"On the farm" is the theme this week. My dad grew up on a farm and so did both sets of grandparents and their parents, and their parents, and so on, and so on! So, I guess one of the things I learned about farming was that it was a larger enterprise than I had formerly thought.
I have looked at many probate and estate papers in my research and have learned a lot. When I was growing up, I remember thinking of a farm as a business where cash crops, like cotton, corn, or wheat or livestock, like cattle, horses, chickens were grown and sold, and that's how the family made their money. But in looking at the estate papers and especially the Inventories from the 1700's and 1800's, my vision of the family farm has grown. When a person in that time period died without a Last Will and Testament (LWT), the court would appoint an Administrator (man) or Administratrix (woman) to oversee the estate of the deceased. In most area of the US, it was required that a complete inventory be made of all possessions of the deceased be made, a sale be held and everything be sold and the money dispersed to all legal heirs. So, the inventories were often lengthy and certainly gave a very good picture of what the person had owned, and in the case of the farmers, what they used in their everyday lives.
Here is one example. William Hart, believed to be my 4th great grandfather, died in March 1852 in Belmont County, Ohio without a LWT, so one of the steps the Administrator had to take was to inventory all of his possessions. Here is a list of these items:
In this list are things that one might expect: dishes, beds, clothing, tools, buckets, barrels, wagons and the like. But there are also "bay mare, 2 cows and 2 calves, 1 heifer, 1 steer, 2 yearling calves, 1 bay colt, 1 brown colt, 4 ewes and lambs".
Other such inventories included hogs, sows and shoats, turkeys, spinning wheel, cotton cards, dried fruits, pickling tubs, water tubs, churn, candles, crops in the field, harvested crops, bacon, ham, bushels of corn, wheat, flax, fodder, flour, seed cotton, rawhides, coffee mill, kitchen pots, pans, ladles, pottery and even slaves if they lived in the south.
So, I learned that the "farm" was a place where not only cash crops/stock were grown, but also crops and livestock necessary for sustaining the family. There were no grocery stores down the street to go and pick up fresh produce, milk, meats and prepared foods like there are today. The family had to provide its own milk, eggs, meat, vegetables and bread for the table, water carried from the nearest stream or well, food and water for the livestock, tools for the field, the home and for converting cotton, wool and flax to cloth and then making them into clothing and shoes needed by everyone on the farm.
Each person living on the farm had appropriate work to do to keep the farm running, food on the table, clothes made, cleaning and washing, and educating the children, and oftentimes, elderly or disabled parents, aunts or uncles. Farm life was hard work and long hours.
One story my Aunt May Ruth told about farm life sheds a little more light on how hard - and rewarding - life on the farm really was.
And in the history of our family, from the early days of this country into the twentieth century, it was the most common occupation that I have found to date.
"Til Next Time!
#52ancestors
I have looked at many probate and estate papers in my research and have learned a lot. When I was growing up, I remember thinking of a farm as a business where cash crops, like cotton, corn, or wheat or livestock, like cattle, horses, chickens were grown and sold, and that's how the family made their money. But in looking at the estate papers and especially the Inventories from the 1700's and 1800's, my vision of the family farm has grown. When a person in that time period died without a Last Will and Testament (LWT), the court would appoint an Administrator (man) or Administratrix (woman) to oversee the estate of the deceased. In most area of the US, it was required that a complete inventory be made of all possessions of the deceased be made, a sale be held and everything be sold and the money dispersed to all legal heirs. So, the inventories were often lengthy and certainly gave a very good picture of what the person had owned, and in the case of the farmers, what they used in their everyday lives.
Here is one example. William Hart, believed to be my 4th great grandfather, died in March 1852 in Belmont County, Ohio without a LWT, so one of the steps the Administrator had to take was to inventory all of his possessions. Here is a list of these items:
Other such inventories included hogs, sows and shoats, turkeys, spinning wheel, cotton cards, dried fruits, pickling tubs, water tubs, churn, candles, crops in the field, harvested crops, bacon, ham, bushels of corn, wheat, flax, fodder, flour, seed cotton, rawhides, coffee mill, kitchen pots, pans, ladles, pottery and even slaves if they lived in the south.
So, I learned that the "farm" was a place where not only cash crops/stock were grown, but also crops and livestock necessary for sustaining the family. There were no grocery stores down the street to go and pick up fresh produce, milk, meats and prepared foods like there are today. The family had to provide its own milk, eggs, meat, vegetables and bread for the table, water carried from the nearest stream or well, food and water for the livestock, tools for the field, the home and for converting cotton, wool and flax to cloth and then making them into clothing and shoes needed by everyone on the farm.
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| George and Ella (Busby) Springer and family 1903-1904 Ellis County, Texas |
One story my Aunt May Ruth told about farm life sheds a little more light on how hard - and rewarding - life on the farm really was.
All we kids always picked cotton, chopped cotton. That was our job. We had a job same as the adults. Daddy didn’t have enough money to hire work, but we kids gathered the crop every year, and when we’d get a bale of cotton, he would always hook the team of mules to the wagon full of cotton and take it to the gin. And he would tell us children, he’d say “Now you kids, if you will get your sacks plumb full while I am gone to the gin, just pack it with your feet, just see how full you can get it, I’ll bring you back a surprise!” And we’d all wonder what it’s gonna be? What’s Daddy gonna bring us?” Well, when he’d come in, he’d either have us a stalk of bananas, or a bushel of apples, or something like that. That was our prize for getting our sacks full while he was gone to the gin. But one time – I won’t ever forget this either – I was the only girl that was old enough to pick cotton, and we were wondering what he was gonna bring us. Well, this time, he didn’t bring us anything to eat, but bought each one of us a yoyo. That was the new thing at that time – the new toy that everybody had but us! So, he bought each of us yoyos and I enjoyed it the same as the boys. He didn’t bring me anything separate than what he did the boys. SOURCE - Personal interviews with May Ruth, 2008-2009, for the compilation of her book, May Ruth's Story - The Story of May Ruth Springer Noles Jackson.
And in the history of our family, from the early days of this country into the twentieth century, it was the most common occupation that I have found to date.
"Til Next Time!
#52ancestors
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