I first thought maybe "in field", which works if you rearrange the letters like I often do, and he was a farmer. OK, so I don't really think that is what the census taker meant, but it made me chuckle. 

Melissa

-----Original Message-----
From: Research and writing about Virginia genealogy and family history. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Patricia Apperson
Sent: Thursday, October 02, 2014 3:59 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VA-ROOTS] Strange Louisiana census entry

Maybe they meant "invalid?"

Sent from my iPad

> On Oct 1, 2014, at 9:08 AM, Henry Wiencek <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> The 1900 census from Acadia Parish, LA lists a 76 year old widower whose occupation reads "(Infidel)" [parentheses are in the original]. Census docs from 1860 and 1870 describe him as a "farmer." Is this a religious comment or an obsolete occupation?
> Henry Wiencek
> Charlottesville
> 
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