That is true, they did go back, but I think the house was already
"numbered," as it were, the first time, so the space was left.  Double
checking them against the land records and other known sources is definitely
the best way to go.



----- Original Message -----
From: "Vickie Elam White" <[log in to unmask]>
To: "westview" <[log in to unmask]>; "VA-ROOTS"
<[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, June 17, 2001 12:45 PM
Subject: Re: Census "next door"


Message text written by westview

>Even with the early censuses the enumerators went from house to house
systematically, lane by lane, road by road, plantation by plantation.
Whether the next property was 50 feet over or five miles, it was still,
literally, the "next door," and the nearest neighbor.  The real trick is to
figure out what direction the enumerator was riding, then you can plot out
whole areas.<

This is probably true most of the time, but I know that in some censuses
the enumerators were so conscientious that they returned to question people
who were not at home the first time rather than just guess or ask a
neighbor.
This means that those households were not listed in order.  How do I know
this?
 An ancestor who was an enumerator left a journal. <G>

One way that I have been able to double-check where folks lived on the
earlier
censues was to match them against land records to find out watercourses and
neighbors.


Vickie Elam White

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