White Tenant Farmers

White Tenant Farmers. . , Living in a cramped tenant house like the Doncaster Dwelling (1829) and working with only primitive tools, white tenant farmers suffered from pestilence, adverse weather and volatile markets as they labored relentlessly to provide for their typically large families, then were forced to split their meager profits with wealthy faraway landowners in a system that persisted in agriculture in this region for several hundred years., The Doncaster Dwelling, a one-room house with a one-room addition, was the actual home of the last generation of white tenant farmers on a nearby 800 acre tract called Doncaster where white tenant families worked the soil for almost 175 years after tobacco farming ended., Doncaster was patented (first deeded) in 1673, but its early owners never resided there. Until 1844, a continuous chain of wealthy nonresident landowners included "the richest man in North America"., Andrew Collison (c. 1780 - 1839) was the tenant farmer in 1824, and with eight children, struggled mightily. He used biblical farming methods (e.g. treading animals separated wheat grains from straw); Hessian flies would devour an entire wheat crop; and, wheat prices dropped from $2.50 to 75¢ per bushel after 1819., For a variety of reasons, the era of extremely wealthy absentee landowners began to subside as the 19th century progressed. Doncaster was divided and sold beginning in 1844 to local independent farmers., [Sidebar:] , Tenant farming, which replaced the slave-based agricultural system used for tobacco, enabled farm laborers to rent ground from landowners for a percentage of crops (called crop rent) or cash payments (called cash rent). Terms of contracts varied, dependent on whether the laborer owned any equipment or purchased his own seed and supplies. Crop rent contracts generally required that one-fourth to one-third of crop be paid to the landlord. Sharecroppers, at the lowest rung of tenant farming lacked equipment and capital, which had to be provided by landlords. Thus, they received a smaller percentage of crops, typically 50%., [Timeline:] , 1830s: About 250-300 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (5 acres) of wheat with walking plow, brush harrow, hand broadcast of seed, sickle, and flail., 1840s: Factory-made agricultural machinery increases farmers' need for cash and encourages commercial farming., 1850s: About 75-90 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (2 ½ acres) of corn with walking plow, harrow, and hand planting.