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VENANGO CENSUS

1830 French,Scrubgrass
1830 Sugarcreek Twp.
1830 Plum, Rockland Twp.

1840 Venango Household Heads

1850 Frenchcreek Twp.

1860 Pinegrove Twp.
1860 Frenchcreek Twp.
1860 Sandycreek Twp.
1860 Sugarcreek Twp.
1860 Richland Twp.
1860 Rockland Twp.
1860 Canal Twp.

1870 Canal Twp.
1870 Sandycreek Twp.
1880 sample
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1850 Irwin Twp. - Observation:Diana Krimmer has discovered something interesting about the 1850 Federal Census for Irwin Twnsp, Venango Co, PA. At first glance, it seems there are a lot of children with one last name living with adults of another last name. When she looked at images of the actual census pages, these mixed families are almost all where the census pages change. For example, There is a Baker child at the end of one cenus page, and another family at the beginning of the next. However, there is another census page which starts with a young Baker child. Another example, one census page ends with a Dunoody parents and children, and the next starts with a Hoffman child. But elsewhere, there are pages that start with Dunoody children, and another page that ends with Hoffman parents and children. And the same with the Riddle family, and the Johnston family, and others.
It seems that MAYBE the census taker used notes, and copied incorrectly from his notes into the official census book. This may explain why Johnston children would be living with McDonnell adults in 1850, and in the 1860 census be back with Johnston adults. The mistakes seem to all be where the page breaks are in the original census images.
THE CENSUS TAKER
It was the first day of census, and all through the land;
The pollster was ready...a black book in hand.
He mounted his horse for a long dusty ride;
His book and some quills were tucked close by his side.
A long winding ride down a road barely there;
Toward the smell of fresh bread wafting up through the air.
The woman was tired, with lines on her face;
And wisps of hair she tucked back into place.
She gave him some water...as they sat at the table;
And she answered his questions...the best she was able.
He asked of her children... Yes, she had quite a few;
The oldest was twenty, the youngest not two.
She held up a toddler with cheeks round and red;
His sister, she whispered, was napping in bed.
She noted each person who lived there with pride;
And she felt the faint stirrings of the wee one inside.
He noted the sex, the color, the age...
The marks from the quill soon filled up the page.
At the number of children, she nodded her head;
And then her lips quivered for the three that were dead.
The places of birth she "never forgot";
Was it Kansas? or Utah? or Oregon...or not?
They came from Scotland, of that she was clear;
But she wasn't quite sure just how long they'd been here.
They spoke of employment, of schooling and such;
They could read some and write some...though really not much.
When the questions were answered, his job there was done;
So he mounted his horse and he rode toward the sun.
We can almost imagine his voice loud and clear;
"May God bless you all for another ten years."
Now picture a time warp... its' now you and me;
As we search for the people on our family tree.
We squint at the census and scroll down so slow;
As we search for that entry from long, long ago.
Could they only imagine on that long ago day;
That the entries they made would effect us this way?
If they knew, would they wonder at the yearning we feel;
And the searching that makes them so increasingly real.
We can hear if we listen, the words they impart;
Through their blood in our veins, and their voice in our heart.
Courtesy of the author Darlene Stevens
This poem is posted on many websites and has been circulated on several genealogy lists
as "The Census Taker" with the author unknown. The author is Darlene Stevens, who wrote this poem as an assignment for a genealogy class.

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