Benson Documents, Articles, Memorabelia, etc.
Marriage Certificates, Death Certificates, Obituaries, Censuses and more.
Included here are some Census and WWI Draft Registration Cards documenting some of my ancestors. The Census documents are large files at high resolution to make them easier to read, so they may take a little more
time to load. The data in these documents was recorded by hand, and due to that human factor
and the fact that some are just poor copies, you may have difficulty reading some of them. I've included here links to blank census forms and a Draft Registration
card so that you can read the column and row headers for the data entered. These blank Census and Draft Registration documents are in Adobe Acrobat Reader ".pdf" format and require Acrobat Reader to open them.
If you do not have Reader, go to adobe.com to download and install it for free.
Blank Forms
The United States was the first country to call for a regularly held census. The Constitution required that a census of all
"Persons...excluding Indians not taxed" be performed to determine the collection of taxes and the appropriation of seats in the
House of Representatives. The first nine censuses from 1790 to 1870 were organized under the United States Federal Court system.
Each district was assigned a U.S. marshal who hired other marshals to administer the census. Governors were responsible for enumeration
in territories. By the 1900 Census, there were a total of forty-five states in the Union, with Utah being the latest addition and Alaska, Arizona,
Hawaii, New Mexico, and Oklahoma enumerated as territories. The 1930 Census was the last census released to the public.
Benson
Censuses
- 1850 Census documenting Levi Benson and his family. Levi was my G-G-G-Grandfather on my Dad's Mother's side. Levi and his family lived in Bladen County in 1850. Levi's wife, Mary, is not listed with him.
His eldest son, William H. Benson is not listed either, but he would be about 18 years old, so he probably was off starting a family of his own.
- 1860 Census recording Levi Benson and his family. Levi was still living in Bladen County in 1860. G-G-Grandfather Levi Street was recorded as being seventeen years old and a student.
- 1860 Slave Schedule recording Levi Benson as the owner of three slaves. It appears that the three slaves were a family, recording the Father, wife and a eight year old son.
- 1870 Census documenting Alonzo Walker. Alonzo was my G-G-Grandfather, being the Father of the Mother (Marie Pearl Walker) of my Grandmother (Bessie Littleton (Benson) Stewart). Alonzo was 23 in 1870 and is recorded to be a laborer. He was still living with this Mother and siblings in Bladen County. His Father was not listed, and it is probable that he has died,
or perhaps he went off to war during the Civil War, and never made it back home. It's interresting to note that two families of Barnhills are neighbors. Alonzo married an Ellen Barnhill. As was common back then, one didn't stray far from home, and relationships were often made with neighbors, especially in farming communities.
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Douglas Keith Stewart
P.O. Box 757, Pinebluff, NC 28373
Phone:910-281-4750
E-Mail: wireman@pinehurst.net or:
E-Mail: wireman48@gmail.com
Last Updated: 11/10/2004
