[329] SEVIER COUNTY FARM JOINS STATE’S CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Feb. 25, 2009
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947

SEVIER COUNTY FARM JOINS STATE’S CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM
Fred O. McMahan Farm Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

(MURFREESBORO, Tenn.)—The Fred O. McMahan Farm in Sevier County has been designated as a Tennessee Century Farm, reported Caneta S. Hankins, director of the Century Farms Program at the Center for Historic Preservation, which is located on the MTSU campus.
Born in Virginia in 1796, the year that Tennessee became a state, David Crockett McMahan received a land grant in Sevier County in 1838 that was duly signed in 1841 by then-Gov. James K. Polk. In the document, the 4,000-acre tract mentions Richardson’s Cove, which was named and remembered because of an Indian attack on the William Richardson family at that place in the late 1700s. The name of the cove has continued to be used through the generations of McMahans who have owned the farm.
According to the family’s records, founder David married Mary Large and they had 11 children. On the substantial acreage, the family raised corn, wheat, beef cattle, hogs, chickens, milk cows and sheep. Following Mary’s death, David married Sarah Mitchell and they had one daughter, Nancy.
The second generation to own the property was T. Wilson “Wilse” McMahan, the seventh son of David and Mary. Wilse married twice, but had no children. During his ownership, the farm produced corn, wheat, sugarcane, beef cattle, hogs, chickens, milk cows, sheep, horses and mules.
Thomas Dearnold Wilson “T. D. W.” McMahan, the grandson of the founder, acquired the farm in June 1883. He and wife Melinda Trotter had nine children: Bertha Eileen, Willie M., William McNulty, Olen Ernest, Nora Trotter, Walter Horace, Roy Maskell, Stella Wilson and John Alvin. Per the family,
T. D. W. constructed many of the buildings that currently stand on the farm. In addition to his farming duties, T. D. W. was instrumental in starting the first fair in Sevier County.
The fourth owner of the land was Roy, son of T. D.W. and Melinda McMahan. Ora Mae Fox was Roy’s wife, and the couple were the parents of Fred Oliver, Nora Grace and Kenneth Fox. Over the years, the family raised wheat, corn, oats, barley and hay. This generation first began to grow burley tobacco. During World War II, sweet corn and peas were grown to sell to the Stokely Cannery. The family also raised beef cattle, hogs, milk cows, sheep and chickens; eggs were sold to the Riverside Hatchery.
Electricity first came to the farm in the late 1940s or early 1950s, the family recalled. Also, the family noted, Roy donated land for the Richardson’s Cove Baptist Church.
In 1976, Fred Oliver McMahan acquired the property. He and his wife, Archie Ray Dennis, had two children, Jack Donald and Thomas “Tommy” Wilson McMahan. While managing the farm, Fred and Archie were active in the community. Fred served

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on the Agricultural Stabilization Conservation Service County Committee for 30 years. He also was on the Soil Conservation Service Committee and was trustee and treasurer of Richardson’s Cove Baptist Church for many years.
Archie taught school in Sevier County from 1945 to 1963 and also served as church clerk for 50 years and treasurer for 25 years. In addition, she served on the Sevier County Farm Bureau for 36 years and received the Distinguished Service Award at the state convention in 1991. She also worked on the Sevier County Heritage Book Committee, the Agricultural Stabilization Conservation Service and the Sevier County jury commission.
In 1998, after Fred passed away, Archie Ray and her sons became the owners of the farm. They continue to manage and work the farm, which now produces hay, garden vegetables and beef cattle. Archie Ray lives in the home built in 1915 by T. D. W. and his son Roy, which also is the home that she and Fred first moved into in 1968.
The white farmhouse is a landmark in Richardson’s Cove, and a remarkable 82-foot cantilever barn, built in 1880, is still used for cattle and hay.
“The 50th farm to be certified in Sevier County, the history of the Fred O. McMahan Farm is well documented by the family who continues to treasure its landscape, buildings and farming heritage,” Hankins said.

About the Century Farms Program

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 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 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 1,000 Century Farms across the state and all 95 counties are represented.
“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 request an interview with the farm’s current owners or secure a jpeg of the farm for editorial use, please contact Caneta Hankins at 615-898-2947.