Civil War Personalities Value in 1860 Census

[Emmanuel Dabney]

Ever wonder what some of the more famous players were valued at in 1860? I looked up several in the 1860 census and found them and here is a list of some I looked up below. Some of them you may know and for those I thought people may have trouble with I listed what their Civil War claim to fame is.

1. Abraham Lincoln- $5000 real value and $12,000 in personal value.
Of interesting note, Mrs. Lincoln claims she is 35 years old in 1860. Well, dream on sister, you were 42 years old.

2. Benjamin Helm (Mrs. Lincoln's brother-in-law)- $35,000 in personal value.

3. Robert E. Lee- $80,000 in real value.

4. Charles M. Blackford (Letters from Lee's Army)- $28,260 in real value and $20,000 in personal value.

5. Wade Hampton- $25,000 in real value and $45,000 in personal (still not sure why people think he was the richest man in the South in 1860 as several people were worth more and had more slaves than he)

6. Vice President John C. Breckinridge- $30,000 in real value and $3000 in personal value.

7. Governor John Letcher of Virginia- $5000 in real value and $1200 in personal value.

8. Senator John Crittenden (proposed the Crittenden Compromise in 1861 which failed to avoid war)- $8000 in real value and $1500 in personal value.

9. Chief Justice Roger S. Taney- $14,000 in personal value.

10. William H. Seward- $100,000 in real value and $75,000 in personal value.

Hold on to your butts for this next one...

11. Edwin M. Stanton- $40,000 in real value and $267,000 in personal value!

Also listed is his 28 year old wife, Ellen M. Stanton listed with $20,000 in real value and $10,000 in personal value.

12. Judah P. Benjamin- $40,000 in real value and $8000 in personal value.

13. Barnwell Rhett (a leading fire-eater)- $9000 in real value and $25,000 in personal value.

14. Former President Franklin Pierce- $4000 in real value and $56,000 in personal value.

15. Former President John Tyler- $40,000 in real value and $33,000 in personal value.

16. Current President James Buchanan- $20,000 in real value and $100,000 in personal value.

17. Hiram B. Granbury- $2000 in real and $2000 in personal.

18. Nathaniel Banks- $10,000 in real value and $3000 in personal value.

19. Richard Taylor- $300,000 in real value.

20. States Rights Gist- $3000 in real and $35,000 in personal value.

21. William Mahone- $3500 real property and $10,000 in personal property in 1860. City of Norfolk, Virginia

22. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson- $8800 real property and $5200 personal property.

23. William Gilliam (author of Gilham's Manual)- $4300 in personal property, listed as a professor of Chemistry at V.M.I.

24. Raphael Semmes- $700 real property and $6500 personal property.

25. Alexander H. Stephens- $18,000 real property and $35,000 personal property

[dusty27]

Em,

For us not familiar with the terms in the census, could you explain the terms "real" and "personal"?

Thanks

[Emmanuel Dabney]

Certainly,

Real basically is the land, house, property you have.

Personal amounts to things like carriages, pianos, gold/silver items, and slaves (for those who have them).

[dusty27]

Thanks. I guessed close but wanted to make sure.

I wonder why slaves weren't included as "property"?