About Ames Plantation

Ames Plantation, home of the National Field Trial Championship for All-Age Bird Dogs, is privately owned and operated by the Trustees of the Hobart Ames Foundation as Successor Trustees under the Will of the late Julia C. Ames. Ames Plantation also functions as one of the Research and Education Centers for the University of Tennessee’s Agricultural Experiment Stations system.

Ames Plantation encompasses 18,600 acres of land in Fayette and Hardeman counties in West Tennessee and is located approximately 60 miles east of Memphis and 10 miles north of the Tennessee-Mississippi line near Grand Junction, Tennessee. The Plantation has approximately 12,000 acres of forest, 2,000 acres of commodity row-crops, and maintains about 700 head of Angus beef cattle and 40 head of horses. Ames raises “flight-conditioned quail” suitable for restocking areas where quail habitat is not a limiting factor and markets bagged “Wildlife Ear Corn” for all of God’s creatures.

The Ames Plantation, located in Fayette and Hardeman Counties of Tennessee, is home to a wealth of 19th Century history pertaining to the settlement and culture of southwestern Tennessee. The Ames Plantation has as its goal the interpretation and preservation of these cultural resources for the benefit of present and future generations.

This goal is being met through a comprehensive cultural resource program. Utilizing a diverse collection of historic structures, the Heritage Village serves to preserve our architectural heritage in an educational format. Investigation has revealed the locations of over 200 historic sites including 26 cemeteries that represent the final resting place of many of the area’s early residents. A number of these sites, especially the cemeteries, have been investigated and restored. Research of land ownership, along with associated family histories, has revealed interesting historical details about the land and its 19th century residents. These accomplishments combined with an educational program for all ages and the opportunity for you to be involved in the program through membership in the Ames Plantation Historical Society makes up today’s Ames Plantation Cultural Resource Program.

Settlement of the Ames Plantation area began about 1820 when John T. Patterson established a homestead on the North Fork of the Wolf River. Settlement was rapid, particularly during the 1830’s and 40’s with many settlers coming from the Carolinas, Virginia, Alabama and Middle Tennessee. Settlers traveled overland hauling their belongings in carts or covered wagons, driving their livestock along. Some traveled the Tennessee, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers to one of the tributaries of the Mississippi where their journey turned upstream into the interior of West Tennessee.

A few of the residents of Ames Plantation property during the early years of settlement were: Robert Cotten, John W. Hunt, Elisha W. Harris, David Jernigan, John W. And Wiley B. Jones, William M. May, Benjamin and M. B. Moody, Alexander McNeill, Willis Person, David Putney, Robert Thornton, Nathaniel Ragland, and William Whitaker.

The production of cotton was foremost on the minds of most of the settlers. Plantations were established on thousands of acres of newly cleared land. This cotton plantation based economy thrived from the 1830’s until the Civil War. The Ames Plantation includes the sites of several 19th Century plantations. Some of the plantation owners or “planters” were: Thomas E. Chambers, Matthew B. Dyer, Benjamin Moody, Fanny Dickens, John W. Hunt, David Jernigan, John W. Jones, Wiley B. Jones, Alexander McNeill, William Winfield, and Elisha W. Harris.

Along with the end of the Civil War came an end to the plantation tradition of the Old South. Much of the old plantation lands were shifted to the share-crop arrangement of farming. This practice continued throughout the remainder of the 19th Century.

Historically significant sites found at the Ames Plantation include: the Ames Manor House constructed in 1847 by John W. Jones, the homestead of John T. Patterson, one of the earliest in Fayette County, and the homestead of Robert G. Thornton which was the location of the first court session held in Fayette County in 1824. Other important sites of local historical interest include: the location of the Mount Comfort (Morgan) Store, Andrews Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church, the townsite of Pattersonville, and the earliest documented burial in Fayette County.