200 STATEWIDE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES UNION COUNTY FARM FOR CONTRIBUTIONS

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

STATEWIDE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES UNION COUNTY FARM FOR CONTRIBUTIONS
143-Year-Old Cox Farm Becomes County’s Newest Designated Century Farm

(MURFREESBORO, Tenn.)—The Cox Farm in Union 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.
Abraham Davis Cox, a private in B Company of the 1st Tennessee Infantry, purchased a small farm of 50 acres in November 1864, even though the Civil War was in progress. After the war, he became the community’s blacksmith—a trade and skill he learned while serving as a Confederate solider.
Married to Mary Heath Hurst Cox, Abraham and his wife were the parents of Malinda, Ellen, Maggie, Daniel Boone and James. The family raised corn, cattle, hogs, horses, chickens and garden vegetables. In 1888, Abraham established the Cox Family cemetery.
The second generation to own the farm was Daniel Boone Cox, who served in the Spanish American War for four years and worked for the government for 12 years. He was stationed in numerous places around the world, including India, China and the Philippines. After returning to Tennessee, he had $2,000 in $20 gold pieces that he used to buy a mare, a mule, a new wagon, new plows and other tools. Daniel married Laura King Cox; they had three children, Benjamin, Clawd and Jim. Under his ownership, the farm produced potatoes, onions, tobacco, cattle, horses, mules, corn and hay. Additonally, Daniel is credited with introducing the first nectarines, brought from a California nursery, to Union County.
In 1954, Daniel’s son, Clawd C. Cox, acquired the farm. Along with wife Tishey, they mainly grew hay. Eventually, Clawd’s brother, Benjamin, became the fourth owner. Benjamin and wife Sallie had 12 children—Joe, James, Linda, Bill, Della, Lillian, J. Will, Jess, Jack, Maggie, Robert and Ronnie.
In 1972, Katie Cox, the widow of Robert, obtained the property, and today, the farm is home to four generation, including Katie, son Kimball and wife Robin, grandson Jimmy and his wife, Melissa, and their children, Jaiden and Jennah.
Kimball and Jimmie produce cattle, tobacco and hay. Katie writes that the current four generations now living on the family farm are “proud to honor the past four generations” who have lived on the Cox Century Farm.
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, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.