Surprises in the 1870 US Federal Census
By Heidi Sproat
1870 United States Census California, Nevada County, Meadow Lake Township. All screenshots taken from the 1870 US Federal census as it appears on Ancestry.com at this (subscription) link
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7163/images/4259313_00496?usePUB=true&_phsrc=jOy180&pId=13501587
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7163/images/4259313_00496?usePUB=true&_phsrc=jOy180&pId=13501587
If you are looking for something and find it and then just for giggles want to see what else is in a collection, you might just get carried away. It happened to me - again. I was looking for a completely different entry about a completely different individual, but an entry caught my eye showing Joseph Gray in the Census in Truckee. In this 1870 Census for Meadow Lake Township, I found that the Senior Joseph Gray was in Truckee with his family, including young Joseph H. Gray, then age 1. (Source: Meadow Lake Township, Nevada County, CA, 1870 US Census, p. 14).
WHY would this matter?
WHY would this matter?
Truckee-Donner Historical Society (TDHS) recently received both a phone call and emails relating to the Gray family. Seems that a Gray descendant straightened us out about the image that was originally used for an article by Guy Coates called Uncle Joe’s Cabin back in 2011. The image in THAT article is of Joseph Gray Senior who at the time of the 1870 census was 46 years old. So establishing the 1st log cabin in what became Gray’s Station before it became Truckee had to have been established by the SENIOR Joseph Gray. After all, the son Joseph H. Gray was all but 1 year old in 1870. Thus, IF Gray’s Cabin was built in 1863 time frame, it had to have erected by the father.
The younger Joseph H. Gray is this man.
So after getting that straightened out, and looking up the 1880 Meadow Lake Township census record for the same family, our family caller provided this excerpt showing that the son Joseph H. Gray is now expectedly 11 years old. Joseph Gray Senior is shown as a retired merchant at age 57 and the family is living on Church Street. Pretty cool to be able to find all this out.
The younger Joseph H. Gray is this man.
So after getting that straightened out, and looking up the 1880 Meadow Lake Township census record for the same family, our family caller provided this excerpt showing that the son Joseph H. Gray is now expectedly 11 years old. Joseph Gray Senior is shown as a retired merchant at age 57 and the family is living on Church Street. Pretty cool to be able to find all this out.
Then came the good part. I then wondered who else lived in Truckee when the 1870 census was taken and what were some of their occupations? Unfortunately, the 1870 census does NOT reveal street addresses, but the names, ages, sexes, race and occupations are clearly listed.
For example, the Shaffer family, parents George and Margaret (at age 36 with 9 children!) show up on p. 1 of the 1870 census record. George came from Prussia, Margaret from Bavaria. Some children were born in Iowa, some in Nevada, some in California.
For example, the Shaffer family, parents George and Margaret (at age 36 with 9 children!) show up on p. 1 of the 1870 census record. George came from Prussia, Margaret from Bavaria. Some children were born in Iowa, some in Nevada, some in California.
Another example: Jacob Teeter, listed as farmer, turned lawman later, p. 2. Recall Teeter was Truckee's most famous sheriff and constable who was known for enforcing the law with a pick handle instead of a gun. Teeter was killed in a violent gunfight with another constable, James Reed, in 1891 at Hurd's Saloon.
I saw William B. Campbell age 40 as a Hotel Keeper from Kentucky. Recall he ran the Truckee Hotel for a time. He also established the Campbell Hot Springs Resort.
There was butcher Joseph Marzen also from Kentucky. Marzen owned much of the land where Coldstream development is now, called Marzen Meadow. See this 1880 Library of Congress map to see where Marzen owned property.
Or our beloved Reno Iceman Tom Macaulay’s grandfather, Thomas McAuley, shows up in the 1870 Census as well. Yes, the name morphed into a different spelling over time.
So besides these historic names of early 1870 Truckee residents, who else lived here in 1870?
Well, glad you asked.
These are just some of the occupations we noted in the 1870 census. Take a peek if you want to scope out what employment early Truckee residents engaged in. Sure wasn’t technology, the internet, or a visitors mecca in 1870.
Well, glad you asked.
These are just some of the occupations we noted in the 1870 census. Take a peek if you want to scope out what employment early Truckee residents engaged in. Sure wasn’t technology, the internet, or a visitors mecca in 1870.
There were blacksmiths, farmers, dozens of laborers, mostly Chinese, farm hands, carpenters, butchers, teamsters, machinists, a justice of the peace, those “keeping house”, hotel keepers, porters in hotel, saloon keeper Harry Hall from New York, prostitutes, lawyers, jewelers, cooks – almost all of them Chinese, accountants, telegraph operators, gardeners, wash men, clothiers, laborers, one laundress, scores of wood choppers – all Chinese, railroad men, railroad baggage Master William H. Watson, from Louisiana (p. 25), Sash & Door Maker from Ohio B.J. Smith (p. 25) and another Sash & Door maker from Bohemia, and a Railroad Road Master from Ireland Joseph Murphy, a Railroad lineman from England, James Crase (p. 25), Fong Lee grocer from China (p. 21), one painter, a brush maker from PA (p. 20), miners, bartenders (p. 20), saw mill hands, Chinese physician Wo Sing ? (p. 19), a gent who claims his occupation was “scavenger” (p. 19), another Chinese physician Ah Sum (p. 18), a Chinese butcher, a “peddler” (p. 18), opium house Ah Fook (p. 18), a Chinese Jeweler Ah Sing (p. 18), Chinese physician Ah Faw (p. 17), another opium house Gee Sting (p. 17), lots of gamblers (p. 17), tailor Leuis Sumpter (p. 15), a milliner Lizzie Beath from Massachusetts (p. 15), a Lithographer B. Malcarne from Italy, a milk dealer (p. 15), brakemen, conductors, linemen, brickmaker George L. Norton from MA (p. 12), lawyers (p. 9), 2 car repairers (p. 9), a carriage maker B.J. Marble from NY (p. 9), 2 barbers (p. 8), 2 saddlers from Scotland James and Robert Lind (p. 7), a brewer from Prussia, B. Berkhoff (p. 7), shoemaker from Ireland and 3 bootmakers from Massachusetts and Ireland (p. 6), a dairyman (p. 6), a Patent Right Dealer from Ohio J.M. Reed (p. 6), clerks in grocery store (p. 5), a fruit dealer from Kentucky (p. 5), Joseph Marzen from NY (p. 5) & family, a watch maker from Ohio C.W. Young (p. 4), 2 clothing dealers, 1 from England and 1 from Ohio (p. 4), a physician from France L. Lasvignes (p. 4), saloon keepers, 2 druggists (p. 3), school teacher from Ohio (p. 2), and a vegetable dealer M. McCauley form Ohio (p. 1). Whew.
And since I was in the 1870 Census, I knew there “could” be a reference to a September 22, 1870 Nevada Transcript article mentioning that the son of a Chinese couple married by then Vice President Schuyler Colfax, who gave away the bride, had a baby boy in California and named him Colfax. The census is dated August 23, 1870, and we know that Colfax visited Truckee the year before, so the infant’s “age” of 3/12 (3 months) seems perfectly in order. Verified.
The article appeared on page 3 of the New National Era paper, quoting the Nevada Transcript paper. Note too that the wedding took place at “Campbell’s Hotel”.
The article appeared on page 3 of the New National Era paper, quoting the Nevada Transcript paper. Note too that the wedding took place at “Campbell’s Hotel”.
So when you want to get a feel for what Truckee may have been like in 1870, take a walk through the 50 pages of Census records. You will be amazed at what you’ll discover.
HCS 12/3/2025
