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Wilkes November 20, 2022 The 1841 Wilkes School
Census When researching our family history, we
want to learn all we can about our ancestors.
The federal census only offers a snapshot of the household every ten
years. Court records show what issues
our ancestors were facing, but hopefully they don’t appear there too
often! Birth, marriage, death, and land
records also give glimpses of major events.
As another resource, we’re lucky that Wilkes County also has the
school censuses that were taken from 1841 to 1853 as a result of the NC
General Assembly passing the Education Act. This existing papers from this school
census aren’t complete, but when a family is listed, it provides information
that often isn’t found elsewhere.
Generally, the census lists the children in a district who were
between the ages of 5 and 21. Sometimes
it breaks down which of those children attended school and how many days they
were present. It also lists the adult who
was responsible for them, usually the father.
Since the census was taken annually, it’s almost as if you can watch
your great great grandmother grow up with each passing year. There were initially 63 districts when
they were set up in 1841. When this
set of records ends in 1853, the last district to be created was #83. During that time, districts were modified or
added to better address the presence of rivers and mountains and to make it
easier for students to travel to school.
Depending on how you do the calculation, the average district was
twelve square miles. That’s not a very
large area, and if we know where these districts were, we have a good
indication of where our ancestors lived. I used the vague descriptions provided
in the Minutes of the Board of Education to create a map of the school
districts as another tool to use when learning about the history of the
county. When the districts were
surveyed, the starting point was the spot where the Yadkin River crosses the
Surry County line. From there, they
created five North-South division lines each spaced four miles apart,
westward along the Yadkin River. This
took them as far west as the home of Montford Stokes, Mourne Rouge, on
the west side of Wilkesboro. They
determined that the terrain made it impractical to continue these straight
division lines further west, so the western districts were more randomly drawn. Several of my ancestors lived on the
south side of Traphill in District #33 including the family of my great great
great great grandfather William Bauguess (born 1796). His family is highlighted in the image
below.
Partial page from the 1841 school
census for District #33 Some of these census takers didn’t see
the value in using straight lines to keep the family names together. While the two sons of William Bauguess are
listed beside his name, his two daughters are listed further up the
page. If I didn’t already know this
family, it would be hard to determine which children belonged to William
Bauguess. Below is the description for how
District #33 was defined. Taken alone, that description isn’t very
helpful. But since I’ve mapped the
land grants for this area, I know where William Bauguess owned land and
approximately where he lived. If my
school census map is correct, his family lived at the southeast corner of District
#33.
District #33 was on the
east side of the East Prong of Roaring River Other Discoveries Many people know about the Legend of Tom
Dooley. He and Ann Melton were arrested
and tried for the murder of Laura Foster in 1866. You can get the short version of the story here. More details including books and a tour of
the jail in which they were held can be found at the Wilkes Heritage Museum. After a quick check of the 1850 census, I
didn’t find Tom Dula, so maybe his family wasn’t recorded. That’s an even better reason to check the
school census. Tom Dula was born in
1844 or 1845, so he was barely old enough to have been included in the 1849 census
when he was five years old. School census for
District #55 dated November 24, 1849
(Click for larger view) The 1849 school census lists Thomas
Dula as a child between the age of 5 and 21, but he is not listed among those
who actually attended school. Maybe at
just five years old, he hadn’t started school yet? Also listed is Ann Perlina Foster who attended
school eight days during the term. I
don’t know if she was one of the principal characters in the legendary story
or not. However, I’ve read that the names Dula,
Foster, and Melton were used interchangeably for various reasons, so
perhaps she is Tom’s girlfriend and possible accomplice, Ann P. Melton. Tom Dula is listed in District #55, but
on my map, Districts #55, #56, and #57 are grouped together. That’s because the Minutes book leaves the
description blank for those districts.
I don’t know why. North of there, District #50 mentions a
point on top of the Big Lump. I found
that point along the Blue Ridge Parkway, and now we know that this name has
been in use since at least 1841.
District #50 ran to a point
at the top of the Big Lump In 1847, the boundaries of District #12
were altered beginning at a point at the ford of Hunting Creek. The alteration passed by the vineyard and
included Benjamin Tedder. This vineyard
must have been near the southeast corner of District #12, perhaps near Hwy
115. These were just a few of the
mini-stories I discovered while creating the map. Everyone will notice different stories
depending on which part of the county they’re interested in. I added the full map of these
districts to my website. You can
zoom in to see the approximate boundaries of each district and identify the
adjoining districts. This is helpful
because if a family lived near a boundary, their relatives might be listed in
the next district over. On the map,
the black text and lines refer to the original 63 districts. The green districts represent changes or
additions that were made before 1853.
All of these records are available at the NC Archives and for free
online at familysearch at the links provided below.
Click to view the
interactive map. The map is also listed
on the Records page. Loose pages for the school
censuses taken between 1841 and 1853. https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/1305216?availability=Family%20History%20Library Minutes of the Wilkes Board
of Education beginning in 1841. https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/297927?availability=Family%20History%20Library
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