Hawkins Farm
The undulating hillsides of farm fields and pasture in Upper Crabtree, capped by forested mountain peaks, continue to sustain generations of families whose ancestors farmed here. Wayne Hawkins grew up close to this land. Along with his two brothers, Carroll and Ronnie, he harvested tobacco, picked apples, pulled thistles, and learned to respect the land. His grandparents instilled in them an ethic of hard work and land stewardship – which Wayne has passed along to his own daughters, Carla and Nedra. Now, thanks to the family’s commitment, 206 more acres of farmland in Haywood County have been permanently protected.
Conserving the Land – Solutions for Generational Transitions
“When you turn into Upper Crabtree from NC 209/Rush Fork Road, it feels like coming home.,” says SAHC Farmland Protection Director Jess Laggis. “The mountains fade into hills that hug the green bottoms where Crabtree Creek flows along its way to join the Pigeon River. The first time I saw it, it reminded me of the Swannanoa Valley along that river where I grew up. The breathtaking scenery still hits me every time I come around the bend and the view opens up. Wayne and his family collectively possess a deep sense of care and love for farmland in WNC – and a commitment to keeping it preserved for future generations. I feel honored that we were able to work with this family to keep this beautiful place farmland forever.”
The Hawkins Farm covers rolling hills and fertile bottomlands, with expansive pastures, hay production, and mixed hardwood forest. Cattle meander across the open hills and through the shaded edges of the forest, bears cavort along the ridgeline, and a wide variety of birds – from raptors to songbirds – flourish around the farm. At the upper elevations, the Hawkins Farm adjoins other, already-conserved land – connecting to more than 600 acres of SAHC-protected farmland in Rogers Cove.
“Permanent protection of this farm adds to prior conservation successes, expands protection of an intact farming community, preserves water quality in Crabtree Creek, and maintains the scenic beauty of the landscape,” continues Jess. “This conservation easement protects a family farm while helping it transfer to the next generation to continue agricultural use in an area threatened by development pressure. Haywood County is experiencing a drastic increase in development pressure after the Pactiv Evergreen Mill closure. Keeping land available for agriculture helps maintain both environmental and social benefits.”
The farmland had been purchased in several pieces by Robert McKinley Hawkins, Sr. and Adeline Lorena Messer Hawkins, the great-grandparents of current 4th-generation owners, Nedra Creson and Carla Melton. Robert and Adeline worked the farm until their deaths, at which time the deed transferred to their grandchildren, brothers Ralph ‘Wayne’ Hawkins and Ronald ‘Ronnie’ Henry Hawkins. The brothers recently transferred ownership of the land to Wayne’s two daughters, who were able to buy out Ronnie’s interest in the property through the bargain sale of the conservation easement.
“When we first met the family, the farm was in four parcels; Wayne and Ronnie both owned two tracts,” explains Jess. “Unifying the ownership allowed us to maximize conservation and honor the family’s legacy in one easement. Structuring that process with a deed of trust allowed the farm operators to be the decision-makers for the easement, to obtain title without incurring debt, ensure Ronnie was paid for his asset, and to prevent division of the farmland as it changed hands between generations. The easement proceeds then canceled the deed of trust. In a moment when we’re losing farmland at an alarming rate and about a quarter of our farmers are past retirement age (23.6% are aged 65-74 according to the 2022 Ag. census), successfully transitioning farms so that agricultural land stays in the hands of producers is critical to the continued agricultural viability and farming heritage of our region. For conservation-minded landowners like this family, a conservation easement made it possible.”
Current conservation management practices on the farm involve excluding cattle from the main branch of Crabtree Creek and farm road improvements to reduce erosion issues.
“The Crabtree community has one of the highest concentrations of preserved farms in North Carolina, and the Hawkins Farm is the latest effort in strengthening this farming community,” says Evan Davis, Farmland Preservation Division Director for the NC Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services. “Building a local network of conserved lands will support farm families and rural communities for years to come, and we are proud to partner with the family and the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy on this important project.”
Preservation of the Hawkins Farm was made possible through a grant from the NC Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund, generous contributions from SAHC supporters, donation of a portion of the conservation easement value by the landowners, and a grant from the Pigeon River Fund of The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina.
“Easements like these are complex and involve many partners,” says Tara Schultz, Vice President, Programs for The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina. “We are pleased the Pigeon River Fund’s $30,000 investment provided the final piece of funding necessary to permanently protect productive farm, forest land, and numerous tributaries on a parcel that adjoins the 600-acre Rogers Cove easements, which the Fund also supported. We are honored to support the work of organizations like SAHC that ensure our region’s natural resources and water quality are protected for future generations.”
Deep Family Roots – Ties to the Land
The Hawkins’ family roots in Haywood County span more than 200 years. In 1800, Joseph and Sarah Vaughn McCracken moved there from Habersham County, Georgia with their daughter Carey, becoming among the first colonists to live in the area. The area was inhabited by the Cherokee people (Ani Yunwiya/ ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ or Anigiduwagi/ ᎠᏂᎩᏚᏩᎩ) prior to European colonization. Born during the American Revolutionary War, Joseph and Sarah carried much of the industrious and adventurous spirit of their generation. Of their 13 children, ten remained to raise large families in Haywood County; Wayne’s ancestors connect to four of them.
According to the McCracken family history, Joseph and Sarah McCracken began by purchasing 100 acres of land on upper Crabtree Creek and continued expanding their holdings until they owned “every farm except one (the Kirkpatrick farm) on Crabtree Creek.” Over time, their descendants inherited and split up ownership of the land. Wayne’s grandparents followed Joseph and Sarah in spirit, returning to the area to purchase tracts of land from various McCracken and Kirkpatrick heirs to assemble their own farm.
“My grandfather, Robert Hawkins, and grandmother, Adeline Messer Hawkins, both grew up on farms in Haywood County,” shares Wayne. “He grew up in Fines Creek, and she was born in the Crabtree township. They married in 1922 and moved to West Asheville, where my grandfather worked as a machinist. My father, Robert Hawkins, Jr., was born while they lived there. However, since they were both raised on farms, they wanted to own farmland of their own. They saved and sacrificed in order to purchase land back in Haywood County during the Great Depression. My grandfather went to work at the Champion Mill as a machinist, where he stayed until he retired in 1970 – in addition to working on the farm.”
Born in 1897, Robert Hawkins was one of the younger children of Martha Rogers and Robert Vance Hawkins, who had eight children. Adeline Messer was born in 1898, the eldest of Dora Welch and Robert L Messer’s 11 children. She spent a year studying art at Mars Hill College, an uncommon experience for the time. Portions of the land that Robert and Adeline purchased for their farm came from Adeline’s Kirkpatrick kinfolk.
“No bathroom or running water existed in the original house (the Kirkpatrick homestead),” says Wayne. “You had to carry water from the spring up to the house. In 1947, my grandparents built the house that they lived in for the rest of their lives, and where my brothers and I spent much of our childhood. It had modern plumbing and water.”
The eldest of Robert Hawkins, Jr. and Martha Best Hawkins’ three sons, Wayne says that he and his brothers Robert Carroll Hawkins (Private First Class, killed in action in Vietnam in 1969) and Ronnie grew up learning to do things together and sharing everything – including a love for the land. The boys were born very close in age, with not quite two years between the eldest and youngest.
“Our father worked as a welder and moved around a good bit of the time, travelling to places where they were building plants and all over the East Coast,” recalls Wayne. “Our mother worked at the post office, so we would catch the school bus to our grandparents’ home each day, where we did chores in the afternoon and then homework. We ate dinner with them – and they were a huge influence on my love for the land and appreciation for farming. We called them Pa and Ma, and most of our neighbors knew them as Pa and Ma Hawkins. About the land, Pa would say, ‘God made this but he only made it one time, and it’s up to you to take care of it.’ He taught us how important the land was, and how to care for it.”
Together, the family raised beef cattle and grew silage corn and tobacco, in addition to a robust vegetable “eating” garden and small livestock such as chickens, ducks, geese, and guinea fowl. Wayne remembers that when he was in the 4-H, they had a program where youth could get 100 chicks to raise. He did, and his grandfather ran electricity to the chicken house to help support them; it was the first chicken house with electricity in Crabtree.
The three boys spent a lot of time with Pa and Ma Hawkins. During the school year, they would also catch the morning bus from their grandparents’ house. Wayne recalls that the kitchen was in the basement, with a wood-fired cooking stove. Each morning when they arrived, his grandmother would have already set three places with full glasses of milk, homemade biscuits, gravy, sausage or bacon, etc.
“Ma was a petite woman, but we never thought of her as small,” shares Wayne. “When she told you to do something, you did it. She worked on the farm throughout her life. Pa had to be at work at 7 am at the Champion Mill, so it fell to Ma to feed the cattle in the morning and afternoon. They had a herd of 75 or more cattle. She was a strong, active woman. She grew the vegetable garden, and I often worked alongside her in it. I still have that love of gardening today! They had an allotment of several acres to grow tobacco. When it came time to cut and process the tobacco, they’d hire additional people to help. She’d start in the house in the morning and fix dinner for everyone, then go back into the fields to work, too.”
Place names across the farm echo the history of people who lived and farmed here – not just the Hawkins family. Wayne’s grandparents named features of the farmstead after the people from whom the land was purchased. The flat, bottomland area that stretches along Crabtree Creek is known as the Will Bottom, because they purchased it from Will Kirkpatrick.
From there, the farm road winds up and around a large hillside, curving past a man-made pond where cattle gather for water. This small cove is known as the Charlie Cove, which Pa and Ma Hawkins purchased from Charlie Kirkpatrick in December 1937.
Even farther up, the winding farm road enters the beautiful Preacher Cove, named after Rev. R. Pinkney ‘Pink’ McCracken, who lived on the land with his wife Addie, a sister of Will and Charlie Kirkpatrick. They sold the cove to the Hawkins in 1944.
Across the stunning Preacher Cove, architectural remnants captivate the imagination. A massive stone chimney bearing the date 1935, sections of stairs, and thick porch pillars stand as vestiges of the past. When Wayne was born, his parents lived in this house (which is no longer standing); he spent the first year of his life here. A large porch ran all the way across the front of the house. In front stands an empty stone pool surrounded by decorative vertical stones, which Preacher Pink once used as a baptismal for his congregation.
To the side, a remaining outbuilding possesses an interesting feature: a large outdoor sink created by a massive slab of stone. Behind the ruins of the house, Wayne points out the foundation where a tall ‘drive through’ barn once stood. During the tobacco harvest season, they gathered burley tobacco leaves on large pointed sticks; driving into the barn, these were hoisted up and hung to dry. Wayne recalls that his grandparents reserved the fertile bottomland for growing hay and silage; they grew tobacco in small plots around the coves. Behind the barn sits the circular bottom of a stone silo once used to store corn silage.
Wayne points out smoothed boulders sunk deep in the Earth; these ‘salting’ rocks were used to spread salt as a mineral supplement for the cattle. Years of use have worn interesting waves in the stone. A larger pond in this cove is fenced off from the cattle, with a homemade gate that creatively reuses old tobacco stakes. Frogs, fish, geese, ducks and more have made homes here.
At the upper end of the cove spreads an open area that once served as the orchard. Wayne recalls often walking here to harvest a variety of heritage apples, as well as persimmons, cherry, and quince. Here, he and his brother were pulling thistles (the bane of his grandfather) one day when he had a terrible pain in his side and sat down to rest. His brothers climbed trees and pelted him with picked fruit for not keeping up with his share of the work; the next day, he went into the hospital for appendicitis!
“Pa was big into conservation of the land,” continues Wayne. “For example, they used fire for heating and cooking, but you couldn’t cut just any wood for that. He’d say that you could use the hickory for the fire wood, but to leave the oaks and walnuts to grow. They used locust for the fence stakes. He emphasized that you didn’t just use the land – you also had to take care of it. He would have been pleased to see this land conserved.”
Continuing the Family Farming Tradition
Wayne graduated from Mars Hill University and went to work at Haywood Community College, where he started teaching and moved up to serve as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). However, he continued to keep cattle on the family farm.
“Those were some long days,” Wayne laughs. He raised red Salers cattle, an old breed which originated in France for meat and milk production, prized for their fertility and ability to adapt to rough mountainous soil.
Wayne and his brother Ronnie inherited and shared ownership of their grandparents’ farmland together. Ronnie wanted to be a dairy farmer and later moved to Parrottsville, TN, where he owns and operates his farm. Eventually, he offered Wayne the opportunity to buy out his interest in the Haywood County land, to keep it in the family. The conservation easement has enabled them to do that.
Carla now lives in the house Wayne’s grandparents built and lived in. Just down the road, Nedra and her family live in the house that Wayne built (where his daughters grew up). The family opted to exclude both homesites from the conservation easement, in part to prevent potential disputes in future generations. The sisters share in ownership of the 206-acre tract of protected farmland.
“One thing that made me the proudest was that all of our kids also wanted to conserve the property,” says Carla. “Even the youngest generation wanted it to be conserved; the family is all of a like mind on that. Our great-grandparents worked hard to acquire this property and make sure their grandchildren had access to it. We can leave this as a legacy.”
Carla and Nedra both helped on the farm in their youth. Today – in addition to working other full-time jobs – they continue farming the land. Nedra and her husband Terry raise black and red Salers cattle on the conserved farmland, and Carla raises sheep on her great-grandparents’ homestead.
“Growing up, I felt a sense of permanence in the land – it was always here and would always be here,” says Nedra. “I never thought of the possibility of selling it. And now, it is protected – so we know it will always remain as it is.”
Standing near the top of the property above Preacher Cove, overlooking distant views of Crabtree and the surrounding area, Wayne recalls that he once planned to build a home at this spot. Instead, he is delighted with the way things have worked out.
When he decided to give his share of the property to his daughters, Wayne had retired from Haywood Community College but went back to work as CFO at the Salvation Army and later as CFO for the YWCA of Asheville. Now, he has finally retired for good and built a house on two acres in Henderson County – close enough to visit but just far enough away to give his daughters space to run the farm independently. Wayne is thrilled that his children and grandchildren inherited a passion for the land, along with interests in farming.
“I taught both girls how important the farm and land were, and they have passed that on to their own children,” shares Wayne. “I just can’t say enough about my grandparents, and about the work ethic and love of the land that they instilled in us. It was an answered prayer that we were able to permanently protect the land with SAHC, and a fitting ending for the farm to be conserved so it will be there for generations to come.”
