293 STATEWIDE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES HENRY COUNTY FARM FOR CONTRIBUTIONS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Feb. 18, 2008
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947

STATEWIDE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES HENRY COUNTY FARM FOR CONTRIBUTIONS
Kendall Homeplace Farm Becomes County’s Newest Designated Century Farm

(MURFREESBORO, Tenn.)—The Kendall Homeplace Farm in Henry 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, which is located on the MTSU campus.
Located 10 miles from Paris, Tenn., the Kendall Homeplace Farm was founded by Peter Kendall in 1833. On the 14,109 acres, he raised the three primary crops of that period—cotton, corn and tobacco.
According to a Henry County newspaper article, Peter was one of the largest land owners in the county during the early 1800s. Married twice, he had three children, Eli Kendall, Devereax Jarrett and Elizabeth Manley. Considered a man of many talents, Peter was not only a successful farmer, but served as a state commissioner and was a surveyor and a hat maker.
The next owner of the farm was the founder’s son, Eli Kendall. He his wife, Elizabeth McNutt, were the parents of 10 children. During this time, the farm’s main cash crops were potatoes and tobacco.
The third generation to own the property was James Edmund Kendall, who wed Sallie “Sarah” Wynns. The couple had two girls and four boys: Lizzie Mae, James Wilkins, Carrie, Fred, Clyde Peter and Edmund.
Eventually, James Wilkins Kendall acquired the land. During his ownership, the farm produced corn, cotton, sheep and pigs. He and wife Martha Muncie Baker had two children, Joe Baker and Sarah Belle Kendall Cox. Sarah attended Murray State and Joe stayed at home and farmed. Over the years, he also worked at other jobs including the Salant & Salant shirt factory and the Commercial Bank.
In 1939, Joe married Ann Cantrell in 1939. During World War II, he served in the U. S. Army Air Corps and was stationed in Mississippi. After his discharge, Joe returned to the farm and to his work at the Commercial Bank. He and Ann had two children, Joe Baker Kendall Jr. and Karol Ann Kendall Fort.
In 1982, the great-great-great-grandson of the founder, Joe Baker Kendall Jr., acquired the farm. He and his wife, Dottie Graham Kendall, manage the property that mainly produces beef cattle and forage, Hankins said, and they enjoy living on the farm that has been in the Kendall family for 175 years.
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 began the Tennessee Century Farm Program in 1976 as part of the nation’s bicentennial. Today, the TDA provides a

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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 request jpegs of the property for editorial use, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.