Published: July 21, 2007 07:11 pm     print this story   email this story    comment on this story  

Bill Young - Several well-known land owners in 1860
By Bill Young

Many readers may have heard something about Roger Q. Mills. His plantation style house is still standing today on Second Avenue in Corsicana and is the law offices of Barbara Moe and Lowell Dunn. Mr. Mills definitely would not be referred to as farmer. There are a number of documents on file in the courthouse which indicate he was a lawyer. We also know he became a United States senator and the Mills Tariff Act was one piece of legislation he sponsored. I feel sure Mr. Mills would fall into a certain category of individuals who had some wealth and knew it might be smart to invest a portion of their money into land. Early on several people recognized the fact there is only so much land available so if you happened to have a little extra money or good credit, it might be wise to invest in some acreage. In turn if you bought land wisely at a reasonable price, you might be able to make a profit within a short time on your investment. Roger Q. Mills told the census taker in 1860 he owned four acres of improved land and I would imagine this is where his home was located on Second Avenue. Then he confided to the census taker he had 2,500 acres of unimproved land. I have found several deeds in the courthouse where Mr. Mills either bought a tract or sold one which indicated to me he did a little bit of land speculation on his own. Who knows, he may have traded some legal advice for one or more tracts. Another indication which I noticed gave some credence to Mr. Mills being a land speculator, the value he placed on his acreage. He valued all of his land at $5.19 per acre which is slightly higher than the average price used by most farmers.

Dr. George Washington Hill is another well known name. He lived in the western part of the county near the community of Spring Hill. He told the census taker he had 400 acres of improved land and 4,950 acres of unimproved land. Obviously he did farm some of his acreage since he had 400 acres of improved land. Dr. Hill placed a value of $3.18 per acre on his land. Just to the west of Dr. Hill was the home of William Ritchie. We have done some research on the Ritchie family because the land owner took the Ritchie family tombstones and threw them away. Then he proceeded to build a barn on top of the cemetery. Mr. Ritchie operated a stage stop on the old Corsicana to Waco road in the 1840s and also farmed several tracts of land. In the 1893 “Lone Star State, The History of Navarro, Freestone, Limestone, Henderson, Anderson and Leon Counties,” the book states Mr. Ritchie had a fine fruit orchard. When the census taker made his rounds in 1860, Mr. Ritchie stated he had 50 acres of improved land and 691 acres of unimproved land. While searching for the location of the Ritchie Family Cemetery, I have found other deeds dated to the 1860s where Mr. Ritchie purchased several other tracts next to the ones he already owned. In 1860, Mr. Ritchie valued his land at $4.03 per acre.

Just to the north of Mr. Ritchie was another fairly large land owner, Joseph L. Lawrence. The Lawrence Family Cemetery is located on the south bank overlooking Lake Navarro Mills. Descendants of Mr. Lawrence gave some land to several of the freed slaves after the Civil War which eventually became the farming community of Pelham. Much of Mr. Lawrence’s land was part of the floodplain of Richland Creek which is now covered by Lake Navarro Mills. Mr. Lawrence told the census taker he had 70 acres of improved acreage and 2,050 acres of unimproved land. He valued his land at $1.50 per acre which helps to show much of his land was subjected to periodical flooding by Richland Creek. David White owned land along and below Pisgah Ridge in the southwestern part of the county and one of the abstracts is in his name. A lot of his land might be fairly difficult to clear and cultivate due to the rock outcrops along the ridge and the rolling hills. However, some of his land was located along both sides of Pin Oak Creek above the confluence with Richland Creek which was relatively flat and suitable for cultivation. Mr. White reported he had 130 acres of improved land and 1,920 acres of unimproved land. He placed a higher value on his land for some unknown reason when he told the census taker his land was worth $7 per acre. I wish I could find out what the average cost of clearing an acre of land was in the 1850s. Then we might have a better understanding of why some individuals placed a higher value on their land while their neighbor quoted a much lower value.

R.N. White is another name found on a number of early Navarro County documents. For a number of years, Mr. White served as the county clerk for Navarro County. Here again was another person who bought land as an investment rather than to cultivate any acreage. Mr. White’s house was located on the corner of Fifth Avenue and North Main where the law offices of Dawson and Sodd are located. Back in the early days of Corsicana, the avenue known as Fifth Avenue was called White Street in honor of Mr. White. R.N. White told the census taker he had 15 acres of improved land and 4,985 acres of unimproved land for a grand total of 5,000 acres. He was very conservative when he valued his land at $2 per acre.

I will mention several more people who all lived around the community of Dresden. Jacob Hartzell listed 180 improved acres and 3,300 unimproved acres with a value of $2.87 per acre. One of his neighbors, Reece V. Morrell, stated he had 60 acres of improved land and 1,814 acres of unimproved land with a value of $3.52 cents per acre. Stroud Melton listed no improved acres and 4,346 unimproved acres with a value of $2.42 per acre while Ethan Melton listed 100 improved acres and 3,500 unimproved acres with a value of $3.27 per acre. The last one I want to mention is rather odd. W.S. Robertson told the census taker he had 37 improved acres and no unimproved land. He placed a value of $6,000 on his 37 acres which converts out to be about $162 per acre. I wonder if by accident the census taker forgot to list Mr. Robertson’s unimproved land?