Slaves on census were listed only by sex and age - Early censuses - in columns following those for the family. Beginning in 1850 all household names were recorded as either B = free blacks M= Mulatto [free] W = white Slaves for 1850 and 1860 were recorded only by sex and age on special Slave Schedules Census takers just got tired of filling in that "W" Barb > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 >> > If the 1850 census shows John and Charles Clark, > farmhands, living in Rodney & Susan Clark's household, > check the census for their ages and race... they may > have been the Clarks' slaves. >: > Message > I really don't know. Every antebellum Ky census > taker's report I've seen always listed each > individual's race, since it was absolutely necessary > to determine Congressional representation, a slave > counting as only 2/3 (or was it 3/4) of a white person > for representation purposes. Of course slaves (and > women) were not allowed to vote, but they were used in > determining population for representational purposes.