Clarence Smith Detwiler, son of John Detwiler, became a telegraph agent in Bonaparte prior to the 1860 census and was listed as a railroad agent on the 1870 census. He married Frances Merrick in McDonough County, Illinois in 1871, so I assumed he had left Van Buren County. Today, I found the 1878 Bonaparte Twp., Van Buren County, Biographical Directory of Citizens which lists him as a telegraph operator. Was there a state census in 1875 that could show whether Smith and his wife were in Bonaparte or not?

To the best of my knowledge, there was not an 1875 Van Buren Co. Iowa Census. See: http://www.rootsweb.com/~iacensus/icstatus.htm Also: http://www.heritagequest.com/cgi-bin/nspage26.cpg?catalog=qsearch&file=quickdata.htm&@where.state@eq=Iowa&@where.title=Van%20Buren&@s=Van%20Buren If above link is too long, go to: http://www2.heritagequest.com/catalogs/qSearch/sstate.asp?sState=Iowa then click on Van Buren Co. link. Rich DONALD DETWILER wrote: > Clarence Smith Detwiler, son of John Detwiler, became a telegraph agent in > Bonaparte prior to the 1860 census and was listed as a railroad agent on the > 1870 census. He married Frances Merrick in McDonough County, Illinois in > 1871, so I assumed he had left Van Buren County. Today, I found the 1878 > Bonaparte Twp., Van Buren County, Biographical Directory of Citizens which > lists him as a telegraph operator. Was there a state census in 1875 that > could show whether Smith and his wife were in Bonaparte or not? ___________________________________________________________ «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»¥«¤»§«¤» Rich Lowe richlowe@web-iowa.com Van Buren Co. IA GenWeb Coordinator http://www.rootsweb.com/~iavanbur/ IAVANBUR-L Mail List http://www.rootsweb.com/~iavanbur/how-to-subscribe.html Villages of Van Buren http://www.800-tourvbc.com