The Civil War and Its Aftermath
The information above was copied from the Web site named Lawrence County Genealogical Society. The site was maintained by Kathy Niedergeses, but she has retired. We are unsure of the site’s future. Original Lawrence County TNGenWeb Coordinator Reita Jones Burress posted shared content with the LCGS site over the course of 27 years. Therefore, we decided to incorporate the content here. No copyright infringement is intended by providing this information for the benefit of researchers.
Source URL: http://home.lorettotel.net/~lcarchives/earlyhistlawco.htm
The Civil War took a tremendous toll on Lawrence County. The economy was at its lowest point. Many Lawrence Countians died fighting or of disease, while others simply did not return. Most of those who were not involved in the fighting, and the soldiers who returned, found they had suffered great losses. Both Union and Confederate Soldiers, or marauders, had confiscated their food supply and livestock, some homes were burned, and in some cases, a member of their family had been murdered.
Lawrence County did not have a vast amount of plantations. Most were simple farmers, merchants and tradesmen. However, there were a few large plantation owners who suffered great losses principally due to liberation of their slave labor, devaluation of money and other losses during the Civil War. Before the war and the establishment of the Federal money system, each bank issued their own money. Therefore, most Confederate money was totally worthless. According to the Nashville Weekly Press and Times of June 25, 1868, money values were as follows: $50.00 on Bank of West Tennessee worth only $15.00; $90.00 on Bank of Chattanooga worth $5.40; $20.00 on Union Bank of Georgia worth .80; $100.00 State Bank of South Carolina worth $3.00. Only money issued by Union Bank of Tennessee and Planters Bank of Tennessee was still worth face value.
In 1829, $34.23 of taxes was collected on 3,428 acres. Taxable property in 1859 was 377,817 acres valued at $1,110,431. Some taxable items included this year were 550 slaves, 119 town lots, seven mills, five yards (tan or livery), two distilleries, two forges, two tobacco factories, jewelry, household furniture and pianos. The totals for 1865 were 362,788 acres valued at $865,745, showing a large decrease in taxable property value between 1861-1865.
During this period, northerners (carpetbaggers) were sent to each state to make sure loyal union officials were elected and the courts were allowed to once again hold regular sessions. No deeds were recorded for the time period 1863-1867, and only a few in 1868. Lawrence Countians were busy restoring their towns, road, farms, schools, economy and their life. A whole new way of life had to be learned by families whose large farms were dependent upon slave labor. Many citizens were bankrupt and lost their homes or farms through foreclosure, while others were able to sell.
African Americans were also undergoing big changes in their lifestyle. Their transition from slavery to freedom was filled with difficulties. Even though they had been slaves, their homes, food and a few necessities had been provided by their owner. Now they must strive to make their own way by acquiring or renting property, build their homes and churches and provide for their families. They were still not accepted as equal by most southerners and organizations were formed to discourage their progress. Many left Lawrence County for other counties or states. Those that remained settled in various communities and either worked for their former owner for a fee, farmed the few acres they could purchase, found odd jobs using skills they learned during slavery, worked in mining or other small industries.
Updated 24 November 2012