Jackson County farm honored by state program
TUCKERMAN — Churchman Farms was established in 1921 by George Arthur Churchman, who was born in 1880 in Moore County, Tennessee. By 1900, he was living in Jackson County, Arkansas, and in 1908, he married Mittie Tinsley, who was born in Jackson County.
The farm is owned today by the Churchmans’ great-granddaughter, Susannah Churchman Thomas Marshall of Little Rock. It is one of 32 farms recently designated a 2021 Arkansas Century Farm, which is a program of the Arkansas Department of Agriculture.
Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture Wes Ward said the Arkansas Century Farm program recognizes Arkansas farms of 10 acres or more owned by the same family for at least 100 years. The Arkansas Department of Agriculture began the Century Farm program in 2012 to highlight the contributions of these families to the agriculture industry, as well as their overall contributions to the state.
“I am so honored to be a recipient of the Arkansas Century Farm Program [designation],” Marshall said. “This designation means so much to me, and I humbly accept it on behalf of my family. I know I have been entrusted to carry on a legacy of preserving a family farm that bears my name, and I am proud to be a part of such an important Arkansas industry.”
George Arthur Churchman died in 1938, leaving the farm to his son, George Arthur Chapman Jr., known as “Bud” Chapman, who married Cora Marie McCurry in 1940. Upon the death of Chapman Jr., his daughter, Carol McCurry Churchman Thomas, inherited the farm. Upon Thomas’ death in 2012, Marshall became owner of the farm.
“I did not grow up on the farm, and I did not help on the farm,” Marshall said. “I do, however, have fond memories of visiting there with my mother and grandmother.
“We have been blessed over the years to have wonderful farming partners to take care of the land and help ensure that the farm survives and thrives.”
“Unfortunately, I do not know anything about my greatgrandfather or how the family is connected to Arkansas,” Marshall said. “My mother was an only child, and her father, my grandfather, died when she was 15. My mother and grandmother did not share much information with me about him or his family — his death was very painful, and the loss was very deep for many years — apparently, it was too painful to talk about it.
“I do not have children, so unfortunately, the farm and the familial ownership will end with me. It is something that weighs heavily on me, and it will be important for me to find someone who will protect my family’s heritage and commitment to this land so that the family farm lives on, even when the Churchman family lineage no longer exists.”
Marshall said Churchman Farms consists of 525 acres with mature timber, soybeans, corn and wheat as rotating row crops.
“Additionally, I have acreage in both trees and grasses enrolled in the [U.S. Department of Agriculture] Conservation Reserve Program,” she said. “Bob Penix farmed the land for many, many years for my family. In 2012, Tommy Young and his family farming operation began to farm for me and continue to farm for me today.”
Marshall said she tries to make it back to Jackson County about once a month.
Marshall is commissioner of the Arkansas State Bank Department, an appointment she received from Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Oct. 1, 2020.
She is a graduate of Newport High School.
“I attended Hendrix College [in Conway] for two years, and then, when my mother got sick, I came back home and finished up at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, receiving a bachelor’s degree in accounting,” she said, noting that her mother died in 2012.
Marshall said she never really thought about going into banking as a career.
“Growing up, I wanted to be a teacher,” she said, laughing. “But I came from a family of smallbusiness owners — my father (the late John Robert Thomas) and my grandmother, Cora, both owned small businesses. I was always good with numbers and kept the books for both of them. And I worked for the Bank of Tuckerman, which is no longer in existence, during the summers when I was in high school and college. After I graduated from college, the bank offered me a fulltime job.
“Then I found out about the
state banking department from a friend and applied for a job. I didn’t hear from them right away, but later got a call and went to work there on March 1, 1995.”
Marshall, who is a 2002 graduate of the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking in Dallas, served in several positions with the Arkansas State Bank Department before her appointment as commissioner. As commissioner, she is responsible for the regulation, supervision and examination of Arkansas state-chartered banks, bank holding companies, a trust company and Arkansas Capital Corp.
Marshall attended the recent Arkansas Century Farm recognition program at the Arkansas State Capitol in Little Rock.
“During the ceremony, I could feel them (my ancestors) with me,” Marshall said. “They would have been so proud.”
During the ceremony, Hutchinson noted that agriculture “is Arkansas’ largest industry, contributing more than $21 billion to the state’s economy annually and providing one of every six jobs in the state.
“Arkansas consistently ranks in the top 25 nationally in the production of more than 15 agricultural commodities,” Hutchinson said.
“Year after year, decade after decade, in the face of many challenges, Century Farm families put everything on the line to earn a living and produce our food, our fabrics, our forests,” the governor said. “Farm families are great for our economy, but they are much more than that. The work ethic, common sense and family values that are the bedrock of a family farm are a model for all Arkansans. For the good of Arkansas, I hope their children and grandchildren choose to continue on the family farm, and that someday, the Arkansas Department of Agriculture will create an Arkansas Two-Century Farm program.”
For more information on the Arkansas Century Farm program, visit agriculture.arkansas.gov.