Jo: Which Whitney and which column are you referring to? I'm not seeing this as I look at the online scans. I show that 1820 had 6 columns for free white males 5 columns for free white females 1 column for foreigners 1 column for those in agriculture 1 column for those in commerce 1 column for those in manufacturing 8 columns for slaves and 1 column for all others Send me the details of what you're seeing. Tim > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: [WHITNEY] Ashburnham, MA > From: WhitPark@aol.com > Date: Sat, April 07, 2007 1:21 pm > To: whitney@rootsweb.com > > Hello WRG, > > I have been working on the census records for my entire database and > for the > first time came across something that stopped me in my tracks. Since > there > were many Whitneys in Ashburnham in the late 18th and early 19th > century, I > am hoping someone on the list can help me come to terms with this. > > Today, in the 1820 census for Ashburnham, I was disturbed to find that > my > 4th great grandmother's brothers that lived in Ashburnham all owned > slaves. As > I scrolled through, the census record showed that virtually everyone > in the > town owned slaves, including all the Whitneys. > In the previous census records there were no slaves noted. > 1790 - the slave column was blank for everyone in the town. > In 1800 and in 1810, the column for slaves was left off the record, > each > contained 1 column less than the official form and no slaves were > noted/ > In the 1810 census, the column for "slaves" was left off the record... > this > was column number 12 and the pages only have 11 columns. > The 1830 census images at Ancestry are incomplete. I have vital > records for > the town for that time frame but none of my family is there. However, > glancing at the one page of records for Ashburnham I find that > virtually everyone > still owned slaves. > > Could it be that they just did not count the slaves? Or would they > all of > suddenly become slave owners between 1810 and 1820? > > In my research this is the first time I have found an ancestor that has > owned slaves, at least clearly noted in black and white. How > disconcerting and > upsetting. > And to find the entire town with slave ownership - in Massachusetts. > Is > anyone aware of other towns where this was the case? > > I am just a bit rattled... > > Jo H > > > > ************************************** See what's free at > http://www.aol.com. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > WHITNEY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Tim, I have had an email change since it was last posted on the WRG website. It now is: arvwhit1@msn.com. Thanks, Arv