[261] Maury County Farms Join Ranks of State's Century Farms Program

MAURY COUNTY FARMS JOIN RANKS OF STATE’S CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM

Tindell Farms Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

(MURFREESBORO)—The Tindell Farms, “Northside” and “Southside,” located in southeastern Maury County, have been designated as Tennessee Century Farms, reports Caneta S. Hankins, director of the Century Farms Program at the Center for Historic Preservation at Middle Tennessee State University.
The Century Farms Program recognizes the contributions of Tennessee residents who have owned and kept family land in production continuously for at least 100 years.
Founded by Thomas Jefferson Tindell in 1887, the farm continues to be owned and worked by his descendants more than 130 years later. Tindell and his wife, Van “Vannie” Daley Cheek Tindell, established their farmstead when the Civil War and Reconstruction were still fresh in memory. Four of Thomas’s brothers served in the Confederate army and one, Hazard Cappon Tindell, died from injuries he received at Chattanooga. Of Vannie’s five brothers who also fought for the Confederacy, three were killed during the conflict.
Thomas and Vannie had four children--George Washington, Henry Madison, Wilburn Thomas and Lillie L. On 437 acres, the family raised swine, cattle, row crops and tobacco. In April 1932, Wilburn Thomas Tindell Sr. inherited the 437 acres of land. He continued to raise traditional crops. Wilburn married Annie Mai Hendrix, and they had two children, Mildred Belle Tindell Sharp and Wilburn Thomas Tindell Jr. When their father died, the two children inherited the farm.
The “Northside” portion of the farm went to Wilburn Thomas Tindell Jr. in 1955. He and his wife Mary Frances Mash Tindell, had two children, Thomas Henry Tindell and Mary Susan Tindell Terry. He, like his father and grandfather, raised swine, cattle, row crops and tobacco with the addition of dairy cattle.
Twenty years later, the farm passed to both his children. Mary married Charles I. Terry Jr. and had four children: Jacob Andrew, Jessica Leah, Jonathon Matthew and Joshua Stephen. Thomas and his wife, Margaret Barron Tindell, have two children, Caitlin Elizabeth and Thomas Barron Tindell. Thomas and Thomas Barron Tindell raise cattle, swine, row crops and tobacco.
The “Southside” part of the Tindell Farm went to Mildred Belle Tindell Sharp. She and her husband, Eugene A. Sharp, are the parents of Wayne and Betty. Her acreage was used to raise diverse crops and livestock. Wayne and Betty Sharp Thomason have owned the land since 1996. Wayne’s daughter Karen Michelle and her husband, Jim Stiteler, and their children Trey and Shelby, live on the farm along with her father and aunt. Wayne manages the farm and raises cattle, row crops and tobacco. On this portion of the land, a house built by John Jones Williams in 1863 still stands. It has remained a constant feature through the generations of descendents of Thomas Jefferson and Vannie Tindell.
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 now boasts one of the nation’s first master’s degree programs in horse science, and the Council of Graduate Schools in Washington, D.C., acclaims MTSU’s Master of Science in Professional Science degree—the only one in Tennessee—as a model program. MTSU recently unveiled three new doctoral degrees in the sciences.