Book Description

INTRODUCTION In August 1820 Robert Avis, Jr., an assistant to Marshal John Pegram of the Eastern District of Virginia, was responsible for taking the Fourth United States Census, 1820, for Jefferson County, the county in which he resided. From the enumeration record that Avis left of Jefferson County, Virginia, he completed the requirements of his job: took the enumeration of the population and its different classes; listed, according to “head’s of families” declarations, whether each was involved in agriculture, commercial or manufactures; and noted how many in the household were “foreigners not naturalized.” However, Avis did more than was required of him: he asked each head of household her or his occupation and included their answers in his enumeration, and in tabular form, took inventories of (1) the predominant manufactures in the county, their quantity and value and (2) the flour mills in the county, their location and the quantity of flour ground. Because of Avis’ foresight, the researcher will learn the occupations of heads of families in county districts, leading to knowledge of industries intertwined.