STRUGGLES
OF SECESSION –
HELPFUL
HISTORICAL TIDBITS FOR LIFE IN THE
19th CENTURY FEATURES OF LUMPKIN, GA (we model
Westville on Lumpkin)
- Local militia "Stewart County Guard" fights off Creek
Indian attacks in 1835-1836.
Disbanded 1850.
- Bedingfield Inn (built 1836)
- Masonic Female College is razed in 1852
- No railroads till 1886. The railroads had been built in the 1850s to the
north and
south of Lumpkin which led to a slow decline.
- Wooden Courthouse until 1895.
- Cotton was its primary crop. (3rd largest cotton producing county in GA.)
- Major stagecoach hub.
- City in decline by 1861 due to soil erosion, population decline and the lack
of a rail
station.
- 1860 population of Lumpkin was 1,476.
- 1860 population of Stewart County was 13,422.
- Civil War Infantry regiments included:
2nd GA Infantry - "Stewart Grays" –
Co. K – Benning’s Brgd, ANV
21st GA, Company I - "Stewart
Infantry" (this who we portrayed in 2008) –
Doles & Cooks
Brgde –ANV
17th GA
Infantry – Co. I
31st GA,
Bartow Guards – Co. E – Lawton-Gordon-Evans Brgde,
ANV
46th GA –
Xollicoffers Guards – Co. G – Gists
Brgde, Army of SC
3rd GA
Cavalry – Co. E – Rawson Rangers - AoT
- Notable People of Lumpkin, GA / Stewart Cty, GA
Gen. Clement Evans 39th GA Infantry
Prentiss Stanley Co. D, 12th Bn. GA
Cavalry
- son of Loverd & Elizabeth Bryan
Johan George Singer - Singer Shoemaker
Shop
- son: Joseph Singer
- 2nd GA Inf "Stewart Grays" – Co. K
- son: John Singer
- Co. E, 31st GA reg.
Temperence
Carr - Widow to George Singer
(Johan's uncle) and GGGGGGrandmother to 1st lady Roslyn Carter.
John Singer II - Tailor and Johan's Brother.
Edward McDonald - son of Scottish
immigrants and wealthy cotton warehouse
owner.
James John McDonald - Edward's eldest
son.
enlisted in Col Crew's
cavalry - Iverson's GA Brgde.
Lizzie Rutherford - (from Columbus, GA) Active in
the Soldier's Aid Society.
Some blockaded/Restricted
Goods:
-
Laudnum and other medications - Dyes
-
Rum
- Flour
-
Coffee -
Hemp
-
Salt
- Textiles
-
Cotton cards ($10/pair) - Salt
-
Leather
- Tea
-
Sugar
- Spices
Inflationary Prices: (based on Columbus, GA newspapers in
Confederate currency)
Mar. 1862 Jul. 1863
Nov. 1863 Mar. 1865
Corn
(bushel) $1.10 $2.50 $5.00 $15.00
Sugar
(lb.) .50 2.00 3.00 8.00
Butter
(lb.) .40 1.00 3.00 7.00
Cotton
(lb.) .16 .41 .60 .75
Tobacco
(lb.) .60 1.75 ---- 7.10
Bacon
(lb.) .40 1.50 ---- ----
Coffee
(lb.) 40.00 180.00 ---- ----
Survival
Skills/Crafts/Substitutes:
-
Making
vinegar
-
Red
Bark, raspberry or whortleberry leaf tea – treats diarrhea
-
Spanish
potatoes to treat bowels
-
Peach,
mayapple, butternut roots – laxative
-
Making
ropes from bear grass, sunflower stalks and cotton
-
Making
ink from walnut hulls or pokeberries
-
Making
pens from goose feathers
-
Envelopes
from newspaper or just fold up letter
-
Use
of old bottles for drinking glasses
-
Make
soap from myrtle, rosin and chinaberries
-
Extracting
salt from smoke houses, seawater or brine troughs
-
Mixing
dogwood and willow bark with tobacco can make it last longer
-
Making
or using pottery or wooden cups, plates or bowls
-
Making
lamp oil from cottonseed and ground peas or lard oil
-
Making
beeswax, lard or tallow candles
-
Collecting
and using pine knots for light (no fires in any of the buildings)
-
Making
clothing, if textiles available.
-
Simulate
making items from horsehide, dogskins or pigskin as a
replacement for leather
-
Raising
and shearing sheep for much needed wool
-
Creating
cloth by combining dog hair and cow hair (slaves and poor whites only)
-
Creating
durable cloth by mixing rabbit or raccoon fur or wearing of animal skins
-
Making
dyes from barks, leaves, twigs, berries, walnut hulls, pine tree roots, wild
indigo and myrtle
-
Making
and using buttons made of thick leather, gourd shells, wound thread, persimmon
seeds and wood.
-
Making
bonnets from corn shucks, palmettos, bulrushes, pine straw and sometimes wool
(wool was expensive)
-
Burning
and collection of corn cob ashes as a replacement for baking soda
-
Use
of brown sugar, sorghum, honey and boiled down watermelon juice as replacement
for sugarcane
-
Growing
and Use of Peanuts – (note: peanuts were rarely grown prior to the war) also
called: goobers, pindars, ground peas
-
Peanut
candy, feed for hogs, cattle and parched peanuts were popular
-
Common
vegetables grown: cabbage, peas, beans, squash, sweet potatos
-
Most
meats are smoked due to limited supply of salt
-
Coffee
Substitutes: parched rye (this was one of the best, but limited in supply),
parched peanuts, okra, sweet potatos, acorns, peas,
beans, dandelion roots, cottonseeds, etc
-
Make
homemade muscodine or blackberry wines
-
Home
distilled whiskey replaced imported rum
-
Stills
making private use liquor from most grains and produce was forbidden by the CSA
government unless licensed (this law was frequently ignored)
Taxes:
-
Cotton Seed (intended to limit cotton supply and encourage food stuffs)
- 10% tax on cotton over 2500 lbs of seed
(was never enforced)
- Tax in Kind – 10% tax on all farm
items, livestock, food, fodder and tobacco
- Property taxes in Stewart County were 3
times normal to cover expenses for
Soldier’s Family Relief
-
No
taxes on slaves.
Impressment:
-
Georgian’s
were openly encouraged to not comply with CSA Impressment
Agents
-
Georgia
Impressment Agents were to be complied with and this
was enforced
-
Agents
would pay for goods at fixed prices that never kept up with rampant inflation
Military/Conscription/Deserters:
-
By
end of 1863, half of Confederate army has deserted
-
Deserters
form small raiding parties (especially in
-
Deserters
from the 3rd GA Regiment openly defiant to returning to the army
-
Conscription
of poor, weak and sickly occurred while the wealthy received exemptions.
-
Exemptions:
see article on ‘Exemptions’ page on this site
1863 Confederate
Congressional Elections:
- In
- Platforms: Anti-Davis Gov’t
5 to 1 against Pro-Davis Gov’t
Anti-Impressment
5 to 1 against the Pro-Impressment
Anti-Conscription 5 to 1
against the Pro-Conscription
Notes on
Cotton:
1793 - Eli Whitney
invents the Cotton Gin - Increases cotton production 8 fold.
Cotton utilizes a Hoe Ridge Cultivation.
Tools required: Cultivators, harrows, side harrows and double shovels.
Planting Cycle
Feb-March: Clean out old debris. Seed bed setup.
April-May: Planting.
May-June: Plants thinned. Swept and hoed 3-4 times.
June: Cotton blooms. Plant height is 6"-12".
Late July-Early Aug.: Cotton Bolls open.
Aug 20: Picking Begins.
Sept-Jan. Shipping to Markets.
Avg Yields = 100-1500 lbs per acre.
Slaves average picked per day = 120 lbs.
All slaves (domestic, cook, house, etc) were utilized during picking season.
Total 1860 US Production = 1.9 million lbs.
1860 US Production equaled 2/3 of worlds supply.
A 400 lb bail requires 1200-1500 lbs of cotton produced.
Price per 400 lb bail in 1860 averaged $49.60 per bail. (12.4 cents per lb.)
1861 - Confederacy places embargos on cotton to Europe.
By 1861, SW Georgia
alone imported over half a million bushels of corn, as they
relied upon cotton and not food crops.
During war, cotton
smuggled thru Confederate lines and thru the Union blockade.
By 1863, consignment
warehouse were full and price of cotton was at a peak.
Most cotton went to
mills in the northeast US (even during the war!). Speculators, smugglers and
plantation owners continue to profit during the war.
LUMPKIN,
GA 1860 CENSUS DATA
Profession number
% of total
Farmer 132 34%
Laborer 54 14%
Mechanic 25
6%
Clerk 15
4%
Merchant 14 4%
Overseer 14 4%
Lawyer 12 3%
Physician 9 2%
Apprentices 8 2%
Grocer 8
2%
Shoe maker 8 2%
Carriage maker 6 2%
Master Mechanic 6 2%
Teacher 6 2%
Miller 4 1%
Minister 4 1%
Dentist 3 1%
Painter 3 1%
Tanner 2 1%
Bar Keeper 1 less than 1%
Blacksmith 1 less than 1%
Book keeper 1 less than 1%
Carpenter 1 less than 1%
Court Clerk 1 less than 1%
Druggist 1 less than 1%
Harness Maker 1 less than 1%
Hotel Keeper 1 less than 1%
Jeweler 1
less than 1%
Magistrate 1 less than 1%
Music Teacher 1 less than 1%
Sheriff Deputy 1 less than 1%
Shop Keeper 1
less than 1%
Stage Driver 1 less than 1%
Tailor 1 less than 1%
Teamster 1 less than 1%
Trader 1
less than 1%
Wagoneer
1
less than 1%
Well Digger 1 less than 1%
other / unspecified 25 6%
Total 385
Total Lumpkin Census 1476
Children 738 50%
Men 381
26%
Women 357 24%
Widowed 28 2%
Now if you look at the census data for all the Districts for all of STEWART
county you will find the breakdown to be roughly:
90% farmers
8% laborers
2% other professions (mostly physicians, ministers, teachers)
Thus, the areas outside of town. Very rural. Thus, we want to potray a working class town. We don't want to see ball
dresses or even fancy day dresses as most women would not even own them.
Here are some names, profession, age of some of the wealthiest
people of Lumpkin, GA in 1860. These totals are assets (Real Estate & Personal).
Loverd Bryan - farmer age 56 $84,000
Loverd served as a State Senator 1838-39, 1849).
The Bryan's traced their ancestry back to 1690 as the first immigrants to
Needham, NC.
Loverd's son was Prentiss Stanley Bryan of Co. D,
12th Bn. GA Cavalry
Elan Voss - Farmer age 40 $23,000
John Scott - Farmer age 49 $27,000
Seymour Kitchens - Farmer age 63 $70,000
Thomas W. Battle - Physician age 43 $93,000
W.A. Rawson - Merchant age 47 $210,000
James Athgott - Farmer age 39 $62,000
B.S. Worrell - Lawyer age 44 $111,000
E.J. Beall - Farmer age 46 $134,000
John West - (no occupation listed) age 56 $129,000
William West - Farmer age 62 $163,000
Robert Hendrick - Farmer age 46 $109,000
Sophia Ball - Widow age 50 $31,000
Charles Mason - (no occupation listed) age 44 $40,000
W. Gould - Physician age 43 $38,000
P. Cherry - Farmer age 33 $37,000
Leonard Morton - Farmer age $31,000
Data based on the 1860 US Census – GA State Archives and US Nat’l
Archives, Morrow, GA
Bibliography:
Williams,
David. A People’s History of The Civil
War-Struggles for the Meaning of Freedom. The New Press, New York, NY,
2006.
Williams,
David. Rich Man’s War-Class, Caste and
Confederate Defeat in the Lower Chattahoochee Valley. The University of
Georgia Press, Athens, GA 1998.
Stout,
Harry. Upon the Altar of the Nation.
Penguin Group, New York, NY, 2006.
Terrill,
Helen Eliza. History of Stewart County.
Columbus Office Supply Company. Columbus, GA, 1958.
Ersatz in
the Confederacy,
Elizabeth Massey. ISBN 0-87249-877-8
A Blockaded
Family, Life in Southern Alabama During the Civil War, Parthenia
Antoinette Hague. Originally published in l888, recommended by Jefferson
Davis. ISBN 1-55709-247-8. Applewood
Books, 18 North Rd., Bedford, MA 01730
Research
conducted at the Georgia State Archives. Morrow, GA, 2007-2009.
More
suggested reading at: http://www.geocities.com/homespunlhg/reading.htm