(Also available are indexes of some specific townships; all names also included in general name index)
Searchable
database of the 1860 census transcription.
Searchable
database of the 1860 census transcription.
For links to completed transcriptions see below
The 1860 US Census was the eighth such enumeration, and the fifth time the US had enumerated the communities in the upper St.John River valley. The census form included the names of every person living in the household as of June 1. Information collected in the 1860 census also included age, sex, race (consistently left blank among the white population of Aroostook County), "Profession, Trade and Occupation of each person over the age of 15." It also asked about the value of property owned, both "real estate" (land and buildings) and "personal estate" (other belongings); place of birth; whether married in the last year, whether attended school in the last year, whether the person could not read and write; and "whether deaf and dumb, blind, insane, idiotic, pauper or convict".
On this web site I have transcribed only those communities, mostly in the valley of the Upper St.John, Fish, and Allagash Rivers, that were part of the historic Madawaska Territory and were mostly populated by French-speakers from Québec and Acadia and their descendants. In the 1860 census these communities covered a total of 146 pages. (For a list of townships whose census returns are transcribed, see below.) The 1860 US Census of Aroostook County had a total of 582 pages; the communities in the St.John River valley thus made up about 25 percent of Aroostook's population in 1860. In 1840 these communities had about 37 percent of Aroostook's population.
Compared to the 1840 and 1850 censuses, what is clear is a massive influx of settlers from "Canada", which is what today's Québec was called. The 1860 population of the Valley was about 6,800, whereas the same communities in the 1840 census had a population of only 1,800 (the communities described in the 1840 census as "Madawaska South" and those communities in "Madawaska North" that in 1842 became part of the US); this represents almost a four-fold increase in the population over 20 years.
A Note on Page Headings
At the top of each page of the transcription is information about
that page:
Stamped no.: Numbers written in heavy black in the upper
right or left hand corner of each full schedule page. The returns
for the entire county of Aroostook were bound together and then
numbered consecutively. These are the page numbers used in this
transcription and in the published index to the 1860 census.
Section page no.: on the upper right or left of each page
is printed "Page number" followed by a line. These numbers
indicated the page in the section of the census being enumerated
by each census taker. I have included these numbers only for reference;
when I refer to "page number" in this transcription,
it means the "stamped page no."
Reel no.: The number of the microfilm reel that contains
this particular county's census returns.
Division: Name of townships listed in the 1860 Census,
as written on the line following the words "Free Inhabitants
in"
Post Office:.The US Post Office that served the township
being surveyed. This transcription covers communities served by
post offices in Fort Kent, Madawaska, Van Buren, and Grand Isle.
Enumerated by: The name of the Assistant US Marshal who
acted as the census taker for the division. More
information on the census takers.
Reference: In the transcription
of the 1860 US Census on this website, I have included after "Reference"
links to online images of the original census returns, which are
located at the US GenWeb Aroostook County site at Rootsweb. The
images are rather large, and may take a minute or so to load.
These images are not located on my site; for more information
about them please visit http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/me/aroostook/census/1860/0000read.htm
List of Townships transcribed on this website; in alphabetical order:
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List of townships transcribed on this web site; in order of appearance in the 1860 Census of Aroostook County, with page numbers:
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Last revised 3 Jan 2006
© 2005-2006 C. Gagnon