| SULLENS and SULLINS Census Records, 1982, by Michael S. Cole, M.D. |
Most SULLENS and SULLINS descendants in America today come from the family living in Halifax County, Virginia, before the Revolutionary War. There is evidence that this clan was related to the SULLINGS family in Colonial New England and the SULLEN family of Colonial North Carolina. I suspect that the original SULLEN-SULLENS-SULLINGS-SULLINS immigrants came to America about 1750, arriving in Philadelphia.
Over the past few years I have corresponded with several people who were searching their SULLENS-SULLINS family tree. I most cases I have been able to trace their ancestry to the late 1700's. In every case, my collection of census data was very useful. My purpose in printing this book is to share these important SULLENS and SULLINS census records with others. I regret that I do not presently have time to write a more comprehensive book containing everything in my SULLINS file. Since writing SULLINS - HANKINS in 1979, I have received a great deal of SULLENS-SULLINS records from over two dozen researchers. I will gladly help anyone seeking more information about any SULLENS-SULLINS family, whether found in this book or not.
Several abbreviations have been used in this book. Most are readily understandable. Names of states are abbreviated to the two letter system in use by the postal service. Indian Territory is abbreviated as IT. Married is abbreviated m. or m( ). Born is b.; died is d. All months, except June, are abbreviated with the first three letters. Circa, which means "about," is abbreviated c. Township is Twp.; county is Co. Probably is prob.; possibly is poss. Question marks have also been used to indicate possibility.
The U.S. Constitution provided for the census to be taken every ten years. In my opinion, these census records provide the most useful research tool for genealogical research for the time period 1790 to 1900. The first six censuses recorded the names of heads of households with other family members recognized only by an age range. In 1850 the census began to include the names of every person, along with their age and state where born. This book contains a comprehensive (but not complete) study of SULLENS and SULLINS census records.
Most census records through 1850 have been indexed. These indexes made possible the locating of much of the information recorded in this book. Because indexes have made mistakes, there are undoubtedly families that have not been listed in this book. Very little 1860 and 1870 information is recorded in this book because few states have indexes for these censuses. The government indexed the 1880 and 1900 census records by sounds, rather than alphabetically. This is called the Soundex. SULLINS and SULLENS is coded S452. The 1880 Soundex contains only families who had young children. Fire destroyed practically all of the 1890 census.
I have searched thousands of pages of microfilmed census enumerations. The census is not without error. It was not until 1910 that people were given an exam to see if they were competent before being hired to collect census information. Too many of the census takers of the 1800's were poor spellers with sloppy penmanship. This fact, added to the problem of fading ink on some records, makes some names practically impossible to interpret. It also causes some families to be overlooked while searching the microfilm.
It will be evident from comparing records in this book that some family data is inconsistent from one census year to another. The census taker probably spent a very short time at each house. Many people resented answering his questions because they felt it was an invasion of their privacy. The census was usually taken during the summer while most of the men were working in the fields. The information was probably supplied by only one family member, who, I suspect, was usually the wife. She might not remember the exact age of her husband and certainly might be unsure of the birth places of his parents. She possibly was uncertain of her own age because far less emphasis was placed on age during the 1800's as compared with today. The census taker usually did not ask how to spell names because too many citizens were unable to read and write. Some people were listed by their first name in one census and by their middle or nick name in another. Some families were completely missed by the census taker. Today, one must be aware of certain limitations of the census and not exclude a pertinent record simply on the grounds that it is not exactly as one expects it to be.
Some additional explanation is necessary so that one can interpret the census data recorded in this book. Each record contained here, through 1840, includes year of census, township when available, county and state, page number as stamped on for microfilming, and dwelling number is listed. This is followed by the name of the head of the household, along with the sex and number of family members that fell into specific age ranges. The 1850, 1860, and 1870 census records include names of each family member, age, sex, occupation, and state or country where born. The 1880 census added relationship to the head of the family and recorded birthplace, birthplace of father, and birthplace of mother, in that order. The 1900 census added month and year of birth, number of years married, number of children born to the mother, and number of those children still living.
Some census records contained in this book were sent to me by other researchers and do not include the same detail as I record when I view the microfilm. Also, the Soundex records do not contain as much information as the original records. I was unable to search the full census data on certain records from the Soundex. In these records, enumeration district (ED) and sheet (Sh) have been substituted for the page and dwelling numbers in this book.
With the census listings in this book, I have included information that is not found in the original records. I have added notes, in parenthesis, after almost every head of household giving data regarding ancestry and where the person was living in the previous census year. Also, in parenthesis, are marriage dates and places if they were available to me. If a state is not listed after the county of previous residence or where married, then it is the same as that shown at the top of that page. Some of the notes are just educated guesses and are indicated as such. I would greatly appreciate hearing from anyone with identification of any of the "unknown" (or uncertain) families in this book.
Michael S. Cole, M.D.
1982
Before hunting through all the census records to find your ancestor,
be sure to check the index for the list of Descendants of Richard SULLINS.
