Hi, Great News!!! THE 1860 CENSUS IS NOW ONLINE!! We are very proud to announce the completion of the 1860 Hampshire Co Census. I transcribed this census, and then asked if there were any volunteers to proofread it. One very brave soul, Kay Chapman (my new found "Fleek" cousin from Oregon) volunteered and recruited her husband too. I have to admit, I really must have done a shoddy job of this. It was my first attempt at trying to decipher the old hand writing (which can get quite unnerving at times), and all I did was sit and type it. Kay and Gary are the best!! They are perfectionists!!!, and took this task with so much enthusiasm and tackled this job in the most professional manner I have ever seen. It humbles me to look at what I would have turned in for uploading, and what became of it after it was in their hands. I'm elated to be a part of this project because of them, They worked so hard and did such a fantastic job!!, and I think they deserve ONE HUGE THANK YOU from all of us!!! I received an email that the census is now online, and can be viewed at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/census/states/virginia/va1860.htm The following is the blurb written by Kay and Gary: Please note: West Virginia was admitted to the Union June 20, 1863. Mineral County, West Virginia, was formed from Hampshire County in 1866. Transcription of hand-written census records is a rewarding but frustrating endeavor. While the images of this census were quite good, nothing can help when an ink spot or other smear obliterates the handwriting. Deciphering the writing of the census taker (enumerator) also is a concern. While the handwriting in this particular census is quite good, our best interpretation sometimes had to be used. For example, the letters T and L were quite similar. The old style double ess was used and sometimes looked like fs or ps.When in doubt, asterisks (*) have been used to indicate the unknown characters. In some instances, we have indicated an alternate possible interpretation in the remarks line. Our attempt to faithfully transcribe the census includes apparent misspellings. For instance, Piedmont was consistently spelled Peidmont. Pennsylvania was Pensylvania. An additional item to address is Column 12: "Attended School Within the Last Year." In this census, the total number of "school children" in the dwelling was entered on the line for the head of household. On many pages, it appears an attempt was made later to indicate the children who probably were those in school. Software limitations precluded entry of the number from the census into column 12, so we have placed an X in that column and indicated the number in the remarks line. For example, we you see #12:4 in the remarks line, it means that four children from that dwelling attended school. Where indicated by the census taker, we also placed an X in the appropriate column for that child. The columns from this census include the following information: 1. Dwelling Number 2. Family Number 3. Name 4. Sex 5. Age 6. Color (white, black or mulatto) 7. Occupation 8. Real Estate Value 9. Personal Estate Value 10. Place of Birth 11. Married within last year 12. Attended school within last year 13. Over 20 and cannot read or write 14. Whether deaf and dumb, blind, insane, idiotic, pauper, or convict. (An "X" in this column indicates that the specific detail will be found in the Remark line. Again, my eternal heartfelt thanks to Gary and Kaye. What a team!!!!! :) Patti