446 DICKSON COUNTY FARM JOIN RANKS OF STATE’S CENTURY FARMS

198-Year-Old Spring Forrest Farm Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 21, 2006
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947

(MURFREESBORO)—The Spring Forrest Farm in Dickson County recently was designated as a Tennessee Century Farm, reports Caneta S. Hankins, director of the Century Farms program at the Center for Historic Preservation (CHP), which is located on the MTSU campus.
Located four miles north of Highway 70 West, the Spring Forrest Farm was established by John West in 1808. On 185 acres, the farm produced hay, grain, tobacco and livestock. John was married to Sarah West; the couple had 11 children. Their eldest child, Susan West, married John Sanders and he acquired the property in 1836.
During John Sanders’ ownership, a new log cabin was built in the front yard and the original dwelling was torn down. Sanders lived and farmed the property until his death in 1848. Susan continued to live in the house and run the farm until her death in 1876. During the Civil War, three of their sons, John J., Thomas Berry and Henry G. Sanders, fought for the Confederacy. Henry died in an Illinois prison camp. John was severely injured in the Battle of Franklin, but survived. After the war, John and Thomas Berry returned to the family home and farmed together.
By 1872, the farm was willed to John and Thomas Berry. In 1894, the brothers decided to split the farm into two tracts of about 200 acres each. Thomas Berry took the property lying on the west side and John J. took the property on the east side.
In 1908, one of Thomas’ sons, Van D. Sanders, acquired the farm. According to the family, Van earned the money to purchase the land by working in New York as a telegraph lineman. Married to Stella Johnson, the daughter of a neighboring family, in 1910, the couple had two sons, Harris Walker and Charles Lawrence Sanders. In addition to farming, Van and Stella set up a country store in one room of their house for the residents of the community. In 1930, Stella registered the farm with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture as the “Spring Forest Farm.”
Later, in 1941, Harris and Lawrence built a new home on the farm for their parents. The new home had modern conveniences such as indoor plumbing, electricity and modern appliances. Although the new home had many comfortable amenities, Van and Stella did not “feel at home” in their new dwelling and so they moved back across the road to the comfortable log home that they had known for many years. Eventually, Harris and his family moved into the new house and he became the sole owner of the farm. Harris was married to Geraldine Harris Sanders and they had one son, Dan Harris Sanders.