The INDEX for the 1850 (and later) national census contains only the head of household and individuals within a household with a different head-of-household surname. 1850 was the first US census to request names for the individuals enumerated within the household, so in earlier census, names of other household members were not even available to indexing companies. 1830 and 1840 census enumerated all individuals, by number, in age groups within the household, but named only the head of household. Because no one else in the household was named, only head of household appears in the index, no matter how many different surnames are actually contained within the household enumeration. 1830 and 1840 census enumerations would appear as: John Smith - 20001 - 01001 and would indicate 2 males under age 5, 1 male 20-30 - 1 female 5-10, 1 female 20-30. We may only assume that all individuals in the household are members of John Smith's family, though in reality, any of the numbers may represent someone with a different surname. However, because John is enumerated as head of household, we can usually safely assume that John is the older of the three males - at least as I have given the example. If there were a number given in an elderly age group, say 70-80 or 80-90, it would be a toss-up as to whether the younger or older male was John Smith, the household head, and the person named and indexed. There's always the possibility that the head of household is the elderly person and that all those in his household are his daughter's family and have a different surname. Tricky - and making assumptions is very risky. An 1850 census entry for the same family as above might read: John Smith, age 29; farmer; born North Carolina Mary, age 25; keeping house; born North Carolina Susan, age 6; born Tennessee William, age 2; born Tennessee Joseph Brown, age 4; born North Carolina Sarah Johnson, age 65; born Virginia In the above instance, John Smith AND Joseph Brown AND Sarah Johnson would appear in the 1850 index, but no other household members. If John's Smith's father were also living in the household, he would likely be missed by the indexer who is trained to note only "different" surnames. Did that help, or did I just confuse you? Linda in Georgia Census/Cemetery Lookup Volunteer Genealogy is my ONLY business. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gloria & Bruce Wilson" <redhangr@hcnews.com> To: <LA-CENSUS-LOOKUP-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, October 01, 2002 12:40 AM Subject: [LA-CEN] Census Indexing question > Was the 1850 census indexed by head of household only or by everyone in > household? > What about the 1840 and 1830 census indexes???? > > Many thanks > > > ==== LA-CENSUS-LOOKUP Mailing List ==== > To transcribe a census please volunteer at > http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/census/map.htm > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > >