A year or two ago, I checked the 1880 Agricultural Census available at
Ancestry.com for two of my Ancestors from Peoria County, Illinois:
William Graves, and Lawson Lair. While I was able to locate them and
read their entries easily, the headings on the forms were nearly
completely illegible – so much so that the data was meaningless. I
tried different scans from neighboring areas, and looked around the
internet for a blank copy of this form, but to no avail. I emailed
Ancestry requesting a blank form, and received no answer.
Today, I tried again. The scan has not changed in quality,
unfortunately, and I still saw no link to a blank form at Ancestry.
Overall, I’m a happy Ancestry customer, but this major oversight for
this database left me disappointed. Data isn’t worth anything if you
don’t know what it means.
However, eventually a Google search pointed me to a wealth of
information on not only the 1880 Agricultural census, but others. Blank
forms were provided, as well as background information. This
information, in the form of a pdf, can be obtained at the government’s
census website
here.
The information provided by this enumeration gives a good “snapshot” of
what life on the farm was like – at least during the year 1879. Land
ownership, or the nature of the rental agreement, is the first item to
be addressed, progressing into how much land is both improved and
unimproved. Farm values are noted, as well as the worth of the
implements and machinery owned by the farmer, so comparing to that of
their neighbors, it was easy to get an idea of the financial standing of
the farm relative to its neighbors.
The details help forge a picture of the farm as it was then – was
livestock raised, crops planted, or both? Did the family keep milch
cows? Did they produce butter or cheese? How many horses did they
keep? Did they keep poultry, and if so, how many eggs did they
produce? Sheep and Swine details were also given.
If crops were planted, what kind? How many acres? What was production
like in that growing season? These agricultural censuses will differ in
what specific crop questions were asked, depending on region of the
country. Orchards, vineyards, and bee-keeping were also addressed.
Looking at the data for Lawson Lair, who was at the time 47 years old
with a family of nine, owned an 80 acre farm just west of Princeville.
With farm values of his immediate neighbors ranging from $2,600 to
$15,000, Lawson’s farm was toward the bottom at $3,200. Interpreting
this data isn’t always straightforward, however; other sources paint a
different picture of Lawson, who owned property in the nearby town of
Princeville, deriving a great deal of future income as a landlord. He
passed away with quite a tidy sum of money accumulated. Had I not
already known this, I might have been tempted to decide Lawson was
financially compromised, based on the value of his farm.
Lawson had 4 milch cows and sold 450 gallons of milk in 1879; however,
they didn’t make butter or cheese on the farm. He had 45 head of swine,
and 40 barnyard poultry which produced 125 dozen eggs over the previous
year. With his family of nine, this averages out to 3 eggs per person
per week, which leads me to believe they produced eggs primarily for
their own consumption.
Regarding his crops, he grew Indian corn, potatoes, and sorghum, from
which he produced 90 gallons of molasses – far more than his immediate
neighbors who grew sorghum.
All in all, this was an interesting look at the 1879 picture of Lawson’s
farm, and that part of his life. The most significant piece of
information I learned was that he was not as invested in his farm as I
had imagined – he made his money from other means. Previous farm
schedules may paint a different picture. Every little piece of the
puzzle helps to put flesh on the bones.