[306] Union County Farm Joins Ranks of State's Century Farms Program

CONTACT Info: Caneta Hankins, Center for Historic Preservation, 615-898-2947


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

McCarty Jones Farm Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

(MURFREESBORO)— The McCarty Jones Farm, located in Union 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 Middle Tennessee State University.
The Century Farms Program recognizes the contributions of Tennessee residents who have owned and kept family land in continuous production for at least 100 years.
In 1877, Henry Berry purchased around 550 acres near Sharp’s Chapel in Union County, paying around $1.10 per acre. Henry and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Ellison Berry, were the parents of five children. One daughter, Sarah, who was married to Madison Dossett, acquired 93 acres of the farm in 1893. The Dossetts and their three children raised cattle, hogs and corn.
As the farm continued into the 20th century, the Dossetts’ son, John, acquired the farm in 1919. John farmed 93 acres and raised primarily cattle and hogs. John and his wife, Alice, were the parents of 10 children.
It was, however, John Dossett’s niece, Bessie Dossett Ellison McCarty--a great-granddaughter of the founders who acquired the farm in 1936. Bessie and her husband, William Horace McCarty, farmed the 93 acres and raised cattle, hogs, chickens and tobacco. William and Bessie had three children, including the present owner, Lillian McCarty Jones.
Lillian McCarty Jones and her husband, Everett, have owned the farm since 1977. With the help of Bruce Brantley, who manages the acreage, the Joneses raise cattle, hogs, hay, tobacco and a vegetable garden. The McCarty Jones Farm is the eighth certified Century Farm in Union County.
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. Recently, MTSU unveiled three new doctoral degrees in the sciences.