Although census records exist in many countries, I will be talking about U.S. Federal Census records. The Constitution states that an actual count of the U.S. population will be made every 10 years, and that census will provide the basis for determining representation of states in the House of Representatives and to determine direct taxation. As I discuss each census, a link will be given to a blank census form (Adobe Reader required - download here).
In 1790, the new country was still worried about war - war with Britain, war with the native peoples, maybe war with the Spanish. To establish representation, only voters were named, and that was usually a male head of household. The counts were for free white males under 16, free white males over 16, females, all other persons, and slaves.
This tells us that the number of men of fighting age was very important to the government. After all, the Constitutional requirements just required a count for representation or taxation. The future crop of soldiers (males under 16) was also important. In general, the government wanted to know how many women or "other persons" lived in the country, and lastly, how many slaves.
In 1790, slavery was practiced almost everywhere in the western world, and slaves, almost entirely of a different ethnicity than the slave holders, were not considered to be "persons." Out of an estimated population of 3.8 million people, 695,000 were slaves and slave owning families were both "white" and "Free Colored."
Today, 1790 census returns exist for the states of Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Carolina and the territories of Maine and Vermont. Unfortunately returns for Delaware, Georgia, New Jersey, and Virginia, as well as the territory of Kentucky have been lost. In those states, locating your families will become more difficult. Land and tax records, wills, probate files and marriages are your best bets, but they all have limitations. I have a n-times great grandfather who lived to be 95, dying in 1841. He fought in the Revolution, but was never a landowner. Since he didn't die, get married or transfer property between 1746 and 1841, I would never have known where he was if he had been in Virginia in 1790 instead of North Carolina.
In Bladen County, North Carolina, there were 633 families and only 53 of them were headed by women. A family unit was needed to make a life in the wilderness. You needed someone to hunt, someone to clean, preserve and cook -- someone to plow and sow, someone to weed, someone to preserve and cook. Children were your real wealth, and there wasn't really anything that you could do to limit your family, if you wanted to. An older woman left alone went to live with her family if possible, or maybe moved in with another family and helped as she could. A woman or a man who was widowed and left with small children had to remarry - or risk not surviving.
Pioneering was hard work -- harder I think than I could stand. After all, a week backpacking every now and then, with freeze dried food, portable stove and fuel, matches, water purification tablets, a collapsible, weather proof tent and sleeping bag -- well, I think you can see the difference.
More census years to come!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Cemetery Update -- Cleaning Stones
I have had a busy week, mostly putting the final touches on the first leg of my "Boones in Oregon" project. I am looking at a variety of solutions for putting this up on a web page. But more about that project another day.
Last weekend we went to Portland to attend a morning class at Lone Fir Pioneer Cemetery in how to clean grave markers. Since it is summer in Oregon, the day was overcast, breezy and none to warm. We also had a group of young adults from Central Catholic High School -- almost 40 of them. Becky and Steve (from Friends of Lone Fir) were giving the class, and I don't think they expected all of them, but they graciously carried on, and the students appeared to be enjoying themselves.
First of all, do no harm! That means that if the stone is badly cracked or stone is flaking off, don't touch it! You will need to consult someone more knowledgeable about stone preservation. However, if the stone is in reasonably good condition and just dirty, you can proceed.
You will need
Next, using your wooden tools, remove any accumulations of moss and dirt, working slowly and very carefully. If stone seems to be flaking, STOP! and get professional advice before proceeding.
Then, using a wet brush, continue cleaning the stone. Make sure you keep the stone continuously wet.
When you have removed all the dirt you can, you can work on the lichens with Photo-flo. Mix up a solution of 1 or 2 teaspoons of Photo-flo to a gallon of water. Using a cotton ball or Q-tip, apply the solution sparingly to stained areas that are already wet. Wait for 5 minutes or so, and rinse thoroughly. You may have to repeat this several times.
The reward is a clean marker. The old white marble markers begin to look brand new very quickly. We uncovered a truly unique marker under layers of moss, dirt and grime: the grave of a 5 year old girl, it was the shape of a child-sized coffin with a very ornate cross in raised stone on the top, and an inscription running all around the edges. No one had seen the pattern in years, and now it will be a very special place again.
So, go carefully. And remember, unless it is the grave of a family member, it doesn't belong to you. Always get permission from the cemetery staff or the family before working on a stone.
Last weekend we went to Portland to attend a morning class at Lone Fir Pioneer Cemetery in how to clean grave markers. Since it is summer in Oregon, the day was overcast, breezy and none to warm. We also had a group of young adults from Central Catholic High School -- almost 40 of them. Becky and Steve (from Friends of Lone Fir) were giving the class, and I don't think they expected all of them, but they graciously carried on, and the students appeared to be enjoying themselves.
First of all, do no harm! That means that if the stone is badly cracked or stone is flaking off, don't touch it! You will need to consult someone more knowledgeable about stone preservation. However, if the stone is in reasonably good condition and just dirty, you can proceed.
You will need
- LOTS of water. If a hose isn't available, you will need several buckets of water.
- Brushes -- natural bristles are best, although soft nylon ones are OK. A large one for large areas, toothbrushes for small areas
- Wooden utensils such as chopsticks, paint sticks, and so on. Never use metal of any kind around the stones
- For stones badly stained with lichens, you will need an non-ionic solution such as Photo-flo. Basically, an ionic solution (such as salt and water) conducts electricity, a non-ionic solution (sugar and water) does not. It makes water "wetter", but doesn't harm the stones.
- Miscellaneous small things like cotton puffs, Q-Tips, clean rags.
Next, using your wooden tools, remove any accumulations of moss and dirt, working slowly and very carefully. If stone seems to be flaking, STOP! and get professional advice before proceeding.
Then, using a wet brush, continue cleaning the stone. Make sure you keep the stone continuously wet.
When you have removed all the dirt you can, you can work on the lichens with Photo-flo. Mix up a solution of 1 or 2 teaspoons of Photo-flo to a gallon of water. Using a cotton ball or Q-tip, apply the solution sparingly to stained areas that are already wet. Wait for 5 minutes or so, and rinse thoroughly. You may have to repeat this several times.
The reward is a clean marker. The old white marble markers begin to look brand new very quickly. We uncovered a truly unique marker under layers of moss, dirt and grime: the grave of a 5 year old girl, it was the shape of a child-sized coffin with a very ornate cross in raised stone on the top, and an inscription running all around the edges. No one had seen the pattern in years, and now it will be a very special place again.
So, go carefully. And remember, unless it is the grave of a family member, it doesn't belong to you. Always get permission from the cemetery staff or the family before working on a stone.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Charles Magnus Wibert -- Portland, Oregon
Charles Magnus Wiberg (also spelled Wyberg) was born circa 1820 in Norrkoping, Sweden. He was apprenticed to a shoemaker as a young man to learn a trade. In about 1841 he left Sweden for London and practiced his trade there for several years. In 1849 he set sail from Galloway, Ireland, to New York City, arriving 12 July 1849 on the C. Tottie. He is listed on the passenger manifest as Carl M. Wiberg, a shoemaker.
By his own account, he lived in Connecticut, New Orleans and Wisconsin, finally settling in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1851, where he opened a shoe store. His entire business was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1851. He remained in Milwaukee another year to repay his debts from the fire, and then left for Oregon by way of the Isthmus of Panama. He arrived in Portland on 06 July 1852, and promptly started the first boot and shoe store in Oregon.
In 1858, he married Paulina Ingram. They had 9 children, 8 of whom lived to adulthood. Charles was a highly regarded businessman, owning property worth over $45,000 in 1870. He was a member of the board of directors of the Willamette Iron Bridge Co., which built the Morrison Street bridge in Portland.
He died on 03 February 1897 in Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon, of pneumonia following grippe [influenza] complicated by Bright's Disease [kidney disease]. He was buried on6 Feb 1897 River View Cemetery Portland Oregon
That is the short story of one man's life -- a collateral line to a line I am investigating in my Boones in Oregon project. This required research, of course: immigration lists, census information 1850-1920, death certificates, marriage certificates, a visit to River View Cemetery, consultation with available Polk's city directories for Portland, histories of prominent men in Portland, newspapers of the era, a medical dictionary -- just to name a few. Just Charles' narrative (not including his wife and children) generated over 20 footnotes, referencing 16 sources.
Ten years ago this project would have been impossible for me. I can't afford to travel to New York for instance, to look through several years of ship manifests. I would not have had access to indexed historical newspapers. The microfilm copies of old Portland death certificates would not have been available.
Now, I have the internet and a subscription to Ancestry, the site we all love to hate. As I have said before (and Dick Eastman has said better here), this subscription is worth every penny I pay for it. I also joined the Genealogical Forum of Portland (that's not free either, nor should it be).
I also have The Master Genealogist (TMG) program, which helps me properly format citations to my sources, and keep track of where to put the footnotes. Glory Be! I am old enough to remember typing term papers and putting in the footnotes by hand (and retyping them endless times to get the footnotes on the correct page), then having to make a bibliography by hand.
Using Elizabeth Shown Mills' book, "Evidence Explained, Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace," I can put in the format for a type of source only once -- first citation, subsequent citation and bibliography - and then be confident that the source will be printed out correctly. When I output my report to a word processor (and I prefer to use the free, open source OpenOffice), all of my footnotes are firmly attached to the text, and the bibliography prints correctly at the end.
I want to make it clear that I am no way affiliated with Ancestry, TMG, OpenOffice or any one or any software or book mentioned in this site. The blog is provided by Google, and that is the extent of my relationship. These are simply the best tools out there for doing genealogy.
Later this week I will share with you what I learned from a class taken at Lone Fir Cemetery in how to responsibly clean monuments and stones. Stay tuned.
By his own account, he lived in Connecticut, New Orleans and Wisconsin, finally settling in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1851, where he opened a shoe store. His entire business was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1851. He remained in Milwaukee another year to repay his debts from the fire, and then left for Oregon by way of the Isthmus of Panama. He arrived in Portland on 06 July 1852, and promptly started the first boot and shoe store in Oregon.
In 1858, he married Paulina Ingram. They had 9 children, 8 of whom lived to adulthood. Charles was a highly regarded businessman, owning property worth over $45,000 in 1870. He was a member of the board of directors of the Willamette Iron Bridge Co., which built the Morrison Street bridge in Portland.
He died on 03 February 1897 in Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon, of pneumonia following grippe [influenza] complicated by Bright's Disease [kidney disease]. He was buried on
That is the short story of one man's life -- a collateral line to a line I am investigating in my Boones in Oregon project. This required research, of course: immigration lists, census information 1850-1920, death certificates, marriage certificates, a visit to River View Cemetery, consultation with available Polk's city directories for Portland, histories of prominent men in Portland, newspapers of the era, a medical dictionary -- just to name a few. Just Charles' narrative (not including his wife and children) generated over 20 footnotes, referencing 16 sources.
Ten years ago this project would have been impossible for me. I can't afford to travel to New York for instance, to look through several years of ship manifests. I would not have had access to indexed historical newspapers. The microfilm copies of old Portland death certificates would not have been available.
Now, I have the internet and a subscription to Ancestry, the site we all love to hate. As I have said before (and Dick Eastman has said better here), this subscription is worth every penny I pay for it. I also joined the Genealogical Forum of Portland (that's not free either, nor should it be).
I also have The Master Genealogist (TMG) program, which helps me properly format citations to my sources, and keep track of where to put the footnotes. Glory Be! I am old enough to remember typing term papers and putting in the footnotes by hand (and retyping them endless times to get the footnotes on the correct page), then having to make a bibliography by hand.
Using Elizabeth Shown Mills' book, "Evidence Explained, Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace," I can put in the format for a type of source only once -- first citation, subsequent citation and bibliography - and then be confident that the source will be printed out correctly. When I output my report to a word processor (and I prefer to use the free, open source OpenOffice), all of my footnotes are firmly attached to the text, and the bibliography prints correctly at the end.
I want to make it clear that I am no way affiliated with Ancestry, TMG, OpenOffice or any one or any software or book mentioned in this site. The blog is provided by Google, and that is the extent of my relationship. These are simply the best tools out there for doing genealogy.
Later this week I will share with you what I learned from a class taken at Lone Fir Cemetery in how to responsibly clean monuments and stones. Stay tuned.
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