[127] Williamson County Farms Join State's Century Farms Program

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 6, 2009
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947

WILLIAMSON COUNTY FARMS JOIN STATE’S CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM
Four Area Farms Recognized for Agricultural Contributions by State Program

(MURFREESBORO)—Farms in College Grove, Triune, Nolensville and Fairview have been designated as Tennessee Century Farms, reports Caneta S. Hankins, director of the Century Farms program at the Center for Historic Preservation, which is located on the MTSU campus.
• In 1869, James Thomas Carroll McCanless, born in 1849, purchased the 423-acre Copeland Farm in the northeastern part of Williamson County between Triune and Nolensville. Growing cotton and small grains along with raising cattle, swine, and sheep, he named his home Crystal Valley Farm.
According to family records, James was a religious man and is credited with founding two churches. He first married Susan Jane Lovell in 1849, and after her death married Elizabeth Luviney Coleman. He fathered 11 children, nine of whom survived him.
Before James’ death in 1884, his oldest six children were given their land. The rest was to remain in possession of his widow until her death or until the end of her widowhood. After her remarriage in 1885, the three youngest children, Ardeen, Nina June and D. Brown, filed a successful lawsuit against their mother to receive their share of the land.
Ardeen married William Hazlewood Johnson in 1885, and they lived on the land left to her by her father. Her husband died in 1895, and she married his brother James Knox Polk Johnson. She operated the farm until her death in May 1946. Her son by her first marriage, John Johnson, took over the farm in 1946.
Today, the property remains in the family as Crystal Valley Farms Inc.—a family owned farm corporation. In 1970, James Caldwell McCanless Sr., the great-grandson of James Thomas Carroll McCanless, purchased the farm from John Johnson and he serves as the president of the corporation.
He and wife Barbara Jean are the parents of James Jr., Robin Carol Thomas and Jonathan Lee. On a little less than 150 acres, the grandson of the current owner, Todd Thomas, works the land, where they raise livestock, corn, wheat, hay and pastureland.
• Not far from Crystal Valley Farm is the Gentry Farm, which was founded in 1887 by
A. D. Gentry. Married to Mary Jane McCanless Gentry, they had 10 children. On the 106 acres, the family raised a variety of crops and livestock such as corn, wheat, hay, mules, horses and cattle.
In 1937, one of the founding couple’s sons, E. B. Gentry, acquired the farm. Married to Eugenia Green, they were the parents of Martha, Charles, Mary Ruth, Katherine and Dorothy. During their ownership, the farm produced corn, wheat, hay, tobacco, cotton, cattle, mules and horses. After E.B. passed away in 1970, Eugenia became the owner.
In 2002, Charles J. Gentry, married to Margaret Lampley, became the owner of the farm. Today, three generations including Charles, his son Wayne and grandson Charlie work about 80 acres and mainly raise hay and cattle.
• The Nichols Jersey Farm, one of the few remaining dairy farms in Williamson County, also is located in the Nolensville area. Benjah Hill McFarlin and Mary Jane Turner McFarlin, who—along with their family of eight children—grew corn, wheat, and oats as primary crops, founded it in 1909. The family also operated a gristmill and sawmill, as well as a general store, which was a gathering place for the community until the 1940s.
Hankins said that current residents may be interested to know that Mill Creek received its name because of the McFarlin mills.

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In 1923, Lena Senethius McFarlin became the second-generation owner of the farm. Married to Berry O. Nichols, their children were Mary Jane, Sue Mildred, Rebecca, Robert, Douglas and Herbert. During their ownership of the farm, row crops and diary cattle were raised.
Today, the farm is owned by Herbert Nichols, the grandson of the founder, who obtained the land in 1972. Currently, he and son Mark work the land and raise dairy cattle and hay. A Grade-A Dairy barn, constructed in the 1940s and a hay barn continue to be used daily.
Further, Herbert and his wife Agnes live in a log structure house that is believed to have been built around 1803. The original dwelling had two log rooms downstairs and two upstairs and was added to in 1935. The historic house and the founders of the farm were featured in the publication titled Nolensville: 1797-1987, Reflections of a Tennessee Town.
• South of Triune in the College Grove community, C. M. Smithson purchased 100 acres in September of 1905. A widower, he reared four children—Dewey, Ora Mai, Sammie Lou and Nathaniel. Together they grew crops of wheat, corn, tobacco and hay, as well as livestock. In 1925, C. M.’s cousin, C.T. Wallace, obtained the property. He and his wife Ella H. Wallace had one daughter, Mildred.
In 1955, the current owner, Ennis C. Wallace Sr., whose grandmother was a cousin to the founder, acquired the farm that he calls Peaceful Valley Farm. With his wife, Allean Harper Wallace, and their sons, Ennis Jr. and Kenneth L., the family primarily raised tobacco, hogs and cattle. Ennis Sr. and Allean were recognized for their successful efforts and awarded honorary state farmer degrees. Both Ennis Jr. and Kenneth have FFA state farmer degrees, have served as FFA officers and have an American farmer degree.
Additionally, Ennis Sr. is the owner of 4-Star Inc. Farm Equipment in Triune. He has been a member of the Hill Masonic Lodge for 52 years and an officer in the Flat Creek Community Club for 63 years. He is the co-author of the book, Flat Creek: Its Land and Its People.
• In January 1886, U. Z. Lampley a purchased farm of 162 acres in western Williamson County. He and his wife, Molly, had seven children. The family raised sheep, beef cattle, ducks, chickens and, with surplus garden vegetables, they truck farmed.
After the deaths of his parents, Earl D. Lampley Sr., purchased 131 acres in 1945. He and his wife Ruby had five children. Following the death of their parents, the children divided the farm into five-acre tracts. Earl D. Lampley Jr. acquired three tracts, including the acreage where the home place was located. The house stood on the farm when U. Z. purchased it and Earl Lampley Sr. was born in it, though it has not been lived in for some years now.
Earl Lampley Jr. maintains many of the documents of the history of Lampley Farm, including certificates of registry from the Holstein-Friesian Association of American, dated 1924, and the National Poland-Chins Record Co., dated 1916. A 1931 letter from Williamson County Agricultural agent W. H. Rochester discusses the national wool market, which was “in a deplorable condition” and provides information on how bags of wool will be received at the Farm Bureau Warehouse. Today, this 15 acres of the original farm mainly produces hay.
“Williamson County ranks 10th in the state, with 28 certified Century Farms,” Hankins observed.

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.

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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 current owners of these farms, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.


















With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.