What you are about to read is the complete "narrative statement of significance" from the National Register of Historic Places Nomination on Carverdale Farms. This farm was officially entered into the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior on July 31, 2018. It is the fifth National Register site in Jackson County, Tennessee.
Establishment and Early Development of the Farmstead, 1830-1890
The establishment of Jackson County, Tennessee can be traced back to the Fort Blount Army outpost that was constructed in 1788 (NR Listed 7/17/1974). Located in the northeast section of Middle Tennessee’s Central Basin, the area’s rich soil and closeness to the Cumberland and Roaring Rivers made it attractive to many European settlers. Gainesboro became the first major city; it was designated as the county seat in 1820. Soon, European settlers began moving west from the city in search of homesteads. Granville, about five miles west of Gainesboro, became a popular area due to its location along the river. Among Granville’s earliest settlers was John Williamson and his family. They came to the Granville area in 1799 and settled along the Cumberland River at the mouth of Martin’s Creek.
Granville was not recognized as a town until 1830. By that time the early settlers had begun to spread out claiming the rich farmland. Among the settlers who established farms in the area surrounding Granville was John Williamson’s son, Joseph. He and his family established a farm located approximately three miles east of Granville, in an area that later became known as the community of Liberty. The family built and lived in a single pen 19 x 19-foot log cabin.
The Williamson Cabin has found new life as a barn.
Andrew Jackson “Jack” Vantrease purchased the Williamson farm. The amount of acreage from Williamson is unclear but by the time of Vantrease's death in 1889, the farmstead included 537 acres. The historical boundaries included the current farmstead’s land as well as land to the west (currently owned by the Army Corps of Engineers) and land to the east. His family consisted of his wife, Caroline, and two children, John G. and Amanda Lee. This family is responsible for the construction of the farmhouse. Using red oak and yellow poplar hewn timber from the farm, Vantrease constructed the house’s foundation. There were two large rooms on the front, connected by a breezeway, and porches on the front and rear. Vantrease and his son also constructed rock fences throughout the property. The family grew wheat and had a garden.
One of two examples of rock fences remaining on the property.
Carverdale Farms and Significance in Agriculture
Throughout the Antebellum era, the majority of Middle Tennessee farms were self-sustaining. Families grew enough crops for their food and they constructed buildings and sites that fulfilled their basic needs, such as smokehouses and cemeteries. In the postbellum era, farms continued to have these same characteristics but expanded as they joined the market economy, selling crops or livestock for profits. During the Williamson and Vantrease eras, the farm functioned as self-sustaining for foodstuffs. After the Carver family purchased the farm, its self-sustaining character expanded to fulfill not just the basic need for food but also the economic, civic, religious, commercial, and burial needs of its inhabitants and people from the surrounding Liberty community.
Samuel Carver and his wife, Amanda West, had been raised in the Wartrace community of Jackson County about thirty miles away from Liberty, but they moved to the Macon County community of Willette after their marriage. Carver was primarily a farmer, but he also dabbled in other business ventures, which informed his later decision on how to manage Carverdale Farms. He and his wife ran a boarding house while living in Macon County, and he also taught school.
Around 1890, Sam Carver began to look for new farming opportunities. He searched throughout Jackson and Smith Counties for a suitable farm until he heard about the sale of the Vantrease farm. Carver attended the sale and purchased 517 acres of land, as well as the Vantrease home and Williamson Cabin. It is unknown as to why Carver did not purchase the entire acreage. Carver was known as a man that was stingy with his money, and the additional acreage may have exceeded his budget.
As soon as the sale was final, Carver set to work renovating the home. Carver’s renovations included the addition of the second story, relocating the kitchen indoors, and casements on both the windows and doors. The earliest known photograph of the Carver family and their newly renovated home was made in 1896. Following Carver’s renovations his home featured a full height entry porch. Ginger bread woodwork was featured along the roof line of the house. Even though the exterior of the home has been renovated since Carver, most of these interior features remain in the home today.
Earliest known photograph of the Carver family and their newly renovated home, taken in 1896.
The farmhouse served a dual purpose as a residence and a pseudo court of law. Sam Carver served as Justice of the Peace for Jackson County’s 5th Civil District for over 30 years. During this time, he performed numerous weddings and settled civil disputes in the farm house’s parlor. The farmstead was also the main commercial and economic hub for the Liberty community. The sawmill that Sam Carver constructed upon taking possession of this farm was opened to the public and was used in processing wood from the property for the construction of neighbor’s homes and barns. Within a year of the property’s purchase Carver was able to regain the entire $6,000 purchase price of the farm from the timber alone. The property also featured a blacksmith shop and school; these buildings and the sawmill are no longer extant. About 1916 Carver built a general store on his property which sold the farm’s crops, as well as feed and seed, clothing, and perishable and non-perishable food items. Sam Carver’s son Joseph oversaw operations of all of these commercial entities. He built his own family home in 1912 just across the road from his father’s farmhouse.
The J.R. Carver General Store as it appears today.
The farmstead had the community’s only place of worship, Liberty Church of Christ, constructed in 1916. The first service was held in the new building on January 14, 1917. It was led by Sam and Joseph Carver and community members. Descendants of the Carver family continue to be leaders in this church. A picture of the congregation worshiping was featured as part of the 1955 Time magazine story. The Liberty Church of Christ played a role in the establishment of another area congregation. Around 1960 a tent meeting was held just south of the Liberty community and was sponsored by the Liberty Church of Christ. It was at this tent meeting that the elders of the Liberty congregation decided to establish a congregation in the Smith County community of Chestnut Mound. Funds were provided to construct a building and a few members from Liberty became charter members at Chestnut Mound. The Chestnut Mound congregation still meets today, but it is significantly smaller in number than Liberty which averages sixty on any given Sunday. These two congregations remain as the only two in the area as the congregation at Granville was closed in 1980.
The Liberty Church of Christ building has and continues to serve as a community center for members of the Liberty community. From its beginning in 1916 the building has been used for numerous weddings. These weddings were not just for members of the Carver family but for other residents of the community as well. The building is still used for weddings, baby showers, and anniversary parties. Funerals have also been held in the Liberty church building. The building has always had an open-door policy for anyone in the community who would like to use it.
The Liberty Church of Christ's meeting house.
The farmstead also contained a burial ground for the community, located just behind the main farm house. The first person to be interred there was Sam Carver’s daughter, Vallie, in 1895. Sam and Joseph Carver are also buried there, along with other family members. Some non-family members from the surrounding area were also interred there. Therefore, the cemetery contributes to the overall significance of the farmstead as a self-sustaining farm and a center of life in Liberty and the surrounding area. The cemetery is still active.
Carver Family Cemetery
Upon the outbreak of World War II, this farmstead served as a site of maneuvers training. The Upper Cumberland area was specifically chosen by General George Smith Patton Jr due to the fact that the area’s terrain was similar to that of Europe’s. Each Upper Cumberland county was included in these training maneuvers. The Granville community was specifically chosen for its location near the Cumberland River. The river was used to train soldiers in the creation and deployment of pontoon bridges to allow troop movements in areas of Europe where bridges either did not exist or had been purposefully destroyed. Carverdale Farms features a wide and pronounced section of the Dry Fork of Martin’s Creek. The wide nature of the section made it the perfect place for soldiers to practice. Joe Moore was just a young boy but remembers well when these soldiers pulled up in front of the house in their trucks. They asked Joe’s father Donald for permission to use his property, and it was granted. These soldiers slept in their trucks, and used the creek at the front of the property to practice. At some point during their stay, sixteen of the soldiers grew ill. Those soldiers were taken into the house and cared for. Joe Moore recalls that “the entire upstairs of the house was like a makeshift hospital, cots were in the hallway, and bedrooms.” Once the soldiers were well again, they returned to their training.
Soldiers on Maneuvers at Carverdale Farms
Carverdale Farms has always been known for its agricultural production. The Williamson and Vantrease families had a large operation, but none were as large as Sam Carver’s. When he first purchased the farm, he had a few acres of orchards, and he also grew hay, corn, wheat, and tobacco. He and his wife Amanda also raised guineas, cattle, sheep, and hogs. Sam, his son Joseph, and his grandson-in-law Donald Moore were the farm’s managers. They employed local sharecroppers to assist them through the years. They lived nearby and came to Carverdale Farms every day to work. For their service they were given $2 a day, along with one third of the crops they worked. Carver periodically bought additional land to expand the farmstead. At the peak of Carver’s operation from 1906-1934 Carverdale Farms had grown to one thousand total acres. This land was later sold to the tenant farmers who had worked on the farm, as well as others who sought farming opportunities. What is most impressive about Carver’s farming career is that he took land that is primarily mountainous and made it into quite possibly one of the largest and most productive farms in Jackson County and the Upper Cumberland for his time. The farm had been known simply by the name of the patriarch, Sam Carver, ever since he purchased it in 1890. In 1952 the farm was given the name “Carverdale” by Sam’s granddaughter Thelma Moore due to its geographic location in a “dale.”
Sam Carver’s great grandson Joe Moore had been interested in farming from a young age. At seven years old he became involved in farm work and was given his first cow. His father Donald had been Tennessee’s first state president of Future Farmer’s of America in 1928. Joe Moore also became involved in Future Farmers of America. He competed in and won numerous livestock competitions at the state and national level. Despite earning a scholarship from the University of Tennessee, Moore chose to continue pursuing farming. By the time he turned twenty years old, Carverdale Farms’ net worth had grown to $49,000, thought to be a large amount at the time.” This large net worth contributed to Moore’s eventual nomination as a finalist for the FFA’s Star Farmer of America Award.
When Time magazine was released on October 24, 1955, Joe Moore and Carverdale Farms were featured on the cover (see Figures 4-6). Prominently featured along with Moore were the historic farmhouse, main barn, and the Williamson cabin/barn crib. The honor was a great one not only for Moore, but also for Jackson County.36 The accompanying article began with a simple paragraph stating why Moore was chosen as Star Farmer:
“The F.F.A judges in selecting north central Tennessee’s Joe Moore last week, went mostly by statistics. Even in this limited context, the record was imposing: Joe farms 505 acres of which he owns 85; he rents the rest from his father, a fertilizer salesman, for $1,150 a year. He has bought nearly $15,000 worth of equipment, ranging from a $2,800 John Deere tractor to a $125 mule-drawn wagon. His livestock is valued at $16,000 and includes more then 71 head of beef cattle, 30 of them fine purebred Aberdeen-Angus, plus seven registered Duroc-Jersey sows and about 80 sheep. He has won more then 170 prizes at local, county, state, and national fairs and expositions. In all Joe has complete managerial responsibility for a $49,000 farm business. His net worth is $37,000. Another statistic: he has just turned 21.”
The magazine focused on Moore’s farming methods and his everyday life to show America how a young farmer from Tennessee ran his farm. The article also compared Moore’s farming methods to that of his great- grandfather Sam Carver:
“(Sam Carver) paid next to nothing for (Carverdale Farms) and he got his money back the first year on timber. His aim was to make all the money he could off it. But Joe, the product of a different day, finds less respect in Sam’s methods, because “He didn't think much about the people coming along after him.” Old Sam cut down most of the virgin timber on his farm, snaked it out by mules to his own sawmill, then ripped into the job of converting the land into dollars, fast and plentiful. Sam Carver was no throwback; he was, if anything, more progressive than most farmers of his generation. But he one-cropped the earth its precious skin of humus filled soil and when he had finished, left it packed with barren red clay.”
“Joe is a living contradiction to the widespread and wrong explanation of U.S. farm productivity: the notion that the U.S. has “new” and naturally hyper fertile soil. Joe successfully farms acres that would make a Polish peasant blanch with dismay. Yet he devoutly believes that his rocky slopes can be good to grow good crops, just as good as the flat land, or maybe even better, with enough work.”
“Joe snapped on the lights in the main barn, took a shaker of sulfa powder to the barn’s northeast stall and tenderly dusted the mangled ankle flesh of a calf. A few weeks before, the calf had been taken away from its mother. First night away, the weaning calf tried to climb the wall of the barn stall. Next morning Joe found the struggling animal hanging by its right forefoot, caught high in a crack and badly cut. Old Sam Carver, neighbors remember had hands as gentle as Joe’s, but never had any sulfa and very probably would have lost the calf.”
Joe Moore on the cover of Time magazine.
The Time officials did not hold back anything in covering the life of Joe Moore. They went to places like church with him.
Following the announcement of Joe Moore as the 1955 Star Farmer of America, a parade ensued with reporters and well-wishers everywhere. Moore was the center of the parade and rode in a convertible car. Moore compared the experience to that of a presidential inauguration. Newspapers across the country and as far away as California ran stories on him. It was quite the scene for a young Tennessee farm boy.
When Moore returned home, there were well-wishers at the Nashville airport. Residents of Granville also lined the roads to welcome Moore home. Shortly thereafter, Moore departed on a “goodwill” tour. As part of this tour, Moore appeared on the Arthur Godfrey Show, Don McNeil Supper Club Show, and the Eddie Fisher Show. Moore also met with leaders of corporations such as General Motors and Firestone Tire. He was even invited to join Godfrey at his Virginia farm, but declined due to having chores to do back at his own farm.
The farms’ feature in Time magazine was a great honor for Joe Moore, Carverdale Farms, and Jackson County. The accompanying articles make clear that Moore not only continued his family’s legacy of maintaining the farm as a center of life in Liberty but showed that he made his own mark by utilizing conservation methods to renew the soil and control erosion. This is a local representation of a larger agricultural development. By the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, many farms in Tennessee and elsewhere began to fail due to unsustainable farming methods that resulted in soil depletion and erosion. In turn this contributed to such natural disasters as frequent dust storms in the plains region of the United States. As a result, agricultural experts developed a wide range of techniques to conserve the soil and ensure long- term sustainability. Among the techniques were contour farming, crop rotation, and irrigation. Within Tennessee, such organizations as the University of Tennessee extension service, The Farm Bureau Federation, and the Tennessee Valley Authority educated farmers on these techniques. Young farmers, such as Joe Moore, also learned these techniques through participation with Future Farmers of America. Moore’s adoption of these techniques represents his commitment to maintaining the farm’s longevity, allowing it to continue to play a vital role in the Liberty community.
Each generation of the Carver and Moore families have improved upon the historic home, but each one has been careful to maintain the historic integrity and materials of the home. In 1963 the farmhouse was renovated for the third time. Joe and Ann Moore wanted to modernize the home and give themselves more living space for themselves and their four-year-old son Samuel. Joe had always admired the architectural style of Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage (NHL Listed 12/19/1960) and he wanted to convert the porch of his family’s home to match it. He, Ann, and Sam moved into the house across the road, staying there for nine months before moving back in after renovations were completed.
The Vantrease, Carver, Moore home as it appears today.
Carverdale Farms continued as one of the largest farming operations in the Upper Cumberland until 2010. As the Moores have gotten older it has become harder for them to manage 200 head of cattle, three farmhands, an annual cattle sale, and travel to cattle shows. They chose to sell off approximately 150 acres to a neighbor that was seeking hunting land. This land is located to the north of the nominated property, and is all forest. It has no historical agricultural significance for this nomination. The 210 acres that remain are the oldest acres that comprise the farm. They include the land that Joseph Williamson settled, Andrew Jackson Vantrease improved upon, and Sam Carver and his descendants have farmed and cherished for 128 years and counting. Today Carverdale Farms still raises thirty head of cattle. The current farmhand also raises horses, hay, and produce. In 2007 Carverdale Farms was honored as a Century Farm by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture. Carverdale Farms remains a stop for the Tennessee State FFA officers as part of their own “goodwill” tour, and it continues to be the center of life in the Liberty community.
"A fellow has to be a lot of different things to be a successful farmer. It's both a business and a profession. A farmer isn't apt to get rich but he won't starve to death. The best part of it is he's always building for the future. Joe Moore's plans for the future are built around things close to home, Carverdale farm and the Liberty community near Granville in the Upper Cumberland hills. So is pretty Ann Huffines, 19 year old sophomore at David Lipscomb college. She's a Jackson County farm girl majoring in home economics. Baby lambs, no less then apple blossoms, will greet each new spring at Carverdale and big country dinners will bring the family together on Thanksgiving."
At Moore Historical Consulting my #1 priority is historic preservation. Do you own a historic home, commercial building, or farm? If so contact me today to learn more about the historic preservation strategies I offer. These include nominations to the National Register of Historic Places, nominations for a Permanent Conservation Easement, nominations to the Century Farms program, and writing text for historic makers. At Moore Historical Consulting I make exploring and preserving your past fun and easy.
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