New Book Documents History of Local Dairies

By MERLE MONAHAN

By Merle Monahan

The Virginian Pilot

FRANKLIN Got dairy? How about dairy history?

Ernest Wrenn does.

The retired Southampton County agriculture extension agent recently published a book about the history of commercial dairy farms in Franklin and Southampton County.

Not long ago, I started noticing the abandoned dairy farms here, and thought about researching the history of these farms, said Wrenn.

His interest in the topic that led to Commercial Dairy Farming in Southampton County and Franklin, Virginia, dates back many years.

My wife, Anne, and I lived in a dairy community near Varina, Va., when I attended Virgina Tech, Wrenn said.

I worked on the schools dairy farm part-time during those years, so I learned quite a bit about dairy farming.

Wrenn said his job was to milk the cows.

They had four herds, Guernseys, Holsteins, Jerseys and an experimental herd. I milked mostly the Holsteins.

After Wrenn graduated in 1953, he and his wife moved to Surry County, where Wrenn taught agriculture at Surry High School for several years.

In the 1960s, he was an extension agent in Dinwiddie County, and in 1970, he became an extension agent in Southampton County, where he worked until he retired in 1986.

Wrenn estimated hed have about 20 farms to work with, but eventually ended up with 46.

Each is described in the book, and he has also included photos, when possible. One of the photos is believed to have been taken in 1914, and shows Franklin dairy owner Jesse Felix McClenny and a milk wagon.

When Wrenn started his research, he contacted Ann McClenny Copeland, McClennys daughter.

Having grown up as a dairymans daughter, Ann was quite knowledgeable about her fathers operations, Wrenn said.

Jesse McClenny, Wrenn said, started his business while in his early 20s. He had the foresight to expand his operation to Lawrenceville, Va., and to provide an outlet for some of his products in Franklin.

He opened a Dairy Bar on Second Avenue in Franklin which served milk shakes and ice cream, and became a gathering place for young people in the area.

Wrenn talked with relatives of dairy owners, as well as former employees. He learned that although many dairies started operating in the early part of the 20th century, most had gone out of business by the end of World War II.

The conditions that forced some of these operations to close were requirements by the state health department that they install stainless steel pipelines that would transport the milk from the milking machine directly to a bulk tank in the milk house, and that the milk be pasteurized.

The smaller operations could not afford these changes, he said.

Although the areas dairies were distributed from Boykins, to Capron, to Sebrell and Unity, most were concentrated around the Franklin area.

Also mentioned in Wrenns history are C.C. Vaughan, John Camp, William Camp, Sol W. Rawls, Dr. J.C. Rawls, Dr. J.M. Bland, S.V. Camp and Walter Luther Young, all associated with other businesses in the area.

Commercial Dairy Farming in Southampton County and Franklin, Virginia, is available through the Southampton County Historical Society. The book may be purchased from Lynda Updike, 33335 Statesville Road, Newsoms, Va. 23874, at a cost of $7.50 plus $3.85 for shipping.

The book is also available at the Southampton Agriculture and Forestry Museum/Heritage Village in Courtland.

A display of early milking equipment, assembled by Wrenn, can be seen at the Agriculture and Forestry Museum.

* Reach correspondent Merle Monahan at merlemonah@aol.com