070 CROCKETT COUNTY GAINS 17th TENNESSEE CENTURY FARM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sept. 15, 2006
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947

147-Year-Old M & M Farm Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

(MURFREESBORO)—The M & M Farm in Crockett 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 southeast of Alamo, the farm was founded by Daniel Laman in 1859. On the farm, he raised sheep, cattle and corn. In addition to managing the farm, he served as one of the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church South in the community. Daniel married Susan Emison; they had eight children.
The next owner of the farm was the founder’s son-in-law, F. M. Goldsmith. He and wife Margaret Laman had three children—Archie, Ada Frances and Francis Edgar. During his ownership, the farm produced corn, cotton, strawberries, sorghum, cattle and hogs. While maintaining the farm, F. M. and his family were also active at the Cypress Methodist Church. F. M. served as Sunday School superintendent and his daughter, Ada, played the organ at the church and was a member of the church’s “Singing School.”
In 1914, Clem M. Clark, the husband of Ada, acquired the property. Their children were named Rebecca Sue, Dorothy Mary, William Frances and Margaret Elizabeth. In 1982, Margaret and her husband Marvin C. Norville, who served in the Navy in World War II, became the owners of the land. Today, they rent the land to Jimmy Hart, who grows cotton, corn, soybeans and vegetables.
Hankins said the M & M Farm joins 16 other Crockett County properties that have been designated as Century Farms.
The Century Farm Program recognizes the contributions of Tennessee residents who have continuously owned, and kept in production, family land for at least 100 years. Since 1984, the Center for Historic Preservation at MTSU has been a leader in the important work of documenting Tennessee’s agricultural heritage and history through the Tennessee Century Farm Program, and continues to administer this program.
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) began the Tennessee Century Farm Program in 1976 as part of the nation’s bicentennial. Today the TDA provides a metal outdoor sign noting either 100, 150 or 200 years of “continuous agricultural production” to Century Farm families.
To be considered for eligibility, a farm must be owned by the same family for at least 100 years; must produce $1,000 revenue annually; must have at least 10 acres of the original farm; and one owner must be a resident of Tennessee. There are more than 1000 Century Farms across the state and all 95 counties are represented.
“The Century Farmers represent all the farm families of Tennessee,” Hankins says, “and their contributions to the economy, and to the social, cultural and agrarian vitality of the state, both past and present, is immeasurable. Each farm is a Tennessee treasure.”
For more information about the Century Farms Program, please visit its Web site at http://histpres.mtsu.edu/histpres. The Center for Historic Preservation also may be contacted via mail at Box 80, MTSU, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 37132, or by telephone at 615-898-2947.


—30—


• ATTENTION, MEDIA: To request an interview with the owners of this farm, or to obtain jpegs of the farm for editorial use, please contact the Center for Historic Preservation at 615-898-2947.

***NOTE: PHOTOS OF THIS FARM ARE AVAILABLE.