199 STATEWIDE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES SUMNER COUNTY FARM FOR CONTRIBUTIONS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 27, 2007
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947

STATEWIDE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES SUMNER COUNTY FARM FOR CONTRIBUTIONS
101-Year-Old Bentley Farm Becomes County’s 24th Designated Century Farm

(MURFREESBORO, Tenn.)—The Bentley Farm in Sumner 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.
Located 12 miles east of Gallatin at Belotes Bend, the Bentley Farm was established in June 1906 by William J. Bentley. The Bentley family, report the current owners, trace their Tennessee roots back to James Bentley, a Revolutionary War veteran, who came to Tennessee in 1796 and settled in Sumner County. Members of those early generations rest in the Bentley Cemetery on the farm.
William J. Bentley, wife Vincie and daughter Susie farmed two tracts totaling more than 200 acres and raised cattle, goats, corn, tobacco and wheat. During the 1950s, nearly 20 acres was lost to farming because of the flooding of the Cumberland River and the development of the adjoining Wildlife Management Area. Also in the 1950s, the Columbia Gulf Natural Gas Pipeline was routed through the property.
After William passed away in 1951, the farm passed to Susie. She married John Lee Swaney in 1952 and for 20 years the couple traveled and lived throughout the world while John served as an officer in the United States Navy. Susie and John had one child, Vincie Louise, who was raised in Honolulu and Virginia Beach, Va.
Vincie said she fondly recalls returning to the Sumner County farm on many occasions to visit friends and family. In 1971, the Swaneys retired to the Bentley Farm. In 1972, Vincie Swaney married Danny Barber and they had two sons, Charles Russell and William Troy.
In 1998, Vincie Swaney Barber, the granddaughter of the founders, became the owner of the land. In ownership with his mother is Charles Russell “Rusty” Barber, who manages the farm. He works part of the land and rents other acreage for hay and crop rotation.
Currently, the farm maintains four green houses and contains 20 acres of landscaping vegetation. In addition, hay, soybeans, corn and tobacco are produced. Moreover, Vincie said that the farm in the bend of the river has been the “location of many Boy Scout camping events the 4-H lamb program and one country-music video.”
Hankins said the Bentley Farm is the 24th Century Farm to be certified in Sumner County.
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 for editorial use, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.