USA > North Carolina > Chowan County > Economic and social history of Chowan County, North Carolina, 1880-1915 > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/economicsocialhi00boyc
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
L 3 1833 02379 2358
800
GENEALOGY 975.601 C45B
1
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL HISTORY OF CHOWAN COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA
STUDIES IN HISTORY, ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC LAW EDITED BY THE FACULTY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
Volume LXXVI] [Number 1 Whole Number 179
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL HISTORY OF CHOWAN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
1880-1915
BY W. SCOTT BOYCE, Ph.D. Assistant Professor in Economics Connecticut College for Women
חרח
New York COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LONGMANS, GREEN & CO., AGENTS LONDON : P. S. KING & SON, LTD. 1917
COPYRIGHT, 1917 BY W. SCOTT BOYCE
1132058
MY DEVOTED FATHER AND MOTHER NEITHER OF WHOM HAS EVER STOOD IN MY WAY
PREFACE
WHEN I first planned this study, it was my ambition to write the economic and social history of Chowan County from the date of its first permanent white settlement down to the present time. Preliminary investigations, however, soon convinced me that nothing like a complete history along the lines I proposed could be written for the entire period of white occupation. Since Byrd's work, published in 1736, comparatively few economic or social facts have been recorded. The writings on this section since then, that have been preserved, are principally of either a political or a military nature; hence any alleged economic or social his- tory of the county covering the last half of the eighteenth, and the first half of the nineteenth century, written now, would, it seems to me, be largely a matter of pure inference. I have therefore thought best to begin my account with a period well within the memory of those now living. Some of the advantages of this policy are quite obvious. In the first place I am then setting down facts attested, not by one individual, but by as many individuals as I have thought necessary to interview. Furthermore, the interpretations of these facts can be had from many angles, and, what is more, from those who have played important rôles in the history of the county during the era under discussion.
The particular year (1880) chosen as one limit of the period is of special advantage in that it is a census year, and thus certain data, otherwise unobtainable, are furnished ready to hand. Many of these census data are also valuable both in checking up data gathered from the people by me
5]
5
[6
PREFACE
6
personally, and in checking up my own observations and conclusions. The time when this sketch begins is suffi- ciently far removed from the close of the Civil War for conditions to have become fairly normal. This in itself is of no small advantage. What is probably the greatest ad- vantage of all, however, from the standpoint of whatever value this study may possess, is the fact that I myself was at this time already on the scene of action, and have personally observed and experienced the major part of the processes, conditions, and transformations herein recorded.
Although this period of three and a half decades is a com- paratively short one, it nevertheless encompasses the ma- jority of the most important of the economic and social changes which have taken place since the first quarter of the eighteenth century. Many of the customs, conditions, and methods of living in 1880 were quite similar to those described by Lawson and by Byrd, writing between 1700 and 1740.
During the period under discussion, in manufactures the people largely passed from the domestic to the factory type; in agriculture, from the hand tool to the machine tool, and from man power to that of animal, steam, and gas; in education, from the education of the few to the education of the many, and from a non-reading to a reading public; in commerce, from the condition of a high degree of neighbor- hood self-sufficiency, and even individual family self- sufficiency, to that of contributing to and drawing from the markets of the world; in gratification of wants, from a pain to a pleasure economy.
The information which follows with reference to my fit- ness to do what is here undertaken, is in recognition of every reader's right to know what has been the opportunity of an author to obtain a knowledge of the facts whereof he pre- sumes to speak, his ability faithfully to describe and correctly
7
PREFACE
7]
to interpret them, and the likelihood of his so doing. Chowan is the county in which I was born and reared, but the past eighteen years I have spent chiefly in living and in traveling in other parts of the country. Much of this living has been not simply " among," but actually " with," the people. In fact I have had occasion to break bread with people from practically every state in the Union, and that under their own roofs. Although the more recent years have been spent largely in other portions of the country, frequent visits to Chowan have kept me in touch with events there. More- over, the summers of 1912, 1913, and the summer and fall of 1914, were spent traveling among, and stopping with, the people in the county, for the express purpose of securing first-hand knowledge of present-day conditions.
It has been far easier for me, being a native son, to obtain the unvarnished facts than it would be for a stranger, and being a product of the times and conditions which I presume here to portray should make me more sympathetic in my in- terpretation of these facts than would be an outsider who had had only a brief sojourn in the county. On the other hand, my rather wide business and social relations with those in various parts of this and other countries should give me a greater perspective, a higher degree of accuracy, and a keener sense of justice regarding the interpretations, than is likely to be possessed by any one who has always resided in the locality.
From the foregoing the reader naturally would expect the method of arriving at the alleged facts to have been largely that of observation and personal interview, and in this he is quite right. It has not only been my privilege to witness practically every process and condition herein men- tioned or described, but it has also been my fortune to have been directly concerned with most of them. The only thing at all in question is the degree of their generalness, and here
8
PREFACE [8
every estimate of mine has been checked up and corrobor- ated by persons who are admittedly among the most intelli- gent and scientific residents of the county.
In most cases, estimates have been given in figures rather than in such vague terms as "a great many," "a large number," " only a few "-terms which connote different things to different individuals. Because of the method fol- lowed, the reader will at least not have to guess at what the estimates are.
In considering the estimates one should ever remember the following :
I. That all of them, unless otherwise stated, are for the entire population, including colored as well as white.
2. That the colored element constitutes more than half the population.
3. That only a half-century ago practically the entire colored contingent was cast adrift with nothing but its bare hands to earn a living in a territory already completely appropriated by the whites; and that while they have made a creditable showing, thus far but comparatively few (pos- sibly five per cent) have attained to the degree of wealth reached by fifty per cent of the whites.
If the foregoing facts be kept in mind, estimates which might otherwise appear unreasonably small, will be seen to be more in accord with what one would expect.
In this study I have had four ends in view: first, to give a picture of the life and customs of the people in 1880; second, to give a picture of the life and customs of the people at the present time, together with some of the most prominent economic and social aspects of the inter- vening period; third, to set forth the main causes of the re- markable economic and social changes that have taken place within the last three and a half decades; fourth, to point out
9
PREFACE
9]
the principal factors which so long delayed Chowan's awak- ening, and which continue not only to retard but even to prevent the full realization of its enormous possibilities. Features seeming to be particularly characteristic of the section have been especially stressed.
Every locality has certain words and expressions that are distinctly its own, and uses certain common words and expressions in a peculiar sense. It has been my constant effort to make the present product appear indigenous to the locality treated-to make it such that a " native " would at once recognize the author to be one of his own kind. Localisms, as well as colloquialisms, wherever they would fit in, have been given preference over the more formal language, for I see no reason why it is not just as important to preserve records of language customs as it is to preserve records of social, economic, or any other custom. An ex- planatory note has been subjoined wherever it was thought the meaning of any term might not be clear to an " outsider."
Several of my Chowan friends have taken considerable interest in my effort-sufficient interest to read over the monograph while still in manuscript form, and give me their valued criticisms before it was too late to take advantage of them. Much of whatever value the work may possess is due to their timely suggestions. Some of these good friends, although agreeing that the picture here sketched is fully in accord with fact, nevertheless have felt that I was doing the county an injustice to portray actual conditions without making a comparison with conditions in other sec- tions of our country. Each time this criticism has been offered I have replied that while I knew from actual ex- perience that Chowan was neither much worse nor much better than numerous other counties in this and other south- ern states, nevertheless, I was unable for lack of both time and space to present a sufficient array of facts to justify a
IO
PREFACE [IO
comparison. I have attempted to write of Chowan only. Should the reader's unfamiliarity with conditions in the South cause him to think this county any worse than hundreds of others, he might profitably spend some little time in getting better acquainted with the great country in which he lives.
In the preparation of this study I have received aid from many and varied sources, and any merit the work may possess, is, in large part, due to others. Those who have contributed are so numerous-too numerous to mention here individually-that to the great majority of them I can only express my thanks in blanket form. There are some, however, who have given so much of their valu- able time-in furnishing information, in giving timely sug- gestions and criticisms, and in helping prepare the manu- script-that their services deserve a personal recogni- tion, and this I most heartily accord. In this category are the following: Mr. Frank Wood, Mr. W. J. Berryman, Mr. J. O. Alderman, Dr. Richard Dilliard (all of Edenton, N. C.), Mr. Walter M. Hollowell (Belvidere, N. C.), Miss Edith Lawrenson (Camden, N. J.), and Prof. R. E. Chad- dock, of Columbia. While I owe much to all of these I owe still more to Mr. Noah M. Hollowell (Brevard, N. C.). It is to Prof. Henry R. Seager, however, to whom my indebt- edness is greatest. He has not only read the manuscript at least twice and suggested valuable revisions but has also performed the laborious task of proof-reading it. To all who have assisted in any way, I am most grateful.
CONTENTS
PART I
ELEMENTS OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL LIFE
Physiography .
CHAPTER I
PAGE
17
Population
CHAPTER II
22
PART II
DEVELOPMENT OF ECONOMIC LIFE
CHAPTER III
Agriculture in the Eighties .
4I
CHAPTER IV
The Chief Farm Products in the Eighties .
63
CHAPTER V
Agriculture, Fruit Culture, Animal Husbandry, and Poultry Raising in 1915 80
CHAPTER VI
Fishing in the Eighties.
81
CHAPTER VII
Fishing in 1915 .
CHAPTER VIII
Manufacturing in the Eighties .
107
CHAPTER IX
Manufacturing in 1915 .
115
CHAPTER X
I2I
Lumbering .
II]
II
IOI
12 CONTENTS [12
CHAPTER XI
PAGE
Communication, Transportation, and Commerce in 1880. 127
CHAPTER XII
Communication, Transportation, and Commerce in 1915.
139
CHAPTER XIII
Labor and Wages .
144
PART III
DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL LIFE
CHAPTER XIV
Formal Education in the Eighties
CHAPTER XV
I57
Formal Education in 1915
167
CHAPTER XVI
Social Customs
179
CHAPTER XVII
The Church in the Eighties.
CHAPTER XVIII
195
The Church in 1915 .
CHAPTER XIX
Sanitation and Hygiene.
CHAPTER XX
Necessaries, Comforts, and Luxuries in the Eighties.
219
CHAPTER XXI
Necessaries, Comforts, and Luxuries in 1915.
229
PART IV
CONCLUSIONS
CHAPTER XXII
Progressive and Retrogressive Factors Affecting the Economic and Social
Development . .
237
206
213
I3]
CONTENTS I3
APPENDIX
TABLE
PAGE
I. Climatological Data, Chowan County, N. C., Edenton Station : 1896-1913. 261
2. Climatological Data, Chowan County, N. C., Edenton Station : 1896-1913-continued . 262
3. Computations and Interpretations from Tables I and 2. 263
4. Color and Growth of Population of Chowan County, N. C .: 1790- 1910 . 264
5. Color and Nativity of Population of Chowan, N. C., with Edenton given separately : 1850-1910. 265 U. S. Census Definitions of " Farm Lands," "Farm," "Farmer," " Improved Land," and " Unimproved Land." 266 6. Land Area, Farms, and Farm Property, Chowan County, N. C .: 1880-1910. . 269
7. Domestic Animals, Poultry, and Bees, on Farms, Chowan County, N. C .: 1880-1910 . 270
8. Acreage, Total Production, and Production per Acre of Principal Crops, Chowan County, N. C .: 1879, 1889, 1899, and 1909. . . 271 9. Live Stock Products and Domestic Animals Sold or Slaughtered on Farms, Chowan County, N. C .: 1879, 1889, 1899, and 1909. . . 272 10. Farms Classified by Size, Average Number of Acres per Farm in Each Class, and the Average Number of Improved Acres per Farm in Each Class, Chowan Country, N. C .: 1880-1910 . 273
II. Work Animals on Farms, Acres of Improved Land per Work Animal and per Standard Work Animal : 1880-1910. 274 12. Select Farm Expenses and Receipts, Chowan County, N. C .: 1880- 1910 275
13. Commercial Fishing Tackle of Chowan County, N. C. Its Estimated Market Value, and the Labor Force Operating It : 1880 and 1914 276 14. Estimated Catch of Fish in Chowan Country, N. C., and Its Beach Value : 1880 and 1914 . 279
15, Horse-power and Steam-power Seine Fisheries in Chowan County, N. C., in 1880, and the Number of Yards of Seine Fished at Each 281 16. Public School Census of Chowan County, N. C .: 1880-84 and 1909- 10-1913-14 . 282
17. Expenditures for Public Schools, Chowan County, N. C .: 1880-3 and 1909-10-1913-14. 283
18. Value of Public School Property, Chowan County, N. C. : 1880-4 and 1909-10-1913-14. 284
14
CONTENTS [14
TABLE PAGE
19. School Census Figures of Chowan Country, N. C. Reduced to Per- centages : 1881-4 and 1909-10-1913-14 . 285
20. Per Capita Expenditure for Teaching, Per Capita Expenditure for All Purposes, and per Capita Value of School Property, for Both White and Colored : Chowan County, N. C. : 1880-4 and 1909-10- 286
1913-14 .
21. Schedule of Regular Salaries for Rural School Teachers in Chowan County, N. C., in 1914, and the Number of Teachers in Each Grade for the School Year 1913-14 . 287
22. Illiteracy in Chowan County, N. C. : 1900 and 1910. 287
23. Church Communicants of Chowan County, N. C .: 1890 and 1906 . 288 24. Church Communicants of Chowan County, N. C., Compared with the Population 15 Years and Over: 1890 and 1906. 289
4
PART I ELEMENTS OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL LIFE
CHAPTER I
PHYSIOGRAPHY
LOCATION AND SIZE
CHOWAN COUNTY is situated in the northeastern part of North Carolina, in the angle formed by the junction of the Chowan River and the Albemarle Sound, which bound it on the west and south, respectively. On its eastern border is Perquimans County, and on its northern, Gates. The above- named sound and river furnish the county with some 40 miles of water frontage accessible to fair-sized river craft. In size, Chowan is the smallest county in the state, com- prising 178 square miles or 133,920 acres.1
TOPOGRAPHY
" In general the surface of the county consists of level, undulating, gently rolling, and rolling areas, interspersed with many small swamps and slight depressions." 2 The elevation ranges from 50 feet to nearly sea level, with more than 50 per cent of the area below 20 feet, and a considerable portion below 10 feet. Less than I per cent of the area has an elevation as great as 50 feet.3
1 Both the Twelfth and Thirteenth U. S. Censuses state that the county has "approximately 165 square miles" or 105,600 acres. This approximation was arrived at, however, before the recent survey, in 1903. Just why it was not corrected in the last census I do not know.
2 House Documents, 59th Congress, 2nd Session, 1906-1907. Field Operations, Bureau of Soils, vol. lxxv, no. 352, p. 223.
3 U. S. Geological Survey. Topographical Maps: Edenton quadrangle, 1903; Hertford quadrangle, 1905; Beckford quadrangle, 1906. The estimate as to the per cent of area at various elevations is my own based upon these topographical maps.
17]
17
18
CHOW AN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
[18
SOIL
Northward Chowan county consists of sandy, upland piney woods, except narrow tracts along the river and some of its tributaries, where cypress swamps of considerable extent are found, and there are also large areas of oak flats. The southern portion of the county, lying near the sound and south of the Yeopim river, is characterized by a gray clay-loam soil and mixed oak and pine forest growth, and is for the most part very productive.1
The soils of Chowan county are sedimentary in origin and are derived from the Columbia formation. This formation consists of sands, sandy loams and silt loams interspersed with many small swamp areas of peaty and mucky material. This section of North Carolina has been covered several times by the Atlantic Ocean, and the materials constituting the Colum- bia formation were brought down from the Piedmont section of the state and deposited under water.2
Exclusive of the swamp areas, which cover more than 13 per cent of the county, the soil is pretty evenly divided be- tween the two general types known as the " Norfolk series " and the " Portsmouth series." 3
The Norfolk series occurs in areas where the drainage has been fairly well established. The soils are light in color and have a small organic-matter content. The soils of the Ports- mouth series occur in the large interstream areas where the drainage is imperfect, and there has been an accumulation of large quantities of vegetable matter, giving to the soils a brown or black color.4
The Norfolk series, as a rule, needs comparatively little artificial drainage, is of a warm nature, and easily culti-
1 U. S. Census Reports for 1880, vol. vi, p. 563. House Documents, op. cit., p. 228.
$ Ibid., p. 229. 4 Ibid., p. 229.
19
PHYSIOGRAPHY
I9]
vated. Much of it, however, leaches very badly. The Portsmouth series, generally speaking, is of a closer texture, colder, and more difficult to cultivate, than the other type. Moreover, it requires considerable artificial drainage and also washes and gullies rather easily.
CLIMATE
In the matter of climate the people of Chowan are especially favored. The years are not made up of long, cold winters and short, hot summers, one shifting abruptly into the other; nor are the years made up of hot, dry seasons followed by sultry, rainy ones. Only those who have ex- perienced these two types of climate can fully appreciate the climate of Chowan. Here the four seasons are quite pro- nounced, and spring and fall-the two seasons usually con- sidered the most delightful of the year wherever the four seasons are found, and the two of which so many climates are almost, if not altogether, bereft-are the longest sea- sons. There is seldom any winter until after Christmas, and by the 20th of March usually spring has set in. Sum- mer does not begin till about the 20th of June, and by the Ist of September the autumn days are already proffering their greetings. You of Chowan who have sojourned in other climes-you can never forget your glorious spring and fall days which make one feel that it is really good to be alive.
Another beauty of the climate is its comparative freedom both from monotony, and from great extremes of heat and cold.1 People who have lived in certain sections of Cali- fornia, for instance, know how tiresome even good weather can become. There, where mild, clear days follow each other in long successions, one finds himself feeling that a hail-storm, a cyclone, a blizzard-almost anything to break
1 Cf. table I, p. 261.
20
CHOW AN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA [20
the dull monotony-would be a welcome change. Bright sunshiny days are very desirable, and Chowan has them, but they come interspersed with rainy ones. Coming thus, they are appreciated as they never could be if there were sunshiny days only. The rain is just as welcome as the sunshine; each heightens the pleasing effect of the other. The average annual number of clear days is 168, while 98 other days are partially clear, leaving only 101 on which the sun fails to shine at all.1
Those from Chowan who have wintered in the North and Middle West, hugging steam-pipes and coal-stoves for days at a time while the mercury was out beyond zero and still traveling away from that center-they can appreciate the short, comparatively mild winters of Chowan. Though there are never any great extremes of temperature here, the range from 0° to IO1º 2 is quite sufficient for variety. Even these extremes come seldom and are of short duration. In only two of the past eighteen summers has the temper- ature exceeded 98°,3 while the average of the highest single temperatures reached each year was only 96.6°.4 There seldom comes a night when one does not need some cover, if sleeping out in the open or in a well-ventilated room.
The records for the low end of the thermometer show that only once from 1896 to 1913 did the mercury touch the zero point, and for sixteen of the eighteen years it never went below IIº, while the average of the lowest single tem- peratures reached each year is but 13.4°.5 The days on which the temperature in the sunshine fails to rise high enough for the ground to start thawing are considered very cold, and seldom occur. Generally there are from one to three snows a winter, but the fall is usually light,6 and rarely
1 Cf. tables 2 and 3, pp. 262-3. 2 Cf. table I, p. 261.
3 Ibid.
4 Cf. table 3, p. 263. 6 Cf. table I, p. 261.
5 Ibid.
21
PHYSIOGRAPHY
21]
is the ground covered for more than two or three days at a time. The killing frosts cease early in the spring and hold off till well along in the fall,1 thus giving a growing season of sufficient length to produce two crops annually on the same piece of ground, with the exception of cotton, which crop requires the full season in which to mature.
PRECIPITATION
The distribution of the average annual precipitation of 49.39 inches, with a mean variation of only 5.49,2 while not uniform throughout the year, nor even during the growing season, can hardly be called bad, when the average highest monthly precipitation is only seven and three-quarter inches, and the average lowest, more than I inch.3 Frequently there are days at a time with no rain fall, but as far back as the records go not a single month has passed without some precipitation.4 Such is the precipitation and its dis- tribution that the farmer whose land is well drained and in good tilth, is practically certain of a fair crop, even in the most unfavorable years.
1 Cf. tables 2 and 3, pp. 262-3.
2 Cf. tables I and 3, pp. 261 and 263.
3 Ibid.
4 Cf. table I, p. 261.
CHAPTER II
POPULATION
TIME OF THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS
SINCE the psychology as well as the environment of a people has much to do with its activities, and since certain traits are handed down little changed thru many gener- ations, some knowledge of the first white settlers of Chowan, and of the later additions, would seem quite apropos. The first permanent white settlements made in North Carolina were in the territory at present embraced by Chowan and the adjoining county of Perquimans.1 It is not known, as in the case of the Jamestown, Plymouth, and some other colonies, just exactly when the beginnings of these settle- ments were made. It is known, however, that the Virginia colony-the outskirts of which by 1640 were not over sixty miles from the Albemarle Sound-was quite firmly estab- lished from 1630 on; that the Albemarle locality was a very desirable one as regards climate, productivity, and acces- sibility for the smaller vessels 2 of that time; that it was comparatively easy of approach for people from Virginia coming either by the sea route or inland (there being several water courses leading from this section up into Virginia, or near the line) ; and that the Virginia colony was constantly
1 Colonial Records of North Carolina, 30 volumes (1886-1914, Raleigh), vol. i, pp. ix-x.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.