[138] Weakley County Farm Joins Ranks of State's Century Farms Program

For Release: Oct. 20, 2011
Contact: Caneta Hankins, Center for Historic Preservation, 615-898-2947


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

Pemberton Farm Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

MURFREESBORO— The Pemberton Farm, located in Weakley 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.
In January 1874, Edward Woodard purchased two tracts of land, totaling 114 acres and located west of Como, from C. D. and Amanda Lovelace. He and his wife, Sarah, were the parents of five children. One of their daughters, Sallie Woodard Pemberton, acquired a portion of the family farm in 1893, and her husband, James Houston Pemberton Sr., bought out the other heirs. They raised cattle, cotton, hay and swine on the farm. James Pemberton Sr. died of blood poisoning just before the birth of their third child, James Jr. in 1896, but Sallie was able to raise their children and take care of the farm on her own. James Houston Pemberton Jr., served in World War I in France, and Sallie asked the War Department to send her son home to help her on the farm. The letter from the War Department granting this hardship request is a part of the family’s collection.
James Pemberton Jr. inherited the farm following his mother’s death, and his sisters sold him their portions for $1. James Jr. married Laura Pebbles, and lived and worked on this farm with their daughter, Marjorie, for most of the 20th century, raising cattle, swine, corn, beans and cotton. The Pembertons were members of the Farm Bureau, and Laura was a member of the Home Demonstration Club for more than 40 years.
In 1991, Marjorie, who is married to Prince C. Blackwood, inherited the farm. Today, the couple raises wheat, beans and corn on the 100-acre farm, which is worked by David Oliver of the county’s Oliver Brothers Century Farm.
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.


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