1850 Census
Called the first Modern Census, the 1850, 7th US Census, was the first to include all the names living in a household. Lemuel Shattuck of Massachusetts was the primary motivator and designer of this significant redesign. Based on his work in Boston, federal officials had asked him to Washington, DC to help plan the 1850 Census. The result of his work transformed the researcher's world. For the first time the Census could be largely used to trace all descendants captured in a Census throughout their life spans and identifying them to ascendant and descendant families. What more we would know today had this been done earlier.
Basic Information: Census Day: June 1, Population 23.2 million (including 3.2 million slaves). In 1850 the population center was 23 miles southwest of Parkersburg, present day WV. The basic information in each listing gives their name, age, sex, state of birth and occupation.
The 1850 Census page is a baseline of what is known and verifiable of the family history. Three views are available, one ordered by State & County, one ordered by descendant line and one ordered by alphabetic listing. Posted in 2005, ensiung efforts have added 152 additional families to the 817 in the orginal run through. The majority of these additions have come from newly deveolped lines and marriages that have come to light. The family is basically found in 19 States of the 31 in the Census, as well as the Washington and Oregon listings for the Oregon Territory. For the most part the family lived in rural areas and the common occupation was farming. There were dozen or so families in the City of Baltimore, who had migrated into the growing urban area from the surrounding Baltimore Co., where the family had started in the 1730s. Just a handful lived in the newer western cities of Louisville, Cincinnati and St. Louis. These urban dwellers represented less than 5% of the known family. The area of the future state of West Virginia has been broken out separately. The families range from a few aging 4th generation members to a handful of 7th generation parents just starting their families. At present there are close to 5,098 family members found in the Census comprising 969 households and another 78 families listed on the missing list. 220 of them are Chenoweth named families and 779 are daughter lines. The most common household surnames by 1850 were Chenoweth 220, Ashbrook 22, Heaton 16, Carter 15, Downing 12, Wilson 10 and Butler & Smith at 8 each. In order these family lines are John: 371, Richard 38, Hannah 73, Arthur 110, William 144, Thomas 190 and Ruth 43. In location the family households are found as follows: Ohio 268, Indiana 192, Illinois 128, Virginia (incl WV) 82, Kentucky 62, Pennsylvania 57, Missouri 39, Maryland 42, Iowa 33, Tennessee 20, Wisconsin 14, Georgia 12, Arkansas 7, Texas 5, Alabama 4, Massachusetts, New York, California (6 single men, no families), and the Oregon Territory 2. This puts more than 60% of the family into the newly formed "melting pot" states of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. The center of gravity of this is well west of the national center, putting the family firmly on the edges of the frontier. The Census page itself is ordered by state and county, listing the known families within the county. I have used the same colors as developed by the Reunion committee to give an easy glance to which of the 7 known branches of the children of the family of John and Mary Chenoweth. Though the page is still under construction, the detail 100% complete for found families. A second page lists out families that we believe exist but have not been located within the Census itself: [1850 Missing families].
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Distribution of Chenoweth Family in 1850
1860 Census
The 8th Census, taken on the eve of the Civil War, followed the format developed for the 1850 Census. The population of the Untied States had grown by close to 33% to over 31 million people. Two new States had been admitted since the last Census: Minnesota and Oregon, bringing the total to 33. New Mexico, Utah, Washington, Nebraska and Kansas had been formed into territories. The dispute over the question of slavery had engulfed politics and the question of whether slavery would be allowed in new states a bitter point of debate. A violent struggle had developed over the Kansas and Nebraska Territories. The nation was about to be plunged into a devastating blood bath. We estimate that there may have been 400 males named Chenoweth born before 1850 living in 1860. 150 of these would serve in the conflict to come.
Basic Information: Census Day: June 1, Population 31.4 million (including 3.9 million slaves). In 1860 the population center was 20 miles southeast of Chillicothe, OH some 55 miles further west than in 1850, an area that the Chenoweths had settled near in 1796. The basic information in each Census detail gives the name, age, sex, state of birth and occupation of each household member, the same format used in the 1850 Census.
The 1860 Census page is a baseline of what is known and verifiable of the family history. Three views are available, one ordered by State & County, one ordered by descendant line and one ordered by alphabetic listing. The family is basically found in 23 States of the 33 in the Census, as well as the District of Columbia and Kansas, Nebraska and Washington Territories. For the most part the family lived in rural areas and the common occupation was farming. There were dozen or so families in the City of Baltimore, who had migrated into the growing urban area from the surrounding Baltimore Co., where the family had started in the 1730s. Just a handful lived in the newer western cities of Louisville, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis. These urban dwellers represented less than 5% of the known family. The area of the future state of West Virginia has been broken out separately. 4th generation households had shrunk from 104 to 66. The 18 seventh generation households found in the 1850 Census had swelled to 112 households, 79 of these being in the line of John. The balance was almost equally dived between the 5th and 6th generation. In the ten years from the 1850, the Chenoweth family only migrated to one additional territorial area in any numbers: Kansas. The first family moved into the Nebraska territory. Small household counts were also recorded in Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, and Connecticut, the latter state representing a migration out of Massachusetts. Most of the population increases occurred in in-filling existing states with family populations. The westward end of this increased density benefited Oregon, Texas and Missouri. On the Pacific coast the family population had increased from 20 to 120. A Solid base of the family, 75%, centered in just 6 continuous states, WV, OH, IN, KY, IL and MO. Based on our back to back details of both the 1850 and the 1860 Census, the family growth was over 49%, greater than that of the general population growth of the country as a whole. On reflection, there is a built in reason why a the general family�s growth would exceed the general population despite the infusion of immigration into the country. As family members marry they add in aggregate, dynamically to a family�s population. At present there are close to 7,612 family members found in the Census comprising 1,514 households. 257 of them are Chenoweth named families and 1,257 are daughter lines. We estimate that there is another 760 family members that have not been found in the Census, a 10% figure that comparable to other time period studies. This puts the known family size at 8,200 people. This would not include those lines which we have not yet been able to develop. The most common household surnames by 1860 were Chenoweth 257, Ashbrook 29, Heaton 25, Carter 21, Stalnaker 17, Wilson 16, Smith 14, Miller 13, and Hale 12. In order these family lines are John: 619, Richard 56, Hannah 109, Arthur 139, William 229, Thomas 289 and Ruth 73. In location the family households are found as follows: Ohio 320, Indiana 289, Illinois 249, Virginia (incl. WV) 117, Kentucky 100, Pennsylvania 66, Missouri 92, Iowa 88, Maryland 40, Texas 30, Wisconsin 22, Georgia 19, Tennessee 18, Kansas 16, Oregon 16, Arkansas 11, California 6, Washington 2, Alabama, DC, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, South Carolina, with single individuals found in Connecticut and Mississippi.
Also see 1860 Indiana Census Overview
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Distribution of Chenoweth Family in 1860
1870 Census
The 9th Census, in the aftermath of the Civil War, followed the same basic format used in the 1860 & 1850 Censuses. The population of the United States had grown by close by 23% to over 38 million people, a growth dip reflecting the heavy toll of the war. Four new States had been admitted since the last Census: Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada and West Virginia split from Virginia, bringing the total to 37. The rest of the country was divided into 10 territories that would become 11 States. The former slaves of the South were now citizens and part of the general population. The war effected the population size, not only by the extraordinary numbers of casualties, but by taking many of the males way from their families stunting the natural family growth.
Basic Information: Census Day: June 1, Population 38.6 million. In 1860 the population center was 48 miles northeast of Cincinnati, OH some 110 miles further west than in 1860. The basic information in each Census detail gives the name, age, sex, state of birth and occupation of each household member, the same format used in the 1850 and 1860 Census. Other census details include values of real estate and personal property, whether married within the year, the month of birth for anyone born during the year, adult males that were citizens and whether that right had been abridged, whether the individual had attended school within the year, whether an adult could read or write, and whether they were considered deaf, dumb, blind insane idiotic, a pauper or were a convict.
The 1870 Census page is a baseline of what is known and verifiable of the family history. Three views are available, one ordered by State & County, one ordered by descendant line and one ordered by alphabetic listing. Each of the 3 basic sorts has been split into 2 pages for this census for size considerations. The family is basically found in 24 States of the 33 in the Census, as well as the District of Columbia and Utah, Arizona, Montana and Washington Territories. For the most part the family lived in rural areas and the common occupation was farming. There were dozen or so families in the City of Baltimore, who had migrated into the growing urban area from the surrounding Baltimore Co., where the family had started in the 1730s. Just a handful lived in the newer western cities of Louisville, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis. These urban dwellers represented less than 5% of the known family. The area of the future state of West Virginia has been broken out separately. 4th generation households had shrunk from 66 to 32. The 8th generation had begun with 6 households. The 6th generation dominated the family with 1,213 households. On the Pacific coast the population had increased from 120 to 295. A Solid base of the family, 60%, centered in just 6 continuous states, WV, OH, IN, KY, IL and MO. This is down by almost a 1/3 from 1860, indicating a strong move west. 484 families, 22 percent of the family, were west of the Mississippi, up from 275 in 1860 which was 17% then. Based on our back to back details of both the 1860 and the 1870 Census, the family growth was over 39%, greater than that of the general population growth of the country as a whole. As noted in the 1860 detail above, there is a built in reason why a general family�s growth would exceed the general population despite the infusion of immigration into the country. As family members marry they add in aggregate, dynamically to a family�s population. At present there are close to 10,533 family members found in the Census comprising 2,159 households. 308 of them are Chenoweth named families and 1,847 are daughter lines. We estimate that there is another 1,000 family members that have not been found in the Census, a 10% figure that comparable to other time period studies. This puts the known family size at 11,500 people. This would not include those lines which we have not yet been able to develop. The most common household surnames by 1870 were Chenoweth 322, Ashbrook 41, Heaton 28, Carter 25, Downing 23, Miller 20, Wilson, Stalnaker, and Smith 19, Tredway 17, Fox 16 & Butler and Petro 15 . In order these family lines are John: 889, Richard 81, Hannah 149, Arthur 217, William 298, Thomas 421 and Ruth 104. In location the family households are found as follows: Ohio 404, Indiana 383, Illinois 370, Iowa 140, West Virginia 130, Kentucky 117, Missouri 115, Pennsylvania 82, Maryland 63, Kansas 61, Texas 44, Oregon 29, Tennessee 28, Wisconsin 21, Georgia 21, Arkansas 20, California 20, Virginia 19, Michigan 15, Minnesota 9, Washington 8, Nebraska 8, DC 4, Mississippi 4, New York 2, Massachusetts 2, Utah 2, Alabama, with single individuals found in Montana, Arizona, & New Mexico. As in 1860 , Indiana led the list for families with the Chenoweth name at 68. In all, the 1870 Census has families from 181 different 4th generation lines. A very broad family base.
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Distribution of Chenoweth Family in 1870
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You can reach me by e-mail at: jegge@chenowethsite.com![[IMAGE]](thandlft.gif)
