Today we’re looking at the 1840 United States Census for District 653, Carroll County, Georgia, enumerated by William L. Parr on 13 October 1840.

Carroll County, 653rd District

This census recorded by name only the head of each household. Any other family members were simply counted by age group. Jesse M. Scott was enumerated as Jeſse M Scott, using that archaic long-s where the double-s appeared in his first name.

Jeſse M Scott

The census recorded the following numbers for Jesse’s family:

  • Males under 5: 1
  • Males 5 and under 10: 2
  • Males 30 and under 40: 1
  • Females under 5: 1
  • Females 20 and under 30: 1

Next, by cross-referencing against available records of Jesse’s family, we come up with the following possibilities:

Males under 5: Son John Henry Scott, about nine months old here. John was born in Carroll County.

Males 5 and under 10: Sons Willis Lee Scott, about five years old, and William Thomas Scott, about six years old. Both were born in North Carolina, possibly Caswell County, as that’s where Jesse was married seven years earlier.

Males 30 and under 40: Head of household Jesse M. Scott, about 30 years old, born in North Carolina.

Females under 5: Daughter M. J. Scott, about two years old here. She appears on only one other record, the 1850 census for Benton County, Alabama, where her state of birth was given as North Carolina. We now have two records that reference M. J.

It would seem Jesse moved from North Carolina to Georgia between M. J. and John’s births, placing the move sometime around 1839.

Females 20 and under 30: Jesse’s wife Senia. I can’t narrow down her age. Her age recorded on other census records suggest a birth year of 1810, 1812, 1813, or 1814. I can only say with confidence, yes, she was between 20 to 30 years old here. Closer to 30, though. Senia was born in North Carolina.

Bibliography

Ancestry.com, 1840 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010), Ancestry.com, Year: 1840; Census Place: District 653, Carroll, Georgia; Roll: 38; Family History Library Film: 0007042. Record for Jepe M Scott. https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=8057&h=1663947&indiv=try.

Smith, Wally. “Carroll County Georgia 1840 Census.” USGENWEB archives – census wills deeds genealogy. Accessed September 29, 2021. http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/carroll/census/1840/1840indx.txt.