Relatively Speaking Blog

In 1890 a special census for veterans that collected details about service of veterans accompanied the main enumeration for that year. This special enumeration contained my great grandfather, John Brown, who was listed as a private in Company F, 84 PA Infantry during the Civil War. He was mustered into service on Aug 18, 1862 and released on Sept 26, 1863, serving 1 year 1 month 8 days. Any ailments or injuries from serving in the war were also reported; John indicated he suffered from disease of lungs and kidneys, which from other accounts I learned was from scarlet fever he contracted while in the army. Additionally, postal address was collected, and John’s was North Mountain situated in Franklin Township, Lycoming County, PA.

Although John spent most of his life in Lycoming County, his life began in neighboring Columbia County. His parents Philip and Mary Brown resided in Fishing Creek Township during both the 1830 and 1840 census. According to John’s tombstone, he was born on November 16, 1835, presumably in this township. During the 1840 census, family members were not listed, but counted with a tick mark; John would have been counted in the column for the male 5-10 years of age. In addition to his parents in 1840, John had one younger and one older brother and three sisters. Sometime between 1840 and 1850 his parents moved to North Mountain, where in 1850 they appeared in Franklin Township Lycoming County. In this census, John, was 15 years old, which indicates he could have been born a year earlier in 1834. John attended school within the year with four of his siblings.

The whereabouts of John in 1860 are a mystery. His widowed mother remained in the same location with five of his siblings, but John was not listed with them. His older brother William was listed beside his mother, and his older sister Rebecca lived a few doors away. His mother was a farmer and his brother Isaac was a farm laborer, who most likely helped his mother with the farm. In 1860 John would have been about 25 years old and unmarried. I expected John to have still lived at home. It is possible that John’s name was accidentally omitted when the census taker recorded the household. Searching for John Brown in Lycoming and the surrounding counties have not turned up any viable leads. If John had ventured off on his own, it will be difficult to confidently identify him with such a common name.

John served over one year in the Civil War starting in 1862, as the 1890 special census indicated. After his release, John returned to North Mountain to live with his mother. He was still single, but now had to deal with complications from scarlet fever. When 1870 arrived, John resided with his mother; his other siblings were on their own, although many of them stayed in the vicinity. John was now listed as 37 years old, further calling into question the actual year of his birth.

At a first glance of the 1880 census, one might think John had only married Margaret, a widow, and had two sons with her. However, other research informs that much more had happened to John in the decade leading up to 1880. After his mother died, John married for the first time to Angeline, and she soon was expecting. However, she died during child birth as did one of the twin sons she was carrying. John was left with the task of raising his surviving newborn son on his own. A few years later he married Margaret. In 1880, each had a son from their previous marriage living in the household, as well as two additional sons they had together. Margaret appears to be the one who spoke to the census taker, as John’s son, Peter, was listed as a step-son, whereas Francis was his step-son. John was a farmer, and this census made him several years younger, at age 42. John’s parents were listed as born in PA, though some speculation has been that his father was from New Jersey.

1880 census Franklin Township, Lycoming County, PA
Name	Relationship to head of household	Age	Occupation	Place of Birth	Father’s Birth Place	Mother’s Birth Place
John H. Brown	Head	42	Farmer	PA	PA	PA
Margaret Brown	wife	38	Kept house	PA	PA	PA
Francis Brown	son	8		PA	PA	PA
Harry R. Brown	son	4		PA	PA	PA
George W. Brown	son	7/12		PA	PA	PA
Peter A. Brown	step-son	7		PA	PA	PA

By the 1900 census, none of John and Margaret’s children were listed in their household; their son Harry lived beside them with his family. John and Margaret were married 24 years, putting their marriage around 1876. John’s birth information was April 1832; this conflicts with his tombstone calculation of November 16, which is probably the more accurate for month and day, although it is possible John was born before 1835. John, in his sixties, still worked as a farmer, but it must have been difficult to labor with lung and kidney troubles. This was the last census in which John appeared, as he died August 10, 1902.

1900 census  Franklin Township, Lycoming County, PA
Name	Relationship to head of household	Age	Birth Month/Year	Marital Status	Years Married	Mother of how many children	Number of children living
John H. Brown	Head	68	April 1832	married	24
Margaret Brown	wife	58	June 1841	married	24	12	9

For those doing genealogical research the United States Census enumerations can provide a simple timeline for family members, but to get the full picture other resources are always needed. For my great grandfather John Brown, the census only hints at the challenging times he experienced. As he became an adult, John lost his father. He witnessed his country engaged in a Civil War, a war in which he was recruited and contracted an illness that affected his quality of his life with lung and kidney issues. The census cannot inform one about the loss of his first wife and son, but it does show that he married, had a family, and most importantly, that he persevered despite his hardships and illness.