Today I listened to news of Carolina farmers rushing to gather and protect crops ahead of Hurricane Florence presently targeting their coastline. Early nineteenth century farmers would not have had this luxury. The tools for accurate weather forecasting simply did not exist in the 1840s. In order to track each year of the decade’s growing seasons, I have chosen to present the agricultural content of each letter by date. In some seasons a portion is missing, so each season is not necessarily presented in its entirety. It may be that letters were not written, were more likely lost in the mail or did not survive in the collection. Weather events were far more unpredictable one hundred and eighty years ago.

However, economic storms such as the Panic of 1837 resulting from over speculation in cotton and slaves and enhanced by President Jackson’s Specie Circular, may have had some positive effects on Mississippi agriculture. Before 1837 and the resulting depression that lasted nearly a decade, Mississippi farmers, both small and large, had little incentive to conserve their land, to diversify their crops, to innovate, or to farm self-sufficiently. When the price of cotton fell dramatically, many farmers, who survived with property in tact, began to rethink their reliance on the cash crop.

Producing Cotton in Mississippi

The McKenzies had grown a variety of crops on their farm since 1833, but their staples were corn and cotton. Generally, cotton demanded a grower’s attention from the time it was planted until harvest. Duncan probably planted his cotton with a one-horse plow that would open a furrow in previously broken ground. Someone with a bag of seeds over the shoulder would follow placing seeds in the furrow. Another with a hoe would commence covering the seeds with soil. Some farmers used a harrow or heavy block of wood pulled by a horse to cover the seeds. Duncan may have been able, with his work crew of possibly two or three of these three worker groups or “gangs,” to plant as much as five to ten acres a day, if every worker could have been spared to be in the cotton.

After the cotton plants sprouted and began growing through April and July, the labor was intense and unceasing. The plants had to be thinned about eighteen inches apart. To grow properly, the plants had to be free of weeds, which required people in the fields with a hoe or a plow to weed and keep the soil loose around the plants. By 1840 plows were evolving that would easily weed the cotton.

The Petit Gulf variety of cotton developed on the McNutt plantation in Rodney, MS that became widely productive in the state went on sale in 1833, the year the Duncan McKenzie family migrated to Mississippi. 

This variety was a hybrid of the Mexican variety that produced big bolls, easily detached during picking. The Petit Gulf hybrid solved the problem of the bolls detaching by themselves, before picking, which ruined the cotton.

Cotton gins were also improving at the beginning of the 1840s due to manufacturing of gin parts in the north. According to John Hebron Moore in his 1958 Agriculture in Ante-Bellum Mississippi, a complete gin in 1800 cost the farmer about “twelve hundred dollars in the old Natchez District.” However, by 1837 the price had been halved. Large planters might have a gin on their farms about, “forty by sixty feet.” Duncan describes the gin they built in 1844 as having “rafters 23 feet from heel to shoulder.” He marvels at its size. Small farmers and most farmers in general used horse driven gins and presses. Only the largest plantations could afford to experiment with steam driven gins. The cotton had to be ginned to remove the seeds, and often a cotton press was placed in the gin house to combine the work of the horses to drive both machines. The cotton was “pressed” into a cylindrical or rectangular form. Probably the McKenzies’ cotton by 1845 could be pressed with several workers managing the screws that forced a type of piston into a box of cotton lint, pressing it. The box was lined on the inside with cotton hemp that would then be tightened and secured over the cotton. When released from the box, the cotton expanded, securing the covering around the bale. The size of bales by the time McKenzie establishes his gin could reach 400 to 500 pounds. Baling the cotton was time consuming.

Getting the cotton to market, or to the place where it would be sold, was generally done by wagons hauling the bales over gradually improving primitive and rutted roads, so that it could be loaded onto boats or ships. Evidently, during the 1840s Hugh takes the McKenzie cotton and that of others to ports such as Mobile, AL; Covington, LA; and directly to New Orleans. New Orleans was by far the busiest and most used cotton exchange. Some cotton that was not sold, was kept in a dry place either in seed or ginned and baled to be sold later.

Corn, Other Crops, and Livestock

McKenzie’s second staple crop, corn, was the second most productive crop in Mississippi and provided food for people and livestock. Corn was grown often in two crops per season. The first crop was planted in March or April so that it was harvested while the cotton needed less attention. Much like cotton, corn was planted in raised rows and worked with the hoe afterward to reduce weeds. The late crop was usually planted in May and left standing in the fall. It was usually gathered during the winter months. The corn blades or leaves as well as ears were used as fodder for livestock. Cotton seed could be used as fertilizer for corn acreage and cowpeas planted in between the cotton rows grew on the corn stalks. After harvesting the corn and after the peas ripened, sometimes a farmer would allow livestock to forage in the field on the corn leaves and peavines. In addition the peavine shaded the soil protecting it from  the heat of the sun. It also helped prevent erosion.

During the depression years that began in 1837, corn underwent little change. Some farmers, who could afford to do so experimented with planting corn closer together. The practice had been to plant and thin so that wide spaces were left between plants. Supposedly this practice conserved soil nutrients. However, in experiments on Mississippi farms, it was discovered that their yield was improved when planted closer together. Experimental breeds of corn did not catch on in the state during this period.

Generally, fruits and vegetables were grown for personal and local consumption, but were not commercial crops. Likely, the McKenzies grew sweet potatoes on their farm as did most farmers. During the depression years Mississippians were saving cash by producing their own food and clothing.

Their early pigs were similar to “Arkansas Razorbacks” and did not cost much at all to keep, since they foraged in field and forest. During the 1840s farmers in the state, who could risk it, experimented with raising different breeds. Duncan McKenzie begins during the decade of the 1840s to preserve his pork and sell it.

The end of land speculation encouraged farmers to take better care of their land. Agricultural publications and local newspapers spread the news of innovative farm practices and advertised improved farm implements. For farmers who were solvent enough to weather the initial economic crisis, improved farming practices and implements would lead them to recovery by the end of the decade of the 1840s.

(Since the authors of these letters were not always consistent in the presentation of numbers and the use of decimals, one must make a reasonable estimate in quoted material.)

The 1840 Season

19 February 1840: Duncan McKenzie reports that his corn is “tolerably plentiful” in spite of the drought. They also “fatted and killd” more than “3:000 lbs pork,” though “there is not demand for the surplus of corn or pork.” On more than one occasion during the 1840s the family will rely on their corn and pork to sustain them during hard times or a bad cotton year. This 1839 cotton crop Duncan has sold, “as usual in seed at 2 3/4 ct per lb.” He goes on to say that the amount sold was, “unusually small” and “only 11:000.” He attributes the small quantity to the drought during the growing season. By way of comparison, John Hebron Moore writes that, “the price of New Orleans cotton began to climb rapidly in the fall of 1833, reaching sixteen cents a pound in 1834 and twenty cents in 1835-36,” quite a drop to less than three cents a pound, of course Duncan was referencing seed cotton. Ginned cotton in 1839 probably brought a higher price but not up to pre-depression levels.

However the weather in February of 1840, which may bode more favorably for planting, is wet and warm.

26 April 1840: By April most of the planting has been done, and the only thing on the farm that is not up are the potatoes, for which he may not be able to make a “stand.” By this time, “the wheat has shed the bloom,” and looks satisfactory. They are done planting and plowing all of the corn. The cotton has grown so that it is, “now fit for the plow and hoe,” and adds that there is, “as good a stand of both corn & cotton as I would wish. In other words the planting season is going well so far.

4 July 1840: By July Duncan McKenzie is complaining that the “rains with us have been verry light but beautifully calm, neither storms hails or heavy rains have been seen here this far this season.”

On the other hand, in the same letter he reports that the Natchez tornado, “was awfully destructive both to human life & property.” This storm did significant damage, likely to both crops and humans on specific farms, some of the most productive plantations in Mississippi. Little information is available to estimate human life that may have been lost on plantations. He continues by adding that there are at least 300 missing and 263 found dead by drowning or by the falling of houses and timber. He reports its direction was southwest to northeast, which would put the tornado passing well west of Covington County, not close enough to do any damage at all to the McKenzie farm.

The Natchez Tornado: May 7, 1840

Duncan McKenzie’s farm was about 116 miles east of this storm when it hit Natchez on May 7. Since Natchez remained the most economically and agriculturally productive area in the state of Mississippi during this decade, its fate was of interest to everyone. Natchez, a bustling river port, was known even then for its fine buildings and architecture.

On the eleventh of May, the Mississippi Free Trader published an article in an extra about the May seventh storm entitled, “Dreadful Visitation of Providence.” On this Thursday people were going about their business despite the “growling” thunder and lightning. Just before two o’clock, many were having lunch in their homes and the downtown hotels when a deep darkness descended upon them. Soon sheets of heavy rain, “in cataracts rather than in drops,” began to fall. Buildings began to shake. The air became filled with flying debris: “chimnies, huge timbers torn from distant ruins.” After three to five minutes of this “wrath” the sky began to lighten. Survivors witnessed horrific destruction through stormy weather that hovered over the city for about a half hour more. From the Mississippi Cotton Press in Natchez to the Vidalia ferry in Concordia Parish, Louisiana on the opposite shore from Natchez, the tornado had torn a swath over two miles wide. Its path was erratic from east to west, and in places chose to wield its destructive force at random, leaving “a mansion called the ‘Briers’ … but slightly injured” while another, “the ‘Bellevue’, and the ancient Louisiana forest in which it was embossed into a mass of ruins.” The path encompassed the bustling Mississippi River port known as the Landing, that saw major loss of life:

At the Natchez Landing on the river the

ruin of dwellings, stores, steamboats, flat boats

was almost entire from the Vidalia ferry to the

Mississippi Cotton Press. A few torn fragments

of dwellings still remain, but they can scarcely be

called shelters. — Mississippi Free Trader   

Natchez on the hill homes were significantly damaged – two churches lost their steeples, another the entire roof. The Vidalia Courthouse was destroyed, a Parish Judge at dinner in another’s home was killed instantly. In Natchez some people were dug out alive from the ruins of the Steam Boat Hotel, including the landlord, though eleven dead were removed as well. The newspaper office was in shambles but recovered soon to publish. Planter’s Hotel located on the bluff was, “blown down the precipice,” likely with many souls. The City Hotel opened its doors to the homeless and wounded. The Tremont house was opened as, “an additional hospital.” Slave gangs were volunteered by their owners, “to assist in clearing the streets and digging the dead from ruins.”

The worst damage and loss of life took place at Natchez under the hill and the Landing, where an unusual number of flatboats were docked. The port of Vicksburg about seventy miles north of Natchez had very recently imposed a higher tax on docking flatboats, which had sent many of them further south. According to Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western Waters published in 1858, of 120 flatboats 116 succumbed to the storm, which caused water to rise ten or fifteen feet. The steam ferry boat at Vidalia sank as well as the Mississippian, a wharf-boat which served as a hotel and grocery. Several steamboats were destroyed: the wreck of the Hinds supposedly washed ashore at Baton Rouge with fifty-one bodies still aboard – “48 males 3 females one 3 year old girl.” However, this total is questionable since the Hinds was not reported to be carrying nearly that number of people. The Prairie from St. Louis had its upper deck destroyed. The H. Lawrence and a sloop were damaged but not sunk. Evidently, they were docked on the edge of the storm’s path at the Landing.

Most of the dead reported were boatmen, many of whom were from distant locations, making identification difficult. Many were never recovered, so over the years the death toll has stood at from three hundred to four hundred, with less than one hundred of that total killed on land. The total damage at first tallied at a bit over a million dollars but soon rose to five million when the disruption of commerce and destruction of recently planted crops was considered. Crops could be replanted, but much labor had to be diverted to the cleanup. Indeed, the Natchez Landing lagoon was still not cleared by June 11. Evidently, rubbish and bodies of both beasts and humans, had gathered at this spot in the river port  and served to create, “a most unhealthy fluid.” The Mississippi Free Trader article ends with a call to clean up for, “the health of those who are obliged to transact business near such a Stygian pool.”

John Patrick Stewart of neighboring Franklin County, MS assures Duncan McLaurin in July of 1840 that his vicinity received no damage from the tornado. However, he had visited Natchez only days after the storm hit and wrote, “it was almost literally a heap of ruins.” He adds that it is usual to exaggerate such events, but he is not using hyperbole when he describes the site of the tornado:

Several of the largest buildings were swept almost

level with the earth the foundations literally torn up, on the

Louisiana side of the river was a forest of trees and so far as the

tornado extended west not a tree or even leaf was left — All that

remained standing was a few leafless stumps. — it is not yet known

how many lives were lost as they were mostly boatmen and

Strangers — John Patrick Stewart

As late as July 28 of 1840, dislocated people were still estranged from relatives. The article, “Lost Children” in the Natchez Daily Courier, makes a plea to the relatives of two injured boys who lost their father at the Landing. Apparently, good samaritan A. H. Parsons of Natchez took the young boys under his wing. Their father, Mr. John Brown, died at the Landing while waiting to board a steamer bound for St. Louis. The children’s names are John Riley Brown and George McDuffie Brown, their father a “stranger to Natchez.” Their grandfather, James Hicks, lives in the Edgefield District of South Carolina. Parsons is hoping that this article will be republished in the South Carolina and Georgia newspapers in hopes of contacting family.

Not long after the tornado, the Mississippi Free Trader in June describes a storm that panicked many, since it came up the Mississippi River. A tornado did not result due to the restoration of the “atmosphere to an equilibrium which prevented a repetition of the fatal effects of May 7th.”  Duncan mentions other storms that passed through near them, “one of those storms passd at some 12 or 15 miles distance I am credibly informd that some of the hail remains undissolved 20 days after it fell, it was in places drifted to the un exampled depth of 30 inches.” Perhaps he means three inches, to be more realistic. Still, the type of weather described suggests a threat to crops, even though the storms appear to have been localized in particular areas. Without the luxury of forecasting, the destructive tornado had made people anxious.

______________________

McKenzie’s crops during this growing season appear to be doing quite well despite the storms in surrounding areas. He describes the corn on his and surrounding farms as “quite low but the culls is good and it appears to be earring tolerable well.” He adds that if this continues, “there may be a plenty of corn made in this vicinity.” He also remarks on how well the cotton looks and that for the season it is, “heavy bowld I saw on the 4th June a parcel of blossoms that being 10 days earlier than usual for the bloom to make their appearance.” The corn appears to be thriving too, “there were some roasting ears found on the 11th June from the common corn.”

One only has to look at the ads in the newspapers of the day to realize the temptation to try some “new” sort of seed. Duncan, a rather cautious farmer, mentions a few. He says some of his neighbors have tried “the baden corn it does not as well as it was represented, we also have the Ocra or twin seed cotton, I think that is another humbug.” He hopes folks won’t mix it with the “genuine cotton seeds, that have been cultivated to such advantage and extent.” The “genuine” type of cotton to which Duncan refers here is probably the “Petit Gulf cotton” which was developed by Dr. Rush Nutt around 1820 on his Rodney, Mississippi plantation. By the 1840s it would have been in widespread use, known as the seed that grew the “white gold.” It is a short staple cotton.

The American Farmer’s Encyclopedia of 1858 says the Petit Gulf variety, “is not only of finer quality but more productive and easily gathered.” About the Alabama “okra” cotton which Duncan McKenzie mentions, the Encyclopedia says, “It grows too tall, and is liable to fall down.” However, this can be remedied by cutting the tops to about four feet, which causes a greater density of bolls. Cotton is very labor intensive in the first place, and adding the labor of cutting the tops off of an entire field of cotton would make it less desirable. Its advantage is that it may open early, avoiding the danger of the bollworm. The Encyclopedia contends that it is, “in fact, an improved Petit-Gulf seed.” The okra cotton gets its name due to its stalk which looks like the okra plant of the hibiscus family.

Since horses were essential for transportation, the horse-drawn plow, and providing power to machinery such as the gin and press, horses were extremely valuable to people in the early 19th century. Duncan mentions a “cane horse which was drove from SC in 1819.” He had purchased this horse upon arrival in Covington County. He remarks upon her longevity, saying, “She is now fat and full fleshd.” He has now, “eight of her stock.” Ironically, little evidence exists that Mississippians experimented with the breeding of horses or mules during the 1840s, though experimentation with other breeds of livestock was prevalent. Though mules were commonly used on farms, they were generally purchased from Tennessee and Kentucky rather than produced in the state.

Duncan ends his July 4th letter by describing the weather the last few days as, “remarkably warm.”

26 September 1840: The bollworm or heliothis arminger makes its appearance in this letter at the end of the growing season. According to the 1904 U.S. Department of Agriculture investigation into the bollworm,  it caused great damage to Florida cotton in 1841, Alabama cotton in 1847, and Mississippi cotton in 1850. Evidently, McKenzie’s crop has escaped much damage in 1840 due to the weather. The most damaging part of the worm’s life cycle occurs usually in August, but cooler weather will slow the pest’s activity. He mentions that some of his neighbors have been left with significant damage. His only luck here was the timing of the worm’s arrival in his field. This type of worm is common in other plants such as corn and tomatoes, suggesting that crop rotation may not slow the worm’s presence. Duncan McKenzie’s major crops were corn and cotton. Few resources were likely available regarding the best ways to protect a crop from this worm and, indeed, many other pests of the day. Some rank this worm’s threat to cotton as second only to the boll weevil, which was not detected in the United States until 1892.

Corn crops are tolerable good cotton together

with being injured by the drought is in many

places eaten up by the worm or caterpillar,

the first I saw of them in ours was this week

consequently they will not injure it much, but in

many places they had eaten every leaf off 3 weeks Since

they commenced in Louisiana on the Miss River — Duncan McKenzie

24 December 1840: By the end of the year, the McKenzies are wrapping up their crop. Duncan explains that they have been hauling the cotton to the gin, a time consuming process. He says “four bales have been carried to the gin.” His son Hugh, who enjoys driving a wagon and sometimes hauls neighbor’s cotton too, has taken the ginned cotton to Mobile, where it sold for almost 9 cents per pound. Duncan claims to have sold the rest of the eight bales “in the seed” at 2 cents per pound.

The 1841 Season

22 March 1841: Duncan McKenzie begins this letter with a story about the threat of fire. About a week before writing this letter, he says, “when I was collecting my scribbling instruments there appeared a Smoke in an eastern direction.” The fire threat apparently seen by McKenzie was to his fences. They stood vigil, “the blowing (of the wind) firing and watching continued almost incessantly until yesterday.” It is possible the fire was intentionally set by a neighbor burning fields in preparation for a new crop. In fact, The American Farmer’s Encyclopedia of 1858 suggests that burning is the best way to rid a cotton field of the “rot.” The author of this particular article seemed to think that the rot was caused by something living on the plant and that plowing it under would only ensure its return. Indeed, years later the Bacillus Gossypium Stedman would be discovered as the source of the disease.

Duncan has already “listed” the acreage he will be planting in cotton during the 1841 growing season as, “between fifty and sixty.” He says they are farming at a new place that he has purchased. They are, as usual, also planting, “12 or 14 (acres) in corn and from 20 to 35 in oats,” on a 440 acre tract. He describes this land to his brother-in-law by comparing it to land they both know in North Carolina, saying it, “resembles in appearance the land lying on the road North West from L (Laurel) Hill … East of the head of Leeths Creek only more mixed with short straws pine oak & Hickory.” He continues to admit that though it is not the richest land around, it is preferred because it is perfectly level in about 80 acres.

He describes a choice piece of property on which there is already a dwelling and “barn, kitchen, smoke house and negro cabins.” It also has a gin house, but the cost he says is prohibitive for him at this time. It is owned by a widow who has moved away. Her lowest price is $600 dollars.

15 June 1841: At this point the agricultural season is in full swing. The McKenzies are “pushing along with our crop, we have commenced laying by the corn which looks pretty well tho rain would help.”  Both rain and hail can be very damaging to crops, particularly cotton, so it is not surprising that Duncan laments damage recently done to his corn and cotton. However, his neighbor, Duncan McLaurin, Jr. received “awful” damage to his crop from wind and hail. Later, he talks to this same neighbor who tells him that about thirty acres of his cotton is ruined, “the stalks that were from knee to half thigh high are thrashed down to stubble not a leaf or lim left.” His corn did not escape damage either, mostly from hail. McKenzie is optimistic about his own corn crop which he and son Daniel have been working. Also working in the fields are the younger children on the farm, “Allan & the two oldest of the black children are going a little after us, we leave it perfectly clean, and Johny,, is sowing pease a head of the plows.” Earlier Hugh, Kenneth, and Dunk were working with others in the cotton. Apparently, this is far enough away that they must stay overnight. Hugh comes home and reports, “it is full wet to work, the rain fell in torrents on Monday,” resulting in the field being covered with water. The corn that is planted in this place seems to be doing well, while the corn closer to home has been thirsty and looking wilted. McKenzie is also growing other grains such as wheat and oats. The wheat has escaped the “rust.” Oats were damaged first by lack of water and then by wind, rain, and hail making them difficult to cut. They saved some for seed and will, “turn in the horses & hogs on them.”

“Johny” may be sewing peas in the corn field. During the depression years of the 1840s it became the practice of farmers raising livestock to set aside some acreage for planting a row of cowpeas to every row of corn. The peas grow and wrap themselves around the cornstalks. After the corn is harvested, the animals are left to forage in the fields. Though Duncan may only have observed the practical positive results, the planting of legumes was adding much needed nitrogen to the soil.

8 September 1841: The corn at the McKenzie place is doing well compared to the neighbors, and their cotton looks well. However, they worry that the rain later in August will damage it: “Fields in which there was not a sprig of grass on the first of August are now covered … with the most luxuriant foliage.”

26 October 1841: They are gathering the crop in “verry fine” weather, though a killing frost on the 24th diminished the prospect of any vegetables. Most of the corn is gathered, though it is “short of the usual quantity.” They have gathered, “some 14 or 15,000 lb” of cotton, which, “appears to be tolerably good there is as much as can be gathered or more.”

Cotton picking generally began early in September. It was hand picked by workers who were given bags that hung over the neck and shoulders. As fast as the worker could pick the cotton, it was put in the bag. When the bags were full, the cotton was generally spread out on a sheet or placed in a basket for hauling to four foot wide scaffolds on which it was spread to dry. To thoroughly dry it, the cotton must be individually turned while on the drying scaffold. Afterwards, it is taken to the cotton house to protect it from rain until the time it is ginned, baled, and sold. Sometimes a farmer would leave some of the cotton as “seed cotton,” sold at a lower price.

The 1842 Season

20 June 1842: Duncan laments the dryness of this 1842 growing season, saying that the last rain fell on Friday four weeks ago, “so you may judge our crops are suffering immensely.” However, as he writes he says there is an “appearance of rain,” and later, “a beautiful rain is now falling.” The cotton does not need much rain in the early stages, but it has had much too little up to this point. The fifteen acres of new ground that he planted late and in corn still looks, “tolerably well.” Their earlier planted corn will likely make only half a crop if enough rain does fall during the rest of the growing season. He mentions the price of cotton in New Orleans is from 4 to 7 cents. It is priced according to quality, and the portion left unsold, “will only pass for a middle quality.”

Evidently, the McKenzie family purchased the land belonging to the widow of Wiley Johnson: “We are to pay her $400 in two equal annual installments … the tract containing 440 acres is to cost us $1055 and not a dollar yet paid but there are 17 bales cotton in the gin to be applyd to it as far as it will go but when bagging & rope freight &c are deducted the net proceeds will be small.” Duncan has also rented out part of his land to a tenant for $125 dollars. Unfortunately the tenant decided to leave unannounced once the planting season commenced. He says, “the alliance is resting and will rest forever ere another straggling scamp shall occupy it.” He has had his fill of tenants at least for the moment. It is evidently a good time for immigrants to that part of Mississippi since, “land with good improvement and undiluted titles can be had at $3 – per acre and in some instances cheaper.” He is ever encouraging friends and family to come to Mississippi just as he was probably encouraged a decade earlier.

24 July 1842: This growing season letter begins with the disappointment of Kenneth’s illness and his absence in the fields which, “opperated materially against the crop” along with the severe drought. At the same time he admits that, with the new land to cultivate, they may have overextended themselves in planting more than they can handle with their relatively small workforce. The drought has, “cut us short many bushels corn & pounds cotton, in fact we undertook too much for our force had it even been more numerous and strong.”

His cotton remains unsold, “except the 4 bales sent off which were sold at 6 1/4 cents per pound. The state of Mississippi’s economy worries Duncan because, “I look on the smallest debt as dangerous in as much as all the Banks of Miss are dead long since.” He admits that the McKenzie family debt is not nearly as great as many of their neighbors, who don’t seem worried about their debt. They, “seem in good spirits.”

29 August 1842: Cotton, peas, and potatoes have been helped by seasonal rain in the month of August, though the cotton and corn were damaged by the early drought. Statewide, however, “there are abundant crops of corn.” As a result, corn farmers all over the state of Mississippi are adamant that corn sell at 25 cents per Bushel, though there is no demand at that price. The market for the new crop of cotton has not opened and the scarcity of “specie” or metal currency will, in Duncan’s opinion, affect the price. They have begun picking their cotton, but the bolls are small making it difficult to gather — even the best gatherers in their field can pick no more than 100 pounds per day.

In addition, the horses on the McKenzie farm are ailing. They are, “dwindling  away with some kind of distemper they look bad and lean and appear as though they were wind broken.” He is afraid some will be lost. They seemed fine in the spring. Though they are eating well, they appear, “lean as pharos cattle and getting constantly worse.” They also have a slight runny nose, a dry cough, and shortness of breath. Usually with distempers, according to Duncan, “a swelling or breaking under the throat,” occurs, but this seems absent. 

Since land is measured differently in North Carolina — in “chains and rods” — Duncan goes to great lengths to describe the more simplified Northwest Ordinance type measurement of land used in the western states:

All the lands in this

state are so near as can be consistently done laid off in plats

of 640 acres, the country was first laid off north & south by

parallel lines 6 miles apart those are calld range lines & counting

East & west from some given point those Ranges are then laid off

by lines East & west 6 miles a part & counting from some

given point north.” — Duncan McKenzie

He continues by giving more specific measurements of his own land and even draws a map showing the location of his land in relationship to others. It is a township map marked off in sections. The 16th section is always reserved land for schools or educational use. Duncan McKenzie’s description follows:

“The number of this tract is the north half

of Section 18 the west half of So East quarter the So west 1/4 of So West 1/4

and the So East 1/4 of South W 1/4 of Section 18 of Township 8 of Range 18 west.

I will enclose the map of the Township with its number & c.”— Duncan McKenzie

Duncan sends the map with an explanation, which I have decided to include here in its entirety.

You will find our land markd DMK in Township 9 and sections

31 and 32 and in Township 8 and section 18 markd

Wiley Johnson in the plat of 320 acres and markd WJ in each of

the other plots of 80 & of 40 acres – This plot is drawn in the

night and I must confess that my Eyes are growing dim yet

not with Standing this plot is correct so far as it is markd

my pen is blunt and I cant See to mend it – DW McKenzie

To DMcLaurin

PS The lot of 40 acres markd KMcK is not granted by government

nor is the money paid for it tho Kenneth has laid pre emption on it

by enclosing and cultivating Some perhaps 20 or 25 acres of it

which under the present act of Congress will Save it for

two years when if there be no application made for it he

will renew his preemption & so on till an application be made

by an other then he has choise enter it or abandon it to the

purchase of the applicant – many persons here have per

Sued the above described plan and have never entered a foot

tho Settled here for many years — Duncan McKenzie

17 September 1842: Duncan reports the rain is so heavy that few are stirring from their homes. This heavy rain has made the cotton dirty despite careful picking. The price of cotton is expected to remain low. They have had a light gathering of corn, though it will be sufficient. On the other hand, the rain will help some of their vegetables, “pease and potatoes also turnips or other fall vegitables.”

9 December 1842: By December, the McKenzies have still not gathered all of their cotton and don’t expect to at this point. Duncan describes an unpicked field after wind and rain, “has beat a vast quantity of it out of the bowls till the field looks as white as tho a shower of snow had fallen.” Much of the cotton on neighboring farms is still in the fields. Generally, crops appear to be “abundant,” except in a few places. The past week’s price of corn is around 18 3/4 cents per Bushel. Good quality cotton, he says, is selling in New Orleans at 6 and 1/2 cents and “inferior” is selling at 3 1/2 to 4 cents.

The 1843 Season

6 June 1843: The “commission merchant” charged with selling Duncan McKenzie’s cotton in New Orleans apparently sold too soon according to McKenzie, “so soon as he was enabled to get 5 1/4 for it he let 21 bales, being all he had in his hands, drop.” However, he worries that the rest of it may not sell as well. This would be, obviously, not the crop he has in the fields this June of 1843.

A particularly harmful rainstorm on the 23rd of April 1843 threatened bottomland, “rolling and bottom lands suffered immensely, soils, crops, and fences in many places were swept,, of by the flood.” Most of McKenzie’s crop this season was planted on level upland, so they did not suffer as much damage. However, of the sixty acres of wheat they did plant in bottomland, they were able to cut some acres of it, around “16 bundles.” Where the water drained off right away the crop was saved. After the rain, the saturated ground “completely hardened.” They have been able to plow the corn a second time since the rain, and the cotton has been, “scraped, thind,, and plowd,,.” They are now in June wishing for rain.

The nearby mills in the area also suffered during the storm with some being completely washed away, leaving a dearth of grain in the area. Meal is “scarce tho corn is plenty.” The family has been enjoying their potatoes more since the shortage of grain.

He ends this letter hopeful that the indications of rain will end the dry streak. They have also decided that they would add “a thrasher to the gin which will probably go into operation this season.”

6 August 1843: After reporting illnesses and deaths of nearby friends and family, Duncan describes the crop as they approach the harvest: “we have at least an average cron crop the cotton is not to be boasted of it having been injured by over much rain.” In describing the cotton, he contends, “the weed is verry large and limbs long & far between joints in fact it is growing out of all reason the most of it being over head high.”

They have evidently rethought adding the “thrasher” to the current gin and have decided to construct a new gin nearer their fields. They are currently “engaged in getting boards to cover a gin house.” He describes the present gin as 34 feet wide by 50 in length. They hope to add ten feet to the length of it so that they can include the “thrasher.”

According to John Hebron Moore, the cost of a gin had dropped after 1837 — in the Natchez district by half, largely due to manufactured parts from the North. Farmers were recognizing the advantage of maintaining several machines under the gin house, decreasing the need for multiple teams of horses to power them. The McKenzie gin was much smaller than the “forty by sixty” foot gins found on large plantations, though he hopes to increase the length to sixty feet to include his “thrasher.” Clearly, Duncan McKenzie is aware of current agricultural improvements and is thoughtful about improving the productivity of his land. Most of his information probably came from reading general newspapers carrying agricultural news and borrowing the few costly agricultural periodicals that were being published in the state.

23 September 1843: By the end of September the weather has been dry enough that the cotton, “is opening fast,” but only a small portion has been gathered due to their effort to hew and haul timbers for the new gin. He laments the “trash” being the only ones available to work in gathering the cotton, and they must be “watched.” It is unclear to whom he is referring as “trash.” It may be that he has had to hire and pay workers to stand in for the slaves, who are helping with the gin timbers. Duncan has a particular disdain for “Hirelings.” However, when it comes time to “raise” the gin house, he has volunteers including “15 of our white & black neighbors.” Of course the black neighbors would be enslaved people of his neighbors (see “Penning His Stories” in this blog).

This letter ends with delineating prices: “Cotton the new crop is Selling from 7 to 9 cents. the old cotton is worth from 5 to 7 corn from 18 3/4 to 25 cents pork from 3 to 3 1/2 cents Beef from 2 to 2 1/2 cents &c.”

The 1844 Season

10 February 1844: This letter brings us to the harvest a year later. Evidently, letters describing the planting and growing seasons did not survive, though likely they were written. This harvest has been particularly good for the “20 acres” they grew of cotton. The 12 bales that were harvested were heavier than usual at around 500 pounds. Hugh, the family waggoner, has hauled cotton to market in Covington, Louisiana and was gone four weeks. Waggoning was a time consuming, difficult, and sometimes hazardous undertaking over primitive roads that could be rendered impassable with a single heavy rain. Since then he has taken two loads and started with the third. Six of the bales were sold in December at eight cents. Just as a matter of interest, in 1894 according to the monthly journal, The Southern Cultivator and Dixie Farmer, a farmer would have paid two cents per bale of cotton to haul it by wagon to the gin or to market.

In February Duncan reports that the weather had been dry and pleasantly cool, but for the last few days the north wind has been blowing making the mornings much colder. Duncan has been working on the new gin house that he touts as the largest on which he has ever worked. The rafters are 23 feet, “from heel to shoulder.” He brags that it is a “splendid thing” as good as any in the neighborhood.

While Kenneth and Dunk have been working with others at cleaning the ground for plowing, Barbara has been inspecting the pork they have hung. They killed thirty hogs ten at a time in three different killings, “Barbara says she thinks it is all safe.” The number of hogs killed will make up for their being smaller than usual. They sold some at 4 cents with the average weight at 150 pounds. He ends by quoting the latest New Orleans prices on the worth of their cotton. Eight to twelve cents per pound is the current rate, “but we never get the highest market for ours … our best is never more than 2nd quality it rates about 11 our 2nd 10 cents &c.”

5 May 1844: Once again the budworm has attacked the corn in the “low places.” In addition a period of drought, about six weeks, has prevented the cotton coming up. However, the corn, “looks tolerably well” in general. Rain or not, they will begin planting the cotton in a day or two.

20 August 1844: They have evidently had some scattered rain, for the crops at the “old place” have not been as affected by the drought as at the “new place.” He also mentions some neighbors’ crops being affected by too much rain. This season of cropping as he describes it has been a kind for which he has, “no recollection of so unfavorable season.” The newspapers, on the other hand, report that “all species of crops & vegitables were forward.” In the end he predicts there will be a “great falling off from the usual quantity on the average.”

The 1845 Season

3 March 1845: Disheartened by making so little off of last season’s hard work, Duncan considered selling his property. However, upon considering all of the hard work his sons had done since they were quite young, Duncan decided against selling. Before they begin the new planting, they must take care of the cotton they have probably held over from the previous season: “Hugh, Dunk, Allan and the rest of us were busily engaged in getting off and ginning the cotton.” This was all accomplished by the 8th February, when they began preparation for the new crop. This growing season they will not plant any cotton, but will rely on corn. The winter was warm and dry, though the spring rain has begun as expected. Farmers in the state generally had relied less upon their cotton crop after 1837 brought a significant drop in prices.

25 April 1845: The McKenzies are a little behind their neighbors in plowing over the corn, because corn will be their main crop this season. They will also grow “potatoes &c.” The absence of sons Kenneth and Dunk to help them prepare the fields has been a factor in deciding against cotton this season. They are still planting on the new place, though Duncan says he had intended to go back to the old place for this season. Evidently, he has decided to remain at the new place despite the fact that the old fields are, “going out of order every year that passes.” This season corn is in demand at 50 to 75 cents per bushel. In addition he says that Barbara, “has as much milk and butter as we can use tho there are only eleven sucklers and most of the calves young.” He ends his April letter in good spirits, “I never have seen the earth so beautifully clothed with grass so early in the season.” One of the moments that Duncan reveals an attachment to the land itself that earlier speculating farmers in the state before 1837 had apparently not felt. They were capable of clearing the land of its trees, depleting its nutrients, selling out, and leaving for another piece of property all in the interest of making money. Speculators could not make money as easily after President Jackson’s Specie Circular. On the upside, farmers were enabled to purchase land at lower prices from the government than they had enjoyed under speculation. Duncan was lucky in his caution not to have been deeply in debt for his property in 1837, as many who were could not pay off their debt with scarce specie. These lost their farms and many left for Texas fleeing their creditors.

5 July 1845: During this growing season Duncan welcomes the rain, which is good for the corn. If he were growing cotton, however, he might worry a little about so much rain this season, “our neighbors are complaining of the wet weather and grass in their cotton, but I like to see rain corn & potatoes will bear a good deal of it at this season of the year.

Duncan laments the waste of good manure. He marvels that they do not make more use of the the farm animal manure to fertilize their crops:  “there is a waste of land manure forage and in fact of almost every thing that you would call precious, I have thot frequently that if we would save our cow manure as careful as we could it would be a source of wealth but the reverse is the case.” Duncan was one of those farmers who read the agricultural news and became more thoughtful about the management of his resources. The Southwestern Farmer from Raymond, MS may have been one of the sources of agricultural news that Duncan came across.

2 November 1845: In the fall Duncan laments that the harvest has not been as fruitful as he had hoped. They have gathered “about 2,000 bushels of corn. Their set price is 62 1/2 cents per bushel, though they may not get more than 50 cents. They have not yet begun digging the potatoes but will begin the next day. The pea crop has mostly been helpful to the hogs.

The 1846 Season

January 1846: The winter of 1846 in Mississippi is colder than usual – “extreme cold … sleets rains and freezes have been constant the ice on standing water will bear a mans weight which is uncommon for this section.” After the short crop of 1845, Duncan worries that “both man and beast” will suffer,” if the unusual weather continues. His consolation is that the states of Tennessee, Kentucky Ohio, and Illinois appear to have produced a bumper crop of grain. Arkansas and Missouri crops have been average. Mississippi’s crop was, “something short in corn & far short in cotton.” Pork, on the other hand, is bringing high prices in what to Duncan is the “northwest,” meaning Cincinnati and Nashville, where he says Boston and New York agents are buying pork to supply the European market. This is further evidence that raising pork is more than a subsistence endeavor on his farm. Pork for Mississippians was almost free of production and labor costs. During the 1840s, a few farmers who specialized in livestock or were well off enough to take the risk, experimented with new breeds.

The McKenzies grew no cotton in 1845 and concentrated on their corn crop, which he describes with some disappointment. It seems he expected to sell his corn as usual for cash thinking those who grew mostly cotton would demand more corn. This appears to have been a miscalculation. He says “we will keep our corn else get money for it, we have sold some at 62 1/2 cents.” It appears that Duncan enjoys feeding his stock generously when he can: “you know some thing about my extravagant manner of feeding hogs especially when the means could be in my power, it was ever my pride to see all my stock fat.” His stock includes, “8 head of horses 10 head of work ones together with 24 head of fattening hogs,” and he adds they “go deep in corn especially when it is plenty.”

Duncan concludes his January letter with an account of their winter work: “some 10 acres of new ground are cut down brush piled & 10 acres more on the stocks.” They have also split and begun hauling fence rails.

16 June 1846: On a happy note the small grain crops in the neighborhood are doing well, though Duncan’s only small grain crop is oats. Wet weather has made the crops of corn and cotton look, “remarkably bad, being over run with grass.” Though the weather appears to be improving, he worries that a drought following the wet weather would be, “equally injurious.”

24 August 1846: The wet weather continues to plague the crops that seem not to have recovered, “Cotton weed is very large and sappy a bad omen for a good crop and with all the army worm has attacked many farms in the neighborhood.” One of those Covington county farms is that of Judge Daniel McLaurin. The worms were discovered, “last Tuesday … since which time they have spread themselves over many of the Dry Creek farms laying everything bear as they go.” On his own farm they appear to have lost their fodder and worry that the worm will attack the “newground fodder” not yet ripened, probable evidence that two crops of corn were planted on the McKenzie farm.

Duncan regrets losing one of his oxen, a “good old servant … one of the first yoke we broke in the country.” He was once offered 120 dollars for the yoke, but he couldn’t do without them, saying they were the best he had ever seen and would not have let them go even if he had been offered more: “the remaining one is moping about in search of his mate lowing about most pitifully.” These words reveal a man of some empathy.

In February of 1847 Duncan McKenzie’s life ended, having produced his last crop and having done all that he could in life.

The 1847 Season

29 April 1847: This letter is written by Kenneth McKenzie after the death of his father, Duncan McKenzie. Kenneth writes this passage about the crops not just because his Uncle Duncan McLaurin would be interested but also to reassure him that the family is carrying on with business in the face of loss. They have planted, “55 or 60 acres in corn, and 50 in cotton tho land is good … We have 30 acres in oats … 5 acres in wheat.” The season, however, has begun dry, so he mentions the need for rain, particularly in cotton and wheat. They are finished planting everything except peas. The cotton has been planted two weeks, but it awaits rain. They have finished ploughing corn the first time and have begun the second.

17 September 1847: The harvest has been generally productive, and Kenneth says, “we will make a fine pile of cash,” since cotton is selling at 15 cents in Jackson. However, he also mentions a “kind of insect resembling a flea,” which is boring holes in the young bolls of cotton. It is spoiling the “late cotton.” They have picked three “verry thick” bales already and estimate that one or two more will be gathered, though they will not likely get a full fifth.  Judge Daniel McLaurin told Kenneth that he would not make any more cotton this year than he made the year before. Kenneth reports that others are, “complaining of their cotton.” Kenneth describes the McKenzie crop of corn as, “good as I have ever seen anywhere.”

16 December 1847: Apparently the continuance of the Mexican War will keep the price of pork up: “If the mexican war lasts and we have luck we will have some of the needful for sale at a high price, otherwise we live luxuriously and give the overplus to those that will not make for themselves.” Kenneth reports that they have, “25 fattening hogs, about 50 pigs, about 30 year old shoats, and 7 old sows.” On the downside, they are in need of purchasing a horse or mule for their next crop, and the price of horses is very high.

14 October 1848: About a year later, the family is putting up 28 fattening hogs with one more, “to put up or kill in the woods.” They have about 15 bales of cotton and 30 acres of corn, about 500 bushels. Peas did not thrive on that particular piece of land, but they have forty acres more that are better. Five cents is offered for cotton in New Orleans.

The 1848 Season

11 December 1848: Once again Kenneth’s mind in December is on the hogs. They have “I think 20,000 pounds of pork this year … 13 hogs which will make near 3000 we have 16 or 17 of smaller size.” He adds that they are only getting 3 1/2 cents for their pork, and they still have corn to sell. Crops in general produced well in “all the variety of vegetation which was committed to the soil has grown and yielded in abundance.”

Kenneth also reports of the desire in the community to build a textile mill or “cotton factory” on Bouie Creek: “The conclusion is to run 1000 spindles 15 looms and employ 50 hands to build the establishment for which purpose a capital of $17,00 is now assigned.” Six thousand dollars has been offered by “a citizen of Jackson.” He says it will begin operations in the coming year or, “vanish as an idle dream.” It most dramatically proved to be an “idle dream.” In 1848 Choctaw County, MS was in the process of actually building a “cotton factory.” States such as Georgia were making a profit off of their manufacturing in states along the Mississippi River. This likely encouraged Mississippians to consider building. Bouie Creek, presumably, would have been a poor place to build. Today the creek does not flow swiftly enough for a 19th century factory’s needs, but perhaps it did then. Undoubtedly, it would have required the building of dams.

The 1849 Season

19 July 1849: This growing season has produced a promising corn crop and the cotton, according to Kenneth, “at a distance appears promising.” However, up close it does not appear to have many blooms. A late freeze in the spring ruined the wheat and other crops. The river bottom crops were an entire failure, “from inundation.” In New Orleans he says the water, “has stood to the depths of 9 feet.”

14 September 1849: The army worm and the boll worm, termed “the Van Buren bug” when it first made its appearance some years previous, have taken their toll on cotton this season. The boll worm Kenneth describes as a, “large green worm,” that has, “nearly taken the making cotton I have seen buried themselves in balls half open.” Despite the worm, he says, cotton is selling in Jackson at 15 cents. Nevertheless, their crop will fall short, “at least 2/3 or more.” He quips, “they (the cotton) will make plenty to eat whether they will make anything to wear.” At this point they have picked about a bale of cotton and one hundred bushels off of 30 acres of corn, which is a disappointing crop.

______________________________

The McKenzies would continue to farm their land in Covington county for the better part of the next decade. After Barbara’s death in 1855, her sons begin to marry and start their own families. Daniel marries Sarah Blackwell of Smith County and purchases his own property. He encourages his brothers to leave Covington county and begin farming in Smith county. They purchase property along the Leaf River. The brothers apparently continue to help one another, though Duncan appears to become the major farmer. His brothers maintain an active interest, but Allen practices the saddler business and Hugh becomes a merchant. Daniel is a practicing physician. By the end of the next decade Kenneth becomes somewhat estranged from his family. John, the youngest, marries Susan Duckworth, whose sisters Martha and Sarah will also marry McKenzies, Duncan and Hugh respectively.

Sources:

Duncan McKenzie’s map of property in Covington county, MS sent to Duncan McLaurin in Richmond County, NC about 1841. Boxes 1 and 2. Duncan McLaurin papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

“Baden Corn For Sale.” The Southern Sun. Jackson, MS. 25 February 1840, Tuesday. 3. Accessed 06 September 2018. <newspapers.com>

“Dreadful Visitation of Providence.” Lexington Union. 23 May 1840, Saturday. 2. from the Natchez Free Trader. Accessed 11 September 2018. <newspapers.com>

Emerson, Gouverneur of Pennsylvania. American Farmer’s Encyclopedia: Being a Complete Guide For the Cultivation of Every Variety of Garden and Field Crops. “Gossypium.” A. O. Moore, Agricultural Book Publisher: New York. 1858. 545-563.

“Good Investment of Charity Funds.” Mississippi Free Trader. 11 June 1840, Thursday. 1. Accessed 02 September 2018. <newspapers.com

>

Land plat showing Hugh McLaurin Richmond county, NC property. 16 March 1814. Legal Papers. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 19 February 1840. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 26 April 1840. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 4 July 1840. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from John Patrick Stewart to Duncan McLaurin. 30 July 1840. Box 1. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 26 September 1840. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 24 December 1840. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 22 March 1841. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 15 June 1841. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 8 September 1841. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 26 October 1841. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 31 January 1842. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 20 June 1842. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 24 July 1842. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 29 August 1842. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 17 September 1842. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 9 December 1842. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 6 June 1843. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 6 August 1843. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 23 September 1843. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 10 February 1844. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 5 May 1844. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 20 August 1844. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 3 March 1845. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 25 April 1845. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 5 July 1845. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 2 November 1845. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. January 1846. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 16 June 1846. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Duncan McKenzie to Duncan McLaurin. 24 August 1846. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Kenneth McKenzie to his Uncle Duncan McLaurin. 29 April 1847. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Daniel McKenzie to his Uncle Duncan McLaurin. May 1847. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Kenneth McKenzie to his Uncle Duncan McLaurin. 17 September 1847. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Kenneth McKenzie to his Uncle Duncan McLaurin. 16 December 1847. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Kenneth McKenzie to his Uncle Duncan McLaurin. 14 October 1848. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Kenneth McKenzie to his Uncle Duncan McLaurin. 11 December 1848. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Kenneth McKenzie to his Uncle Duncan McLaurin. 29 July 1849. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Letter from Kenneth McKenzie to his Uncle Duncan McLaurin. 14 September 1849. Boxes 1 & 2. Duncan McLaurin Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Duke University.

Lloyd, James. “Destructive and Fatal Tornado at Natchez.” Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory, and Disasters on the Western Waters. D. B. Cooke & Co: Chicago. 1856.140-142. Accessed at < https://archive.org/details/lloydssteamboatd00lloy&gt; 11 September 2017.

“Lost Children.” The Natchez Daily Courier. 28 July 1840, Tuesday. 3. Accessed 02 September 2018. <newspapers.com>

Moore, John Hebron. Agriculture in Ante-Bellum Mississippi. The University of South Carolina Press: Columbia. 1958. 30 – 34, 47-50, 63 -78, 91.

“The Number of Killed and Missing.” Mississippi Free Trader. Natchez, MS. 21 May 1840, Thursday. 1. Accessed 02 September 2018. <newspapers.com>

“Petit Gulf Cotton Seed.” The Mississippi Free Trader. Natchez. 01 July 1840, Wednesday. 4. Accessed 06 September 2018. <newspapers.com>

“The Steamer Hinds.” The Mississippi Free Trader. Natchez, MS. 23 May 1840, Saturday. 2. Accessed 02 September 2018. <newspapers.com.>

“Storm of Wind and Rain.” Mississippi Free Trader. 11 June 1840, Thursday. 1. Accessed 02 September 2018. <newspapers.com>

“Tornado Damage.” Mississippi Free Trader. Natchez, MS. 14 May 1840, Thursday. 2. Accessed 02 September 2018. <newspapers.com>

“Twin or Okra Cotton Seed.” South-Western Farmer. Raymond, MS. 11 February 1840, Tuesday. 4. Accessed 06 September 2018. <newspapers.com>

Quaintance, A. L. The Cotton Bollworm: An Account of the Insect, With Results of Experiments in 1903. Government Printing Office: Washington. 1904. 191.

“Weather Table: The Natchez Tornado, 7th May, 1840.” The Natchez Daily Courier. Natchez, MS. 29 June 1840, Monday. 1. Accessed 02 September 2018. <newspapers.com>