--part1_a3.4e053a7.262f51fc_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit --part1_a3.4e053a7.262f51fc_boundary Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Disposition: inline Return-path: Lmk915@aol.com From: Lmk915@aol.com Full-name: Lmk915 Message-ID: <4a.43cecb1.262e45d0@aol.com> Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 19:12:16 EDT Subject: AGRICULTURAL CENSUS To: Lmk915@aol.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Language: en X-Mailer: AOL 5.0 for Windows sub 104 =E2=80=9CDROPPED CALVES AND HEMP FIBER: THE 1880 AGRICULTURAL CENSUS,=E2=80= =9D by Michael=20 John Neill <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Before the turn of the century, your ancestor's farm served as the family's employer and grocery store. But getting an idea of the farm's operation can=20= be difficult. Probate records (especially inventories of chattel property) may provide some specific information. Histories of farming or agriculture can provide generalized farming information, but genealogists are always hungry=20 for specifics about their family. For rural ancestors during the second half of=20 the nineteenth century, federal agricultural census schedules may contain some o= f those family-specific clues. Federal agricultural census schedules are generally extant for 1850 to 1880, however there are bound to be gaps. These records may hold clues about your ancestor's relative financial position that are not mentioned in property or= =20 tax records. We'll look at a few examples from the 1880 agricultural census. The 1880 Agricultural Census for Walker Township, Hancock County, Illinois, contains several of my relatives, including my great-great-grandfather,=20 Michael Trautvetter. The schedule contains a great deal of information about the Trautvetter farm.=20 Michael owned his farm (no note as to whether or not it was mortgaged), whic= h included seventy-nine tillable acres, one acre of meadow, and one hundred forty-five acres of woodland or forest (most likely timber). The value of th= e farm ($7,000), the implements ($100), and the livestock ($100) were also included. Michael had spent $50 on building and repairing fences during the=20 year and had paid for fifty-six (or fifty) weeks of hired labor throughout the=20 year. Of the ten farmers listed on Michael's page in the census, all but two had=20 hired labor at some point during the year. The value of the labor was consistently five dollars per week. The farm included two acres of hay and four horses. Michael grew two thousand bushels of Indian corn on forty-seven acres, sixty bushels of oats on five acres, and 353 bushels of wheat on twenty-five acres= . One hundred barnyard chickens and nineteen =E2=80=9Cother=E2=80=9D chickens=20= produced a total=20 of two hundred dozen eggs during the year. Twenty-four hogs, six milk cows, and= =20 ten =E2=80=9Cother=E2=80=9D cattle (there were no working oxen) rounded out the=20= livestock. Four calves were =E2=80=9Cdropped=E2=80=9D (i.e., born) and three head of cattle=20= were sold during=20 the year. The farm had produced 150 pounds of butter. Hops and tobacco were not grown on the Trautvetter farm, but there were five acres of Irish potatoes, resulting in 125 bushels. The Trautvetter's seventy apple trees were spread over two acres and produced one hundred bushels of apples during the year. There were no peaches, grapes, or honey produced on=20 the farm. Nor was any wood cut and sold from the timber on John's property. Several other ancestors were included in the same and nearby townships,=20 allowing a comparison between the farms. One had lost sheep due to killings by dogs,=20 and another apparently partially supported his family by selling cut wood. There were three possible types of tenure (possession) for the farmer listed: ownership, renting for a fixed amount, and renting for a share of the=20 products. This may lead to possible land and property records.=20 The amount of hemp fiber was also counted, but I didn't notice any families=20 with it listed among their entries. Of course, back then it was normally used to=20 make rope, and the census taker probably didn't use an infrared camera to locate=20 it. While agricultural census records do not provide the genealogical details on= e expects from population schedules, information can be gleaned from them. Thi= s=20 is particularly true when your ancestor's entry is compared to other entries on= =20 the same page and the same township. Don=E2=80=99t just compare your family's en= try with=20 the ones directly before and after it. I have eight ancestors listed in the 1880 agricultural census, and it is interesting to compare all of their entries.=20 WHAT FARMS GOT COUNTED? At the risk of summarizing a bit too much, here's a general idea: 1850--farms with an annual produce of $100 or more 1860--same as 1850 1870--farms of at least three acres or $500 of annual produce 1880--same as 1870 DOES THE FAMILY HISTORY LIBRARY HAVE THE FILM? The answer is maybe. To determine if agriculture censuses are in the library= =E2=80=99s collection, find the locality of interest in the card catalog and search for =E2=80=9Ccensus=E2=80=9D for any year between 1850 and 1880. For example, se= arch for =E2=80=9CUtah-Census-1880.=E2=80=9D The library does not have all of these r= ecords in its collection. Unfortunately, there is no one site where you can determine which federal agricultural census records are available (if there is such a page, please e-mail me and we'll let Daily News readers know). However, what follows are=20 some links to pages that have information on agricultural census records on a wid= e variety of areas. Readers may also wish to consult =E2=80=9CThe Source: A Gu= idebook of American Genealogy=E2=80=9D by Loretto D. Szucs and Sandra H. Luebking, pp.=20= 129-134,=20 for more information on these records.=20 SOME AGRICULTURAL CENSUS LINKS Alabama Census Links=20 (includes several agricultural census transcriptions 1850-60) http://www.leth.net/fhc/al.htm=20 Georgia, Marion County 1860 Agricultural Census Index http://www2.ios.com/~u1211419/Marag60.htm=20 Illinois Federal Agricultural Census in the Illinois State Archives http://www.sos.state.il.us/depts/archives/di/951__002.htm=20 Kansas Census Records http://www.sunflower.org/~lmwilson/kscensus.htm=20 North Carolina, Alleghany County 1860 Agricultural Census=20 (Transcription-note columns may not appear lined up, but this site does=20 include a listing of what questions were asked on this census.) http://www.ls.net/~newriver/nc/all60ag.htm=20 South Dakota Census Records at SDSU http://libweb.sdsu.edu/gov/censuses.html=20 Virginia, Grayson County 1860 Agricultural Census http://www.ls.net/~newriver/gray60ag.htm=20 MORE COMPREHENSIVE LISTINGS: A listing of 1850-80 agricultural census schedules for the following states=20 are available: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisian= a, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. These are available for purchase from the University of North Carolina, but your local library may be able to get them from another source on interlibrary loan. http://www.lib.unc.edu/ncc/phs/census.html=20 Duke University Agriculture Census Records on Microfilm http://www.lib.duke.edu/access/news/census.htm=20 _________________________________________________________________ --part1_a3.4e053a7.262f51fc_boundary--