52 Ancestors: Week 5: In the Census

Week 5 - In the Census 

And here I go again, playing catchup. But I'll get there. Oh yes, I will! 

This blog challenge at 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks deals with censuses.  

I decided I wanted to stress to new researchers to be sure and look at the original census (or any other original record that you have access to). Check what it says for yourself. Don’t depend on me OR others.

I have quite a few examples I could use, but this one relating to William "Bill" Cauble is easy to see. 

By June of 1880, William Cauble, a/k/a William Jefferson Alonso Cauble, was married to Julia Hardin and living in the household with Benjamin F. Hardin, Julia’s brother, as the head. From research over the years, I knew that these families had lived in McLennan and Hill Counties, Texas. They traveled northward to live in Callahan County, Texas before ending up in Eastland County, Texas (enumerated on the 1900 census).

William Cauble is listed on the 1880 United States Federal Census for Precinct 1, Callahan, Texas[1], and below is what is transcribed at Ancestry:

Name:	William Cauble
Age:	26
Birth Date:	Abt 1854
Birthplace:	Texas
Home in 1880:	Precinct 1, Calhoun, Texas, USA
Dwelling Number:	141
Race:	White
Gender:	Male
Relation to Head of House:	Brother-in-law
Marital Status:	Married
Father's Birthplace:	(TN)
Occupation:	Farmer
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Benj. F. Hardin 35 Louisa Hardin 62 Locretia Hardin 37 William Cauble 26 Julia Cauble 22 Nannie Cauble 4 Lou Cauble 1 James Cauble 3/12

What? Calhoun County, Texas? I recognized all the names from years of research so I knew this was the correct family, but the place of residence was wrong. I know where Calhoun County, Texas is, and it's not my Hardin-Cauble's stomping grounds. Here's the family listed in the above transcription:

1880 U.S. Federal Census for Callahan County, Texas

Benj. F. Hardin household

There’s a lot of miles (about 363.9 miles, according to Google Maps) between Calhoun County, Texas and Callahan County, Texas.  Calhoun County is in the mid-coast area of Texas (on the Gulf of Mexico). Callahan County, Texas is in the rolling plains area of Central Texas. My people were never in the Gulf coast area of Texas - at least not these family members.

Going to the original census record (see below), I can see that the person who transcribed this census for Ancestry made Callahan County out to be Calhoun County. A quick glance of the pages before and after this record showed handwriting more clearly and it is indeed “Callahan” County.

1880 U.S. Federal Census for Callahan County, Texas

Page that Benj. F. Hardin family is listed (page 18-handwritten)

1880 U.S. Federal Census for Callahan County, Texas

1 page over from the Benj. F. Hardin family (page 19 handwritten)

And, yes, I left a note beside the transcription at Ancestry that the place of residence was Callahan County and not Calhoun County. I leave a lot of notes to bring attention to error(s), or what could be error(s). And, yes, I do hope that those that find any errors I've made in my work will the same for me. 

Revis 

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[1] 1880 U.S. census, Callahan County, Texas,  population schedule, Supervisor’s District 175, Enumeration District (ED) 3, page18 (penned), page  329 B  (stamped), dwelling 141, family 143, William Cauble, digital image , Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 31 Jan 2017), citing NARA microfilm publication T9 roll 1294.