[507] Hancock County Farm Joins Ranks of State's Century Farms Program

For Release: June 15, 2011
Contact: Caneta Hankins, Center for Historic Preservation, 615-898-2947



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

Mossy’s Creek Farm Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

(MURFREESBORO)— Mossy’s Creek Farm, located in Hancock 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.
Not all Century Farms descend directly from parent to child through the generations. Century Farms also may remain in the same family through ownership by sisters, brothers, cousins, nieces, nephews, spouses or adopted children of the founders.
Mossy’s Creek Farm, which is not far from the Hancock-Claiborne county line remains in the family by way of an extended family connection. Munless Collins purchased 59 acres in the Mulberry Gap community in 1907. In addition to this property, Collins also owned several other small farms in Hancock County as well as a country store in Mulberry Gap. Munless and his wife, Fluie Horton Collins, were the parents of eight children and raised corn, tobacco, wheat, timber and cattle.
Daniel Boone Horton, Fluie’s brother, acquired the 59 acres in 1921. Daniel also owned several other properties, which included farms and general stores. He generally was known in the area as a merchant and a buyer and seller of property. Daniel married Adalaid Collins, a first cousin of Munless Collins, and their four children were Neil Horton, Alyce, Mossy and Isabell.
In 1931, Mossy Horton Watson, a second cousin to Munless Collins, acquired the farm. She married Estel Watson, and they owned and operated the farm for more than 50 years. Mossy, a full-time and hardworking homemaker, also was very active in her home demonstration club and church. Estel was a teacher who later worked as a chemist for the Tennessee Valley Authority at Norris Dam. They raised tobacco and cattle and did timbering on the farm.
Jake Watson, the son of Mossy and Estel, and his wife, Carol, looked after his parents until their deaths. He then acquired what he calls Mossy’s Creek Farm, in tribute to his mother, in 1985. Jack manages and works the farm, raising tobacco, hay, timber and Black Angus cattle. He and his wife, Carol Walker Watson, live on the farm in a new house they completed this year.
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. In September 2011, MTSU will celebrate its 100th year anniversary with special events and activities throughout the year—kicked off by a Blue-Tie Centennial Gala on Friday, Sept. 9.