I'm Proud to be a Sharecropper's Son!

I recently watched a documentary from a friend that described  "Sharecropping" as the "not so distant cousin of slavery." Truth be told in a way it was. The documentary was focused on the post Civil War era and its impact on the freed slaves. However, it did not present itself as that. Instead, it had an underlying theme that Sharecropping was limited to the decedents of slaves in the South. I suspect that was intentional and inadequate and not true

Sharecropping was not exclusively an African American experience. Sharecropping and its first cousin "Tenant Farming" were not exclusively a racial institution. More accurately it was a poor man's means of farming and a hard way to survive. Tenant farmers were usually a little better off than the sharecropper. They actually owned their mules and tools whereas the Sharecropper did not so they had an opportunity to advance. 

It is true that many "blacks" were sharecroppers but it is also true that many "whites" were too. It is also true that this system of farming petty much perpetuated the cycle of poverty for both groups.  For whites it began pretty much during the antebellum period in the South and became a way of life for former slaves after the Civil War. In each case, Sharecropper or Tenant farmer, the land holder usually provided the land and capital for the crop planting, tools and stock needed to put in a crop. The "Sharecropper" and his family provided the labor and they shared the profit based on a very one-sided agreement. 

When the crop came in the land owner paid to have the cotton ginned (usually on the half for the seed that went into the next year's crop), any advances made to the sharecropper and sent to market. What was left was then divided between the land owner and the sharecropper based on an agreed upon formula. In Mississippi this was typically 5/6 of the cotton crop to the land owner and 1/6 the sharecropper and if he grew corn he kept 5/6 and the land owner got 1/6. It also meant that come "settle-up day" the Sharecropper hand little if any cash. On average probably something like $100 to $200 for the year. 

How do I know this you might ask. Well, I know this because my family was all three at one time or another. In fact this cycle was not broken until WWII. I have a lot of good evidence to say that my family came to the North American Continent prior to 1749. I mention that to note that we have been a part of, as President Trump might say, "making America Great since before there was a United States of America. 

The first Appleby farm was purchased in 1749 in Orange County, Virginia and was

expanded to include land in Cumberland County. From Virginia. as our family grew, it became a part of the westward migration receiving land grants in Kentucky (in that day it was a part of Virginia) and later Missouri. It was there that my fourth great grandfather in 1815 married Polly Flowers in Creelsboro, Kentucky and shortly thereafter they made their way to Missouri. My fourth great grandfather, Robert Appleby arrived in what would later become the Poplar Bluff Missouri area prior to 1819. He and his wife Polly settled along Cane Creek and several other families (Kittrell, Eudaley, Scott and the Epps). Over time Robert and his son Charles (born abt. 1819-20) managed to gain title to a large section of land between Cane and Black Creeks. 

Charles, who became a land surveyor added a great deal of acreage by surveying on the halves. Charles became a prominent figure in what became Butler County serving in a number of public roles. In short, he was a land owner of considerable means. Note: He was a slave holder but seeing the handwriting on the wall he sold all his slaves in the 1850's and instead of slaves he hired Indians to work his fields. The local Indians worked hard and provided their own housing and food. It was in 1852 that my Great Grandfather Robert was born. Unfortunately, Charles' wife, Rebecca, died giving birth to Robert. Charles blamed Robert for Rebecca's death. So as a lad he left home with an uncles to settle in Texas. 

Though his father was a wealthy land owner in Missouri when Robert left home he did so with only the clothes on his back. In Texas Robert became a poor sharecrop cotton farmer. He was so poor that when he and Martha McGehee married in 1877 they lived in a one room cabin with a dirt floor and had a quilt over hay as a bed. They were what you would call "dirt poor." 

The land they worked ranged from hard-scrabble ground to rich North East Texas soil. The work was hard, the days were long and the rewards were few. But it generally served to bind families together

I am not trying to give a detailed summary of my family history. That will come in a book I am writing for my children. Here I just wanted to take issue with the perception that only African Americans were sharecroppers. An awful lot of non-blacks were share cropping prior to the Civil war and my family was one of them.

Sharecrop Farmers have my respect because they were generally hard working people who had a deep and abiding faith in God and were honest in their dealings with other. These same qualities earned them the respect of their neighbors. I am proud to be a Sharecrop farmer's son, grandson, great-grandson and I proudly stand on their shoulder. 

I give this summary to say that I am proud of my heritage. My immediate forefathers were poor by any standard used to measure poverty. But they worked hard, were committed Christians, known for their integrity, were fiercely loyal and generous in every place where they lived. More importantly they passed it down to their children. I am proud that I stand on the shoulders of these people who laid it all on the line for their families and though I haven't mentioned it for their country as well. (Our family has fought in every major war beginning with service in the Continental Army in Virginia. This is followed by service in the French and Indian War, the Civil War, World War II, Korea, Vietnam and Iraq.)