Newton, MS 1870 Federal Census
TRANSCRIBER's NOTES:

The Enumerator of the 1870 Newton County census was Mr. Joseph Rogers, Assistant Marshall, 
who began the Census on June 1, 1870. I transcribed the names of 9811 people from the original 
census record, which was in good condition for the most part. Page 422A of the census contains 
summary information about the census. It is interesting that the enumerator’s count was 9845. 
Since I counted every soul I can’t explain this discrepancy. Perhaps they counted pages and not people. 
Several pages were not completed. Also, the enumerator and his helpers apparently misread columns 
16 and 17 by placing a check mark in those columns when a person could read and write rather than 
the opposite. There were many instances where physicians, lawyers, and school teachers were marked 
indicating that they could not read or write. The summary page indicates that 6430 citizens could 
read or write. 

There was only one Post Office listed in the census, which was at Newton, Ms. The location 
identification within the County was the Township and Range numbers, which I placed at the beginning 
of each page. The Enumerator’s written page numbers were also listed on each page.

Despite our best efforts, I am sure that the Proofreaders and I failed to correctly transcribe every 
name on the Census. Mr. Rogers had several helpers who had distinctive hand writing styles. 
Questionable spellings were identified with an asterisk. In the interest of accuracy, I invite viewers 
to contact me if they find errors or want to correct a spelling. Email: jevet@swbell.net

R. Jerry Everett