Can someone read this please.

Joined
Apr 21, 2013
Location
Eastern NC
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Same here. Heh, my g'g'g'grandpa could have been said to have been a "timber-getter" -- he was a charcoal maker and earned his money by bringing in several loads of wood a day.
 
In amongst those census pages, along with listings of farmer and laborer, there are also occupations of turpentine maker, timber & stilling, and a couple of coopers. Also, this:

Following the introduction of Eli Whitney's gin in Johnston County around 1804, cotton gradually became the county's leading money crop. Corn was also produced for market, although profits were small in comparison to the white fleecy staple. Before the 1850s poor roads leading to distant markets were a deterrent to commercial farming. Construction of the 223-mile North Carolina Railroad in 1854 placed Johnston County within the prosperous Piedmont Crescent between Goldsboro and Charlotte and meant an eventual shift from subsistence farming to market-driven agriculture. In addition to boosting cotton and grain productions, the railroad spurred growth in the turpentine and lumber industries and gave rise to towns at Princeton, Pine Level, Selma, and Clayton as well as a thriving industrial village at Wilson's Mills.
 
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