David wrote:
>Just to throw another possibility into the mix - I've seen people
designated
as "blacksmith" or "b.s." on tax lists. Perhaps "BS" in this census record
could be an abbreviation for blacksmith.
 
>C. Etter wrote:
>It looks like column number 15 is for people
engaged in manufacturing, and blacksmithing could be considered as
manufacturing. 
>Teach of the 3 guys shown with a "BS" in
the above examples appears to have people listed in the manufacturing
column, which would be consistent with a blacksmith operation.



Good points.

Column 17 (15 columns after the name) is, indeed, headed "Numbers of persons
engaged in Manufactures." And blacksmiths would, logically, seem to be
included in this column.

On the other hand, what seems "logical" to us may have been considered
differently in the past. On this particular issue, the evidentiary waters
are really muddy.

According to the census instructions issued 20 June 1820 by the Department
of State (which are not included at the IPUMS website for census
instructions, but can be found in the 1820 census compendium published the
next year as _Census for 1820: Published by authority of an Act of Congress,
under the direction of the Secretary of State_ [Washington: Gales & Seaton,
Printer]):

"In the column of manufactures will be included not only all the persons
employed in what the act more specifically denominates manufacturing
_establishments_, but all those artificers, handicraftsmen, and mechanics,
whose labor is pre eminently of the hand, and not upon the field." 

I.e., smithies--who worked with their hands--would seem to be included.

*However,* the Descriptive Pamphlet that NARA has prepared for M279 (Records
of the 1820 Census of Manufactures" follows the issue through some
bureaucratic wrangling. Page 2 of the DP tells us:

"In May 1820 Secretary of State John Quincy Adams began drafting
instructions to the marshals for taking the census of manufactures. The
results were incorporated with the instructions relating to the taking of
the population enumeration and were sent to the marshals on June 20, 1820.
When several marshals noted difficulties in interpretation, the Secretary,
on August 5, sent them a letter of 'elucidations' to the instructions.  . .
. The instructions [of June 20] applied the exception of household
manufactures to section 10 and to the column for manufactures in the
population schedules. The August 5 letter included in the "excepted"
category all persons of the 'mechanical professions or handicrafts' and
defined household manufactures as the products of artisans who produced
"works of handicraft" and were therefore commonly known as mechanics."

Unfortunately, Virginia's returns for the manufacturing schedule of 1820
appear to have been lost and aren't included on M279, so we can't test the
theory that these three men were blacksmiths.

Playing Devil's Advocate, one thing keeps me from settling into the
hypothesis that "BS" means blacksmith. Actually, 2 things:

1. "BS" appears only 3 times in the entire county.   Surely a
well-established county in 1820 would have more than 3 blacksmiths. 

2. If the enumerator was noting, there on the population schedule, the
specific occupation for individuals included on the manufacturing schedule,
then why aren't all the other occupations noted?

3. the one other initialism found after a name, "SM," still remains
unexplained and does not seem explainable under the BS=Blacksmith
hypothesis.  SM appears only once--in the Field Robinson case for which we
have (p. 134)

Robinson BS, Field   1 male 16-26, 1 male 45+, 0 slaves, 2 in mfg.
Robinson SM, Field   1 male 26-45, 2 fem 45+, 20 slaves,  7 in ag

We can't argue that it was necessary to distinguish a "Field Robinson,
Blacksmith" from "Field Robinson, Something More" because there are too many
other cases of same-name individuals in the county who don't have
distinguishing initialisms--including multiple John Robinsons other than
"John Robinson, BS"

We sure need more grist for this mill!


Elizabeth

------------------------------------------------------

Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL, FASG
Advanced Research Methodology & Evidence Analysis
Samford University Institute of Genealogy & Historical Research

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