Wayside Farms
Stephen L. Philpott
Elaine S. Philpott
Wayside Farms, founded by Jacob Kizer in 1838, is located about four miles southeast of Shelbyville. On his 105 acres, Jacob Kizer practiced “general farming” and was a slave trader. In 1851, Kizer’s granddaughter Margaret Ro Ann Kimery acquired the land. She first married Thomas N. McFarland and had two children; later she wed Thomas B. Philpott with whom she raised ten more children.
When Margaret died about 1898, the farm passed into the hands of her husband. In 1911, their son Edmund L. Philpott gained control of Wayside Farm. Like his ancestors, Edmund was a “general farmer” typically found in Middle Tennessee. He raised several types of livestock of which cattle was the most important. Corn was the chief foodstuff generated on the farm.
Edmund and Ona Catherine Tribble Philpott had four children and in 1956, their son Whitney obtained 82 acres of the original Kizer farmland. His son and daughter-in-law, Stephen Lee and Elaine, gained the land in 2009. On 635 acres, they operate a dairy farm, raise beef cows, as well as grow crops and hay.