How Much Money Did A Colonial Cooper Make

Cooper shop drawing — Frank Cooper store drawing off
Drawing courtesy of NPS

In 1612, John Rolfe determined two important points: 1) tobacco grew well in Virginia's dirt, and 2) the crop had a market in England. Within 10 years, baccy became "the 'staple fiber' of the Chesapeake colonies in a broader horse sense than any other staple the world has ever known. For, in the ancient province, all of the processes of governing, society, and domestic life began and ended with tobacco." ¹

Tobacco became currency: masses paid fines and taxes in pounds of tobacco plant. The cash crop's value became the centerin for compound protective statute law and tobacco provided Virginia with an life-and-death revenue stream. Augustine Washington and plantation owner like him could not make the saving successful on their own. The world of gentlemen relied on working-class craftsmen to make goods that contributed to winner. Barrel makers, in detail, played an important function in teh economic system because of the goods they made.

Tobacco and the Barrel Makers

The cooopers ready-made the shipping containers that carried Virginia's tobacco to England. The hogsheads they reinforced stood about 48 inches full-length with a diameter of about 30 inches. When properly packed, apiece barrel held 900-1,000 pounds of tobacco. The best hogsheads remained watertight during shipment.

Coopering also required a malodourous grade of visual acuteness: each stave's curvature had to match the next, plus the edges of each rung had to atomic number 4 preceisely beveled to ensure the neccessary watertight fit. Colonial barrel makers did not have the luxury of the precision provided away many an modern tools. They depended upon their years of practive with carpentry tools and upon their skilled eye. If the coopers completed their tasks right, the planter's tobacco plant arrived in England undamaged and ready available.

If the barrel leaked and the tobacco became showery, it ill-natured. Rotten tobacco plant possessed no sale value and thus the planters' profits diminished. Tobacco agents in England could not mold hogsheads of lousy tobacco "Return to Sender."

From the property inventory compiled upon Augustine Washington's demise in 1743, historians know He closely-held a set of coopers tools. Historians know nothing most the man Beaver State menn who exploited those tools. Did one of Augustine's enslaved see the trade? Did helium charter an indentured servant from another plantation?

Barrel makers' work was critical to the success of colonial VA's economy. Would the economy have succeeded without them?

¹ Thomas J. Scharf. History of Maryland: From the Earliest Periods to the Present Mean solar day, p. 47, quoted in Economic Aspects of Baccy During the Colonial Period 1612-1776 http://www.tobacco.org/Account/colonialtobacco.html Accessed Dec 12, 2008.