The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 88, July 1984 - April, 1985 Page: 390
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
Because slaves were few in i86o, local historians have generally stated
that slavery was not very important. This statement simply is not true.
In the first place, a number of people in the county clearly anticipated
an increasingly larger role for slavery. Slavery was growing not only be-
cause new settlers were moving into the county and bringing their slaves,
but also because older settlers were increasing their slaveholdings.7
Second, slaves represented a tremendous amount of capital. In 186o,
518 of the 577 slaves listed in the census appeared on the tax roll and
were valued at $344,480 for tax purposes. They made up 45 percent of
the slaveholders' taxable wealth. Slaves constituted 21 percent of the
county's total tax base. Even in the days of limited government, few
communities could view the possible loss of 21 percent of their tax base
as a matter of small importance.8
Demographically, the slaveholders in the county resembled in many
ways their neighbors who did not own slaves. The 142 slaveholding
families in the county made up 14 percent of the 1,035 families resid-
ing there in 186o. With 830 individuals, they also represented 14 per-
cent of the total free population (6,053). Average family size for slave-
holders was the same as that for the county as a whole-about six
people in a family. As with the rest of the families in the county, slave-
holding families came predominantly from the South. The states that
would make up the Confederacy supplied 83 percent of Hunt County's
slaveholding families, with Tennessee leading the way (34 for 25 per-
cent). Only four slaveholders had come from the Northeast, with the
remainder from the southern border states and the Midwest.'
Most of the slaveholders listed their occupations as farming, but oc-
cupations were diverse within the group (see table 2). Many of the men
also had more than one occupation. For instance, M. H. Wright listed
his occupation on the census as merchant but was also a surveyor. In
fact, he began surveying land in the county and built up his holdings by
keeping a portion of the surveyed land as his fee. By 186o he could also
have called himself a farmer, since his 4,7oo-acre operation was valued
at $23,500. Other examples of persons with multiple occupations in-
7 Harrison, History of Greenville and Hunt County, 116, notes the small number of slaves and
slaveholders in the county and observes, "It can only be concluded that Hunt County voted to
secede as a matter of principle." Of the nineteen slaveholders on the 1850 tax rolls, seven ap-
peared, or members of their immediate famlhes appeared, on the 186o tax rolls. In 1850 these
families had owned eighteen slaves; in 186o they owned thirty-eight. In addition, twenty-three
other people found on the 1850 census schedule together held eighty slaves in 186o.
"United States Eighth Census (186o), Schedule 2: Slave Inhabitants (manuscript returns,
microfilm copy); Hunt County Tax Roll, 186o.
'Population of the United States in i86o, p. 481; Eighth Census (1860), Schedule 4" Productions
of Agriculture; "A Little History of Hunt County," Bowman Papers.390
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 88, July 1984 - April, 1985, periodical, 1984/1985; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101210/m1/456/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.