i:fnne00ce MADE BY THE DEPARTMENT OF CHURCH AND COUNTRY UFE OF THE BOARD OF HOME MISSIONS OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE U. S. A. Warren H. Wilson. Ph.D., Superintendent Anna B. Taft, Assistant Superintendent 1 56 Fifth Avenue, New York City BR 555 .T4 -rv JJD .T4 P7 Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A^. Board of Home ^ '"~ ' ' Tennesse* MADE BY THE DEPARTMENT OF CHURCH AND COUNTRY LIFE OF THE BOARD OF HOME MISSIONS OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE U. S. A. Warren H. Wilson, Ph.D.. Superintendent Anna B. Taft. Assistant Superintendent 1 56 Fifth Avenue. New York Cily The Field Work of this invesligalion was done by Anion T Boise n a Cennessee ^ur\jep Within the past seven years the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America has entered the South. The Cumberland Union opened up to it this new field. As a result, new responsibilities have been placed upon it and new and perplexing problems have arisen. The present survey is a step in the direction of assuming that responsibility and solving the problems which it presents. It has been undertaken for the purpose of determining the conditions in the country communities • /«a^l,.^llc MAP NO. I OUTLINE OF TENNESSEE SHOWING LOCATION OF GIBSON COUNTY of a typical county of West Tennessee, to discover what are the present needs of such communities, whether or not these needs are now being met by the church and other agencies, and finally to offer constructive suggestions designed to make the church work more efficient. This work was undertaken entirely without any sectarian motive, and was conducted without regard to denominational lines. It is not an attempt to advance the interests of the Presbyterian Church, but rather to deter- mine how the Presbyterian Church may best cooperate with the other denominations at work in this field in the performance of the function for which the Church was founded and for which alone it should be maintained — that of helping men to live together in loyalty to each other and to their common Father in Heaven. METHOD The field work for this survey was done in the fall of 1911 and occupied two months. The investigator drew freely upon all published reports, county records, and visited in person all parts of the county. There were three main steps in the process of collecting the field data. In the first place the investigator sought out some man in each neighborhood who was especially well informed and public-spirited. From him he obtained such general information as could be given without guess work or random generalization. He also asked him to locate on a map the churches, schools and stores. He then visited twenty or thirty different families living in that community, to make a more detailed inquiry. These two methods, which together gave him an accurate general knowledge of the county, were later supplemented by the "Sample Plot" method used by many timber cruisers. Certain neighborhoods or "Sample Plots" were chosen for intensive study. These were carefully distributed over the county to avoid the danger of a selective bias. In all, twenty-one of them were studied, covering 9.1 per cent, of the total area of the county and including 607 country families. Throughout the work the investigator received the hearty cooperation of all with whom he came in contact and carried away with him very delightful remembrances of the far-famed Southern hospitality. Topography and Resources Gibson County, which was selected as the type county, after consulta- tion with men most familiar with West Tennessee, is located near the northwestern corner of the State, separated from the Mississippi River by only one county, and from the State of Kentuckty by only one county. The land is level to rolling. The mean elevation is perhaps 300 feet above sea level. The maximum difference in elevation is hardly more than 50 feet. There are no mineral resources and no water power. Several lazy streams cross the county. In the winter these overflow their banks and their course is marked by swamps of gum and cypress from one-fourth to one-half mile wide. Most of the merchantable timber is culled out and engineers are now hard at work on plans for draining the swampy areas. The uplands were originally covered with a splendid forest of oak, yellow poplar, hickory, ash, basswood and walnut, but nine-tenths of this has been cleared away and the remainder is poorly cared for. Agriculture is therefore the chief source of income, and the deep, fertile alluvial soil is suited for widely diversified farming. Gibson County is not, however, exclusively an agricultural county. It is fortunate in having three good railroads located within its border and largely on account of the advantages thus affc^rded, manufacturing has assumed some importance. There are approximately 22 cotton gins, 16 saw mills, 13 roller and grist mills, i large box and basket factory, i large cotton mill, i large cotton seed mill, and 10 other manufacturing plants. These manufacturing establishments are engaged in converting the products of farm and forest into a form available for use. The raw material is for the most part secured from within the county, although in the case of the box and basket factory in Humboldt and certain of the roller mills, much of it is shipped in. Gibson County was formerly an 4 ■ llf 1"" ■« "; • ''■^ i r . ^ S e J J O ^ <3 ~ r^^ LJ ■^ , ■5 1 tA ^ '»^ "- s 1 /^ v- r *^ -t • I f /*\ ^. 1 1^ cj J F^^T^- A-fc* c_; '1 . / ti'T^ C/3 1/ VM ^ CQ / )r~ MAP NO. II A VIRGIN FOREST important lumbering center, but the lumber produced annually is not now sufficient to supply the local demand. The amount of wealth annually brought into Gibson County each year through its manufactur- ing industries may be roughly placed at $5,000,000. Farming is, how- ever, the chief source of wealth. Not only do the manufacturers depend upon it for most of the raw material, but it brings into the county the bulk of the money which supports the population. Table I shows the amount and value of the various farm products exported annually. TABLE I. —AMOUNT AND VALUE OF FARM PRODUCTS, EXPORTED FROM COUNTY Amount Value Cotton 35,950 bales ^1,510,000 Strawberries 204,000 crates 310,000 Tomatoes 632 cars 268,000 Miscellaneous vegetables 150 cars 75,000 Poultry 7,500 coops 60,000 Eggs 20,000 cases 120,000 Horses and mules 625 head 75,000 Cattle 3,000 head 120,000 Hogs 1,500 head 40,000 Total $2,578,000 Besides these crops, which are the source of the cash income, large quantities of corn are produced throughout the county, and wheat is grown in the northern parts. The corn goes chiefly into meat and horse power, and the wheat is all required for home consumption. In fact, a considerable amount of wheat is imported. Computations on tenure of farm property from the 572 farms included in the sample plots show that 402 of these farms are operated by the owners. The variations in size are shown in Table II. TABLE II.— VARIATION IN SIZE OF FARMS .y . f Per Cent. r^^^^. Per Cent Area in Acres ^I'^rZ ^^ Total ,^otal ^^ ^otal ^^'""^ Number Acreage ^^^^ 20 or less 29 7.2 440 1.3 21-40 86 21.4 2,920 9.1 41-80 148 36.8 8,977 27.9 81-160 109 27.1 12,218 38.0 161-240 23 5.7 4,499 14.0 Over240 7 1.8 3,095 9.7 Total 402 32,149 Average area of farm, 80 acres. Besides the 402 farmers who own and operate their own farms, there are 170 tenants. Of the families living in the county 70 per cent, are farm owners. Table III shows the number of each class of tenants: TABLE III.— TENANTS AND CROPPERS Cash-tenants. . Share-tenants. . Share-croppers. Total... NiiiubiT 50 52 68 170 N limber J^cntinj; from Absentee Owners 34 20 7 61 'iotal Acreage Rented from Absentee Owners 2,461 1,348 250 4,059 Among the tenants 63 per cent, rent land from neighboring farmers. This land is in many cases under the direct supervision of the owner, who designates what crops are to be raised, and sees to it that the soil does not become too much worn out. In many cases the renters, although retain- ing their independence, are thus virtually hired men, who are paid in produce instead of in cash. This is particularly the case with the "share- cropper," who owns neither land nor tools, but has tools, horses and seed furnished by the owner of the land. The cropper as a rule cultivates from 20 to 30 acres, and gives half the produce to the owner. Most of the croppers are negroes. The "share-tenant" or "renter," who fur- nishes his own tools and horses, pays to the owner one-third of the corn and one-fourth of the cotton. The cash tenant pays usually $4 an acre. There are only 10 hired men. Their wages are from 75 cents to $1.00 a day and keep. Table IV shows the proportion of negroes and whites engaged in the different classes of farming. TABLE IV.— PROPORTION OF NEGROES AND WHITES ENGAGED IN DIFFERENT CLASSES OF FARMING White Negro Class of Farmers Number f Totil Number ^f 'Tofoi Owners 359 80.1 43 32.7 Cash-tenants 33 7.3 17 12.7 Share-tenants 25 5.6 27 20.1 Share-croppers 25 5.6 43 32 . 1 Hired men 6 .... 4 3.0 Total 448 134 Total amount of land owned i)y whites, 34,403 acres; by negroes, 2,184 acres. Methods of Farming As a rule, the Gibson County farmer is not as progressive as the average American farmer. This is shown })articularly in the lack of labor-saving machinery. Gang plows, binders, etc., are not in evidence. Cotton and corn are the chief crops, and 11 acres of cotton or 20 acres of com are considered a one-man crop. Most of the work in the cotton-fields is done by hand. The single-handed farmer will usually put in only 5 or 6 acres of cotton and 10 or 12 acres of corn, for they are competing crops and require attention at the same time. Most farmers, however, pxxt in more and depend upon the help of wife and children, or of hired hands. It is a common sight to see whole families working together in the cotton fields. The treatment of the land is improving. Many acres which were once " cottoned-out " are now productive again. The use of clover, cow-peas and barnyard manure is chiefly responsible for this. The fact that this county is not important as a stock-raising section makes the proper rotation of crops the most important means of maintaining the fertility of the soil. A rotation often practised is cotton or corn (2 or 3 years), wheat (1 year), clover (2 years.) The majorit)' of farmers, how- ever, still make no pretense of rotating their crops and plant cotton or corn for years in succession on the same ground. In truck gardening fertilizers are used. A serious matter in some sections is the washing away of the soil. This occurs chiefly with heavy clay soil on hillsides that have been exposed by cultivation. The Truck Growers and Their Association. — Most of the truck garden- ing is done within three or four miles of some railroad shipping point. This business is naturally a cooperative undertaking. It does not pay AN EXAMPLE OF SOIL-WASHING 9 where only a few are engaged in it. There must be enough strawberry and tomato raisers to make it possible to send out the produce in carload lots each day. This fact and the need of eliminating the excessive profits of the middleman have led to the formation of the Fruit Growers' Associa- tion, the function of which is to handle and market the produce. This Association has not been very successful. In some cases the officers have been suspected of making excessive profits. The members themselves have not been loyal to their association, but have sold to outside buyers whenever they offered better prices, which they have done in many instances in order to put the Association out of business. lite Farmers'' Union. — The same difficulty in organizing the farmers has been met in other fields than in the truck-growing business. The Farmers' Union was organized with special reference to the cotton grower's interests, and once had its locals all over the county, and owned and operated at least two cotton-gins. This is now in a decadent condi- tion. Of the 31 or more locals which flourished a few years ago 13 are now extinct, and only 3 are in a really vigorous condition. One of the cotton-gins has passed into the hands of private owners. The sample- plot figures show that out of 441 farmers, 127 are nominally members of the Farmers' Union. There are, however, devoted Farmer Union men in Gibson County who have served the cause faithfully and, in spite of the waning of the initial enthusiasm the Farmers' Union is still a force for good, not only economically but also socially and morally. Need of Organization.— The need for organization among the farmers is already apparent here. Most of the farmers recognize it, but they simply fold their hands and say, "It isn't possible." This need was forcibly driven home in the fall of 1911, when a cotton bale, which the year before sold for $75, sold for only $45. Many farmers attempt to meet this fall in price by holding their cotton. The investigator counted hundreds of bales in the open, exposed to rain and dust, held for a higher price. Whatever the effect upon the price, the quality of the cotton would certainly deteriorate. The great need is for concerted action on the part of the farmers. Their inability to organize successfully places them at the mercy of those who buy and those who sell. The over-multiplication of stores and banks and trading places is shown in Map 3. These stores employ altogether about 796 people, and support about 2,500 dependents. In other words, 6 per cent, of the population, or one family out of seventeen, is supported by keeping store, and if we add to these the others who are engaged in trading, the commercial travelers, the peddlers, the agents, the commission men, etc., the total will be close to 7 per cent. It is clear that this is a larger number than is necessary to do the business, and a large porportion of the wealth that the farmer earns goes to support them. 10 AN EXPEKIMKNT IX C()01'1';K.\ I H )N ((i|I()X-(;iN OWXKI) AND OPERATED BY THE farmers' union SPECULATING IN COTTON 11 A HERALD OF THE NEW ORDER Means of Communication Gibson County has three railroads, the Illinois Central giving it an outlet to Chicago, the Mobile & Ohio to St. Louis and the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis to Memphis and Nashville. The most inacces- sible farm is not more than ten miles from some railroad station. There are no graveled or macadamized roads in the county, and there is no stone with which such roads could be built. There are, however, no bad grades and dragging and scraping helps to keep them in fair shape. Telephone lines run through the county, but only 208 out of 503 white families had telephones. None of the negro families has a telephone. There are 80 rural routes in the county and 90 per cent, of the farmers have free delivery. POPULATION According to the census reports, the population of Gibson County in I9I0 was 41,629, in 1900, 39,408. There has been, therefore, an increase of 2,221 during the last ten years. The increase was shared alike by town and country. The total population of the towns increased from 10,600 in 1900 to 11,429 in 1910, a net gain of 829, or 7.8 per cent., that of the country districts from 28,800 in 1900 to 30,200 in 1910, a net gain of 1,400, or 4.8 per cent. The town population includes eleven towns ranging in size from 3,600 to 200. Six towns have over 800 inhabitants. The density of 12 MAP NO. Ill 13 population in the country districts is 52 per square mile. Gibson County is, therefore, thickly settled. Table V gives the population of the towTis in Gibson County with more than 200 inhabitants. TABLE v.— POPULATION OF TOWNS 1910 1911 Humboldt 3,446 2,866 Trenton 2,402 2,328 Milan 1,605 1,682 Dyer 1,166 1,204 Kenton 815 * Rutherford 766 677 Bradford *400 * Medina .' 320 * Yorkville *300 * Brazil. *250 * Gibson 233 * Total 11,703 10,918 * Not reported separately in census. The original settlers came chiefly from North Carolina and Virginia, and are largely of English and Scotch-Irish descent, with an admixture of Germans and Irish. During the past fifteen years there has been no important new tide of immigration. An analysis of the sample plot figures shows out of 517 country families only 19 or 3.6 per cent., that have moved in from outside of West Tennessee. Of these 7 came from Middle Tennessee, 3 from Alabama, 2 each from Missouri, Indiana and Illinois and 1 each from North Carolina, Arkansas and East Tennessee. It will be seen, then, that practically the entire population of the country districts are native Southerners. What is true of the country districts is substantially true of the towns. The white population of Gibson County is, therefore, of unmixed American blood of the best quality. The absence of immigration has, however, this effect: It shuts in the people of the county from contact with people of different training and modes of thought. This tends to make the people less progressive. Locally there has been some shifting of population. Of these same 517 families 194 were newcomers in their immediate neighborhoods, having moved in within the last fifteen years. The Drift from the Farm There does not seem to be any widespread tendency to leave the farm in this county. In 19 neighborhoods, with 517 families in all, only 47 farm owners (9.1 per cent, of the total number) had left within the last ten years; 26 of these had gone to town, and 21 had taken farms in other places. Of those who went to town, 10 had retired on account of 14 advancing age, 9 were engaged in the mercantile business, 1 had left to educate his children, 1 was a carpenter, 1 a miller, 2 had left on account of ill-health and 2 were "loafing." Of the 21 who are still farming, 17 had merely bought other farms in the neighborhood, 3 had sought cheaper lands in Texas, and 1 had gone to Arkansas. It should be noted that no account is taken here of the naturally shifting tenant class. Table VI shows the occupation of 200 country boys, who have grown up in the same neighborhood in the last ten years, and are now between twenty and thirty years old. TABLE VI.— OCCUPATION OF 200 COUNTRY BOYS Per Cent. Number of Total Number Farmers 145 72 . 5 Merchants 16 8 Laborers 15 7.5 Teachers 8 4 Railroad men 5 2.5 Mechanics 3 1.5 Traveling men 3 1.5 Manufacturers 2 1 Ministers 2 1 Doctors 1 .5 Total 200 Table VII shows the occupation of 159 girls who have also grown up in these neighborhoods and are now of the same age. TABLE VII— OCCUPATIONS OF 159 COUNTRY GIRLS NOW BETWEEN TWENTY AND THIRTY YEARS OLD Per Cent. Occupation Number of Total Number Farmers' Wives 86 54 . 1 Wives of men in other occupations 21 13.2 At home 38 23.9 Teaching 9 5.7 Clerks in stores 2 1.2 Students 3 1.9 Total 159 These figures show a healthy preference for the country. The number going to the towns involves no excessive drain upon the country neighbor- hoods. Occupation The occupation of the people in Gibson County is shown in Table VIII. 15 C/5 ^ c a; TD c OJ ^ o CO fi O •t-t e H 4—1 o > oj bX C CO o c o U o 0-) CO E M— 1 4—1 4—1 at horn teachin clerks i student ^ o CO n3 s > Oj (U OJ lU ;_ ;_ ;h ^ cd c^ c^ oi o o o y—i OO On CM ro ^ .s in O < r-H CM O i-H CM c/: - ' O o o PQ G J-l s H 4—1 p o y Boys nd 30 y d on the ft the Far 4-1 U V i-, o n C/3 u rr! O i-i C/3 u V a faJO > 4-1 a 52 4-1 • 1—1 o 4-1 u o 'T3 «H-H U t ^ ^Ji s 03 4-1 s 4-1 g B o c 5 ra S ^ V I-I D U V rt o CO t^ rt CTJ OJ rt rt rt rt rt & CO 00 Coi etween ?^^ vO LO cc LO CO ro ri CI — * o o ;-; .s < CM JD 1— H TABLE VIII.— NUMBER OF WORKERS AND DEPENDENTS IN DIFFERENT OCCUPATIONS 1^ I Per Cent. Occupation Number y>, j ^ of Total Dependents ^^^^^^^ Farmers 7,000 31,000 74 .4 Manufacturers 900 3,000 7.3 Tradesmen 900 2,900 7.0 Laborers 300 1,900 2.1 Mechanics 200 700 1.7 Railroad employees 200 600 1.4 Mail clerks and carriers 100 350 .8 Teachers 234 600 1.4 Doctors 90 360 .9 Ministers 42 160 .4 Lawyers 30 120 .3 Unclassified 960 2.3 Attention should be drawn again to the large proportion represented in the tradesmen class, one family out of 17. Of the boys who leave the farm the largest per cent., 27 per cent., go into business, likewise of the farmers who move to town, and yet there are already more storekeepers than are necessary to do the business. The result is not only the inevit- able failure of many who make this venture, but more serious still from the standpoint of the economist is the great waste of human energy involved. In the professional class are included 85 doctors and dentists, 30 lawyers, 32 ministers and 100 teachers. The proportion represented in some of these professions seems large. There must be many lawsuits or else very high fees must be charged to support one lawyer to every 440 families, and so with the seventy-odd physicians. Education The educational advantages of the heads of the families now living in the 21 neighborhoods studied is shown in Table IX. TABLE IX.— EDUCATION OF HEADS OF FAMILIES TT- L ^ c I. 1 A.^ I J Number of Per Cent. Highest School Attended Persons of Total College 9 1.9 High School 21 4.4 Country School — Secondary 210 44.4 Country School — Primary 198 41 .8 None — illiterate 35 7.5 Total 473 Of those who had had some college training, 6 are doctors and 1 is a minister. The percentage of college-trained men in the country districts 17 of the county as a whole will not be so large as this, for there is only one country minister in the county and only 10 country doctors. Table X shows the educational advantages of the 200 country boys who have gro\vn up in the neighl)orh()()ds, studied, and are now between twenty and thirty years of age. TABLE X.— EDUCATION OF COUNTRY BOYS Those Who Ha\-c Tliose Who Have Stayed on the Farm Left the Farm Highest School Attended Number ^ ^ ,' Number r^ ,' 2d Grade or less 4 2.7 6 11.1 3d to 5th Grades 37 25.3 10 18.5 6th to 7th Grades 64 43.8 12 22.2 8th Grade 25 17.2 4 7.4 High School 14 9.6 14 25.9 College 1 .7 6 11.1 Professional School 0 .0 2 3.2 Agricultural School 1 .7 0 .... Total 146 54 Table XI gives the corresponding figures for the girls in the same neighborhood. TABLE XL— EDUCATION OF COUNTRY GIRLS ,,;• ( Wives of Men Girls Who ^-- , Wives of • r\,^u c ,-• (jirls at T- m Other are Supporting tt Farmers r\ . • t-u i Home Occupations Ihemselvts Highest School Attended No. P. C. No. P. C. No. P. C. No. P. C. 2d Grade or less 3d to 5th Grades 12 14.4 3 14.3 .. 10 28 6th to 7th Grades 34 41.0 6 28.6 10 28 8th Grade 32 38.5 7 33.3 2 17 13 36 High School 5 6.0 4 19.0 6 50 3 8 College 1 4.8 3 25 .. Professional School 1 8 Total 83 21 12 36 Attention should be called here to the higher average education of the girls. Of the total number of girls 52 per cent, went through the Eighth Grade, or beyond, as against 33.5 per cent, of the boys. Attention should also be drawn to the fact that the education of the young men who stayed on the farm is inferior to the education of those who have left. Of the latter 41 per cent, have gone beyond the Eighth Grade, as against 11 ])er cent, of the former. On the other hand, of those who left 30 per cent, did not go beyond the Fifth Grade, while only 28 per cent, of those who remained did not go lieyond this grade. The great 18 MAPNO. IV 19 body of those who remained on the farm, 61 per cent., belong in the class which dropped out somewhere between the Fifth and Eighth Grades, while only 30 per cent, of those who left fall in the same class. Thus the best educated and the poorest educated tend to leave the farm, while those with the average education remain. It would not be fair to say that the boy who goes beyond the Eighth Grade is necessarily superior to the boy who drops out before he reaches this grade, but the proba- bilities are that among those who do best in their school work are included the best minds and the most of those who dream dreams and have high ideals and a large vision of the future. Thus the country districts are losing their best and their poorest, and are retaining those of mediocre ability. Defectives Out of 340 families the investigator was told of 8 consumptives, 3 feeble-minded, 5 insane, 1 epileptic, 1 deaf and dumb, 1 blind, 3 cripples, 7 toughs, 17 drinking men and 1 loose woman. The Negroes Gibson County has, indeed, no immigrant problem, but it has the great problem of the South, the negro problem. It is not the special purpose of this report to investigate the negro problem. The investi- gator, born in the North, is no more than an observer of the negro. " It is our problem," the Southerner says, and the solution of it obviously must come through the Southern people themselves. However, an in- vestigation of the social condition in this county which leaves the negro out of account is no investigation at all. In all, the negroes constitute 28 per cent, of the population, or about 11,000 people. According to the school enumeration, the proportion of negroes in the county is decreasing. Of the total number of children of school age only 25 per cent, are negroes, as against the 28 per cent, for the total population. There is said to be a general tendency among the negroes to move to town. Sixty per cent., however, still live in the open country. For the most part, both in town and country, they live in settlements of their own. Some civil districts have no negroes at all. Map No. 4 shows the distribution of the negro population within the county. The negroes work as farmers, as laborers in factory and shop, and at odd jobs. Outside of the laboring classes there are 45 teachers, 10 ministers, 1 or 2 doctors, and perhaps a dozen storekeepers. Forty per cent, of the negroes in neighborhoods studied are land owners, although in many cases their farms are heavily mortgaged. As a laborer the negro earns low wages, from 75 cents to $1.25 a day. This cheap negro 20 AT EVENTIDE 21 labor keeps down the wages of the white laborer. It is also one explana- tion of the coni])arativc lack of labor-saving machinery in this region. About GO per cent, of the negroes can read and write. The illiterate negroes are largely the older ones, who had no ojij^ortunity to learn when they were young. The negroes live for the most part in small houses of less than three rooms, generally unpainted. Many of the negro settlements are back from the main highway. Some of these can be reached only after opening a number of gates. The average size of family for 84 families on which figures were secured was 4.8. Some of the negroes are guilty of petty thieving, but for the most part they seem quiet and orderly. "Every nigger gets drunk" and ''Every nigger steals," the investigator was told by more than one white neighbor, but when pinned down and asked in regard to particular negroes, "Did you ever know of this man being drunk?" "Did you ever know him to steal?" the charge in many cases fell flat. THE HOME Gibson County has never had large plantations. The small farmer has occupied the land, and it is he who has built the houses. The pre- vailing type of house is a long, low building with two rooms in front and a dining-room and kitchen, separated by an open vestibule in the rear. Occasionally the vestibule runs the other way, separating the two front rooms. There are no modern conveniences, but almost invariably you find one luxury, the open fireplace. The genuine, old-fashioned fireplace, which burns real wood and creates an atmosphere of dreamy charm and romance, all in keeping with the delightful Southern hospitality that you find there. Practically without introduction, the investigator was received over night into fourteen of these homes. Only twice was he turned away, each time with good reason, and only twice would his host consent to take any pay. The average size of family is 4 5-10. Family affection is strong. " The fact that agriculture is still a family industry, where the work and the home life are not divorced, and where all the members participate in the common toil for the support of the home, gives a natural basis for a type of family life which it is very difficult to maintain in the city," says Professor Carver. Nowhere is this truth more apparent than here, where the whole family not only cooperate, but also actually work together out in the cotton-fields. Even little children, six or seven years old, can make themselves very useful picking cotton. Children are therefore an economic asset in any country family. This is perhaps the reason why the average family is larger here than it was in Missouri. 22 A GIBSON COUNTY FARMHOUSE This type of child labor is not an unwholesome one, for parents and children and neighbors and neighbors' children work together out in the open air. The lessons learned here, and at chore time, are not the least valuable part of the farm boy's education. School is supposed to let out during cotton-picking time, from the middle of September until the middle of November, so as not to interfere with what is really an economic necessity. Sometimes, however, the cotton is not all picked when school begins; in this case the average attendance at school is very low. As late as November 24 the investigator visited one schoolhouse which enrolled normally 130 pupils, and found only 20 present. "The cotton is not picked yet," the teacher explained, and across the road was good evidence of this — a farmer and four flaxen-haired youngsters, hard at work, in their cotton-patch. Diagram No. 1 shows the age of marriage for 193 young people in eluded in the sample plots. SOCIAL INTERACTION Centers of Informal Meeting The country store plays its usual important role in bringing men together informally. There are 45 of these scattered through the county. It is here that the farmers meet each other most frequently, and swap 23 DIAGRAM NO. I 24 yarns and exchange views on the crops, on the weather, on politics and on religion. The stores of town and village are also frequent meeting places, especially on Saturday afternoon, when farmers and farmers' wives and children come in large numbers. County Court Day, the first Monday in each month, has also become an important feature of country life. Farmers from all over the county come in to swap horses and mules and meet friends. The investigator knew nothing of the custom, when one beautiful first Monday in November he started in the country on a tour of investigation. He did not know there were so many people in the county as he saw on the road that morning. When he called at the homes of the men whom he wanted to see he found none of them at home. The whole countryside was deserted by its men-folk. The women had generally stayed at home. Politics Gibson County, like most of the South, is strongly Democratic. The sway of tradition is very strong and men do not readily break across party lines. In the last State election, however, when the temperance question was involved, many men who had never in their lives voted anything else than the straight Democratic ticket violated all precedent and voted for a Republican governor. The investigator talked with one such man, a fine old Confederate soldier. He seemed to be a little doubtful as to whether he had done right, but on the whole he thought he had. With him it had been a case of religious duty against political tradition, and religion won. Leadership For the most part the country districts are without wise and public- spirited leaders. There are some splendid exceptions to this and the influence of certain men could be very clearly seen in the vigorous condi- tion of three of the farmers' union locals, and the excellent condition of the schools in the same neighborhoods. A fine monument to the devotion and self-sacrifice of a little group of men under the leadership of a country doctor is to be found in Laneview College, the most interesting school in the county. Two of these four neighborhoods have vigorous community churches. Leadership is also shown in the formation of the Fruit- growers' Association and the original spread of the Farmers' Unions through the county. Social and Economic Standards There is unquestionable difference between the different neighborhoods in this respect. Some seemed to have a fine democratic spirit, with little 25 or no class distinctions, while in others class lines were shar])ly drawn among the young peoi)]e and the older i)eoi)le as well. As a rule those communities where there are no negroes, are one-standard communities, where everybody who is at all decent is at home with everybody else. Class distinctions are most strictly observed in the neighborhoods where the larger slave-holders lived before the War and where the negroes are still much in evidence. These class distinctions are based partly on moral worth, partly on family, partly on wealth and partly on culture. A few of the better educated and more well-to-do country families seem to associate preferably with the town people. Social Life Of good wholesome social life there is much right in connection with the farmer's everyday work. Picking cotton, threshing wheat, killing hogs, are occasions for friends and neighbors to get together. The prac- tice of trading work is still common here. It is also the custom for whole families to work together out in the cotton fields. Besides these incidental forms of association there are other forms of social life. These differ widely in the different districts, depending chiefly upon the number of young people and the amount of initiative and leadership present among them. In some neighborhoods the young ONE OF THE OCCASIONS WHEN FARMERS GET TOGETHER 26 people complain that things are dead; in others there seems to be too much society. Generally there are two or three parties a month during the fall and winter, and a few picnics during the spring and summer. Most of these parties are held in the homes. The Sunday evening church service is also a time for the young people to get together and these evening services are usually better attended than the morning services. Dancing and card-playing are frowned on in the country and are rarely indulged in, but in the towns a livelier pace is set. For the married women in the country the opportunities for meeting friends are, as usual, limited. Amusements and Recreation Aside from the parties and the picnics and the buggy rides and the games played at school, there are few recreations in the country. Of baseball, football, basket-ball, amateur theatricals, there is nothing. In the towns some baseball is played and moving picture shows are popular, Trenton and Milan have picture shows most of the year and Humboldt has two or three. Each of them is well patronized. The investigator dropped in twice and each time counted over two hundred present, including many children. The shows themselves are harmless, although the themes are often inane. In the smaller towns the shows come in for shorter periods, from a month to one or two nights, depending upon the amount of patronage. Fraternal Organizations Table XII shows the membership and the number of lodges of the different fraternal organizations in Gibson County. TABLE XII.— MEMBERSHIP AND ATTENDANCE OF FRATERNAL ORDERS X f 1 V Total ., No Member- \°/^V- °- Monthly N--» Lodges ship Meet,ng ^„^,„j. ^ ance Odd Fellows 12 855 32 730 Masons 15 712 16 288 M. W. A 16 808 25 380 K. of P 4 240 10 190 W. ofW 14 1,067 20 500 Elks 1 125 Eastern Star 4 142 5 96 Total 66 3,949 110 2,184 Average attendance per meeting, 19.8. It is to be noted that nearly half the membership is in orders in which insurance is an important feature, and these orders are the most largely 27 represented among the country people. Out of 419 farmers about whom inquiries were made, only 99, or 23.6 per cent., belonged to any lodge, and the majority of these belonged to one of the orders of Woodmen. The conclusion would be, therefore, that while the lodge plays an important part in the social life of some of the farmers, it does not vitally affect the great mass of them. The Farmers' Union, which has already been mentioned, is a social as well as a business organization, and is really much more influential than the lodges among the country people. Unfortunately, however, it is on the decline. Of open organizations or clubs there are a few in the towns but none in the country. The social life of the negroes is, of course, absolutely distinct from that of the whites. They are by nature a sociable people. They like to live together and work together. Their drift toward the town is largely due to the tendency to congregate. Their social life centers around the lodge and the church. Even in the open country you often find their lodge hall side by side with the church, and in the towns they have many different lodges. These lodge halls are the scenes of many dances and receptions. The church is really no less important as a social center than the lodge and on meeting days they drive 8 or 10 miles to attend service. SCHOOLS Gibson County has adopted the new County Board system of school management, and is, therefore, among the more progressive of the Tennessee counties. According to this system the county and not the district surrounding each school is the unit. The control of all the country schools is vested in a board of five men, who, with the county superintendent, determine the various schools districts, apportion the school funds and fix the teachers' salaries. These are determined accord- ing to the enrollment. The plan works well, although there is opposition to it in certain quarters. It is said that it takes away the old sense of responsibility on the part of the people and is less economical. The people will not board the teachers at special rates and will not provide wood and make repairs as they did under the old system. In two cases where the county board refused to authorize the erection of schools which were clearly unnecessary, the opposition went so far as to build a school house independently. In one case a little hamlet of 160 people took out a city charter in order to establish a new school of its own. There are in all 135 schools in the county, 97 white and 38 colored. Of these, 11 white schools and 6 colored schools are in the towns. The rest are country schools. Map No. 5 shows the distribution of schools. An important feature of the school system is the division of the country schools into "primary" and "secondary." Forty-eight are 28 MAP NO. V 29 A ONE-ROOM PRIMARY SCHOOL classed as secondary and forty-two as primary. The primary school is a school that teaches nothing beyond the Fifth Grade. It is always a one-room school, taught by one teacher. These schools are maintained because of the greater difficulty which the younger children would have in going the longer distances to and from school. The secondary school teaches all grades as high as the Eighth Grade and over, including some high-school courses. With two or three teachers it is possible to secure much more efficient teaching and in most cases they have introduced special courses in music and elocution. Of these secondary schools 28 have 2, 10 have 3 and 1 has 4 rooms. In no case is there transportation of the pupils. Gibson County has no real "consolidated schools." The country schools are all frame structures. Some of them are attractive in appearance and well kept up, but for the most part there is room for improvement. Out of 17 schools inspected, 10 are situated in attractive groves and the rest have trees planted around them. The condition of three of the buildings may be classed as good, of nine fair and of five poor. Of these same schools 1 has a blackboard of slate, 3 of hyloplate, 1 of cloth and the rest of wood. Four of 12 schools have no water supply. The sanitary arrangements are much neglected. Out of 16 schools inspected 7 have 2 privies, 7 have only 1, and 2 have none 30 A THREE-ROOM SECONDARY SCHOOL at all. Of the buildings themselves 1 may be classed as good, 1 as fair, 3 as poor and the rest wretched. The total value of the school property is reported at $170,000. The assessed valuation of Gibson County is $8,680,000. The county school levy is 30 cents, and the State school le\y 15 cents on the $100 valuation. Besides these sources of revenue the schools receive the poll taxes of $2 each, the revenue from the special privilege tax, and the interest from certain school funds. The total expenditure this year was $73,582. Of this amount $60,000 in round numbers went for teachers' salaries, $3,500 for new buildings, repairs and equipment, $270 for school libraries and $124 for charts and globes. Table XIII gives some of the important data concerning teachers and pupils. TABLE XIII.— PUPILS AND TEACHERS. NUMBER, SALARY, COST OF TUITION White Colored Country Towns Country Towns Pupils enrolled 6,641 1,904 1,504 786 Per capita cost of tuition $5 . 77 $10 . 00* $3.11 No. teachers 137 70 27 13 No. pupils per teacher 43 27 56 60 Average salary per month.... $45.50 $52.00t $31.52 * Figures for previous year. t General average for White and Colored teachers, both The data for the town schools is lacking in some cases because the town schools are not under the county board of education and the county 31 superintendent has no authority to make the town superintendents send in their reports. Attention should be called to the higher per capita expenditure for town pupils than for country pupils, also to the lower number of pupils per teacher in the town schools, together with the higher salaries paid there. Attention should also be called to the low expenditure for the colored pupils and to the excessively high number of pupils per teacher. There arc six circulating libraries among the country schools, with a total of 600 volumes, and seven such libraries in the town schools, with a total of 900 volumes. These libraries are paid for partly by the com- munity, through basket dinners and socials, and partly by the State, under the new school library law. A few of the schools make an effort to provide playgrounds. The investigator came across one country school with basketball grounds and one with croquet grounds. Usually, however, such facilities are lacking. There is occasionally a social or entertainment in the schools, but the school buildings are not important social centers. They do serve, how- ever, as meeting places for most of the Farmers' Unions. Most of the schools teach a little agriculture and nature study, but no domestic science or manual training. Most of the secondary schools have music and some have elocution. Some of them have special music rooms. The music and elocution teachers are paid by private subscrip- tion and by tuition fees. In some of the schools the regular appropriation for school puqioses is supplemented by private subscriptions, making possible a longer term of school and the employment of better teachers. It is in these cases that leadership and community spirit are most in evidence. Schools whose income was supplemented in this way were found in the communi- ties which have the really live Farmers' Unions. The most interesting of all the country schools is the Laneview College. This school is supported partly by county funds, partly by tuition fees and partly by direct subscription from the community. The people of the community — and it is not a wealthy community — dig down into their pockets and pay out $800 a year for its support. In their devotion to the school and in the sacrifices they have made for it, they have built up an unusually tine community spirit. Hand in hand with the school has gone the church. The Baptist Church in that community, the one to which most of the people belong, is the only country church in the county that has a resident minister, and is one of the two that has preaching more than one-fourth of the time. Results like this indicate the presence of a persevering, self-sacrificing leader. This man we found here, a fine country doctor, where work has been splendidly seconded by loyal friends. 32 "^^^^ZZv NEIGHBORHOOD HAS UONE «»" ONE COUN«. ^^^^^ ^^_^^^_^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^,^„ SALEM BAPTIST CHURCH AT TANEV.EW ^^^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^„,„ SCHOO,. LANEVIEW SCHOOL The school itself, while giving degrees under a State charter, is really an academy. It has done some excellent work, but from the standpoint of the country life enthusiast it has this fault — it has taken the boys and girls from the farm and labored to teach them Latin, Greek, elocution and music. It has made of them doctors, lawyers, teachers and ministers — anything but farmers. It has trained them for the stiff collar instead of the flannel shirt. CHURCHES There are 179 churches in Gibson County, all but one of them Protest- ant. Of these 134 are white and 45 are colored. This means that there is one white church to every 224 white people and one colored church to every 210 colored people. If the white churches were evenly distributed there would be one church to every 4.8 square miles. The overcrowding of churches is shown strikingly in Map No. 6. Nearly all of the country churches and half of the town churches are served by non-resident ministers, as is shown in Table XV. TABLE XV.— CHURCHES WITH RESIDENT MINISTERS Churches with Churches with Resident Absentee Pastors Preachers Town 22 22 Country 2 80 Table XVI shows the number of preaching services per month in the town churches and in the country churches. TABLE XVI.— PREACHING SERVICES PER MONTH Full /^Tr Half Fourth , , T^- fourths T>. T^- Irregular Time T- lime lime '' Time Town 10 1 18 13 2 Country . 2 74 6 Of the 134 white churches 47 are in the towns and 87 in the country. Of the colored churches 20 are in the towns and 25 in the country. The record of the white churches for the last 10 years is shown in Table XVII. TABLE XVII.— RECORD OF CHURCHES FOR THE LAST TEN YEARS Town Country Class No. P. C. No. P. C. Growing 23^9% 28—32% Stationary 4—9% 14—16% Losing 10—21% 17—20% Dying 1-2% 8-9% Dead 1—2% 6—7% Organized within 10 years 8—17% 14—16% Total 47 87 34 MAP NO. VI 35 These figures show that the town churches are growing more rapidly than the country churches, in spite of the fact that the ])oi)ulation of l)oth town and country has increased aljout equally. Api)arently the tendency to concentrate the church work in the towns and neglect the country fields is present also in Gibson County. Membership The total membership of the white town churches is 5,600 and of the white country churches 6,900; that of the colored town churches is 1,573 and of the colored country churches 1,808. The total church member- ship, therefore, is 15,880, or 38 per cent, of the entire population. The total number of accessions during the past church year in the white churches is 536 for the town churches, an increase of 9.6 per cent., and 578 for the country, an increase of 8.4 per cent. The church relation of 317 young people who have grown up in country neighborhoods in the last ten years and are now between 20 and 30 years old, is shown in Table XVIII. TABLE XVIII.— CHURCH MEMBERSHIP OF YOUNG PEOPLE BETWEEN TWENTY AND THIRTY YEARS OLD IN THE COUNTRY Total Church Number Members Not Church Members Boys 200 45% 55% Girls 117 75%) 25% The church attendance of the young people is shown in Table XIX. TABLE XIX.— CHURCH ATTENDANCE OF YOUNG PEOPLE BETWEEN TWENTY AND THIRTY YEARS OLD Total Per Centage Attending Number Well Occasionally None Boys 127 61.4 19 19.6 Girls 110 81 15 4. These figures emphasize the generally recognized difference between the religious susceptibility of boys and girls. A study of 484 white country families showed that 72 per cent, of the heads of these families were church members. It showed further that 57 per cent, attended church well (i.e., more than 75 per cent, of the preaching days), 21.5 attended church occasionally, while 21.5 per cent, did not attend at all. Diagram No. 2 shows the church attendance of heads of families arranged according to the degree of wealth. In the diagram the width of each block indicates the proportionate number of men represented in it and the length represents the percentage of church attendance. 36 WhoT the Church isVomc^ f-orthe Voor Man. ^ 't±"f ^ a-tt&nai occdLsioTtal'li cuifTendm none 1 nireJ, Aten Shojre len~^-i V m $) J 4