alfalfa and native warm-season grasses.  Robin Paul and Carol had two children, Jeffrey Warren and Jamie Bowie.  Over the years, Jeff and Jamie were very active in 4-H and FFA.  They showed a variety of beef cattle, sheep, and horses at fairs and other agricultural related events. Jeff graduated with a degree in soil conservation/agriculture and followed his father’s footsteps by taking a job as a Natural Resources Conservationist in Maury County, Tennessee. Jamie graduated with a degree in Magazine Journalism from MTSU and created the Busy Bee Antique Trader, a monthly antique magazine for the southeast.

 In 2005, Jeffrey Warren  Bowie and Jamie Bowie Dudiak received a portion of the original family farm. The original Clinard house and farm buildings were included in the part of the farm given to Jamie.  After trying to restore the old homestead, she and her husband regretfully decided to tear down the late 1800s farmhouse and build a new one.  Today, the family farm mainly operates as the B & W Cattle Company which specializes in Angus/Simmental beef and portions of the farm are set aside for wildlife conservation.   The Clinard, Warren, and Dudiak families continue the tradition of farming that began with their ancestors nearly 190 years ago, yet  study, learn, and implement best practices in agriculture as they face the demands of farming in the twenty-first century.

Cooks Seldom Rest Farm

Mr. and Mrs. James Emmett Cook

            Dating to 1869, Cooks Seldom Rest Farm is fourteen miles northeast of Springfield. Its founders were Jeremiah and Caroline Stark Cook, the parents of eight children. Their land yielded crops of tobacco, corn and wheat. The family also raised livestock. At Jeremiah’s death in 1895, 45 acres passed to his son George N. Cook. George soon added another 81 acres of his father’s estate to his landholdings. Tobacco, corn, wheat, horses, cattle and swine were the farm’s principal commodities.

            George’s wife was Johnnie Tennessee Deweres and they were the parents of twelve children. In 1938, their daughter Etta Cook Belt and her husband C. J. Belt acquired 95 acres of the family land. While the Belts and their six children planted no new varieties of crops, they did introduce a major change in daily farm operations by digging a well nearby the house. Before the well, the family had carried water uphill from an adjacent spring.

            In 1943, James Emmett Cook acquired the farm from his sister, Etta Belt. The grandson of the founders, James owned 115 acres in 1976 and his crops were tobacco, corn, wheat, cattle and swine.

Ellis Farm

Michael J. Ellis

Catherine Byrne Ellis

            The Ellis Farm is located seven miles north west of Springfield and was established by Joseph Henry Byrne in 1881. On the farm he raised tobacco, corn, wheat and hay. According to the family, the farm was the site of the first Catholic orphanage in Tennessee. In addition, the land was used for a boarding school for high school students in the 1840s and 1850s. Married to Matilda Justice, the couple had four children. Their names were Elizabeth, Margaret, Letitia and James Joseph.

            The second generation to own the land was James Joseph Byrne. During his ownership, the farm produced the same livestock and crops as the previous owner. Along with his wife, Ellen Hagerty, the couple had six children. Their daughter, Catherine Byrne Ellis and her husband Kenneth Ellis were the next owners of the farm. While managing the farm, they also raised five children.

            In 1984, the great grandson of the founder, Michael J. Ellis became a co-owner of the land. In 1992, most of the foundation of the orphanage was removed to the grounds of St. Michael Catholic church, the oldest Catholic church in Tennessee. The stones were used to construct an outside alter to commemorate the church’s 150 years in existence. Today, Michael and his mother Catherine still owns the farm and they raise cattle and three varieties of tobacco.

Gill Henry Farm

Richard Hugh Gill

            Nine miles east of Springfield is the Gill Henry Farm, established by Lemuel J. and Sallie Pope Henry in 1856. Their 274 acre farm produced crops of corn and tobacco. The Henrys had four children and in 1872, their son B. M. Henry acquired 143 acres of the property. Little is known about this period in the farm’s history except for Henry’s marriage to Nannie Fisher. They were the parents of seven children.

            Hugh Gill, the great grandson of the founders, obtained 97 acres of the family land in 1938. As of 1976, he farmed a total of 242 acres. The farm is currently owned by Hugh Gill's son, Richard Hugh Gill.

Green Hill Farm

David Edmond Gunn

In 1904, nine years after remodeling the farm’s 1845 log, dog-trot house into an L-shaped design, carpenter John Edmond Gunn and his wife Lena Orndorff Gunn bought Green Hill Farms.  On their 192 acres, the Gunns raised corn, wheat, tobacco, oats, rye, broom corn and sorghum cane, cattle, horses, mules, cattle, Duroc hogs, sheep, turkeys, chicken, and ducks.  The family became known for its prize-winning livestock.  John participated in planning roads, served on the School Board, and assisted in building a school house.  The Gunns also provided room and board for school teachers in the Barren Plains community.

Two of their four children, Henry David Gunn and Julia Gunn, were the next land owners.  They purchased an adjoining 448 acres, adding Hereford cattle, barley, soybeans, lespedeza, and alfalfa to the farm’s products.  Henry David Gunn continued his father’s legacy of community involvement, serving on the School Board, Farm Bureau Board of Directors, Soil Conservation Committee, and on a committee that brought city water to the north Robertson County area. 

David Edmond Gunn, grandson of the founder, and his wife, Melanie, acquired the land in 2001.  Four generations of the Gunn family presently reside on the farm:  David’s mother, Ruth King Gunn; his sons, Jonathan David and Josh A.; and Josh’s wife, Kathy, and their daughter, Morgan Eve.  The Gunns now farm 227 acres in addition to 189 acres of the original plot, and raise Hereford and Gelbvieh beef cattle, horses, border collies, dark-fired tobacco, corn, wheat, barley, soybeans and hay.

In addition to the original farmhouse (modernized in 1956), two other pre-1900 structures remain in use -- the hen house and the granary/buggy shed.  The farm is recognized by the Robertson County Antiquities Foundation.

Photo: John Gunn’s wife Lenna and their son Henry David feeding the turkeys.

Gus Elliott Farm

Gus Henry Elliott, Jr.

Lillian Maxine Elliott

The Gus Elliott Farm has the distinction of being part of the Wessyngton Plantation that was begun by Joseph Washington who came to Robertson County in 1796 and brought with him tobacco plants that were reportedly the first grown in Robertson County. The land was passed through several generations of the Washington family and then part of the land was eventually sold by Lucy Washington Helm to the Elliotts.  

In 1899, Gus Henry Elliott, Sr. founded the Gus Elliott Farm. Located six miles south of Adams, Tennessee, the 671 acres produced tobacco, wheat, corn and hogs. Married to Chloe Lockert Elliott, the couple had two children, Gus Henry Elliott, Jr. and Lillian Maxine Elliott.

            As time moved on, Gus and Lillian became the second generation owners of the farm. During his ownership, he cultivated wheat, corn, tobacco and hay and raised cattle. According to the family, the road nearby the farm was changed from gravel to blacktop during this time.

            Today, Gus, his wife Margaret and his sister Lillian still own the farm and work the land that produces wheat, corn, tobacco, hay and cattle. A farm house, a smokehouse, a servants’ house, a stable and a crib that were constructed in the nineteenth century still stand on the property.

Photo: The farmhouse on the Gus Elliott Farm.

Hobdy Farm

Paul and Martha Hobdy

            The changing agricultural production of the Hobdy Farm, which is eleven miles northeast of Springfield, paints an interesting picture of farm families adapting their crops and products to various shifts in the agrarian marketplace. Elijah West founded the farm in 1825. On his 90 acres, he raised many types of crops and livestock, from tobacco and hay to mules and chickens. In 1857, the farm passed to his son Andrew W. West and his wife Emily A. Orman. Andrew, with the assistance of his three sons, improved the farm by building a new stock barn (which still stands) and tobacco barn.

            At the turn of the century, in 1901, John Robert West inherited the entire farm. John, a Baptist who was the founder’s grandson, wed Fannie Fisher and fathered two children. His son R. Orman West served four terms in the Tennessee State Legislature. In 1925, his daughter Lottie West Barry inherited a portion of the family land and three years later, she and her husband John M. Barry bought the remainder of the property from R. Orman West. The Barrys specialized in tobacco cultivation and produced both air cured and dark varieties. Together with their eight children, they also grew corn, wheat, hay and vegetables and raised swine and dairy cattle.

            In 1962, Martha Barry Hobdy and her husband Paul Hobdy inherited the family’s original 90 acres. The family is active in the Baptist Church and the Farm Bureau. Martha and Paul presently own 165 acres and operate a large dairy business with 150 dairy cows and heifers. They also plant corn, tobacco, wheat, alfalfa, hay and soybeans.

Homestead Acres

Charles Bidwell, Sr. 

Flora Bidwell

            Purchasing 620 acres in 1849, Abner and Mary Justice Bidwell established the Walnut Hill Farm on land three miles south of Pleasant View. The parents of seven children, the Bidwells produced tobacco, corn and livestock. Mary inherited the farm upon Abner’s death in 1908 and supervised its activities for the next seven years. Her son Paul B. Bidwell, in 1915, assumed ownership of the 350 acres of family land.

            Bernard Bidwell, the grandson of Abner and Mary Bidwell, received 179 acres of the farm in 1962 and worked it for the next two decades. Since the original Century Farm survey in 1976, Bernard has passed away and the land went to his sons, Charles and Morris Bidwell. Today, Charles Bidwell, Sr. and his wife, Flora, own the property.  They changed the name from Walnut Hill Farm to Homestead Acres in 2009.  Charles and Flora also own and operate a Century Farm located in Cheatham County owned by Flora's family since 1879, the Edgen Hills Farm.

J. C. Balthrop Farm

Gilford D. Walker

            The 14^th District of Robertson County is home to the Balthrop family farm, established in 1836 by John Christian Balthrop of North Carolina. Balthrop, who married three times and fathered eighteen children, began farming with 185 acres devoted to the production of tobacco, corn, wheat, cattle and swine. At one time, his farm contained over 230 acres, but the founder later sold 113 acres of his landholdings.

            In 1930, Jordan C. Balthrop inherited the farm. Jordan, his wife Della Hudgens and their four children cultivated tobacco, corn and wheat on their 117 acres. They also managed herds of cattle and swine. Jordan and his son Jesse worked the farm for five decades. Nannie W. Walker, the granddaughter of the founders, owned the property and sold the land to her son Guilford D. Walker.

Billy Moss Jackson
Theodore Moss Jackson

 In 1862, John Washington Moss established a farm in White House. By 1884, it totaled 107.5 acres. John W. and his wife, Lucinda Shannon Moss, had three children, John B., William and Mary Ella. They raised sheep, chickens, corn, oats and wheat. 

Son William became the second owner of the farm in 1902. He and his wife, Belle Jernigan Moss, had one child, Erline. During this generation’s ownership, the family raised tobacco, chickens and hogs. William Moss was a member of the Dark Tobacco Growers Association.

            Erline Moss and husband Walter Luell Jackson acquired the farm in 1934. Along with their son, Theodore Moss Jackson, they raised tobacco, chickens and milk cows and were under contract with the Pet Milk Company.

            In 1977, Theodore Moss Jackson received the farm. At this time, the entire 107.5 acres of the original farm remained intact. He and his wife, Margaret Ann Roaden Jackson, and their son, Billy Moss Jackson, raised hay and cows. Theodore also began a poultry business in 1954. 

During this time, the farm also incorporated another 82 acres of the Corder Farm established in 1893, which previously was the property of Mary Ella Moss and husband F. H. Corder. Corder was a farmer as well as a justice of the peace, rural-mail carrier and is associated with beginnings of the first bank in White House. 

            Theodore and Billy Jackson are the current owners of the farm, where four generations of the family reside, including Theodore, and Billy, as well as Billy’ son, Cory, and his two children. They work 96 acres of the original farm and raise registered Hereford cattle and hay. 

Photo: The Corder House built during the 1890s.

Jackson- Winfield Farm

Billy Moss Jackson
Theodore Moss Jackson

 In 1834, Gains Winfield founded a farm with his wife, Martha Shannon Winfield. Gains purchased various amounts of land until 1859 when his farm totaled 236 acres. With his wife and five children, he raised corn, wheat, sheep and cows. He and one of his sons, William S. Winfield, built the family house prior to the Civil War. They were both blacksmiths and gunsmiths. 

During war times, the farm was plundered because its location on the L & N Pike. His son, William, served as a captain in the 14^th Tennessee Infantry and was a prisoner of war. During the time Gains owned the farm, he gave one acre for Horseshoe Cumberland Presbyterian Church, a schoolhouse and Pale Face Hall. 

            The second-generation owner of the farm was one of the daughters of Fains and Martha, Susan Jane Winfield, and her husband, William M. Jackson. In 1873, Gains sold 140 acres to William and also gifted 80 acres to Susan. On their 220 acres, they and their five children raised tobacco, wheat and sheep.

            In 1916, the third owner of the farm acquired the farm. William and Susan’s son, John W. Jackson received 80 acres from his parents. With his wife, Willie Wright Jackson, and their three children, Ester, Walter and John, they raised tobacco. In addition to farming, John was also a carpenter.

In 1918, Walter and his wife, Earline Moss Jackson, received 64 acres. Along with their son, Theodore Moss Jackson, the couple raised tobacco, chickens and milk cows. They also contracted with Pet Milk Company.

            The current owners of the Jackson-Winfield Farm are Theodore Moss Jackson and his son, Billy Moss Jackson. Today, they raise hay and registered Hereford cattle on 54 acres of the original 236-acre farm owned by Gains Winfield.

Photo: This is the pre-Civil War House on the farm built by Gains and Williams Stubblefield.

James W. Long Farm

James W. Long

            One Robertson County Century Farm established in the Reconstruction period is the James W. Long Farm, founded by John R. and Adeline Batts Long in 1869. John and Adeline, together with their six children, hoed rows of tobacco and corn and grew wheat on their 523 acres located four and a half miles north of Springfield. In 1895, their son Jeremiah Wellington Long acquired 500 acres of the family land. In addition to practicing general farming, he began a dairy business.

            Jeremiah wed Carrie Bell and they were the parents of two boys. In 1943, the entire farm of 508 acres passed to John R. Long. John made no changes in the farm’s everyday activities. Married to Sarah Sadler, he fathered four children.

Kristle and Stark Hereford Farm

Annie L. Stark

            An important late nineteenth century Springfield businessman shaped the history of the Krisle and Stark Hereford Farm. John W. and Mary Ann Powell Stark established the farm, located three miles east of Springfield, in 1876. A blacksmith in his youth, John Stark “was one of the county’s leading businessmen, owning residential and business property in Springfield as well as two large farms and a distillery.” He also served as a director of the Springfield National Bank. His farm of 177 acres produced tobacco, corn, wheat and livestock.

            Upon John’s death in 1907, the farm passed into the hands of his son’s widow, Sarah Moulton Stark. The mother of six children, Sarah managed the property for the next 25 years, raising tobacco, corn, wheat and livestock. In 1932, at a foreclosure sale, her son William Leonard Stark and his partner Charles S. McMurry purchased the farm. William Stark and his wife Charlotte Fyke had three children. Their son, Harry Vaughn Stark, bought the McMurry portion of the farm in 1942 and over the next fifteen years, he inherited and purchased the remaining family acreage.

            Harry Stark eventually owned over 300 acres of land. In 1976, he and his son-in-law Earl Krisle planted crops of tobacco, corn, wheat and small grains. They bred registered horned Hereford cattle as well. The family also lived in a dwelling dating to the 1880s. Its foundation rock, lumber and brick each came from natural resources located on the property. Since the original Century Farms survey of 1976, Harry has passed away and toady his wife Annie L. Stark manages the farm.

La-Z D Farm

David B. and Barbara H. Durham

            The La-Z D Farm reflects the impact of the Great Depression on the extended agricultural businesses of many Tennessee Century Farmers. The depression was the deathblow for many small agrarian businesses and the early twentieth century operations of the La-Z D Farm proved to be no exception. The farm, which is seven miles east of Springfield, dates to 1858 when David and Martha Scoggin Jones purchased 294 acres of land. Corn, oats, wheat and hay were their chief farm products. The family also owned a few head of livestock. The founders’ adopted daughter, Catherine Henry Johnson, the wife of Henry M. Johnson, inherited the farm in 1886. The Johnsons, parents of nine children, operated a saw mill and a sorghum mill in addition to planting crops of corn, oats, wheat and hay.

            The grandson of David and Martha Jones, David Jones Johnson, acquired over 92 acres of the family property in 1915. David and his brother W. H. Johnson “owned and operated a saw mill and prosperous lumber business in Springfield,” but the hard times of the Great Depression forced them to return to farming crops of foodstuffs and tobacco. Electricity was installed at the farm in the 1930s and in 1940, the family replaced the original farmhouse with a new dwelling.

            David Johnson’s wife was Rosa Pitt, the mother of three children. In 1944, their daughter Bonnie Johnson Durham and her husband Otis Durham inherited the La-Z D. The Durhams managed over 170 acres of the original family farm, raising cattle and producing soybeans, tobacco and corn.  

Osborne Doss Road Farm

William Edward Osborne, Sr.

            The Osborne Doss Road Farm was founded in 1867 by G. C. “Conley” Tate. On 226 acres, he produced corn and tobacco. Married to Priscilla Ellison, the couple had five children.

            The next owner of the property was William Swann who was the son-in-law of G. C. William married G. C.’s daughter, Bertha and they had three children. Their names were Earl Swann, Priscilla Swann Glidwell and Mary Velma Swann Osborne. During his ownership, the farm produced tobacco, corn, sheep, wheat, dairy cattle, beef cattle and hogs. In addition to raising crops and livestock, Will made some changes to the farm by tearing down the old “Tate Home” and building a large bungalow in its place. William also built several barns, a chicken house with a concrete floor, a corn crib, tenant houses and a saw mill. After William died, the land was inherited by Earl and Velma because Priscilla only wanted money and no land.

            In 1962, Earl Swann sold his part of the land to Velma’s son, William Edward Osborne, Sr.. Today, Will Ed Osborne continues to own the property and raises tobacco, corn, soybeans, polled Herefords, pumpkins, wheat and burros. In addition to maintaining all the buildings, Will Ed has built a large building for storing equipment and a stripping room for the tobacco.

Photo: This barn on the Osborne Doss Road Farm was built in the mid 1800s.

Padfield Farm

James Harold Padfield, Jr.

            The Padfield Farm dates to 1885 and is located two miles from Springfield. It was founded by Franklin Mantlo. On 225 ½ acres, the farm produced dark tobacco, wheat, corn and hay. Along with his wife, Emily A. Holman, the couple had five children. Their names were Mollie W., James Irving, John R., Mattie Maude and George F. Mantlo.

            The second generation to own the farm was Mattie Maude Mantlo Holland. Married to Boyd Henry Holland, they had two children, Henry Franklin and Venita Gladys Holland. Under Mattie’s ownership, she cultivated dark tobacco, wheat, corn and hay.

            The next owners of the land were Henry Franklin “Frank” Holland and James Harold Padfield, Jr. On 398 acres, they raised dark and burley tobacco, wheat, corn, lespedeza seed and hay. In addition, Frank Holland was a breeder of Hereford cattle. According to CHP records, Frank began the building of his herd in 1935 by selectively breeding “Anxiety 4^th” and “TO-Comprest” bloodlines. By 1947, Frank had established a large herd and had a great dispersion of Hereford cattle and invited other breeders to purchase his cattle. While managing his cattle business, he also served as the Secretary of the Tennessee Hereford Breeder’s Association and traveled to many states to attend shows and sales of prominent herds.

            In 1960, James Harold Padfield, Jr. acquired the land. Today, James and his wife Helen Moore Padfield continue to own the property. Currently, the farm produces dark and burley tobacco, wheat, soybeans, corn and grain sorghum.

Photo: This farmhouse was built in 1906 on the original 225 1/2 acres. It was a wood frame structure with a metal shingle rood and designed along the Gothic lines of the period. It was destroyed by fire in 1970.

Patterson Farm

Robbye Patterson Holmes

            Throughout the generations, the Patterson Farm has steadily decreased in size from a large antebellum plantation to a modern small farming operation. Patrick and Polly Patterson founded the farm during the early nineteenth century, purchasing 1, 239 acres located two miles north of Cross Plains. Like many early settlers, the Holmes family managed a diversified farm. Their crops included flax, tobacco, corn and cotton. They also raised cattle, mules sheep and horses.

            The plantation’s second owners were Robert Crabtree and Elizabeth McMurry Patterson, who acquired 694.5 acres probably upon Polly Patterson’s death in 1857. The parents of ten children, Robert and Elizabeth continued to produce many different kinds of crops and livestock on their land.

            Robbye Patterson Holmes, the farm’s current owner obtained 132.6 acres of the original family land in 1971. Robbye is the great granddaughter of the founders and she supervises an agricultural operation which yields tobacco, corn, soybeans and wheat. Dennis Bush harvests the farm’s grain crops and Jim Thomas Groves cultivates its tobacco crop.

Riverside Farm

Richard Hugh Gill

            Acquiring his first tract of Robertson County land in 1812, Charles Lockert founded the Riverside Farm, which is six miles northeast of Adams. By 1838, Charles, his wife Hannah Rogers and their son Clayton controlled 1, 974 acres and owned and operated a grist and a saw mill. The second generation owners were Hannah Lockert Bailey and her husband Benjamin Franklin Bailey. The parents of six children, the Baileys raised tobacco, corn, wheat and livestock. Hannah gave each child a portion of the farm when they married. Later in her life, “she deeded the remaining homeplace to her grandson, Hugh Bailey Gill, with the explicit instructions for her care the remainder of her life.”

            Hugh Gill and his wife Lillian Lyne owned 340 acres and raised three children. At his death at the age of 93 in 1985, Hugh left the farm to his son Hugh Gill, Jr. Hugh and his family produced tobacco, grain and livestock on their 340 acres of land. A nineteenth century dwelling, smokehouse, and log tenant house are physical reminders of Riverside’s rich agricultural history.  Today the farm is owned by Hugh Gill's son, Richard Hugh Gill.

Photo: The farm house on the Riverside Farm was built in the 1870s.

Robert Elliott and Sons Farm

Robert and Margaret Elliott

William and Cheryl Elliott

Joe and Anne Elliott

            The history of the Elliott Century Farm is a reminder that several large antebellum plantations produced diverse agricultural commodities. Colonel Benjamin and Susan Rosson Elliott established the Elliott property, located in the southwest corner of Robertson County, in 1807. Their initial farm of 640 acres became a major antebellum plantation; by 1836 Elliott owned 2,088 acres in the 4^th and 14^th Districts of Robertson County. A cabinetmaker, Benjamin selected this land “because of an abundance of white oak and poplar timbers.” The dwelling he built for his family in 1827 is today the residence of descendent William Elliott.

            The Elliotts raised four children and their son Thomas inherited 640 acres in 1842. Married to Anne Langford and the father of six children, Thomas planted crops of tobacco and corn and managed herds of cattle, horses and swine. The third and fourth generation owners were, respectively, William Elliott and William Bennett Elliott. The Elliott family sold land for the construction of U.S. Highway 41 A in 1934 and acquired electricity for the farm in 1946.

            Robert Elliott, the great great great grandson of the founders, inherited the family land in 1961. He and his wife Margaret have made their home on this historic farm for many years.  William and Joe Elliott, both of whom graduated from the College of Agriculture at the University of Tennessee, own and operate the farm along with their parents.  William's wife is Cheryl and Joe is married to Anne.  In 1976, highway officials again marked the Elliott property for highway construction, building a portion of Interstate Highway I-24 "taking about 90 acres and leaving the farm in seven tracts."  The Elliott family has met this formidable challenge and maintains a successful modern farming operation.

San Tee Farm

Allan Baggett Heard

Lynda Ellis

          James Berry Baggett migrated to Tennessee from Edgecombe County, North Carolina, along with his father, Jesse Jones Baggett. In the spring of 1845, James purchased 62 acres and established, along with his wife, Mary Jane Crawford, a farm ten miles east of Springfield. The Baggetts were the parents of 10 children. The family’s agricultural commodities included corn, wheat, tobacco, cattle and horses. Baggett also operated a general store called the “Black Horse” on San Tee Creek on the farm.  After his death, Mary operated the place from the late nineteenth and into the twentieth century.

          In 1917, the youngest of the founding couple’s ten children, Albert Boyd Baggett, inherited the entire farm. The family remembers Albert as an extremely hard worker who kept the farm profitable during the hard times of the Great Depression.  Albert served as a deputy sheriff of Robertson County and raised tobacco, corn, wheat, cattle, and hogs. Albert and his wife Lula Broadrick had one son, Connie C. Baggett, who inherited the land in 1941. Connie managed the farm for approximately 40 years, raising beans, wheat and livestock.  With his death in 1985, his daughter Bonnie Baggett Heard and her husband Maurice Heard, together with his granddaughter Lynda Ellis and her husband Wayne Ellis, became the owners.

          Allan Baggett Heard, the great-great-great grandson of the founder, became the owner of the farm along with Lynda Ellis.  Allan has farmed some part of the original farm for 40 years and he operates the farm and raised tobacco, corn, soybeans, and wheat; grain is cropped by S & T Farms. Allan and his wife, Belinda, are the parents of Allana, who is the sixth generation of the family to following the farming traditions of San Tee Farm.

Smoky Hollow Farm

 Ivy N. Murphy

          The history of agriculture in Robertson County is closely linked with the production of tobacco, a major crop in Tennessee as early as 1820.  Like many other farmers in the area, when Benjamin Lee Murphy purchased 98 acres northwest of Springfield in 1888, he used his acreage, primarily,  to produce tobacco, and the crop continued to be grown by succeeding generations.  Benjamin married Julia Lina Holman, and their daughters were Maude, Minnie Frances, Mattie Lou, and Margaret.

            In 1891, Benjamin Murphy sold the farm to his brother, Sanford Corneilus Murphy, for $1800.  Sanford married Nannie Wilkerson,  and the couple had a daughter named Jenny.  For more than 60 years, this family lived on and worked the farm.  James Clarence Murphy, a nephew of founder Benjamin, acquired the farm in 1952, and purchased two tracts of land totaling 112 acres.  Married to Nellie Eva Adams Murphy, James Clarence was the father of two children: Mary Kathryn Skerrod and James Warren Murphy.

            James Warren Murphy, the great nephew of the founder, acquired the farm in 1964.  He raised corn, wheat, tobacco and cattle on his acreage.  He married Ivy Nell Roe Murphy and their children are James Richard and Laurie Nell Murphy.  In 1997, Ivy Nell Murphy acquired the farm and the acreage is worked by her son, James Richard Murphy. Ivy Nell and her daughter, Laurie Nell, make their home where the original farm house, stable, tobacco barn, and granary remain as testimony of the generations of farming by the Murphy family at Smoky Hollow Farm.  

 Photo: Tobacco Barn on Smoky Hollow Farm

Sprouseland Manor Farm

Julia Biggers Smothers

            Tennessee’s farmers sometimes supplemented their income by operating a general store or an agricultural processing center such as a grist mill or saw mill. The first generation owner of Sprouseland Manor Farm, however, is a rare example of a farmer who was also a part-time cabinetmaker. In 1867, John Wesley Sprouse and his wife Tennessee Swift Sprouse acquired 63 acres and established the Sprouseland Manor Farm eight miles east of Springfield. John, Tennessee and their ten children operated a traditional northern Middle Tennessee farm, producing tobacco, wheat and corn while raising sheep, cattle and swine “for home consumption.” The Sprouses also owned the community’s first threshing machine and operated a prizing factory for the local tobacco crop. In addition, John managed a cabinet shop and made furniture.

            The farm passed to Mary Ann Sprouse Ramer and her husband Dr. D. W. Ramer in 1899. Their daughter Vertees Ramer Edwards obtained the land in 1943. She and her spouse Amos L. Edwards managed the farm for the next 31 years. In 1974, Mary Porter Baggett Bigger and her husband Sam T. Bigger acquired Sprouseland Manor and within two years, they transferred title to the farm to their daughter Mary Julia Bigger. Julia, the great great granddaughter of the founders, owns 171 acres devoted to the cultivation of tobacco and corn. Since the original Century Farm survey in 1976, Julia has married  and now lives in Nashville.

Stainback Farm

George E. Stainback

            The Stainback Century Farm lies in the 17^th District of Robertson County, four miles north of Adams. Founded by Edwin Stainbeck in 1846, the farm originally consisted of 134 acres devoted to the production of tobacco, wheat and corn. Married twice, Stainbeck fathered seven children and between 1889 and 1905, the founder’s son, Edwin B. Stainback, acquired family land totaling 150 acres. He cultivated traditional Robertson County crops such as corn, wheat and tobacco. Bessie Izor was his wife and together they raised three children.

            In 1961, George Stainbeck obtained 147 acres of the farm. George, the grandson of the founder, managed a herd of cattle in addition to planting crops of wheat and tobacco. Today, Mrs. Edwin Stainbeck owns and manages the family farm.

Stately Oaks Farm

Richard and Anita Dillard

            Established by W. J. Dillard in 1858, the Stately Oaks Farm is nine miles southwest of Springfield. W. J. Dillard, who married twice and was the father of fifteen children, purchased his initial 320 acres in 1858. His farm products were tobacco, corn, wheat, oats and livestock. In 1914, 89.6 acres of the property passed to his son J. C. Dillard and his wife Lula C. Dillard. The parents of four children, the Dillards made no changes in the farm’s patterns of crop and livestock production.

            Edgar A. Dillard, the grandson of W. J. Dillard, inherited the farm’s 89.6 acres in 1946. He has worked the land for the last 40 years, raising tobacco, small grains and beef cattle and expanding the farm to over 400 acres of land.

Strickland Place

Wesley C. Pepper

David L. Pepper

In 1903, Henry C. Strickland established a farm that is located three miles west of White House. Along with his wife, Susie Eidson Strickland, they had one child, Mary Elizabeth Strickland Ford Pepper. On 110 acres, the farm produced tobacco, corn, fruit and Black Angus cattle. During the late 1920s, Henry built a country store named Strickland Mercantile that sold a wide variety of goods including groceries, tools, radios, refrigerators and even automobiles. While managing the farm and store, Henry, his daughter Elizabeth and son-in-law, Winsor Ford also developed an airstrip on the farm and flew airplanes. According to the family, they would take community members on flights on Sunday afternoons for 50 cents.

            Elizabeth’s husband Winsor and their only child died in 1938. Eventually, Elizabeth married Robert L. Pepper and they had a son named Wesley.  Elizabeth became the owner of the farm in 1954.  In 1955, Wesley Pepper, the grandson of the founder, acquired the property. Over the years, the farm produced tobacco, hay, Black Angus cattle, and supported a poultry business. During the 1950s, the Strickland’s Mercantile was sold. Although the business no longer existed, Wesley and his son David Pepper kept the memory of the store alive by refurbishing the old “corn crib” on the farm into a replica of the store with merchandise and furnishings from the original store. According to the family, the store has been visited by local groups and tourists.

            In 1996, Wesley sold part of the property that included the 1914 house built by the founder to his son, David. Since that time, David and his wife Carolyn have been restoring the house which is a rare example of molded and rusticated concrete.  Hay is the main crop produced on Strickland Place.

Photo (Top): The homestead of the Strickland Place in 1915.

Photo (Bottom Left): The Pepper's General Store replica on the Strickland Place farm.

Photo (Bottom Right): The Rock City Barn on the Strickland Place farm.

Sugartree Farm

Ben R. Alford

Located near Adams, Sugartree Farm was founded in 1884 by Ben L. Alford. This acreage was purchased from African-American owners Lawson and Marina Washington, who were emancipated slaves of Joseph Washington, a cousin of President George Washington, who owned the famous Wessyngton Plantation in Roberston County. 

Photo: The farm house on the Sugartree Farm.

Tilley Farm

Edward Irvin Tilley

Louise A. Tilley

Edward A. Tilley

Located north of Sadlersville is the Tilley Farm that was founded by A. F. Tilley, Sr. in 1894. On 300 acres, he raised grain, tobacco and livestock. Married to Maggie Hill Tilley, the couple had three children. Their names were Kathleen, Virginia and A. F., Jr.

            The next owner of the land was A. F. Tilley, Jr. During his ownership, the farm produced grain, tobacco, hogs and cattle. Along with his wife, Kathleen, they had two sons, Albert Lee and Edward Irvin Tilley.

            In 1970, Edward Irvin Tilley acquired the farm. Today, Edward, his wife Louise and their son Edward own the land. Currently, the 259 acres is worked by Edward and his son and they raise tobacco, hay and cattle. A farm house that was constructed by the founder still stands on the property.

Photo: The farm house on the Tilley Farm.

Wolf Farm

Paul Wolf

With roots in East Germany, the Wolf family has owned property in Robertson County since 1890 when John Herman Wolf established a farm near the Sumner County line.  On 76 acres, he and his wife Ida Wolf, cultivated corn, wheat and tobacco and raised hogs and cattle.  Progressive farmers, the Wolfs worked to improve the soil, crops, and livestock production, as well as the farm buildings.  John and Ida’s nephew, Emil Herman Wolf, who was also their adopted son, became the owner of the land in 1925.  For more than 40 years,  Emil owned and worked the farm along with his wife Lillian and their four children, Paul, Dora Mae, Elsie Marie and Mary Ann.  Corn,

            Emil’s and Lillian’s son Paul became the owner of the farm in 1968.   Along with his wife Ruby and their son Paul, Jr. and daughter-in-law  Stacie, the Wolfs live on the family land and  produce corn, wheat, soybeans, hay and beef cattle. 

Photo: Herman Wolf with the hogs on the Wolf Farm.

Woodard Hall Farm

Joe and Kay Baker Gaston

            The Woodard Hall Farm is the oldest Century Farm in Robertson County and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was founded by Thomas Woodard, who was born in Edgecombe County, North Carolina, on August 15, 1766, and came to Tennessee in 1788. This was also the year of his marriage to Elizabeth Pitt, born in 1768, with whom he had seven children. In 1792, Woodard purchased 180 acres from John Stanley, later adding 48 acres to make a home place tract of 228 acres.

            Siding for the frame house came from a sawmill on Beaver Dam Creek operated by Thomas Johnson. Further up the creek, Thomas Woodard began a distillery that processed corn into whiskey, and peaches and apples into brandy. After his death in 1836, his son Wiley Woodard, born in 1810, expanded the distillery operation and increased the size of the farm to approximately 2,000 acres. He married Elizabeth Henry and had six children who lived to maturity. Wiley was a colonel in the state militia and a representative in the Tennessee General Assembly. He also sponsored the construction of the Springfield and Manscoe’s Creek Turnpike and the Edgefield and Kentucky Railroad, and was a founder of the Springfield National Bank.

            Prior to the Civil War crops were grown and processed with the help of a few slaves and hired hands, and an Irish distiller.  Commodities included corn, wheat, orchard products, tobacco, cattle, and a large number of hogs that consumed the mash from the distillery and filled the log smokehouse with country ham and bacon. After the war the farming operation continued with the help of tenants, some of them former slaves.

            Upon Wiley’s death in 1877, his son George Rogers Woodard, known as “Larkin,” inherited 408 acres that included the home place. Another son, Daniel Woodard, built his home on adjoining land and operated the distillery until 1903. Upon Larkin’s death in 1920, his sister Josephine, who was the widow of banker-distiller J.S. Brown and the mother of 11 children, bought the home place tract of 228.5 acres. In 1932, she sold that land to her son, Edwin Hart Brown, who owned the farm until his daughter Josephine Brown Cervantes inherited it in 1970. Ed Brown briefly experimented with sheep, and during Josephine Cervantes’ tenure, soybeans were added to the traditional crops. Tenant farmer Jack Cook cultivated these crops from 1942, first with mules and then with tractors until he took his last crop of tobacco of the farm in 1992. He remained on the farm as caretaker for several years thereafter. 

            Today, Joe and Kay Baker Gaston, representing the sixth generation of Woodard descendents, own Woodard Hall Farm. They have expanded it to 416 acres and live in the farmhouse which dates to the late eighteenth century. Other historic structures include tobacco barns and a corn crib, tenant house, guest house, brick kitchen, and log smokehouse. There is also a walled cemetery where Thomas, Wiley and Daniel Woodard and their families are buried. In 1992, the Gastons revived the annual family barbeque, last held in 1935, to celebrate Josephine Woodard Brown’s birthday on August 1, 1848.

Text provided by Kay Baker Gaston

Photo (top): A view of the farm house at Woodard Hall.

Photo (bottom): Kay Baker Gaston and Joe Gaston receive a certificate, booklet, and letter of congratulations from (Left) Terry Oliver, Deputy Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Agriculture and Governor Phil Bredesen at the Farmland Legacy Conference on October 10, 2008.

Woodard Hereford Farm

William Woodard

            Located two miles north of Springfield, the Woodard Hereford Farm dates to 1850, when William Woodard, Jr. purchased 106 acres of land from his father and other Robertson County landowners. William and his wife Lucy Savage soon built a farm of 173 acres that yielded crops of corn, wheat and tobacco.

            By the turn of the century, the three children of the founders, Robert, William and Addie Woodard, had inherited the farm. They worked the land in partnership until 1901 when Addie Woodard conveyed her tracts to her brothers. While Robert never married, William wed Mattie Pitt and they raised two children, William and Lucy Woodard.

            All of the family land passed into Robert’s hands at his brother’s death and in 1920, Robert deeded the farm’s remaining 106 acres to his nephew, William Woodard. For the next six decades, William managed the property, expanding the farm to over 370 acres and growing crops such as tobacco, corn, soybeans, wheat and clover. By 1976, he and his sons also raised a herd of registered Hereford cattle.

            In 1980, the family land passed into the hands of William’s widow and his sons, William W. and Bob Woodard. The brothers work about 750 acres, growing dark and burley tobacco, soybeans, corn, hay and pasture and breeding registered Hereford cattle. Their mother lives in a nineteenth century dwelling, a portion of which dates to the farm’s establishment.

Yates Farms

Yates Cave Farm

Sowell Jeff Yates, Jr.

Over 102 years ago, Walton Yates and his wife Lucy Groves Yates founded a ninety-one acre farm near the Cross Plains community. The couple’s four children were Alice, Sowell, Inez, and Paul.  The family grew tobacco, corn and wheat and raised hogs and dairy cattle. The farm was also the site of Yates Cave, a place that served as a favorite summertime recreation and community gathering place because of its cool shade from the hot summer days.   Many church and family reunions were held on the grounds in front of the cave’s entrance, and people came from all around the country to visit and explore the cave.  In the 1930s, Walton Yates built a large room with a concrete floor and electric lights onto the side of the cave for people to use for dinners and other special occasions.  Yates also installed electric lights in the cave and offered boat rides into the previously dark interior. After Walton died in 1937, his son and his wife Ruth continued to welcome friends and relatives to the cave.

            In 1942, the founder’s son, Sowell J. Yates, Sr. became the farm’s owner. He and his wife Ruth Neely Yates were the parents of Sowell Jr. (Jeff), Mary Alice, Ernest and Stephen.  Sowell and Ruth and their family raised many of the same crops and added soybeans.  Fox hunting was a sport enjoyed in Cross Plain from the 1940s through the 1960s.  Sowell Yates raised fox hounds and was a professional judge of the breed.  Also for many years, on the first day of Dove Season, the Yates Farm hosted its annual Dove Hunt and picnic at the cave. 

            The current owner of the property is Sowell (Jeff) Yates, Jr. who acquired the property in 1983. Today, Sowell manages and works the land that yields tobacco, corn, wheat, soybeans and cattle. The family reports that a tobacco barn that is used for dark fired tobacco, a part of a log barn and a hay and livestock barn are some of the outbuildings.  The cave and the large room that was constructed for gathering remain, but the family reports that time and storms have worn away some of the wooden structures near the cave.

 Photo: Many members of the Cross Plains community used the cave area on the Yates Farm for recreation and gatherings like this group from c.1915.

Ernest Yates Farm

Ernest W. Yates

The Ernest Yates Farm is a parcel of the original farmstead founded by Walton and Lucy Yates in 1906 and follows the same line of ownership until 1983 when Ernest, the son of Sowell and Ruth Yates, and his wife Maria acquired 34 acres.  They are the parents of four daughters, Candace, Alisha, Maresa and Courtney.  The land is worked by Ernest’s brother Sowell J. Yates, Jr.  who cultivates hay and corn.  Their sister Mary Alice lives on a part of the farm while their brother Stephen owns a separate tract that was purchased by Walton Yates in 1919.