William Wallace Haws 1870 Census

A record type that I like to look into at the start of my research is census records. In the United States, they were taken every ten years (1900, 1910, etc.) and provide details of households by asking a series of questions that differ from census to census. These records are invaluable, because they group a family together and provide a snap shot into the life of that family for a specific period in time. When researching an individual person, it is best to look at the most recent census that person could have been in, then look in all the censuses taken during that person's life. The more recent censuses will usually be easier to look at and may provide more information.

William Wallace Haws died in 1895 in Chihuahua, Mexico. Normally, I would look in the 1890 census (because that would be the closest census taken before he died); however, the 1890 census was destroyed in a fire shortly after it was taken. This leaves us with the 1880 census. Unfortunately, after hours of looking through censuses on FamilySearch and Ancestry, there was no record of William Wallace Haws in the 1880 census. When looking at the births of the children, John Wallace was born in 1878 in Utah, while Charles James Haws was born in 1881 in Arizona. It is possible that the family traveled from Utah to Arizona when the 1880 census was taken and may have been missed. That leaves us with the 1870 census:

[1]

This census shows William Wallace Haws, married to Barbara in Utah County, Utah. The census provides us with his age (35), putting his date of birth at 1835, which matches the information from his obituary and life story. It also shows that he was born in Illinois, also matching our records. William was listed as a farmer, giving us a little information on what his life was like when he lived in Utah. This census also lists his children: Jane (15), William (14), George (12), Ella (9), Mary (3), and Rhoda (6 months).

[1] William and Barbara Haws Household, Provo, Utah, Utah, 1870 United States Federal Census, Roll M593_1612, page 293B, online image, www.ancestry.com, 25 September 2014.