Helping finding someone in the 1850 census (father, records, born, possible)

[historyfan]

The name Mayhugh is unique enough to warrant mapping all Mayhughs who ever lived in any of the counties your Mayhughs were enumerated in.

The family association might turn out to be only third cousins but that will get you to the same set of 4th grandparents.

[mawipafl]

Originally Posted by historyfan

The name Mayhugh is unique enough to warrant mapping all Mayhughs who ever lived in any of the counties your Mayhughs were enumerated in.

The family association might turn out to be only third cousins but that will get you to the same set of 4th grandparents.

GMTA historyfan :-) I saw so many of the Ohio Mayhughs with VA or MD as a birthplace. I started looking around those two states, but got pulled away before I made any headway.

One group I didn't research were the Mayhughs in Belmont, Morgan County. Although the two Johns that Alandros found were not his John, perhaps looking deeper into the Belmont Mayhughs might give up some hints. I've had great luck with going backward in time following a non-direct ancestor's lineage, and then turning around and going forward in time following children and their children. I'm currently doing that with Hansons to fill in some holes (TX<various<Georgia<Virginia (the hole is here somewhere)<England).

[nicegent34]

John Mayhugh is my 3rd generation great grandpa, i do have info on him and others in family. If you would like to share info. you can email me. He is buried with is wife at claney cemetery in marion county ks.

[Alandros]

I'm finally revisiting this line of mine again. I noticed something I had somehow completely missed:

In the 1860 census John A Mayhugh is only a couple households above a James Mayhugh b. 1790 in Maryland. He's the only other Mayhugh in Trimble, Athens, Ohio as well. This James is all alone in the 1860 census.

In the 1850 in Athens Co., Ohio is a James Mayhugh b. 1804 in Maryland with wife Elizabeth (Elliott according to trees)... apparently he was a son of John Mayhugh and Lovina Beal mentioned before... Though he seems accounted for elsewhere int he 1860 census.

It seems likely the James Mayhugh living nearby is either father or relation of my John, but I can't seem to find him in the 1850 census either.

[Tracysherm]

Did you try just browsing the census records in the towns you think they lived in? I know it can be really time-consuming, but a few times, it paid off for me. The names had been written so badly and/or transcribed so badly, that the people never showed up in searches, even when I tried searching with similar spellings. In one case the photocopy of part of the census page was so light, that the names didn't get indexed, because I guess people couldn't read them. But when I looked closely, I could find my relative.


It's much easier in a smaller town with fewer wards and districts too go through. But I actually did this in the census for Philadelphia, and found the names I was looking for, and it only took like a half a day! Granted, it was a very long day...

[mzfroggez]

This thread caught my eye as well but assumed with the dates of the OP that it had been solved. Cursory looks make it appear it has not.

The suggestion to flip through the pages of the census in the town you suspect based on later census data is good. I have found so much by scrolling through the census data, sometimes very evident and other times a surprise hits me later down the way. I had my great grandfather on a census with the family and saw that a sister of my great grandmother was living with them. First nice surprise. I had lost any threads on any of the other sisters. As I searched over the months for other things, I came across something that clued me in that I might have found the married name of another sister. Imagine my surprise when that research took me back to a page where I found the married couple and child, still not sure it was a relative when I realized the next name was my great grandfather and family. So all three sisters, 1/2 the family, were living in two households. That led to finding the others and set me off on a bunch of cousins etc. Now I look at all sorts of clues on any sheet and I also pursue neighbors on a census to see where they are later in the years. Sometimes they lead me to a family member.

So many things I'm unsure of get confirmed when I look at the other names because I get my confirmation when I see a great grandmother's sibling living next to a great grandfather sibling. Which is also good because I see that my family actually didn't shun everyone they were related to. I too have so little information that every step is the work of a detective. Jot down notes whenever anything seems at all familiar/often that will be a part of the puzzle a few months down the line. Many many families had a sibling living with the married couple. And the last name is often misspelled so look at any odd balls in the census household. "Hodle" was actually "Feasel"; "Jane" was "Sam". That is just the first easy solves. But no one had ever caught them. Flipping page upon page and looking at all names was the key.

I can't say how much has come through following people that are not a blood relation at all. They seem to uncover my hiding family so much of the time. And in the process, I have learned so much history of the places they lived and have also uncovered data that my more seasoned relatives have never found. As my mother says, "It is awful what people can find out on the internet."

Being as I have yet to find the awful secret that is being guarded, I can only imagine it must be a biggie. Thus far, it has just been highly interesting. So I'll weigh in when the ax murderer shows in. and if the OP is still looking, I'll jump in and see if anything turns up via my backdoor searching.

[Alandros]

All good advice... I've scanned Athens Co, OH in 1850 and see no sign of my Mayhughs. I've started to retrace some of the related entries again though.

As I found before in John Mayhughs household in 1860 is

Harvy Hill 41 b. abt 1819 Pennsylvania
Ann Hill 42 b. abt 1818 Maryland

Ann is born in Maryland, now I know the James Mayhugh a couple households over is old enough to be John's father (born 1790) and is born in Maryland too. Maybe Ann is a sister of John, daughter of James?

James seems a strong candidate for John's father, his eldest son was named James.


So previously I found Harvy and Ann as Henry and Ann in Bristol, Morgan, OH in the 1850 census:

Henry Hill 30
Ann Hill 29
Elizabeth Hill 76

Like the 1860 census it lists Henry as born in PA and Ann in MD so it fits

In this 1850 census I haven't found a sign of my Mayhughs yet, but going back further to 1840 in Bristol, Morgan OH I find

Name: Henry Hill
Home in 1840 (City, County, State): Bristol, Morgan, Ohio
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29: 1
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29: 1
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49: 2
Total Free White Persons: 2
Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves: 2

That certainly fits for him. A couple households down I find

Name: Jas Mayhew
Home in 1840 (City, County, State): Bristol, Morgan, Ohio
Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 14: 2
Free White Persons - Males - 50 thru 59: 1
Free White Persons - Females - 40 thru 49: 1

No one seems to have attached this James Mayhew to a tree.

It certainly fits well for James Mayhugh b. 1790 living near my John in 1860. Further he has two sons 10-14, my John Mayhugh was born around 1828, so would be around 12 or so... so fits perfectly.


In previous posts we talked about another Mayhugh family descended from a John R Mayhugh m. Lovina Beal from... John was born about 1776 in Maryland... he had a son James who is a different one than the one born 1790 (found in other census records beyond just being too old).

Now that I suspect my Mayugh line came from Maryland maybe my James is a brother to that John. In the 1840 census near James Mayhugh and Henry Hill are a Perry and Samuel Beal, seemingly from Maryland... maybe related to the wife of John Mayhugh?

It seems online trees don't know anything beyond John Mayhugh m. Lovina Beal so unfortunately can't look up that path and find a James that can fit for mine.

[Alandros]

Following a trail further, my John Mayhugh was born in 1828 in Ohio... so looking at Ohio census entries in 1830 for a James Mayhugh that could fit (his 2 10-14 sons would be under 5 now), there's a couple that could fit, but this one stands out the best


Name: James Mayhew
Home in 1830 (City, County, State): Warren, Jefferson, Ohio
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5: 2
Free White Persons - Males - 50 thru 59: 1
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 14: 3
Free White Persons - Females - 30 thru 39: 1


The 50-59 male is a bit old, would be 40-49 for mine, though everything else could fit. INterestingly nearby are two Beals, a George and a Charles, it looks like they both came from Maryland as well.

[Alandros]

Revisited this recently and things are connecting up even more picking up from before.

So the best candidate, the James Mayhew on the same census page in the 1860 census to my John and family, is the only Mayhew nearby, the right age to be his father, and my John named his first son James. James is 3-4 households below my John, as it turns out, right above James is the family of John's wife's parents, Isaac Newton Joseph and his family. I missed this since they were mis-entered as "Johnson" but all the names and years fit perfectly (including uncommon names like Leonidas). This filled in the 1860 census gap I had for my Josephs now too.

So this James Mayhew is listed as being born 1790 in Maryland. Looking in the 1850 census the only Mayhew in Ohio that really fits at all is a James Mayhew born 1783 in Maryland and is living in Bristol, Morgan, Ohio, USA... His family is:


James Mahew 67
Jane Mahew 55
Isaiah Mahew 16


This of course matches up quite nicely both with the Henry/Harvey Hill family living with my Mayhews in 1860, well in 1850 as i list above they are in Bristol, Morgan, Ohio as well, only 2-3 pages before this James Mayhew.

Seeming like a good fit!

On some trees it seems that James might have been married to a Jane Kennison, who was previously married to a Stephen Rowe and had multiple Rowe children.

This seems to fit well too since in the 1860 census the Rowe/Roe family of Jane is in Iowa and there's an Isaiah Rowe listed. Not sure why he'd go by his mother's first married name, but by 1870 "Jane Mahem" is living with her Rowe children in Iowa too, so seems likely to be him. I can't place Jane in the 1860 census, not sure why she isn't with him.

The above guessed 1840 census is still might be the best fit for James... again in Bristol, Morgan, Ohio.

Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 14: 2
Free White Persons - Males - 50 thru 59: 1
Free White Persons - Females - 40 thru 49: 1

This shows then with two sons. Isaiah (according to the 1850 census) would be 6 years old and John would be about 12. Not a perfect fit but close.

It's possible John was born in a previous marriage since I haven't found a marriage record between James and Jane yet. Isaiah could potentially be a Rowe and simply listed under his stepfather's surname.

Some trees having Stephen Rowe & Jane Kennison having children as late as 1832 or so... My John Mayhugh (according to the three census records at least) was likely born around 1827/1828.

Still some oddities in these famlies but starting to think it's pretty likely James Mayhugh is my John's father (or at least related).

I still am not sure where my John is in the 1850 census... What's interesting is that James E Mayhugh in the 1850 census that might be him would fit for being named after his father, it's in Morgan, Morgan, Ohio, so same County... Also John Rowe (son of Jane) is living in a household in Morgan, Morgan, Ohio in 1850.

[Alandros]

I found the marriage record for James Mayhew married to Jane Roe in Morgan County Ohio in 1849. So she definitely wasn't the mother of John... also confirmed Isaiah was a Rowe.