Originally Toby Township included the southern half of the current Clarion County and a considerable portion of northern Armstrong County. The original boundaries were the Allegheny River to the west, the Clarion River to the north, Mahoning Creek to the south, and the current border with Jefferson County to the east. This vast tract of land included all or part of 14 current townships in Clarion and Armstrong County, namely, Redbank, Porter, Limestone, Clarion, Millcreek, Monroe, Madison, Toby, Perry, Piney, and Licking (southern half only) in Clarion County and Madison, Mahoning (except portion south of Mahoning Creek) and Redbank in Armstrong County.
By 1805 the population in this area had increased, and Toby Township
was divided by a line running north-south. The portion to the east
became Redbank Township, while the portion to the west kept the old name
of Toby Township. While the line separating these two townships was disappeared
in Armstrong County when Madison was later created from both Toby and Redbank,
the old boundary can still be observed in Clarion County in the form of
boundary line running north from the Red Bank Creek with Madison, Toby
and Piney Townships to the west and Porter and Monroe Townships to the
east. Land to the west of this line was Toby Township in 1810, while the
land to the east was Redbank Township. As a result, the inhabitants
listed in the 1810 Toby Township census below were living in what is now
one of the following six townships:
1) Madison
Twp., Armstrong Co. (only the western portion)
2) Madison
Twp., Clarion Co.
3) Toby
Twp., Clarion Co.
4) Perry
Twp., Clarion Co.
5) Licking
Twp., Clarion Co. (only portion south of Clarion River)
6) Piney
Twp., Clarion Co. (except northeastern corner)
Spelling was very erratic during this period, and researchers should always be alert to the possibility of spelling variations. I have attempted to transcribe the records exactly as they were written, even when I know that other spelling variants eventually became the standard spelling. Accordingly, Mony has NOT been changed to Mohney, Dobespeck has NOT been changed to Daubenspeck or Doverspike, McCawl has NOT been changed to McCall, etc. Please do not write and tell me that I misspelled your ancestor's name unless you've checked the census first.
Although I have carefully attempted to exactly transcribe this census,
be aware that errors are possible with any transcription and that wise
genealogists always check the sources personally.