Caswell County, North Carolina, Tobacco History: Collectivism Among Buyers, Sellers, and Manufacturers

Caswell County, North Carolina, Tobacco History

Over the years Caswell County tobacco farmers had to deal with tobacco warehouse trusts, experimented with collectivism, and saw manufacturer trusts control the end product. Here we will explore part of that history.

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Tobacco Warehouse Trust (said to have been formed in Danville, Va., comprising eight warehouses. Common Stock: $1,000,000. Source: Chicago Daily News Almanac For 1900, p. 74.

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"Yanceyville News: The farmers of Caswell County had an anti-trust meeting in the court house in Yanceyville on Monday, the 3rd day of July [1899]. Mr. T. H. McCrary was called to the chair and Mr. R. S. Mitchell was elected secretary. Mr. Thos. L. Lea made a motion that the chair appoint three committeemen to draw up resolutions against the warehouse trust, which is about to be formed in Danville, Va. D. Y. Mebane, Monroe Oliver and John B. Worsham were named as the committee."

The Semi-Weekly Messenger (Wilmington, North Carolina), 28 July 1899.

Names Mentioned

1. T. H. McCrary is Thomas Hinton McCrary (1867-1958).

2. R. S. Mitchell may be Robert S. Mitchell (born c.1845) - Confederate soldier; served in North Carolina Senate.

3. Thos. L. Lea may be Thomas Lewis Lea, Jr. (1847-1905.

4. D. Y. Mebane most likely is  DeBerniere Yancey Mebane (1848-1938).

5. Monroe Oliver (1832-1909)

6. John B. Worsham most likely is John Blackwell Worsham (1852-1941).

Here are the resolutions drafted by the committee:

"Whereas, at a called meeting of the farmers of Caswell County for the purpose of entering into ways and means to retard or hinder a trust upon the warehouses in Danville, as we believe for the damage and injury of the farmers in all adjacent counties of Danville which deal and trade therein, we do therefore

"Resolve 1st. That we will use our influence with the farmers of Caswell and adjoining counties not to sell their tobacco at any warehouse controlled by the trust.

"2nd. That we ask the adjoining counties to co-operate with us in opposition to this great trust which is being formed in the town of Danville to further oppress the down-trodden farmers, and that we may speedily have district meetings in regard to this matter that all the farmers may cooperate in said matter."

Source: The Commonwealth (Scotland Neck, North Carolina), 27 July 1899.

The Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association was a non-profit association of tobacco farmers organized in North Carolina in 1921, and administered by a board of twenty-five directors in Raleigh. It was organized "for the purpose of promoting, fostering, and encouraging the business of marketing tobacco cooperatively: for reducing speculation; for stabilizing the local tobacco markets; for cooperatively and collectively handling the problems of tobacco growers, and for other pertinent purposes."

For a 1929 analysis of the brief existence of the Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association (1921-1926), see:

United States Department of Agriculture

Circular No. 100

Washington, D. C.

October, 1929

When Caswell County tobacco farmers joined the Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association to sell their tobacco is not known. However, by 1925 the Caswell County members were not certain that tobacco delivered to the Association was being marketed in a proper manner. Accordingly, a meeting was called for January 12, 1925.

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Sarah Hundley (Sallie) Lipscomb Jones (1869-1952)

Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association Certificate of Membership No. 80940 This Certifies that Mrs. Sallie Jones of Yanceyville Caswell county in the State of North Carolina is a member of Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association and that he has executed the Standard Application for Membership and the Agreements thereof and that he is doing his share to abolish speculation and waste and to stabilize the tobacco markets in the interest of the growers of tobacco and for the betterment of his County and State.

Dated at Raleigh, North Carolina, this 19th day of Sept 1922.

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North Carolina Tobacco Growers Cooperative: Yanceyville Member

In the 1920s, North Carolina tobacco growers experimented with collectivism and created the Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association. The growers delivered tobacco to the Association, which would sell when deemed appropriate to not "flood" the market and thereby, hopefully, keep prices higher.

Unknown is how many women tobacco farmers were members of the Association. However, one from Caswell County was: Sarah Hundley (Sallie) Lipscomb Jones (1869-1952). She became a member in 1922. At the time she owned and was living in "Clarendon Hall" in Yanceyville, Caswell County, North Carolina.

She is the mother of, among others: Gertrude Rite Jones (1883-1991); Mary Jane Jones (1907-1998); and Giles Powell Jones (1910-1985).

Source: Rick Frederick April 7, 2022 Facebook Post