Meadow Dale Farm

Meadow Dale Farm

Jane S. Jacobson
Douglas Lloyd Jacobson

Meadow Dale Farm owner Mary E. Kimbro

Meadow Dale Farm owner Mary E. Kimbro

In 1878, Mary Kimbro deeded the farm to her son, Allen Winfield “A.W” Kimbro. A.W. raised wheat, corn, cotton, hay, fruit, vegetables, hogs, sheep, dairy cattle, turkeys, chickens, mules and horses on the land. He married Judith Ann Smithe, and they were the parents of six children. During A.W.’s ownership of the farm, he utilized improved machinery and farming techniques.

In 1884, George Barksdale Kimbro, one of A.W’s brothers acquired 67 acres of the farm. George married Frances Minerva Ayers, and they were the parents of five children. The family lived in a primitive log cabin on the site while building a barn and a farmhouse was added before 1890 along with a smokehouse, hen house and coal house. George and his family raised corn, wheat, cotton, hay, fruit, vegetables, hogs, sheep, dairy cattle, turkeys, chickens, mules and horses. Frances also served the community as a midwife, delivering many babies through the years.

Ben S. Kimbro

Ben S. Kimbro

After two periods of male ownership, the farm returned to the women of the family when Joella Kimbro, a daughter of George and Frances, acquired the farm in 1918. She married Clarence Payne Meadows, and they were the parents of Mary Jo. This generation established a dairy and upgraded the barn to a dairy facility and also added a silo and springhouse to the farm. Electricity came to the farm in 1936 thanks to the Tennessee Valley Authority. The first tractor was added in the 1950s, and the family began leasing some of the farmland to others. In addition to dairy cows, the farm produced a variety of crops and livestock, including corn, wheat, tobacco, soybeans, geese, sheep, hogs, horses and mules. Clarence was a member of the Neighborhood Beef Club and the Co-operative Milk Producers Association, and Joella was a member of the Home Demonstration Club.

Mary Jo Meadows Hart acquired the farm in 1968. With assistance from sharecropper and neighbors, Mary Jo raised chickens, tobacco, beef cattle, hay and vegetables on the farm. Mary Jo also was a member of the Home Demonstration Club.

Meadow Dale Farm

Meadow Dale Farm

In 1980, Jane Jacobson, Mary Jo’s daughter, acquired 55 acres of the farm and in 1986 acquired the remaining acreage and home. Jane is married to Douglas L. Jacobson. Jane has added horses to the farm, and much of the land is devoted to pasture for beef cattle. Jane Jacobson was involved in 4-H, and her children, Lorne and Jodie, also were active 4-H members in the 1970s and 1980s. Doug Jacobson works the farm and is a member of the Tennessee Farm Bureau and the Tennessee Cattlemen’s Association.

 

Meadow Dale Farm Aerial View

Meadow Dale Farm Aerial View