A Sharecropping Contract: 1882 (Modified)

To every one applying to rent land, the following

conditions must be read, and agreed to:

For every 30 acres of land (rented by

sharecroppers), I agree to furnish the mule

team, plow, and farming implements. The

sharecroppers are to have half of the cotton,

corn, peas, pumpkins, and potatoes they grow if

the following conditions are complied with, 

but--if not--they are to have only two-fifths.

For every mule or horse furnished by me there must be 1000 good sized

rails (logs) hauled, and the fence repaired if I so direct. All sharecroppers

must haul rails (logs) and work on the fence whenever I may order. The

wood must be split and the fence repaired before corn is planted. No cotton

must be planted by sharecroppers on their home patches of land. No

sharecropper is to work off the plantation when there is any work to be

done on the land he has rented, or when his work is needed by me.

Every sharecropper must be responsible for all farming gear placed in his

hands, and if not returned must be paid for unless it is worn out by use.

Nothing can be sold from their (sharecroppers’) crops until my rent is all

paid, and all amounts they owe me are paid in full.

I am to gin & pack all of the cotton and charge every sharecropper an

eighteenth of his part, the cropper to furnish his part of the bagging, ties, &

twine.

The sale of every sharecropper's part of the cotton to be made by me when

and where I choose to sell, and after deducting all they owe me.

Source: Grimes Family Papers (#3357), 1882; Held in the Southern Historical Collection,

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.