Whiskey Chalkey I 1753-4 P.1 To the Worshipful Court of Augusta now sitting: We, the inhabitants of this County, have long felt the smart of the great indulgence the ordinary keepers of this County have met with in allowing them to sell such large quantities of rum and wine at an extravagant rate, by which our money is drained out of the County, for which we have no return but a fresh supply to pick our pockets. We, your petioners, humbly pray your worship to put a stop to the said liquors, which would encourage us to pursue our laborious designs, which is to raise sufficient quantities of grain which would sufficiently supply us with liquors and the money circulate in this County, and lay us under an obligation to pray for your prosperity. ( then follows a list of almost 100 signers) As far as I can figure out, Inns and taverns were regulated by the court. There are numerous reference to "licence to keep an ordinary or tavern" and I have seen lists of prices that can be charged for: a night's stay, an evening meal, stabling and feeding a horse, and various libations. I think this is because the licence made a monoply in a certain area and on his own the licencee might charge exorbident fees to to tired and hungy travelers. Specie of any sort was extremally hard to come by in the colonies. There is a will in Chalkey that mentions both Spanish Dubloons and English pounds. Many debts were settled with the products produced in the area. Someone could then take the product to market and buy what was needed. In Oregon the pioneers had the same problem. They produced a unit called the "Beaver". It was worth the equivalent of one beaver pelt. Susan in Oregon -----Original Message----- From: macbd1 <macbd1@arthur.k12.il.us> To: VAAUGUST-L@rootsweb.com <VAAUGUST-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Thursday, January 21, 1999 4:15 PM Subject: [VAAUGUST-L] Tobacco, hemp and liquor... >Our ancestral Virginia frontiersmen and women in the mid-1700's were sometimes taxed in terms of 'pounds of tobacco.' I'm wondering whether our ancestors actually paid 'in tobacco' (barter) or whether they paid 'in cash' after they marketed their tobacco. If 'in cash' this payment was likely made in Spanish milled dollars (coins) from my study. > >I note within Chalkey's Chronicles many court entries of "Hemp Certificates: (then a list of names.)" Does anyone know what these entries mean? Were these possibly to certify certain ancestral farmers were qualified to market hemp, or did these 'certificates' possibly have something to do with the hemp quality or payments, I wonder. Hemp was used for manufacturing rope, was it used for other purposes such as for bags (like burlap) or other products in those days? > >Many court entries simply state: "Liquors rated." (No names.) I doubt the court was conducting anything like today's wine-tasting (rating) parties.... or, did this more likely have something to do with setting the 'tax-rate,' I wonder. Some of our frontier ancestors didn't like the government over-taxing liquor since this was a higher-priced 'value-added' product from corn -- which was much easier to transport to distant markets than grain or flour. There was a so-called 'Whiskey-Rebellion' in the early 1790's as many of you probably know. > >Can anyone shed more light on these topics? Understanding such entries helps us appreciate the lives and times of our ancestors, not just jotting down names. Responding to the list might be helpful to others but I welcome private responses as well. > >Neil McDonald > > >==== VAAUGUST Mailing List ==== >**************************************************************** >The Augusta County mailing list page has instructions on how to > subscribe and unsubscribe from the list > Visit it at: >http://www.rootsweb.com/~vapulask/augustaquery/augustalist.htm >*************************************************************** >