Wooten-Kimbro Farm

Wooten-Kimbro Farm

Judith Anne Wooten

George Ernest Kimbro and his wife, Margaret Elizabeth (‘Lizzie’) Bond Kimbro, purchased 100 acres near Normandy in 1910. Additional acreage was added in the 1920s and the farm produced a variety of crops including corn, milo, hay, and red clover. Livestock was diverse, too, with hogs, sheep, goats, dairy cows, chickens, turkeys, guineas, and horses being raised by the Kimbro family. Their orchard had apples, peaches, pears and grapes. George and Margaret had three children, Lena Ruth Kimbro Wooten, George Wellington Kimbro, and Van Allen Kimbro, Sr.

Located on the Duck River, this parcel has been a significant for centuries. It is believed that the farm is located on a Native American hunting ground as arrow heads have been discovered over the years. There is also the remnant of a Civil War fort on the farm which was built to protect the Duck River Bridge. An old family cemetery, known as the Kimbro-Troxler Cemetery, is also located on the farm. The oldest tombstone dates to 1895. In the twentieth century, the farm was used as a training ground for Camp Forrest during World War II.

Lena Ruth (‘Ruth’) Kimbro Wooten and her husband, Felix Zollicoffer (‘Jiggs’) Wooten, Jr. inherited the farm in 1979. The farm consisted of 120 acres at the time of their ownership. Black Angus beef cattle and hay were primary commodities and Ruth and Jiggs re-established the orchard, increased and improved the pasture land, and constructed new fences. Relatives with family members in the old cemetery re-fenced the family cemetery and established a maintenance fund for the cemetery. Before farming, Jiggs Wooten also worked for TVA for forty-five years. During WWII, he worked on installing lines in the area that would eventually become Oak Ridge. Ruth and Jiggs Wooten had one child, Judith Anne Wooten. She recalls visiting her grandparents at the farm where her mother and grandmother would harvest the garden and orchard and can vegetables and fruit. And, there was always fishing on the Duck River. In 1992, the farmhouse was restored and updated by Ruth who “enjoyed living in the house in which she was born.” She always said that it was “a happy house.” That house was already on the land when George and Margaret (‘Lizzie’) Kimbro purchased the farm. During the restoration, it was discovered that the foundation for the front part of the house was constructed from logs.

The current owner of the farm is Judith Anne Wooten. She rents the pasture and cropland to neighbors Vincent and Phillip Banks who grow corn, wheat, soybeans and hay. They also graze dairy cattle on the farm. In 2000, the electricity was added to the spring house and barn. Extensive work has also been done to prevent soil erosion and to stabilize the river bank, which had deteriorated badly. Ms. Wooten has planted many trees and hopes to establish an area for quail which were once found on this farm whose landscape tells so many stories.