Robert B. Lemons—or “Brownie,” as he has been called his whole life—has seen it all when it comes to farming in Sumner County.
On Sep. 14, Brownie will celebrate 60 years of working for the Sumner Farmers Co-op.
“When I started, it was in a different building down the road,” he commented, “but it was still the Farmers Co-op. In 2000, we moved into the old Oldsmobile building—which is where we are now.”
To the best of his memory, Brownie was never called by any other name.
“The reason I’m called Brownie is because my mother and father couldn’t agree on a middle name,” he said. “The story I heard is that there was a Tennessee governor named Gordon Browning, and my mother liked him a lot. But my daddy didn’t like him at all. So, they settled on the initial B for the birth certificate—but it didn’t stand for a name at all. It was just ‘B.’ But my mama started calling me Brownie, and it stuck.”
Born in Hendersonville in 1940, Brownie’s family moved to Gallatin when he was nine.
“I started fifth grade at Vena Stuart Elementary School—but it was in a different place then, too—it was over on North Water Street. A lot of things have moved around.”
Brownie attended Gallatin High School through the tenth grade.
“I quit school to go to work—which wasn’t that uncommon in those days,” he said. “I was already working at Weyman Terry’s grocery store after school and on the weekends, and I went to work there full-time when I quit school. That was my first job.”
Weyman Terry’s grocery store was iconic in Gallatin, known for offering top-quality meats and hand-crafted sandwiches at his old-fashioned butcher shop for six decades
A while later, Brownie began working for Davis Cabinet Company in Nashville, where he stayed for a few years. Then, in 1964, he changed jobs.
“I had a friend here in Gallatin—he was like a brother to me—and one day he asked if I might like to come work where he did—at the Sumner Farmers Co-op. I said yes right away,” he said, grinning. “It meant I didn’t have to drive to and from Nashville every day.”
Although his friend left to work for the Sumner County Creamery, Brownie stayed for good.
“This place has always felt like home to me,” he said. “I’ve always loved farming families. And my first boss—H.K. McGlothlin—was great and got me started on the right foot.”
When Brownie reflects on his life as a young man in Gallatin, he finds himself remembering the music.
“There was a group of us, and we were big fans of early rock and roll—like Elvis, Chuck Berry, and Buddy Holly,” he said. “Randy’s Records was a big deal in those days—I spent way too much money at Randy’s Records.”
Brownie said in the early days, Sumner County was largely a farming community.
“The Co-op was created by the farmers—they own all the stock in it. It was their way of saving money—it was a place to trade and offer good products at lower prices,” he said. “Most of the counties in the state have Co-ops.”
However, Brownie has seen the farming community change drastically.
“It’s natural, but it’s also kind of sad,” he said. “When the old farmers die out, a lot of the time the children don’t want to farm. So, they sell their farms.”
Brownie says there are still a few working family farms.
“For instance, I know a man who operates a farm in Portland and I remember him working that same farm with his father when he was a kid,” he said.
Because the nature of the community has changed, the clientele at the Farmers Co-op is different now, per Brownie.
“We have a lot of landscapers, for instance and we sell Christmas trees,” he said. “I would never have dreamed we’d sell Christmas trees. We probably have as much urban business as farmers.”
Brownie can name every boss he’s had at the Sumner Farmers Co-op.
“H.K. McGlothlin was my first boss, and Joe Jones was my second,” he said. “Lee Scott was my third boss, and Tommy Kilzer was my fourth. Then there was Stanley Anderson, Dwight Dixon, and Matt Veil—and my current boss is also a great one—Andrew Allen.”
The admiration is mutual, according to Allen.
“I’ve worked with Brownie for 16 years,” he said. “He’s always been a mentor to me—not just with work but with daily life. I’m proud to call him a friend and proud to be on the same team as him.”
Brownie has no plans to retire.
“I’ve never thought about not working,” he said. “To me, this work has always been about the people. I love our customers and the farmers—they’re like family. If I woke up and hated to come to work, I wouldn’t work. But I still enjoy the people.”
Brownie said he used to go fishing and hunting a lot but now he divides his time between work and home, saying, “Really, the Co-op is kind of like my home. It’s open six days a week, and I’m here pretty much six days a week.”
He added, “This is where I like to be.”
