Union County

            Union County was created in 1856 and the county seat is named Maynardville. The Norris Dam project had a dramatic impact on the county by providing jobs but it also displaced many people who owned land in the floodplains. For a large portion of its history, farming and agriculture were the main occupations of many of the residents. However, in recent years many residents of the county are commuting to jobs in the Knoxville metropolitan area. Union County has eight Century Farms and the oldest is the Mynatt Farm that was established in 1779. For more information regarding Union County, please go to the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History & Culture website.

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

Branum Farm

Cox Farm

Graves Farm

McCarty Jones Farm

Mynatt Farm

Perkey Farm

Tolliver Farm

Wolfenbarger Farm

The following map is for a general geographical understanding. It does not provide the specific locations of the farms because of privacy issues.

Map Courtesy of Carole Swann, Tennessee Department of Agriculture

Branum Farm

Leon Branum

Maycle Branum Cummings

Tommy Mariner

          Dating to 1876, the Branum Farm originally had 75 acres, acquired by John W. and Louisa Warwick Branum.  Their labor yielded diversified crops, fruits and livestock.  John died in 1881 and left the farm to Louisa and their four small boys.  Louisa managed the property for the remainder of the century until her son Elvin began purchasing tracts of family land in 1900.  Within eleven years, Elvin and his wife Gertrude Coppock Branum owned the entire 75 acres and in time they controlled as much as 475 acres of land.  According to the family, Elvin “established a rather self-sufficient farm, a saw mill and a grocery store, and he provided jobs for many of the men in the community, especially during the Great Depression era of the 1930s.”

         The early twentieth century history of the Branum Farm focused as much on the family’s general store, and the many different types of community activities that have taken place there, as on the daily patterns of agricultural operations. The store was a favorite community gathering place and served as an election precinct. Elvin, a veteran of the Spanish-American War, enjoyed political prominence as a member of the county quarterly court and school board.

           In 1961, Elvin Branum died and left the farm to his nine surviving children (eldest son Fred died in 1935).  The descendants - Orphia, Bonnie, Earl, Johnnie Mae, Ethel, Leon, Marion, Maycle and H.C. and their heirs - have shared and managed the farm since the 1960s with the old farmhouse as the site of many family get togethers.  Today, Leon Branum and his family live on the farm with its recently renovated farm dwelling which dates to the 1870s (pictured above).  The surviving children, Leon Branum and Maycle Cummings, are no longer active in farm management, but often walk the land, sharing the farm with nieces, nephews and cousins.

          Since returning to East Tennessee in 1996 after his career as a Navy jet pilot, Tommy Mariner, Elvin’s grandson, has worked the farm raising registered Polled Herefords on the original 75 acres, growing hay, and managing woodlands over 100 acres of the 240 acre farm currently owned by the descendents of Elvin and Gertrude in Hickory Valley.

Submitted by Tommy Mariner

Photo: Branum farmhouse in Spring.

Photo: Cousins Emmalee Mariner and Jenny Larose, fourth generation, pick wild wineberries on the farm.

Photo: Herefords graze on hillside of the farm.

Photo: Haying in May.

Photos courtesy of Tommy Mariner.

Cox Farm

Katie Cox

Kimball S. Cox

James M. Cox

Even though the Civil War continued, Abraham Davis Cox purchased a small farm of 50 acres in November of 1864.   Cox was a private in B Company of the 1^st Tennessee Infantry and, as a solider, learned the blacksmithing trade.  After the war he became the community’s blacksmith. Married to Mary Heath Hurst Cox, they were the parents of Malinda, Ellen, Maggie, Daniel Boone and James.  The family raised corn, cattle, hogs, horses, chickens and garden vegetables. In 1888, Abraham established the Cox Family cemetery.

            The second generation to own the farm was Daniel Boone Cox.  Daniel served in the Spanish American war for four years and worked for the government for twelve years.  He was stationed in places around the world including  India,  China and the Philippines. After returning to Tennessee, he had $2,000 in $20 gold pieces that he used to buy a mare, a mule, a new wagon, new plows and other tools.  Daniel married Laura King Cox and they had three children, Benjamin, Clawd,  and Jim. Under his ownership, the farm produced potatoes, onions, tobacco, cattle, horses, mules, corn and hay.  Daniel is credited with introducing the first nectarines, brought from a California nursery, to Union County.

            In 1954, Daniel’s son, Clawd C. Cox acquired the farm. Along with his wife, Tishey, they mainly grew hay. Eventually, Clawd’s brother Benjamin became the fourth owner.  Benjamin and his wife, Sallie had twelve children-- Joe, James, Linda, Bill, Della, Lillian, J. Will, Jess, Jack, Maggie, Robert, and Ronnie. 

            In 1972, Katie Cox, the widow of Robert, obtained the property.  The farm is home to four generation including Katie, son Kimball and his wife Robin, grandson Jimmy and his wife Melissa and their children, Jaiden and Jennah.  Kimball and Jimmie produce cattle, tobacco and hay.   Katie writes that the current four generations now living on the family farm are “proud to honor the past four generations” who have lived on the Cox Century Farm. 

Photo: A view of the smokehouse and barn on the Cox Farm.

Graves Farm

Kathleen G. Graves

On February 28, 1882, Daniel Graves established a farm in Union County. Graves was a fourth generation descendent of Johann Sebastian Graff, who came from Germany and lived in Pennsylvania and North Carolina before coming to Union County, Tennessee where he died in 1803.  Daniel married Betty Irwin and they were the parents of  Twila Graves (Wallace), Nelle Graves (Lett) and Maynard Gipson Graves.  Self-sufficient, the family raised garden vegetables, fruit trees, corn and small amounts of wheat.  Chickens, swine, horses, mules and cattle were also produced on the farm.  The farmhouse, located just off the road, was a stopping place for travelers to and from Knoxville.  Here they could get water for themselves and their horses, a meal, or perhaps stay overnight.

            The second generation to own the farm was Maynard Gibson (M. G.) Graves.  M. G., who acquired the farm in 1917,  had helped his father cut and sell tan bark to make payments for the farm. The family reports that the bark was used to tan leather for items such as shoes and saddles.  M. G. used horses for plowing, cutting and hauling loose hay. During the mid-twentieth century, M. G. decided to modernize his farming operations by purchasing a tractor and other mechanical equipment. M. G.  and his wife Trula were the parents of Earl J.,  Mildred (Johnson), and Roy V. Graves, Jr.

            In 1987, Trula Graves passed away and the farm was inherited by Roy V. Graves Sr.  Under his ownership, Roy continued to raise cattle for marketing and produced hay for feed. In addition, vegetables and fruit were grown for the family to use. While managing the farm, Roy also served as Office Manager of Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation in Union County.

            In 2005, Roy’s widow, Kathleen G. Graves became the current owner of the property. Today, Roy and Kathleen’s son, Roy Vaughn Graves, Jr. works the land; though both he and his mother manage the operation which produces cattle and hay.  Kathleen Graves is the author of Our Union County Heritage and co-author of a history of Horace Maynard High School, 1923-1997.

McCarty Jones Farm

Lillian McCarty Jones

Everett Jones

In 1877, Henry Berry purchased around 550 acres near Sharp’s Chapel in Union County, paying around $1.10 per acre. Henry and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Ellison Berry, were the parents of five children. One daughter, Sarah, who was married to Madison Dossett, acquired 93 acres of the farm in 1893. The Dossetts and their three children raised cattle, hogs and corn.

As the farm continued into the 20^th century, the Dossetts’ son, John, acquired the farm in 1919. John farmed 93 acres and raised primarily cattle and hogs. John and his wife, Alice, were the parents of 10 children.

It was, however, John Dossett’s niece, Bessie Dossett Ellison McCarty--a great-granddaughter of the founders who acquired the farm in 1936. Bessie and her husband, William Horace McCarty, farmed the 93 acres and raised cattle, hogs, chickens and tobacco. William and Bessie had three children, including the present owner, Lillian McCarty Jones.

Mynatt Farm

Dwight Coram

             As the colonies became states, all of what is now Tennessee was declared a part of North Carolina in 1777.  The new territory was called Washington County and Jonesborough became its county seat in 1779.  In that same year, Virginian Richard Mynatt acquired 136 acres of land and with his wife, Sarah Cummins, established a farm.  They raised the basic products necessary for survival including corn and cattle for food, sheep and flax for clothing.  The property, watered by springs and containing a salt lick, had been an Indian campground for centuries.

            The founders left the farm to their sons. It seems that the Mynatt brothers worked the land in partnership for some time, but by the mid-1800s, when Union County was formed in 1850, A. Kilon Mynatt, the founders’ grandson, had acquired the property. Throughout the first half of the nineteenth century, the farm served as a meeting place for religious revivals. Family members also helped in the construction of the Mount Pleasant Church.

            In 1902, William L. Mynatt acquired seventeen acres of the original family land. The great-grandson of the founders raised cattle and turkeys for market. He also planted cotton and worked a fruit orchard. His son Byron B. Mynatt inherited the family farm in 1936. Byron and his wife Lillian Truan Mynatt raised four children. Together the family worked the land, which yielded cattle, hay and fruit. After Byron Mynatt’s death, Mrs. Byron Mynatt managed a farm of 65 acres for some years and her grandsons, Joe Vest and Dwight Coram, worked the land and produced garden vegetables, hay, tobacco and cattle. Dwight Coram reports that fifteen acres of the original farm remains in the family.

Photo: Dwight Coram and his son Matthew Coram 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.

Perkey Farm

Mary Devault Rosenbalm
Odell Devault Rosenbalm

            Located southeast of Luttrell lies the Perkey Farm that was established in 1882 by James M. Perkey. On the farm he and his wife Maggie Reed Perkey raised lumber and timber products such as crossties, tanning bark and acid wood. In addition, they raised cattle, hogs, poultry and other livestock. During the 1880s, the railroad was developed near the town of Luttrell and a railroad depot was built there where passenger and freight trains could make daily stops. The depot was used as a loading and shipping point for all the lumber and timber products sold by James Perkey and his seven sons.

            In 1924, James Perkey died and the farm was divided into nine tracts by his children. Three of his sons, Earnest, Elbert and Tim Perkey bought out some of the other siblings and owned the farm with their sister Maude Perkey. Maude married Bert Devault, however, the three brothers never married. Under their ownership, the farm produced burley tobacco, corn, hay, lumber and timber products, cattle, hogs and poultry. During the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) opened up the northeastern end of a road nearby the farm. According to the family, the road created a “shortcut from the homeplace to Luttrell.”

            Maude and Bert Devault had one daughter, Mary Devault Rosenbalm, and she became the next owner of the farm. Along with her husband Odell, they worked the farm full-time and introduced the first tractor to the farm in the 1960s. The couple continued to work until Odell became disabled in the 1980s. Today, their son Bert Rosenbalm works the land and produces beef cattle, burley tobacco, corn and hay.

Tolliver Farm

Betty Hamilton Bullen

Many Century Farms, over sixty percent, were either founded by a woman or have been owned by a woman in their history.   Emily Tolliver founded a farm of 60 acres near Maynardsville in 1908.   Prior to Tolliver’s  ownership, the farm was originally part of a 1,629 acre land grant that was obtained by William Hamilton, one of the first settlers in Union County. During Hamilton’s ownership, a log house was built on this site and it still stands on the property today. According to the Union County Historian, Bonnie Peters, this house is the oldest house on its original building site in Union County.

            Emily Tolliver was a school teacher and never married.  During her ownership, her younger brother George helped to operate the farm and they produced cotton, wheat, vegetables, cattle, geese, turkeys and chickens.  After eleven years, Emily sold the farm to George.  Prior to his ownership, George also ran a “rolling grocery store and hauling service” because he had one of the few motorized vehicles in the community. Later on, George opened the first grocery store in the community which was located on the farm and operated until the later 1950s.  An enterprising man, George ran a tomato cannery and sold tomatoes under the “Norris Dam Brand.” While managing the tomato cannery, George also provided employment for many young men in the surrounding community to work on his farm clearing the land, growing wheat, cotton vegetables and tending livestock. George married Martha Peralitine “Pearl” Regan and they had three children, George Harrison, Irene, and Walter Regan.

            After her father passed away, Irene Tolliver Hamilton inherited one half of the acreage.  She and her husband, Sam Hamilton, a descendant of William Hamilton, continued running the grocery for many years.  In addition, they farmed and operated a dairy business. Some of the products that the farm produced during this time included milk, cream, tobacco, vegetables and beef cattle.

            In 1987, Betty Hamilton Bullen, the daughter of Sam and Irene, who is also the great niece of the founder, Emily Tolliver, and great-grand daughter of William Hamilton, became another generation of the family’s women to own the farm.  Today, Betty and her husband Stanley W. Bullen live on the farm as does her mother and Mr. and Mrs. Robert I. Hamilton, Betty’s brother and his wife.    Currently, beef cattle and hay are the primary products.  A number of historic farm buildings are reminders of the long agricultural traditions of this farm.   The oldest is the 1829 log house and others include a log crib dating from 1908, a smokehouse that was built in 1929, and a dairy/smokehouse from 1940.  The foundation of the cannery can still be seen, too.

Wolfenbarger Farm

Varnell Wolfenbarger

In February 1903, John Wolfenbarger purchased 35 acres on Clinch Mountain near Luttrell. After purchasing the property, he and his wife Sally Cardwell Wolfenbarger built a home for their family of seven children. The Wolfenbarger family’s farm produced corn, tobacco and timber. In addition, the family—in an effort to be as self-sufficient as possible during the Depression--raised a variety of livestock such as cattle, mares, colts, hogs and chickens.

            In 1943, Horace Vineyard Wolfenbarger acquired the property on which he was reared. A veteran of World War I, he served in France and Germany. He married Eliza Hopson Wolfenbarger, and later, he added lands from adjacent farms to the family’s holdings.   

            The couple’s son, Varnell Wolfenbarger, purchased the property in 1991.  Varnell was born on the farm in a log cabin that he has recently restored. He and wife Eileen primarily grow hay to support the beef-cattle herd they have on the farm.  Wolfenbarger also operates a sawmill on the property, where current generations of the Wolfenbarger family continue to enjoy the farm and are proud of their history.

Photo: A log cabin on the Wolfenbarger Farm.