Introduction:

We present here, a transcription of the federal census of Colorado County, Texas that was taken in 1880. We present the transcription in two ways: in the original order and in alphabetical order. Each entry contains the person's full name, as given by the census taker, plus his/her race, gender, age, relationship to the head of the household (if he/she is not the head of the household and if the relationship is given), occupation (if given), and place of birth. Each entry is followed by the enumeration district number, the page number, and the line number on which the referenced person may be found. We also provide a link to online images of the census, for our transcription is meant to be an index, and does not present all the information the census contains.

The official population of the county in 1880 was 16,673. Our list includes 16,677 persons. We cannot account for the discrepancy.

For the census, Colorado County was divided into nine sections, with each section assigned to a different census taker. For some unknown reason, the sections were numbered from 46 to 54.

 Section 46, which covered part of Columbus and part of Justice Precinct No. 1, was enumerated by Jacob H. Burgheim from June 1 through June 19, 1880. The part of Columbus which he covered occupies pages 1 through 24 of Section 46 and contains exactly 1200 persons. Despite the fact that the first person on page 25 was evidently also a member of the last household on page 24, Burgheim wrote at the bottom of page 24, "Here ends the City of Columbus." The rest of Section 46 (pages 25 through 35), presumably a rural area near Columbus, contains 514 people.

Section 47 also covered part of Columbus and part of Justice Precinct No. 1. It was enumerated by Rowan Green from June 1 through June 24, 1880. Green started his enumeration with the rural areas, using pages 1 through 27 to list 1340 persons. He begins his part of Columbus on page 28 and proceeds through page 43. In all, he lists 759 persons as residents of Columbus. Thus, Sections 46 and 47 together enumerate 1959 persons in Columbus in 1880. There is one numbering anomaly in Section 47. Pages 2 and 3 were filmed out of order. What the census taker recorded as page 2 is designated in the filmed version as page 3, and what he recorded as page 3 is designated as page 2. We present those pages here in the proper, original order.

Section 48 covered Justice Precinct No. 2 and was enumerated by Otho H. Crebbs from June 1 through June 17, 1880. Crebbs listed 835 persons on seventeen pages.

Section 49 covered the village of Oakland and Justice Precinct No. 3. It was enumerated by John Halbert Mullin from June 1 through June 19, 1880. Mullin signed a statement that he had concluded his enumeration on June 18. However, he listed another 24 people below the statement, and, on July 3, signed a second statement confirming that he had added those persons. The population of Oakland, 167 people, is listed on the first four pages. The remaining 27 pages list 1313 persons.

Section 50 covered the town of Weimar and Justice Precinct No. 4. It was enumerated by Charles Henry Chauntilotte Maigne from June 1 through July 3, 1880. Maigne had a habit of skipping lines between households. The 79 pages he turned in list 3582 persons. Maigne listed 626 people as residents of Weimar, on pages 1 through 14. He finished the town of Weimar on June 5. The same day, he began surveying the rural areas, but for no known reason, gave the next page the number 17. Thus, he skipped the page numbers 15 and 16.

Section 51 covered Justice Precinct No. 5, which included the community of Frelsburg. No persons are specifically listed as residents of a town of Frelsburg. The section was enumerated by Edwin A. Malsch from June 1 through June 30, 1880. Malsch listed exactly 3100 persons on 69 pages.

Section 52 covered Justice Precinct No. 6, which the census taker, Anton Braden Jr., characterized as "Bernardo Prairie." Its 23 pages, created from June 1 through June 22, 1880, list 1146 persons.

Section 53 covered Justice Precinct No. 7, and was enumerated from June 10 through June 21, 1880 by J. J. Delany. It occupies 19 pages and lists 932 persons.

Section 54 covered Justice Precinct No. 8 and included the town of Eagle Lake. The enumerator, John F. Ficklen, wrote the date June 1, 1880 at the top of each of the section's 37 pages, though surely he did not complete the entire area in one day. On June 27, 1880, he signed a statement (on page 37) that he had "this day completed" his enumeration. He listed a total of 1789 people. The town of Eagle Lake, which Ficklen characterized as a "village," occupies pages 29 through 37 and includes 406 residents. Many of the pages in Section 54 apparently got wet or were in some way stained. As a result, we were unable to determine the surnames of 363 persons listed in the section. Those persons are omitted from our alphabetical index.

Click here for Index to Online Images of Manuscript Census

Summary of Data: