Before Daniel Haston’s son, Isaac, left Tennessee, he had no land and owed the local Kirklen Store $40.92, which was no small amount in 1836.
Apparently, Isaac Haston owed John Kirklen $40.92 while still in White County, Tennessee. To secure the debt, Isaac “bargained and sold” one gray horse, one sow, and four pigs, as well as a field of corn that he was tending, or would be tending, on land rented from William Denney. According to the agreement, if he paid the debt before December 25, 1836, the stated obligations would be voided. The indenture was witnessed by William B. Cummings and Edward Moore on May 14, 1836. Isaac signed with “his mark.” This transaction indicates that Isaac was still in White County in the summer of 1836. It also shows that he was struggling financially, which perhaps contributed to his move to Missouri.
Twenty years later, before moving from Missouri to California, Isaac owned 333 acres which he sold for $3,330.00, which was just the value of his real estate and did not include his family’s other assets.
On April 2, 1857, Isaac and Agnes Hasten sold their 333 1/8 acres to Nimrod Ford for $3,330, ten dollars per acre. The deed was filed on August 22, 1857. Based on other land sales in the area, Isaac’s land was valued at much more than $10 per acre. It was good land he and his family had converted from tough prairie-grass land. But they were apparently willing to sell it cheaply because he wanted to get on the trail to California before the heat of summer.
We will tour Isaac’s Farm in Our Mid-America Gathering
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