Edgar, Can you tell me whose Cypert children are listed on the 1850 census with Isaac Horton Sr? Thanks, -- Judy Weaver

Judy, There are NO Cypert children listed in Isaac Horton Sr.'s household in the 1850 census. The only other person in the household is his second wife, Mary Weaver Horton, age 38. I think your problem lies with the fact that the original pages of the 1850 Wayne County, TN population schedule were bound out of sequence and thus when microfilmed, were out of sequence. Check your page numbers and household numbers to verify what I'm saying. Isaac Horton Sr., age 92, appears as the last entry on page 326B (650) household 820/830. On the microfilm, the next page 327 (651) listed Jesse A. Cypert, age 6 at the top entry. Mary Weaver Horton, age 38 (written Mary Horton) is listed as the top entry on page 325 (647) with the household No. 821/831 of F. W. Loyd, age 50 on the next line of that page. Anderson Cypert, age 30 (household 826/836) is the last entry on that page. The children at the top of page 327 are Anderson's children as the next household 827/837 is the listing for Anderson's brother, Robert S. Cypert, age 36. When I transcribed the 1850 population schedule for Wayne County TN (which appears on the web page), I reorganized the pages based on the household numbers and by comparing the heads of household against those listed in the agricultural schedule. Please note that there are also several pages missing from the bound copy in the National Archives. How many pages I haven't been able to determine, but I added several names from the agricultural schedule which do not appear on the population schedule. I would assume that those pages were lost either in the making of the other copies, or lost once the copy arrived at the census office in Washington. Originally the marshall for each county was supposed to make three copies of all the schedules: one copy was to be retained in the county while the other two copies were to be sent to the Secretary of State (or comparable office) in each state. That worthy official was then to send under proper letter, the "official" copy to the census office in Washington DC, while retained the other copy at the state level. I've looked for decades for the state copy of the 1850 census records. I have been informed by the State Archivist that such a copy does not exist. However, I have learned that such an answer does not constitute truth. It is possible that somewhere in the bowels of the piles of paper generated by the office of the Secretary of state of Tennessee, there exists the second copy of the census pages. The copy to have been retained by the county has apparently long since disappeared as have those copies of the 1860, 1870 and 1880. Now before someone asks the question, I will provide the answer. YES, the enumerators did go house to house in taking the census. That was true from 1791 (the 1790 census) through 1980. I've seen postings about the census taker sitting at a local store, tavern or church and the local inhabitants supposedly came to him. HOGWASH. If the enumerator did such a thing, he was in direct violation of the laws enacted to take the census and could be fined for his actions. Since they didn't get paid that much to begin with, I don't quite see him rishing a substantial fine. And as many of you know from trying to read the microfilm of the censuses, the enumerators, marshalls and others involved in the process were not always the brightest light in the neighborhood. The censuses were done with the least expense possible and often the enumerator manufactured his own ink and quills and used whatever paper was handy to record the information. The forms were often filled out later in order to "save paper". I would imagine that when the assistant marshall (or whoever did it) sat down to make the three copies required, many errors crept into the final copies. And it may be true, that only two final copies were made, to be sent to the Secretary of State's office, and that the local copy was never made. Please be aware that census records are often miscompiled. Please check the household numbers; these are more important than the page numbers. Edgar ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, November 07, 2003 9:53 AM Subject: [TNWAYNE] Edgar Byler - Horton Question Edgar, Can you tell me whose Cypert children are listed on the 1850 census with Isaac Horton Sr? Thanks, -- Judy Weaver ==== TNWAYNE Mailing List ==== Visit the Wayne County, Tennessee Genealogy and History Page at http://www.netease.net/wayne