Stephens County, Texas 1870 Federal Census This Census was transcribed by Gerald D. Perry and proofread by Mary Schuelke for the USGenWeb Census Project, http://www.usgenweb.org/census. Copyright 1999 by Gerald D. Perry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TRANSCRIBER's NOTES: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Evolution of Stephens County, Texas In 1854 Bosque County was created from parts of McLennan and Milam District. In 1858 Buchanan County was created from a portion of Bosque County and Buchanan County was re-named Stephens County in 1861. When researching for persons known to have lived in the area between 1858 and 1861 the researcher should refer to the records of Bosque County. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Commentary The following is a true and correct transcription, to the best of our knowledge, of the 1870 U. S. Census for Stephens County, Texas. The information contained herein was copied and transcribed exactly as it appeared on the original, with all the inherent mis-spellings one might expect. The transcription was proof-read by a second party and both, the transcriber and the proof-reader, are in agreement as to the content of the original Census. However, we make no claim of infallibility as this Census Enumerator's hand-writing was very difficult to read and, in some cases, required high magnification to discern. Even after much study and analysis the signature, and thus the name, of the Enumerator remains a mystery. At the time of the 1870 Census, this area was mostly Ranch and Farm land and remains so to this day. In 1870 there was only one established community, the small now-vanished village of Picketville. The nearest Post Office was the frontier Army bastion of Fort Griffin, some 20 miles to the Northwest, as the Crow flies, and the establishment of Breckenridge as the County Seat was still six years into the future. Consequently, this Census listed no street addresses. Instead, an individual's place of residence was listed either at Picketville or the ranch or geographical area where he or she lived. In accordance with accepted practice, some notations were used when the clarity of material was in doubt or missing. An asterick * was used to represent an illegible letter; N. S. denotes that No Surname was listed and N. N. means that no Christian or Given name was listed. NR means Not Recorded. Gerald D. Perry July 20, 1999