FEDERAL CENSUS
TOWN OF CHESHIREUNDERSTANDING THE CENSUS
The index books made to help the research of Federal Census records easier have eleven pages devoted to explaining why there are so many mistakes found on Census sheets. The following are listed as possible causes.
1- How well educated was the Enumerator?. Penmanship etc.
2- Spelling by sound,
3- Multiple lettering.
4- Reduction of letters,
5- Vowel interchanging.
6- Misformed letters or look alike letters.
7- Listing of ethnic names.
8- Nicknames and abbreviated names variations.
9- Voluntary and involuntary information from the resident
10- Americanizing & Aliasing of names.
11- The small 'IF" and 'IS" bloopers. ( Jesse-Jefse etc)
12- Missing a letter or letters.
13- Resident not home. Neighbors answered questions.The Census of Cheshire has many of the above errors and probably others that are not listed above. If the name was legible it was copied as it was written on the Census sheet. I did not correct the Enumerator's mistakes even though I knew many of the correct spellings. I will leave this to the reader's interpretation.
Census lists of the years 1790 thru 1840 only give the name of the head of each family listed by the Census Enumerator. The above years also lists by number the males and females who reside with the above in that house. Census years 1850 thru 1870 list all individuals in each home by name, age and sex but not their relationship to each other. Years 1880 thru 1920 adds relationship and other things which could be useful to the researcher. There is a sheet with each census year showing what information was asked by the Census Enumerator. This can be found by checking the Census itself at any Federal Archives. Space did not allow it to be done here.
Names in each ten year Census 1790 thru 1920 are listed alphabetically by last name, first name, line number and page number. Also for the years 1850 thru 1920 the residents of each household are listed in the same order as shown on the Census taken by the Census Enumerator, page, line, first name, last name age, and place of birth. Each house listed will begin with [I]first name last name. From that name to the next [1] are the only residents of that house. The first name which has the [1] in front of it is listed as the head of that house.
The years 1870 and 1910 were the most difficult to interpret. When the name could not be read on any of the census sheets the line number will still appear on the index sheets with a question mark and possibly the first or last name and gender of the individual. Every possible Town record was used to check names that were difficult to read, Assessor's, Birth, Death, Cemetery and Vital records. Please note that as was written in the first part of this introductory that the spelling was copied as written unless it was so far out that it seemed best to help the poor dead and departed Enumerator write what he should have in the first place.
Some of the files are lengthy, for your convenience, the size is in parentheses next to the census year in the table below.
CHESHIRE CENSUS YEARS
Census Transcribed by Alice Halvorsen
web format by Laurel O'Donnell
© Laurel O'Donnell, Alice Halvorsen, all rights reserved,
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