1860 AGRICULTURE BY THE NUMBERS
To date we have looked at local farming by describing several individuals, their land, animals, crops, etc. In this article we will look at all the farms in Alexander in 1860, and do the same for Cooper and Crawford. See the list on page 13. We will look at numbers based on averages of all the farmers in each town. We also will be able to compare the three towns. The numbers come from the agriculture census at the Probate Office in Machias, done at the same time the regular census was done in 1860. Member Sharon Howland provided the regular census records for A-CHS a number of years ago. My comments will follow. jd
ALEXANDER COOPER CRAWFORD
NO. FARMS ON CENSUS 60 66 35
FARM POPULATION 386 427 223
NO PEOPLE PER FARM 6.4 6.5 6.4
CASH VALUE ALL FARMS $49175.00 $29680.00 $14605.00
AVERAGE FARM VALUE $819.60 $449.70 $417.30
IMPROVED ACRES 61.3 45.3 47.8
UNIMPROVED ACRES 89.1 59.2 58.8
TOTAL ACRES 150.4 104.5 106.6
DRAFT ANIMALS
HORSES 59 72 43
OXEN 49 54 45
MILCH COWS 172 230 90
POUNDS BUTTER 15960 21675 8590
POUNDS PER FARM 266 328 245
POUNDS PER PERSON 41.3 50.8 38.5
TOTAL SHEEP 311 294 145
SHEEP PER FARM 5.2 4.5 4.1
TOTAL POUNDS WOOL 1136 917 541
BUSHELS IRISH POTATOES 5490 6305 2244
POUNDS POTATOES 329400 378300 134640
POUNDS PER PERSON 853.4 885.9 603.8
GRAIN FOR MAN AND BEAST
BUSHELS WHEAT 428 332 300
BUSHELS RYE 0 53 0
BUSHELS INDIAN CORN 88 37 15
BUSHELS OATS 2984 1729 1005
BUSHELS BARLEY 177 123 25
BUSHELS BUCKWHEAT 586 405 437
BUSHELS ALL GRAINS 4263 2679 1782
BUSHELS PER FARM 71.0 40.6 50.1
Spanish Merinos Ewes and South Downs Ewes from Illustrated Annual Register of Rural Affairs 1857
COMMENTS AND EXPLANATIONS: On the regular 1860 census, Alexander had a total of 71 households with 445 people for an average of 6.3 per household. The largest household was that of Ephraim Brown which had 15. Every household with a farmer as its head was listed on the agricultural census. Likely others also farmed, but were not counted in this agricultural census.
In Cooper we had 75 households containing 468 people for an average of 6.2.Henry Hayward’s home was the largest with 13. Cooper had 59 farmers on its census. For the agricultural census, the enumerator counted 7 more homesteads including Ammi Doten, clergyman, and Joseph Averill, stone mason, Luther Cary, house carpenter, plus 3 laborers and one with no occupation.
The 1860 census of Crawford counted 274 people in 44 households for an average of 6.2. Charlotte Graham with no occupation and Stephen Hanscom, laborer, were listed with the 33 declared farmers to make the total 35 on the agricultural census.
Are you surprised at the size of families? I was. The average family size included adults and children, plus anyone else living in the household. Not every family had ten or a dozen children!
The greater value of the Alexander farms led me to look at farm size. As the reader can see, this accounts for only part of this greater value. Improved acres would be land where the trees have been removed, ie. pasture land, hayfields and cropland.
I counted draft animals because they represent a way for their owners to make money. References indicate that a day’s work by an ox or a horse is worth the same as for a man. Oxen were used in pairs, so most farmers had none, two, four or, rarely, six.
Milch cows provided milk that was not generally safe to drink before the days of good refrigeration or pasteurization. Making it into butter or cheese could make milk safe. Most farms churned butter for home use and probably for sale. Jeremiah Shackford of Cooper was definitely the local butter king having churned 1700 pounds in 12 months.
As we learned in the introductory article on farming, by 1860 Maine sheep were producing 33 pounds of wool each year. The number of pounds of wool reported indicates that the local farmers were getting only about 10% of what they should get from merinos. Merinos also were better eating than the old standard sheep. Only a few farmers kept sheep, in flocks that ranged up to twenty.
The census reported potatoes in bushels. A bushel of potatoes weighs 60 pounds. I converted to pounds, then calculated the pounds per person. Marie and I like potatoes, we raise our own and each eats about 100 pounds per year. Which leads me to assume the crop was mostly raised for market.
LIST OF FARMERS FOUND ON THE ARRICULTURAL CENSUS FOR 1860
The February newsletter will describe some Alexander farmers listed here.
ALEXANDER FARMERS
LITTLE, Andrew - $300
COX, Charles - $300
DAVIS, William - $350
HUFF, Claudius - $1000
BAILEY, David - $400
LAMB, Seth - $400
PERKINS, John - $700
SCRIBNER, G. S. S. - $700
BROWN, Ephraim -$500
WHITNEY, Henry - $1000
STROUT, Solomon - $1800
STROUT, Solomon, Jr - $500
CRAFTS, Hiram - $750
PERKINS, Elisha - $800
BAILEY, Isaiah - $600
PERKINS, John J. - $1200
BROWN, Robert - $600
BAILEY, Joseph - $700
STROUT, Benjamin - $600
LYONS, Greenwood - $500
FROST, Simon - $600
THISTLEWOOD, Rbt - $1500
BILLINGS, Stephen - $400
TAYLOR, Jonathan - $600
SIMONS, Samuel - $350
HUNNEWELL, Jnthan - $700
HUTCHINS, Eliza - $400
BOHANON, Jones - $800
BAILEY, Simeon - $500
LOVERING, Gardner - $600
STEPHENSON, Elisha - $600
PERKINS, Joseph - $1400
SPRING, William - $1000
CRAFTS, Isaac - $3000
BERRY, Hiram - $1000
TOWNSEND, Abner - $1000
KNIGHT, Paul - $600
ADDIS, Robert - $600
BROWN, Joel K. - $400
BROWN, Michael - $700
SPEARIN, Jeremiah - $1000
LIBBY, Asa - $1500
BERRY, Samuel - $600
AVERILL, Aaron - $300
LOVERING, Joseph - $1000
ROBB, Thomas J. - $400
BAILEY, Edmund - $425
SPEARIN, Jeremiah Jr. - $1000
ABBOT, Thomas T. - $1900
TYLER, Belcher - $500
STEPHENSON, Jesse - $1700
GOOCH, John - $1000
TRASK, John W. - $800
FLOOD, Wesley - $1000
LITTLE, David - $400
GILLESPIE, William - $600
CROWLEY, John - $1000
FOLEY, James - $600
COOPER FARMERS
CARY, James W. - $400
FOSTER, Leonard L. - $200
FOSTER, Willard W. - $300
CREAMER, Thomas - $350
CARY, George W. - $350
GETCHELL, Stephen - $200
AVERILL, Joseph - $300
GETCHELL, Benjamin - $700
HIGGINS, Thomas W. - $500
DAY, Samuel - $600
DOTEN, Ammi - $300
KEZER, Moses L. - $250
VINING, Nathan - $400
MURPHY, George - $200
BAMFORD, Enoch - $400
CARY, Elisha - $300
CARY, Henry - $300
McPHETERS, Joseph - $300
McPHETERS, William - $400
MUNSON, Paul - $500
MUNSON, Moses - $400
FLENN, James $250
KEIRSTEAD, Robert - $175
COOPER, William - $500
CREAMER, Thomas - $200
SPRAGUE, Samuel - $300
SAWYER, Nathaniel - $300
WATERHOUSE, Enoch - $340
VANCE, David - $200
BLACK, George W. - $300
MUNSON, Henry F. - $600
HARMON, Josiah - $200
SPRAGUE, John - $200
FLOOD, George W. - $200
McMIMUMIN, Michael - $300
McGEE, John - $300
HENRY, Robert - $300
BRISLEY, Benjamin - $175
LANE, Daniel - $200
PHIPPS, William - $1000
HAYWARD, Henry - $800
TYLER, James - $500
LELAND, Moses - $500
HIGGINS, Nathan - $500
ELLIS, Thomas - $400
HOWE, Mrs. Mary - $400
HUFF, Robert - $300
HOWE, David - $600
SHACKFORD, J’miah - $1000
HENDERSON, Elbridge - $500
BURBANK, Thomas - $800
HUFF, Charles - $400
HENDERSON, Isaac - $500
PALMETER, Charles - $800
HITCHINGS, Henry - $700
HITCHINGS, Hiram - $500
RICH, William - $1000
RICH, Daniel - $1500
SADLER, Samuel - $450
YEATON, Nathan - $500
IRELAND, James - $375
SMITH, John - $800
SMITH, Haskell - $500
IRELAND, Abram - $400
HENDERSON, Elmore - $600
PALMETER, James - $575
CRAWFORD FARMRS
LOVE, John - $300
FENLASON, Sawyer - $450
LOVE, Jonathan - $400
FORD, Robert - $375
FORD, Daniel, Jr. - $200
BARSTOW, Benjamin - $200
GRAHAM, Charlotte - $300
DWELLEY, Jedediah - $600
HANSCOM, Stephen - $150
SEAVEY, Luther - $250
DWELLEY, Andrew - $250
SEAVEY, Leonard - $500
RUSSELL, George - $ 300
FENLASON, Elisha - $400
HANSCOM, John - $300
AVERILL, Aaron - $800
SPRAGUE, Herman - $400
DIGHTMAN, James - $800
COLLINS, Herman - $600
FENLASON, Gilbert - $300
FENLASON, Henry - $400
WHEATON, William - $500
SEAVEY, Joseph - $350
PERKINS, James - $300
SEAVEY, Jacob - $300
BAILEY, Abraham - $350
CLARK, William - $350
STEVENS, Jacob - $600
FENLASON, John - $700
SEAVEY, Daniel - $500
FROST, Lewis - $700
WORMWOOD, Daniel - $500
NODDIN, Robert - $300
LYDIC, Godfrey - $450