Perry County

Perry County was established in 1819 and was named after Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, a naval officer and hero of the War of 1812. The county seat is Linden and the county courthouse in the city is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The county is home to the Buffalo River that attracts many nature lovers and water enthusiasts to the area. Perry County has eleven Century Farms and the oldest is the Tucker Farm that was founded in 1818. For more information regarding Perry County, go to the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History & Culture website.

For a brief historical sketch of each farm, click on the farm name.
Godwin Farm
Harder Farm
Horner Farm
Howard Farm
Howell and Tiller Farm
Kidd Farm
McDonald Craig Farm
Moore Farm, Swindle Creek
Pin Hook Farm
Qualls-Parnell Farm
Tucker Farm

Godwin Farm

Herchel Earl Perdue

Mary Anne Godwin Perdue

Photo: The farmhouse on the Godwin Century Farm.

Faye Harder Warren

Albert Harder

Lloyd Harder

Steve Harder

Harder Farm was founded in 1882 by Edmond Harder and his wife Catherine Sharp. The 1,000 acres yielded corn, hay, sorghum cane, peanuts, irish and sweet potatoes and also supported swine, cattle, and sheep. The couple had 5 children. After Catherine’s death, Edmond Harder married Mary B. Harder.  The couple had 3 children.  Albert Jefferson Davis Harder, the son of Edmond and Mary Harder, became the next owner of the farm.  The farm supported corn, hay, peanuts, and sorghum cane.  James Andrew Harder, the grandson of the founder, became the third generation owner.  The Harder Farm is owned today by  Ruth Harder Turnbow,  Faye Harder Warren, Albert, and Lloyd Harder, the children of James Andrew and Victoria Edwards Harder, and Steve Harder, son of their late brother, Raymond.  Ruth Turnbow manages the farm which is leased for hay.   Photo: Albert and Lloyd Harder with cattle on the farm.

The impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on Middle Tennessee plantations is recorded in the history of the Horner Farm, which is the oldest Century Farm in Perry County. Upon acquiring 490 acres in 1846, Amos and Rebecca Randel established one of the county’s most important antebellum plantations. The Randels eventually controlled 1,690 acres, located seven miles southwest of Linden, which produced corn, peanuts, cattle and swine. The Civil War and early Reconstruction years, however, undermined the farm’s future prosperity. According to the family, night riders murdered Rebecca Randel and the family sold 490 acres of the property. In 1867, Nancy Randel Horner and her husband William Horner inherited the farm. The founders’ daughter, Nancy was the mother of ten children. William and Nancy sold an additional 710 acres and although the farm had suffered greatly, it remained a community gathering place. The local post office stood on the farm and was named Horner.            In 1955, Robert S. Horner inherited the family land. The founders’ great great grandson, Robert and his two sons worked 800 acres and produced soybeans, corn, cattle and swine in 1976. At that time, the family also used a mid-nineteenth century log stable in its daily operations.

According to materials submitted by the Howard family, the Howard Farm had its origins in 17th century England when Charles I granted 4,000 acres in the “Carolinas” to the ancestors of the current owner. Matthew Arundel (1609-1659) took his mother’s name of Howard after his father, Lord Arundel, was beheaded, and emigrated to the colonies in 1620, eventually settling in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, in 1649.   

Two generations of the family prospered in Maryland before Benjamin Howard, a Revolutionary War veteran, decided to move to North Carolina and claim the family’s frontier holdings in 1821.  He and his wife were the parents of 12 children. One son, Benjamin Howard II, married Betsy Walker, also of North Carolina. The couple traveled across the mountains that same year to settle at the mouth of Cypress Creek, which marked one boundary of the family’s land grant.    

After Benjamin’s death, Betsy turned the land management over to the eldest of her 11 children, James Walker Howard. James and his uncle, Robert Walker, formed a business partnership on the bank of the Tennessee River at Blunts Landing. The Howard & Walker business was passed down through the generations.   

Beginning in 1868, the first of four successive generations named Benjamin Richard Howard was born and the homeplace was built. The current owner of this Perry County Century Farm is Benjamin “Benny” Richard Howard IV, who serves as the mayor of Linden.  He and son Benjamin Mitchell Howard continue to work the 500-acre farm, which produces cattle, soybeans, corn and hay. The farmhouse, built in 1868, still stands on the land today.  

Elizabeth Belle Howell Tiller           

The history of the Howell & Tiller Farm proves that the arrival of modern conveniences such as electricity and gas stoves did not always lead to an overnight transformation of farm activities. Established by John E. and Mary Bunch Howell in 1880, the Howell & Tiller Farm is five miles southwest of Linden. The founders and their six children owned 200 acres which yielded agricultural products as diverse as soybeans, turkeys, sheep and cotton.

John and Mary worked the land well into the twentieth century and, according to a story published in the Nashville Tennessean, the founders were somewhat uncertain of the benefits of the modern age. When the farm acquired TVA electricity, Mary still kept her milk and butter at the spring because she believed that refrigerated foods did not use taste the way they should. She also continued to wash her clothes in an old black pot and cook with a wood stove.           

The farm’s second owners were Fred and Tilda Culp Howell. They tilled 590 acres and raised clover, corn, soybeans, milo and cattle. In 1949, the farm passed into the hands of Tilda and her daughter Elizabeth Belle Howell and today they own approximately 800 acres of land. Joe M. Tiller, the spouse of Elizabeth, harvests the land’s wheat, corn, soybeans, milo and clover. He stores his corn crop in a crib made from the logs of the farm’s original dwelling.

Ten miles west of Linden in the Lick Creek community stands the Kidd Farm. Jesse and Polly Patterson Horner established a plantation of 971 acres in 1852. Their agricultural commodities were typical for that time and place: peanuts, corn, hay, cattle, swine and mules. Jesse donated land for the construction of the Old Regular Baptist Church, which is the “site of the oldest church in Perry County.”           

The farm’s second generation owners were John R. and Martha J. Horner. On their 1,230 acres of land, they planted the same crops as the founders. The farm’s patterns of activities remained unchanged when the farm passed to another of the founders’ sons, W. S. Horner, and his wife Ann Coleman Horner. The farm’s third and fourth generation owners inherited a property of only 618 acres. While Jesse James Horner, the grandson of the founders, made no changes in the farm’s production, his son William L. Horner planted the farm’s first crop of soybeans and stopped cultivating peanuts.           

The great great granddaughter of Jesse and Polly Horner, Mrs. Lena Jo Horner Kidd inherited 604 acres of family land in 1970. She and her husband Samuel H. Kidd specialize in hay and beef cattle production.  

MacDonald Craig

The McDonald Craig Farm in Perry County was founded in 1871 by Tapp and Amy Craig, former slaves. Tapp purchased the property for $400 and gave a yoke of oxen as a down payment. In less than two years, the Craigs paid the debt to own the farm. By paying for the property, the land became the first piece of property purchased by an African-American in Perry County. While most African-American owned farms were lost during the Reconstruction period and the early years of the twentieth century, the Craigs retained their ownership and kept it in the family. On the farm, they grew row crops and livestock, harvested and replanted timber, raised peanuts and supplied bark to the local tannery.

In 1958, the great grandson of the founder and the current owner, McDonald Craig acquired the land. During the 1960s, African-Americans did not have a high school that they could attend in Perry County and they were forced to enroll at Montgomery High School in Henderson County. Since transportation was needed to bus the high school age students, McDonald Craig purchased a 1954 Chevrolet school bus, became an employee of the Perry County school system and hauled an average of fifteen students to high school for ten years.

Roy Culp           

John G. Moore purchased 26 acres in 1872 and established the Moore family farm along Swindle Creek, eight miles southwest of Linden. Moore planted corn and peanuts and raised livestock. Although little else is known about the history of his farm, John made enough money to expand the farm’s boundaries by an additional 224 acres.

In 1907, the founder’s 230 acres passed to his son Wesley. According to the family, Wesley planted his “first crop at the age of eight” and remained a farmer all of his life, never leaving the land for “more than three days at a time.”           

Wesley’s wife was Myrtle Kimble and they raised one daughter Iris Moore, who later married Roy Culp. Iris and Roy inherited a farm of 250 acres in 1969. Their present farm products are corn, soybeans, swine and cattle.

Ruby Sweeney

Donna Sweeney Carroll

The Pin Hook Farm is located five miles south of Lobelville in the former Beardstown community. It was acquired in 1889 by Joseph Clinton Burns. The name of the property comes from the Pin Hook creek, which flows through the farm and empties into the nearby Buffalo River.            

Burns, who moved to the county in 1859-along with other family members who also purchased land in the area-and wife Sallie Elizabeth Craig had six children; four lived to adulthood.            

A two-story frame house, still standing, was the center for the Pin Hook Farm, where corn, hay, cows and chickens were produced. Sallie was confined to a wheelchair in her later years, but she was an excellent seamstress and continued to sew and teach the skill to others in her family.           

Following the deaths of J. C. and Sallie, the children inherited the land and their eldest son, William “Willie” Arthur, became the owner of the area that is the current farm. Other acreage acquired by Willie’s brother, Simpson, adjoins Pin Hook Farm and is also still owned by the family today. Willie and his wife Francia “Fannie” Shepard Burns had five children. They raised cows and grains. The children of Willie and Fannie inherited the farm at his death.            

Like many farms, Pin Hook fell on hard times and was nearly sold out of the family. However, with the help of his mother and a neighbor who maintained the land, Joe Burns Sweeney was able to purchase the farm in 1964. A veteran of the Korean War, Sweeney worked for the Tennessee Gas Pipeline and retired in 1986 after 36 years of service. He married Ruby Jean Culb in 1951 and their children are Stella, Tim and Donna.           

Donna Sweeney Carroll recalls that the family raised registered shorthorn Hereford and grains to feed the animals, which were often shown at the county fair. Pumpkins also have been grown on the farm for many years and the revenue from this seasonal crop is divided between five grandsons.            

Each year the family gathers for the “Pin Hook Fall Festival,” where they play horseshoes, roast hot dogs and enjoy being together as a family. A scavenger hunt is held and the patriarch, Joe Burns Sweeney, who still actively farms, is the official timekeeper and judge of the hunt. The day ends with a hayride.            

Donna Sweeney Carroll, who along with her parents, owns the farm today, writes that she goes to the farm every chance she gets. Says Donna: “This land is my heritage-it’s where I came from and where I long to go back to. When I’m there, I feel the presence of family members who have walked this land for over 100 years.”  Photo: A landscape scene on the Pin Hook Farm. 

Located 7.9 miles east of Linden lies the Qualls-Parnell Farm that was founded by Joseph Wilburn Qualls in 1900. Married to Nancy “Nannie” Barber Qualls, they had two children. Their names were Maudie Parlee Qualls Parnell and Sally Augusta “Gustie” Qualls Lewis. During his ownership, Joseph built a two-story house with a dog trot.            

The next owner of the farm was Maudie Parlee Qualls Parnell. On the 217 acres, the farm produced peanuts, hay, corn, chickens, cattle and hogs. While managing the farm, Maudie and her husband Archie Ralph Parnell also raised seven children. Their names were Shelby, Leonard, Irma, Howard, Hayes, Jack and Clint. During Maudie’s ownership, the farm received many improvements. In the 1940s, the farm obtained electricity and by the late 1960s indoor plumbing was added. In 1976, the farm received telephone service through a “party line” system.            

In the late 1970s, while Maudie and Archie still lived on the farm, two of their sons, Clint Edward Parnell and Earl Hayes Parnell acquired the land. During the brothers’ ownership, they cultivated hay, corn, peanuts and watermelons. In addition, they had the timber cut on the property and they sold it.            

In 1997, Earl Hayes Parnell died and the land was acquired by his son, Dale Parnell. Today, Clint and Dale continue to own the farm and they raise hay and clover. The farmhouse that was constructed by the founder in 1910 still stands on the property as a reminder of the rich legacy of the farm.

 Tucker Farm

Billy F. Tucker           

The Tucker Farm is located 2 ½ miles northeast of Linden and was founded by Joseph Tucker in 1818. Prior to establishing the farm, Joseph was a signer of the petition to create Perry County and was a veteran of the War of 1812. On 5,000 acres, the farm produced corn, hay, garden vegetables, hogs, cattle and draft animals. Married to Sara Glass, they had fourteen children.            

In 1846, Joseph’s son, Dickson Tucker acquired the land. Under his ownership, the farm raised the same livestock and crops as the founder. Married twice, he fathered ten children. As time moved on, his son, Joseph Elijah Tucker became the third generation to own the farm. The land then passed to Claggett Tucker and then in 1963 the current owner, Billy F. Tucker, obtained the land.            

Today, Billy still owns and manages the farm. The land now yields hay, corn and garden vegetables and produces beef cattle. A barn built in 1870 and a farm house constructed in 1890 still stand on the land.