Relatively Speaking Blog

In an earlier post I noted that the federal census began in 1790 and has been conducted every ten years.  For each census year any person living in a household on a designated date was to be enumerated.  The date varied each census, usually in the month of June or April.  Each census posed slightly different questions when collecting information, and this variety offers insights on family members through the years.

In this post I focus on Jacob Zollars, my grandmother’s grandfather.  I learned a few details about Jacob from my grandmother:  she would visit him and her step-grandmother in East Waynesburg; he spoke German or Dutch and she couldn’t understand what he was saying; at some point later in his life he visited each of his children for one month.  I might have neglected to record other bits of information as this was all I could recall about Jacob.  I wanted to know more about his life, so I turned to the census to see what information I could glean.

The census records for Jacob Zollars suggest he spent his entire life in the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania starting in Washington County and ending in Greene County.  His death certificate records his birth as September 3, 1834 in East Bethlehem Township, Washington County, PA where he resided with his parents until he was an adult.  In the 1840 census, Jacob would have been the male 5-10 years of age counted in his father George Zollars’ household.  Listed beside them was Domas Zollars, probably a close relative, and a few houses away was a younger George Zollars, who likely was a cousin.  In 1850 Jacob at 17 years of age was the youngest member in the household residing with his parents and three siblings.

About 1856 Jacob married Margaret Jewell. On August 24, 1860 Jacob and Margaret were enumerated in the 1860 census; they resided in Washington Township, Greene County, PA, not too far from where Jacob grew up.  Jacob had no real estate and $200 personal estate.  Like many in this rural area he was a farmer.  In their household on June 1^st were 3 children, twin girls and one boy.  However, at the end of June 1860 his son George had died from injuries when his mother fell down the stairs while carrying him.  Since George was alive on the designated census date he was included in that year’s enumeration.

1860 census Washington Township, Greene County PA
Name	Age	Occupation	Place of Birth
Jacob Zollars	25	Farmer	PA
Margaret Zollars	23	Kept house	PA
Elizabeth M. Zollars	3		PA
Mary J. Zollars	3		PA
George M. Zollars	1		PA

By the next census Jacob had moved a little further south in the county to Franklin Township near the town of Waynesburg.  Five children, namely Eliza, Mary, Zenus, Dorcus and Henry, were listed with him, but Margaret was not—she had recently died.  Although Jacob was a widower, the 1870 census did not record marital status.  Searching the 1870 Census Mortality Schedule, Margaret is listed for Franklin Township, Greene County, having died in the fall of 1869 from consumption.  Jacob still did not own property and his personal wealth had decreased to $100.  He was a laborer now, probably the type of work most available near the town of Waynesburg.  Jacob’s neighbor enumerated directly before him was Rebecca Leneord, 21, the head of the household  with a 1 year old child, Thomas.  The family immediately after him was his late wife’s cousin Henry Huffman and his family, who perhaps lent a hand with caring for Jacob’s children.

By 1880 Jacob had settled in the village of Lippincot, Morgan Township, northeast of Waynesburg.  Parts of Greene and Washington counties were abundant with coal, and Jacob may have picked this area for the work, as he was now a coal miner.  His son Zenas ran an engine and his daughter Dorcas was a house servant.  Jacob had remarried to Rebecca, the young widow listed beside him in the 1870 census.  They now had three more sons, although Rebecca’s son, Thomas was not with them.  This census asked where an individual and his or her parents were born.  Jacob’s parents were listed as born in Delaware, but other census years list Pennsylvania, which is considered to be correct.  This could perhaps be a clue to where the Zollar family had lived prior to settling in southwestern PA.

1880 census  Lippincott, Morgan Township, Greene County, PA
Name	Relationship to head of household	Age	Marital Status	Occupation
Jacob Zollars	Head	46	M	Coal miner
Rebecca Zollars	Wife	35	M	Kept house
Zenas Zollars	Son	20	S	Ran an engine
Dorcas	Daughter	17	S	House servant
Henry	Son	13	S	No occupation
Jesse	Son	7	S
Charles	Son	4	S
Edward	Son	2	S

Twenty years later, in the 1900 census Jacob and Rebecca were back living in Franklin Township in the southern portion of the county.  Their three youngest children lived with them.  Jacob was employed as a day laborer and had not been unemployed during the previous year.  He still did not own a house, but rented.  The 1900 census listed birth month and year but these have been found to not always be correct; Jacob’s was September 1836, two years later than what was on his death record.  This census also included a question for a woman as to how many children she had and of those how many were living.  Rebecca had six children, all living.  She and Jacob had six sons, but family stories mention Rebecca had two children to her first husband; Thomas in the 1870 census is presumed to be her child. If this is accurate then these children were not counted in the 1900 census.

The last census in which Jacob and Rebecca were enumerated was in 1910.  Once again they had moved, this time to the eastern part of the township on Jefferson Pike and they continued to rent.  Jacob was a laborer for a dairy farm and had been fully employed throughout 1909.  Their youngest son lived with them, son Charles was listed beside them and Jacob’s son Henry resided a few doors away.  Jacob and Rebecca were married 38 years, the second marriage for both; Rebecca is again listed as having only six children.  Jacob would die in 1916, and Rebecca would follow him in 1918.

1910 census  Franklin Township, Greene County, PA
Name	Relationship to head of household	Age	Marital Status	Years Married	Mother of how many children	Number of children living	Occupation
Jacob Zollars	Head	74	M2	38			Laborer on dairy farm
Rebecka Zollars	wife	62	M2	38	6	6
Jacob Zollars, Jr.	Son	23	S				Clerk on Adams express

From reviewing the census details for Jacob I get the impression he was a family man.  His first wife had consumption and after her untimely death, the care of the children fell to Jacob.  He never abandoned his paternal obligations to his children, even after he remarried and began a new family.  Over his lifetime, Jacob was employed in different jobs, indicating he had various talents.  He must have been a hardworking man to take what jobs he could find, especially when wages were often low and the hours long.  His dedication to supporting his family is evident in his decision to labor in the arduous conditions of the mines.  His assortment of jobs most likely influenced the family’s moves to different areas of the county, though he never ventured too far from the vicinity of his childhood.  Jacob appears to never have owned a house, as he always rented.  Either he had not acquired an income to afford home ownership, or perhaps he preferred the ability to locate to where he could find work.  Whether he amassed any material wealth in his jobs is uncertain; his riches lay with his family of eleven children whom he raised and who bestowed to Jacob well over 500 descendants.