ABOUT THE 1880 CENSUS PROJECT -

The Islanders in the 1880 Census of Boston project contains (at present) all individuals who were either born in PEI or had a parent born in PEI. Entire family groups are included - if a wife was born in PEI (or had a parent born there), the census information for her entire household is given. Single individuals, many of them "boarding" or "servants", are also included in the data tables.

Why bother doing a survey of Islanders in Boston in the 1880 Census? Can't the SOUNDEX indices be used to find target individuals?

The 1880 SOUNDEX included only those families with children ages 10 and under. Families with no children (or older children) would be missed. Persons who were boarders as well as individuals who were "servants" can also be difficult to find.

The 1880 Census Project data tables are arranged by WARDS and then by Enumeration District - each WARD has its own data page. The census information has been sorted to appear in "census sequence", as it appears on the actual census sheet.

At present, the Project contains only the census information for Wards 6, 7, 8, 14, 16, 17, 20 and 21. Census information pages for the remaining wards will be uploaded as completed.

USING THE INDEX AND DATA TABLES -

The Surname Index table uses the following headers:

1. WARD
2. E.D.# - enumeration district
3. SH# - sheet number
4. LI# - line number
5. SURNAME

If you discover a "surname of interest" in an index, make a note of the Enumeration District and Sheet and Line numbers, then click on the WARD NUMBER to go to the corresponding WARD DATA PAGE.

SURNAME INDEX

WARD CENSUS DATA TABLES use these headers:

E.D. - enumeration district
SH# - sheet number LI# - line number
HH # - household number
SURNAME
GIVEN NAME
SEX
AGE
STA - status (relationship to "head of household")
M/S - married, single, divorced, widowed
OCCUPATION
PofB - place of birth
FP/B - father's place of birth
MP/B - mother's place of birth

WARD 6

WARD 7

WARD 8

WARD 14

WARD 16

WARD 17

WARD 20

WARD 21

SEVERAL CAVEATS -
The ink on some census pages was so badly faded that the information was illegible. It is quite possible that "target individuals" were missed. For the most part, however, the census pages WERE readable - the handwriting of the enumerators is another thing. Each enumerator had his (or her) own "penmanship style"; I've decided that a goodly number of them SLEPT during penmanship class...

In those cases where I wasn't sure of the spelling of names and/or other census information, I used a "?" to indicate that the name or word was my "best guess". An asterisk (*) in a name or word shows that a letter or series of letters was not readable. I used a "!" to indicate that regardless of "logic", the information was EXACTLY as I saw it. I resisted the temptation to "correct" the spellings of some surnames; some enumerators were VERY creative spellers!

The 1880 Census did NOT use any designation for the "head of household". On the actual census page, that cell was left blank. I elected to use "head" in the "STATUS" column so that the table data would be easier to sort.

Some enumerators made errors (amazing, but TRUE!) in "ditto-ing" places of birth - putting the father's POB where the mother's should have been. I tried to enter these cases just as I saw them (even though I KNEW the information was wrong). Finally, DO remember that this is a WYGIWIS project - What You Get Is What I Saw... and, by the way, if YOU want to participate in this data gathering project, let me know!

The Islanders in the 1880 Census in Boston project is dedicated to Dave Hunter of The Island Register - it's a small pay-back for all the time he's spent helping online researchers. You can chat with Dave and other folks researching their Island Heritage in the Island Register Chat Channel - visit the Chat Page for more details.

A special "thank you" goes to A Certain Gentleman Who Prefers to Remain Anonymous for converting my database files to the much nicer "text format". That "Certain Gentleman" threatened to send me "a bill for technical services provided" if I were to divulge his name, thus seriously endangering his reputation in USGenWeb circles as "a curmudgeon". USGenWeb-ites can guess all they want; MY lips are SEALED!

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For more information about this Project page,
email Marge Reid, at [email protected]

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