Write Historically

In 1832 Elizabeth Barnaby managed to sell over the course of the entire year two pounds of beans per day. This netted her $.32 per day, which allowed the Barnaby family to purchase a regular supply of candles and cloth for work clothes, and the family’s industrious tether to the land continued to raise their prospects, albeit quite slowly. One of Elizabeth’s diary entries noted, “40 p. to-day!” While we cannot be certain what was the cause of the sudden jump in income, we can, through the concomitance of several of Elizabeth’s diary entries with documents showing incremental increases in the family’s landholding, draw a conclusion that she may have been able to sell more beans as the family land increased; and one allowed for the other continuously, as her efforts, and eventually the efforts of her children, contributed to the overall health of and to the ability of the family to make productive gains.