Allison Royce Drake Part 5: Chewing on the 1870 US Census

Then there was an Eleanor Whitney.  She was born in 1837 in Ohio.  She was enumerated in Woodbridge, Hillsdale County, Michigan with her husband and family on 12 August 1870.

And lastly, there was and Elinor Camelin in Reading, Hillsdale County, Michigan.  According to the census, she was born in New York in 1828.  She, along with her family, was enumerated on 08 July 1870.

So what do we got?

• Elenor Vanelstine -- the spelling of the first name is not the same.  Birth year is not the same as Lucia, but she was born in Michigan.
• Eleanor Whitney -- the spelling of the first name is not the same, the birth year is not the same AND she was born in Ohio.
• And lastly -- Elinor Camelin.  Spelling of the first name is the same and the birth year not too far off but born in New York.

Now the Elinor listed under John Stout Drake has the correct birth year and she was born in Michigan.

So let's just step outside the box and say for a second that the Census Taker was wrong.

Allison Royce Drake: Part 4

I'm still trying to figure out who the Elinor is listed with the John Stout Drake family in the 1870 US Census.  She is listed right under John Stout -- where the wife is usually listed.  She has a line before her name which usually indicates that her last name is the same as the head of household. Just like the children are listed.  The 1870 Census does not include a box to explain relationship of said person to the head of house.

So I've tried to get creative with different scenarios.

1. The Drake Family was enumerated on 23 August 1870.  Someone showed up @ the house to record the information.  It looks like a man's handwriting.  I believe that Lucia could have been at the very beginning of her last pregnancy.  Had that realization of yet another child pushed Lucia over the edge?  Was she a little crazy?  Or maybe she didn't know yet.  Maybe she hadn't even missed her cycle yet.  There were no EPT kits in those days.  But after at least 9 pregnancies, maybe she just knew. Maybe she was already experiencing morning sickness.
2. James was no longer living in the household.  Eugene - who was now 22 years old was no longer at home.  Sydney -- 19 years old -- was gone as well.  Were they really done or was the person answering the Enumerator's questions unaware that the boys were out in the fields, working the farm?

• There is an Amos J Drake married to a Mary living in Hillsdale.  My James Amos is married to a Mary.  It seems like James -- the first son -- was named after John Stout Drake's father (Amos Stout Drake). And just a note to myself here -- Lucia's dad was James Cahoon and I believe that Lucia moved to Hillsdale with her brother James.
• There is and EE Drake living at the residence of E Delavan in Moscow, Hillsdale, Michigan.  I'm pretty sure there were not a lot of EE Drakes in the same county.  This is probably my Emery Eugene.  EE was 24 years old in 1870 and my Eugene was 22, but if Eugene was working as a farm laborer, his employer would only know what Eugene told him.
• I have not yet been able to locate Sidney -- son number 3 -- in the 1870 US Census -- yet.  But I also don't know what his whole name is.  Apparently, this Drake family was big on name children after relatives and then calling them by the middle name.  From what I understand, this was pretty common practice and not just a Drake thing.  

Could the Enumerator walked up to front porch and discovered house swarming with children and babies making a racket?  Or could they be in the middle of illness?

1. Could "Elinor" actually have been Lucia?  I have no record of her middle name although I have seen an "M" and/or an "A" as a middle initial.  And considering some naming patterns, it was not uncommon for a husband to call his wife by her middle name.  
2. The Drakes were enumerated on 23 August 1870.  Elinor was listed as 43 years old -- which would have been Lucia's age as well.  Elinor was listed as having been born in Michigan -- just like Lucia.   Unfortunately, the 1870 US Census does not make note of where each individual's parents were born.  

I searched Hillsdale County, Michigan for women born in 1827 with the name of Elinor.  There were:

• Elenor Vanelstine.  Born 1831 in Michigan.  She lived in Somerset, Hillsdale County.  She was enumerated with her husband 18 July 1870, almost a month before the John Stout Drakes.  And as we all know -- so many things can happen in a month.