Benton COUNTY, TN 1860 FEDERAL CENSUS http://ftp.us-census.org/pub/usgenweb/census/xtn/benton/1860/ Copyright (c) 2009 by Don Robbins VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV USGENWEB (US-CENSUS) NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization. Non-commercial organizations desiring to use this material must obtain the consent of the transcriber prior to use. Individuals desiring to use this material in their own research may do so. ========================================================================== NON-Std Formatting by USGenWeb Census Project® File Manager, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV BENTON COUNTY, TN 1860 FEDERAL CENSUS TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES: Prepared by Donald Robbins Transcription aid by Betty Hawley Checked by D. K. Robbins July 30, 2009 Census Sheet's Format ------------------------------- Census Sheet Header Information ------------------------------- Each Census Sheet consists of 40 lines. The Header information contains a place for the Date of entry, Post Office, The County Name (Benton) and the name of the recorder of the information. ------------------------------- Census Sheet Detail information ------------------------------- Column 1 - Dwelling - houses numbered in the order of visitation Column 2 - Families, numbered in the order of visitation Column 3 - The name of every person whose usual place of abode on the first day of June, 1860 was in this family Column 4 - Age Column 5 - Sex Column 6 - Color, White, Black or Mulatto or Indian Column 7 - Profession, Occupation or Trade of each person, male and female, over 15 years of age Column 8 - Value of Real Estate Column 9 - Value of Personal Estate Column 10 - Place of Birth, Naming the State, Territory, or Country Column 11 - Married within the year Column 12 - Attended School within the year Column 13 - Person over 20 who could not read or write Column 14 - Whether deaf & dumb, blind, insane, idiotic, pauper or convict In the interest of getting the information transcribed to an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet, some adjustments were made in the format of the transcription. A new line was created, which contains the Page Number and Line Number that the information was transcribed from. The Surname is in Caps, along with the date of the census page, the census district, the Post Office, and the information from Column 1 and Column 2. The information from Columns 11, 12, 13 was encoded following the Column 10 information, Place of Birth. The encoding is: M, for married within the year, S, for attending school within the year, and I, for illiterate for a check in Column 13 for persons over 20 who could not read or write. The information from Column 14 is added, as is, to the person's line. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The information for the 1860 Census for Benton County consists of 203 pages. The information for Benton County is on Microfilm Reel M653-1240 COUNTS The Dwellings in Benton County are numbered from 1 to 1361 There are 1361 families in this grouping. Number of White Males 4760 Number of White Females 3818 Number of Mulatto Males 3 Number of Mulatto Females 7 Number of Students 1178 Number of Illiterates 146 Number of Married 98 in the last year PLACES OF BIRTH Tennessee 6168 Ireland 448 North Carolina 903 Kentucky 108 Virginia 95 South Carolina 72 Alabama 53 NY 51 Arkansas 47 Miss 42 Indiana 30 Illinois 11 Missouri 8 Pennsylvania 7 Ohio 4 Maryland 3 Scot 3 Engl 2 Vermont 2 NJ 2 Germany 1 Canada 2 Mass 1 Tx 1 Del 1 OCCUPATIONS by name Bapt Min 3 Bapt Min* 1 Black Smith 11 Boarding House 7 clerk 6 Carpenter 16 Carriage Maker 1 Census Enumerator 1 Chanclor 1 Civil Engr 3 Cnty Ct Clrk 1 Contractor 1 County Clerk 3 Farmer 633 Ferryman 1 Fisherman 1 Foreman 1 Grocer 7 Gun Smith 1 Horse Trader 2 Hotel Kpr 2 Laborer 263 Lawyer 3 Lawyer* 1 MD 8 MD* 1 Merchant 8 overseer 6 S. B. Captan 1 Saddle Makr 1 Shoe Makr 6 Superintendant 6 Sutler 1 Tanner 45 Tanner* 1 Taylor 1 Teacher 11 Tobacco Manu 9 Tobacconist 1 Waggon Makr 4 OCCUPATIONS by frequency Farmer 633 Laborer 263 Tanner 45 Carpenter 16 Black Smith 11 Teacher 11 Tobacco Manu 9 Merchant 8 MD 8 MD* 1 Boarding House 7 Grocer 7 clerk 6 overseer 6 Shoe Makr 6 Superintendant 6 Waggon Makr 4 Bapt Min 3 Bapt Min* 1 Civil Engr 3 Lawyer 3 County Clerk 3 Horse Trader 2 Hotel Kpr 2 Carriage Maker 1 Census Enumerator 1 Chanclor 1 Cnty Ct Clrk 1 Contractor 1 Ferryman 1 Fisherman 1 Foreman 1 Gun Smith 1 Lawyer* 1 S. B. Captan 1 Saddle Makr 1 Sutler 1 Tanner* 1 Taylor 1 Tobacconist 1 OTHER bound 7 triplet 3 twin 84 INFIRMITIES deaf 1 Farmer lunatic 1 Farmer pauper 1 idiot 1 idiotic 1 idiotoc 1 pauper 3 Transcriber's notes: The census taker in Benton County was: Wm McCUTCHEN at P096-13 He is the best enumerator we have encountered in all of our transcriptions. His handwriting is very legible. His Note on Page 202 From Page N191 to the present Page 202 is the offisers and laborers on the Memphis Ohio and Louisville Rail Road in the County of Benton on the 15 day of June 1860 The following on Page N203 is the officers Laborers an Boardinghouse keepers on familys undertaking and McCanus and engaged on the bridge that crosses Tennessee River on the Memphis Ohio and Louisville Rail Road on 1st day of June 1860 I find employed by the above Road and Bridge Company work on Saddle Horses 20 value $100 is 2000 No. Mules 45 Value $150 is $6750 My instructions is to take no livestock down. That is not help for agricultural purposes; therefor I have not placed the above on my Agricultural Schedule Wm McCuthin Ass Marshal Benton County has the oldest person we have ecountered in all of our census work. He is John COLE at P158-37. He is listed as 105 years old. Some of the occupations have a * after them. This means, in addition to the occupation, the person was also a farmer. There are a great number of people born in Ireland in this county. The mostly work on the Rail Road. BENTON COUNTY HISTORY The Tennessee General Assembly created Benton County on December 19, 1835, from portions of Humphreys and Henry Counties. Officials organized the county in February 1836 in a small log cabin at the site of a local post office in what is now West Camden. Initially, the county name honored Thomas Hart Benton, a leading Jacksonian Democrat, but in 1852 the state legislature approved an act that retained the original name but honored David Benton, an old and respected citizen of the county. The county lies partially in the western valley of the Tennessee River and partially in the plateau of West Tennessee. Its eastern boundary is the Tennessee River, whose shoreline includes a part of Kentucky Lake. The northernmost section of the county is hilly, with deep, broad valleys; numerous steep bluffs overlook the river. Near the village of Eva is Pilot Knob, one of the highest elevations in West Tennessee at some 650 feet above sea level. Otherwise the county is topographically rolling and heavily forested. The county has a considerable prehistory; at the time of its first settlement by blacks and whites, the Chickasaws claimed the area as a hunting range and maintained a few scattered habitations. Following the Jackson Purchase, settlers from Virginia, the Carolinas, and other eastern states arrived. Black settlers generally came as bondsmen of the whites, although several free blacks lived in the county during the antebellum period. Benton County remains essentially a rural entity with several small towns and villages. Named for Camden, South Carolina, the site of a Revolutionary War battle, the county seat of Camden was established in 1836 on the high ground above Cane Creek, a tributary of the Tennessee River. The courthouse occupies the center of the public square, though in recent years businesses have moved to the west and northwest sections of the town. Benton County's first banking institution, the Camden Bank and Trust Company, opened in 1889. Benton County supports two radio stations and an airport, and Camden has several churches, factories, and financial institutions. U.S. Highway 70 and U.S. 641 provide transportation links for Camden and Benton County. Located twenty miles south of the town, Interstate 40 can be reached via U.S. 641. Big Sandy, named for the river on which it borders, owes its existence to local railroad development from about 1860. Its present incorporation dates from 1903. This prosperous rural town enjoyed considerable growth from the area's extensive tourism. Within a radius of forty miles, there are thirty-five resorts, restaurants, and boat docks. Eva, a village named for Eva Steele, was originally known as Bartlett's Switch and began as a result of railroad development. Eva faces Kentucky Lake and provides a small river craft landing and a park. These attractions, along with the town's proximity to Nathan B. Forrest State Historical Area and to Lakeshore, the United Methodist campground, make it attractive to tourists and local citizens. Locked in the hills of northern Benton County, the village of Faxon was established in 1881 and named for its postmaster, George B. Faxon. It is located on the Bass Bay Road, seven miles east of Big Sandy; several fishing facilities are located nearby. Holladay, a village fifteen miles south of Camden in the rolling landscape of Birdsong Valley, began as a small settlement in the 1840s but had its firm beginning in 1887 with the establishment of a post office honoring the village's principal merchant, John M. Holladay. One of the county's most notable schools, the Holladay Independent Normal, operated there. Principal county loyalty rested with the Confederacy during the Civil War, although a firm, but subdued Unionist element existed in the county. Troops under General Nathan Bedford Forrest destroyed the large supply depot at Johnsonville, across the river from Pilot Knob, in November 1864 in a notable engagement. In the 1930s the Civilian Conservation Corps expanded upon an earlier local historic park at Pilot Knob to create the Nathan B. Forrest State Park. Tennessee took a leading role among the southern states in the passage of woman suffrage when the state legislature enacted a limited suffrage bill on April 17, 1919. Five days later, Mary Cordelia Beasley-Hudson of Benton County cast the first female ballot in the state in the Camden municipal election. Politically the county has been overwhelmingly Democratic throughout its history. It was the birthplace of Thomas C. Rye, governor of Tennessee, 1914-18. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) changed the eastern landscape of the county and improved cultural life. The TVA attracted a small, but consistent, industrial development and boosted the local economy. Electrical power is distributed by the Benton County Board of Public Utilities in Camden. Benton County has always had a strong religious commitment. The earliest congregation organized the Cypress Creek Baptist Church in November 1821. County denominations include Baptist, United Methodist, Church of Christ, Pentecostal, and Roman Catholic. The Camden Chronicle, established in 1890, embodies the best local newspaper traditions, reporting county events and boosting economic development. The Benton County Library organized in 1942. Led for three decades by Ruth Priestley Lockhart, the library developed into one of the foremost small libraries in the state. The Benton County Genealogical Society, chartered in July 1986, has been active in the preservation of the county's heritage and its public and private records. The county is well served by a general hospital in Camden and several medical practitioners. Its 2000 population was 16,537. Jonathan K. T. Smith, Benton County Historian Emeritus - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - THE STORY TELLERS We are the chosen. My feelings are, in each family there is one who seems called to find the ancestors. To put flesh on their bones and make them live again, to tell the family story and to feel that somehow they know, and approve. To me, doing genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts but, instead, breathing life into all who have gone before. We are the story tellers of the tribe. All tribes have one. We have been called as it were, by our genes. Those who have gone before cry out to us: Tell our story. So, we do. In finding them, we somehow find ourselves. How many graves have I stood before now and cried? I have lost count. How many times have I told the ancestors you have a wonderful family you would be proud of us? How many times have I walked up to a grave and felt somehow there was love there for me? I cannot say. It goes beyond just documenting facts. It goes to who am I and why do I do the things I do? It goes to seeing a cemetery about to be lost forever to weeds and indifference and saying I can't let this happen. The bones here are bones of my bone and flesh of my flesh. It goes to doing something about it. It goes to pride in what our ancestors were able to accomplish. How they contributed to what we are today. It goes to respecting their hardships and losses, their never giving in or giving up, their resoluteness to go on and build a life for their family. It goes to deep pride that they fought to make and keep us a Nation. It goes to a deep and immense understanding that they were doing it for us. That we might be born who we are. That we might remember them. So we do. With love and caring and scribing each fact of their existence, because we are them and they are us. So, as a scribe called, I tell the story of my family. It is up to that one called in the next generation to answer the call and take their place in the long line of family storytellers. That, is why I do my family genealogy, and that is what calls those young and old to step up and put flesh on the bones. Author unknown The 1860 Census or Lots of Questions Answered The 1860 Census lists a dwelling number and family number and each sheet lists the county as well as town and post office name. Questions answered on the 1860 census include, name, age and sex of each individual; color, occupation, value of real and personal property; birthplace, whether married within the year (m.y.), whether attended school, can read or write and the date of the enumeration. Also included are boxes to indicate if an individual was a pauper or convict. Here is an article published in 1859 about the upcoming 1860 census: Friday September 23, 1859 Weekly Star THE NEXT CENSUS The year 1860 is the time appointed for taking the eighth census of the United States. From having been originally a simple enumeration's of persons, this Federal census has grown to be a decennial register of the number of inhabitants and their occupation, religious denominations & c, and also a statement of the commerce, manufacturers, arts and industry, and the wealth of the nation. The collection of these statistics has hitherto been attended with immense labor and difficulty. The inquiries of the census takers have not only been baffled by the stupidity and perverseness and ignorance of many to whom they were addressed; but it has been impossible to obtain accurate information upon important subjects because the parties; who alone are presumed capable of imparting it, have never taken the trouble to inform themselves. It often occurs that, in the absence of the head of a family no other member of it is able to give the information required; for instance as to the ages of the different members or it, or the amount of land in cultivation, the number of negroes and their ages, the quantity and value of horses, mules and oxen, etc., or of farming implements or farm products. In town and country similar difficulties are continually met with by the marshals appointed to collect these statistics, and the census is consequently returned incomplete. It is probably that while care will be observed to prevent any frauds or excess in the publication of the next census, it will be ordered by Congress to be taken so as to include all the most important items of information in regard to the progress of our population and our country. In view of this contingency the Nashville News very sensibly suggest that each farmer, this fall , as he gathers his crops, shall keep something like an accurate account of the quality and value of the same; and if he will take the trouble to make out a statement of the names and ages of his family; the number and ages of his servants, the number and value of his horses and mules; the number of bales of cotton, barrels of corn, bushels of wheat, oats, rye, barley, potatoes, etc., and leave it in some place where any member of the family, who may be at home when the deputy marshal shall call, can readily get hold of it, it will save time to all concerned, and very greatly assist to make the census return perfect, complete and satisfactory.