Looking back at 1850

I have spent a lot of time over the last year doing research on the county. Looking at facts and figures, some specific and some general, that define our peninsula at different points in time. I thought I would share some from 1850 with you today.

We are a peninsula with a fixed geographic footprint that is the same today as 1850. Our land area measures approximately 130 to 132 square miles and the U.S. Census Bureau states the total area, including water, is 211 square miles. This land consists of roughly 83,200 to 84,480 acres, including significant shoreline of 135 linear miles along the Rappahannock and Piankatank Rivers and the Chesapeake Bay.

In 1850, the Acres of Land in Farms is listed as Improved is 34,828, and Unimproved. 37,645. That’s a total of 72,473 acres. That would leave roughly 11,000 unaccounted for…interesting.

There were 4,394 people calling Middlesex home that year. On the census it broke down as: White 1,903, Free Colored 149, and Enslaved 2,342. These people lived in 401 White and Free Colored owned dwellings with 401 families living in them.

Living with the families on this land were livestock. This included Horses 450, Asses and Mules 130, Milch (Milk) Cows 889, Working Oxen 903, and other Cattle 1,784. Also included were Sheep 2,281, and Swine 5,696 for a Value of Livestock of $96,907. The Value of Animals slaughtered is listed at $32,458 or around a third.

So, what were these 401 families growing on these farms one wonders. Produce included: Wheat bushels 30,762, Indian Corn Bushels 134,253, Oats Bushels, 8,861, Peas and beans bushels 948, Irish Potatoes bushels 3,832, Sweet potatoes bushels 8,381 and Hay tons 111.

The census does not list milk gallons but does list Butter pounds 26,277. Another product listed is Beeswax and honey, pounds 880. When sheered of their coats, our sheep provided 5,230 pounds of wool.

Consider that this was before the arrival of steamships in the 1870s. There was much less commerce with the outside world in the 1850s. That would develop with our linkage with Baltimore through the steamships.

This type of information is explored in the exhibits at the Middlesex County Museum. We are opened Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday 10:00-2:00 and Saturday 1:00-3:00 or you can visit us at Middlesexmuseum.com.