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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| "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:
----The Tree Gardener
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