Agricultural Census information for Amherst County, VA

The agricultural censuses of the nineteenth century were designed to capture information about farms. While these very somewhat from decade to decade, several features remain constant--size and acreage of a farm, how much was being farmed, how much wasn't, the farm's land value, value of machinery and tools, and the value of livestock. The indexes to these censuses do not contain all the information in the original census; rather, theses indexes identify the location of the information by supplying an easy reference to an alphabetical list of farmers and page numbers and/or district numbers. The Amherst County Museum has two published indexes that provide information from the 1850 and 1860 agricultural censesus. These are Virginia 1850 Agricultural Census, volume 1 (Accomack through Clarke counties); and Virginia 1860 Agricultural Census, volume 1 (Accomack through Charlotte counties), both by Linda L. Green and published by Willow Bend Books, 2006. These books provide the following information: farmer/owner's name, the acreage of improved land, the acreage of unimproved land, the cash value of the farm, the value of farm implements and machinery and the value of livestock. If one were to review the original censuses (available from the National Archives through microfilm), one could also glean information pertaining to the number of horses, dairy cows, mules, sheep, pigs, and how many bushels the farm produced of wheat, rye, corn, oats, potatoes, peas, barley and more. There is also information as to how many pounds of tobacco, butter, cheese, beeswax, honey are many more products. Orchard products and wine are also included. The list can seem endless, although not all farms had products in these categories.

The Amherst County Museum's research library has purchased the microfilm for the 1870 and 1880 agricultural censuses for Amherst County and volunteers have been creating an index to these. A full transcription is not possible with the limited resources of time, but the alphabetical listing of farmers and accompanying information as to their district and page number may prove useful for identifying the presence of a farmer in Amherst County and his or her district and nearest post office. For those researching on site the microfilm is available for gathering more information, and the microfilm can be available from National Archives as well. The website for National Archives indicates that this microfilm can be viewed at their locations in Denver, Atlanta and Philadelphia also. The Record Group number is 29; the publication number of the microfilm is T1132. (The official title is Nonpopulation Census Schedules for Virginia, 1850-1880. The 1870 Agricultural Census is on reel 11 and the 1880 is on reel 20.

PLEASE NOTE: These indexes are large PDF files. The length of time required to download will depend on the speed of your connection. It may take a minute or even two if your do not have a fast connection.

To download the index to the 1870 Agricultural Census for Amherst County, click here.

To download the index to the 1880 Agricultural Census for Amherst County, click here.