COFFEE COUNTY, TN 1860 FEDERAL CENSUS TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES: Prepared by Donald Robbins Transcription aid by Betty Hawley Checked by D. K. Robbins September 14, 2007 Census Sheet's Format ------------------------------- Census Sheet Header Information ------------------------------- Each Census Sheet consists of 40 lines. The Header information contains a place for the Date of entry, Post Office, The County Name (Montgomery) and the name of the recorder of the information. ------------------------------- Census Sheet Detail information ------------------------------- Column 1 - Dwelling - houses numbered in the order of visitation Column 2 - Families, numbered in the order of visitation Column 3 - The name of every person whose usual place of abode on the first day of June, 1860 was in this family Column 4 - Age Column 5 - Sex Column 6 - Color, White, Black or Mulatto or Indian Column 7 - Profession, Occupation or Trade of each person, male and female, over 15 years of age Column 8 - Value of Real Estate Column 9 - Value of Personal Estate Column 10 - Place of Birth, Naming the State, Territory, or Country Column 11 - Married within the year Column 12 - Attended School within the year Column 13 - Person over 20 who could not read or write Column 14 - Whether deaf & dumb, blind, insane, idiotic, pauper or convict In the interest of getting the information transcribed to an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet, some adjustments were made in the format of the transcription. A new line was created, which contains the Page Number and Line Number of the Image reel (reel Series M653, Roll # 1245) that the information was transcribed from. The Surname is in Caps, along with the date of the census page, the census district, the Post Office, and the information from Column 1 and Column 2. The information from Columns 11, 12, 13 was encoded following the Column 10 information, Place of Birth. The encoding is: M, for married within the year, S, for attending school within the year, and I, for illiterate for a check in Column 13 for persons over 20 who could not read or write. The information from Column 14 is added, as is, to the person's line. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The information from the microfilm for the 1860 Census for Coffee County consists of 206 pages. The enumerator was H. S. Sheid. He is listed at P036-25 In this area there were 1466 residences and 1416 family units. The oldest person we have encountered in our transcriptions is: Nancy Nichols, a female at 100 years old. She is at P198-11 COUNTS Number of White Males 4374 Number of White Females 4261 Number of Mulatto Males 0 Number of Mulatto Females 1 Number of Black Males 2 Number of Black Females 0 Number of Students 1596 Number of Illiterates 994 Number of Married 66 in the last year ================================== PLACES OF BIRTH ================================== Tennessee 6907 North Carolina 396 Virginia 287 South Carolina 161 Georgia 113 Kentucky 80 Mississippi 23 Illinois 19 Maryland 19 New York 12 Arkansas 12 Germany 12 Ireland 10 England 7 Pennsylvania 7 Louisana 6 Missouri 6 New Jersey 5 New Hampshire 6 Scotland 1 Canada 1 Texas 7 Florida 1 ================================== OCCUPATIONS ================================== Alphabetically appt 2 artist 1 Artist 1 Baliff 3 Bapt Min 7 Basket Maker 2 Black Smith 43 Book Keeper 1 Book Seller 1 Brick Maker 2 Brick Mason 3 clerk 18 C. P. Min 3 Cabinent appt 1 Cabinent Maker 2 Carpenter 70 Chair Maker 1 Chris Min 1 Constable 3 Cooper 8 County Clrk 2 Day Laborer 5 Doctor 18 Domestic 1674 Druggist 3 Engineer 2 Farm Hand 530 Farm Laborer 13 Farmer 953 Grocer 14 Gun Smith 4 Harness Maker 2 Hatter 3 Hosler 1 Hotel Keeper 2 Hotel 1 Jewler 1 Laborer 121 Lawyer 9 Livery Man 1 Lumber 1 midwife 2 Mail Rider 1 Manufacturer 1 Mechanic 1 Med Student 1 Merchant 28 Meth Min 7 Miller 12 Millwright 2 overseer 5 Painter 3 Plasterer 2 Pres Min 1 Printer 3 RR Agent 2 RR Conductor 1 student 34 Saddler 4 Saw Mill 2 Sawyer 8 Seamstress 4 Sheriff 2 Shoe Maker 11 Silver Smith 3 Stage Driver 2 Tailor 4 Tanner 3 Taylor 1 Teacher 22 Tinner 1 Trader 1 Waggon Maker 6 Wagon Maker 17 Wagoner 2 Well Digger 1 Wheel Wright 2 ================================== OCCUPATIONS ================================== by frequency Domestic 1674 Farmer 953 Farm Hand 530 Laborer 121 Carpenter 70 Black Smith 43 student 34 Merchant 28 Teacher 22 clerk 18 Doctor 18 Wagon Maker 17 Grocer 14 Farm Laborer 13 Miller 12 Shoe Maker 11 Lawyer 9 Cooper 8 Sawyer 8 Bapt Min 7 Meth Min 7 Waggon Maker 6 Day Laborer 5 overseer 5 Gun Smith 4 Saddler 4 Seamstress 4 Tailor 4 Baliff 3 Brick Mason 3 C. P. Min 3 Constable 3 Druggist 3 Hatter 3 Painter 3 Printer 3 Silver Smith 3 Tanner 3 appt 2 Basket Maker 2 Brick Maker 2 Cabinent Maker 2 County Clrk 2 Hotel Keeper 2 Engineer 2 Harness Maker 2 Millwright 2 Plasterer 2 midwife 2 RR Agent 2 Saw Mill 2 Sheriff 2 Stage Driver 2 Wagoner 2 Wheel Wright 2 artist 1 Artist 1 Book Keeper 1 Book Seller 1 Cabinent appt 1 Chair Maker 1 Chris Min 1 Hosler 1 Hotel 1 Jewler 1 Livery Man 1 Lumber 1 Mail Rider 1 Manufacturer 1 Mechanic 1 Med Student 1 Pres Min 1 RR Conductor 1 Taylor 1 Tinner 1 Trader 1 Well Digger 1 ================================== INFIRMITIES ================================== blind 6 deaf & dumb 3 idiot 11 idiotic 1 insane 3 Luncey 1 pauper 2 ================================== OTHERS ================================== twin 18 ================================== HISTORY OF COFFEE COUNTY ================================== The Tennessee General Assembly established Coffee County from parts of Franklin, Warren and Bedford Counties in 1836. It named the new county in honor of General John Coffee (1772-1833), a close political ally of Andrew Jackson, Creek War and War of 1812 cavalry commander, frontiersman, congressionaly-appointed surveyor-general, land dealer and prosperous planter. The county has several important prehistoric sites, the most significant being Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Area at the forks of the Duck River. Woodland Period people constructed a large ceremonial enclosure there. Carbon-dating within the walls has identified construction dates of A.D. 30, A.D. 230, and A.D. 430, indicating that the site was used for at least four centuries. Whites began to arrive in the county during the 1790s. Fort Nash, which protected travelers and encouraged permanent settlement, was established in 1793 on Garrison Fork near Beech Grove. When the county was created in 1836, Manchester was named county seat on two hundred acres belonging to James Evans and Andrew Haynes. The first courthouse opened in 1837 and served the county until it burned and was replaced by the present Coffee County Courthouse in 1871. This Italianate-style courthouse is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Newspapers were published in Manchester and Tullahoma. Scattered early issues are available from 1860, and a complete run begins in 1903. See Extended History for More information. Coffee County is bordered by Cannon County (north), Warren County (northeast), Grundy County (east), Franklin County (south), Moore County (southwest), Bedford County (west) and Rutherford County (northwest). Cities and Towns include Hillsboro, Manchester, Tullahoma. The Official County Website is located at http://www.coffeecountytn.org/. There was a fire at the Coffee County courthouse in 1876, destroying some records. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - THE STORY TELLERS We are the chosen. My feelings are, in each family there is one who seems called to find the ancestors. To put flesh on their bones and make them live again, to tell the family story and to feel that somehow they know, and approve. To me, doing genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts but, instead, breathing life into all who have gone before. We are the story tellers of the tribe. All tribes have one. We have been called as it were, by our genes. Those who have gone before cry out to us: Tell our story. So, we do. In finding them, we somehow find ourselves. How many graves have I stood before now and cried? I have lost count. How many times have I told the ancestors you have a wonderful family you would be proud of us? How many times have I walked up to a grave and felt somehow there was love there for me? I cannot say. It goes beyond just documenting facts. It goes to who am I and why do I do the things I do? It goes to seeing a cemetery about to be lost forever to weeds and indifference and saying I can't let this happen. The bones here are bones of my bone and flesh of my flesh. It goes to doing something about it. It goes to pride in what our ancestors were able to accomplish. How they contributed to what we are today. It goes to respecting their hardships and losses, their never giving in or giving up, their resoluteness to go on and build a life for their family. It goes to deep pride that they fought to make and keep us a Nation. It goes to a deep and immense understanding that they were doing it for us. That we might be born who we are. That we might remember them. So we do. With love and caring and scribing each fact of their existence, because we are them and they are us. So, as a scribe called, I tell the story of my family. It is up to that one called in the next generation to answer the call and take their place in the long line of family storytellers. That, is why I do my family genealogy, and that is what calls those young and old to step up and put flesh on the bones. Author unknown The 1860 Census or Lots of Questions Answered The 1860 Census lists a dwelling number and family number and each sheet lists the county as well as town and post office name. Questions answered on the 1860 census include, name, age and sex of each individual; color, occupation, value of real and personal property; birthplace, whether married within the year (m.y.), whether attended school, can read or write and the date of the enumeration. Also included are boxes to indicate if an individual was a pauper or convict. Here is an article published in 1859 about the upcoming 1860 census: Friday September 23, 1859 Weekly Star THE NEXT CENSUS The year 1860 is the time appointed for taking the eighth census of the United States. From having been originally a simple enumeration's of persons, this Federal census has grown to be a decennial register of the number of inhabitants and their occupation, religious denominations & c, and also a statement of the commerce, manufacturers, arts and industry, and the wealth of the nation. The collection of these statistics has hitherto been attended with immense labor and difficulty. The inquiries of the census takers have not only been baffled by the stupidity and perverseness and ignorance of many to whom they were addressed; but it has been impossible to obtain accurate information upon important subjects because the parties; who alone are presumed capable of imparting it, have never taken the trouble to inform themselves. It often occurs that, in the absence of the head of a family no other member of it is able to give the information required; for instance as to the ages of the different members or it, or the amount of land in cultivation, the number of negroes and their ages, the quantity and value of horses, mules and oxen, etc., or of farming implements or farm products. In town and country similar difficulties are continually met with by the marshals appointed to collect these statistics, and the census is consequently returned incomplete. It is probably that while care will be observed to prevent any frauds or excess in the publication of the next census, it will be ordered by Congress to be taken so as to include all the most important items of information in regard to the progress of our population and our country. In view of this contingency the Nashville News very sensibly suggest that each farmer, this fall , as he gathers his crops, shall keep something like an accurate account of the quality and value of the same; and if he will take the trouble to make out a statement of the names and ages of his family; the number and ages of his servants, the number and value of his horses and mules; the number of bales of cotton, barrels of corn, bushels of wheat, oats, rye, barley, potatoes, etc., and leave it in some place where any member of thefamily, who may be at home when the deputy marshal shall call, can readily get hold of it, it will save time to all concerned, and very greatly assist to make the census return perfect, complete and satisfactory.