{"id":311,"date":"2023-06-11T13:07:58","date_gmt":"2023-06-11T17:07:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/bradley\/?p=311"},"modified":"2023-06-11T13:07:58","modified_gmt":"2023-06-11T17:07:58","slug":"chatata-valley-heritage-farm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/bradley\/chatata-valley-heritage-farm\/","title":{"rendered":"Chatata Valley Heritage Farm"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Written by Harry Chase about 2012. Source: FamilySearch profile of Dr. Isham C. Simmons<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The Baptist church, the Democratic party, rural medicine and progressive<br \/>\nfarming are only four of the historical themes that bid together the generations who<br \/>\nhave lived and worked at the Chatata Valley Heritage Farm. The property dates to<br \/>\n1839 when John and Amelia Neil Simmons purchased 640 acres located eight<br \/>\nmiles northeast of Cleveland. The farm produced corn, vegetables, forage, geese,<br \/>\nhorses, mules, cattle and poultry. Simmons also owned a grist mill, brick kiln and<br \/>\nblacksmith shop and served the community as a physician and a Baptist preacher.<br \/>\nOf all the Century Farm founders, Simmons perhaps enjoyed the most versatile<br \/>\ncareer.<\/p>\n<p>The founders were the parents of seven children, and their son Dr. Isham C.<br \/>\nSimmons inherited 260 acres in 1859. Issac was a charter member of the Bradley<br \/>\nCounty Medical Society. A Democrat in politics and a Baptist in religion, Dr.<br \/>\nSimmons also helped to establish the Chatata Academy. Married to Rebecca Ann<br \/>\nJulian, he fathered four children.<\/p>\n<p>Isham Simmons also was a profitable farmer. The family farm survived the<br \/>\nCivil War without major losses and in the Reconstruction period, a family of former<br \/>\nslaves stayed on the farm and helped the Simmons clear new pasture. The farm\u2019s<br \/>\nproducts included cotton, corn, fruit, mules, cattle and poultry.<\/p>\n<p>Frank Simmons inherited 92 acres of the family farm in 1920. Like his father,<br \/>\nFrank managed a diversified farm operation with dairy cattle, mules, horses, swine<br \/>\nand poultry in addition to growing cotton, legumes, wheat, corn and various hays. A<br \/>\ntypical modern farmer of the early twentieth century, Frank reclaimed new land for<br \/>\nagriculture and instituted scientific farming procedures. He also maintained the<br \/>\nfamily tradition of being a strong Democratic and Baptist leader in the community<br \/>\nwhile, at the same time, playing important roles in several farm organizations.<\/p>\n<p>Frank and his wife Emma Baldwin had six children. Their daughter Ann<br \/>\nLouise and her husband Harry Theodore Chase, Sr., inherited the property in 1945.<br \/>\nOwning over 600 acres, the Chases grow legumes, grain and hay and raise beef<br \/>\ncattle. The family\u2019s agricultural improvements, however, have not obscured the<br \/>\nfarm\u2019s history; two buildings from its past-a church and a log barn-remain on the<br \/>\nproperty<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Written by Harry Chase about 2012. Source: FamilySearch profile of Dr. Isham C. Simmons The Baptist church, the Democratic party, rural medicine and progressive farming are only four of the historical themes that bid together the generations who have lived <span class=\"excerpt-dots\">&hellip;<\/span> <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/bradley\/chatata-valley-heritage-farm\/\"><span class=\"more-msg\">Continue reading &rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,28,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-families-individuals","category-historic-sites","category-professions-and-professionals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/bradley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/bradley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/bradley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/bradley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/bradley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/bradley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":312,"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/bradley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311\/revisions\/312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/bradley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/bradley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/bradley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}