I hope one of you can steer me in the right direction, and I'm sure any answers would be useful to others researching our ancestors who lived there during the 1800's. I'm working on a family history book to self-publish for my extended family. I'm fine with names (Diffenbaugh and others) , dates and places. What I am looking for are stories or at least best guesses. Guesses will not be presented as fact. My 2nd great-grandparents, Henry Diffenbaugh and Mary Bressler, raised 11 children (one died as an infant) in East Lampeter. Henry's will and codicil were written in 1856 and 1857. Henry willed to Mary "all livestock, carriage, wagons, farming implements, and rents and incomes of all his real estate." He authorized, after the death of his wife, the sales of all "real estate, tenements and hereditaments." Also after the death of his wife, his children and grandchildren were to receive a total of $3,600 between them. (All were listed, with varying amounts.) I checked on www.westegg.com/inflation and see that that $3,600 cash would be worth $89,577.63 in 2010 dollars. Does the above information give any clues about his life and lifestyle? I assume he was a farmer. Does above indicate he also owned other property, or was that wording what we might call "boiler plate" on a form? Would this be considered an average income? Any way to guess the amount of land he may have owned? I will certainly be checking all the wonderful PA websites that were just shared! Are there books I should be checking , maybe through inter-library loans? I've been to Lancaster but live in Seattle and can't do research on-site unfortunately. Thanks to whoever can steer me in the right direction, and sorry for the long question! Janell

There are several places you may be able to get info of the sort you desire. If you can find the 1850 Agricultural census listing for Henry Diffenbaugh, it should give you his acreage, what kinds and how many of each type of livestock he has, as well as what crops he harvested and how much of each. Quite useful. Another thing to do would be to get a transcription of the taxes he paid the year before he died. The tax records, if they survive, are in the possession of the Lancaster County Historical Society. They are bound together by township, so hopefully with his name, township and the year, the data would be easy to look up. I know you said you can't visit LCHS yourself, but LCHS does offer some Research Services, and I think this would be a specific enough request to fulfil their requirement: http://www.lancasterhistory.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=61&Itemid=87 . I think I'd ask for several years tax records, because some years they may have added items that may help you round out your picture of your ancestor. For instance in 1870, they taxed dogs over 1 month of age. So, if your ancestor was paying taxes in 1870, you can tell if he had one or more dogs (at least if he was admitting he had them to the taxman!) The taxable items in the 1850s would typically have been: the amount of money "at interest", horses & cattle above the age of 4 years, pleasure carriages and gold watches. If he owns acreage, that will be listed and taxed. If he is renting his farm, the tax list may list his landlord. Whether he owns or rents, his occupation should be listed. Possession of pleasure carriages and one or more gold watches would give you an idea of his level of affluence, along with the amount of taxes he actually paid. Also, you mentioned a will. Is there also an inventory for his estate? It seems like if there was a big estate, there was probably an inventory. If it survived the ages, of course. The inventory should be the most exact accounting of his possessions, of course, down to the pots and pans in the kitchen. I hope these suggestions help you. Thanks, Triste Elliott --- If you can't get rid of them ugly old skeletons in the closet, at least teach 'em how to dance funny. Billy C. Wirtz --- On Fri, 10/21/11, Janell Gregson <jgsgenealogy@yahoo.com> wrote: > My 2nd great-grandparents, Henry Diffenbaugh and Mary > Bressler, raised 11 children (one died as an infant) in East > Lampeter. > Henry's will and codicil were written in 1856 and 1857. > Henry willed to Mary "all livestock, carriage, wagons, > farming implements, and rents and incomes of all his real > estate." He authorized, after the death of his wife, the > sales of all "real estate, tenements and hereditaments." > Also after the death of his wife, his children and > grandchildren were to receive a total of $3,600 between > them. (All were listed, with varying amounts.) > > I checked on www.westegg.com/inflation and see that that > $3,600 cash would be worth $89,577.63 in 2010 dollars. Does > the above information give any clues about his life and > lifestyle? I assume he was a farmer. Does above indicate he > also owned other property, or was that wording what we might > call "boiler plate" on a form? Would this be considered an > average income? Any way to guess the amount of land he may > have owned?

The Ag. Census can be found here: http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/agricultural_census_information/2586 The 1850 Ag Census contains the following: 1-name, owner, agent, or mgr. of farm 2- acres of land improved 3- acres of land unimproved 4- cash value of farm 5- Value of farming implements & machinery 6- Horses 7- Asses & mules 8- Milch cows 9- Working oxen 10- Other cattle 11- Sheep 12- Swine 13- Value of Livestock 14- Bushels of Wheat 15- Bushels of Rye 16- Bushels of Indian corn 17- Bushels of Oats 18- Pounds of rice 19- Pounds of Tobacco 20- Ginned cotton bales of 400 lbs. each 21- Pounds of wool 22- Bushels of Peas & Beans 23- Bushels of Irish Potatoes 24-Bushels of Sweet Potatoes 25-Bushels of Barley 26- Bushels of Buckwheat 27- Value of Orchard products in dollars 28- Gallons of wine 29- Value of produce of market gardens 30- Pounds of butter 31- Pounds of Cheese 32- Tons of Hay 33- Bushels of Clover seed 34- Bushels of other grass seed 35- Pounds of Hops 36-Tons of dew rotted hemp 37- Tons of Water rotted Hemp 38- Bushels of Flaxseed 40- Pounds of silk cocoons 41- Pounds of Maple Sugar 42- Hogsheads of 1000 pounds of Cane Sugar 43- Gallons of Molasses 44- Pounds of Beeswax & Honey 45- Value of Home-made Manufacture 46- Value of Animals slaughtered On Fri, Oct 21, 2011 at 7:02 PM, Janell Gregson <jgsgenealogy@yahoo.com>wrote: > I hope one of you can steer me in the right direction, and I'm sure any > answers would be useful to others researching our ancestors who lived there > during the 1800's. > I'm working on a family history book to self-publish for my extended > family. I'm fine with names (Diffenbaugh and others) , dates and places. > What I am looking for are stories or at least best guesses. Guesses will not > be presented as fact. > > My 2nd great-grandparents, Henry Diffenbaugh and Mary Bressler, raised 11 > children (one died as an infant) in East Lampeter. > Henry's will and codicil were written in 1856 and 1857. Henry willed to > Mary "all livestock, carriage, wagons, farming implements, and rents and > incomes of all his real estate." He authorized, after the death of his wife, > the sales of all "real estate, tenements and hereditaments." Also after the > death of his wife, his children and grandchildren were to receive a total of > $3,600 between them. (All were listed, with varying amounts.) > > I checked on www.westegg.com/inflation and see that that $3,600 cash would > be worth $89,577.63 in 2010 dollars. Does the above information give any > clues about his life and lifestyle? I assume he was a farmer. Does above > indicate he also owned other property, or was that wording what we might > call "boiler plate" on a form? Would this be considered an average income? > Any way to guess the amount of land he may have owned? > > I will certainly be checking all the wonderful PA websites that were just > shared! Are there books I should be checking , maybe through inter-library > loans? I've been to Lancaster but live in Seattle and can't do research > on-site unfortunately. > > Thanks to whoever can steer me in the right direction, and sorry for the > long question! > > Janell > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > PALANCAS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

     This is just a guess but an 89,000 estate in today's dollars would suggest a kind of working class or blue collar lifestyle.  A farm today of about 100 acres would probably bring about 500,000 dollars or more but maybe this guy had a mortage on his place or maybe he owned a number of isolated small plots that may have hurt the value.       You didn't mention where he lived in Lancaster County and there can be some big differences in the value of land, Manor Twp. seemed to have the highest value as farm land but there are lots of places in Lancaster County where the land wouldn't be that valuable because it was hilly or rocky.  You might also check the 1850 census to see what value he placed on his land at that time.  Its possible that he turned over some of his land to one of his sons before his death that would have lowered the value of his estate.  The Agricultural census might shed additional light on his net worth.                                                                                              Jim   ________________________________ From: Janell Gregson <jgsgenealogy@yahoo.com> To: "palancas@rootsweb.com" <palancas@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, October 21, 2011 7:02 PM Subject: [PALANCAS] 1850s in Lanc. County I hope one of you can steer me in the right direction, and I'm sure any answers would be useful to others researching our ancestors who lived there during the 1800's. I'm working on a family history book to self-publish for my extended family. I'm fine with names (Diffenbaugh and others) , dates and places. What I am looking for are stories or at least best guesses. Guesses will not be presented as fact. My 2nd great-grandparents, Henry Diffenbaugh and Mary Bressler, raised 11 children (one died as an infant) in East Lampeter. Henry's will and codicil were written in 1856 and 1857. Henry willed to Mary "all livestock, carriage, wagons, farming implements, and rents and incomes of all his real estate." He authorized, after the death of his wife, the sales of all "real estate, tenements and hereditaments." Also after the death of his wife, his children and grandchildren were to receive a total of $3,600 between them. (All were listed, with varying amounts.) I checked on www.westegg.com/inflation and see that that $3,600 cash would be worth $89,577.63 in 2010 dollars. Does the above information give any clues about his life and lifestyle? I assume he was a farmer. Does above indicate he also owned other property, or was that wording what we might call "boiler plate" on a form? Would this be considered an average income? Any way to guess the amount of land he may have owned? I will certainly be checking all the wonderful PA websites that were just shared! Are there books I should be checking , maybe through inter-library loans? I've been to Lancaster but live in Seattle and can't do research on-site unfortunately. Thanks to whoever can steer me in the right direction, and sorry for the long question! Janell ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to PALANCAS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message