SEQUATCHIE COUNTY, TN 1860 FEDERAL CENSUS TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES: Prepared by Donald Robbins Transcription aid by Betty Hawley Checked by D. K. Robbins June 4, 2004 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 (Sequatchie) 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 # 1271) 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 Sequatchie County consists of 53 pages. COUNTS There were 334 family units in Sequatchie county. There were 1918 free individuals in Sequatchie County. There were 61 vacant houses in Sequatchie County Number of White Males 955 Number of White Females 960 Number of Mulatto Males 1 Number of Mulatto Females 0 Number of Students 300 Number of Illiterates 188 Number of Married 14 in the last year PLACES OF BIRTH Tennessee 1677 North Carolina 70 Virginia 37 Georgia 35 South Carolina 29 Kentucky 17 Alabama 16 New York 6 Illinois 5 Maine 4 England 4 Sweden 4 France 4 New Jersey 2 Maryland 1 Massachusetts 1 Missouri 1 Germany 1 OCCUPATIONS Occupations in Sequatchie County in 1860 Farmer 187 Farm Laborer 152 Day Laborer 15 Black Smith 13 Carpenter 9 Ditcher 5 Mechanic 5 Merchant 4 Shoe Maker 4 Minister Methodist 4 Washer Woman 4 Domestic 4 Physician 3 Teacher 3 Distiller 3 Pleasure 3 Brick Mason 3 Wagoner 3 Mail Carrier 2 Herder 2 clerk 2 Chair Maker 2 Wagon Maker 2 Tailoress 2 Mill Right 2 Minister 1 Minister Pres 1 Miller 1 Grocer 1 Cooper 1 Gardener 1 Plasterer 1 Overseer 1 Sewing 1 Wool Carder 1 Spinning 1 Cabinent Maker 1 Butcher 1 Wheel Wright 1 Student 1 Other pauper 4 Infirmities deaf & dumb 1 dumb 1 invalid 1 And On the Last Page Of the Census: State Of Tennessee Sequatchie County I, Spencer C. Stone, assistant Census Taker for the County of Sequatchie and State of Tennessee, Certify that I have correctly performed the duties of Assistant Marshall according to law and my oath of Office, to the best of my knowledge and belief. This 31st August, 1860. Spencer C. Stone The County Name is pronounced Sequatchee. The dollar worth in 1860 is about 20 times our dollar worth today. >From a transcribers point of view, Sequatchie County is one ofthe best ones we have done to date. The handwriting is really quite legible. One note of interest, the enumerator for the county started out designating the "House Wife". About half way through, he dropped this appellation. The enumerator (aka Assistant Marshall) was S. C. Stone His household is listed on P018-22. He did all of the transcriptions, we believe. >From TNGenWeb Page EARLY HISTORY OF SEQUATCHIE COUNTY Sequatchie County, Tennessee was created on December 9, 1857 by an act of the Tennessee legislature. In order to avoid an election, the legislature took the first and second districts of Marion County and the tenth district of Bledsoe County, and joined them on February 25, 1856 to Hamilton County. Then some twenty-two months later, the new County of Sequatchie was created. It is a little-known fact, but the Sequatchie County Court Minute Book A states that "there is in the hands of the Trustee of Grundy County, $79.93 3/4 due the 7th Scholastic District, 'formally' of Grundy County for the year 1857, and also the amount due that portion of the territory of said County which was attached to Sequatchie County by the last legislature for the year 1858. TOPOGRAPHY AND MIGRATION PATTERNS OF SEQUATCHIE COUNTY Sequatchie County is in the heart of the beautiful Sequatchie Valley, with Walden's Ridge on the east, and Cumberland Plateau on the west. It has an area of 273 square miles, and is bounded by Bledsoe, Grundy, Hamilton, Marion, Van Buren, and Warren Counties. In 1990 the population was 8,863. The Sequatchie River, referred to in early deeds as Crow Creek, flows through the lush valley land. Some of the streams that empty into the river are Brush Creek, Coops Creek, Hicks Creek, and Woodcock Creek. Many artifacts have been found to substantiate the fact that the earliest inhabitants of the area were Indians. Historians have stated that Hernando DeSoto and his party were in the area around 1540. Their studies show that the expedition rested for about a month at the town of Chiaha, thought to be Burns Island, in the Tennessee River, just beyond the mouth of the Sequatchie River. In 1809, Joel Wheeler was on the list of white settlers who were below the treaty line, in what was to become Sequatchie County. What does the word "Sequatchie" mean? Just what the word Sequatchie originally meant has been a matter of speculation for years. Some say that Sequachee, one of the early spellings, meant "hog trough", supposedly relating to the shape of the valley. Others contend that the Cherokee translation is "opossum, he grins". Another explanation is that it was named for an Indian chief, Sikws-eteet-tsi. What is the county seat? The City of Dunlap is the county seat, and is the only incorporated area in Sequatchie County. It is governed by a Mayor and Commissioners. What highways are in or near Sequatchie County? The primary north-south highway through the county and valley is US 127. It connects to Interstate 124, and then to Interstate 75 thirty miles to the south in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Highway 127 intersects Interstate 40 some fifty miles north at Crossville. State Route 28 leads from Dunlap to Interstate 24 in Marion County. State Route 111, or Corridor J, crosses the county from Van Buren County to Ha milton County. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - 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.