USA > North Carolina > Chowan County > Economic and social history of Chowan County, North Carolina, 1880-1915 > Part 18
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Railroads .- The coming of the railroads has given to many a means of marketing certain products, but it has done something far more significant than this-it has opened up the outside world to large numbers, and allowed them to get acquainted with some of the material comforts that it is possible for one to enjoy. With this acquaintance there has been aroused in some the ambition to own a greater abund- ance of the good things of this world, and for some time this ambition has been supplanting the ambition to lead a life of leisure. In other words, there has been set up a new stand- ard of values which is largely responsible for the change in the whole economic and social aspect of the county. Work is becoming popular with many in the better-to-do classes, and this is having its effect on the less-well-to-do. Com-
253]
253
PROGRESSIVE AND RETROGRESSIVE FACTORS
paratively few eschewed work in the past because they dis- liked physical exertion, but rather because of the low es- teem in which work was held, and so only a change in social values was necessary to set in action much labor force that heretofore had been a potentiality only.
Change of Attitude Towards Labor .- Since Chowan pos- sesses a genial climate and a comparatively fertile and easily tilled soil, and possesses neither good accessible harbors, mineral wealth, nor water power, very naturally the people have turned to the soil for their chief income. With a change of attitude towards work, more people have ceased to use their heads merely for hat-racks. They now bethink themselves not of how they can escape labor, but rather of how they may get the greatest possible return for their labor, which is quite a different attitude. This change of view- point has meant the adoption of better tools and better meth- ods. Now and then there has been one who has had the common sense and the courage to admit to himself that pos- sibly he did not know absolutely all there was to be known about farming even tho he had been on a farm all his life. In this state of teachableness he has begun to read the farm journals. Of course, he has not been able to accept at once all the theories put forth, but he has tried out some of those which have seemed the most reasonable to him. It has taken courage to do this, especially because of the fact that frequently his neighbors have attempted to ridicule him about "trying to farm by the newspapers." But, as he has found that the new theories, when followed, produce better results than former practices, he has gathered fresh courage and enthusiasm which have gradually spread to the least uninstructible of his neighbors. There are still those who think that they know all that there is to be known about farming, altho they have never read anything on the subject, and yet even these are adopting a few of the
254
CHOW AN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA [254
new improvements in methods and machinery which they see their neighbors using. Some of them do not know any better than to think that most of the ideas that they are taking from others originated with themselves, but they nevertheless are producing more, which is the main thing just now, for their children will thereby be given a better oppor- tunity to obtain the right point of view and some knowl- edge of the true principles of agriculture.
With the change of attitude towards work, not only has there been more work done, but each working unit has gradually become more and more productive. Increased production, due to both a greater amount of work and more efficient work, has made possible the realization of certain of the newly aroused ambitions, which in turn has served to stimulate to still higher ambitions, and thus what was an effect has become a cause to produce a still greater effect.
Diversification of Crops .- A third factor has been an increase in the number of money crops. Until the nineties, cotton had for years been the main-stay for ready cash. Of course, there was the fish, pork, bacon, cattle, eggs and poultry, but cotton brought in more than all the others put together, and was the crop relied upon for money by most of the larger farmers. In 1890 the average annual price for upland middling on the New York market, was above eleven cents. It then began a downward trend which it continued till 1898, reaching an average for that year of less than six cents.1 During the latter part of this period thousands of bales were sold which netted the farmer less than five cents a pound-a price well below the actual labor cost of produc- ing it. So the farmer was forced to turn to other crops, or else play a losing game. A few peanuts had been raised by an occasional farmer since the eighties, but some of these
1 Cf. Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, no. 18I, p. IIO.
255
255] PROGRESSIVE AND RETROGRESSIVE FACTORS
the hogs were allowed to run on, and the crop was small at best. As they were selling at a fair price, the farmers began to plant more and more of them for market. From 1902 till the present European upheaval, cotton, generally speak- ing, has sold pretty well, nevertheless the peanut acreage has continued to increase, and in 1909 was equal to that de- voted to cotton.1
During the period of low cotton prices a third crop- sweet potatoes-began to be raised for market. The prices on these, however, are rather uncertain, and they do not always keep well,2 so with the return of good cotton prices, and with peanuts selling well, only a comparatively few potatoes have been shipped in the more recent years.
Rise in Prices .- A fourth factor which has helped to usher in better conditions has been the more or less general rise in the price of practically all farm products since about 1902. Manufactured goods also have advanced in price, but on the whole not in the same proportion as the agricul- tural products sold by the Chowan farmer; so the farmer has been getting the long end of the deal, as compared to what he got formerly.
PRESENT-DAY VITALITY OF THE OLD RETROGRESSIVE FACTORS
All the retrogressive factors, both primary and secondary, above discussed, are still operating, but with an ever-lessen- ing force. The means of transportation for non-perishable products are, for most sections, fairly good, though for per- ishable stuff they are still rather poor, there being no direct
1 Cf. table 8, p. 271.
2 Most of the sweets raised for market are dug in the fall, stored right in the fields, and shipped in winter and spring. The manner of storing is to put from twenty to eighty bushels in a pile, cover with pine straw, and then with earth. Some farmers have a small opening at the top, and build a shelter over the whole hill; others cover the potatoes " head and ears," and leave them without shelter.
256
CHOWAN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA [256
fast-freight line between here and the more important mar- kets, and the express rates being higher than much of the produce is able to bear.
While opposition to labor for men, as a social principle, is practically a thing of the past, the same can hardly be said as regards labor for women. There are still some who feel it beneath their dignity to engage in any sort of useful work, and consider it a mark of enviable distinction to lead a use- less, parasitic life. Furthermore, their attitude is looked upon with favor by certain of the male sex who think that every honorable man should strive to support his wife and daughters in idle leisure. Even many of the women who are forced to work for a living, have so far imbibed these false ideas towards work, that when caught at it, they feel much compromised and quite often immediately proceed to give a lengthy excuse for being thus engaged. A few of the most advanced and optimistic thinkers, however, observing the progress recently made along economical, psychological, and sociological lines, believe that their fellowmen and women of Chowan will ere long throw overboard such poverty- making, life-blighting, soul-destroying notions and accept in their stead the modern, democratic, socialized point of view-the point of view that not only each man, but each woman as well, unless incapacitated, should pull her own weight, and, in addition, contribute something to the general public good.
Already there is a growing sentiment in the county that any able-bodied person, man or woman, who fails to earn his or her own support is either a mendicant or a thief and should be dealt with accordingly. When this sentiment be- comes general, as it seems destined to do, then the shirkers and not the workers will be on the defensive; then the wo- man caught working will not feel called upon to apologize, but the woman, as well as the man, who persists in constant
257
257] PROGRESSIVE AND RETROGRESSIVE FACTORS
loafing - persists in wasting good food which otherwise might go to make brain and brawn that would enrich the world-this woman will feel impelled to give some sort of an explanation as to why she is merely encumbering the earth.
CHIEF PRESENT-DAY DRAWBACKS
This, the closing section, need be little more than a brief recapitulation of the rest of the chapter. We saw above that the long sleep was due apparently to the combined ef- fects of slavery and the lack of transportation facilities; and that the awakening began with the beginning of the change in attitude towards work - this change being per- mitted by the abolition of slavery, and accelerated by the increasing means of transportation, which operated by bet- tering the opportunities for marketing produce and by open- ing up to the people the outside world. We have seen at every stage of the narrative, as well as in the sections imme- diately preceding, that while the old forces of retrogression are gradually being weakened, they nevertheless are still powerful enough not only greatly to retard the county's de- velopment but actually to check it far short of the realiza- tion of its possibilities.
Tho no new retrogressive factors have come to light within recent years, the old ones, as above intimated, still have sufficient vigor to employ, for years to come, the efforts of all those interested in the county's economic and social improvement. There is the false attitude towards useful labor still existing. There is still a deficiency in the means of transportation-in the wagon roads, in the railroads, and in the waterways. There is still a woeful lack in the formal training, both in quantity and quality, of the youth. Illiter- acy is still very prevalent, and aside from some little be- ginnings in one or two of the colored districts, no effort
258
CHOWAN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA [258
is made in the schools of the county to familiarize the child with the every-day things of life-the things with which he is going to have to do in order to earn a living. What little training the school gives the child is the kind which " tends to educate out of contentment without educating into effi- ciency "-tends to make the child dissatisfied with his pres- ent work without fitting him for any other.
The lack of proper preparation of the soil, the lack of proper cultivation of the plant, the lack of forage- and nitrogen-crops, the lack of animal husbandry, the time- system-all these are errors which it will take a long time to correct.
The most hopeful aspect in the whole situation is that the awakening has actually begun, and that all indications seem to justify the expectation that it will continue till the vast majority of the people have approached their potential de- velopment under the then existing state of the arts and sciences.
APPENDIX TABLES
TABLE I1 CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA, CHOWAN COUNTY, N. C., EDENTON STATION : 1896-1913
261 ]
Temperature (degrees Fahrenheit )
Precipitation (inches)
Year
Annual mean
Highest
Date
Lowest
Date
Total for year
Greatest monthly
Month
Least monthly
Month
Total snow fall
1896 . .
60.9
95
Aug. 8
II
Feb. 22
44.93
5.91 6.22
Sept. May
2.13
Apr. Apr.
13.02
1897 . .
61.I
95
June 30
12
Jan. 29
42.56
1898. .
61.1
95
June 26
16
Feb. 12
57.54
10.03
May
1.38
Feb.
0.5 T
1899 . .
60.2
98
Aug. 5
5
Feb. 14
52.24
9.48
Aug.
0.30
Sept.
23.0
1900 .
61.I
IOI
July 7
12
Jan. 2
42.10
5.58
Jan.
1.25
Oct.
1.0
1901 .
....
14
Feb. 24
..
.
··
....
1902 ...
60.8
98
July 19
18
Feb. 13
51.08
6.95
Nov.
1.78
Dec.
10.0
1903 . .
60.8
96
July 12
13
Feb. 18
46.88
5.97
July
0.81
Sept.
4.0
J904 . .
57.7
96
July 19
12
Feb. 17
47.37
7.80
July
0.50
Apr.
10.0
1905 . . .
59.I
96
June 23
12
Feb. 16
58.67
9.47
July
1.65
Nov.
7.0
1906.
61.0
98
June 30
17
Feb. 3
....
....
...
....
....
1907 . . .
59.1
96
July 10
16
Feb. 7
. .
9.40
July
0.82
Jan.
II.O
1908 . .
60.2
92
June 20
18
Jan. 24
56.54
10.23
July
1.67
Apr.
6.0
1909 . .
·
....
96
July 3
II
Feb. 7
55.71
9.43
June
1.00
Nov.
...
19II . .
61.4
96
June 24
22
Mar. 17
41.32
5.35
Dec.
0.90
May
....
1912 .. .
60.5
98
Aug. 13
0
Feb. 12
42.07
7.20
June
0.40
Aug.
21.0
1913 ..
62.7
99
July 14
20
Feb. 13
52.40
7.20
Sept.
0.90
Apr.
I.O
.
Source : North Carolina section of the U. S. Climatological Service of the Weather Bureau.
26I
APPENDIX
..
.
...
.
...
1910. . .
59.5
13
Dec. 30
...
....
0.98
. .
262
APPENDIX
[262
TABLE II' CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA, CHOWAN COUNTY, N."C., EDENTON STATION : 1896-1913-Continued
Killing Frosts
Sky
Year
Last in spring
First in autumn
Number rainy days
Number clear days
Number partly cloudy days
Number cloudy days
1896
Apr. 8
Oct. 19
II4
137
135
94
1897
Apr. 22
Nov. 13
I14
164
IOI
100
1898.
Apr. 6
Nov. 26
103
140
107
118
1899
Apr. 6
Oct. 22
99
191
107
67
1900.
Apr. 5
Nov. 17
76
201
58
106
1901.
Mar. 17
Nov. 7
.
..
...
...
1902.
Mar. 7
Oct. 23
79
173
78
II4
1903.
Apr. 5
Oct. 29
83
179
85
IOI
1904.
Apr. 20
Nov. 7
76
163
III
92
1905 .
Apr. 17
Nov. 14
86
161
90
II2
1
1906
Mar. 21
Oct. 12
..
..
....
1907.
Apr. 2
Oct. 25
75
....
·
..
....
1908.
Apr. 4
Nov. 2
79
138
I22
106
1909.
Apr. II
Oct. 14
. .
..
....
1910.
Mar. 16
Oct. 30
84
177
88
100
IgII .
Mar. 24
Nov. 3
67
163
85
117
1912.
Mar. 17
Nov. 16
68
....
..
....
1913.
Mar. 18
Oct. 22
82
201
76
88
1 Source : North Carolina Section of the U. S. Climatological Service of the Weather Bureau.
263
APPENDIX
263]
TABLE III
COMPUTATIONS FROM, AND INTERPRETATIONS OF, TABLES I AND II
Temperature (degrees Fahrenheit) :
Average annual mean. 60.5
Average of maximum temperatures 1 96.6
Average of minimum temperatures 2 13.4
Precipitation (inches) :
Average annual 49.39
Average variation from average annual 5.49
Average highest monthly (1896-1913) 7.75
Average lowest monthly (1896-1913) .
1.09
Average number of rainy days annually 86
Sky :
Average number clear days annually 168 Average number partly cloudy days annually 96
Average number cloudy days annually . IOI
Killing Frosts :
Latest in spring (covering 18 years) April 26. In 18 years, only 4 later in spring than April 8. Earliest in fall (18 years) October 12. Only 2 in fall earlier than October 22. Average annual number of days between the last killing frost in spring and the first in fall. 215
The fewest possible number of days between the last killing frost in spring and the first in fall 3. 173 The fewest actual number of days in any year between last killing frost in spring and the first in fall 186
1 The "average of maximum temperatures " is obtained by taking the highest temperature registered each year during the period 1896 -1913, adding these to- gether, and dividing the sum by the number of years.
2 Obtained similarly to that of the " average of maximum temperatures."
3 That is, from the latest spring frost any year during the period 1896-1913 to the earliest fall frost during this same period, there is an interval of 173 days. The earliest and latest frost did not happen to come the same year, hence the fewest actual number of days is greater than the fewest possible number of days.
264
APPENDIX
[264
TABLE IV1 COLOR AND GROWTH OF POPULATION OF CHOWAN COUNTY, N. C .: 1790-1910
Population
Population increase over previous decade
Per cent. of population
Population per square mile
Year
White
Colored 2| Total Number 3
Per cent
White
Colored
Total Rural5
1790
2,382
2,629
5,011
....
...
47.5
52.5
30.4
....
1800
2,592
2,540
5,132
121
2.4
50.5
49.5
31.1
....
1810
2,409
2,888
5,297
165
3.2
45-5
54.5
32.1
....
1820
2,839
3,625
6,464
1,167
22.0
43.9
56.1
39.2
....
1830
2,761
3,936
6,697
233
3.6
41.2
58.8
40.6
....
1840
2,865
3,825
6,690
-7
-O.I
42.8
57.2
40.5
....
1850
2,939
3,782 3,863
6,721
31
0.5
43.7
56.3
40.7
31.0
1860
2,979
3,369
6,450
-392
-5.7
47.8
52.2
39.1
31.6
1880
3,633
4,267
7,900
1,450
22.5
46.0
54.0
47.9
39.5
1890
4,010
5,157
9,167
1,267
16.0
43.8
56.2
55.5
42.2
1900
4,406
5,852
10,258
1,091
11.9
43.0
57.0
62.2
43.7
1910
5,144
6,159
11,303
1,045
10.2
45.5
54.5
68.5
51.6
1 These data are compilations and simple calculations from the U. S. Census Reports.
2 This includes both free and slave. Prior to the abolition of slavery the num- ber of free colored at each census enumeration was as follows : 1790, 41; 1800, 67; 1810, 99; 1820, 156; 1830, 168; 1840, 160; 1850, 109; 1860, 150.
" A minus sign (-) means a decrease.
" The average excess of colored over white for the thirteen decennial censuses is 10 per cent.
" Prior to 1850 the population of Edenton was not given separately from that of the rest of the county.
-
43.5
56.5
41.5
32.4
1870
3,081
6,842
121
1.8
265
APPENDIX
265]
TABLE V 1 COLOR AND NATIVITY OF POPULATION OF CHOWAN COUNTY, N. C., EDENTON GIVEN SEPARATELY: 1850-1910
Subject
1850
1860
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910
Total population ..
6,721
6,842
6,450
7,900
9,167
10,258
11,303
White of-2
Native parentage
2,959
3,045
3,627
3,974
4,367
5,III
Foreign or mixed parentage
...
24
I3
23
14
Foreign birth ..
20
12
6
23
16
19
Colored
3,863
3,369
4,267
5,157
5,852
6,159
Birth place of Native Population
North Carolina .
6,349
7,736
Virginia ..
74
IIO
West Virginia
Maryland .
II
Pennsylvania
IO
New York.
I
9
South Carolina
4
Georgia
4
All other states
2
IO
.
Population of Edenton :
Total population
1,607
1,504
1,243
1,382
2,205
3,046
2,789
Per cent of county
23.9
22.0
19.3
23.7
24.0
29.7
24.7
Colored
1,075
953
..
2,092
1,669
White.
532
551
954
1,120
White of-
Native parentage.
922
1,100
Foreign or mixed parentage
....
. ...
19
7
Foreign birth.
....
....
...
.....
13
13
1 Source : U. S. Census Reports.
2 The censuses for 1850, 1860 and 1880 did not publish separately, by counties, the " white of native parentage " and the " white of foreign or mixed parentage.''
266
APPENDIX [266
THE U. S. CENSUS DEFINITION OF 'FARM LANDS," "
FARM,"
FARMER, 66 IMPROVED LAND," AND
UNIMPROVED LAND."
A "farm" for census purposes is all the land which is di- rectly farmed by one person managing and conducting agri- cultural operations, either by his own labor alone or with the assistance of members of his household or hired employees. The term " agricultural operations " is used as a general term referring to the work of growing crops, producing other agri- cultural products, and raising animals, fowls and bees. A " farm " as thus defined may consist of a single tract of land, or a number of separate and distinct tracts, and these several tracts may be held under different tenures, as where one tract is owned by the farmer and another tract is hired by him. Fur- ther, when a landowner has one or more tenants, renters, croppers, or managers, the land operated by each is considered a "farm."
Enumerators were instructed to report as a "farm" any tract of three acres or more used for agricultural operations, no matter what the value of the product raised upon the land or the amount of labor involved in operating the same in 1909. In addition they were instructed to report as farms all tracts containing less than 3 acres which either produced at least $250 worth of farm products in the year 1909, or re- quired for their agricultural operations, the continuous services of at least one person.1
In 1880 the instructions were as follows: "Farms," for the purpose of the agricultural schedule, include all considerable nurseries, orchards, and market gardens, which are owned by separate parties, which are cultivated for pecuniary profit, and employ as much as the labor of one able-bodied workman during the year. Mere cabbage and potato patches, family vegetable gardens, and ornamental lawns, not constituting a portion of the farm for general agricultural purposes, will be excluded. No farm will be reported of less than 3 acres, un-
1 Thirteenth Census (1910) vol. v, p. 22.
267]
APPENDIX 267
less five hundred dollars worth of produce has actually been sold off from it during the year.1
For 1890 the definition of a farm was essentially the same as for 1880. For 1900 the instructions said : A farm, for cen- sus purposes, includes the land under one management, used for raising crops and pasturing live stock, with the wood lots, swamps, meadows, etc., connected therewith, whether consist- ing of one tract or of several separate tracts . . . Market, truck, and fruit gardens, orchards, nurseries, cranberry marshes, green houses, and city dairies are "farms ": Provided, the en- tire time of at least one individual is devoted to their care. This statement, however does not refer to gardens in cities or towns which are maintained by persons for use or enjoyment of their families and not for gain. 2
A " farmer " or "farm operator," according to the census definition, is a person who directs the operations of a farm. Hence, owners of farms who do not themselves direct the farm operations are not reported as "farmers." Farmers are di- vided by the Bureau of the Census into three general classes according to the character of their tenure, namely, owners, tenants, and managers.3
Farm land is divided into (1) improved land, (2) wood- land, and (3) all other unimproved land. Improved land in- cludes all land regularly tilled or mowed, land pastured and cropped in rotation, land lying fallow, land in gardens, or- chards, vineyards, and nurseries, and land occupied by farm buildings. Woodland includes all land covered with natural or planted forest trees, which produce, or later may produce firewood or other forest products. All other unimproved land includes brush land, rough or stony land, swamp land and any other land which is not improved.+
The Census Bureau did not attempt to secure a report of
1 Tenth Census (1880) vol. iii, p. ix.
2 Twelfth Census (1900) vol. v, p. xiv.
Thirteenth Census (1910) vol. v, p. 24.
+ Ibid., p. 25.
268
APPENDIX [268
the acreage and value of all land suitable for agriculture. It did not take any account of such land held solely for specula- tive purposes and not actually utilized for agricultural pro- ductions. It did not account for land owned by states or the United States, or of land occupied by forests if not in the same tract as land used for agriculture.1
The total land in farms by no means equals . . . the total area of the county or of the state. . . . The difference is made up of many items. There are the sites of buildings and the grounds connected with them, whether isolated or in villages or cities ; there is the space covered by public highways, ca- nals, and railroads; there are the tracts of land owned by non-residents or by persons who are not farmers. In this latter class of lands is often included a vast extent of pasturage and woodlands, especially the latter. In some states the great body of the forests is held by speculators or lumber mill oper- ators, who are not farmers in any sense of the term.2
1 Thirteenth Census (1910) vol. v, p. 22.
2 Tenth Census (1880) vol. iii, p. xi.
1
269
TABLE VI 1 LAND AREA, FARMS, FARM PROPERTY, CHOWAN COUNTY, N. C .: 1880, 1890, 1900 AND 1910
1880
1890
1900
1910
Number and Size of farms
Population
7,900
9,167
10,258
11,303
Number of farms classified by size : Under 3 acres
3 to 9 acres.
34
19
22
52
Io to 19 acres
76
54
85
117
20 to 49 acres
213
163
316
360
50 to 99 acres .
166
I54
187
255
100 to 499 acres
197
196
1196
184
500 to 999 acres
18
27
19
10
1000 acres and over
12
10
2
5
Number of all farms
716
623
833
983
Color of farmers :
White
....
....
538
601
Colored
....
....
295
382
Land and Farm Area
Land in farms .
acres
85,233
80,773
72,528
74,563
Per cent of land area in farms 2
80.7
76.6
68.7
70.6
Improved land in farms .. .. .. acres
36,052
32,863
34,972
33,793
Per cent of farm land improved 2
45.3
48.2
40.7
45.3
Per cent of land area improved 3
34.I
30.9
33.1
32.0
Average number acres per farm 2
119
I30
87.1
75.9
Average number improved acres3 per farm Approximate land area .. acres ...
50.3
52.7
42.0
34.4
105,600
105,500
105,600
105,600
Value of Farm Property
All farm property ... dollars ..
707,347
913,390
882,545
2,447,002
Increase over previous decade 3. dollars ..
206,043
-39,8455 1,564,457
Increase over previous decade 4. per cent. Land 6. .
27.7
-03.4 5
177.3
Buildings
dollars ..
607,909
785,010
233,800
534,785
Implements and machinery .... dollars ..
23,262
26,940
40,040
99,994
Domestic animals, poultry and
bees
. . dollars ..
76,176
101,440
115,405
264,881
Per cent of value of all farm
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