[82] Blount County Farm Joins Ranks of State's Century Farms Program

For Release: Sept. 19, 2011
Contact: Caneta Hankins, Center for Historic Preservation, 615-898-2947

BLOUNT COUNTY FARM JOINS RANKS OF STATE’S CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM

Powell-Flynn Farm Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

MURFREESBORO— The Powell-Flynn Farm, located in Blount 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 at MTSU.
The Century Farms Program recognizes the contributions of Tennessee residents who have owned and kept family land in continuous agricultural production for at least 100 years.
Joseph Winfield Scott Flynn and his brother, Elijah, purchased a 100-acre farm in 1879 in Blount County. Elijah later sold his share back to his brother and returned to Sevier County, and Joseph remained on the farm. Joseph raised corn, potatoes, apples, sugar cane, tomatoes, hogs, beef cattle, horses, chickens and milk cows. Joseph also was a beekeeper, and there was always honey on the table. Joseph first married Mary Jane Kinnamon, and his second wife was Sarah Jane Settlemyre Smith. Nineteen children were born from these two marriages.
Samson W. Flynn acquired the family farm in 1949. He raised hay, sugar cane, garden vegetables, wheat, corn, milk cows and beef cattle on the land. Samson married Bonnie Mae Flynn, and they were the parents of six children. Samson also worked at a tannery in nearby Walland until the tannery was destroyed. After that, Samson’s family worked strictly on the farm, in later years registering it as a tree farm.
In 1965, Velda Jean Flynn Powell, a daughter of Samson and Bonnie, and her husband, Marshall Powell, acquired 30 acres of the family farm. They raised hay, vegetables and pasture on the land. The Powells rent some of the acreage to a neighboring farmer for pasture. Three generations live on the land today: Marshall and Velda Powell, their daughter and son-in-law Amy and Brad Higdon, and the Higdons’ children, Maggie and Jacob.
The Powells were special guests at the meeting of the Tennessee Farmland Legacy Partnership held in Maryville Aug. 31, receiving their certificate and sign from the CFP’s Hankins, and Assistant Commissioner Joe Gaines of the Tennessee Department of Agriculture. Commissioner Susan Whitaker of the Department of Tourist Development also was present at the meeting. On Sept. 4, family and friends gathered to help Velda and Marshall celebrate their 55th wedding anniversary on the farm that has been in her family for more than 130 years.
Since 1984, the Center for Historic Preservation at MTSU has been a leader in the important work of documenting Tennessee’s agricultural heritage and history through the Tennessee Century Farms Program.
For more information about the Century Farms Program, please visit www.tncenturyfarms.org. The Center for Historic Preservation also may be contacted at Box 80, MTSU, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 37132 or 615-898-2947.

• ATTENTION, MEDIA: To interview the farm’s owner or request jpegs of the farm for editorial use, please contact the CHP at 615-898-2947.



Founded in 1911, Middle Tennessee State University is a Tennessee Board of Regents institution located in Murfreesboro and is the state’s largest public undergraduate institution. MTSU is celebrating its 100th anniversary with special events and activities throughout the 2011-1012 academic year.