Comparing 1880, 1890 and 1900 in Morrison Co.

These statistics interest me especially regarding the countries our folks came from, of course.  We know our Sands came from Luxembourg, as did the Neisius family, the Zenners, the Brixius and Majerus families among many others, but the census in 1900 says there was only one immigrant from there.  By then, people just said "Germany"--it was easier.  

Same with the Austria-Bohemia distinction: in 1900, Paul Hesch claimed Austria instead of Bohemia:

"After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, the territory became part of the Habsburg's larger Austrian Empire, and subsequently the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1867. Bohemia retained its name and formal status as a separate Kingdom of Bohemia until 1918..." (Wikipedia)

Otrembas, Rauschs, Schmolkes and many others came from "German Poland", "Austrian Poland" or "Russian Poland", while over 1,100 claimed Germany.

It's fascinating, too, how quickly Europeans in Morrison Co increased, from 618 in 1860 to 22,891 in 1900. 

Census information in 1900

Just look at all the wonderful info that was asked for on a census!  Every ten years, the government wanted different items included (or skipped) since the last census, but the basic info was the same for almost all of them: name, age, M or F, place and date of birth.  Items kept getting added so that by 1900, there were 28 possible spaces to fill in for each person.

Here's a relatively random chunk of Pierz Township in 1900--probably east of town, because that's where Marshiks lived.  See John PRZYBILLA there?  He was born in November 1841.  He and Maria had been married for 34 years, and Marie'd endured 11 births, with 9 living children.  In 1900, only Katherine (16), Joseph (14) and Anton (12) were still at home, but they had a 3 year old 'boarder' from New York named Franziska Shilz.  (I hope they adopted her eventually).  Maria and John were born in one of the parts of Europe ruled by Germany (we know it was Poland near the Otrembas, Schmolkes, and Mischkes).
Their next door neighbors were Julius and Josephine MARSHIK, a young couple with 2 kids, John (2) and Magdalena (1).   At first, I thought Grandma and Grandpa (Joseph and Maria)  MARSHIK lived next door, but not if the info is accurate.  It says they emigrated from Austria 17 years earlier, but then Julius wouldn't have been born in Minnesota.  They'd been married for 45 years, had 9 births with 7 living children.
It's interesting to see who was a "farmer" and who was a "farm laborer".  Probably one was on his own land while the other was hired out.  Katherine Przybilla was working as a hired girl in someone else's home.
If you really want to know what each column was for, check the Ancestry Wiki ☺.

A whole dune of Sands

Some more evidence for or against WHO J P Sand was...and isn't THAT nebulous?  These are Morrison Co. censuses from 1885, 1900  and 1905 (yes, Minnesota took a count  halfway thru the ten-year interval in Federal censuses.  Larry says it was because they wanted a count of eligible men).  This first one has John P and Magdalena Sand with three kids--Peter, Margaret and Frank. They lived in Buckman.

Wow, here's John P. Sand, divorced, and living in a boarding house at 181 Broadway in Little Falls, in 1900.  We're almost sure this guy was the deputy sheriff 15 years earlier, but was he ours?  He most likely wasn't the same guy as above. 

...and 20 years later, this one says John Sand's dad was born in Ireland and his mom in Germany.  SOMEONE was goofing off.  This was Buckman, for heavens sake.  

OK, this was grandma's brother John M Sand, son of Louisa and Mike Sand.  Born in 1879 and died in 1946.  Gotta remember which ones ARE ours!

Instructions to Census Enumerators in 1900

Larry and I were talking one day about how the info included on Federal censuses changed over the years, not to mention the off-year Minnesota census changes.  (Federal=every 10 years on the 0s; Minnesota=odd years: 1849-50; 1853; 1855; 1857; 1865; 1875; 1885; 1905, partly to see how many able bodied men were available, just in case).
It's an interesting exercise to see what "mattered" every 10 years as America grew.  The country of origin question was pretty important--we were pretty diverse before 1900: 

Paul & Mary Hesch, 1875

55 years later, in 1930, it's still important but there were other things to enumerate, too:

Anton & Elizabeth Hesch family, 1930

 While we talked, Larry found a website with all the instructions to enumerators over all the census years.   In 1900, there were 246 instructions.  Here're just a few of them--

139. If the person was born outside the United States, enter in column 13 the country (not city or district) in which he was born. By country is meant usually a region whose people have direct relation with other countries. Thus, do not write Prussia or Saxony, but Germany. To this rule, however, note the following exceptions:

140. Write Ireland, England, Scotland, or Wales rather than Great Britain. Write Hungary or Bohemia rather than Austria for persons born in Hungary or Bohemia, respectively. Write Finland rather than Russia for persons born in Finland.

141. Note, also, that the language spoken is not always a safe guide to the birthplace. this is especially true of Germans, for over one-third of the Austrians and nearly three-fourths of the Swiss speak German. In case a person speaks German, therefore, inquire carefully whether the birthplace was Germany, Austria, or Switzerland.

142. In case the persons speaks Polish, as Poland is not now a country, inquire whether the birthplace was what is now known as German Poland or Austrian Poland, and enter the answer accordingly as Poland (Ger.), Poland (Aust..), or Poland (Russ.).

Hmm...I wonder, did they follow these rules in 1900 for Paul, born in Bohemia?...Nope.

Accurate Otremba Immigrants

Remember when we talked about Nathan Richardson here on HH?  He was the first Mayor of Little Falls and has had a book written about him (A Big Hearted Paleface Man, by Mary Warner). He might have been a great public servant, but I don't think ol' Nate listened very well, or had a whole lotta common sense.
Above, you see his handwriting.  He was pressed into service enumerating the census in 1870, particularly in Agram township, around "Pierce".  Admittedly, the Otrembas had been in the US less than a year, and probably none of them spoke any English, but how hard is "Ot-rem-ba" to sound out without making it look Irish?  Argh...☺ Too bad he wasn't perfect like the rest of us...

Anyway, whining about Nathan Richardson isn't what this post is about.  It's something Larry noticed about the birth places noted there on the census:  Anton, his wife, and daughter Mary (our future great grandma) were born in Prussia, and the others were born in Poland?  Surely they were all born in Gushwitz, Falkenberg, Silesia, Prussia...but checking Polish history,  we found that Poland became a separate country again after 1853 when Mary was born and before 1857 when Anna was born.  THAT info made a difference to Anton, and he was able to communicate it, even if they got his name wrong.  Whew!

Compare and Contrast

Here are the occupations listed for Buckman in 1910, 1920, and 1930.  I added names if I recognized them or if they pertained to HH in some way.  I tabulated them in the order they were listed, mostly, so you can see where in town they started counting each time.  I didn't compare 1900 because it didn't distinguish town from township, and besides, the village only incorporated in 1903.

There are some surprises:  Killian Zenner was a school teacher in 1930 (probably a country school), and had been married for 2 years  by April, 1930.  In 1910, there were 3 general stores, 2 blacksmiths, and 1 bar.  The bank was built before 1920.  Note who 'owned' Brandl Motors, and who was a 'salesman' in 1930. 

And, what happened to Mueller's Hardware and Saloon by 1920?  Did John sell his share of the business to Peter so soon?  Maybe Anon knows....
I know there are a few of you wondering WHY there are no bars at all in 1920 and 1930.  Prohibition began in 1920 ( and lasted till 1933).  The trade just moved out of town, that's all!

(BTW, remember that all those "no occupation" folks were mostly children and wives, and that YOU can go look at the census forms online if you wonder about something here).

Isn't this just COOL?