The Valley of the Shadow

 

Augusta County: High Bell Precincts in the 1860 Presidential Election


Bell districts were poorer than the county average. They held slaves in the same proportion as the county average, but their overall household wealth fell significantly below average. They devoted much more of the crop production to corn.
Precinct n % for Bell Mean Household Wealth Median Household Wealth (in dollars) Mean Farm Value (in dollars) Median Farm Value (in dollars) Corn as a percent of Total Grain Wheat as a percent of Total Grain Percent of Households with Slaves
County Average 2886 66.0 12,416 5,791 8,521 5,360 57% 23% 26%
Churchville 170 86.1 10,399 5,261 6,925 3,925 68% 18% 20%
Deerfield 85 90.1 7,592 2.949 3,152 2,000 67% 10% 24%
Craigsville 85 83.5 6,501 4,807 4,541 3,900 71% 11% 29%



The data are based on the GIS of Augusta and Franklin households--maps are derived from a D. H. Davison map of Franklin County, published in 1858, and Jedediah Hotchkiss map of Augusta County, published in 1870 and based on surveys completed "during the war." The maps have been georeferenced at the Virginia Center for Digital History, using ESRI Arc Info to produce a Geographic Information Systems map and database of households based on U. S. census data from the population, agricultural, and slaveowners schedules.
Note: Original precinct boundaries are not available. Precinct boundaries were established in the GIS using Thiessen polygons around precinct stations as central places.

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