Joel Barnes & the 1850 Census

Census Sunday
Roberts-Barnes
By Don Taylor

I know very little about my 3rd great-grandfather, Joel Barnes. He may have been born 1bout 1790 in Broome County, New York. He married Lucy Wilson Taft and they had at least one child, Nelson, born in 1816. I have no idea about any other children nor any death information.

In 1850, I would expect Joel to be about 60 years old.

Search Results

Using Family Searcy, my search for Joel Barnes in the 1850 Census yielded 13 results.

    • Joel Barnes, Born 1846 in Georgia – Too young.
    • Joel Barnes, born 1845 in Indiana – Too young.
    • Joel Barnes, Born 1839 in Kentucky – Too young.
    • Joel Barnes, born 1836 – Too young.
    • Joel Barnes, Born 1830 in South Carolina – Too Young
    • Joel Barnes, Born 1829 in South Carolina – Too Young
    • Joel Barnes, born 1827 in North Carolina – Too young.
    • Joel Barnes, born 1816 in North Carolina – Too young.
    • Joel Barnes, Born 1824 in Kentucky- Too young.
    • Joel Barnes, Born 1810 in Pennsylvania – Too young.
    • Joel Barnes, born 1795 in Vermont – Possible
    • Joel Barnes, Born 1790 in Tennessee. Possible.
    • Joel Barnes, Born 1782 in Massachusetts. Possible.

That left 3 possible Barnes’ listed by birthyear.

    • 1795 – Living in Corinth, Orange County, Vermont. Has an apparent wife, Ruth, and an implied mother living with him.  No Lucy; unlikely my Joel Barnes.
    • 1790 – Living in South Nashville, Davidson, Tennessee. He has an apparent daughter in law and two grandchildren living with him.  No Lucy; unlikely my Joel Barnes.
    • 1782 – Living in Thompson, Windham, Connecticut. He has an apparent wife, Mary Barnes and an apparent daughter, Eliza; unlikely my Joel Barnes.

None of these entries are consistent with expectations, so I believe that either Joel died before 1850 or was enumerated differently.

Future Action

Look at potential Joel Barnes’ in the 1840 Census.

This entry was posted in Barnes, Census Sunday, Roberts. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.