Harris Township Irish Families Documented in the 1850 St Joseph County Indiana Census

There are 19 Irish-born individuals and their families living in Harris Township when the census was conducted for St Joseph County Indiana in 1850. Harris Township was in the northeast quadrant of St Joseph County, northeast of the city of South Bend, bordering Clay Township on its eastern side. The ancestry.com interpretation has the Nixon family listed as being born in Indiana. I enlarged the frame and it clearly looks like Ireland to me so they are included below. John Nixon was living with the Kennedy family on a separate page of the census, otherwise there are three obvious families identified the Donahus, the Nixons and the Rynes. One thing that I found interesting was that Isabel Nixon was listed first, then her children and then Robert Nixon. The 1850 census doesn't have a section that identifies how an individual is related to the head of the house (or if they are married) like in later years. You would think that he was her husband, but that is an unusual, less than traditional order in which to list their names in a census record if they are married. There were no individuals documented in this group over the age of 20 who could neither read nor write.

Name Age Born Occupation Read/Write
Donahu, Richard 61 Ireland Farmer  
Donahu, Ann 23 Ireland    
Donahu, John 21 Ireland Farmer  
Donahu, Joseph 18 Ireland Farmer  
Donahu, Mary 16 Ireland    
Donahu, Peter 14 Ireland    
Nixon, Robert 39 Ireland Farmer  
Nixon, Isabel 43 Ireland    
Nixon, James 24 Ireland Farmer  
Nixon, John 20 Ireland Laborer  
Nixon, David 18 Ireland Farmer  
Nixon, Jane 16 Ireland    
Nixon, Isabel 14 Ireland    
Nixon, Matilda 12 Ireland    
Nixon, Elizabeth 9 Ireland    
Ryne, John 30 Ireland Farmer  
Ryne, Elizabeth 22 Ireland    
Ryne, Mary 5 Indiana    
Ryne, Elizabeth Ann Marie 10 mos Indiana