Dennis Bearden Family: Sharecropping and Labor in Lumber and Turpentine Part 2

 Mississippi, along with Georgia, Florida, and the Carolinas, was part of the “pine belt” with vast longleaf pine forests. Turpentine was harvested from pine trees by cutting into the lower part of the tree (boxing) and removing the bark. "V" shaped cuts into the tree (catfacing) to the inner wood of the tree caused the gum resin to flow from the tree and be collected into a container.

By Dorothea Lange - This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID fsa.8b29660.This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3396695

 The resin was then distilled. Turpentine and its byproduct, rosin, were made from the distilled gum resin of the pine tree. Tar and pitch were created by burning pine resin. A tupentine worker's day started at sunrise after receiving breakfast from the commissary store ending at sunset.  The expression "can't to can't"; can't see in the morning to can't see at night describes the work day.  The worker was usually Black and the foreman was White. The labor was harsh—chipping trees in the heat, hauling heavy barrels of resin, and enduring smoke and fumes at the still.  Because the resin was sticky, it clung to the shoes and even bare feet. The term "tar heel" originated from North Carolina barefoot workers who would get tar on their heels.

Turpentine and byproducts were considered a lucrative product. In 1909, the turpentine and rosin industry in the USA employed 44,524 individuals with 39,511 being wage earners.  "The value of products was $25,295,017; and the cost of materials, however, was $4,910,838 or 19.4 per cent of the value of products the value of manufacture being $20,384,179."

Turpentine, a key product of the naval stores industry, was historically used to seal wooden ships as early as colonial times. Beyond shipbuilding, it served as a solvent, paint thinner, and cleaning agent. Folk traditions also regarded turpentine as a remedy for ailments such as intestinal parasites, muscle pain, and infections due to its antiseptic qualities. Today, however, it is recognized as highly toxic and unsafe for ingestion, with potentially fatal effects.

 I was unable to find specific wages of the Mississippi turpentine worker in the early 1900s. Slave labor was used for production before the Civil War. A Florida turpentine worker's salary was $15 to $25 a month.  Payment for workers in lumber and turpentine camps was usually in the form of script or tokens, which could only be used at the company store. Non-farm workers nationwide at that time made $44-45 a month. The company store provided the workers with essential goods and they were given credit. The worker was many times unable to pay his debt for received credit. Workers could become indebted through credit from the company stores to cover their living expenses. This created a peonage system of debt servitude, which was against the law.

 Charles Bearden was the son of Dennis and Charity. Charles Bearden (Charles Beard) married Harriet (Harriet Stachie) on December 26, 1883.

Pike County, Mississippi December 26, 1883 File 0041806 Book A Page 270

Charles was enumerated as a wage earner in the 1910 Federal Census in Marion County at the Turpentine Plant with over 250 men.   This census record supports that the Enoch family was the probable established owner of the Turpentine Plant in Kokomo before 1912. The entire census of workers who were Black African American provided limited information.

"United States, Census, 1910", Marion County, Mississippi 3, SD 6 ED 106  sheet 27B for Chas Bearden

Transcribed 1910 Marion County Federal Census

 

Charles Bearden died in an accident, according to his granddaughter, before his father, Dennis Bearden passed in 1928.  I have been unable to locate his death certificate. 

Children of Lucius and Charles Bearden continued to work in the lumber industry.

 REFERENCE:

IPUMS: Turpentine and Rosin https://usa.ipums.usa

More information to come

----The Tree Gardener

Dennis Bearden Family: Sharecropping and Labor in Lumber and Turpentine Part 1

 In southern Mississippi, which included Pike County, agriculture and lumber became the backbone of the post-Civil War economy. Formerly enslaved people had to find ways to provide for their families. While a few were able to purchase or homestead land, many entered labor contracts that evolved into tenant farming and sharecropping. Dennis Bearden supported his family as a sharecropper in Pike County, Mississippi.  The presence of lumber companies and sawmills increased due to the abundant timber supply. For three of Dennis’s sons, Lucius, Charles, and Murray, survival meant finding work beyond the farm. His sons sought employment in the lumber and turpentine industries, which dominated the region. Lucius and Charles worked at the Fernwood Lumber Company.

One of the most influential was the Fernwood Lumber Company, incorporated in 1884 by the Enochs family. Under the leadership of Philip Henry Enochs and his brothers John Fletcher, Isaac Columbus (I. C.), and James Luther Enochs, the company established the town of Fernwood in Pike County. Fernwood was a company town where most of the businesses, housing, schools, and churches were developed or owned by the company. Fernwood Lumber offered employees non-transferable commissary coupons to purchase items at the company store. 

 The Enochs brothers built the first Methodist church in 1898 and a predominantly Black church in 1909. A separate "colored school" was built in 1913.   The company could control the workers' and their families' quality of life.  

Around 1912, the Enochs family organized the community of Kokomo in Marion County, where they established what was reportedly the largest turpentine distillery in the United States, along with commissaries that served both the logging camp and the distillery.

Lucius Bearden's age is uncertain. His birth predated the advent of birth certificates in 1912 in Mississippi. From various sources, his year of birth ranges from 1868 to 1878. 

Lucius was married to Lula Brown on December 21, 1899, in Pike County. At the time he married, his age was between 21 to 31 years old.

Pike County, Mississippi December 21, 1899  File # 0046708  Book "H" page 114

He was enumerated in the 1910 Federal Census in Pike County with his family. His employment was documented at the saw mill. He lived in rented housing. 

Lucius Bearden Pike County, Mississippi 1910 census transcribed

Lucius and Lula had five more children: Chester(1908), Edna Mae (1911), Rosa (1913), Augustine (1915), and Lillian (1919).

 In 1941, Philip Henry Enochs, Jr., took photographs of employees who worked at Fernwood Lumber Company at that time. A picture of Lucius Bearden was taken. 

 

Lucius Bearden 1941

Thanks to the Fernwood Foundation est. 1948 (https://fernwoodfoundation.org) for saving this valuable historical information

UPDATED 9/6/2025

More information to come

The Tree Gardener

Memorial Day 2025

  For many, Memorial Day is considered the first day of summer to celebrate with family gatherings, shopping, cookouts, and vacations. It is however a solemn day. Let us now hold each other close, forgetting grudges and disappointments within our family. 

Initially called Decoration Day after the Civil War as a day to decorate the graves of soldiers. Over time, this day evolved to  Memorial Day  established as a United States federal holiday to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice and died while serving in the military.  This day is also a day I have chosen to acknowledge and remember all non-military family members who have died.  I would like to recognize family members who have died from all causes from Memorial Day 2024 to the present. We will remember the smiling faces, and life lessons learned, and celebrate their lives.

NAME	DATE	LOCATION
Dolores Kelly	2/27/1977-9/1/2024	Katy, Texas
Darlene Washington	11/24/1953-9/29/2024	Houston, Texas
Alvin Brumfield	8/13/1945-2/27/2025	Lawton, Oklahoma

They are alive in the hearts that are left behind.

----The Tree Gardener

Dennis Bearden Part 4

Dennis and Delsie remained in Pike County. I have looked for the 1920 Federal census record but have not found the record that enumerated Dennis Bearden and his wife.  Dennis'  death certificate has been located. He died on April 27,1928 the recorded age was 100 and the cause of death was old age.  From prior census records, Dennis was 88 years old when he died. His employer was J A Wilkerson and he worked probably as a sharecropper farmer at the time of his death.  

The 1930 Federal census record that enumerated Delsie Bearden has not been found. 

The link to the 1940 Census

In the  April 3, 1940 Federal census, Delsie is enumerated with Rachel Sartin who was single and the head of household in a rented rural area in Lawrence County, Mississippi. Delsie Bearden a widow is not recorded as related to Rachel.  Rachel Sartin was enumerated with Dennis and Delsie in the 1910 Federal census as a widow "hired girl" with no children at 39 years old. The 1940 census provides unique information.  There is an "x" in a circle which identifies who gave the information to the enumerator census taker. Rachel provided the information.  The 1940 census also identified where individuals lived on April 1, 1935. Both Delsie and Rachel lived in the same location. The letter "R" was used to identify if individuals lived in a city of town with less than 2,500 people. There was no occupation or work history recorded for both of them and income was zero. 

Their ages were recorded Rachel 72 and Delsie 114 years old (actual 94) were old women living during the Great Depression. Delsie had adult living children who probably provided some financial help. Neither of these women received Social Security because it was not available for farmers at that time.

 Delsie Holmes Bearden died on April 19, 1940 in Jayess, Lawrence County, Mississippi just a few days after the census was taken.

More information to come.

----The Tree Gardener