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Archiver > IOWA > 2001-03 > 0983769333


From: Jerry And Sandy Childs <>
Subject: Re: [IOWA] Re: 1870 Census, working at 14
Date: Sun, 04 Mar 2001 21:15:33 -0800
References: <000201c0a51b$668583e0$d209b1cf@lawver>


Clara: I agree with your findings about older children working on other
farms in the area for pay. My great-great grandparents had 9 children. In
the census I knew their names and that their oldest daughter (my
great=grandmother) had been living there and later married there. But in
this particular ceneus, the first three were missing. I got a copy of the
complete census and looked at several pages before and after the sheet where
the main family was listed. I found my great grandmother as a young woman
serving as a Servant on a neighboring farm and her two older brothers
counted as farmhands on other farms in the area - each on separate farms.
This was in 1860-70 time period. Also remember that Iowa counties are small
and that they could very well be working on farms in nearby counties because
it would be just a short distance from their home farm. Sandy Childs in
soggy Calif.

----- Original Message -----
From: D L Truck Sales <>
To: <>
Sent: Saturday, March 03, 2001 9:30 PM
Subject: [IOWA] Re: 1870 Census, working at 14


> I must have missed the initial post re: girls getting married at 14.
However, I do have a couple of comments to add.
> In the 1870 time period, the U.S. was still recovering from the Civil
War, which created economic havoc in many states. Our nation did not have
the "Social Services" in place then, that we do now, and there were no 'fast
food places' for the teens to earn a bit of money. Also, I have found
instances where there were no young daughters in the family to 'help out' -
so many times, neighbor girls, or neices or cousins, would be living with
the family if the mother was ill, had a new baby, or not able to keep up
with normal household duties.
> I found one of my g-grandmothers listed as a "domestic servant" to
a family in Belle Plaine, IA on the 1870 census, age 15. Her own mother had
died in 1864, my g-g-grandfather had remarried, and apparently there was
some friction (family feuding?)..
> Young boys are sometimes listed as apprentices, but more often as
'farm laborer', or just laborer.
> In 1870, Iowa was still in various stages of settlement, and then -
as now, many hands made the work lighter.
>
> Clara -in Nebraska
>
>
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