TOBACCO AS A CURRENCY.
Tobacco, as far back as 1792, was the equal of money in
every respect. All officers' fees at that time, fixed by law, were
chargeable and receivable in tobacco. By an act of the Assembly, approved
June 28 of that year, this law was repealed and all fees made chargeable
and receivable in the currency of the State. This act went further, to
wit: "And for every pound of tobacco allowed by any existing laws, to any
officer, witness, or other person as a compensation for any service, they
shall in lieu thereof be entitled to receive one penny current money of
Kentucky. That for all forfeitures and fines, in tobacco, in force in this
State, suits may be instituted and recovered in money at the same rate."
An act approved December 21, 1792, revived the English
law of 1745, so far as the same related to sheriffs, and gave them their
fees payable in tobacco at one penny, half penny per pound. December 22,
1792, the old act was revived as to coroners, they to be paid their fees
in specie, or transfer tobacco, at the rate of one penny, half penny per
pound, at the option of the party charged therewith. Even up to 1813 and
1815 the penalty attaching to constables' bonds was made payable in
tobacco.
TOBACCO INSPECTION.
Inspection warehouses having been established in
many of the counties of the State, on the tenth day of February a general
law was passed, regulating the handling of tobacco.
Henderson being the largest tobacco growing county in
the State at that time, those interested in the growth of the weed will
doubtless be gratified to know something of this law and how if affected
their ancestors and predecessors in selling and shipping.
Such parts of the law as are deemed material for this
purpose are here incorporated;
"It was enacted, etc., That
no person shall put on board or receive in any boat or vessel in order to
be exported therein, any tobacco not packed in hogsheads or casks, to be
in that or any other boat or vessel, exported out of this State, before
the same shall have been inspected and reviewed, but that all tobacco
whatsoever, to be received or taken on board of any boat for exportation,
shall be received and taken on board at the several warehouses, or some
one of them, and no other place whatsoever."
Masters of boats were prohibited from carrying
unstamped tobacco under a penalty of a fine of fifty pounds, while the
servants had the following law to guide them:
"And if any servant, or other
person, employed in navigating any such boat or other vessel, shall
connive at, or conceal the taking or receiving on board, any tobacco in
bulk or parcel, he shall pay the sum of five pounds, and if such servant
or other person shall be unable to pay the said sum, he or they, and every
slave so employed, shall by order of the magistrate receive on his bar
back, thirty-nine lashes, well laid on."
The owners of tobacco were authorized to break any
hogshead for the purpose of repacking or prizing for the convenience of
storage, provided the original package had been stamped, and that the
change was made at the warehouse where the same was inspected, weighed,
marked and stamped.
Owners of tobacco were allowed to carry the same in
bulk or parcels on board of any boat to a licensed warehouse, or from one
plantation to another for better handling or managing thereof, or they
were allowed to bring their tobacco by boat to a warehouse to be repacked,
sorted, stemmed or prized, provided it was packed in hogsheads or casks.
The warehouse keeper was allowed as rent three shillings for each hogshead
of tobacco received, inspected and delivered out of his house. In addition
he was allowed on all tobacco remaining in the warehouse over twelve
months three pence per month, to be paid by the owner.
Inspectors were allowed four shillings and sixpence on
each hogshead. This was their full fee and no salary or other fee was
allowed. All tobacco that was brought to a warehouse was required to be
inspected by two licensed inspectors, who were required to reject all
tobacco that was not sound, well conditioned merchantable and free from
trash. In case any tobacco was refused by the inspectors, the owner was at
liberty to separate the good from the bad, but in case he refused or
failed for one month to do this, the inspectors were to employ one of the
pickers attending the warehouse to pick and separate the same, for which
they were paid one-fifth part of the tobacco saved, and the tobacco
adjudged unfit to save was placed in a "funnel" erected by law and burned.
If any tobacco packed in any hogshead or cask by any
overseer, or the hands under his care, was burned by the inspectors, by
reason of its being bad, unsound or in bad condition, the overseer who had
the care of making and packing the same, suffered the loss of the tobacco
so burned. All tobacco brought to the warehouse for exportation by the
owner was required to be examined and weighed, and if found good to be
stamped and the owner given a receipt, stating whether the tobacco so
received was sweet scented or Oronocko, stemmed or leaf, and
whether tied up in bundles or not. For every hogshead exported by land or
water the owner was required to pay seven shillings and six pence and find
the nails for securing the same, or pay eight pence per hogshead for each
hogshead so secured by the inspectors.
On the twenty-first day of December, 1825, the
following act was approved: "That from and after the passage of this act
all purchasers of tobacco within this Commonwealth shall be at liberty to
export the same without having the same inspected."
Tobacco inspection warehouses were established by law
in Henderson, and from 1801 up to the passage of the act, December 21,
1825, all tobacco was handled by and passed through some legally
authorized warehouse. In those days every planter packed his tobacco into
hogsheads and boxes, and such a thing as bringing a crop to market loose
was unknown. Subsequent to December, 1825, stemmeries were erected, and
the business of inspecting and handling tobacco gradually grew less, until
the warehouses were finally exterminated. They continued to do business,
however, until 1835. After the establishment of stemmeries, planters
ceased, to a very great extent, to pack in hogsheads, but begun the system
of delivery of loose tobacco by wagons.
RISE OF THE TOBACCO INTEREST.
Henderson soon became the first strip market of the
country, and those who engaged early in stemming made large fortunes. The
Ohio and Mississippi Rivers furnished an outlet for all the produce of the
country. Flat boats and barges being used before the introduction of steam
machinery, many of the earlier citizens of Henderson engaged in floating
merchandise to New Orleans where they, after disposing of their produce,
would either sell their boats or else cordell them back up the river. It
was indeed a very common custom to float down the rivers and return
overland on foot.
General Samuel Hopkings having resigned his commission
as Chief Justice of the Court of Quarter Sessions, Jacob Barnett was
appointed by the Governor in his stead, and at the March term, 1801, took
his seat upon the bench.
Mr. Barnett served but a short time when he died.
Abraham Landers resigned and the two vacancies were filled by the
appointment of Dr. Adam Rankin and John Holloway in 1802. That court at
this time was composed of Hugh Knox, Dr. Rankin and John Holloway.
History of Henderson County, Kentucky
by Edmund L. Starling
pps. 111 - 114
published in 1887
public domain material
