I've contended for years that the census takers took a little nip at each house and by the time they got to the end of the road, Katy, bar the door...

What years are these census records you're talking about?  In some later ones there's often a parenthetical number to indicate how many spouses the head/wife have had. 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Donald W. Moore<mailto:[log in to unmask]> 
  To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> 
  Sent: Saturday, January 05, 2008 2:41 PM
  Subject: Re: [VA-ROOTS] Parenthesis in census


  Buried somewhere in the NARA web site are instructions to census  
  takers for each census year. Perhaps that might shed some light on the  
  notations.


  ___________________
  Donald W. Moore
  Virginia Beach, Virginia


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