Roster of Names

The 1850 Census of Upson County has been recognized as being incomplete since there are many omissions that have been documented by many Genealogisits. The omissions were first observed in the Flint District-Military District #537 and believed to be minimal, no more than the inevitable errors that occur with all Census Records.

After working with the 1850 census it was soon established by D.B. Dickens and others of Thomaston that the errors were more than the usual accepted amount and that an effort would be made to identify the errors.

The official film from the National AArchives of the 1850 census, Call # 901 Micro Copy # M-432, Roll # 85 which list Upson and Walker Counties was observed for errors or omissions. None were found.

During a visit to the National Archives in Washington, D.C. the original Census was made available and observed. All of the pages of the original Census were Microfilmed exactly as recorded. The pages of the original Census were numbered in sequence and all accounted for. This was evidence that none of the Census was lost or not microfilmed and that the errors were not with the transcription or copies of the Census.

A thorough investigation as to how the 1850 Census was taken was attempted. The limited resources available, approximately 150 years later makes this task difficult. The 1850 Census was the 7th Census of the United States and the 3rd of Upson Co. It was the first to list each person in each family or household.

The Census was taken by Charles E. Moore, a 21 year old and listed as an overseer living with Risdon Moore, Head of Household. Since the 1850 Census was not taken by MILITIA DISTRICTS, where he lived can not be assured, only that his family and dwelling was #580 in order of visitation, in all probability near Moore's Crossing.

It was first thought that the itinerary of the Census Taker could be reconstructed there by assisting in revealing some of the errors, since no maps of Upson County exist from 1850 and the fact that the Militia Districs are not identified, the exact physical location where he stared can only be identified as the dwelling of Mary S. Raines. When he started on Monday, the 26th of August 1850, he visited 21 other families and took their census that same day.

The 2nd day, 27th of August 1850, he started with family and dwelling #23, William Ross. The only discrepancy observed in the microfilm of the census is that page#572 which is family #23 was filmed twice.

Charles E. Moore, the census taker, visited a total of 795 dwellings in which he listed 795 families on the Census in 38 consecutive working days, for an average of 21 families per day. He finished the Census on Tuesday, Oct 15, 1850 with the recording of Grantham Rose, #795. The order of visitation is exactly as recorded in "The Early History of Upson County" by Hannah and Nottingham. It was noted on other reels of various counties that the Militia District was seldom used or noted, only the Division or apparent Congressional Districts.

As a matter of explanation the format of the 1850 census is included so that it can be better understood.

First, the 1850 census is in two parts or 2 schedules. The first part is listed as "Schedule I - Free Inhabitants in the District of GA Number 86 in the County of Upson, State of Georgia, Enumerated by me on the 26th day of August 1850 - Charles E. Moore, Ass't Marshall.

The Census has 13 columns as follows:
1-Dwelling House in order of visitation
2-Families Numbered in order of visitation
3-The name of every person whose usual place of abode on the 1st of June
1850 was in this family
4-Age
5-Sex
6-Color  (White, Black, 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 , country
10-Married WITHIN the year
11-Attended School within the year
12-Persons over 20 yrs of age who cannot read or write
13-Whether Deaf or Dumb, Blind, Insane, Idiotic, Pauper or Convict.

The Second part of the Census was listed as:

Schedule II - Slave Inhabitants in the District of GA # 86 in the County of Upson, State of Georgia, enumerated by me, on the 26th Day of August 1850, Charels E. Moore, Ass't Marshall.

This schedule is completely separate and on a separate Micro Film Reel. It was taken at the same time as Schedule I with the name of the slave owners in the same sequence. It appears that a different person listed the entries on the Slave Census from the Regular Census, since the writing does not match.

The format of the Schedule II Slave Census has 8 columns & is as follows:

1. Name of Slave Owner
2. Number of Slaves
3. Age
4. Sex
5. Color
6. Fugitive from State
7. Number Manumitted
8. Deaf and Dubm, Blind, Insane or Idiotic.

The Slave Schedule has 56 pages with 2 columes of 42 entries.  There are 405 Slave 
Owners with a total of 4704 for an average of 11.6 slaves per owner.

This Schedule II is a part of the original Schedule I so the ommissions of slaves 
will reflect the same as the omissions of families on Schedule I.  The only 
difference observed between the 2 Schedules is that the Slave Census indicates the 
last entry was on Oct 12, 1850, 3 days before Schedule I was finished. on October 
15. It appears the last entries were made from notes because a few names are out 
of order or sequences and some were on Schedule II that were not on Schedule I.

The following is a recapitulation of the 1850 Census, Schedule I and Schedule II:

SCHEDULE I
# of families           795
# of dwellings          795
# of free white         4745
Avg. # person/family    5.9


SCHEDULE II
# of Slave Owners               405
# of Slaves             4704
Avg # slaves/per owner          11.6

1850 Census of Upson County
Total # Free White Persons and Slaves           9449

Free white persons              50.2%
Slaves                  49.8%

TAX DIGEST of Upson County

The Tax Digest indeed did reveal that errors did exist and that the omissions were substantial. It was decided that the Tax laws and Digest would be investigated so that a Revised or Supplemental Census could be made from the compromised information available.

First the Tax Laws of Georgia pertaining to the Tax Digest of 1850 were researched and the following information was found:

1. The amount of taxes a person was to pay (not what he actually paid)
2. The lack of land and slaves and thus no estate to be probated.
3. The age of a person (when he first appears paying poll tax which signifies he is 21 years old 
or is exempt due to old age at 60
4. Ownership of land (would show a deed on record)
5. Land in other counties, when was it sold?

• Each free white male between the age of 21 and 60 paid 1 poll (.25 state adn .193 County) Total =.443
• Each Slave Owner was taxed according to the value of their slaves
• For every $100 vlue of town lots and bldgs the Ga Tax was .31 1/4
• Professional (Lawyers, Doctors, etc) Ga Tax = $4.00
• Carriages (listed as Sulkies and buggies; Rockaways and coaches) Ga Tax 2 wheel .50 4 wheels $1.00 (County tax was in addition)
• Money at Interest was taxed at various rates
• Land was valued in relation to the rivers and water streams and classified in four categories.
  The Tax varied between different tracts. Value of Stock in trade
  

Each free white male, regardless of their financial condition or of their possessions, each property owner whether male or female and each Administrator or Agent of an Estate of a deceased person or of an absent person was required to turn the value of the property into the Tax Receivef for tax purposes.

Each tax payer was usually Head of a family, however, males within the family were also required to be on the Digest provided they were between 21 and 60.

From the 1110 taxpayers of Upson Co. the Total State and County Tax that was due was $5,611.076

The Tax Digest of the various Military Districts as compiled form the 1860 Tax Digest of Upson County including 44 defaulters:

The revised or supplemental census of Upson County for 1850:

The following 395 names are Free White Males over 21 years of age who were found on the Tax Digest of Upson County for the year 1850, and who were not on the 1850 Census.

Of the 395 uncounted taxpayers, 106 were slave owners with 1133 slaves.

Since these 393 taxpayers were missed by the Census Taker, it does not mean there were 395 families missed. Some of these 395 were 21 year old unmarried males living with their family. After observing the Tax Digest as a whole it was decided that approximately 5% of the free white males over 21 were not Heads of Family. This same procedure was used to determine that an average of 5.9 persons were in each household. This formula was used to determine that the total number of persons living in Upson County was 1850 was 12, 1791. Free white persona were estimated to be 6,954 with the estimate of slaves at 5,837. This is approximately 54% white and 46% black.

Another important discrepancy of the 1850 Tax Digest and Census is the big difference found between the number of slaves reported. The Tax Digest only show 4,544 Total Slaves. The Census shows 5,837 which has been shown to be under reportd by 395 taxpayers. This indicated the Taxpayers under reported their slaves to the Tax Receiver by 1,293 Slaves or 28%.

In conclusion it is our opinion that Charles E. Moore was commissioned and appointed Assistant Marshall with the task of taking the 1850 census with only brief orlimited instructions. It appears that if he prepared an itienerary he may not have made provisions for the missed families or that he did not call back when he would invariably miss someone or find no one at home. It appears in other cases that entire sections or roads were omitted. This has been observed especially in the Flint District or #537 Militia District where 62% of the taxpayers were overlooked.

Since Census Takers were paid by the number of families or dwellings they enumerated, it would appear that Charles E. Moore would have listed every home possible. He being a young man of 21 years and listed as an overseer which usually means he supervised slaves and was engaged as a farmer woul dindicate he was working on this census for financial reasons.

The 1860 Census was the first Census in which each person was listed along with their age and other personal information. This was before the Civil War during the time in which the differences between the North and the South were leading to the secession of the South. It is very possible that Charles Moore met a lot of resistance when he asked the questions on the census form which the people may have felt was for the benefit of the government.

The fact he missed 62% of the taxpayers in the Flint District in the western section of the county is evidence that he indeed for some unknown reason purposely missed or overlooked these families.

Other incriminating evidence is that many of the large plantations were not counted. Two of the largest slave holders, one with 121 slaves and another with 91 slaves were listed on the Tax Digest but not on the Census. When analyzing why so many were missed it seems that Charles Moore may have been intimidated by some of these families and purposely omitted them. It certainly seems very unlikely that this many influentian families could have been accidentally overlooked. (to be continued) Upson County Page last updated: Sunday, 24-Feb-2002 18:49:20 MST