More Census Data

I decided to probe a bit further into the Port Tobacco population trends I mentioned yesterday. I went through each surname in the 1860 census (pre-Civil War) to see if the same surname appeared in the 1870 census (post-Civil War). What I found is that only 40% of the surnames appeared in both.

Taking the analysis to th next level, I studied the individuals of these surnames to see if the same people were in Port Tobacco in 1860 and 1870. What I found is thatonly 15 of the over 134 residents of Port Tobacco appear in both the 1860 and 1870 censuses. These people are:

Charles A Edeline/Edelen - a white male who was 3 at the time of the 1860 census
John H Edeline/Edelen - a mulatto male who was 54 in 1860 - a carpenter then a laborer
John Jenkins - a white male, 33 year old cabinetmaker who appears in 1860, 1870, and 1880
Fenita H Jenkins - a white female, 33 who also appears all three years
Sarah E Jenkins - a white female, 9 years old in 1860, also all three years in Port Tobacco
Julius C. Middleton - a 20 year old white male clerk in 1860 and hotel keeper in 1870
Bennett Neal - a 45 year old white physician in 1860
Ann C Neal - a 39 yer old white female
William Neal - a white male, 4 years of age in 1860
Earnest Neal - a white male, 1 year old in 1860
Winfield Scott - a 10 year old white male in 1860 who is listed as a teacher in 1870
James W. Shackelford - a white male, 1 year old in 1860
Francis Toleson/Tollson - a black male, 5 years of age in 1860
William Welch - a 38 year old white male shoemaker in 1860, listed as postmaster and boot/shoemaker in 1870
William Welch (Jr) - a white male, 8 years old in 1860 who becomes a printer by 1880

Of these 15, only 4 appear in all 3 censuses.
John Jenkins
Fenita Jenkins
Sarah Jenkins
William Welch Jr.

So now I am back to the possible post-Civil War exodus of Port Tobacco that was an integral component of my hypothesis. Although the white population of Port Tobacco stayed relatively constant from 1860 to 1880, there was a significant amount of turnover in the town's population.

-April