We sometimes forget how important owning land and farming was to our ancestors.

In 1790, the total population of the United States was almost four million, and farmers made up about 90% of the labor force. The Public Land Act of 1796 authorized Federal land sales to the public in minimum 640-acre plots at $2 per acre. This was an opportunity for "regular" people to become landowners. It also encouraged westward movement.

Wade Hone's Land Property Research in the United States has chapters that explain about various types of Federal lands and how you can research them.

A diary kept by 24-year old laborer, William "Will" Sanford Titus, tells about life on a Michigan farm in 1881. Each evening, after working in his brother-in-law's fields, he recorded the day's happening in his diary. One entry: "Worked at the hay today. This is getting to be a good deal like Mark Twain's diary, pretty much the same thing every day, have put in nearly a whole week working for John, don't see why I don't get a couple letters. Expenses: candy, 20¢; cigars and tobacco, 35¢; sundries, 10¢"

The July 19th entry reads: "Drawed in one load of wheat this morning and finished the wheat stack, then John and I went huckleberrying, got about twelve quarts, Carl left John's this evening. Income: $23.30. Expenses: washing, $1.12."

The entry on the following day reads, "Commenced working for John by the month. Raked the stubble in the corner field in the forenoon and cultivated the corn a little while, drawed in the raking and then it commenced to rain, so we did not work any more, wrote to Annie."

An introductory page in the diary provides information on wages and prices. For instance, an average weekly wage for a baker was $5.00 to $8.00, a cabinet-maker earned $9.00 to $13.00, laborers brought in $6.00 to $9.00, painters made $10.00 to $16.00, and a printer earned $8.00 to $18.00. Roast beef cost 12 cents per pound, bread was 4 cents per pound, coffee was 20 cents per pound, eggs were 25 cents per dozen, soap was 6 cents per pound.

Most people want to know what life on the farm was like. We want to flesh out our ancestor's story. Unfortunately, not everyone can find a diary like this. For more entries from Will's diary, click here.

As a substitute, the US Department of Agriculture has put up a website, "A History of American Agriculture 1776-1999," located at http://www.agclassroom.org/gan/timeline/index.htm. There are pages for: Economic Cycles; Farm Economy Life on the Farm; Farm Organizations and Movements; and Farm Machinery and Technology.

© 2002-2006

Connie Lenzen, CG^SM

CG, Certified Genealogist, is a service mark of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, used under license by board certified genealogists after periodic evaluation, and the board name is registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office.