Maybe it just because its been such a long day but I looked at Asserkus and immediatly thought "A Circus". Not very helpful but sure struck me funny at the time. Is there more than one person on that census with that designation? Are you sure it was a nationality or was it perhaps a given name? I found a transcription online of the 1885 Dodge County, Nebraska census... For John CRAMER & Asserkus ?? It looks like it was perhaps a first name of the wife. Doesn't appear to have the nationality listed in the transcript. http://www.rootsweb.com/~nedodge/census/1885/C85DodgeCensus.htm Deb Karon wrote: >That is humorous to me as my mother was saying she was Pennsylvania Dutch to avoid being German. And she wouldn't admit to being any degree of Indian. In the 1885 Nebraska Census, Frances Bertha West was listed as Asserkus. I am totally unfamiliar with that name, and have wondered if it was an Indian name. Anybody on the list know? > >Karon > > > >