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The Federal Census -A Research Instrument William P. Mc Dermott
The Depress~on Comes to Poughkeepsie 125
86PEN~, 8 September 1932. 87Douglas c. North; ·Growth and Welfare in the Aniercan Past. (Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J. 197 4. ) p. 165. See also; ·Polk's Directory: for the years 1931-36 for the picture of assessed value: 1931= 52,208,372. 1932=50,108,092. 1933=52,801,411. 1934=52,126,475.06. 1935=53,354,597.87. 1936= 50,312,710.87. The notion that money was being "hoarded" and if only people would use their cash the "Depression would be over'', found expression in an editorial in the Sunday Courier headed, "The Depression." S. C. , 15 November 1931. . See also. PEN. , 26 November 1930. N.Y. Constitution. Art. VI~ Section 10.
88PEN., 2 January 1931. 89PEN., 19 September 1930. See also PEN., 11 April 1932. The State Highway Division announced it would drop 32 local employees as part of the state's economy move. 90 PEN., 3 February 1931. See also PEN., 6 February 1931. The editorial cartoon by Cargill headed "Another Earthquake Possibility" reflects the fear of increased money in circulation if the Soldiers Bonus Bill passed. 91PEN., 1 November 1930. 92 Ibid.
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Map of the Town of Clinton - 1797. Copied by William Benson from the D.C.H.S. Yearbook 1926.
THE FEDERAL CENSUS -A RESEARCH INSTRUMENT William P. Mc Dermott
Discussion of a procedure which permits fuller use of early census records. A pilot study of slaveowning patterns in 1790-1800 illustrates the new procedure. William P. Me Dermott is editor of a book entitled Ei hteenth Centur Docwnents of·the Nine·Partners Patent, Dutchess County, New York, publis e by the Dute ess County Historical Society in 1979.
The first complete enumeration of individuals living in the United States was undertaken in· 1790. Since that time the decennial census records have become important research instruments for the historian and genealogist.· These valuable records are used by the historian to compare population change in towns or regions from one decade to the next. While individual names, except in a few instances, are not important to the historian, the genealogist's primary interest is the individual name. Genealogists searching for family members trace individual names to the town in which earlier ancestors may have settled. Both the historian and genealogist often resign themselves to certain limitations inherent in the early census records. For example, researchers cannot always determine the precise geographical location of an inhabitant or group of inhabitants under study. The earliest census records simply record the head of household's name and town in which the family lived. No address or other geographical reference is given. One other problem which further complicates the researcher's work is the changes in town boundaries which occurred after 1790 .. Towns became too populated to manage as single civil units and therefore were divided. As a result a town may retain its early name at present but may no longer be defined by the same geographical boundaries as it was in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries. This is the case in Dutchess County and in fact throughout New York State. For example, the town of Clinton in Dutchess County contained within its boundaries in 1790 two other towns presently known as Hyde Park and Pleasant Valley. Both of these towns became independent in 1821. Because of these changes in town boundaries the researcher often must qualify his remarks by the statement "as the town was defined in 1790" or a similar limiting remark. The purpose of this paper is to show how these limitations can be overcome and as a
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result permit researchers to reap richer and more useful harvests from the early census records.
Background
The reasons the First Congress passed an act in 1790 enabling the newly formed government to enumerate the inhabitants of the United States were similar to the reasons for our present census representation and finances. Essentially the 1790 census was to determine 1) the number of representatives in Congress apportioned to each state and 2) the amount of tax each state was to pay toward the support of the federal government. The committee formed for that purpose on January 11, 1790 in the House of Representatives acted quickly. A bill was presented for debate eight days later. Although some aspects of the bill stimulated lively discussion, neither the principle nor the constitutionality of the prospective first census act received attention because there was'general agreement in Congress about the need fora regular census. 1 Although the plan to record each individual's occupation was defeated, many of James Madison's recommendations were accepted. 2 The final bill which passed the Senate barely six weeks after the House committee was formed was signed into law by President Washington on March 1, 1790. Essentially the first census act required the marshals of the judicial districts to enumerate all individuals, except Indians who did not pay taxes, according to the following schedules: a) free white males of 16 years and upwards, • including heads of families b) free white males under 16 c) free white females, including heads of families d) all other free persons e) slaves. As the schedule indicates, Mr. Madison's plan of enumeration exceeded the simple nondescriptive count provided for in Article I, section 2 of the Constitution of the United States. While there were obvious limitations in Mr. Madison's approach such as the fact that females were not differentiated according to age because they did not serve in the military and blacks were not described by either age or sex, this first schedule was a harbinger of the more complex enumeration procedures of the present census.
One provision which stimulated debate was the length of time Congress would allow for completing
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the enumeration. Members of Congress were striving to achieve as accurate an enumeration as possible. Some believed that inaccuracies would creep into the enumeration as a result of inhabitants relocating if the elapsed time allowed for the enumeration was too long. The nine month period finally allowed by Congress was to begin on the first Monday in August 1790. The assistant marshal (enumerator) was to record each inhabitant's residence based on where he ltved on that first Monday.
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In order to emp'hasize the impo·rtance of the census act, fines for noncompliance or dereliction of duty were levied. Any 16 year old individual, eveh if hewas not head of a household was required, if asked, to give an accurate account of the members in his family. The $20 penalty for noncompliance3, which could be levied by the a~sistant marshal, represented a great deal of money at a time when weekly earnings were between three and four dollars. And further, any assistant marshal who failed to file a return or made a false return·was subject to a $200 penalty. The marshal was also subject to a penalty, $800 if he failed to file the complete returns of the enumeration with the President by September 1, 1791. Only half of these fines went to the United States. The other half was given to the informer reporting the infraction! ! 4
Remuneration for marshals and their assistants was ·included in the first census act. The amount of compensation depended on the difficulty of gathering the information. The most important factor was the time it took to enumerate. Time was based on the density of the population and the difficulty of travel. For example, the marshal for Delaware received $100 for his work while the marshal for Virginia received $500. New York's marshal received $300. Similar guidelines applied to the assistant marshals. Those gathering information in densely populated areas like cities received $1.00 for every 300 persons recorded. In Dutchess the compensation was probably $1.00 for every 150 persons or about five cents per family. And in some sparsely settled areas in the country the compensation could reach $1.00 for every 50 persons.5
The assistant marshal for census in the counties of Dutchess, Putnam (part of Dutchess in 1790) and Ulster was Samuel A. Barker, a resident of Frederickstown,
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Putnam County. The nine months allowed for enumeration appears to be a reasonable period of time but Samuel Barker was req~ired to.visit 11,000 households to enumerate the 75,000 inhabitants in these counties. Visiting that many families in such distant places with a horse as the only means of transportation along dirt roads, lanes and footpaths must have been quite an undertaking. Travel was difficult in the depths of winter with its cold winds and impassable roads choked with snow.· The spring wasn't much better following the thaw when roads were either washed out or filled with mud.6 As a result the actual period of favorable travelling conditions was shorter than the nine months allowed. Because of these conditions it is very probable that Samuel Barker had an assistant in each town who knew the town, its people and roads. The fact that he filed his report on January 3, 1791 strengthens the assumption that he did not work alone.
Method
The method herein described was designed to permit the historian and genealogist to use the census record as a microscopic instrument. The _intention of this method is to provide the historian with a technique to study population change from one area to another within the same town. As a result more precise study of early settlements in newly developing towns in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries may be undertaken. Using the same technique the genealogist may pinpoint more precisely the residence of an early inhabitant.
The most orderly method of reaching people was to travel the town roads as efficiently as possible. Undoubtedly, doubling back or traversing the same road again and again was avoided. Therefore, it was assumed the assistant marshal immediately identified the main roads in each town. These roads were then used to draw a plan for travelling through the town during the enumeration. In spit~ of the small size of most towns in 1790, a significant road or two can be identified. Early maps, when available, are invaluable for they identify the principle and some secondary roads. In some instances these maps record the residences of several prominent early inhabitants.
To illustrate this method the town of Clinton in Dutchess County was used. In 1790 Clinton included
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the three towns presently known as Clinton, Hyde Park and Pleasant Valley. The population of Clinton when the enumeration was completed was 696 families for a total of 4,607 individuals.
This method begins with two kinds of information. The first is the identification of early roads. In the case of Clinton, a map was compiled and drawn in 1797 by Jacob Smith, a surveyor and mapmaker who lived in the town at the time. His twenty-five or more years in the town and his identification as a surveyor as early as the year.17807 increases the confidence in the accuracy of the map. T~e second kind of information needed is the approximate location of about five percent of the early inhabitants indifferent parts of the town. This information is often readily available from local historians, early histories, early town records and maps and can be verlfied, when necessary, through deed searches at the local county clerk's office.
The next step is to obtain the original listing (not alphabetical) of individuals as recorded by the census enumerator (assistant marshal). Each individual is then numbered in the exact order recorded by the census enumerator. These numbers trace the path of the enumerator for he obvioujlY visited farms successively as he travelled along each road. After each family has been assigned a number, the numbers of the key inhabitants, those who have been located .positively, are placed on the map. When this step is completed a sense of the direction taken by the enumerator as he moved through the town emerges. Even if an early map is unavailable the same sense of the enumerator's route will emerge, although it may not beas precise or as easy to visualize. One may use more recent maps which may add a bit of confusion because of the number of new roads since 1790, nevertheless the enumerator's route will become apparent.
To illustrate this method the route of the enumerator will be traced through the town of Clinton during the 1790 census enumeration. The starting point is the Post Road (Route 9) which parallels the Hudson River and was used extensively even before 1790. The names and residential locations of three Clinton families known to have lived on the Post Road were.selected from the pool of key inhabitants discussed above. These names were placed on the map along the Post Road at their proper locations. Barnet Gay lived on the
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Post Road about one half mile north of the Poughkeepsie town line; Richard D'Cantillon lived west of the Post Road on the Hudson just a few hundred feet from the point where the Crum Elbow Creek empties into the Hudson River; Margaret Uhl lived west of the Post Road about one half mile south of the Rhinebeck town line. The numbers assigned to these individuals based on their position in the census record are 1, 31 and _71 respectively. Two other names have been selected simply to demonstrate the___effectiveness of this method. Colonel William Barber lived west of the Post Road one and one half miles north of Barnet Gay and a comparable distance south of Richard D'Cantillon. Barber's assigned number is 12. George Rheam (Rymph) lived ne~r the Poit Road one and one half miles north of Richard D'Cantillon and about the same distance south of Margaret Uhl. Rheam's assigned number is 44. These five key inhabitants are located along the Post Road in the following order from south to north: Gay, Barber, D' Cantillon, Rheam and Uhl. Their assigned numbe1s 1, 12, 31, 44 and 71 respectively indicatethe enumerator journeyed along the Post Road from south to north. The attached map depicts this more clearly. Therefore, it can be assumed ·names recorded on the census records between these individuals also livedon the Post Road or perhaps on a side road, lane or footpath just off the Post Road. Further, a more precise estimate of the residence of previously unlocated inhabitants may be made based on the placement between two known inhabitants.
After the census enumerator visited Margaret Uhl's home, one has only to determine where he was'likelyto go next. A short distance north of Margaret Uhl's home the Post Road connected with another principle road through_ Clinton. Hollow Road, as it is pr.esently named, also existed- before 1790. Therefore, it was assumed that the enumerator took this road easterly because it was the only direction open to him unless he retraced his path south. John D'Witt is another individual whose residence in 1790 is known. He lived at the junction of Hollow and Creek Roads. Hollow Road courses through Clinton in a southeasterly direction through the present village of Clinton Hollow at the Little Wappingers Creek until it meets the road from Clinton Corners near the east line of the town of Clinton at the Great Wappingers Creek. Creek Road at Hollow Road is about six hundred feet from the ·crum Elbow Creek and follows the creek south until the creek turns westerly near Hyde Park. The road then
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continues south to Poughkeepsie passing West and East Dorsey Lanes. Creek Road and the Dorsey Lanes also existed in 1790. (At present most of Creek Road has been incorporated into the road known as Route 9G.) The census enumerator had to pass John D'Witt's home and mill as he travelled easterly. John D'Witt's assigned number is 93. The proximity of this number to Margaret Uhl's number supports the assumption that the census enumerator travelled easterly. Returning to the list of families whose residences are known, two more names were selected to obtain a clue about the direction the census enumerator took when he reached the junction of Hollow and Creek Roads. On Hollow Road in the village of Clinton Hollow lived a millowner named Abraham Freligh. His assigned number is 309. Joshua Neilson(Nelson) lived at his saw mill on Creek Road near a road now known as South Cross Road, about half the distance between John D'Witt's home and the point where the Crum Elbow Creek turns west toward the Hudson. Joshua Neilson's assigned number is 100. This number is closer to JohnD'Witt's assigned number, therefore it is apparent the census enumerator travelled south on Creek Road (Route 9G) rather than easterly on Hollow Road to Abraham Freligh. Further confirmation of the census enumerator's southerly route is obtained from the list of known inhabitants. William Stoutenburgh lived on Creek Road near where the Crum Elbow Creek turns toward the Hudson. Peter Schriver lived in the southern part of the town, now known as Hyde Park, near the intersection of Creek Road and West Dorsey Lane which connects Creek Road with the Post Road just north of the Poughkeepsie line. William Stoutenburgh's assigned number is 124 and Peter Schriver's assigned number is 151. Just to recapitulate, the assigned numbers following Margaret Uhl are 93(D'Witt), 100(Neilson), 124(Stoutenburgh) and 151(Schriver). The evidence clearly shows the census enumerator travelled south along Creek Road. It is equally clear that he then travelled easterly a short distance and began another journey north. This north-south pattern matches the direction of the principle roads in that part of Clinton in 1790.
Applying the same technique to another part of Clinton in 1790, the census enumerator's journey can be followed along the Filkintown Road (also called the Dutchess Turnpike) which is presently known as Route 44. Filkintown Road was the main road through the southern part of Clinton from the town of Washington east of Clinton to Poughkeepsie on the west. Theenu-
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merator's path along Filkintown Road from Washington to Poughkeepsie can be traced through the known locations of Timothy Beadle,' Zaccheus Newcomb and Eliphalet Platt. Timothy Beadle ·1ived a few feet from the Washington line anµ his assigned number is 612. About half way to the Poughkeepsie town line is the brick house where Zaccheus Newcomb lived and whose assigned number is 675. Eliphalet Platt, number 695, lived on the Filkintown Road just east of the Poughkeepsie line. The census enumerator obviously travelled from east to west on his journey to the Poughkeepsie line. Further confirmation comes from the location of Jacob Duryee who owned the mill at the point where the Great Wappingers Creek intersects the FilkintownRoad. He lived between Newcomb and Platt and his assigned number is 683. Also the assigned number of Aart Masten(640), who lived on the road extending south from the Filkintown Road to the town of Beekman,·appropriately places him between Beadle and Newcomb. This indicates the census enumerator left the Filkintown Road to record Masten and others on that road before returning to the main road.
Jacob Smith's map which appears earlier guides· the reader as he journeys with the enumera~or through Clinton in 1790 visiting the 696 families living there at the time. More than 90% of the roads which appear on this map continue to be active roads 190 years later. Surely there has b~en a change in a sharp curve here and there but the census enumerators of 1980 travelled exactly the same paths as their eighteenth century colleagues. The number placed on the map at the junction of two roads will help the reader as he accompanies the first enumerator on his journey through town. This number when compared with the next larger number will disclose the direction the enumerator chose when he reached a junction in the road. Keep in mind that the numbers typic-ally became larger as the enumerator moved eastward. For example, • the numbers on the roads in the eastern part of Clinton are in the 400 to 600 range. Also note,' after leaving the Wood family(369) for some reason not yet clear, the enumerator's path seems to have been interrupted. When we join him again he is in the most northern part of Clinton at the Eckhard home (370). Following that interruption, the enumerator's path returns to the smooth flow through town observed earlier.
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The technique as described above appears easy to apply. It would be a mistake to leave the reader with the belief that only a few minutes work is needed to trace an enumerator's route. In fact, the work varies from pleasantly simple to uncomfortably tedious. Nevertheless, once completed, only a few areas on the map near adjoining town lines may be left unclear. This method not only accomplishes the goal of locating residences of early inhabitants but also provides a special bonus when the work is completed. The number of located inhabitants is increased many fold, thereby vastly simplifying the work on the next census. For example, in spite of the enumerator's change in direction as he journeyed through Clinton in 1800, the many, many leads provided by the 1790 census helped detect his new path quickly.
Illustrative Case Study
The following study of sJaveowning patterns is presented to demonstrate the significance of the method described aboye. Using census records as microscopic instruments permits a more detailed examination of slaveowning patterns in Clinton in 1790 and 1800.
At the time of the New York State Constitutional Convention in 1777, the question of abolishingslavery was given serious consideration. Of the 36 delegates present when the issne came up, 31 supported the resolution urging future legislation to abolish slavery.8 However, it wasn't until 1799 that legislation leading to the gradual abolition of slavery successfully passed through both houses of the legislature.9 Even before legislation was passed the process of manumitting slaves was in progress on an individual basis. Quakers in New York State had started the process of freeing slaves as early as 1767 .10 Quaker congregations excluded members if they continued to own slaves after 1771.1.1. Also, other individuals manumitted slaves on the basis of moral beliefs rather than religious convictions. Support for freeing slaves grew in the 1780's and found considerable support in New York City newspapers an~ local newspapers such as the Poughkeepsie Journal. 1
The question of change in the slaveowning patterns in Clinton may not be answe~ed simply on the basis of a statistical study but the statistics may indicate a trend. Table 1 presents the data as found in the 1790 and 1800 census records.
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TABL~ 1
# o·f· Slaves # of ·s1aveowners
1790 1800 176 182 67 62
From these data it would appear that change inslaveowning patterns was small. The small decrease in num ber of slaveowning families is offset by the slight increase in total number of slaves owned. However,· this conclusion may not reflect certain changes in slaveowning patterns which are not apparent as the data appears in the census records. A more complete examination of the data is possible using the method described above.
When the census record is divided into the ~owns which emerged in 1821, the statistics suggest regional differences in slaveowning patterns. Table 2 indicates the town of Clinton, constituted after 1821, showed a 25% decrease in the number of slaves held in 1800 as .compared to 1790. On the other hand, the number of slaves owned in the towns which were separated from Clinton in 1821, Hyde Park and Pleasant Valley, increased about 10% or more. Further, the number of slaveowning families in Clinton decreased 30%. • Although Hyde Park did not follow the trend in Clinton as measured by the total number of slaves owned, the number of its slaveowners did show a decrease. Pleasant Valley, on the other hand, showed an increase in number of slaveowning families as well as the previously -noted increase in total number of slaves. TABLE 2 Number of Slaves By Town in 1790 & '1800
Total# of Total # of Town Ye·ar 1 2· 3-5-------·-6-8. 9+ Slaves Owne·r·s
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Cr~ek Meeting House, Clinton Corners, N.Y. built 1777.
Crum Elbow Meeting House, Hyde Park, N.Y. built 1785. Both photos from Landmarks of Dutchess County, 1683 - 1867. Courtesy of the Dutchess County Planning Board.
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The questions which are provoked by these findings are worthy of fuller examination but this was not the purpose of this illustrative study. Briefly, the decrease noted in the town of Clinton, as it was defined after 1821, may be a function of several possibilities. Perhaps there was an economic decline in the town during the decade between 1790 and 1800 which rendered slaveowning economically unfeasible. It is also possible the inhabitants may have been particularly responsive to the trend of the times which was later reflected in the legislative action taken by the New York State Legislature. While one of these explanations may account for the change in slaveowning in Clinton, the presence of a large Quaker population in that town as compared to Hyde Park and Pleasant Valley can hardly be overlooked as a possible explanation. The eastern part of Clinton had been settled by Quakers in the early 1770's. In fact, the only house of worship in the eastern part of Clinton(1790) for many years well into the nineteenth century was the Creek Meeting House, a Quaker meeting. Also, another Quaker meeting was located in Clinton(1790). The Crum Elbow Meeting was located in the area presently known as Hyde Park almost on the Pleasant Valley town line about three quarters of a mile south of the Clinton (1821) town line. The existence of a large Quaker population is further substantiated by the presence of another Quaker meeting, the Nine Partners Meeting, about- six miles southeast of the Creek Meeting in the adjoining town of Washington.
Which of these explanations is more valid will await a fuller study of this question. The purpose of the example above is to illustrate the presence of more useful information in the census records when they are divided into smaller units. In some •instances these smaller units may reflect special characteristics of the inhabitants not apparent when the town as constituted in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century is considered.
Endnotes
1A. Rossiter ed., A Century of Population Growth in the United States, 1790-1900 (Washington: 1909), 42-43. 2Ibid., 43.
