As I posted earlier, I recently found the missing 1880 Nonpopulation
Federal Census Agricultural Schedule for my 2x great grandfather
Jonathan Phelps West farm. This helped me get a fuller picture of
JP’s life as a farmer and the dynamics between three of the four
West
brothers. It also made me curious about a few things. I’ll talk
about those latter items first.
On the 1870 Census Jonathan and
Louisa West’s children are given as
John C.(Cuvier) West and George
P. I don’t know why that didn’t get my
attention sooner, but there’s no
George P. West listed in JP’s family
anywhere else except on that
Census. At first I thought perhaps it was
a child who died in
infancy, but then looking at the 1880 Federal Census
I realized what the
answer probably is: George P. is my great grandfather
Philip Jonathan
West. The ages match up.So did his parents originally
name him
George P. but then changed their minds? Or was it the more
likely error
by the census taker?
The second question I have concerns my 2x
great grandfather Asa F.
Ellingwood. He and his family were close
neighbors of JP’s, a fact which
would eventually lead to the marriage of Philip
J. West and Clara Ellingwood.
Yet I have found no record of Asa’s farm
on the 1880 Agricultural Schedule.
Was it skipped over by the
enumerator?
Ah well.
As to the information on JP’s farm in
1880, it shows a smaller farm with 75
fewer acres of woodland. Did
JP sell that off to brother Hiram the sawmill
operator? Yet the total
value of the farm and livestock had nearly doubled
from $1150 in 1870
to $2000 in 1880. The flock of sheep had grown to 20
but two were
apparently killed by dogs(or wolves?). The biggest crop
was 600
bushels of potatoes but there were also 60 cords of wood cut and
sold
for a dollar a cord for $60. Again, I think that they would have been
sold to brother Hiram.
And along with his two older sons
being of an age now where they could
help out around the farm, JP had
work enough to merit hiring on help for ten
weeks.
Here is my
transcription of the entry for JP’s farm:
Tenure:
Owner:/
Rents for fixed money rental:
Rents for shares of crops:
Acres of Land:
Improved:
Tilled, including
fallow and grass in rotation (whether pasture or meadow):20
Permanent
meadows, permanent pastures, orchards, vineyards:20
Unimproved:
Woodland and
forest:75
Other unimproved, including "old fields" and growing wood:
Farm Values:
Of farm, including land,
fences and buildings:1500(dollars)
Of farming implements and machinery:100(dollars)
Of livestock:400(dollars)
Fences:
Cost of building and
repairing in 1879:25(dollars)
Cost of fertilizers purchased in 1879:
Labor:
Amount paid for wages for farm labor during
1879, including value of board:
50(dollars)
Weeks hired labor in
1879 upon farm (and dairy),excluding housework: 10
Estimated value of all farm productions
(sold, consumed or on hand) in 1879:400(dollars)
Grass Lands:
Acreage 1879
Mown:80(acres)
Not Mown:
Products Harvested in 1879:
Hay:25(tons)
Clover seed:
Grass
seed:
Horses of all ages
on hand June 1, 1879:2
Mules
and asses all ages on hand June 1, 1879:
On hand June 1, 1879:
Working oxen:
Milch cows:3
Other:13
Meat Cattle and Their Products:
Calves dropped:2
Movement 1879:
Purchased:1
Sold living:1
Slaughtered:
Died,
strayed and at (indecipherable word)and not recovered:
Milk sold, or sent
to butter and cheese factories in 1879:
Butter made on the
farm in 1879:200(lbs.)
Cheese made on the farm in 1879:
Sheep:
On hand June 1,1879:20
Lambs dropped:13
Movement 1879:
Purchased:
Sold living:9
Slaughtered:2
Killed by dogs:2
Died of disease:
Died of stress of weather:
Clip, Spring 1880, Shorn And To Be Shorn:
Fleeces:20
Weight:80(lbs)
Swine:
On hand June 1, 1880:6
Poultry On Hand June 1, 1880, Exclusive Of
Spring Hatchlings
Barn-yard:10
Others:
Eggs Produced In 1879:50(doz.)
Cereal:
Barley 1879:
Acres:
Crop:
Buckwheat 1879:
Acres:1
Crop:60(bushels)
Indian Corn 1879:
Acres:
Crop:
Oats 1879:
Acres:3
Crop:100(bushels)
Rye 1879:
Acres:
Crop:
Wheat 1879:
Acres:2
Crop:40(bushels)
Pulse:
Canada Peas (Dry) in 1879:
Beans (Dry) in 1879:3
(bushels)
Fiber:
Flax-1879:
Area in
crop:
Seed:
Straw:
Fiber:
Hemp:
Acres:
Tons:
Sugar:
Surghum-1879:
Area in
crop:
Sugar:
Molasses:
Maple-1879
Sugar:
Molasses:30(gallons)
Broom
Corn-1879
Acres:
Lbs.:
Hops-1879:
Acres:
Crop:
Potatoes(Irish)1879:
Acres:3
Crop:600(bushels)
Potatoes(Sweet)1879
Acres:
Crop:
Orchards-1879:
Apples:
Acres:
Bearing
trees:
Bushels 1879:
Peaches:
Acres:
Bearing
trees:
Bushels 1879
Total value of orchard products of all kinds sold or
consumed:
Nurseries:
Acres:
Total value of produce
sold in 1879:
Vineyards:
Acres:
Grapes sold in 1879:
Wine made in 1879:
Market Gardens
Value of produce sold
in 1879:
Bees:
Honey:
Wax:
Forest Products:
Amount of wood cut in
1879:60(cords)
Value of all forest products sold or consumed in 1879:60(dollars)
So by 1880 three West brothers, Asa A., Jonathan P., and Hiram F.
were enjoying a reasonable amount of success in their lives.
But
what of their youngest brother, Leonidas?
I’ll discuss that
next.
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