Farm History

February 17, 2010 
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Both sides of Nathan’s family have been farming in Fannin County, Texas since the early 1870s. They migrated to Texas after the Civil War from Kentucky, Alabama, and other parts of the South in hopes of finding better farming ground and trying to forget the ravages of war. They settled here in Fannin County. One side on the Blackland Prairie, the other side on the sandy soil of the cross-timbers in the north part of the county closer to the Red River.

Nathan’s mothers side of the family raised cotton, oats, corn, sorghum, cattle, hogs, a family garden, and custom baled and hauled hay for people on the blacklands. Nathan’s dad’s side raised sweet sorghum cane for cane syrup, oats, corn, peanuts, hogs, and ran a cane syrup mill and syrup business along with growing a family garden on the sandy land. One of Nathan’s aunts and her husband still live on some of the original family land purchased in the 1870s on the courthouse steps of Jefferson, TX. Jefferson was a large town at that point in time and a major entrance point for many Texans. Nathan and I are some of the last, and definitely some of the youngest members of his family directly involved with farming in Fannin County.

As the years went by some of Nathan’s families farming enterprises changed. His dad grew up helping out on several farms near his grandpa’s homestead. They always had some calves, hogs, and chickens along with a large family garden to provide food for the family table. His dad ended up with a small old-style Hereford herd by the time he was in High School, but Nathan’s grandpa made him sell the herd to help pay for college. Nathan says that he doesn’t think his dad ever forgave Papaw Melson for that, even until the day he died.

Nathan’s dad passed away in 1995 at the young age of 43 from a heart attack that was apparently caused by an injury received to his heart in 1982 when he contracted Rocky Mountain Tick Fever. His death was just 21 days after Nathan graduated from High School. Nathan’s dad along with his grandpa on his moms side, Papaw Lackey, were addicted to raccoon hunting. When you are in the woods as much as they were, you get ticks. He died doing something he loved, raising cattle and hay.

Nathan’s mom grew up on the Lackey Family Land. She grew up involved in agriculture as well, but never really had a cowherd of her own like Nathan’s dad. His mom and her sister had plenty of critters to take care of ranging from baby raccoons and rabbits that Papaw Lackey would bring in from finding alone in the woods while raccoon huntin’, to dairy heifers, coon hounds, and pigs that Nathan’s grandpa used for supplemental income as he ran a taxi business, a gas station, and a hardware store/local freight route here in Fannin County.

As you can see agriculture is in Nathan’s blood. His mom and dad met in high school and ended up getting married while in college at East Texas State University (Now Texas A&M University- Commerce, where Nathan and I have both earned our degrees.) earning degrees in secondary math/science education and agricultural education, respectively.