Census Records from the William B. Bogardus Collection

Here is a small group of files taken from the William B. Bogardus Collection, (WBC) and scanned to PDF files. Census records are of course a valuable source of information on families from the past. Fortunately, today we can easily access images of the original census sheets online through various websites, primarily at Ancestry.com, which in addition to all of the U. S. Federal census records (available) from 1790 to 1940, has many individual State census records, Canadian census records and census records from a variety of other countries. Most of us, through both careful and creative use of the search engines provided, should be able to find any person who was living at the time a particular census was taken. I have chosen seven files out of those categorized as "Census" in the WBC to make available.

Revolutionary Census of New Jersey. The file is of three pages taken from Kenn Stryker-Rodda, Revolutionary Census of New Jersey: An Index Based on Rateables, of the Inhabitants of New Jersey During the Period of the American Revolution (1986). The three pages are the Preface, the Code to Townships, and page 174 which contains those named BREWER. There is not much that can be done with this list except to use it as a source of names with some direction on where to look next. Unfortunately, all of the pages with the Codes to Townships were not copied, and some of the BREWERS found on page 174 have codes for which we do not have the corresponding page. Ancestry.com does have a database titled, "All New Jersey, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1643-1890," which brings up 723 results when searching with the surname BREWER. I am, in particular, interested in the Mathias Brewer and Mathias Brewer, Jr. who in Kenn Stryker-Rodda's index (with the town code HL) but who are not found searching with the same name on Ancestry.

1855 Census - Town of Greene, Chenango Co., NY. The photocopied page is from the Orange County Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 8, no. 4 (February 1979). There is only one BREWER here, that being Ira Brewer who was born 21 May 1809 in Tyringham, Massachusetts and is found both on the BGD and on the New England Brewer Database website. Ancestry.com does not have the 1855 New York State census, however, Family Search does, and Ira Brewer can be found with a search there. I thought this file might be of interest to others simply because there is just a lot of stuff packed on to this one photocopied page. Included are a BERTOLF Bible record, a HOYT Family Record, and some New Jersey Marriage Licenses (apparently pertaining to names of persons also found in Orange County, New York). Perhaps someone will find something of use in this file.

1810 Dutchess County, New York, Federal Census Extracts. Here is a handwritten page of BREWERs and BROWERs found in Dutchess County, New York in 1810, compiled by a correspondent of William B. Bogardus. Of course nowadays we can quickly find these heads of households with an easy search at Ancestry.com, and if nothing else, this file is simply a reminder of days gone by when we had to sit in front of a microfilm viewer, scroll through reels of film, and write down everything by hand. And maybe it will help some who do not have an Ancestry.com subscription.

Hillsborough Township "Census" of 1784. The photocopied pages are from the Somerset County Genealogical Quarterly, vol. 2, no. 2 (June 1984), pages 101-102. We have here a nice introduction telling us just what this list is, and is followed by the first page of names on which is only one BREWER, that being a Peter Brewer. Unfortunately, we only have this one page, and (even more) unfortunately, the editor of the SQGQ decided to arrange the list alphabetically, rather than by order of appearance on the original tables. They did, however, provide a number for each name which would allow the original list to be reconstructed in the order in which the names originally appeared. It might be helpful to know just who the immediate neighbors of this Peter Brewer (no. 319) were.

1890 New York Census Index of Civil War Veterans or Their Widows. The photocopied pages are from a 1984 book by Bryan Lee Dilts of the same title. Most of us know that the 1890 U. S. Federal census for almost all states, including New York, does not survive and cannot be consulted. Fortunately, New York State did have a census in 1892, and Ancestry.com has included it in a database called "New York State Censuses, 1880, 1892, 1905." Family Search, which is free, also has the 1892 New York State census. This file might compliment those online sources and includes a good number of BREWERs and BROWERs with the city or town, and counties where they lived.

State Census of Oakland Co., Michigan for the year 1845. Michigan was admitted as a state into the union in 1837, so this may be the earliest census taken there. Neither Ancestry.com or Family Search has databases for this census. There are no images in this file, it is simply notes regarding two BREWERs, namely, Peter Brewer of Addison Twp., and Phillip Brewer of White Lake Twp. I am not certain how to decipher the numbers that follow each of the names. The Philip Brewer found here was born 17 January 1799 at Oneonta, New York, and is a son of John Brewer and Mary Hays. He died in 1847. He is a descendant of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, and can be found on the BGD. I am not certain who the Peter Brewer is. [See the follow-up of September 9, 2013].

Quaker Census of 1828. The notes are from Members of the New York Yearly Meeting, The Religious Society of Friends (In New York, Ontario, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Quebec), at the Time of the Seperation of 1828, by Loren V. Fay (Rhinebeck, NY: Kinship Press, 1989). The Philip and Elizabeth Brewer found here at the Adolphus Leeds Monthly Meeting in Lennox Co., Ontario, Canada (then known as Upper Canada), are Philip Brewer, born about 1798, a son of Aaron Robbins Brewer and Elizabeth Cooper, and his wife, Elizabeth King. This Philip Brewer is a descendant of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, and is found on the BGD. There is a Wikipedia entry, Society of Friends (Upper Canada) that might give those interested in finding out more about this Quaker "Seperation of 1828."

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