Roberts-Barnes-Taft
Census Sunday
By Don Taylor
Following families in the early census records is always tricky. Finding children in pre-1850 Census records is particularly challenging. Such is the case of Joel Cruff Taft and the 1810 Census.
Expectations
Joel Cruff Taft was born 25 December 1800 the fourth child of Asa Taft (1774-1839)
I would expect the Asa Taft household of 1810 to include 9 year-old Joel, his two sisters, Lurancy (age 14) and Amanda (age 11), and three brothers, Asa (age 15), Seth (age 7), and John (age 5). Asa should be about 36 and his wife was 36 also. Joel and his younger siblings were born in New York, so Asa should be found in New York during the 1810 Census.
So, I would expect a household looking like: 3-1-0-1-0 || 0-1-0-1-0. There may be others in the household
An initial search for Asa Taft in the 1810 Census was unsuccessful.
A search for any Taft in New York during the 1810 Census yielded 11 results. None of the results were located in Broome County (established in 1807) or Tioga County that Broome County was split off from. A review of the enumerated Tafts failed to yield a viable candidate to be Asa.
| Name | Location | Family | Comment |
| Robert Taft | Bloomfield, Ontario Co. | 0-2-2-0-1|1-0-2-0-1 | No males under 10 |
| Dane Taft | Otsego Co. | 3-1-1-1-1|1-2-1-0-0 | No females 26-45 |
| D Saft [Taft] | Otsego Co. | 4-0-2-1-0|1-2-1-1-0 | No males 10-16 |
| Pitts Taft | Palmyra, Ontario Co. | 0-0-1-0-0|0-0-1-0-0 | No children |
| Matthew Taft | Hartford, Washington Co. | 2-1-1-1-1|4-0-0-1-1 | Not enough males under 10. |
| Josiah Taft | Bloomfield, Ontario Co. | 2-0-1-1-0|1-0-0-1-0 | Not enough males under 10. |
| Jesse Taft | Bloomfield, Ontario Co. | 1-0-0-1-0|0-0-1-0-0 | Not enough males under 10. |
| Eleazer Taft | Johnstown, Montgomery Co. | 0-1-2-0-1|0-1-1-0-1 | Not enough males under 10. |
| Grindall Taft | Pittstown, Rensselaer Co. | 0-1-0-1-1|0-2-1-0-1 | Not enough males under 10. |
| S Taft | Middlefield, Otsego Co. | 1-1-0-1-1 | 0-1-0-1-1 | Not enough males under 10. |
| Widow Toft | New York, New York Co. | 0-0-2-1-0|0-1-2-0-1 | Not enough males under 10. |
It seems clear to me that Asa Taft doesn’t appear in New York during the 1810 Census, nor does it appear that he is living with any of his Taft family members in Berkshire County, Massachusetts.
| Name | Location | Family |
| Lovet Taft (Sr.) | Sheffield, Berkshire Co. | 1-2-2-0-1|2-1-1-0-2 |
| Daniel Taft | Sheffield, Berkshire Co. | 1-0-0-1-0|1-1-0-1-0 |
| Lovett Taft (Jr.) | Sheffield, Berkshire Co. | 2-?-3-0-0|0-0-1-0-0 |
I am going to cease my search for Asa & Joel in the 1810 Census for now. Also, Joel was born after the 1800 Census, so I wouldn’t find him there.
