John Litton Farm
The John Litton Farm is an historic farmstead located in the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area. It is one of four historic homesteads within the boundaries of the national park that are preserved, the others being the Oscar Blevins Farm, the Lora Blevins Farm, and Charit Creek Lodge.
The farm is located along the North Fork of Fall Branch, just outside the Bandy Creek area, and is accessible only by hiking the Litton Farm Loop Trail, or by horseback or mountain bike on an administrative access road.
History
The John Litton Farm dates back to about 1900, when John Litton built a single pen 1.5-story timber-framed house with a stone foundation on a hillside overlooking the North Fork of Fall Branch. He also built a 2-story, English-style milk barn in 1900 that measures 32 ft. by 32 ft. Both structures remain intact.
Later, Charles Rudy “General” Slaven purchased the farm and built a 14 ft. by 7 ft. wood shed and an earthen dam for a pond. Both of those remain intact, as well. Slaven also built a hog lot with wood fencing at the base of a rock bluff in the forest outside the cleared area, which is also intact.
A wrap-around porch was added to the home by Slaven, but has since been removed. Slaven also added a wood-frame addition to the home. Once modified, the home measured 29 ft. by 26 ft. Beneath it is a root cellar walled with hand-hewn sandstone.
The entire farm encompasses 184 acres.
People of the John Litton Farm
John and Elvira Litton were the first to live at the Litton Farm, building the home and barn around 1900. John Littleton Litton was born on April 1, 1855. Elvira Dawes Litton was born Oct. 1, 1857.
John Litton was the grandson of James Taylor Litton (1797-1887), a justice of the peace who was on the committee that helped establish Scott County in 1849. The Litton family migrated from England to the American colonies with John Litton’s third great-grandfather, Caleb Polleckfield Litton, in the late 1600s.
The Littons had five children: Ezra Litton, Calvin Litton, Elizabeth Litton Terry, Poppie Litton Blevins, and Ellen Litton Kidd.
John Litton died on June 8, 1935 and Elvira Litton died on Dec. 15, 1945. Both are buried at the Katie Blevins Cemetery at nearby Bandy Creek.
General and Mary Miler Slaven purchased the Litton Farm at some point around the time of John Litton’s death in 1935. They lived there until the federal government purchased the property and they were forced to leave in 1974.
Known as “General” Slaven (1908-1985) and “Did” Slaven (1904-1993), the Slavens had three children: Leamon, Bertha and Harlen. General Slaven was the son of Charles Slaven and Mary Roysdon Slaven. His paternal grandparents were Elisha Slaven and Mary Ann Sweet. He was a great-grandson of Richard Harve Slaven, the first white settler of the Big South Fork region. Did Slaven was the daughter of John Miller and Darcus Blevins Miller. She was a second great-granddaughter of Jonathan Blevins, the first white settler of the Station Camp Creek area.
It was said that no one visited the Slaven home and left hungry; Did Slaven always made sure they had plenty to eat.
Susan Duda recorded an oral interview with General and Did Slaven on Sept. 21, 1979 as part of a history project entitled “Folk Life along the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River.”