Random comments regarding unuaual data or places to look.

An aunt who lived from 1895 to 1930 in a small rural community in West
Virginia commented (slightly paraphrase because of time since she
commented) "remember when they used to set up in the store and people would
come in for several days to report their family" in reference to census
collection.  So apparently even when they were instructed to go from house
to house they did not.  Also, it appears that before 1900 it was not
uncommon for the enumerator to announce that he would be at the court house
for several days before he turned in his report (in these cases a scattered
number of families might appear at end of list).  Sometimes the enumerator
simply put himself last.  In one record the enumerator appears to have
given every unnamed child his own given name (Barbour county, 1850).

One also sometimes finds that census takers reported information they were
not asked to report.  In a few counties in Virginia the enumerator gave the
county of birth when the persons reported "born in Virginia" (they
apparently stopped when someone say, "you don't have to do that").

In another case (a distant uncle of mine) reported the church denomination
affiliation of parent (sometime for a wife when different and often for a
parent or unrelated person) although he eventually seemed to tire of this.
He seems also to have decided somethings were no "business" of the
government and did not ask some questions.  In many cases he appears not to
have asked about birth place (in 1860). Incidently his signature also seems
to have changed more than once in the pages.

My point is that census records often give information you don't expect to
find, and second, often the information is clearly incomplete (or casually
wrong).  But don't just assume you will not find useful information in
unanticipated places.  At times information may appear in a will or deed
when there seems no reason for the fact to have been mentioned.  In one
will, the elderly father left out a child; the other living children
decided it was an error and the settlement provided equal division among
all the living children, but conveniently the grand children of a deceased
member were enumerated because their interest was not so divided.

On a recent CNN broadcast an interviewee was named (orally "Shroyer") and
the german spelling "Schreuer" (?) was given in a subtitle, verifying the
change of spelling of a name of a Maryland-Virginia family previously found
only give without source or reason in an Internet family pedigree.

Another source of possible significance:  Some Virginia-West Virginia
records have an second book of births recorded by the tax office (assessor)
although these often have the wrong birth year (one or more years late).
Also some West Virginia counties have a "delayed record" book of births.
Generally these resulted when Social Security retirement became significant
and the birth was not recorded or inadequately recorded as "boy" or "child"
or the date in original record was not what the person always used so the
old record could not be matched.

Good luck in all your hunting.


> [Original Message]
> From: Mickey Fournier <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: 9/2/2006 1:31:23 PM
> Subject: Tax lists vs census
>
> >Unlike the censuses, the tax collector did *not* visit the people.
Various
> sources
> >indicate each person had to go to a designated location.
>
> While you are absolutely right that folks had to go to the tax collector
> rather than having him call on them, the order in which names were written
> can still hold some good clues.  Often family members went as a group or
one
> person paid the taxes for several.
>
>
>
> Mildred "Mickey" Fournier
> 1730 SE CR 252
> Lake City, FL 32025
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
> >Unlike the censuses, the tax collector did *not* visit the people.
Various
> sources
> >indicate each person had to go to a designated location.
>
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