Using Censuses to Find Your Family

Earlier in the week I was spending a little time surfing the 'net and working on my elusive Millet line. I was checking out early census records on Ancestry.com, and had come across a couple of new (to me) Millet's whom I had never run into before.

Now keep in mind that in all Federal censuses before 1850, only the heads of household were listed by name, with tally marks by age group for all members of the household--parents, children, anyone who lives in that household. Depending on the year, the age groups are broken down by "under 10," or "under 5," "5 to 10," etc. And they're also broken down by males or females, so you can tell there are x number of children by age and gender. They aren't especially helpful since they do not list all residents of the household by name. You can look at the information you already have and try to determine if you have all the children or not. And of course you don't know if all the children belong to the head of household who is listed by name. Case in point: The gentleman whom I believe to be my 4th great great grandfather is Andrew Millet, and in 1830 he is living in Walworth, Wayne Co. NY. He was born in 1867, so by 1830 he's in the neighborhood of 63 years old. You would think there would be no children in his household, at least not very young ones, especially since his wife is older as well. But in this census there are younger adults and small children living with them. Now I am using this as a possible clue that one of his married children & family are living with them. Since I cannot locate his probable son William, whom I am even more sure is my 3gg grandfather, there is the possibility that this younger family is William's.

As I was strolling through the pages, a new Millet jumped out at me. Martha Millet, living in Rushford, Allegany Co. New York in 1830. I had never noticed her before, and so far I've been unsuccessful at finding her in 1840. In 1820 three Millet brothers are living in this county--Daniel, Jonathan, and Alexander. In 1830 Alexander is still here, but no Jonathan and no Daniel. Now, family legend tells us that Daniel went somewhere (Ohio or Michigan?) and was shot by a hunter who mistook him for a bear. If this is really true, and I have not been able to confirm it, Martha may be the widow of Jonathan, if he died between 1820 & 1830. I've not been able to locate him in later censuses either, which makes me think he had died between those dates. He could also have been moving west, leaving his family at home until he found a suitable homestead site and prepared to bring them west.

I'm certainly not done hunting, and will be undertaking a search in 1850 to see what Millet's may be in the area. In 1850, all household members are identified by name. We don't know what the relationship is for sure, but at least there are names.

But I digress. I have discovered that perhaps it's not the wisest thing to do to wait until bedtime to start researching. It literally took me HOURS to get to sleep that night, I was so excited and busy thinking about possibilities.

What's next? Looking at later censuses to see if I can find Martha, although she may have remarried and I would not have her new name, unless her children were listed under Millet and not the new husband's name. And renting some microfilm from the LDS Family History Library for Allegany Co. NY land records, which should tell what these men's wives names were--if they bought and/or sold land.

More later, I hope!