[472] STATEWIDE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES CARROLL COUNTY FARM’S CONTRIBUTIONS

STATEWIDE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES CARROLL COUNTY FARM’S CONTRIBUTIONS
Bennett Farm Brings County’s Tennessee Century Farms Total to 11

(MURFREESBORO)—The Bennett Farm in Carroll 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.
In 1822, just one year after the county was formed, Etheldred Bennett acquired 110 acres near Huntingdon. Married to Mary Polly Clemons, the Bennetts were the parents of Richard, Elisha, Henry, William, Nancy, Alexander and Mary. In this period of early settlement in West Tennessee, the Bennett family was among the first to claim lands. Etheldred’s father, Solomon, was a Revolutionary War veteran who served on the first Carroll County jury in 1822. . He appeared in court, along with Davy Crockett, on Sept. 9, 1822, to claim a bounty for two wolves. The family believes it is likely that Solomon also lived on a part of this farmstead.
The second owner of the farm was Elisha Bennett, who obtained the property in 1848. Elisha wed Margaret Jane Horton and they had 10 children. One of their sons, Hiram, acquired 400 acres in 1880. He and his wife, Alice Vickers, had five children and the next generation owner was their son, Horace, who acquired the property in 1910. Cotton, corn, cattle, and hogs were primary crops throughout the 19th century.
Gailford, the son of Horace and Euvie Oatsvall, became the owner of 40 acres of the original farmstead in the 1940s, and during that time a barn, crib and smokehouse were built. Gailford and wife Broxie Lee Rich were the parents of six children, including Robert Burton Bennett who, with his wife Sharon, owns the farm today. Burton is the great-great-great-grandson of the founders.
Currently, Townsend Farms work the land and corn, soybeans and wheat are the primary products. A barn that was originally used for hay storage as well as mules and milk cows continues to be used for hay and an equipment shed. In addition, the corncrib remains.
The Bennett Farm is the 11th Century Farm to be certified in Carroll County, Hankins confirmed.
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 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
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.
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“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 a jpeg of the farm, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.