52 Ancestors: First

I’m so happy to have another year of blog prompts from Amy Johnson Crow.  The good news is that these prompts get my juices flowing – the bad news is that each week gives me more questions and additions to my “to do” list.

This week’s prompt is First.  I reflected on this for a few days – who was the first ancestor I researched?  Whose was the first grave I saw?  Who was the first….. And then it came to me – which of my ancestors were listed in the First United States Census in 1790?

Without looking I knew that of my direct ancestors, one would be Ashbel Waller, my 5x great grandfather.  My maternal ancestors go back a LONG way in the United States while my paternal ancestors didn’t arrive until the mid 1800’s.  So I could skip that side of the family and focus on my maternal side.

First, I wanted to learn more about the first census, which had an official enumeration date of 2 August 1790.  That census showed a population of 3,929,214 in, of course, 13 states.  The cost of the census was $44,000 or a cost per capita of 1.1 cents.  There were 56 pages with the data from an estimated 650 enumerators.  All of this was directed by the Census Bureau Director, Thomas Jefferson.  1790 Census Fast Facts

Sure enough, there was Ashbel in Luzerne, Pennsylvania – along with his brothers Daniel, Joseph, and Nathan.

First Census of the United States, 1790 (NARA microfilm publication M637, 12 rolls).

There it shows that there were five household members – 1 Free White Male, 16 and over, 2 Free White Males, under 16, and 2 Free White Females.  So the one white male over 16 would be Ashbel, the two white males under 16 would be Salmon (my 4x great grandfather!), and, and, and…. who?  I can only guess at the females in the house – wife Sarah (Abbot) Waller and a daughter.  But I’m not 100% sure of the birth dates for the children so will need to do more research to be sure.  Add it to my “to do” list.

I know that Ashbel’s father, Phineas, died in 1787 so he wouldn’t be there.  And I don’t know when his mother died but since she was born in 1717, it’s very probable that she was also dead.  Add it to my “to do” list.

Here’s how I descend from Ashbel – Clara Fitzgerald was my mother’s mother.



Next up was another branch of my tree, my mother’s paternal side of the family.  And there is my 4x great grandfather, Daniel Martin. 

Year: 1790; Census Place: Laurens, South Carolina; Series: M637; Roll: 11; Page: 448; Image: 267; Family History Library Film: 0568151

He is listed with three Free White Males, 16 and over; 4 Free White Males, under 16; and 4 Free White Females.  My guess is that along with Daniel, the other two white males age 16 and over were two sons.  The 4 white males under 16 could have been other sons, although I don’t have too much information on them.  And I only know of two females – wife Mary (Saxon) and daughter Mary.  Add that to my “to do” list.

Daniel’s parents were dead by 1790 and my 3x great grandfather, George Asbury Martin, was not born until 1798 so it looks like it was just Daniel enumerated in 1790.

And here’s how I descend from Daniel.  Earle Martin was my mother’s father.



I think that’s all I’ve got unless I go into siblings and their children.  Something I will not add to my “to do” list.  Yet.