Federal Census Manuscripts - Carter

Transcribed, digitized census manuscripts available on ancestry.com proved the most valuable sources of information for these life stories.

The limitations of census manuscripts are well known:

Prior to 1850, federal census-takers only recorded the names of the heads of households. The only information recorded about wives and children, regardless of their age, was their birth state, age, gender, and race.
The only information recorded about enslaved people in federal census manuscripts was age, gender, name of owner, and whether person was black or “mulatto.”
Quality of the transcriptions is uneven. 19th-century census manuscripts are in the handwriting of the census taker. The digitized microfilm can be blurry in spots. Transcribing has generally been the work of volunteers.
Census place names changed from one census to the next.
The entire 1890 census was destroyed by fire.

Thomas Nelson was born in 1777, so he could have a head of a household as early as the 1800 census, but there is no listing for anyone named Thomas Nelson. Searches for Thomas Nelson’s father Joseph Nelson did not find anyone with that name with a residence in Fauquier County.

It is possible that the individual living in Fauquier County recorded as Thomas Nilson in the 1810 census is in fact the Thomas Nelson buried in the Cater-Nelson Cemetery, although the man and his wife are both over 45 years old. This would be too old for the Thomas Nelson in the Carter-Nelson Cemetery.

The first census in which a person living in Fauquier County named Thomas Nelson appears is the 1820 census. Thomas Nelson would have been in his early forties in 1820, so this could be a match. It recorded the following household members:

a white male under 10
two white males between 10 and 15
a white man between 15 and 25
a white man between 26 and 44
three white females under 10
a white female between 10 and 15
a white female between 26 and 44
two enslaved males under 2
an enslaved male between 14 and 24
two enslaved females under 24
1 enslaved female between 14 and 24

The 1830 census a man named Thomas Nelson heading a household with the individuals listed below. The location is merely listed as Fauquier County. Listed immediately below him is a household headed by William Green, which is the same name as his father in law. So it is likely that this Thomas Nelson is the same Thomas Nelson buried in the cemetery.

The individuals in his household were as follows:

a white male in his late teens
a white male in his fifties
a white female between five and ten years old
two white females in their early teens
a white female in her forties
two enslaved male children less than ten years old
three enslaved males between ten and twenty five.
an enslaved man between 36 and 55
an enslaved female under ten
two enslaved females between ten and twenty five

The 1840 census lists a man named Thomas W. Nelson in the location recorded as Leeds, in Fauquier County. The age for the oldest man in this house is 20, so it does not match our Thomas Nelson.

The 1840 census does not list a head of household with the name of William Walden Carter, who would have been 25 and married by 1840.

1850 census

In the 1850s census, the area where the Carter and Nelson family lived was described as “Ashbys.”

We can be confident that the entry on the Thomas Nelson, age 71, in the 1850 census is the Thomas Nelson buried in the Carter-Nelson Cemetery. The only person living in the household at that time was Thomas himself, but listed in a household very near to Thomas Nelson is the home of his daughter Martha Carter. The people in that household consisted of the following:

William Walden Carter, age 35, a farmer, with no personal property or land ownership.
Martha E. age 31
George, age 11
Alice, age 6
Thomas W., age 3

Listed near William Walden Carter was a family headed by Doct. Samuel Blight, whose occupation, in spite of his name, was listed as farmer. Also listed in that household was Georgiana Blight, age 28 and mother of three. William Walden Carter bought land from her in 1855.

The 1850 census recorded the family of Thomas Nelson’s daughter Catharine O Whitescarver, living in Ashbys, as follows:

Francis C. Whitescarver, 80,
George H. Whitescarver, 44, farmer with real estate valued at $2200
Catharine O Whitescarver, 44
Martha L. Latham, 18
George H. Whitescarver, 12
Matilda Whitescarver, 9

The 1850 Federal Census – Slave Schedules listed Thomas Nelson’s son James R. Nelson in Rappahannock as the owner of the following enslaved individuals:

male, age 40
two females, age 35
female, age 16
male, age 15
male, age four
female, age six months

1860 census

James R. Nelson, Thomas Nelson’s son, is listed in the 1860 census as living in the Rappahannock County of Amissville, with real estate valued at almost $70,000 and personal estate at $9580. His family members were listed as follows:

James R. Nelson, age 51
Mary C. Nelson, age 45
Bettie G. Nelson, age 16
Senna J. Nelson, age 14
William R. Nelson, age 7

The 1860 census listed the following members of William Walden Carter’s household, which described the area now as “Southwest Revenue District” and gave the post office of Waterloo:

Wm W Carter, a farmer, age 45, with real estate valued at $9040 and personal estate at $30,278, with the note that this amount was “mostly as trustee”)
Martha E Carter, house keeper, age 41
George H Carter, a farm worker, age 21
Betty Carter, age 18
Alice W Carter, age 16
Thomas W Carter, age 13
Wm W Carter, age 9
James R Carter, age 5

The 1860 Slave Schedule Census recorded that William W Carter enslaved the following individuals:

one male, age 27
one female, age 30, who was listed as “Fugitive from the State”
one male, age 19
one female, age 19
one female, age 20
one female, age 10
one female, age 8
one male, age 2

The 1860 census mortality schedule recorded the death of Thomas Nelson’s daughter Catherine O’Bannon Whitescarver, age 54, in November 1860. Cause of death was pneumonia.

The 1870 census manuscript described the area where the Carter family lived as “First Revenue District” and lists the post office as Warrenton.

It listed the following individuals:

William W Carter, farmer, age 50, with $8000 in real estate and $900 in personal property
Martha E Carter, age 45, keeping house
George H Carter, age 30
Alice N Carter, age 25
William W Carter, age 19
James R Carter, page 15
Mary B Carter, age 28
Annie Carter, age 2
Alice Brown, age 22, black, domestic servant
Lewis Brown, age 20, black, laborer
G gen Granison, 13, black
Eddie Brown, 3, black

The 1870 census also listed the home of William Walden Carter’s daughter, now named Bettie J Withers. Her household, which was in the same district as her father, included the following:

Melvin S Withers, farmer, with $2250 in real estate and $2150 in personal property.
Bettie J Withers, keeping house, age 28
William H Withers, age 3
Mattie F Withers, age 1
Thos W. Carter, age 23
Georgeanna Poler, domestic servant, age 14. Black.

The 1880 census described the area as “Center” and listed the following members of William Walden Carter’s home:

W.W. Carter, farmer, age 65
W.W. Carter, farmer, age 29
James R. Carter, farmer, age 25

The 1880 census also listed the family of William Walden Carter’s daughter Alice Withers as living in the same “Center” district:

Samuel Withers, farmer, age 35
Alice Withers, keeping house, age 35
William Withers, at school, age 13
Mattie Withers, at home, age 11
Alice Withers, age 9
Shelton Withers, age 6
Betty Withers, age 2

The 1880 census listed the family of William Walden Carter’s son George as living in Marshall, in Fauquier County. The household members were listed as follows:

Geo. H. Carter, farmer age 39
Eliza J. Carter, house keeper, age 30
Anna M Carter, age 11
L.B. Carter, age 9
Geo H. Carter, age 7
J.B. Carter, age 8 months

The 1890 census manuscripts were destroyed in a fire.

The 1900 census manuscripts lists the members of William Walden Carter’s household, in the Center district, as follows:

James R Carter, farmer, married 13 years, at 44
Anna R Carter. age 35
Alice Carter, age 12
Frank Carter, age 11, at school
Martha Carter, age 8, at school
James Carter, age 5
Clarence Carter, age 3
William Carter, age 85

The 1900 census manuscript also lists the members of George Hugh Carter’s family (living in the Center district) as follows;

George Carter, farmer, age 58, renting home, married 20 years
Eliza G Carter, wife, age 50
Bessie Carter, daughter, age 20
Harvey Carter, son, farm laborer, age 18
Virginia Carter, daughter, age 16
Loid Carter, son, age 13
Howard Carter, son, age 12
Cora Carter, daughter, age 10
Nelson Carter, son, age 8

Thomas Carter and family was living in Orange County in 1900. The household members were listed as follows:

Thomas W. Carter, age 53, farmer, owned mortgaged home
Bettie B. Carter, age 43
Lucile Carter, age 16
Manlie Carter, age 15
Ruth Carter, age 12
Roy Carter, age 10

The 1900 Census listed the family of William Walden Carter, Jr.’s family (living in Center district) as follows:

William Carter, age 49, Farmer, Owned house, not mortgaged
Anna Carter, age 35
Marie Carter, age 5
Yates Carter, age 1
Shirley Lawson, age 14, black, servant