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From: Kelly Priestly <>
Subject: [LACLAIBO] Census numbers
Date: Fri, 09 Jun 2000 17:36:07 -0500


Hi Marilyn and All,

Yes--all those census numbers can be a real pain! I'm sure you know but
they didn't start listing the names of everyone in a household until the
1850 census. Each census prior to that only listed the name of the head
of household and then just the age ranges of everyone.

The 1790-1840 censuses are all set up diffently. Each has a bunch of
columns with headings such as "Males--under 5, age 5-10, 10-20, 30-40,
etc. If someone in that household had a child that was under the age of
5 for example, then a number (1, 2, 3, etc) is placed in that box
indicating how many children in that age range are in that household.

When folks transcribe these censuses, it is quicker to abbreviate this
notation by just using numbers instead of writing it out long-hand what
all of the column headings are......that is what numbers like
001000201-100201 mean. Since each census year varied somewhat in their
column titles, it is important to note what the census year is with your
notation of numbers. Then it is just a matter of finding out what the
column headings are and plugging in the numbers. Usually, the numbers
are only listed for the white males and females....and the "-" symbol
between the numbers indicates that the first set of numbers is for the
males and the second set is for the females.

For example--1830 Claiborne Parish Census
Column headings--
1. Free White Males Under 5
2. Free White Males 5 to 10
3. Free White Males 10 to 15
4. Free White Males 15 to 20
5. Free White Males 20 to 30
6. Free White Males 30 to 40
7. Free White Males 40 to 50
8. Free White Males 50 to 60
9. Free White Males 60 to 70
10. Free White Males 70 to 80
11. Free White Males 80 to 90
12. Free White Males 90 to 100
13. Free White Males 100 and up

14. Free White Females Under 5
15. Free White Females 5 to 10
16. Free White Females 10 to 15
17. Free White Females 15 to 20
18. Free White Females 20 to 30
19. Free White Females 30 to 40
20. Free White Females 40 to 50
21. Free White Females 50 to 60
22. Free White Females 60 to 70
23. Free White Females 70 to 80
24. Free White Females 80 to 90
25. Free White Females 90 to 100
26. Free White Females 100 and up

Household #1
Thomas Brown 1100100000000--0000100000000

So this means that in Thomas Brown's household, there was 1 male under
the age of 5, 1 male 5-10, and 1 male 20-30 (most likely Thomas
himself)....also 1 female 20-30 (most likely Thomas' wife). The zero in
all of the other columns indicates that there were NO persons in that
home in that corresponding age range.

You can use this info to make guesses about Thomas and his family....he
would have been born between c1800-1810....and we know he prob had a
wife of the same age (but could have been a sister or somebody
else).....also that they had at least 2 male children--1 born c1820-25
and 1 born c1825-30.....also based on the ages of the children, you can
ASSUME that they married sometime around the early to mid 1820s. Of
course, because we don't have names, this could be Thomas and his sister
and their two little orphan brothers!

I hope this makes sense to you and everyone!! I'm not very good at
explaining things sometimes. Try looking at my 1830 Claib.
transcription and then looking at one of the 1830 census images to get a
better idea of what I just said. This is the url:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/la/claiborne/census.htm

Let me know if I just confused you even more!!! Can anyone else add
anything to make this explanation a little more clear?
Kel

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