The Federal census of 1810 was the first taken in Franklin County, which had been formed two years previously. David Erwin, a Revolutionary War veteran from New Jersey, was commissioned to take the census. He did not do as most other enumerators did, i.e. he did not tabulate the townships separately. Instead, he simply listed heads of households as he found them, in whatever order, possibly according to his own field notes. As a result, the 1810 census conveys even less information than do the other censuses of the time, which also only recorded head of households but at least indicated where the household was located. In order to help genealogists make sense of this long list, the 1810 census was compared to the 1820 census (which did indicate townships) and whenever possible, a note was made as to the probable location according to the 6 towns established by 1820:
 

It is unlikely that there were many permanent residents in the southern towns at this time and, without roads, David Erwin certainly was not able to canvass them. Some of these "probable" residences are incorrect, but a majority of them are accurate.

Along with the typical transcription problems, this census was difficult because Mr. Erwin was a purely phonetic speller, and the census itself is not legible in several places due to repairs and the ravages of time. Therefore, researchers should examine the microfilm for themselves to clear up any mistakes made in transcription. The original census was examined in Washington DC in order to read some of the names which are on the edges of the page and are illegible on microfilm.

Some names were so unusual that they were copied without editing. Others were changed to conform to modern spellings. Each household was assigned a serial number indicating the actual order in which they appear on the census. When combined with the page numbers on the original, researchers should be able to locate the household quickly when viewing the microfilm themselves. These numbers also help identify households that may be related to each other. The serial numbers and the census page they occur on are as follows:

Note that the pagination does not follow, and that on the microfilm Franklin Co. is mixed in with the end of the Essex Co. census.

Six households are listed as being headed by "Widow ………", and guests, boarders, in-laws and hired hands are all simply counted as male or female under the correct age category. Many other names, indicated with question marks, were partially obscured or formed names so unusual that it was thought best to transcribe as accurately as possible, but to let researchers decide for themselves. Some names, although clear enough to read, may be mistakes. For example, page 80 lists a Freeman Hull, but that name may have been Freeman Bell, a War of 1812 soldier. The editorial changes were made without benefit of a reference list of possible residents. Therefore, "Welsh" could be "Welch", "Clarke" could be "Clark" etc. All in all however, this list gives a reasonably accurate transcription of the census.