David and Martha Averett Family in the 1870 US Census

David Franklin Averett (1837-1927) and Martha Ann Rebecca Timmerman (1847-1927) married in December 1864 while David was at home recovering from wounds suffered in the Battle of the Wilderness in May 1864. He survived the war and returned to Martha after Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, of which he was a part, surrendered at Appomattox in April 1865.

David and Martha Averett appeared in the 1870 US Census in Elmore County, Alabama, along with their first two children, John Averett (1865-1956) and Mary Maude Averett (1867-1948).

(Click images to enlarge.)

Source citation:  Year:  1870; Census Place:  Township 19, Elmore, Alabama; Roll: M593_15; Page: 109A; Image: 410; Family History Library Film: 545514.

Information having to do with their family is transcribed as follows.

Page 135
Schedule 1. — Inhabitants in Township 19, in the County of Elmore, State of Alabama, enumerated by me on the 28th day of July, 1870.
Post Office: Chanahatchee
[signed] J.B. [Kerwin?], Ass’t Marshal.

• Line 25: D.F. Averette; age: 32 years; sex: male; race: white; occupation: farmer; value of real estate: $500; value of personal estate: $480; place of birth: Georgia; parents not of foreign birth; could read and write; was a male citizen of the U.S. of 21 years of age and upwards; his right to vote was not denied on other grounds than rebellion or other crime. [Did he have the right to vote at this time? Confederate soldiers were presumably allowed to regain their U.S. citizenship after having sworn to uphold the Constitution and abide by the results of the war, to include recognition that the former slaves had been legally and permanently freed. Are there records that might list his name?]
• Line 26: M.A.R. Averette; age: 24 years; sex: female; race: white; occupation: keeping house; place of birth: Alabama; parents not of foreign birth; could read and write
• Line 27: John Averette; age: 4 years; sex: male; race: white; place of birth: Alabama
• Line 28: Mary Averette; age 2 years; sex: female; race: white; place of birth: Alabama. [Mary Maude Averett (1867-1948) was my 2nd great grandmother.]

Names and occupations of their neighbors can be seen from nearby pages of the census. Almost all households appear to be farming families or people hired to work on those farms. And it turns out that David and Martha Averett lived near relatives and probable relatives.

• Page 133:
• Family 937: Benjamin Mason (farmer), Nancy Mason (keeping house), Rody Mason, Elizabeth Mason, Charles Mason (farm laborer), William Mason (farm laborer), Sarah Mason, Benjamin Mason, John Mason, Abraham Pullen, Leddie Pullen
• Family 938: J.E. Anderson (farmer), Elezabeth Anderson (keeping house), J.P. Anderson (teaching school), Mary Anderson, Willie Anderson, Salina Anderson, James Anderson
• Family 939: Isham Pollard (farm laborer), Rachel Pollard (keeping house), Louisa Pollard (farm laborer), Ellen Pollard, John Pollard, Eb Goss [This family was a black family. Were they former slaves? Were they the former “property” of some of the white people listed on these census sheets? Possibly of J.E. Anderson above or Burton Todd below?]
• Family 940: Burton Todd, Elizabeth Todd, Thomas Todd, Hattie Todd, Charley Todd, Benjamin Todd, Budar Todd, Pinkney Todd
• Family 941: James Averett (farmer, real estate $600 — equivalent to $10,700 dollars in 2014, personal estate $500 ($8900)), Mary Averett (keeping house), Nancy Averett, Webster Averett (farm laborer), Rebecca Averett, Romulus Averett (farm laborer), Charley Averett [I think Nancy Averett, Webster Averett, Rebecca Averett, Romulus Averett, and Charles or Charley Averett were siblings of David Averett. Mary Averett may have been the mother of David Averett. According to this census, she was 50 years of age in 1870, which means she was born about 1820. My data currently shows David’s mother, Mary Averett, as born around 1815. But I have also seen the birth year given as 1812. But who is James Averett?]

• Pages 134—135:
• Family 942: Jeremiah McCissick (farmer, real estate $1200 ($21,400), personal estate $1000 ($17,800)), Sarah McCissick (keeping house), Ida McCissick, Lula McCissick, Annah McCissick, Fletcher McCissick, Minnie McCissick, N.B. McCissick [McCissick or McKissick may have been related to Martha TIMMERMAN Averett, the wife of David Averett. The reason it might be true is tenuous: She had a brother named James McKissick Timmerman (1835-1863) who died of wounds suffered at the Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia, a Confederate victory.]
• Family 943: Green Teal (farmer), Matilda Teal (keeping house), Julia Teal, Amanda Teal, Margaret Teal, Charley Teal, Mallery Teal
• Family 944: F.W. Timmerman (farmer, real estate $800 ($14,300), personal estate $300 ($5400)), Timnah (keeping house) [F.W. and Timnah Timmerman are the parents of Martha TIMMERMAN Averett.]
• Family 945: John Redin (farmer), Sarah Redin (keeping house), John Redin (farm laborer), Mary Redin, William Redin, Frances Redin, James Redin, Louilla Redin
• Family 946: John Manning (farmer), Nancy Manning (keeping house), Mallissa Manning
• Family 947: Ellis Harden (farmer), Eliza Hardin (keeping house), Theressa Harden, Hiram Harddn, Martha Harden, John Harden, Susan Harden, William Harden, George Harden
• Family 948: T. Tinsley (farmer), Elizabeth Tinsley (keeping house), Alonza Tinsley (farm laborer), Narsissus Tinsley, Tarply Tinsley, Lougenia Tinsley, Gardner Tinsley, Ida Tinsley, Thomas Tinsley, Stella Tinsley

• Pages 135—136:
• Family 949: S. Canterburg (keeping house), Fitesque Canterburg (farm laborer), Marcus Canterburg, Elizabeth Canterburg, William Canterburg, James Harris (farm laborer), Caroline Harris, Quinn Richardson, Louis Mitcheal (farm laborer) [Richardson and Mithceal were also black. Again, were they former slaves? Were they formerly the “property” of the Canterburg’s?]
• Family 950: Evans Chatman (farmer), Roma Chatman (keeping house), Henry Chatman (farm laborer), James Chatman (farm laborer), Ewan Chatman, Minnia Chatman, James Wallace (farm laborer), Martina Wallace (keeping house)
• Family 951: D.F. Averette (farmer, real estate $500 ($8900), personal estate $480 ($8600)), M.A.R. Averette (keeping house), John Averette, Mary Averette
• Family 952: M.J. Ray (keeping house), Emily Ray, Lourena Ray, Margaret Ray, Druward Ray, J.M. Burson, Sarah Burson
• Family 953: C. Buckner (farmer), Sarah Buckner (keeping house), Elizabeth Buckner, William Ferren, Charles Ferren, M.E. Patterson

• Pages 136—137:
• Family 954: William Wood (farmer), Elvira Wood (keeping house)
• Family 955: J.E. Patterson (farmer), Margaret Patterson (keeping house), Charles Patterson (farm laborer), William Patterson, Margaret Patterson, George Patterson, Lucy Patterson
• Family 956: B. Martin (farm laborer), Mary Martin (keeping house), Elizabeth Martin, Benjamin Martin, Sarah Martin, John Martin
• Family 957: Elija Taylor (farm laborer), Rachel Taylor (keeping house), Jefferson Taylor (farm laborer), Elija Taylor (farm laborer), Louisa Taylor, Lovic Gibson, Emiline Gibson [Also a black family and also possibly emancipated slaves. Were they hired by the Martin family or by the Brown family, which could be implied by their geographical proximity?]
• Family 958: Miles Brown (farmer), Sarah Brown (keeping house), Jane Brown, Fannie Brown, Emma Brown, James Brown, Susan Brown, Almira Powers, Nancy Powers
• Family 959: K.H. Scogin (farmer), Margaret Scogin (keeping house), Sarah Scogin, Mary Scogin, Catherine Scogin, Barton Rush
• Family 960: F. Chrietzberg (farm laborer), Mary Chrietzberg (keeping house), Alonza [Alonzo?] Chrietzberg, Henry Chrietzberg
• Pages 137—138:
• Family 961: Louis Williams (black, farm laborer), Harriet Williams (black, keeping house), Williams Williams (black, farm laborer), James Williams (black, farm laborer)
• Family 962: David James (farmer), Nancy James (keeping house), John James, Mary Ann James, Quinn James
• Family 963: Miles Wallace (farmer), Annie Wallace (keeping house), D.A. Buchner, John Buchner (farm laborer)
• Family 964: George Pullin (farmer), Mary Pullin (keeping house), Charlotte Pullin, Emily Pullin, James Pullin (farmer laborer), Thomas Pullin (farm laborer), Alex Pullin, Abram Pullin, Charley Pullin
• Family 965: Richmond Ferrel (farmer), Fannie Ferrel (keeping house), Martha Ferrel, Joseph Ferrel, Stanly Ferrel
• Family 966: M.A. Terrel (farm laborer), Agnes Terrel (keeping house), Hiram Terrel
• Family 967: E.B. Ward (farmer), Rachel Ward (keeping house)
• Family 968: John Tucker (farm laborer), Polly Ann Tucker (keeping house), Mary Ann Tucker
• Family 969: Vina Mote (keeping house), Hiram Honey (farmer), Catherine Honey (keeping house), William Honey, Mary Honey, Wm Goodson (farm laborer), Texana Goodson, Baker Thomas (farm laborer), Ben Goodson (farm laborer)
• Page 138
• Familes 970—971...
• Family 974: Nathan Ledbetter (miller, value of real estate not shown, value of personal estate not shown), Massouri Ledbetter (keeping house) [Possible relatives of Mary LEDBETTER Averett (~1815—unknown), the mother of David Averett (1837—1927).]

So, where is Chanahatchee, the location of the nearest post office? It is not easy to find on Google. A person named Vicky Schuller queried the message boards on Genealogy.com in the year 2000 about the location of "Township 19, Chanahatchee, Tallapoosa County in the 1850 US Census.”

A person named Margaret Stearns Payne replied a couple of days later, saying that “Chanahatchee is now a part of Elmore County. It is more commonly referred to as Chana Creek. It is a small community close to the town of Eclectic Alabama. Elmore County was formed in [the] 1860s from Tallapoosa, Coosa, Autauga, and Montgomery Counties. Not much there now except some small Primitive Baptist Churches, their adjoining cemeteries, farms, and residences."

One of the very few resources that gives location information about Chattahatchee is a weather forecast page for Chana Creek, Alabama. It has a small map that looks like this:

The town of Electric, Alabama (32.6416606 deg N -86.0409 deg E) is, according to Google Maps, a part of the Montgomery, Alabama Metropolitan Statistical Area. I was also able to find the Chana Creek Primitive Baptist Church in Elmore County, Alabama (32.619669 deg N -85.98923 deg E), which is 3.2 miles from the town of Eclectic.

So far, this is my best estimate of where the Chanahatchee Post Office mentioned in the 1870 US Census was located. This is what the area looks like in the satellite photo from Google Earth (on 22 May 2014). It seems to match the description of "some small Primitive Baptist Churches, their adjoining cemeteries, farms, and residences” fairly well. The location of Chana Creek relative to Dadeville (the county seat of Tallapoosa County where the Tallapoosa Times, the Dadeville Banner, and the Dadeville Banner and Times newspapers were published) and to Montgomery (the state capital of Alabama, the first capital of the Confederate States, and the location where the Daily Confederation and the Daily Montgomery Ledger, and the Daily Advertiser were published at the time). It will be shown in a future post on this blog that the part of Elmore County in which Chana Creek is located was part of Tallapoosa County until 1866, until the new county of Elmore was founded and that this change is reflected in the 1860 and 1870 US Census data for David Averett and his family.

The next screenshot from Google Earth shows the location of Chana Creek Primitive Baptist Church relative to the town of Eclectic and a second, nearby Primitive Baptist Church.

The last screenshot shows what the land around Chana Creek looks like on 11 September 2012, according to Google Earth data displayed.

1840 Census - John and Mary Averett Family

This post is intended to tentatively establish that my GGG-grandfather, David Franklin Averett (1837-1927), lived in Muscogee County, Georgia with his parents and siblings at the time of the 1840 U.S. Federal Census. His parents were John Averett (1809 - unknown) and Mary LEDBETTER Averett (1815 - unknown). This is based on comparison with the 14 September 1850 US Census (which I documented in my blog post 1850 US Census - John and Mary Averett Family) on 19 November 2011 and on a process of elimination over about 154 candidates families provided by a search on Ancestry.com.

The 1840 US Census was in some ways not nearly as informative as those that followed. For example, only the name of the head of the family was supplied, along with "binned" ages for all members of the family, free blacks, and slaves, if any. The head of the family seems to have been always male, if living, based on what I've seen so far.

In the 1850 US Census, the John and Mary Averett family, residing in Putnam County, Georgia, did not own any slaves, included:

• Line 22: John Averett; Age = 41 
• Line 23: Mary Averett; Age = 35 
• Line 24: Harris Averett; Age = 19 
• Line 25: Mary Averett; Age = 15[?] 
• Line 26: Catherine Averett; Age = 14 
• Line 27: David F. Averett; Age = 12 
• Line 28: Sarah M. Averett; Age = 9 
• Line 29: I.J.L. Averett; Age = 7 
• Line 30: Alvus Averett; Age = 5 
• Line 31: Nancy Averett; Age = 3

So in 1840,

• John Averett would have been about 31 years old,
• Mary Averett would have been about 25 years old,
• Harris would have been about 9 years old,
• Mary would have been about 5 years,
• Catherine would have been 4 years old, and
• David would have been 2 years old.

John and Mary married on 24 Feb 1830 so it is reasonable to assume that Harris was the oldest child, probably being born in late 1830 or before 14 September 1831. In the 1840 US Census the pattern we're looking for will be at least similar to:  A family of six free white people (and an unknown number of slaves, hopefully zero) distributed as shown among the following age "bins":

• 1 male (0 - 5 years old)
• 1 male (5 - 9 years old)
• 1 male (30 - 39 years old)
• 1 female (0 - 5 years old)
• 1 female (5 - 9 years old)
• 1 female (20 - 29 years old)

This will be exact if we know about all living children in 1840. That is, there would have been no children living in 1840 who subsequently died and would therefore not have been enumerated in the 1850 US Census.

Begin by searching for John Averett in any census taken in the 1840s on Ancestry.com.  The result looks like the following:

The Ancestry.com search algorithm provides two results that it thinks are especially likely possible matches, along with 152 lesser candidates. For the first, the John Averett family living in Columbus Ward 4, Muscogee County, Georgia, here is a copy of the 1840 Census enumeration sheet: (click to enlarge)

The family of this particular John Averett has two free white males under five years of age, one free white male of age 20 - 29 years, one free white male of age 30 - 39 years, one free white female under five years of age, one free white female of age 29 - 39 years, no free blacks, and no slaves (which are shown on the facing page in the census book, not shown here).

For the second John Averett, the one living in District 724 in the same county, here is a copy of the enumeration sheet.

The family of this particular John Averett has one free white male of age under five years, one free white male of age 5 - 9 years, one free white male of age 30 - 39 years, one free white female of age under five years, one free white female of age 5 - 9 years, and one free white female of age 20 - 39 years. Interestingly, this is exactly the pattern we are looking for.

Since we want to account for the cases in which children (or parents living with the family) have died during the decade of 1840 - 1850, we should look for families that have:

1. At least 1 free white male of age under 5 years,
2. at least 1 free white male of age 5 - 9 years 3,
3. at least 0 free white males of age 10 - 14 years,
4. at least 0 free white males of age 15 - 19 years,
5. at least 0 free white males of age 20 - 29 years,
6. at least 1 free white male of age 30 - 39 years,
7. at least 0 free white males of age 40 - 49 years,
8. at least 0 free white males of age 50 - 59 years,
9. at least 0 free white males of age 60 - 69 years,
10. at least 0 free white males of age 70 - 79 years,
11. at least 0 free white males of age 80 - 89 years,
12. at least 0 free white males of age 90 - 99 years,
13. at least 0 free white males of age 100+ years,
14. at least 1 free white female of age under 5 years,
15. at least 0 free white females of age 5 - 9 years,
16. at least 0 free white females of age 10 - 14 years,
17. at least 0 free white females of age 15 - 19 years,
18. at least 1 free white female of age 20 - 29 years,
19. at least 0 free white females of age 30 - 39 years,
20. at least 0 free white females of age 40 - 49 years,
21. at least 0 free white females of age 50 - 59 years,
22. at least 0 free white females of age 60 - 69 years,
23. at least 0 free white females of age 70 - 79 years,
24. at least 0 free white females of age 80 - 89 years,
25. at least 0 free white females of age 90 - 99 years, and
26. at least 0 free white females of age 100+ years.

Equivalently, we can rule out all families that have fewer than:

1. 1 free white male of age under 5 years,
2. 1 free white male of age 5 - 9 years,
3. 1 free white male of age 30 - 39 years,
4. 1 free white female of age under 5 years, and 
5. 1 free white female of age 20 - 29 years.

It should be easier to check five conditions for each family instead of twenty-six conditions for each family. The John Averett family in District 724 of Muscogee County (includes the city of Columbus, Georgia) looks promising but we need to find out how many John Averett families there were in Georgia and maybe in nearby states. Possible variations on the name include "John Averett", "John Everett", "J. Averett", "J. Everett", "Averett", "Everett", etc.

We have a list of 154 families that the Ancestry.com search algorithm has determined are similar to, or are somewhat similar to, our ideal match. I constructed a spreadsheet that summarizes the reported age distributions of each family, summarizing one family for each line in the spreadsheet. Click to enlarge:

All lines that did not satisfy the constraints were then discarded by graying them out. For example, excluding all families that did not have at least one free white male child under the age of 5 years allows us to immediately discard 97 candidate families. This leaves 57 families, some of which will also be discarded after applying the other four conditions. Click to enlarge.

At the end of the process we are left with only six families:

• John Averett family in District 724, Muscogee County, Georgia
• Allen Arentt family in Stewart County, Georgia
• Soloman Averett family in District 787, Muscogee County, Georgia
• John Everett family in Yazoo County, Mississippi
• Wilie H.H. Everett in Davidson's District 290, Jasper County, Georgia
• Jas. Everett in District 952, Chatooga County, Georgia

Keep in mind that these names are what the human transcribers wrote and are the names used by the Ancestry.com computer search algorithm. Most of the time, the accuracy of the transcribers is not bad, but sometimes they are. Inspection of the handwriting on the actual census forms shows only one difference between what I read and what the transcribers read in the names of the heads of these families:

• John Averett family in District 724, Muscogee County, Georgia
• Allen Averett family in Stewart County, Georgia
• Soloman Averett family in District 787, Muscogee County, Georgia
• John Everett family in Yazoo County, Mississippi
• Wilie H.H. Everett in Davidson's District 290, Jasper County, Georgia
• Jas. Everette in District 952, Chatooga County, Georgia

Sometimes the difference is startling so it is worth your while to see if you, being familiar with the names in question, can come up with a better transcription than what is supplied.  Examples:  "Drury Avent" should read "Drury Averett", "Thos. Avoritt" should be "Thos [or Thomas] Averett", and (worst of all):  "Philip Hockenburg" was mis-transcribed/incorrectly "corrected" by another genealogy researcher as "John Everitt". (!!!)

Since we are fairly certain that the given name of the head of the family was, in fact, "John", we can discard all but the following two families:

• John Averett family in District 724, Muscogee County, Georgia
• John Everett family in Yazoo County, Mississippi

If we had been left with no names, it would have been necessary to go back and think of another strategy to narrow the results. This is why I kept and copied so much data into my spreadsheet. I don't have enough experience yet to know whether this is going to be necessary all the time or not.

The results of the Ancestry.com search indicate that the family in Muscogee County, Georgia (3.5 stars) is much more likely than the family in Yazoo County, Mississippi (1.5 stars) to be our John and Mary Averette family. Is this only because the spelling of the surname "Averett" is exactly what we're looking for, as opposed to "Everett"? (Although"Everett" is said to be a known variant of Averett according to other research on this family.)

How try this:  sort the spreadsheet to find all candidate families in Muscogee County, Georgia. Click to enlarge the result:

We find five families, all named "Averett" and all spelled that same way, each residing in Muscogee County, Georgia. After looking for candidate families in Yazoo County, Mississippi, I found only the one "John Everett".  This doesn't prove that our John Averett is the one in Muscogee County, of course, but I have a feeling that at least some of these Averett families in the county are relatives of our John Averett. Similary, the fact that we found only one "Everett" in Yazoo County does not prove that he isn't my ancestor. But the difference in spelling, unsurprising as it might be, tends to make me think that Muscogee County is the one we want.

Tentative conclusion: It seem more likely that the John Averett family in District 724, Muscogee County, Georgia is the John and Mary Averett family to which my ggg-grandfather David Franklin Averett (1837-1927) belonged in 1840. But I would feel MUCH better if I could find some corroborating evidence to further support this conclusion.

The next step is to extract as much information as possible from the 1840 US Census for this family.

Here are the two images (facing pages, apparently) that report on this family:

1840 John Averett Family - 1840 US Census (page 1 of 2)

1840 John Averett Family - 1840 US Census (page 1 of 2)

Using a blank 1840 US Census template supplied by Ancestry.com, the column headers for the two facing pages are as follows.

Column Headers for Page 1 of 2

• Name of the county, city, ward, town, township, parish, precinct, hundred, or district
• Names of heads of families
• Free white persons (including heads of families)
• Males
• Under 5
• 5 & under 10
• 10 & under 15
• 15 & under 20
• 20 & under 30
• 30 & under 40
• 40 & under 50
• 50 & under 60
• 60 & under 70
• 70 & under 80
• 80 & under 90
• 90 & under 100
• 100+ 
• Females
• Under 5
• 5 & under 10
• 10 & under 15
• 15 & under 20
• 20 & under 30
• 30 & under 40
• 40& under 50
• 50 & under 60
• 60 & under 70
• 70 & under 80
• 80 & under 90
• 90 & under 100
• 100+
• Free colored persons
• Males
• Under 10
• 10 & under 24
• 24 & under 35
• 36 & under 55
• 56 & under 100
• 100 & upwards
• Females
• Under 10
• 10 & under 24
• 24 & under 35
• 36 & under 55
• 56 & under 100
• 100 & upwards

Column Headers for Page 2 of 2

• Slaves
• Males
• Females
• Total
• Number of persons in each family employed in
• Mining
• Agriculture
• Commerce
• Manufacture and trade
• Navigation of the ocean
• Navigation of canals, lakes, rivers
• Learned professional engineers
• Pensioners for Revolutionary or military services, included in the foregoing
• Names
• Ages
• Deaf and Dumb, Blind, and Insane White Persons, Included in the foregoing
• Deaf and Dumb
• Under 14
• 14 and under 25
• 25 and upwards
• Blind and Insane
• Blind
• Insane and idiots at public charge
• Insane and idiots at private charge
• Deaf and Dumb, Blind, and Insane Colored Persons, Included in the foregoing
• Deaf, Dumb, and Blind
• Deaf and Dumb
• Blind
• Insane and Idiots
• Insane and idiots at private charge
• Insane and idiots at public charge
• Schools & c.
• Universities or college
• Number of students
• Academies & Grammar Schools
• No. of Scholars
• Primary and Common Schools
• No. of Scholars at Public charge
• No. of white persons over 20 years of age in each family who cannot read and write

Finally, here is a transcription of the 1840 US Census form tentatively associated with my ancestors, John Averett (1809 - unknown) and his wife, Mary Averett (1815 - unknown):

(No. 4) 
SCHEDULE of the whole number of persons within the division allotted to Michael Helaske (difficult to read handwritten name) by the Marshal of the District (or Territory) of Georgia. 


Page 1 of 2 (line 25)

• location = 724th District [difficult-to-read handwriting: G M?]
• name = John Averett
• Free white males under 5 years of age = 1 [probably David Franklin Averett]
• Free white males of age 5 to 9 years = 1 [probably Harris Averett]
• Free white males of age 30 to 39 years = 1 [husband/father John Averett]
• Free white females under 5 years of age = 1 [probably Catherine Averett]
• Free white females of age 5 to 9 years = 1 [probably Mary Averett]
• Free white females of age 20 to 29 years = 1 [probably wife/mother Mary Averett]
• Free colored persons = 0
• Slaves = 0

Page 2 of 2 (line 25)

• total number of persons = 6
• no marks under any other headings, including the type of employment

I am relieved that this family owned no slaves but I am disappointed that the occupation of the husband/father John Averett was not marked. I suspect that it was an oversight and that, had it been marked, it would have indicated that he was employed in "Agriculture" because the 1850 US Census and the 1860 US Census both indicate that he was a farmer in those years.

Since this is the first time I've discussed this location in this particular blog, I have included a Wikipedia map showing the location of Muscogee County with respect to the rest of the state of Georgia. Material on Wikipedia is copyrighted under Creative Commons, which I believe gives me permission to use it here, since I have specified where it came from. Click the image to see the full Wikipedia entry for Muscogee County.

1850 Census - John and Mary Averett Family

David Franklin Averett (1837-1927) probably lived in Putnam County, Georgia with his parents and siblings at the time of the 1850 U.S. Federal Census. The census page shown below was completed on 14 September 1850 and the purpose of this post is to point out correlations between the John and Mary Averett family in this 1850 US Census and the John and May Averett family in the 1860 US Census that I documented on 16 November 2011. Based on these associations, which includes fairly consistent ages and names of children, I assess that these two families are, in fact, the same family.

(Click graphic to enlarge.)

Here is a transcription of the 1850 information relevant to David's family:

SCHEDULE I. -- Free Inhabitants in [unreadable] 70th District in the County of Putnam, State of Georgia, enumerated by me, on the 14th day of Sept 1850. L.H. Jackson, Ass't Marshal.


Column Headings:

1. Dwelling house numbered in the order of visitation.
2. Families numbered in the order of visitation.
3. The Name of every Person whose usual place of abode on the first day of June, 1850, was in this family.
4. Description: Age
5. Description: Sex
6. Description: Color: White, black, or mulatto.
7. Profession, Occupation, or trade of each Male Person over 15 years of age.
8. Value of Real Estate Owned.
9. Place of Birth, naming the State, Territory, or Country.
10. Married within the year.
11. Attended School within the year.
12. Persons over 20 y'rs of age who cannot read & write
13. Whether deaf and dumb, blind, insane, idiotic, pauper, or convict.

Lines in which the John and Mary Averett family appear:

• Line 22: Dwelling house = 180; Family = 180; Name = John Averett; Age = 41; Sex = Male; Color = Unmarked [which presumably means = white]; Occupation = Farmer; Value of Real Estate Owned = $900 [indistinct: could say $700 or $900]; Place of Birth = Ga. [Georgia]; Married within the year = no [unmarked]; Attended School within the year = no [unmarked]; Persons over 20 years of age who cannot read & write = no [unmarked]; Whether deaf and dumb, blind, insane, idiotic, pauper, or convict = no [unmarked]
• Line 23: Mary Averett; Age = 35; Sex = Female; Color = White [unmarked]; Place of Birth = Ga. [Georgia]; Attended School within the year = [unmarked]
• Line 24: Harris Averett; Age = 19; Sex = Male; Color = White [unmarked]; Occupation = Farmer; Place of Birth = Ga. [Georgia]; Attended School within the year = [unmarked]
• Line 25: Mary Averett; Age = 15[?]; Sex = Female; Color = White [unmarked]; Place of Birth = Ga. [Georgia]; Attended School within the year = yes [marked]
• Line 26: Catherine Averett; Age = 14; Sex = Female; Color = White [unmarked]; Place of Birth = Ga. [Georgia]; Attended School within the year = yes [marked]
• Line 27: David F. Averett; Age = 12; Sex = Male; Color = White [unmarked]; Place of Birth = Ga. [Georgia]; Attended School within the year = yes [unmarked]
• Line 28: Sarah M. Averett; Age = 9; Sex = Female; Color = White [unmarked]; Place of Birth = Ga. [Georgia]; Attended School within the year = no [unmarked]
• Line 29: I.J.L. Averett; Age = 7; Sex = Male; Color = White [unmarked]; Place of Birth = Ga. [Georgia]; Attended School within the year = no [unmarked]
• Line 30: Alvus Averett; Age = 5; Sex = Male; Color = White [unmarked]; Place of Birth = Ga. [Georgia]; Attended School within the year = no [unmarked]
• Line 31: Nancy Averett; Age = 3; Sex = Female; Color = White [unmarked]; Place of Birth = Ga. [Georgia]; Attended School within the year = no [unmarked]

By way of comparison, the following siblings of David F. Averett appear in the 1860 US Census:

• David F. Averett (age 12 years in 1850 and age 22 years in 1860)
• John L. Averett (named "I.J.L." and age 7 years in 1850 and age 17 years in 1860)
• Alvis E. Averett (named "Alvus" and age 9 years in 1850 and age 14 years in 1860) -- inconsistent ages
• Nancy L. Averett (age 5 years in 1850 and age 12 years in 1860) -- inconsistent ages
• Willson W. Averett (age 10 years in 1860)
• Romulus Averett (age 8 years in 1860)
• Rebecca Averett (age 6 years in 1860)
• Charles Averett (age 2 years in 1860)

Willson W. Averett (age 10 years in 1860) does not appear in this 1850 US Census, so he must have been born after 14 September 1850 (the day on which the Census form was completed). Romulus, Rebecca, and Charles would have been born after 1850.

So we see three very similar given names (David, Alvus/Alvis, and Nancy) and one somewhat similar name (I.J.L./John L.) for four of the children of John and Mary Averett. We see perfect age consistency for David and and John L. but we see not terribly good consistency in ages for Alvis and Nancy. But, from what I have seen over the past few years, the accuracy of data in census data is highly variable in both the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The census takers were probably being paid for how many names they collected, not how accurately they recorded the data. Human nature being what it is, laziness or impatience have not changed since then. They probably wrote down what they thought they heard and moved on. There may have been some kind of error checking in place, probably based on whether the managers of the census takers knew the families being interviewed, but it wouldn't have been much more than that. So I don't think the inconsistency in ages for Alvis and Nancy, by itself, necessarily proves the two families are not the same.

Next, the following siblings of David Averett appeared in the 1860 US Census but not in this 1850 US Census

• Harris Averett (would have been approximately 29 years old in 1860)
• Mary Averett (would have been approximately 25 years old in 1860)
• Catherine Averett (would have been approximately 24 years old in 1860)

All three of these children would have been more than old enough to marry in 1860. It is reasonable to assume that they either died at some point between the taking of the 1850 US Census and the taking of the 1860 US Census, or that they married and started their own family and resided in a separate household.

And, as a matter of fact, on line 26 of the 1860 U.S. Census, immediately following lines 16 through 25, which enumerated the members of the John and Mary Averett family, is one "Harris H. Averett", age 26 years (but not 29 years as would be expected based on the 1850 US Census), whose occupation was "mechanic" and who was born in Georgia. His wife, shown in line 27, was Malinda A. Averett, age 24 years and also born in Georgia. Their son, "Amona A. Averett, age 1 year, was born in Alabama. It seems reasonable that Harris might be the son of John Averett, although that would have to be further substantiated.

Parenthetically, since David Averett's occupation was shown as "mechanic" in the 1860 US Census, it is possible that he worked for or with his brother Harris.

Note to self: Look for Mary and Catherine in the 1860 US Census. It'll be tougher to find them if they married because they would have changed their surnames to reflect that of their husbands.''

Finally, because this 1850 Census was from Putnam County, Georgia, it may be relevant to point out that I found a marriage record for "John Averette" and "Mary Ledbetter" that occurred on 24 February 1830 in Putnam County, Georgia on the LDS FamilySearch.org web site:

If this is the right marriage record, I will have determined the maiden name of John Averett's wife, Mary (thus confirming what has been reported on other family trees found on Ancestry.com). But family trees on Ancestry.com and elsewhere on the Internet say a LOT of different things, much of which is incorrect. So I continue to be careful about concluding anything until I can confirm it with other sources, hopefully primary sources when available. So I am not ready to assess that Mary's surname was "Ledbetter" but if it was, the date of their marriage, 24 February 1830, would be consistent with the birth year of their first son, Harris. Harris was born about 1831 according to this 1850 US Census ("age 19 years").

I found the following graphic showing the location of Putnam County in Georgia from Wikipedia on 19 November 2011:

1860 US Census - John and Mary Averett Family

David Averett lived in Tallapoosa County, Alabama at the time of the 1860 U.S. Federal Census with his mother and father, along with his younger brothers and sisters. The census page shown below was completed on 22 June 1860, several months before the election of Abraham Lincoln as president of the United States. That fateful electoral result led directly to the attempted secession of the southern states and life as he knew it must surely have been destroyed over the next five years, even if he hadn't enlisted in the Confederate Army. See my blog posts from 20 August 2011 and 3 September 2011 for more information about that.

I have three real purposes for the documentation represented by this posting. The first is to establish the names and ages of David's brothers and sisters living with the family in 1860. The second is to infer the time when the family moved from Georgia to Alabama based on the listed birth places of his siblings. And the third is to establish a baseline of names of his brothers and sisters to better evaluate a particular 1850 US Census sheet that I recently found. In other words, I'm trying to decide if this John and Mary Averett family in 1860 is the same John and Mary Averett family shown in that 1850 Census form. The name of his 14-year-old brother, Alvis E. Averett, should be particularly useful for this, owing to its relative uniqueness among census records that I have read over time. I will write more about the 1850 US Census in a subsequent blog post.

(Click graphic to enlarge.)

Here is a transcription of the 1860 information relevant to David's family:

Page 13. SCHEDULE 1. -- Free Inhabitants in Western Division ([unreadable] 8) in the County of Tallapoosa, State of Alabama, enumerated by me, on the 22nd day of June 1860, Y.T. [?] Strickland, Ass't Marshal. Post Office: Realtown. 

• Line 16: John Averett, age 37 years, male; his occupation was farmer; the value of his real estate was $500, the value of his personal estate was $400; he was born in Georgia; he was able to read and write.
• Line 17: Mary Averett, age 45 years, female, she was born in Georgia, she was able to read and write.
• Line 18: David F. Averett, age 22 years, male; his occupation was mechanic; he was born in Georgia; he had not attended school within the year; he was able to read and write.
• Line 19: John L. Averett, age 17 years, male; his occupation was farmer; he was born in Georgia; he had not attended school within the year.
• Line 20: Alvis E. Averett, age 14 years, male; he was born in Georgia; he had not attended school within the year.
• Line 21: Nancy L. Averett, age 12 years, female; she was born in Georgia; she had not attended school within the year.
• Line 22: Willson W. Averett, age 10 years, male; he was born in Georgia; he had not attended school within the year.
• Line 23: Romulus Averett, age 8 years, male; he was born in Alabama; he had not attended school within the year.
• Line 24: Rebecca Averett, age 6 years, female; she was born in Alabama; she had not attended school within the year.
• Line 25: Charles Averett, age 2 years, male; he was born in Alabama; he had not attended school within the year. 

Since Willson, age 10 years, was born in Georgia, and his younger brother, Romulus, age 8 years, was born in Alabama (as were Rebecca and Charles), it seems straightforward to conclude that the family moved from Georgia to Alabama sometime between 1850 and 1852, inclusive, assuming that Willson was born in 1850 and that Romulus was born in 1852. The reason for their move is currently unknown to me.

David's apparently worked as a mechanic, although both his father and his brother John L. Averett were farmers. I do not currently know what a mechanic did in 1860, decades before the appearance of the first automobiles. This is a question that I will investigate later. If newspapers from the area could be located, advertisements or simply "goings-on about town" news might be useful in further characterizing how David contributed to the family livelihood. They might also give further clues about what the political and social climates were with respect to the upcoming 1860 election. I have read that Lincoln's name did not even appear on the ballot of many southern states and I wonder if that implies a widespread condition of regional patriotism among the general population or merely a sense of disquiet among what we would today call "the elite".

Finally, where was Realtown, Alabama, the site of the closest Post Office to the farm owned by John Averett in 1860?  A Google search indicates that the spelling was probably "Reeltown" instead of "Realtown", which is in Tallapoosa County.  Here is where Reeltown is in Alabama, according to Google Maps. (Click to enlarge.)

Note the proximity of Reeltown to Tallassee. The name of Tallassee is familiar to me, being the place where:

• Alvis E. Averett enlisted in Company A, the Cantey Rifles, of the 15th Alabama Volunteer Infantry Regiment on 5 February 1864.
• A muster Roll dated 19 Jul 1861 for the "Tallassee Guards", The 13th Alabama Infantry, Company F, shows that a Private “Averett, John L. [died during the war]”. Is this the John L. Averett who was the brother of David?
• Was listed as the nearest Post Office for David Averett when he enlisted in the Army on 3 July 1861 (see again my blog post from 3 September 2011).

This may not be all. I seem to remember "Tallassee" among some of my other genealogy materials but cannot put my hands on them at this time. If I do find more, I will write again about this town. In any event, here is where Tallapoosa County is located in the state of Alabama, according to Wikipedia, viewed 16 November 2011.  Information and graphics found in Wikipedia are licensed for general use under the Creative Commons license, so I believe it is okay to reproduce this graphic here.