In the Census...Week 5

This week's post is for the 2018 challenge called , 52 Ancestors In 52 Weeks, by Amy Johnson Crow.  Theme for this week: In the Census.  

A United States Population Census is taken every ten years in this country.  The first census occurred in 1790, and they have continued every ten years since this time.  Before 1850, the census data displayed the name of the head of household and showed only the number of other people living in the household.  In 1850, however, every name in the household was recorded, as well as some other information that is vital in learning about our family history.  

I thought I'd write about the first time John Wood shows up in the census in Indiana.  The year is 1850 and the date is November 9th. The census enumerator, Sam Dunning, went around to rural Owen County, Indiana and surveyed all the people living in Clay Township around this time.  

John Wood Family - 1850 US Census, Owen County, Indiana

John Wood is listed as 37 years old and born in North Carolina.  It also states that he is a farmer by trade and the value of real estate owned is $400.  His family is listed as well.  Martha Wood, born in North Carolina as well, and age 27.  (I am going to interject here and say that I think this is a mistake and she was actually 37, but that's for another blog post.)  Lastly, three sons are listed as Nathan, age 13, Hardin T, age 12, and Hiram, age 2.  All born in North Carolina, except the baby, is listed as being born here in Indiana.  

There is also an entry in the Agricultural Census of 1850 for John Wood as well.  I love reading these!  Recorded on the same day as the population census, we get a glimpse of what the John Wood family farm was like.  

John Wood Family - 1850 US Agriculture Census, Owen County, Indiana

Acres of Land
Improved – 15 
Unimproved – 65

Cash Value of Farm – 400
Value of Farming Implements and Machinery – 12

Live Stock as of June 1, 1850 
Horses – 1
Asses and Mules – 0
Milch Cows – 2
Working Oxen – 2
Other Cattle – 1
Sheep – 12
Swine – 14
Value of Live Stock – 76

Produce during the year ending June 1, 1850
Wheat, bushels of – 0
Rye, bushels of – 0
Indian Corn, bushels of – 150
Oats, bushels of – 0
Rice, lbs. of – 0
Tobacco, lbs. of – 1,000
Ginned Cotton, bales of 400 lbs. each – 0
Wool, lbs. of – 20
Peas and Beans, bushels of  – 1
Irish Potatoes, bushels of – 10 
Sweet Potatoes, bushels of – 0
Barley, bushels of – 0
Buckwheat, bushels of – 0
Value of Orchard Produce in dollars – 0
Wine, gallons of – 0
Value of Market Gardens – 0
Butter, lbs. of – 104
Cheese, lbs. of  – 0
Hay, tons of  – 0
Clover Seed, bushels of  – 0
Other Grass Seeds, bushels of  – 0
Hops, lbs. of  – 0
Hemp, Dew Rotted, tons of  – 0
Hemp, Water rotted, tons of   – 0
Flax, lbs. of  – 0
Flaxseed, bushels of   – 0
Silk Cocoons, lbs. of  – 0
Maple Sugar, lbs. of – 20
Cane Sugar, hhds. Of 1,000 lbs. – 0
Molasses, gallons of – 3
Beeswax and Honey, lbs. of – 0
Value of Homemade Manufactures – 15
Value of Animals Slaughtered – 25


Being that he was from North Carolina, I am not surprised he raised tobacco.  One thousand pounds of tobacco all grown by the sweat of his brow.  Not something you see in Indiana today.  I decided to dig up some old photos of farming tobacco and found these at the Library of Congress.  

Tobacco Farm circa 1916

Tobacco drying on a farm

The chart below shows where tobacco was being grown in the United States in 1859.  There are just a couple dots around the Spencer, Owen County, Indiana area.  Our ancestors worked to make up that little dot on the map!  

The other item I found interesting was the 104 pounds of butter.  So how many times a year does Martha have to turn cream to butter in a butter churn to get 100 pounds?  Now I realize when we buy four sticks of butter, this is a pound.  But 100 pounds? Again, all by the sweat of their brow.  Not like us going to the local Kroger and buying our four sticks in a box.  

He also had quite a few cows, pigs and sheep and one horse!  

In closing, the land he worked to grow his crops was south of Spencer, Indiana.  According to land records, I believe John secured land in Owen County around 1846-1848.  I will write more about this in a later post.  



Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Census

Ancestry.com, 1850 United States Federal Census (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005.Original data - United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Seventh Census of the United States, 1850. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1850. M432,), Year: 1850; Census Place: Clay, Owen, Indiana; Roll: M432_164; Page: 71B; Image: 147.

1850, Owen County Indiana Agriculture Census, Clay Township, Owen County, Indiana, USA, Agriculture Schedule, Clay Township, Owen County, Indiana, USA, pg. 246, entry for John Woods.

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/nclc.00531/

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2017757214/

http://etc.usf.edu/maps/pages/200/227/227.htm