The Confusing 1850 Census of Navarro District, Texas
Nancy Timmons Samuels
[The 1850 census of Ellis County is confusing because some
residents of other counties are shown. Nancy Timmons Samuels has provided
a clear explanation in the following article.
Originally published in Footprints, (quarterly of the Fort Worth
Genealogical Society, August 1997) it is reprinted on the Ellis County
TXGenWeb website with permission of the author.]
Ellis and Tarrant Counties were created from Navarro
County in December 1849, barely in time to have their own 1850 censuses taken.
I have never seen an adequate explanation about their situation in any published
version of their censuses. The confounding "notes" on microfilm rolls merely
obfuscate, and copiers have mainly ignored them.
This mish-mash, together with the fact that Mr.
Hogan began each page anew with dwelling-family numbers [1-1], making
it impossible to follow his sequence of enumeration by the progression of
such numbers, has caused confusion to those unfamiliar with the residents
of the counties. Further confusion is caused by the fact that these censuses
are not in proper page sequence of enumeration. Mr. Hogan numbered most of
his pages, but, in some instances, his page numbers are missing (or were
not filmed).
The only way Mr. Hogan's progress can be determined is by the date
of enumeration at the top of each census page. He enumerated present
Navarro County from September 16 - October 18. This included the sparsely
settled parts of present Hill County, to Fort Graham on the Brazos, and some
of present Johnson County, both counties not yet created and still part of
original Navarro.
On 21 October, Mr. Hogan began his enumeration of "Navarro District, Ellis
County." This included present Ellis County, plus a northeast triangular
area of yet to be created Johnson County (said area remained part of Ellis
County until 1871). He finished Ellis County on 30 October 1850 and entered
sparsely settled Tarrant County. Obviously, he did not know where he was
at all times, which explains his haphazard page headings. Fort Worth was
just a recent reality, its first soldiers stationed there. Mr. Hogan rambled
around the county, backtracking, finding pockets of settlers here and there
- all in the eastern half of the county - and in the process, enumerated
at least one Denton County family, several Dallas County families, and a
few more Ellis-Johnson County families, before returning to his home in northeast
Navarro County.
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