As the sun rose over the vast farmland straddling the Halifax / Pittsylvania County line on this last summer before the Civil War, the tobacco fields covered hundreds of acres and were lined with family members, sharecroppers and slaves harvesting the crop. Tobacco was the cash crop in Southside Virginia from 1700-2000 but a sea of change was coming toward these workers and all other farmers in this agricultural belt.

• The American Civil War 1861-1865 brought big changes and another evolved as the owners of the huge farms died and their land was divided among their children resulting in smaller tobacco crops.
• Availability of mechanized farm equipment allowed a smaller work force to tend a variety of crops including more acreage.
• Acreage allotments and price support affected the amount of tobacco a farmer could tend, leading to even more reduction.
• Legal challenges and lawsuits brought about new federal regulations and a sharp decrease in tobacco use and production.
• Public work and better education along with modern transportation led to employment in other areas which thereby reduced the available farm work force.
• More wars with some sons not returning home for different reasons, while others returned with brides introduced still more changes.

Often there is a tendency to try and compare present day living to the early Southside Virginia way of life but this is truly comparing apples & oranges.

This web site is dedicated to members of these families who have inhabited Southside for generations and migrated here through Colonial Virginia with many ancestors arriving from countries like the United Kingdom (England, Scotland) Ireland and Germany. Despite their difficulties they worked hard and persevered and endured generation after generation. Browse through these pages to see these families’ interconnections and find out how they’re all interrelated. Track these families with the Big Family Tree . . . . . Enjoy