RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 12, 2008
KINSEARCHING
by
Marleta Childs
P. O. Box 6825
LUBBOCK, TX 79493-6825
[email protected]
"Following the Evidence Trail" will be the theme for the Texas State Genealogical Society conference in Abilene, Texas, on October 24-25. The West Texas Genealogical Society will co-host the event. Featured speaker will be Thomas W. Jones. The deadline to receive early registration rates is October 15. For more details, e-mail Scott Fitzgerald, TSGS Registrar, at [email protected] or call him at 903-539-5572.
Dairies was the main topic of the Kinsearching column dated 20 September 2008. Since the majority of the population resides in cities, many children now reach adulthood without having seen a real cow; they think milk comes from the grocery store. During a recent conversation, a college student told me: "I never realized there were different kinds of cows." Since most of our ancestors had agricultural ties, family researchers need some knowledge of how agriculture affected the daily affairs of their forebears and the economy of the eras in which they lived. If they do not have this background, genealogists will not be able to understand fully or appreciate the challenges their ancestors faced. This is especially true in the twenty-first century age of technology and urban life.
This week we continue with selected data from the publication by the U. S. Congress, {House of Representatives} REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF PATENTS FOR THE YEAR 1853. AGRICULTURE (Washington: A. O. P. Nicholson, Printer, 1854). Perhaps the following material from condensed correspondence concerning "horses, asses, and mules" will continue to help educate family researchers about agricultural life in the past.
Page 28 - James WILLIAMS, Bolivar, Jackson Co., AL, writes: "Mules of the first quality can be raised here at a cost of $25 each at three years old. They are worth at that age from $60 to $100. What is said of mules will apply to horses, except that they are attended with a little cost and trouble in rearing."
Hon. E. CRAWFORD, near Blakely, Early Co., GA, reports: "Horses and mules, as well as cows, hogs, and sheep, are raised by every judicious planter and farmer in all Southwestern Georgia; and, on account of the mild climate and the abundance of the crop commonly called 'crab-grass,' in sufficient numbers to supply the wants of the establishment at a cheap rate. Good horses and mules are raised by all who attempt to do so, but a large majority prefer buying animals of this sort, driven to the State in immense numbers from Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and other grass-growing countries."
J. E. MCCLUNG, Bloomington, McLean Co., IL, states: " The raising of horses and mules with us is profitable...."
Pages 28-29 - Edwin WINSHIP, Winship's Mills, Clinton Co., IA, says: "The raising of horses in this county is a profitable business. The kinds raised are well built, either for draught or for the carriage. They are generally put into the harness at two years old...They will be able to pay for their keeping until four years old, when they will be ready for market."
(To be continued)
Charles N. Ferguson, 811 South Market, Shawnee, OK
74801 is seeking information about Riley HOBSON, born in 1822 in North Carolina
and died in 1898 in Wise Co., TX. He and his family appear on the 1880 Wise Co.,
TX, census:
HOBSON, Riley, white, male, age 58, born in NC, both parents
born in NC;
" Sarah, white, female, 45, born in TN, both parents born in NC;
" Savinah, white, female, 16, born in TX;
" Edward, white, male, 24(?), born in MO(?);
" Levi, white, male, 27, born in MO;
" Frank, white, male, 13, born in TX;
" Louiza, white, female, 11, born in TX.
Riley married for the third time on 14 Sept 1888 in Wise County to Rebecca E. BIRDWELL.