Corsicana Daily Sun, Corsicana, Texas
September 1, 2007
Bill Young 9/2/07
Cattle business in Navarro County in 1860

By Bill Young

If you will remember I mentioned in last week’s article there were 50,400 
plus head of cattle listed on the 1860 agricultural census. According to the
Navarro County TxGenWeb site run by Ed Williams and Barbara Knox, Navarro 
County contains 697,000 acres of land. If we take this acreage figure and 
divide it by the total number cattle listed on the 1860 census, it computes 
out to be around 14 acres per cow. However, if we add in the 2,906 oxen, the 
880 mules, the 7,126 milk cows and 17,613 sheep, the amount of acreage per
animal decreases to just eight and three-quarters acres per animal. Next if 
we factor in the dense forested bottom land along the Trinity River, Richland 
and Chambers creeks and numerous other smaller tributaries, the acreage 
factor per animal might be down to possibly one or two acres. In other words, 
the entire county might have been saturated with grass-eating animals. This 
doesn’t even count the huge pig population but pigs usually dine on many 
things other than grass. Over the years I have heard from time to time most 
of our county land would be hard pressed to carry one cow per acre. If this 
was indeed the case in 1860, each farmer must have had to deal with a huge 
problem in trying to keep his or his neighbor’s cows out of the planted crops 
such as the wheat and corn.

I want to go ahead and list some of the smaller herd owners in case someone 
is researching his ancestors. Last week I stopped with the farmers who had 
700 or more cattle because I did not have space enough to mention one more 
person with 725 head. This was Henry Fullerton. Three people stated they had 
600 or more head. James B. Howell had 680 followed by James A. Farmer with 
650 head and Lerdy Covett with an even 600.

Four individuals stated they had 500 or more head of cattle. Alex Dixson from 
the Emhouse area had 588 followed by Samuel Bowman from the “ridge” with 540 
head. Then came Dr. George Washington Hill with 530 head and Elizabeth Pitman 
with 500. Six people had 400 or more head of cattle. J.H. New had 488 while 
two people were tied at 450, Jeremiah Melton and Nathan Hobbs. Three people 
reported they had an even 400 head. They were Washington Clary, Martha 
Barnett and E.H. Root. These names have appeared before near or at the top of 
several other categories.

Ten people stated they had 300 or more cattle in their herds. William Owen 
had 394, Alfred Linsy had 390, Martin Newman had 388, Edward Calhoon had 350 
followed by Zachariah Westbrook with 325 and David Brown with 320. Four 
people were tied at 300 — James C. Jones from the Eureka area, Caroline 
Hamilton from the Hester Grove area, J.H. Bean and finally J.G. Bishop. 
Please note there are a number of people who make these lists who I have not 
currently researched. Therefore, I cannot mention exactly where these 
individuals lived in Navarro County. On the other hand if I have found 
someone mentioned on a deed or listed in a cemetery, I can attest to the fact 
of where this person resided locally.

Now let’s take a look at some of the sheep owners living in Navarro County in 
1860. Even though I have always heard cows and sheep don’t mix, many of the 
cattle owners also had a flock of sheep. Wool for clothing was a very 
important necessity needed during the early years locally. Cotton was just 
beginning to be grown commercially during the 1850s and early 1860s and was 
not produced in large quantities locally until just prior to the Civil War. 
Since sheep were raised locally and the wool converted into clothing, I would
imagine everyone was extremely hot during the summer months.

On the 1860 agricultural census, 131 people stated they had sheep which means 
about one out of every four farmers raised sheep. I started off thinking 
anyone who had 100 or more sheep had a respectable flock. However, a few 
individuals far exceed what I was expecting. Dr. George Washington Hill, 
whose name is on the list of cattle owners, was at the top of the list of 
sheep owners. He stated he had 1,200 head of sheep. In second place was E.H. 
Root, another individual who was on the cattle list. He told the census taker 
he owned 1,100 head of sheep. Joseph Clayton was third with 1,062 head 
followed by Nancy Clayton with an even 1,000. Whether these two people are 
related is not known to me but I would guess they are somehow connected. Next 
on the list was H.P. Darlin with 800. I want to mention the fact the census 
taker spelled each person’s name his way whether the spelling was correct or 
not. My spell check wants to spell the name Darlin with the letter g on the 
end such as Darling. Next on the list is another cattle owner who also had 
mules and oxen. Britton Dawson stated he had 750 head of sheep in his flock. 
Two people were tied at 600 head of sheep: James C. Key and John Neil. Next 
on the list was Robert Hodge of Chatfield with 560 sheep followed by Edwin 
Garlic with 500. Theophilos Killian came in next with 460 head. Zachariah 
Westbrook, who was another person on the cattle list, stated he had 450 head 
while three individuals were tied at 400 apiece: Thomas Williams, J.R. 
Williamson and William Davidson. The Davidson Cemetery is located near the 
shoreline of the Chambers arm of the Richland-Chambers Reservoir. Next week 
we will take a look at a few other sheep owners.