In the town of Weston on 10 Aug 1850 Jonus S. Woods was a 24-year-old brickmason, born Ohio, married to Emily, with children Resella age 3, and Alfred appearing to be 27 (possibly months?), and with $3000 in real estate. Neighbors include Jonus' father Jeremiah and brother John S. with Elizabeth.
In Weston Township on 2 Sep 1850 Jonas F Woods age 25, born Ohio, no occupation listed, married to Emily, with $2000 in real estate, and children Rosella age 3 and Alfred age 1. Neighbors include John and Elizabeth Woods (shown Williams) Matlock, Howard, Humphrey, Simpson.
The family is the same, What appears to me to the be the case is that Jonas/Jonus occupied 2 properties near or adjacent to his brother John and his wife Elizabeth, and both families were counted in both places. One property worth $3000 was in town, and the other worth $2000 was rural.
Since the census indexes pick up both of them, you can't just grab and go, and think you know what is going on. Had I stopped with the rural census I would have missed the proximity to other family members shown in the town listing where several generations lived. Without the rural census, I would have missed the rural investment of the family, and the questions it prompts. How large was the property and how was it used? Others on the page are farmers, but some are tradesmen.
This data reveals some useful things about the family and are suggestive for further research, but the larger project holds the frame. It's too easy to get lost in the data for its own sake.
Scenemaker
31 Oct 2014
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