I learn best by doing–and that is certainly true when it comes to genealogical research. This blog post examines a recent learning experience born from encountering a surprise and the ensuing quest to understand a past practice.
Once upon a time I was attempting to unravel the headstone mystery of William Hirst. As described in a previous blog post, I found him listed in the 1860 US Federal Census on page 87, line 24, where he was identified as living in the Randolph Precinct, Coos County, Oregon.
What?
Randolph?
Wait a minute! The Randolph community is one of my main research subjects. I had created spreadsheets with Randolph census data from 1860 through 1950, but the information on page 87 was not part of my data collection.
How had I missed this page of the 1860 Randolph census? I grabbed my magnifying glass and started to follow a trail of clues that led me to the ambiguous Area 87–I mean, Page 87.
Page No. 87
At the top of the page, the enumerator wrote “Coquille Precinct.” After listing one family (lines 1-4), he left four blank rows (lines 5-8), and wrote “Concluded” on line 9. It looks like someone other than the original enumerator wrote “Randolph Precinct” on line 8. Immediately below “Concluded,” the enumerator listed other county residents, filling in the remaining lines of the page.
So, it appears that the enumeration for Randolph begins on line 10. To better understand the information being recorded on Page 87, I needed to examine the context in which this census record was created. So, off to the Internet with a new question: What does “Concluded” indicate in the 1860 Census?
1860 Census Instructions
Distinguish Boundaries.— When you have completed the enumeration of a town, township, village, ward, or county, leave a blank space of four or five lines, unless such termination occurs at or near the bottom of a page, in which case write “concluded.” Let your work on each schedule clearly indicate the point of completing every geographical or municipal division.
~Item 5. General Instructions in Taking the Eighth Census, 1860
The instructions also advise the U.S. Marshal overseeing the census to examine the records collected by an Assistant Marshal in order to identify and correct any discrepancies. Perhaps that is why “Randolph Precinct” on page 87 appears to be in handwriting different from that of the enumerator: it’s a clarification of the enumeration district to the census record before its official submission to the U.S. Secretary of the Interior and to the Oregon Secretary of State.
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Indexing: Help and Hindrance
The microfilmed 1860 census record, now digitized, is available at both Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org. It’s indexed the same way in both databases, dividing Coos County into four precincts:
- Johnsons (pages 83-84)
- Coquille (pages 85-87)
- Randolph (pages 88-89)
- Empire (pages 90-94).
The name of each precinct is identified at the top of each census sheet: “Coquille Precinct” is written at the top of pages 85-87; “Randolph Precinct” is written at the top of pages 88 and 89, and so on.
Determinations made while indexing the census appear to have been based upon the precinct identified at the top of each page. Thus, page 87 was indexed as part of the Coquille Precinct, separating it from pages 88 and 89, which were indexed as the Randolph Precinct. A ha! This is why I had a gap in my data collection.
Discussion
Fortunately, the 1860 data has not been critical to my current research project of learning about the Thrush family: because the family was not yet living in Coos County at that time. This experience, however, reinforces the genealogical dictum to not rely only on information found in indexes. Even though, I had consulted original (microfilmed) data, the search results omitted a page of Randolph residents due to how the census record had been indexed.
In the end, learning about William Hirst resulted in more than an interesting research project: it revealed census information that I didn’t even realize I had missed. What are the odds that learning an unknown person’s story would lead me to discover (and rectify) a gap in my own data collection? The marvel of serendipity!
What challenge have you encountered when using census records, and how did you overcome it? If you’re willing to share your own census research experience, please contact me or leave a comment below.
Source
“William Hurst.” In 1860 United States Federal Census [29], 1860 (roll M653); image 3. National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Bureau of the Census. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/43966924:7667.