Thomas Jefferson Nash Farm

Thomas Jefferson Nash Farm. Est. 1859. , This was a fine homestead. The log cabin was snug, there was a hand-dug well, and the 110 acres that were for sale were partially cleared. Henry Suggs had a fair asking price - $500. Thomas Nash had that much in safe keeping for the right opportunity. Suggs and Nash agreed on the sale. The year was 1859, and the prospects of a good life in Texas looked bright for the Thomas Jefferson Nash family., Henry and Saleta Foster Suggs, the farm's first owners, had come to Texas from Missouri in 1844 with her parents, Ambrose and Susannah Foster, when the Grape Vine Prairie was opened for settlement. They had made a good life. The Suggs were charter members of Lonesome Dove Baptist Church, and Henry was Tarrant County's first treasurer. In 1855 the Suggs took in their orphaned nieces, Susan and Lucinda Mullikin, daughters of Saleta's sister, Rachel, and her husband, Felix., Thomas Jefferson and Elizabeth Nash, their three children - Apalona, John William and Susan - and Thomas' brother, William, made the move to Texas from Kentucky a decade after the Suggs had arrived. The Nashes traveled by wagon to Birdville, Texas, but turned back to the Grape Vine Prairie because they were "impressed with the land," an observation recorded in the Grapevine Area History book. Thomas' observation proved to be on target; their crops were bountiful and their farm a success. A baby daughter, Sallie, was born in 1859., In 1861, the winds of the Civil War swept over the Grape Vine Prairie. On July 26, 1861, Thomas and William Nash left their farm and family and struck out with Captain Richard Montgomery Gano, along with 100 local men, for service to Texas and the Confederacy. They were gone four years, serving in Kentucky and Mississippi. Both men survived the war and returned home to the cabin where a new beginning awaited them. A new house was needed, and plans were made. In 1869, William cut the stone for the foundation and porches., Thomas and Elizabeth welcomed two more daughters, Anna Belle (b. 1865), and Elizabeth (b. 1869), whom they called Jennie. William stayed on with his brother's family. Working hard, by 1870 the Nash family owned 295 acres of land and acquired farm animals including 9 horses, 5 milk cows, 5 working oxen, 75 head of cattle, 50 sheep and 60 hogs. They grew spring and winter wheat, Indian corn, oats and potatoes. They produced butter and molasses. By 1879 the Nashes were growing cotton and selling wool, 200 dozen eggs, 150 pounds of butter and 10 cords of wood. Nash Farm had 35 acres set aside as permanent meadows, pastures, orchards and vineyards., In 1887, Thomas sold a small parcel of land to the St. Louis, Arkansas and Texas Railroad Company for a right-of-way for the Cotton Belt Route. The railroad connected Grapevine to Greenville and Texarkana to the northeast and Fort Worth to the southwest., The Nash children grew up, married and had children of their own. The first automobile in Grapevine was owned by their grandson, Nash Groover. A telephone was installed in 1900 with Elizabeth Nash claiming the telephone number "7" and identifying her calls by two rings. Electric lights and a fabulous new wood-burning cook stove made life sweeter at Nash Farm. By 1900, they owned 450 acres of land and soon built a big red barn to serve the farm's needs. The barn was bùilt to last and stands today. Other outbuildings included a chicken house and a smoke house., On August 4, 1906, Thomas died at the age of 79 years. He was survived by his wife, Elizabeth; brother, William; six children, twenty grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. Only six months later, on February 1, 1907, William died, leaving Elizabeth to manage Nash Farm. Elizabeth did her best and sold parcels of land as it became necessary. By 1920, Elizabeth had moved to her daughter, Jennie Coleman's home. In 1925, Elizabeth had moved to her daughter Anna Belle Wheelis' home in Dallas where she died on June 4, 1925, at the age of 96 years., In 1927, Nash Farm was sold to a local man, Carl Yates. It had been in the Nash family for nearly 70 years. Several subsequent owners and renters called Nash Farm home until 1997 when the remaining 5.2 acres - including the farmhouse, barn and cemetery - were purchased by the Grapevine Heritage Foundation. In 2004, a capital campaign was started to raise the funds needed to Nash Farm to its original grandeur. The job was done, $800,000 was raised, and four years later Nash Farm was restored and dedicated., "This is a fine homestead," said Pam and Lee Roy McCain, Co-Chairs of the Nash Farm Capital Campaign Committee. "Nash Farm is Tarrant County's oldest intact farmstead. Its story and the lessons of life that children will learn here will live on and on," said Melva Stanfield, Chairman of the Grapevine Heritage Foundation., "The steadfast, hard working, close-knit Nash family is a good example for us today. Their determination inspires us to preserve our history and build a good life. Grapevine is still a wonderful place for new beginnings," said Mayor William D. Tate., Captions: , Thomas and Elizabeth Mouser Nash were married February 17, 1848., Whether repairing the chimney on their cabin in 1867 or gathering supplies for their new house, quarried stone was required., Captain Richard M. Gano, CSA, Before the coming of the railroad, Grape Vine Prairie farmers relied on wagon roads to get their products to market., Nash Family in 1906, Donors gathered to dedicate the restored Nash farmhouse and windmill on April 12, 2008., Thomas and Elizabeth Mouser Nash were married February 17, 1848.