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Archiver > TNDICKSO > 1999-08 > 0933499005


From: <>
Subject: [TNDICKSO-L] Railroad census
Date: Sun, 1 Aug 1999 05:16:45 EDT


Sue,

I am not sure the exact dates when the railroad was being built in Dickson
county, but seem to remember it running near the Cumberland river at the
north end of the county several years prior to the Civil War.

If the census pages you are speaking of are the last pages of the census,
sort of like they were tacked on after the rest of the census, it is very
likely that this is what is called a "railroad census".

This was a census taken of workers passing through the area while building
the railroad. Remember, the census was taken of all people living in an area
on the date of the census, not necessarily permanent residents. This is why
students of a school were listed all under one roof, rather than being
enumerated at the home of their parents. (Although, sometimes the students
were counted twice).

If you check the history of Houston county at the following URL,
http://www.rootsweb.com/~tnhousto/, you will find that the Memphis,
Clarksville, and Louisville RR was chartered in this area in 1852, with the
last link being the bridge over the Tennessee river at Danville, which was
completed on April 10, 1861.

Railroad workers were certainly needed for this project, so a census taken in
1860 would surely include these people.

I hope this has helped you some.

Sincerely,

Stan Magnesen


From: James N Airhart

To: <>
Date: Saturday, July 31, 1999 3:36 PM
Subject: Re: [TNDICKSO-L] Need LOOKUPS?

>Cher,
>I'm not sure info on what i am asking is available, but will give it a
try<G> While transcribing some of the 1860 Dickson Co census today, I came
across two whole census pages of
>families who were all born in Ireland.......names like Patrick, Bridget,
etc. All the men and older boys were 'Day Laborers', none owned property,
all were born in Ireland. Would
>these folks have been brought over to work in some of the many iron
furnaces in the county?? The county in 1860 is not divided up into
districts, so have no idea what section they
>were in. Does someone know the answer to my query??? Some of the
surnames were: Higgins, Ward, Malory, Burk, Murry, Hollen, Herd, Givens,
Martin, McDonnel--using the enumerator's
>spellings.
>
>Thanks,
>

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