Mark, Sorry to jump in mid-stream in your conversation. I've been reading the Shelby County census records for a couple of years and have learned a few thing that might relate to your question about not being able to reconcile the number of family members that you "know" about with the number of household members in the pre-1850 censuses. One thing I've learned is that, at least in the case with some of my ancestors, multiple family groups (i.e. father and sons, brothers, or even cousins) arrived in the US, bought 1 farm, and it appears that only the father or eldest brother is listed as the head of household. Additionally, they may have brought more children from the old country, than you know about ... and these children died before there are any records. There were also a number of epidemics. Surviving families often took in other people, particularly orphaned children. This too will inflate the number of members of a household to more than what you expect for your particular family. This was particularly true in the 1850 census which was taken soon after the 1849 cholera epidemic. Does this help? Becky

Becky, Every little bit helps. The problem we're having is with the column "foreigners not naturalized". It appears to imply the number listed in the column is to record anyone born outside the US or, perhaps more specifically to the period, outside the colonies. The number of people listed in the census matches perfectly with sex and age. The household contains second generation colonial with only one plausible exception. The column lists 2. The household acquired an exact match on sex and age from an unknown source doesn't work. They all lived long enough to provide records of who they were. So, we're left wondering. Thanks! Mark ----- Original Message ----- From: <Rpleimancpa@aol.com> To: <OHSHELBY-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2005 3:29 PM Subject: Re: [OHSHELBY] 1820 Census Question > Mark, > > Sorry to jump in mid-stream in your conversation. I've been reading the > Shelby County census records for a couple of years and have learned a few thing > that might relate to your question about not being able to reconcile the number > of family members that you "know" about with the number of household members > in the pre-1850 censuses. > > One thing I've learned is that, at least in the case with some of my > ancestors, multiple family groups (i.e. father and sons, brothers, or even cousins) > arrived in the US, bought 1 farm, and it appears that only the father or eldest > brother is listed as the head of household. Additionally, they may have > brought more children from the old country, than you know about ... and these > children died before there are any records. > > There were also a number of epidemics. Surviving families often took in > other people, particularly orphaned children. This too will inflate the number of > members of a household to more than what you expect for your particular > family. This was particularly true in the 1850 census which was taken soon after > the 1849 cholera epidemic. > > Does this help? > > Becky > > > ==== OHSHELBY Mailing List ==== > Check out Shelby County, OHGenWeb page at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ohshelby/mnpg.html > > ============================== > New! Family Tree Maker 2005. Build your tree and search for your ancestors at the same time. Share your tree with family and friends. Learn more: http://landing.ancestry.com/familytreemaker/2005/tour.aspx?sourceid=14599&targetid=5429