Hawkins Farm

Hawkins Farm

James M. Hawkins
Mark Powell Hawkins

In 1896, Mark Guy purchased a farm near Wartrace from Samuel and Virginia F. Tilford. On the land he raised horses and hay. Mark never married but was a father figure to his nephew and nieces. In 1939 the land passed to his nephew, Guy Hawkins and his grandnephew, Guy Garnett Hawkins. Garnett married Lockey Pearl Casey Hawkins and they had five children. Guy wed Frances Cleo Powell Hawkins. During their ownership, the farm supported cattle, sheep, corn and hay. In the World War II years, maneuvers that trained American soldiers for combat were conducted on the hillside behind the house.

Guy Garnett and Frances Powell Hawkins produced dairy cattle, corn, silage, hay, and sheep. Progressive farmers, they practiced conservation plans such as terraced fields, crop rotation, tile drainage, waterways development, grass fields, grassing rotation, and constructed a pond and springs on the land. They were also very active in community organizations. Guy was a member of the Livestock Association, the Director of the Bedford Farmers Co-op, served on the Board of Directors for Bedford County Farm Bureau, and later was Director for Murfreesboro Production Credit Association. Frances worked with the 4-H clubs

for 15 years, and was Women’s Chairperson for the Bedford County Farm Bureau and the Home Demonstration

Club. Guy and Frances were the parents of four children –Venson Guy, Claudia Margaret, Pamela Maude, and Mark Powell. Mark and Venson both showed dairy cattle. One of their cows, Jester Bonnie Bell, was a Grand Champion of Tennessee, the Mid-South, National and International Livestock Show in Chicago in the 1950s.

After Guy passed away in 1994, Frances Powell Hawkins inherited the farm. In 1996, Mark became the fifth generation to own the land. Under his ownership, the farm raised beef cattle and hay. In 2002, Mark Hawkins and his son James (Jimmy) Mark Hawkins became co-owners of the farm. Jimmy is married to Lisa Marie and they have two children, Morgan Layne and Haley Marie. The Hawkins produce beef cattle, hay, corn, and grower chickens.