Margie R. Pearce URL: http://www.angelfire.com/la/ancestors -----Original Message----- From: Wanda R Tracy [SMTP:wrtracy@juno.com] Sent: Friday, February 13, 1998 11:28 AM To: OWEN-L@rootsweb.com Subject: renee-l@juno.com (Renee' LaViness): Census Subs & More Hello, This message was forwarded to me and I think it has some good information for us all in our research. Wanda wrtracy@juno.com - Subject: Census Subs & More Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 03:47:08 -0600 Message-ID: <19980212.035638.13022.1.Renee-L@juno.com> Hey, here is some really good info that I hope will help at least one of us. Take care! Renee' --------- Begin forwarded messages ---------- This came from the Ancestry daily newsletter Thought some of you might find it interesting =============================================== >From The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy Edited by Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking Census Substitutes Page 136 In the absence of official census records, genealogists and historians have shown ingenuity in filling the resulting gaps. An interesting 1776 census was compiled from oaths of allegiance ordered by the colonial government of Maryland. Several of the lists are arranged in family units, with ages given for each person. The pattern was later used for U.S. federal schedules. In 1778, a second census tallied those who opposed the American Revolution. Included on this second list are Quakers, Mennonites, and others who refused to take oaths, as well as some remaining Tories. Tax lists often make acceptable substitutes for missing censuses. School Censuses Traditionally, school censuses have been taken to insure that local facilities and teachers are adequate and to plan for future appropriations. These schedules count the children of school age. Some lists are in family units with parents' names included. Some list children with ages only. Constable's or Sheriff's Census The constable or sheriff's census (also called a police census) actually had little to do with law enforcement; but the local constable, often under the eye of the sheriff, was the official most often used to assemble data required for administrative decisions. For example, in 1769-1770, the governor of Connecticut required an enumeration of "how many parsons partayn to ech family, and how many boshels of wheat, and of Indian corne, ech famyly hath." Another sheriff's census was taken to the Committee of Safety and Relief, 16 April 1814, to account for settlers on the Niagara Frontier (western New York) who were "victimized during the War of 1812." Money was raised in Albany by voluntary donation to provide aid for these settlers. Pennsylvania's tax assessors took septennial (every seven years) censuses from 1763 to 1807, listing taxable inhabitants by township. Occasionally, the list covered males age sixteen to forty-five only, thus making a militia census. Tax assessors were exempt along with teachers, physicians, provincial and state government leaders, militia captains, and others. Their names were not included on the same lists. Exempt status was set by law. Church/Civil Censuses In areas where a church was established and supported by the civil government, enumerating the population was often the responsibility of church officials. The most common examples come from New England, but others can be found among church-wardens' records in Virginia and South Carolina. As a more modern example, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints enumerated its members in Pottawatomie, Iowa, as part of the Iowa state census ordered in 1847 for all residents. These church schedules contain the standard information asked for in the Iowa tally but also include wagons, guns, number of family members ill, aged, or infirm, and oxen/cattle/horses. These data suggest a dual function for the census to comply with the Iowa law and to prepare for transporting a large body of people westward, a project even then under way. Emigrating companies were enumerated in tens and hundreds before they embarked the organization under which they traveled to Utah. Other censuses were taken in Utah in 1852 and 1856. These tallies are valuable because many people did not survive the trek across the Great Plains and the Rockies; comparing the two censuses helps clarify mortality figures. Many of the companies that Brigham Young sent to colonize the Mormon Corridor before 1872 (Rocky Mountain valleys stretching from Mexico to Canada and from Las Vegas to San Bernardino, California) made summaries of individuals, professions, states of health, wagons, cattle, and weapons. Many of these schedules are among the collections of the LDS Church Historical Department, 50 North West Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84150. More widely known are the twentieth-century census cards (1914 to 1960), which enumerate all LDS families in organized wards. They are available for research on microfilm at the Genealogical Society of Utah. Settlers Census Still another example is the Holland Land Company Census of 1806. The Holland Land Company had great difficulty getting payments from settlers on their lands in central and western New York. Its census assessed the resources of these settlers and, hence, their ability to pay. The 1806 data is especially valuable, as many of these people moved on before the 1810 federal census. For some, it is the only record of their stop in New York City. Importance of Local Censuses Local censuses can be useful in discovering the names of children who are listed in pre-1850 census schedules by age groupings only. Similarly, these censuses may be used to determine the number living in a household and compared with birth and death records. They may also verify specific residences of individuals who moved too rapidly to be recorded in other sources; and they may identify neighbors and other community members whose records can provide additional clues for tracing families and individuals back in time. Comparing local census schedules with tax records and other property sources is often one of the best ways to distinguish individuals of the same or similar names. African American Census Schedules >From about 1830 on, northern cities increasingly felt the need to monitor African Americans who were moving from the South seeking freedom and work. In 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, Ohio called for the number and names of African Americans who had immigrated to Ohio from other states since 1 March 1861, their current township of residence, and their state of origin. Thirteen counties in southeastern Ohio submitted schedules. Hamilton County refused because the numbers were too great and its staff too limited. Household censuses of Philadelphia's African American population were taken in 1838 and 1856 by the Pennsylvania Abolition Society and in 1847 by the Society of Friends. In addition to the variables listed in the federal census, the records of 11,600 households contain information describing membership in church, beneficial, and temperance societies; income, education level, and school attendance; house, ground, and water rent; how freedom was acquired; and the amount of property brought to Pennsylvania. These superb records constitute the most detailed information we have describing any population group in the mid-nineteenth century; they are being computer-processed as part of an urban-immigrant study of African Americans in Philadelphia conducted by Temple University. The National Archives has issued a separate list of "Free Black Heads of Families in the First Census of the U.S. 1790" as Special List 34. This compilation by Debra L. Newman is available free upon request from the National Archives. An expanded version for New York is Alice Eichholz and James M. Rose, comps., Free Black Heads of Households in the New York State Federal Census 1790-1830, Gale Genealogy and Local History Series, vol. 14 (Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1981). Michael Reck 2434 Forest Home Ave. Riverside, Ohio 45404-2410 E-Mail: moreck@juno.com "Better to Praise Him than to doubt Him, there is Victory in Praise" -Rev. Pete Hood -----------------------------AND MORE----------------------------------------- > >In 1866, the state of West Virginia minted a medal for each >of the >soldiers >who participated in the Civil War. Originally, 26,099 were >minted and >many >given to the soldier himself. However, the state was unable >to find all >the veterans, leaving the medal unclaimed. In fact, there >are still >about >5,200 which have not been claimed and presented to the >families of these >veterans. The WV Archives are working to locate the >descendants of >these >soldiers. > >The claim process is simple: > >1. Go to the site, read about the medals and check the >list. >2. If one of the names on the list matches your ancestor, >follow the >claim >submission process detailed at the site. >3. They will work with you to verify your claim, and if >validated you >could receive the medal on behalf of your ancestor. > >Simple as that, here's the site: > > >http://www.wvlc.wvnet.edu/history/medals.html > > >==== STEWART Mailing List ==== >"My" Stewarts are described in "Oak Leaves A Family History of the >Descendants of Daniel Stewart of Appin, Argyll, Scotland 1751-1819" > ------------------------And MORE----------------------------------------- The historians can be found through the TN Genweb page. Carroll County Genealogy and Historical Society 640 North Main Street McKenzie, TN 38201 Lauderdale County Historical Society 957 Doctor Hall Road Halls, TN 38040-8727 Lake County Genealogical and Historical Society 110 Cherry Street Tiptonville, TN 38079 Mid-West Tennessee Genealogical Society (Madison County) P.O. Box 3343 Murray Station Jackson, TN 38303-0343 Gibson County Historical Society - is in Trenton - don't know address Hope this helps you and anyone else who can use it. --------- End forwarded messages ---------- _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] --------- End forwarded message ---------- _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ______________________________