[202] Gibson County Farm Joins State's Century Farms Program

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 20, 2009
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947

GIBSON COUNTY FARM JOINS STATE’S CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM
100-Year-Old Kings Chapel Farm Becomes County’s Newest Century Farm

(MURFREESBORO)—The Kings Chapel Farm in Gibson 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 September 1909, William James King purchased about 100 acres of land in Gibson County. He and his wife, Molly Elizabeth Taylor King, had 10 children. The family grew cotton, corn and beans and raised cattle, mules, chickens and pigs.
In 1922, William deeded the land to his wife though he lived until 1929. Molly died in 1954 at the age of 93. During her ownership, she established the Taylor family cemetery on the property, where her parents are buried along with other members of the family. Also in the 1920s, Kings Chapel School was built on the property. In 1947, the community school, which served grades one through eight, was closed.
In 1942, William and David Bailey King, along with David’ wife, Ozell, were the next generation to acquire the land. David and Ozell had 11 children and the family continued to raise many of the same crops David’s parents had grown on the farm. In 1953, the land passed to the current owner, Emerson T. King, who is the grandson of the founder, William James King.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Emerson had a small herd of Jersey cattle and sold to Pet Milk. He and his daughter, Margaret King Valentine, and son-in-law, Albert Valentine, live on 57 acres of the original land, with Emerson owning an addition 30 acres and Albert and Margaret another additional 30 acres.
Today, Emerson and Albert work the land, where they raise beef cattle and hay. Active in agricultural organizations, the family reported that Alene King was chairwoman of the Gibson County Women’s Farm Bureau for a number of years and Emerson King has served as one of the directors of Gibson County Farm Bureau for several years.

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 farm’s owners or request jpegs of the farm for editorial use, 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.