A Census Story

The Evening Sun / Sunday, February 2,1997

Lost census records found in courthouse basement

By T.W. BURGER

Evening Sun Reporter

Several pieces of what could be called the jigsaw puzzle of Adams County's early history were unearthed Tuesday by two county employees.

Adams County Prothonotary Patricia Funt said she and her deputy Wanda Walter were in a section of the courthouse basement they fondly call "the dungeon," looking for a book of records when they came upon a number of small ledger books in a pasteboard box.

What they found were lost county census records, compiled by township and borough, from the years 1850, 1857, 1864 and 1870.

"I have no idea how they ended up in our vault," Funt said Wednesday. "They were supposed to be in the commissioners' vault. Who knows how long they've been there?" The box in which the documents was found had been labeled in 1955. she said.

Dr. Charles H. Glatfelter, executive director of the Adams County Historical Society, said the books will fill in some important gaps in the county's history. Glatfelter explained that the state census was taken every seven years, beginning in 1799 and continuing through 1870. The "septennial" censuses were taken to assure as closely as possible the "one man, one vote" concept. Before the census was begun, counties in the state had the same number of representatives in the State House. The census was designed to even out that discrepancy. The census was done away with during, the 1873-74 term of the state legislature, and the apportionment of representation was based ever after on the federal census, taken every 10 years. Glatfelter said the Historical Society has had some copies of the Adams County censuses, beginning in 1807- seven years after the county's founding - and the censuses for 1814 and 1821. Glatfelter said he became interested in the county censuses because they were away to keep tabs on the people in the area through time.

"These are very valuable, because they list not only the 'taxables,' in some cases women who were widowed or spinsters and owned property, but also listed their occupations," he said. "We do not have the septennial censuses for 1828, 1835, or 1842." The commissioners found they had the censuses for 1856 an 1863 several years ago; Those were given to the historical society, Glatfelter said. 'I wish we had the whole run,' Glatfelter said. "It is a very valuable find, it opens up the possibility that some of those lost years it might still turn up."

Walter said she would like to get into the county's basement vaults and catalog everything down there. "There's no telling what we could find," she said.

End of the article