Paris, Tenn.–The Perkins farm in Henry County’s Manleyville community is the latest farm to be included in the Tennessee Century Farms program.
On March 7, 1892, S.A. Doty purchased a 300-acre farm in Henry County’s Manleyville community, south of Paris, and sold it to son S.T. Doty that same day. S.T. and his wife, Minnie Walters Doty, had eight children, and the family raised corn, cotton, and dairy cattle. In 1935, S.T. sold the farm to his sister, Minnie Doty Walters, and her husband, Thomas Babb Walters, who had been living on the farm and had raised five children and six stepchildren there at the home place.
The Walters’ five sons and one stepson inherited the farm, and they each built a home on the land and supplemented their farming income with other income until their deaths.
The brothers shared farm equipment and a mule. One of the brothers, John H. Walters, and his wife, Lela Browning Walters, owned 70 acres of the original farm and grew corn, cotton, soybeans, and hay. Livestock included beef and dairy cattle, sheep, chickens, and hogs.
The couple had one daughter, Minnie Lura Walters Perkins, who acquired the land in 1998 and is the current owner. Minnie, who attended business school, ran a drugstore with her husband, James H. Perkins, a pharmacist. Their son, John H. Perkins, manages the farm today. He fertilizes and cares for the land for hay and pasture use. In addition, his family has an 80-head beef cattle operation on the farm, with each of his three children owning their own registered Shorthorn, Angus, and commercial cattle.
All of the Perkins children were active in 4-H and FFA, winning multiple awards and holding leadership positions.
The John Perkins family was named the Henry County 4-H Family of the Year in 2013. John writes, “All of [my mother’s] grandchildren have been influenced by the time spent and the memories made from being involved on this family farm.” In addition to the beef cattle raised on the farm, 55 acres are row-cropped by Schoolfield Farms through a rental agreement. Mid-twentieth-century livestock and milk barns are still in use at Walters-Perkins Farms.
