Census “Trick” Works Again

Matthew Boyers, who was probably born in the 1750s, was living in York District, South Carolina in 1810, and in Sumner County, Tennessee in 1830. Although quite a few people have Matthew Boyers on their Ancestry family tree, no one had located him in 1820. So, I used one of my “tricks” and searched for Matthew without his last name.

I specifically searched the 1820 U.S. federal censuses for the following:

• • First name: “Matthew” with “sounds like,” “similar,” and “initials” checked
  • Lived in (1st search): “York County, South Carolina” in the field and marked as “exact to this place”
  • Lived in (2nd search): “Sumner County, Tennessee” in the field and marked as “exact to this place”

RESULTS:

For South Carolina, only 22 results were found. I looked at a Matthew Biggers to make sure it wasn’t transcribed incorrectly, but it looks like “Biggers” to me. None of the others looked like good candidates.

For Tennessee, there were 36 results. Several looked promising: Mathew Bayne, Mathew Boyne, and Mathew Rogers. Both Mathew Bayne, listed as 16 to 25 years old, and Mathew Rogers, listed as 26 to 44 years old, were too young. Mathew Boyne, however, was marked as “45 and over” which would be the correct age for Matthew Boyers.

After comparing the handwriting of the census enumerator to other entries, and comparing the household members to other years, I believe that the 1820 record transcribed on Ancestry as “Boyne” is actually “Boyers.”

POSSIBLE RELATIONSHIP: