Assumption Parish, LA 1860 Federal Census This Census was originally transcribed in 1983 by Audrey B. Westerman and proofread by Roy and Bennie Naquin, Mrs. Larue LeBlanc and Mrs. Dot Smith. The resulting document, "1860 Census Assumption Parish, Louisiana" was printed in 1983 and 1987 by Ms. Westerman. In 1998, with permission from Ms. Westerman, David Valenziano used a copy of the 1987 document to form the basis of this online census which was prepared specifically for the USGenWeb Census Project, http://www.us-census.org/ Copyright (c) 1998 by David J. Valenziano and Audrey B. Westerman ========================================================================= USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the transcriber, or the legal representative of the transcriber, and contact the USGenWeb Census Project File Manager via the email address with proof of this consent. ========================================================================= Wards and Post Office Names --------------------------- The census taker listed the ward name and numbers on each page header. Here is an example: 14th Ward, Bayou Boeuf, Post Office: Alligator This information is provided on the online census as REMARKS at the beginning of each page. A map showing the locations of each ward will be placed on the Assumption Parish USGenWeb site. Page Numbers ------------ There are no stamped page numbers on the microfilm pages for this census. There are, however, handwritten page numbers entered when the census was microfilmed. These page numbers range from 109 to 294 and are listed as REMARKS on the first and last page of the online census. The page numbers that appear on each page header of this online census are the original page numbers entered by the census taker. These numbers range from 1 to 186. Introduction by Audrey B. Westerman ----------------------------------- This is the introduction from Audrey B. Westerman's "1860 Census Assumption Parish, Louisiana, Second Printing 1987. My comments are enclosed in brackets []. It was my intention to include a map of Assumption Parish that would show the fourteen wards in 1860. When I attempted to get one, I learned that the parish had no records prior to 1868 which would give boundaries of the early wards, nor was a map available. The Assumption Parish Police jury records begin in 1868 and although they mention the fourteen wards, no area is given. On 26 February 1872 the parish was divided into five wards. Since that time the number of wards were increased due to population until today there are nine wards. I was told the wards change every ten years because of population fluctuations. After the first printing of this book, Kenneth Toups was able to prepare a map of approximate ward boundaries for 1850 and 1860 based on information found in land records at the courthouse and voting precincts listed in old newspapers of the parish. This is not an "official" map but should be sufficient for genealogists to determine the area in which their ancestor lived and was possibly buried. Both of these maps appear in his 1850 Census of Assumption Parish, Louisiana. He has given me permission to use the 1860 map in the second printing of this 1860 census, therefore I decided not to use the present-day map which I included in the first printing. [ The map mentioned will be placed on the Assumption Parish USGenWeb site - dv ] [ deleted paragraph relating to index ... dv ] The place called "Church" in the third ward on the 1860 census was Plattenville, which is along Bayou Lafourche. The community of "Alligator" was along Bayou Alligator in the present-day third ward near the railroad track. "Crane's Forge," so-called after a blacksmith named Crane who lived there, is present-day Belle Rose. "Star" was along the railroad track around the area of the present-day community known as Supreme. So, Kenneth's maps have already served a useful purpose because when I printed the first issue of this book I didn't know most of this. In 1860 there was a total free population of 7,289 listed on the census. (It also appears the census taker missed some of the residents who appear on earlier and later census records.) The census taker was Louis Ulysse Folse, the assessor of the parish, who was familiar with all the names. He had a clear handwriting which made the job of listing easier for me. In those cases where I was not sure of a letter, I listed it as it appeared to me, in parenthesis, such as Bro(w)n. When I could not determine the unknown letter, I showed it by putting dashes, such as Bro-n. Sometimes he wrote over a letter or number and I had to guess. In this instance, I put a question mark (?) after that entry. Please remember, also, it is difficult to distinguish between the old "r," "n," and "U." Mr. Folse was faithful in listing the age, occupation, and place of birth as well as the remarks on each individual. He went so far as to note date of death in a few cases of those who had recently died. Also included in the remarks were those couples who had married in the year. He showed when a person was handicapped - deaf and dumb, dumb (not able to talk), blind, insane and idiotic. Those he noted as "idiotic" were probably retarded. [ deleted paragraph relating to index ... dv ] All names are given as I read them. I took the liberty of making one correction, on pages 55 and 56, WESTERMAN is listed as Waterman and Wasterman. These are my husband's family and I wanted the index to show their names correctly. The census taker was required to note exceptions only to white in listing race. You will find entries such as 27/f/M or 5/m/B in this book. This translates to (age 27 years) /female/mulatto and (age 5 years) /male/black. [ deleted paragraph relating to fields not transcribed ... dv ] This material was proof read by four others to make it as accurate as possible. To date, no one has advised me they found an error in this listing of the 1860 Assumption census. We have made a sincere effort to give you a useful genealogical tool. Mrs. Audrey B. Westerman Second Printing: December 1987