MORGAN COUNTY, TN 1860 FEDERAL CENSUS TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES: Prepared by Donald Robbins Transcription aid by Betty Hawley Checked by D. K. Robbins May 16, 2006 Census Sheet's Format ------------------------------- Census Sheet Header Information ------------------------------- Each Census Sheet consists of 40 lines. The Header information contains a place for the Date of entry, Post Office, The County Name (Morgan) and the name of the recorder of the information. ------------------------------- Census Sheet Detail information ------------------------------- Column 1 - Dwelling - houses numbered in the order of visitation Column 2 - Families, numbered in the order of visitation Column 3 - The name of every person whose usual place of abode on the first day of June, 1860 was in this family Column 4 - Age Column 5 - Sex Column 6 - Color, White, Black or Mulatto or Indian Column 7 - Profession, Occupation or Trade of each person, male and female, over 15 years of age Column 8 - Value of Real Estate Column 9 - Value of Personal Estate Column 10 - Place of Birth, Naming the State, Territory, or Country Column 11 - Married within the year Column 12 - Attended School within the year Column 13 - Person over 20 who could not read or write Column 14 - Whether deaf & dumb, blind, insane, idiotic, pauper or convict In the interest of getting the information transcribed to an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet, some adjustments were made in the format of the transcription. A new line was created, which contains the Page Number and Line Number of the Microfilm reel (reel Series M653, Roll # 1266) that the information was transcribed from. The Surname is in Caps, along with the date of the census page, the census district, the Post Office, and the information from Column 1 and Column 2. The information from Columns 11, 12, 13 was encoded following the Column 10 information, Place of Birth. The encoding is: M, for married within the year, S, for attending school within the year, and I, for illiterate for a check in Column 13 for persons over 20 who could not read or write. The information from Column 14 is added, as is, to the person's line. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The information from the microfilm for the 1860 Census for Morgan County consists of 85 pages. COUNTS There were 7 Districts in Morgan County. The Dwellings in Morgan County are numbered from 1 to 561 There are 563 families in this grouping. Number of White Males 1618 Number of White Females 1644 Number of Mulatto Males 23 Number of Mulatto Females 20 Number of Students 617 Number of Illiterates 483 Number of Married 24 in the last year PLACES OF BIRTH Tennessee 2597 North Carolina 201 Germany 156 Virginia 87 Swiss 70 South Carolina 44 Kentucky 36 New York 12 Georgia 11 Ireland 10 Pennsylvania 10 England 8 Canada 5 Missouri 4 Illinois 3 Maryland 3 Scotland 3 France 1 ------------- OCCUPATIONS ------------- Alphabetically appt Black Smith 1 Black Smith 5 Brick Mason 1 clerk 2 Cabinent Maker 1 Carpenter 10 Chair Maker 2 Cigar Maker 2 Clk Co Ct 1 Cooper 2 Dept. Ch Clrk 1 Dist Ct Clrk 1 Doctor 3 Domestic 715 Dpt Sheriff 1 Engineer 1 Farm Hand 12 Farm Laborer 273 Farm Mngr 18 Farmer 472 Gun Smith 1 House Girl 1 House Keeper 19 House Servant 1 Lawyer 1 Marble Cutter 1 Merchant 14 Midwife 1 Mill Rite 2 Millwright 1 Miner 6 Pensioner 1 Planter 1 Preacher 5 sewing 21 Saddler 1 Sawyer 1 Seamstress 7 Servant 3 Sheriff 1 Shoe Maker 4 Stock Raisor 1 Student of Medicine 1 Teacher 2 Wagon Maker 3 ------------- OCCUPATIONS ------------- by frequency Farmer 472 Domestic 715 Farm Laborer 273 sewing 21 House Keeper 19 Farm Mngr 18 Merchant 14 Farm Hand 12 Carpenter 10 Seamstress 7 Miner 6 Black Smith 5 Preacher 5 Shoe Maker 4 Doctor 3 Servant 3 Wagon Maker 3 clerk 2 Chair Maker 2 Cigar Maker 2 Cooper 2 Mill Rite 2 Teacher 2 appt Black Smith 1 Brick Mason 1 Cabinent Maker 1 Clk Co Ct 1 Dept. Ch Clrk 1 Dist Ct Clrk 1 Dpt Sheriff 1 Engineer 1 Gun Smith 1 House Girl 1 House Servant 1 Lawyer 1 Marble Cutter 1 Midwife 1 Millwright 1 Pensioner 1 Planter 1 Saddler 1 Sawyer 1 Sheriff 1 Stock Raisor 1 Student of Medicine 1 ------------- INFIRMITIES ------------- blind 3 deaf & dumb 1 deaf 1 idiot 6 insane 1 pauper 1 --------------------- Transcriber's notes: --------------------- The census taker for the Districts in Morgan County was: E. Langley at Resident P085-18 The transcriber for this census had one of the best handwriting scripts we have seen. The given names were in general spelled out, rather than using just initials. For vocations, it seemed that all females in a family unit, 15 and above, were tagged as being Domestics. We are unclear as to the difference between Domestic, and House keeper in a household. We are also unclear as to the difference between a Farm Laborer and a Farm Hand. On the last page of the census there was the following note. State of Tenneassee Morgan County Personally appeared before me, acting Justice of Peace for the county, Ephrim Langley and made oath that the foregoing schedule for Pages 1 to 85 inclusive was made according to his oath and the authority given him to form to inscribe before me. Ephrim Langley JP Morgan Co., Tenn. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY MORGAN COUNTY is situated on the Cumberland Plateau, which has an elevation of about 1,500 feet above the sea. It is surrounded by the counties of Scott, Anderson, Roane, Cumberland and Fentress. The greater portion of the surface is very broken, especially in the southern part. The principal mountains are the Crab Orchard, Lone and Brushy, the general trend of which is about the same as that of the Cumberland Range. The largest streams in the county are the Emory and the Obed Rivers, with their respective tributaries, Crooked Fork and Clear Creek, and the Clear Fork of the Cumberland River and White Oak Creek. The settlement of Morgan County began soon after the Indian title to the lands was extinguished. One of the first settlers, if not the first, was SAMUEL HALL, who located about seven miles northeast of Wartburg in 1807. WILLIAM DAVIDSON is said to have come to the county about 1810. In 1817 the Legislature passed an act providing for the organization of a county to be named in honor of GEN. DANIEL MORGAN. The first term of the county cort was held in January, 1818. A town was laid off on land donated to the county by DANIEL S. LAVENDER and a jail erected. It was situated thirteen miles west of Wartburg on the Nashville Road and was known as Montgomery. In 1823 Fentress County was erected and it vbecame necessary to remove the county seat to a more central location., On July 18, 1826 a new town of Montgomery was liad off on ten acres of land purchased from WILLIAM WALL and lying on the east side of Emory River, about one mile and a half west of Wartburg. In 1824, SAM SCOTT purchased the land previously belonging to WILLIAM WALL. Some time during the 1830's, a county academy known as Walden Academy was established in a two story frame and stood in the rear of the courthouse. In 1851 the old jail was replaced by a new one and in 1852 commissioners were appointed to superintendent the erection of a new courthouse. In 1870 on March 26, an election was held to decide upon the removal of the seat of justice to Wartburg. The vote favored removal. This new building was completed the following fall. Other first settlers who came to Morgan County: Elijah Reese, Titus England, John Freels, Mathias Williams, Ephriam Davis, Nicholas Summers, John Webb. Also members of the Prewitt, Hatfield, Human, Brasel, Laymance, Shannon, McCartt, Rector, Brient, and William Davidson who is said to have built the Indian Tavern . The Forming of Morgan County, Tennessee 1817 ACTS of 1817 CHAPTER 38 SECTION 1. That all tract of country lying within the following described bounds, shall be and is hereby made and constituted a new and distinct county by the name of Morgan, in honor, and to perpetuate the memory of the late Major General Daniel Morgan, to wit: Beginning on the top of Walden's Ridge, on the line of Roane and Anderson counties, thence south westwardly with the extreme top of said Ridge, within ten poles of the main Cumberland Turnpike Road, thence a parallel line with said Road, leaving the same ten poles to the south, to where Robert JOHNSTON now lives, on the great Cumberland road crosses the same, thence due North to the Kentucky line, thence East with said line to the corner of Campbell County, thence with said line to the corner of Anderson and Campbell Counties, near the head of Smoky Creek leaving all the waters of Smoky Creek in Anderson County, and all the waters of Brimstone in Morgan County, thence to the beginning, so as to leave all the waters of New River in Anderson county, and all the waters of Emery in Morgan County. COMPILER'S NOTE: Sections 2 through 9 were not applicable to Roane County. SECTION 10. That nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to prevent the collector of public taxes for Roane and Anderson counties, from collecting the tax that shall be due for the year 1817, or that may become due before the said county of Morgan shall be organized. SECTION 11. That William HOGSHEAD is hereby appointed a commissioner on the part of Anderson county, and Joseph McPHERSON a commissioner on the part of Roane county, and William WALL a commissioner on the part of Morgan county, to run the line contemplated in the first section of this act, who are hereby authorized to employ a suitable surveyor, and sufficient number of chain carriers, to run out and mark the lines aforesaid. SECTION 12. That the commissioner on the part of Roane County, shall be allowed for his services the sum of two dollars per day, to be paid by the treasurer of Roane county, out of any monies in his hands not otherwise appropriated whose receipt shall be good in the settlement of his accounts, and that the commissioner on the part of Anderson county, out of the county monies, whose receipt shall be good in the settlement of his accounts, and that the commissioner on the part of Morgan county, shall be allowed the like sum per day to be paid by the treasurer of Morgan county, out of the county monies whose receipt shall be good in the settlement of his accounts. ACTS OF 1876 Chapter 76 SECTION 1. That the boundary line separating the County of Roane from the Counties of Cumberland and Morgan, be so changed as to run as follows; Beginning at the point on the east side of White's Creek where the said Creek now intersects the line between the Counties of Roane and Cumberland; thence up said White's Creek to the mouth of Piney Creek; thence up said Piney Creek to the point where said Creek crosses the turnpike, or main road, running between Knoxville and Nashville, and continuing up said Piney Creek to the point where said Creek leaves the present lands of the the (sic) Roane Iron Company; thence along the present line of the said Roane Iron Company's land to Clifty Creek; thence down Clifty Creek to Emory River; thence down Emery River to where it intersects the present line between the Counties of Roane and Morgan. Passed: March 22, 1873 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - THE STORY TELLERS We are the chosen. My feelings are, in each family there is one who seems called to find the ancestors. To put flesh on their bones and make them live again, to tell the family story and to feel that somehow they know, and approve. To me, doing genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts but, instead, breathing life into all who have gone before. We are the story tellers of the tribe. All tribes have one. We have been called as it were, by our genes. Those who have gone before cry out to us: Tell our story. So, we do. In finding them, we somehow find ourselves. How many graves have I stood before now and cried? I have lost count. How many times have I told the ancestors you have a wonderful family you would be proud of us? How many times have I walked up to a grave and felt somehow there was love there for me? I cannot say. It goes beyond just documenting facts. It goes to who am I and why do I do the things I do? It goes to seeing a cemetery about to be lost forever to weeds and indifference and saying I can't let this happen. The bones here are bones of my bone and flesh of my flesh. It goes to doing something about it. It goes to pride in what our ancestors were able to accomplish. How they contributed to what we are today. It goes to respecting their hardships and losses, their never giving in or giving up, their resoluteness to go on and build a life for their family. It goes to deep pride that they fought to make and keep us a Nation. It goes to a deep and immense understanding that they were doing it for us. That we might be born who we are. That we might remember them. So we do. With love and caring and scribing each fact of their existence, because we are them and they are us. So, as a scribe called, I tell the story of my family. It is up to that one called in the next generation to answer the call and take their place in the long line of family storytellers. That, is why I do my family genealogy, and that is what calls those young and old to step up and put flesh on the bones. Author unknown - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The 1860 Census or Lots of Questions Answered The 1860 Census lists a dwelling number and family number and each sheet lists the county as well as town and post office name. Questions answered on the 1860 census include, name, age and sex of each individual; color, occupation, value of real and personal property; birthplace, whether married within the year (m.y.), whether attended school, can read or write and the date of the enumeration. Also included are boxes to indicate if an individual was a pauper or convict. Here is an article published in 1859 about the upcoming 1860 census: Friday September 23, 1859 Weekly Star THE NEXT CENSUS The year 1860 is the time appointed for taking the eighth census of the United States. From having been originally a simple enumeration's of persons, this Federal census has grown to be a decennial register of the number of inhabitants and their occupation, religious denominations & c, and also a statement of the commerce, manufacturers, arts and industry, and the wealth of the nation. The collection of these statistics has hitherto been attended with immense labor and difficulty. The inquiries of the census takers have not only been baffled by the stupidity and perverseness and ignorance of many to whom they were addressed; but it has been impossible to obtain accurate information upon important subjects because the parties; who alone are presumed capable of imparting it, have never taken the trouble to inform themselves. It often occurs that, in the absence of the head of a family no other member of it is able to give the information required; for instance as to the ages of the different members or it, or the amount of land in cultivation, the number of negroes and their ages, the quantity and value of horses, mules and oxen, etc., or of farming implements or farm products. In town and country similar difficulties are continually met with by the marshals appointed to collect these statistics, and the census is consequently returned incomplete. It is probably that while care will be observed to prevent any frauds or excess in the publication of the next census, it will be ordered by Congress to be taken so as to include all the most important items of information in regard to the progress of our population and our country. In view of this contingency the Nashville News very sensibly suggest that each farmer, this fall , as he gathers his crops, shall keep something like an accurate account of the quality and value of the same; and if he will take the trouble to make out a statement of the names and ages of his family; the number and ages of his servants, the number and value of his horses and mules; the number of bales of cotton, barrels of corn, bushels of wheat, oats, rye, barley, potatoes, etc., and leave it in some place where any member of thefamily, who may be at home when the deputy marshal shall call, can readily get hold of it, it will save time to all concerned, and very greatly assist to make the census return perfect, complete and satisfactory. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -