05 May 2009

Great, Great, Great-Grandpa Benjamin Lincecum Twice Enumerated

I started out today with intent to gather some information about Hickory Ridge, Missouri. I know that my 3rd great-grandfather down to my grandfather lived in the area. I casually went to verify a township for Hickory Ridge in the 1860 US Federal census, where I know my 3rd great-grandpa Benjamin Lincecum was.

The page where I knew grandpa Benjamin to be did not have a township listed, or a post office, for that matter on the image. It was listed in Hubble Township by Ancestry.com. However, The census taker wrote "Hubble Township" part-way down the page (#21), in between family 150 and family 151. I took this to mean Hubble township started with family 151. My grandpa Benjamin was head of family 149.

In re-tracing some steps maybe taken by the enumerator (Mr. George H. Shell, by the way), I found the following:

- Liberty Township was enumerated beginning 1 June 1860 with 80+ families.
- Welch Township was enumerated 6-8 June 1860 and ended with the 144th family.
- Hubble Township was enumerated beginning 8 June 1860 and started with family 151.

Since grandpa Benjamin was family 149, he was actually in Welch township, Hickory Ridge post office, though Ancestry had his entry's image listed in Hubble township. [There's a lesson there!]

None of this is really a big deal, I guess, except I found another entry for Grandpa Benjamin and family on the last page listed as Welch Township (page #20). Very strange. Since I am quite bad about relying on indexes (I only browse when I have to), I had not seen this entry.

I know it is not uncommon for individuals to be counted twice in the census. I've seen this happen many times. What is a little odd in this instance, is that grandpa's family was counted twice on the same day, with only a small number of families in between the two enumerations. Once was as family 144, and the second as family 149. Didn't grandpa ask the dude why he was back so soon?

The entries are not exactly the same, of course, but they are close. The first entry has Benjamin Lincicum the neighbor of the Kinion family. Understandable since Benjamin's wife was a Kenyon. The second entry has Benjamin Lincecum the neighbor of a Gibbs family. Benjamin's future daughter-in-law would be a Gibbs:

Welch Township
Cape Girardeau County, Missouri
8 June 1860
P.O. Hickory Ridge

Page 20
Family 144 (line 37)
LINCICUM, Benj - 35 - m - Farmer - $150 personal estate - birthplace blank [Missouri] - cannot read or write
LINCICUM, Elizabeth - 25 - f - birthplace blank [Missouri] - cannot read or write
LINCICUM, Mary - 6 - f - birthplace blank [Missouri]
LINCICUM, Frances M. - 3 - m - birthplace blank [Missouri]

Page 21
Family 149 (line 16)
LINCECUM, Benj - 30 - m - Farmer - $100 real estate - $150 personal estate - birthplace blank [Missouri] - cannot read or write
LINCECUM, Nancy E. - 28 - f - birthplace blank [Missouri] - cannot read or write
LINCECUM, Mary - 7 - f - birthplace blank [Missouri]
LINCECUM, Francis - 4 - m - birthplace blank [Missouri]
VANGILDER, Nancy [+child]
PATTERSON, John [+children]
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