[Genealogy] Five Hundred Dollars, Peter's Bar, and More

[Michael John Neill]

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Genealogy Update 19 April 2026


** $500 in 1841 in Bedford County, Virginia

** DNA Price Reduction

** Peter's Bar and Grill

** Brick Walls and More


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$500 in 1841 in Bedford County, Virginia

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It was quite a sum of money for a widow of advanced age in rural Bedford
County, Virginia, in 1841:

$500

There are online calculators that would tell me the “present value” of $500
today–in 2019. There have been a large numbers of economic upturns,
downturns, crises, etc. But I really have little interest in what $500 is
worth today.

Mary Welch didn’t get it in 2019. She got it in 1841. I want to know what
it could have done for Mary in 1841.

There are some ways that I can do that. I can look at estate inventory
values in 1841. My review of these values can look at the total value of
the estate, the specific value of certain items, and the relative scarcity
of items. I can look at real property values from 1841–using property tax
records and land deeds.

Typing a number into a box and getting a calculated value is fast and easy.
There’s not much work in that.

What would tell me more would be? How big of a farm in 1841 could Mary
purchase in Bedford County, Virginia, for $500? How many estates probated
in Bedford County in 1841 were worth at least $500? How many pounds of
tobacco would $500 have purchased? There’s a number of other items whose
value I could compare to $500.

One website says that $500 in 1841 would have a purchasing power of nearly
$19,000 today <https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/1841?amount=500>.

That’s just one number which doesn’t tell me much. And I bet that there is
a significant difference between the amount of real estate $500 would buy
in Bedford County, Virginia, in 1841 and how much $15,000 would buy in
Bedford County, Virginia, today.

And genealogy is about perspective.

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Peter's Bar and Grill

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This image comes from the estate of my Peter Bieger which was probated in
Hancock County, Illinois, in the mid-1850s.

He had twenty gallons of cherry brandy, among a variety of other items,
some of which are shown here. The inventory of his estate confirmed what
had been suggested from other records: that Peter was a tavernkeeper.
That’s a little too much booze to have on hand for the typical person.

I don’t have a direct statement that Peter ran a tavern and my references
to his occupation always reference this inventory. He is not enumerated in
the 1850 census that I can locate and the 1855 Illinois State Census does
not provide any occupational information. Warsaw does not have any city
directories that are extant for the time period and local newspapers make
no mention of Peter’s tavern either. Those would have been good places to
potentially find occupational information for someone during this time
period.

I was fortunate that the inventory was even available. And I don’t know
that his establishment was called “Peter’s Bar and Grill.”

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Michael John Neill
Genealogy Tip of the Day
PO Box 17, Henderson, IL 61439
http://www.genealogytipoftheday.com
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