Thomas Joel Hitch

Tom J. and Mae Callahan Hitch bought the farm in Thompson's Station known as "Roderick" just before he retired as Farm Bureau president in 1961. Mr. Hitch was born August 19, 1902 in Blount County, the son of the late Andy and Rachel Davis Hitch. He was one of twelve children (seven sons and five daughters). He attended elementary and high school in Blount County and later attended Maryville College and Friendsville Academy. While he was not in shcool, he worked on his father's farm. In 1925 he and two of his brothers purchased a farm, operating it as a partnership until 1945 when they divided the land. Mr. Hitch operated his portion of the farm until it was purchased in the expansion of the Knoxville airport. Mr. and Mrs. Hitch were married October 2, 1926. She was also a native of Blount County and the daughter of Tom Callahan. Although they had no children, they were like parents to many of the young people of the Farm Bureau. Tom Hitch was a charter member of the Blount County Farm Bureau and served as its president for seven years. He was elected to the board of director of the Tennessee Farm Bureau in 1944 and was chosen vice president in the summer of 1946. He was elected president of the Tennessee Farm Bureau in November of 1946, succeeding the first president, the late Joe Frank Porter of Williamsport. At this time he and Mrs. Hitch moved to Columbia to make their home. They were active in the First Baptist Church in Columbia where he was elected a deacon in 1947. He was also chairman of the board of deacons, a Sunday School teacher, member of the choir and chairman of the finance committee. He served for 30 years as a member of the Baptist Hospital board in Nashville and retired in 1986. He served for six years as a member of the Belmont College board of trustees. He served as state president for 15 years and retired in 1961 when they moved to their farm in Thompson's Station. During his presidency of the Tennessee Farm Bureau, he was appointed to President Eisenhower's Agriculture Advisory Commission in 1953 and served for two terms. He also served as a member of the American Farm Bureau Board of Directors, the Tennessee Farmers Cooperative Board, the State Board of Agriculture, a member of the National Livestock and Meat Board and the National Rural Health Board. He was chosen by Progressive Farmer Magazine as their "Man of the Year in Agriculture" in 1951. In 1969 he established the Tom and Mae Hitch Scholarship Endowment Fund to provide scholarships for students enrolled in the College of Agriculture. In 1987 he gave $100,000 to the University of Tennessee Institure of Agriculture and contributed heavily to Belmont College in Nashville. In 1973 Mr. and Mrs. Hitch sold their farm in Thompson's Station and moved back to Columbia where Mrs. Hitch died April 21, 1985. She was buried in the Sherwood Memorial Gardens in Maryville. She was survived by her husband, two brothers, Clyde and George Callahan and a sister, Mrs. Maude Hicks, all of Louisville in Blount County. Mr. Hitch married Girline King in January of 1987. He died January 9, 1989. He was survived by his wife and two sisters, Mrs. Madge Fleming of Knoxville and Mrs. Mildred Clark of Maryville. Charles (Pete) Ward was the manager of Mr. Hitch's farm in Thompson's Station. When Pete was growing up, the Ward family lived in the Plant home on Columbia Highway just south of Thompson's Station where the Holigan Home development is now located. After Pete married Jessel Estes and became manager for Mr. Hitch, they lived in the house on the hill above the big barn on the Hitch farm. After Pete's death Mrs. Ward lived in Spring Hill for several years. The couple had twin sons; Joe Ward of Rome, Georgia and Jerry Ward of Birmingham, Alabama. Jessel Estes Ward had two sisters; Mae Byrd of Louisville, Kentucky and Zilfie Pedigo of Cave City, Kentucky. Pete and Jessel Ward had six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. The Wards funerals were at the Oakes and Nichols Funeral Home in Columbia, Tennessee and burial was in Williamson Memorial Gardens in Franklin, Tennessee.

Thomas married Mae Callahan on 02 Oct 1926.¹ (Mae Callahan was born on 27 Aug 1903,^{1 2} died on 21 Apr 1985 in Columbia, Maury Co., TN ^{6 7} and was buried about 24 Apr 1985 in Sherwood Memorial Cemetery, Alcoa, Blount Co., TN.)