Census Sunday is a weekly prompt sponsored by Geneabloggers in which family history bloggers are encouraged to talk about how census records help us learn about our ancestors.
Andrew Brunswick was my husband's 3x great-grandfather. He emigrated from Germany to America in 1853 and became a farmer in western Ohio's Auglaize County. Here he is with his family in the 1860 census:
Andrew Brunswick was my husband's 3x great-grandfather. He emigrated from Germany to America in 1853 and became a farmer in western Ohio's Auglaize County. Here he is with his family in the 1860 census:
Andrew Brunswick and Family, 1860 U.S. Census
He is listed with his wife, Philomena, and young daughters, Catherine and Theresia. (The transcription of first names is slightly incorrect as usual :-) A boy by the name of Clements Holdman is also listed, along with a Theresia Brunswick, who is enumerated as a 'domestic.' I am fairly certain that Theresia Brunswick is Andrew's youngest sister, although I have some more research to do regarding her. For the longest time, I had trouble figuring out who the boy was, especially since this particular census form does not list relations between family members. Although I'm sure he did much work on Andrew's farm, he is a little young to be a hired farmhand and he is not listed as a farmhand in the occupation column. Hmmm...
Andrew's wife Philomena had a maiden name of Oldendiek (or Oldendick depending on the source). Earlier this year, I found Andrew and Philomena's wedding record in a book indexing Mercer County marriages. In her marriage record, Philomena's maiden name was listed as 'Holdink,' which is not really that different from Oldendiek phonetically-speaking. I am willing to go out on a limb and say that Clements 'Holdman' is probably Philomena's younger brother. As to why he may be living with his older sister, I don't know. In fact, there is much I do not yet know about this Oldendiek/Oldendick family that I still need to try to research.
Andrew Brunswick is also listed in 1860's agricultural census. I love these 19th century ag census schedules because they give us a sense of what our ancestor really DID on their farms. Here is Andrew listed at the bottom of the images below (click for larger image).
Andrew's wife Philomena had a maiden name of Oldendiek (or Oldendick depending on the source). Earlier this year, I found Andrew and Philomena's wedding record in a book indexing Mercer County marriages. In her marriage record, Philomena's maiden name was listed as 'Holdink,' which is not really that different from Oldendiek phonetically-speaking. I am willing to go out on a limb and say that Clements 'Holdman' is probably Philomena's younger brother. As to why he may be living with his older sister, I don't know. In fact, there is much I do not yet know about this Oldendiek/Oldendick family that I still need to try to research.
Andrew Brunswick is also listed in 1860's agricultural census. I love these 19th century ag census schedules because they give us a sense of what our ancestor really DID on their farms. Here is Andrew listed at the bottom of the images below (click for larger image).
 Andrew Brunswick 1860 Ag Census page 1 |  Andrew Brunswick 1860 Ag Census page 2 |
Andrew had a total of 76 acres of land valued at $1000. The family had five horses, three milking cows, five general cattle, four sheep, and twelve pigs as livestock, which had a value of $300. Over the past year, his farm had produced 150 bushels of wheat, twelve bushels of rye, a hundred bushels each of Indian corn and oats, and forty bushels of barley. Their sheep had yielded ten pounds of wool, and the milk cows helped them produce 150 pounds of butter. The farm also produced 14 tons of hay.
©2013, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder
©2013, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder
