136 STATEWIDE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES PERRY COUNTY FARM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 10, 2007
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947

STATEWIDE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES PERRY COUNTY FARM FOR CONTRIBUTIONS
162-Year-Old Patterson Farm Becomes County’s 12th Designated Century Farm

(MURFREESBORO, Tenn.)—The Patterson Farm in Perry County has been 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.
Robert Carson Patterson founded the Patterson Farm near Tom’s Creek in the Pineview community in 1845. Born in Virginia in 1789, he was the son of William Patterson, a veteran of the War of 1812. Even before the formation of Perry County, Robert and wife Malinda had settled on Tom’s Creek. The first records show that Robert initially obtained two land grants totaling just over 52 acres in 1845 and a year later he received another land grant in the same area of 250 acres.
The farm always included timberlands, a traditional and vital part of Perry County’s agriculture. Robert and Malinda’s eight children were named William, Mary Malinda, Martha Ann, Elizabeth Dilworth, Jesse Harvey, Margaret, Robert Harrison and Carson.
In the 1860s, the Civil War dramatically changed the lives of all Tennessee families including the Pattersons. Jesse Harvey and Robert Harrison both enlisted. In December 1862, Jesse Harvey was killed at the Battle of Stones River. In 1864, Robert Harrison was captured as a prisoner of war and spent a year at Fort Delaware before being exchanged in February 1865.
After the war, Robert returned to Perry County, where he remained the rest of his life. He purchased 102 acres from his father and over the next 10 years acquired additional acreage from the other heirs. The farm supported cereal crops, livestock, and timber, but peanuts were the primary cash crop. Married twice, Robert fathered seven children.
In 1886, James Washington Patterson purchased the farm from his father, Robert. James married Margaret Patterson and they had three children. Their names were Howell, Alta and Alice. During World War I, Howell served in the army and was on duty overseas in France when the Armistice was signed. Not long after he returned home, Howell married Nettie Jane Roberts. They had two sons, Jesse Rex and James, the latter of whom died in infancy.
When Howell owned the farm, livestock was the main market product. Hereford cattle and hogs were raised on the farm, which also supported grains, hay, horses, mules, chickens and soybeans, the latter of which were grown rather than peanuts. Additionally, during this time trucks replaced riverboats as the primary route to markets, and like most families during this time, Howell and Nettie had a vegetable garden, with Nettie canning most of their food.
The couple was also very active in the community. Nettie was a member of the Home Demonstration Club and Howell served on the board of directors of the Perry County Farm Bureau and the Perry County Farmers Cooperative. He also worked to secure electricity for the community and was the last mail carrier for the Denson’s Landing Post Office before it closed in the 1940s.
Howell died in 1957 and the farm passed to wife Nettie and their son, Rex. Two years later, Rex married Wilda Graves and they had two children, Mark and Melody. After Nettie passed away in 1972, Rex and wife Wilda became the sole owners of the farm.
Currently, the farm produces corn, soybeans, feed grain, hay and timber. The owners and Gene Strickland, a neighbor, work the land.
Hankins said, “A hand-hewn chestnut log barn that was built more than 100 years ago is an impressive reminder of the five generations of the Patterson family who have lived on, farmed and served as stewards of this land.”
The Patterson Farm is the 12th certified Century Farm in Perry County, Hankins noted.
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 CHP 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.
“The Century Farmers represent all the farm families of Tennessee,” Hankins said, “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.


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ATTENTION, MEDIA: To interview the farm’s owners, or to obtain jpegs of the farm, including the old log barn mentioned herein, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.