There was charged on the tax duplicates of 1860, $7,125.62 for State tax, $3,149.01 for State sinking fund, and $526.53 for State asylum fund, making a total of $10,801.16, of the several State taxes. After deducting delinquencies and commissions for collecting, these funds received cash as follows: State tax, $6,159.07; State sinking fund, $2,744.73; State asylum fund, $456.20; total $9,360. The amount of taxable property in the county in 1860 cannot be conveniently given for the reason that the tax books do not show the aggregate amount. LAST YEAR OF SLAVERY. In 1862, the last year previous to the issuing of that great edict known as the "Emancipation Proclamation," the number of slaves assessed for the taxation in Lincoln County was 2,564, and the following is a list of the slave holders then owning twelve or more slaves, with the number owned annexed to their names: David and Henry Bailey, 15; Ruce Bourland, 14; Andrew Cochran, 15; Thompson Cox, 23; O. N. Coffee, 14; Duncan Ellis, 15; John C. Carter, 85; F. G. Gilmer, 12; Mrs. Belinda Harvey, 15; Augustus Harvey, 16; Thomas G. Hutt, 24; Joseph M. Heady, 18; Thomas M. Lewis, 22; M. L. Lovell, 13; Raleigh Mayes, 14; M. H. McFarland, 26; Thomas S. McGinnis, 16; Samuel C. W. Motley, 16; Lloyd B. Magruder, 19; Charles W. Martin, 15; Mrs. A. W. Meriwether, 20; George D. Meriwether, 42; Elizabeth Prewitt, 12; John Pollard, 14; Abner Rodgers, 12; James Reid, Sr., 16; John W. Sydnor, 13; David Steward, 14; James Stallard, 19; James D. Shelton, 15; John Strethen, Sr., 17; John South, 26; R. M. and A. W. Vance, 14; William Whiteside, 12; George W. Zimmerman, 15. This list is given for the purpose of showing who the largest slave holders were at that time. Supposing the average value of each of the 2,564 slaves, listed for taxation in 1862, to have been $600, which is thought to be a fair estimate, it follows that the loss of property to the county, by reason of the abolition of slavery, was $1,538,400. This loss, however, was soon regained in the enhanced value of property, after the Civil War closed. TAXABLE PROPERTY IN 1870. The abstract of taxable property in Lincoln County for the year 1870 shows the following: Number of town lots, 1,538, valued at.... .$ 133,890 The same abstract shows that there were 310 full, and 217 fractional sections of land, and seventy-five Spanish surveys taxed in the county, and 360 acres not taxable. The receipts of county revenue for 1870, as shown by the treasurer's report filed in February, 1871, were $9,336.94, and the expenditures for the same time, $4,143.70, leaving a balance on hand of $5,193.24. TAXABLE PROPERTY IN 1880. For many years last past, the real estate of the county has been assessed on two separate books, one containing all the land east of the fifth principal meridian, and the other all lying west thereof, and the personal property has been assessed on another book. The abstract of values of taxable property for 1880 is as follows: By comparison it will be seen that the increased assessed value of the taxable property of the county for the ten years from 1870 to 1880 only amounted to $28,510. It is to be presumed, however, that the real or actual increase was much greater than that amount. Valuations for taxation are very uncertain, and vary greatly in amount from time to time on the same piece of property. The taxes charged on the foregoing valuation for the year 1880 were as follows: State tax, $7,724.88; State interest tax, $7,724.88; county tax, $11,587.32; road tax, $3,862.44; making a total of $30,899.52. This amount does not include any school tax. TAXABLE PROPERTY IN 1888. The assessed valuation of the taxable property in Lincoln County for the present year, 1888, is as follows: 148,483 136,883 7,500 .$4,800,306 St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Ry. 20.88 miles... Western Union Telegraph Lines, 85 miles... Total assessed value of taxable property.... By comparison it will be observed that the increase in the assessed value of the real estate of Lincoln County from 1880 to 1888 was $199,960, and of the personal property, $298,430, making a total of $498,390 of the increased value in eight years. At the present writing the taxes for 1888 have not been completed; but the levy for State and county purposes amounts to $1.50 on each $100 of taxable property. This levy on the whole amount of taxable property, as given above, will produce $72,004.59 for State and county purposes. In addition to this amount the school tax levies, which average about 40 cents on each $100, will produce the further sum of $19,201.22 (or thereabout), making $91,205.81 as the grand total of taxes that will be charged on the tax books of the county for the year 1888. This latter amount will be about double the amount of taxes charged for all purposes in 1880, but it must be borne in mind that 60 cents of the county levy for 1888 (which will produce $28,801.83) is to raise revenue to pay whatever becomes due on the railroad bonded indebtedness. No railroad tax was charged in 1880. POPULATION OF LINCOLN COUNTY. The population of Lincoln County, including both white and black, as given by the several census reports of the United States, beginning with the year 1820, is as follows: 1820, 1,662; 1830, 4,059; 1840, 7,449; 1850, 9,428; 1860, 14,210; 1870, 15,960; 1880, 17,426. With the natural increase, together with the increased immigration occasioned by the building up of several railroad towns since 1880, it is safe to estimate the population of the county in 1888 at 20,000. In 1860 there were 2,863 colored persons in the county; but according to the tax lists there were only 2,564 in 1862, the last year that they were enrolled for taxation. In 1870 the colored population was 1,987, and in 1880 it was 2,146. The decrease in the decade covering the war period was 873, and the increase in the next decade was 159. CHAPTER VII. AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK. The principal agricultural products of Lincoln County are Indian corn, wheat, oats, hay, potatoes and tobacco. In an early day cotton was extensively raised, but its cultivation has since been entirely abandoned. The productions are varied, though not so much as a better development of resources and a higher cultivation would demand. All the grains and grasses are distributed over the county, but in some cases with unequal results. In the eastern and southeastern parts of the county, comprising about half its area, wheat is the prominent crop. Its quality is unsurpassed, being fully equal to the best raised in the State, which is recognized as producing the finest wheat in the world. The yield has been known to reach forty to forty-five bushels per acre, but only in the most favorable seasons and with the best of cultivation, the average usually being less than half that amount. The soil throughout the county is rich in wheat producing principles, and with proper fertilization, subsoiling and underdrain ing, it can be made to yield from thirty to forty bushels per acre in most all seasons. The preparation of soils by underdrainage has as yet been scarcely thought of in Lincoln County. Corn and oats are produced in great abundance. It would be difficult to find a soil better adapted to either of these cereals. The soil is also well adapted to the growing of the grasses, especially timothy, which is the best known grass for hay. ceeds well, but it is not extensively grown. and millet grow well all over the county. wheat also yield well, but are not extensively sown. Clover also sucHungarian grass Barley and buck Broom corn yields abundantly in every part of the county, but, except in a few localities, no attention has been paid to it. Tobacco is advantageously grown on the timbered lands. The golden leaf of the white oak and post oak ridges is of the very finest quality, and is in great demand for wrappers. In the great tobacco fair of St. Louis, in 1869, Lincoln County tobacco took the first premium, nearly every State in the Union being represented. Sorghum is grown in every part of the county; the uplands producing less but of a finer quality. The small mills in the different localities manufacture the cane into molasses with success varying according to skill employed. The syrups from some of these mills will rival in color and flavor the finest silver drips. The consumption of sorghum, in this county, is fast superseding that of foreign syrups. As yet scarcely any has been exported, but its manufacture is destined to become a profitable industry. The soil is also well adapted to the raising of all kinds of garden vegetables. Potatoes of the best quality are easily grown, but as yet they have not been extensively grown for the market, the farmers being content to grow them only for home consumption. FRUIT CULTURE. To the experienced fruit raiser Lincoln County offers a most inviting field. Nearly every kind of marketable fruit can be raised here with great profit to the careful cultivator. Nowhere do strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries or currants grow more plentifully or attain greater excellence of flavor. |