MTSU New Release: Robertson County Farms Join State's Century Farms Program

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 8, 2010
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, Center for Historic Preservation, 615-898-2947

[342] ROBERTSON COUNTY FARMS JOIN STATE’S CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM
Jackson-Moss Farm, Jackson-Winfield Farm Become County’s Latest Century Farms

(MURFREESBORO)—The Jackson–Moss and Jackson-Winfield Farms, both located in Robertson County and owned by Theodore Moss Jackson and his son, Billy Moss Jackson, 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 1862, John Washington Moss established a farm in White House. By 1884, it totaled 107.5 acres. John W. and his wife, Lucinda Shannon Moss, had three children, John B., William and Mary Ella. They raised sheep, chickens, corn, oats and wheat.
Son William became the second owner of the farm in 1902. He and his wife, Belle Jernigan Moss, had one child, Erline. During this generation’s ownership, the family raised tobacco, chickens and hogs. William Moss was a member of the Dark Tobacco Growers Association.
Erline Moss and husband Walter Luell Jackson acquired the farm in 1934. Along with their son, Theodore Moss Jackson, they raised tobacco, chickens and milk cows and were under contract with the Pet Milk Company.
In 1977, Theodore Moss Jackson received the farm. At this time, the entire 107.5 acres of the original farm remained intact. He and his wife, Margaret Ann Roaden Jackson, and their son, Billy Moss Jackson, raised hay and cows. Theodore also began a poultry business in 1954.
During this time, the farm also incorporated another 82 acres of the Corder Farm established in 1893, which previously was the property of Mary Ella Moss and husband F. H. Corder. Corder was a farmer as well as a justice of the peace, rural-mail carrier and is associated with beginnings of the first bank in White House.
Theodore and Billy Jackson are the current owners of the farm, where four generations of the family reside, including Theodore, and Billy, as well as Billy’ son, Cory, and his two children. They work 96 acres of the original farm and raise registered Hereford cattle and hay.
• In 1834, Gains Winfield founded a farm with his wife, Martha Shannon Winfield. Gains purchased various amounts of land until 1859 when his farm totaled 236 acres. With his wife and five children, he raised corn, wheat, sheep and cows. He and one of his sons, William S. Winfield, built the family house prior to the Civil War. They were both blacksmiths and gunsmiths.
During war times, the farm was plundered because its location on the L & N Pike. His son, William, served as a captain in the 14th Tennessee Infantry and was a prisoner of war. During the time Gains owned the farm, he gave one acre for Horseshoe Cumberland Presbyterian Church, a schoolhouse and Pale Face Hall.


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The second-generation owner of the farm was one of the daughters of Fains and Martha, Susan Jane Winfield, and her husband, William M. Jackson. In 1873, Gains sold 140 acres to William and also gifted 80 acres to Susan. On their 220 acres, they and their five children raised tobacco, wheat and sheep.
In 1916, the third owner of the farm acquired the farm. William and Susan’s son, John W. Jackson received 80 acres from his parents. With his wife, Willie Wright Jackson, and their three children, Ester, Walter and John, they raised tobacco. In addition to farming, John was also a carpenter.
In 1918, Walter and his wife, Earline Moss Jackson, received 64 acres. Along with their son, Theodore Moss Jackson, the couple raised tobacco, chickens and milk cows. They also contracted with Pet Milk Company.
The current owners of the Jackson-Winfield Farm are Theodore Moss Jackson and his son, Billy Moss Jackson. Today, they raise hay and registered Hereford cattle on 54 acres of the original 236-acre farm owned by Gains Winfield.

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.
“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 farms’ owners or request jpegs of the 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.