1850 Bombay, Franklin Co, NY Census

Introduction

 

Transcribed and submitted by John Austin

This is the 1850 census of Bombay, NY. Some of the names, especially those of French origin are misspelled in the original. The census taker spelled them phonetically, and often not according to the rules we would use today. Consequently, those searching for French speaking ancestors should consider all possibilities when searching this list. It was attempted to correct the most obvious spelling errors, but many are not possible to correct with 100% confidence. One odd fact is that the census taker mistook virtually every "v" sound in the French names for a "b". As a result, Vivlamore is "Biblamore" and Vincent (pronounced "Vassaw "in French) appears as Bassaw for first names and surnames. It was left as Basaw for surnames because Bashaw is a common name in northern New York today. However, "Basaw" as a first name was changed back to the original "Vincent". The initials CE stand for Canada East, (ie modern day Quebec) and "CW" stands for Ontario.

The notes below should help researchers identify families whose spellings I changed or which have some special feature about them. My choice of re-spellings may not be completely correct, but they are consistent and should make it easier for people to search this census

The Almond families appear as Almon in the census, but as Almond in most other records, including today�s telephone directory

John Baptiste�s actual name may have been "Jean Baptiste ________" and the census taker may have mistaken his middle name for the family name. One of his sons is named Baptiste, and it would be an odd combination. However, "Baptiste" may be the correct name

Joseph Basaw could have been Joseph Vincent, or Besaw, or the Bashaw name which is quite common in Franklin Co. today. It is possible that ALL the Basaw and Bashaw names listed here were originally "Vincent" pronounced in French

Lydia Beaulieu appears as Bolyo

Julia Beaulieu probably appears as Bowlyo, but the final "o" is hard to see. It may be another name altogether

John Bellow appears as Baylow in the 1860 census, and his son John appears as Bilow. The name may be Bellows

Henry Bero�s name is listed as Berow, and should more properly be Biron or Liboiron. However, the Bero spelling is the most common in Franklin Co. today , so it was left that way

Orsemus Billings was apparently listed twice. Once as Orsemus Billings with his parents, and once as Orsephus as a laborer for Charles Russell. He is listed as Orsemus in the 1860 census of Bombay

Antoine Blash may be Blush, but it is equally likely that it is an entirely different name

Francis Boudreau was listed as Pardrow, but baptismal records and the 1860 census point to Boudreau

Louis Bova could be Beauvais, Bouvia, or some other name entirely

Mary Carrigan�s name is not very clear and it could have been almost any name beginning with "Ca�"

Some Cavanaugh families spelled it as "Kavanaugh". The "C" spelling is more prevalent today and all families with that last name are listed under the "C�s" in this list. However, "Kavanaugh Cemetery" is the correct spelling

John Champeau is actually listed as "Shampoo". It may have been "Chambeau" and it may be the name which is commonly spelled Shambo today

Richard Cheney was listed as Sheney, which is not an Irish name

There were two Edmund and Ellen Cotter families listed, so the maiden name was placed beside each wife to help distinguish the families

Edmund Cotter, son of Edmund Cotter and Ellen Graham, was recorded as Edward in the original, but as Edmund in baptismal records and in the 1860 census

Joanna Cotter is listed as being a 4 yr old boy named John in the original. However, baptismal records say it was a girl Joanna, and the 1860 census lists a boy named John born about 1853, with no mention of a Joanna

Bartholomew Coughlin is listed as Coffin in the original. Coffin exists as a name, but is rare

The Croak families are all listed as Crook or Crooks in the original document, but there is no doubt they were the Croaks

Andrew Daly is listed as Doily in the original, but appears as Daly in church records and in the 1860 census of Bombay.There is an Irish name Doyle, but not Doily. The same is true for John Daly and his family.

Orrida Day�s name is spelled differently in almost every record. This census lists him as Oriba

Lucinda Dean may have been Lucinda Doan

Eli Denio could be Dennio, as there are two "n�s" in the original. This may be the name that is now spelled Deno in northern New York. His father Conrad Denio appears as Coonrod, but as Conrad in 1830,1840 and 1860

Tessa Derosier is actually listed as Tersa Derasa

Joseph Desmond was listed as Desmon

John Dowe is listed as Dow, but may have been Doe, or possibly Doux

Peter Dufrey may have been Peter Dupre or Dupuis

James Gilchrist and his wife were probably born in NY. Their children were, and apparently also her father, Thomas Stark

Joseph Gokey was listed as Goachey or Goackey, but Gokey seemed like the most likely spelling

John Grow and family are listed as Grow in the 1860 census too, but the original name was LeGrow/LeGros(?)

Mrs. Hilliker may be the widow of John Hilliker who was listed in the 1840 census of Bombay

Nelson Hines� wife and baby son do not have names listed

Dorus Hovey, age 5, was listed as Theodore in the 1860 census

Most Jandreau families actually are listed as Shendron or Shendon. However, baptismal records and the 1860 census point to the name being Jandreau, which is spelled various ways today

Charles Jandreau appears as Shandrow

Israel Jeremy is listed as Jeremiah in the original, but baptismal records say Jeremy

Franklin Jesmer�s and Levi and Roswell Jesmer�s last name appears as "Jessemin". In other records it is sometimes given as "Jasmin", and originally was "Duhaut dit Jasmin"

Michael Keefe (2nd) was married to Bridget Ward and for some reason her maiden name is listed in the census and the kids are listed as having her last name. However, each child�s baptism record clearly states that Michael and Bridget were married, so the children along with Bridget Ward Keefe are all listed with him as Keefes and not as Wards

The Keefes were widely spread around in Bombay, Ft. Covington and Brasher. Many branches of the family are listed as the more correct O�Keefe, but I chose to list them here as Keefe, since many of the families had dropped the "O"

Fr. Keveny was the Catholic priest at Hogansburg. He was listed as Reveny in the census and most of his signatures look like Reveney, but there is no such Irish name

Paul Labit�s name was left as it was but it almost certainly was either LaVite or LaFitte or something similar

Louis LaClair looks much like "LaCline" in the original, but he and his family are still living in Bombay in 1860 as LaClair

Lowell LaFour could be almost any other name beginning with "Laf�"

Joseph Lamont appears as Joseph Lamon but may be Lumon

Louis LaShomb appeared as Lashaw in the original and the spelling chosen here may not be correct either. It was probably originally Pitre-Lajamb

Evelyn Leary�s first name is spelled Efflin in the original

Abram Lege appears as Legah in the original

Ignace Leroux is listed as Enos , which would be the approximate pronunciation of the French "Ignace"

Louis Longour is probably not correct. It may have been more like Languin, which is how his daughter is listed at the top of the following page

Michael Loughlin and family are listed as Loflin in the original. The wife�s name looks like Juda, but may be Jude or Judy?

John Madden appears as Maiden in the original census

Chandler Mannell may be Monnell, which is how he is listed in 1860

Margaret Mannion�s name is partly rubbed out and the actual record looks like "Manyer" or something similar. However, Mannion is the only Irish name I could find that had a "y" sound following an "n"

Betsey McAdoo�s name is one which may never be deciphered. It begins with an "M", but the rest is pure conjecture

Uriah McCall was listed as McHall in the original

John McEwen is listed as McCuen, which is not an Irish name

Elizabeth McKane could also be McCain

Seymour Murray�s eldest son appears as Zephaniah in the 1860 census. His name is smudged in the 1850 census, but it looks as if it had been written as "Sepha"

Maurice O�Neill appears as Morris O�Neal in the original, but this spelling is more likely to be correct

Enos Pane may have been Ignace, and the last name is almost certainly not correct, but looks roughly like Pane

John Short may have been listed twice, but the ages and occupations are different so both listings were retained

John Smeddy�s name is normally spelled Smiddy, but he apparently spelled it more the way it sounded. The name is a variation of Smithwick, which is pronounced "Smiddick" in Ireland. Two houses down from him was Pat Smeddy, which is spelled "Smeadock" in the original because he pronounced it as they did back in Ireland. However, by 1860, he too had changed his name to Smiddy. It seems quite certain they were brothers, and that the original name was Smithwick. To make the story even more complicated, it appears that Patrick and Mary Smeddy left their children after the 1850 census of Bombay was taken, and moved them to Ft. Covington with John and Bridget Hartnet just in time to be counted in both the Bombay and Ft. Covington censuses. By 1860, though, the children were back with them

Grigg Snyder is listed as being 7 yr old Gregory, but he was listed as Grigg in all later records including military records

Jeremiah Spillan is listed as Splins but could be Spillane. Cornelius Spillan is listed as Spellin, but his name was also probably Spillan

Susan St. Denis is listed as St. Annine in the original

The St. Pere families are listed as St. Par and St. Peer in the original and as St. Piere in baptismal records

Catherine Summerfield appears to be the same girl listed in the 1850 census of Ft. Covington, a daughter of James Summerfield, who later married Garrett Cotter of Ft. Covington

Andrew Tessier was originally listed as Tacy, but he appears as Tessier in other records and that is probably the original spelling. The ages of the children suggest that he may have adopted children of his wife or perhaps some other relative. The last three children are also listed as living in another house, but are with Andrew in 1860

Gordon Tibbits� last name is illegible in the original, and his first name may have been Gardner. Gardner Tibbitts appears in the 1840 census of Bombay, and one of the Tibbitts kids is named Gardner. So either the Gardner listed in 1840 was the grandfather, or the census taker got the father�s name wrong at first, but corrected the kid�s name.

Peter Tobin�s name looks a lot like Tober, but there is no such Irish last name so it is probably Tobin

The Toyo family was listed as "Taryow" and the name is actually "Taillons". The children are not listed in their proper birth order. The children should have been Mary 11, Antoine 9, Joseph 6, John 4, Margaret 2, and Amable 3 mos. (according to the records of St. Patrick�s Church in Hogansburg and the 1860 census)

Noble Tracy is listed as Everett N. Tracy in the 1860 census and his 4 month old unnamed baby in 1850 is listed as Arcellus in 1860, so that is how he appears here

John Willis may be Wellis or Welles

Susan Warner presents an interesting case. She is listed as "Woona" in the original, but the children are "Warner" on the next page. The "Woona" probably represents the census taker�s original impression of what he thought her name was

Copyright John Austin

Html by Debbie Spencer-Axtman

 

You are the � Since November 17, 2001.

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